Binge Organizing

 Today I meant to spend 30 minutes working on organizing the knitting room.  Somehow, 3 hours later I only stopped working when I ran out of the Ziplock XL Flexible Totes*. I checked out Target, Walmart and Ace Hardware to buy a couple more tote bags.  Even places where Google shopping said they were in stock there were none.  I am not sure if it is a supply chain issue or that they just don’t carry as many sku’s in the stores.  So I ordered them on line and they will be here Wednesday.  

I did manage to empty one basket and 2 canvas tote bags today.  Tomorrow I will work on winding yarn and putting odd skeins away.  The knitting room now looks worse than this morning, but I swear parts of the room are more organized.  Like skeins are gathered together.  I had more of some yarn than I thought I had.  John was not surprised like I was.  

I will have to prune a few more knitting books to get the books I found tucked in odd places put away. That will wait until I can get back to my knitting / spinning table.  

All the organizing and waking to find the Ziplock XL Flexible Totes gave me over 10,000 steps today. So all in all it was a good day.

*I like storing some of my yarn in the flexible totes.  I purchased them myself.  I am not receiving any compensation from the makers of the Ziplock XL Totes.  

The Good News

 It was 107f today so I spent it going through more yarn boxes.  More yarn is leaving than staying.  I only have 7 more boxes to go through this weekend. I have more shelves to purge too. If it sounds like a seek and de clutter mission, you are absolutely correct.  

My pile of to go yarn was getting too overwhelming for me to look at until it is gone.  So John decided to hide the bags behind the couch where I can’t see them. He even carried most of the bags out for me.  As you can see from the picture below, which does not include all the bags there was a fairly large pile of bags.  

The even better news is that I found a couple of projects that I want to knit for myself. That will have to wait a few days right now I am using all my spoons cleaning and de cluttering the house. It has literally taken me 25 years to accumulate this much yarn so spending a week to purge a lot of what I don’t need anymore will take a few days more. Then it will be time to reorganize the areas that were cleaned out. Alas, I am getting ahead of myself. I need to finish one task before I start the next task. No cutting corners here. 

All of this yarn and more will be available for sale at the Old Pueblo Knitting Guild fundraiser in January. The details will follow.  If you are nearby or a couple of hour’s drive from Tucson this will be a great opportunity to add to your stash.  

Making a Big Mess

 I find it simply amazing how much mess that I can make when I go about decluttering and reorganizing the house.  Today I tackled my yarn beyond life expectancy problem.  I know you have read it here many times before.  This time even though I have less yarn, I plan on cutting my stash of yarn by another 25 to 50 percent.  

Today was the start of the project.  I spent the entire afternoon doing this.  I filled 4 kitchen trash bags full of yarn. Back when I could knit up to 20 hours a day, that would have taken me 4 months to knit.  I knit much slower now and a maximum of 2 hours a day, less if my hands are tired. So any yarn  that wanted a U.S. size 1 or 2 knitting needle I did not give a second thought to.  My over abundance of hand spun yarn 50% is gone.  Most of the fingering weight yarn is gone too.  Projects that I did not want to knit, I kept the bags but the yarn is gone.  Even if I loved the yarn and color and texture, it was gone too. 

I only have 2 more bags in the sewing room to go through.  Then it’s the garage.  My goal is not to have any more boxes of yarn in front of John’s car.  I have a very sizable collection of empty storage bags and 3 boxes.  At least 2 of the boxes will be holding more yarn.  

Did I mention that I found a lot of silk yarn that I can use to make art yarn? I found misplaced projects that I knew I bought and have wanted to knit up.  I threw away a basket that was falling apart. I found a new home or a place of residence for the things in the basket. So all in all it was a very productive afternoon.  I have bits and pieces of more room. 

Just don’t go into the knitting or sewing room right now.  They are still a mess.  I have a small pile of yarn to cake up and put in the scarf box.  Yes, I have a box of yarn for scarfs and hats too do I just have to reach in and grab a skein for my next project. I have a new box for my spinning accessories, crochet hooks and Tunisian crochet hooks too. The box that held those things is now full of yarn. A much better use for a big drawer. 

By the way the yarn will be going to the Old Pueblo Knitting Guild for the big yarn sale.  Hopefully my decluttering efforts will help the guild balance the budget.  I will give out the date and place as it gets closer.  

A little peek at the empty bags and the 4 bags full of yarn.  

 

Getting More Organized

 The best thing that I have found about getting more organized is that it has been taking me less time to find things.  Right now I am knitting a 2 of 3 Shawl Study.  I remembered that I had an extra 1/2 skein of the gray linen yarn that I can add to the shawl to make it a double. It took less than 5 minutes to find the rest of the ball of yarn and make sure it was the right yarn.  It was. Fantastic   

Following in that direction I sent off a 15 pound box yarn to another knitter.  I know the yarn is going to a good home and will be used and appreciated.  It is the equivalent of sending off a whole tub of yarn.  If you are a knitter with stash beyond your lifetime it is time to occasionally find another knitter who would appreciate the yarn.  I am sure that your spouse, children would love it leaving the house. The other knitter will really like some yarn that would have not been possible any other way.  Also don’t accept payment for it. Just have the other knitter pay it forward by donating a finished scarf or 2 to the charity or their choice.  

TTFN

A Busy Day

 Today was fantastic. We went to another venue of the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.  We went down to the Kino Sports Complex on Ajo Way.  We skipped the main tent and went to wonder around the back tents.  Some of the awesome things we saw included the Australian mineral exhibit.  The stones were so colorful.  They were very different from the stones from other parts of the world.  If you ever get a chance to see stone from Australia don’t pass up the chance.  Of course I found some more charms for stitch markers.  We walked around until John thought I might be running out of spoons.  I was having so much fun, that after 3 hours of walking and looking I did not want to go home.  

In other good news I tried on my largest size blue jeans in my closet today.  Only have to lose 3 more inches on my waist until they will zip up.  This is a lot better than the last time that I tried them on.  Last time the would not go over my hips.  So I consider this major progress.   

In knitting news, I finished a charity scarf tonight. I will take pictures tomorrow.   I am almost finished with the thumb on the first glove to match new shawl. Now I just have to weave in the ends, take pictures and publish the pattern.  No problem except that I either need a model or someone to take my picture.  

I have picked out the yarn for the next shawl. I just need to cake one huge skein of lace weight silk.  No it’s not going to be a lace weight silk shawl.  I will double strand she shawl with a pretty mohair yarn, I got both of the yarns at Grandmas Spinning Wheel here in Tucson.  The changes in yarn happen so fast that sometimes you might have to pick a different yarn combo than I am using.  More pictures tomorrow.  

Well it’s getting late so it’s time to call it a day.  

A surreal kind of day

 Sometimes people say the darndest things. Take today for instants, an acquaintance asked how Eric was doing because she hadn’t seen him lately. I just did not know what to say. It floored me because this is the week he died four years ago. So not wanting to make an awkward situation more awkward, I just told her he’s been very busy, and I haven’t seen him much myself lately. That seem to satisfy her and she wandered off. 

I won a raffle basket of knitting goodies at the Old Pueblo Knitting Guild meeting this morning.  When I got home I went through the basket to decide what I wanted and needed. To tell the truth it was more about want than need.  I the put the yarn that I was going to share back in the basket to take to my next meeting.  I shared the yarn with another group of fiber lovers. I managed to take an empty basket home.  Score one for me.  

From My Work Table

 Sometimes it is necessary to use more than one yarn butler for a project.  Take the picture below. Notice how the black yarn is wound into a cake and the Anne from Circulo is wrapped in a shape as best described as coming off the commercial winder that they use.  They unwind at different rates. That makes it hard to put both yarns on the same yarn butler.  

My simple solution is to have two yarn butlers in use at the same time.  

The colorful scarf is destined for a boarding school on the Navajo Reservation in Northern Arizona.  It has one strand of Anne which is a fingering weight yarn. And one strand of worsted weight cotton yarn in black. They are knit together in double stranded knitting.  It is being knit in the round and will be around 6 feet 2 inches long and 6 inches wide.  If you look very closely you will notice that I am using 2 different colors of Anne, but from 5 feet away you will not notice.  

Behind the yarn busters is my OttLite with a random assortment of stitch markers and a random pen for notes.  

Now is the time to add that extra Yarn Butler to your holiday wish list. Some local yarn stores will keep a list so you get exactly what you want for the holidays. 

How WasYour Day?

 It was a no good, very bad, horrible day…..I did not eat a box of brownies or cupcakes.   Sorta of good.

I did my physical therapy and exceeded my walking goal.  Really good.

It was no way in the world a break even day.  Sighs!

Plus I did not buy enough yarn for a weaving project.  I need 3 more skeins of the yarn for a woven summer shawl.  Sighs! 

I hope I can still get some more Circulo Whoopee in color 9883 batch 698459.  

Ready for Wednesday

 My hatchback and back seat are loaded with fiber and yarn to give away tomorrow at knitting guild.  There is not any room to put anything else but my purse and drop spinning for tomorrow.  Everyone knows that it is coming.  It seems to me I go through this cycle a lot.  Like every time I have hand surgery.  Yes, I seem to have a lot of hand surgery.  I seem to get more realistic as to what my hands will be able to to. Thank goodness I did not choose Pottery.  So I send it off to people who will enjoy it.  

The antibiotic is really kicking me in the behind really well. Instead of warping my loom I rested most of the day.  Since my Thursday has been rearranged I guess I will try then.  

TTFN

More Zenning

 If it is all possible, I am doing more Zenning around the house. It’s a good way to end the year. I figured that the first day back from vacation was the best day to start.  At breakfast I made my to do list, which was not comprehensive.  I started with the den fireplace and removed all my spinning and weaving projects and supplies. Everything has a new home.  Even the skein of yarn that went to the Goodwill box  

This lead to needing more shelf space in the knitting room. So I went on a Sugar and Cream hunt. I almost filled a 32 quart box. I decided not to finish the 2 blankets in the bag so they went into dog pillow stuffing.   They were not even a complete block of a 9 block pattern.  Sometimes to move forward I need to let go of things that are not in the least bit useful.  I have learned that it is not necessary to keep or complete every project, or reuse the yarn.  I even put the knitting needles and accessories in their proper homes. 

I came up with an absolutely brilliant idea for a color combination for my next pounder scarf.  So I went on a hunt for black worsted weight yarn. The black combined with a very bright and bold variegated yarn will make a nice one of a kind scarf.  I will be winding additional skeins of black worsted weight yarn tomorrow. The scarfs after that will either be black and white or a scrappy scarf of many colors. I have the first 2 1/2 rows knit and I am in love with the combination of yarns.  I also finished one hat and another pounder scarf tonight. I call them pounders because each weighs in at at least 17 ounces. They are also 6 feet long, which is good for a cold climate.  Pictures are going to happen tomorrow. 

The most interesting part of the day was watching John.  When I finished cleaning up the fire place, he had to do more dusting and tie up the cables to make things look even better. He then went on to his own cleaning agenda.  I can’t wait to see where this leads us.  

Well my typing hand is getting really cranky so I will call an end to this post.

Every Yarn Knows What It Wants

 Every once in a while we all acquire yarn for our stash.  Some one has an idea for the yarn, but me the designer in me  just did not see it.  So it just sat there waiting in a basket.  I tried knitting, weaving and crochet.  I just could not make the yarn sing.  

Then came the long scarf’s for a Knitting Guild project.  A scarf knit on the round with 2 strands of yarn, 1 sock weight and 1 of worsted weight.  The yarn is finally singing.  Combined with yellow, red and a dark purple cotton.  I am on the fourth stripe.  The scarf is just flowing off the knitting needles.  It is so bright and colorful.  I am hopeful a teenager will like it.  Nine inches down only 65 inches to go.  

Repurposing Yarn

 Today after physical therapy for my knee, I went to my project bags. I found yarn for 2 projects that had been shelved for various reasons. They are now going into a gift that is being crocheted because let’s face it sometimes crocheting is just faster than knitting with lace weight yarn. It was also my second fiber craft after sewing.  I figure that if I stop after one project I should be ok. I am already on the first color change, second skein of yarn and am in the middle of the 12th row.  I can’t show you a picture yet, because it is a gift. 

I am sure that my family approves of my stash diving for a new project.  I hope to use at least 6 skeins up in this project. There were about 15 in the bag.  The remaining yarn will be used for cotton scarfs. Yes, I currently have 2 of those going along with 2 hats. Go me. Use more yarn. Stash dive.

I also went shopping yesterday and found 3 pairs of pants in a smaller size. Hopefully they will remain a good size for a couple of months.  

Life Happens

 Well this week has been interesting to say the least. Friday I dropped my favorite tea cup when my silly arthritic hands lost my grip on the cup. Apparently it dropped at the perfect angle to fracture into many pieces. The fantastic news is that is was empty at the time.  I will also never have to wash it again. The question remaining, is will I be able to “Keep Calm and Carry Yarn”? The cup has permanently retired from carrying tea. I think it will be hard for me to stop carrying yarn.

Speaking of tea, yes I was speaking about tea. I have discovered that at my current age I will no longer be able to drink caffeinated iced tea with dinner. It called for Tums tonight. Maybe I should just carry some herbal tea with me and ask for hot water and a cup. Otherwise it will be iced water with lemon. 

I also figured out while I was having trouble with my spinning wheels. The very good news is that is was not me. It was a positioning problem. With my Cubii2, I needed a 2 inch cushion on my spinning chair to be in the best position. The only problem is that my spinning chair is the perfect height to spin with , without the cushion.  Yes, that’s why they call it a spinning chair. So today I removed the cushion. I filled 1 bobbin with merino wool. I then plyed that bobbin with raw silk for a beautiful skein of yarn. 

This is my first skein of yarn for Spin Together 2022. Since I used a commercial raw silk yarn for the plying I could only count the 366 yards of the merino.  You will notice that it is a thick and thin art yarn. I have 2 more bobbins to ply that won’t count for Spin Together 2022. The yarn will be a Shawl with the pattern  Count 1,2,3,4. Yes it is one of my designs. You can get the pattern from Raverly, LoveCrafts.com or your local yarn store. Have a good rest of the weekend. 

A Little Yarn Destash

 A little yarn destash has never hurt a knitter.  The yarn I am destashing today knit up well for a super wash wool. However after about the 5th time through the washer and dryer. Which this wool was supposed to handle with ease, it started felting and getting that burnt nylon crackle.  

I will not be replacing this yarn with any other yarn.  Instead I will diligently work through the yarn in my stash. Once I am down quite a few projects, let’s say in the few hundreds I might consider adding more yarn. Well I might get a skein here or there after all it’s yarn.

With the return on time invested on my last destash sale, I will be skipping that this time. Now that I have had a few minutes to rest and have some water.  I am loadings the three 64 gallon bags and the smaller 2 shoe box bag ( about 6 cubic feet of yarn in total) into the back of my car.  Then it’s off to Goodwill.  

If I have the energy I might just sneak into Target for some frozen vegetables and almonds on the way home.  

Passing Supplies On and More

 Today I filled the back of my car with quilting supplies, mostly fabric  to give to a friend. I even gave her a few storage containers to put the fabric in.  There was more in the back seat too. I did not realize that fabric  had gone up to $15 a yard. So I came home and started going through the rest of my quilting fiber to see what I really won’t use in the near future. It will give 3 church groups fabric to make blankets for those in need. It will make John happy and give me more space. We are going for less is more around here lately. 

At guild today I also gave away 4 more knitting bags each with a skein of yarn to make a scarf for Operation Gratitude.  Less is more.  For those counting that totals 6 less knitting bags.  4 less skeins of yarn and 2 unfinished blankets. 

Talking about less. I have 1 less UFO ( unfinished object ) Yesterday I finally finished a scarf in the Fisherman’s Wife pattern on Raverly after over 4 years. It was a cool 89f when I finally finished it last night.  It fits perfectly.  It is going into a drawer until the end of October when it gets cooler in Tucson.  Next time I make it I will use a solid color to show off the cables better. 

Spin Together Day 4

 You might have read or seen pictures of all the mini art batts that I made a few months ago in a bid to get my fiber stash under control.  Well I do have my first empty box that I am filling up with hand spun yarn.  I have 4 skeins of yarn in the box I emptied.  As per Spin Together rules I have 552 yards.  Each time the fiber goes through the spinning wheel orifice it counts, so  if I spin 2 singles and ply them together I multiply the total yards times three. To get my actual yardage simply divide the above number by 3.   

I also have 1 skein waiting to be plyed and am currently spinning one of the larger batts. I did not get much spinning done today.  I usually slack off after an eye doctor appointment.  Somehow getting my eyes dilated just discombobulates me so I always sleep afterwards.  I can knit while I am asleep, but I have not been able to learn to spin while sleeping.  I am really hoping to have a second box of batts emptied by noon on Saturday when the contest ends.  Wish me luck.  As you all know it depends solely on how my hands are doing in any point of time.   

All the art batts are going into hand woven scarfs.  The mohair with the exception of the pink skein will go into a shawl for me.  I really did not consider that losing the weight, inches and sizes would mean that I would need new shawls in smaller sizes.  I just assumed that they would fit me better. Some fo,

but most are looking a bit awkward.  That will be for after the contest.  

My Local Yarn Shop

 I woke up feeling fantastic today.  I had a good day and taught 1 knitting class.  I got help from Michael in fixing my Lendrum Spinning Wheel, the squeaky footman are gone.  If you are in Tucson or just passing through Michael at Grandma’s Spinning Wheel can help you with most of your spinning wheel problems.   Also for those of you who plan to do the Steven West Make along shawl, Sandy the fantastic in house dyer at Grandmas Spinning Wheel has dyed up several different colors that have been put together in sets for your convince.  If you would like to choose your own colors that is an option too.  This is something that needs to be done as soon as possible because Sandy is dying the yarn to order.  

If you are in Tucson the group will meet in Friday’s at the shop.  If you are in an area without a Local Yarn Shop you can still get together with friends for this make along.  You can also order your yarn from Grandma’s Spinning Wheel for your project.  

Just to let you know, Grandma’s Spinning Wheel has a large selection of yarns, fibers, weaving supplies and notions for all. Just use the link for you shopping convince.  

Happy Fiber crafting to all.  

2 Out Of 3

 2 out of 3 fingers on my right hand are doing much better.  They are almost usable for knitting again.  I was able to go through some of my fiber stash and do a bit of stash busting.  I have a full laundry basket to go.   I managed to card 3 mohair batts.  I also reorganized part of my fiber stash closet.  It no longer resembles Fibber McGee and Molly’s closet. Nothing will fall down when the doors are opened.  I can even do some easy kitchen stuff.  Just don’t ask me to chop an onion  or do dishes by hand yet.

What I had a hard time with was drying my hair. Halfway through I needed to use both hands to hold the dryer wand, the kind with the hair brush built in.  My hair survived.  With the laundry sorting the wet clothes was easy as was doing the hand wash.  What I found hard was putting the wet clothes on hangers.  

I still did a lot of resting today.  This flare up has been less than lady like.  This morning it was 10 minutes of work and 30 minutes of rest.  By this afternoon it was an hour of work followed by a 2 hour nap and I am still exhausted.  I think the stress from the roof leaks, yes that’s multiple leaks and the dampness of the Monsoon was just too much stress on my body.  

I am not ready for knitting yet, however; if my hand feels better tomorrow I might try some weaving or plying some yarn.  I have a box of mini skeins and 4 bobbins that need to be emptied and plyed. The picture below is the latest update to the fiber closet.  I know it will still look very messy to most, but some of you will notice a huge change.  There are only 2 bags of fiber left on the top shelf.  

The Baskets

 

These are the 2 baskets I was talking about last night.  The one on the left is mainly filled with small samples of yarn spun on one of my herd of drop spindles.  The one one the right is filled with odds and ends of warp from years of weaving.  Between the 2 baskets I am hoping to weave a lot of one of a kind scarfs. My hope is that none will be exactly alike.  By the end of summer I hope that both these baskets will be empty.  

I originally got these baskets for knitting projects because they are so roomy.  With a whole lot of weaving and a lot of luck that will happen again. You may also notice that the basket on the left has color coordinated  bags of yarn. If I have just a little yarn left after a scarf or 2 is finished, I can just add the next color pack to my working bowl of yarn.  

Scarf number one is finished and in the to go to the clothing bank bag.  I am almost finished weaving scarf number two.  Of course I am using weaving to break up my knitting, spinning, carding and chores.  I am hopeful that this will prevent body from burning out.  

Knitting Scrappy Hats

I have finished six scrappy hats since May 15. It seems that the scrap yarn is multiplying. For every hat I make there just seems to be more yarn left to knit.  The yarn scraps are from other hats that didn’t require a full skein of yarn. I take all the partial skins and put them in one or two bags depending on the size of the skeins of yarn. This often leads to more than one hat being on the needles at a time. I currently have two scrappy hats in progress.

Maybe I shouldn’t of waited until the bags were overflowing before I started knitting the scrappy hats.  In the picture below you will see the two current hats in progress and the two bags of scraps. I really want to get to knitting other hats, but this will only lead to more partial skeins and more scrappy hats.  So I will trudge on and try to finish as many scrappy hats as I can.  I don’t think it will be more than a dozen more hats before the bags are empty. Then I will go back to knitting full skein hats until the bags fill up again. This seems to be my endless cycle.

This is how I am spending my COVID19 summer vacation. What interesting things are you doing?