More Deep Cleaning

OK, so today I actually hired someone help me with the deep cleaning and organizing. At times it really helps to have another craft person to help organize a craft room instead of an engineer. While we were deep cleaning we also managed to get a few quick projects finished and out the door including a 4 foot by 3 foot dog pillow. It is bigger than Eric and very hard to finish. It took 2 of us to get the last seam sewn. I did the sewing and Amber held up the pillow. I also found 2 sets of old soft cloth diapers that needed to be surged in half so that the cleaning rags don't land back in Eric's room as face wipes.

Amber and I also divided the yarn into kits and projects in progress and just yarn. I have officially turned 1 closet into a Fibber McGee closet with fluff.  Sadly all the fluff did not fit in the closet, so I will have to look for more homes. We also separated the weaving supplies out so I know what I have to weave.

Amber and I decided that I was going to be the go to person during the Zombie Apocalypse. I will have all the fiber you could want for a price. We figured that I would have about a year's worth of knitting in my kits and at least 2 years worth of spinning. We did not even take a guess at the weaving supplies.  I also am passing on a sock pattern and using the yarn for something else. A few more balls of yarn were added to the destash bag too.

Still to go through tonight are a pile of patterns. Some from 12 years ago when I started knitting. I also found more knitting books not already on the shelf, so I think a book purge might be in order, but not today. My mind says keep cleaning, but my body says nap. So I will rest until its time to cook dinner. When John called after work, being the great husband that he is,"said that I sounded tired and is bring home dinner." 

The Right Project

This one color way of yarn has been the bane of my knitting for 12 years. It was one of the yarns in a kit I bought. I never finished he project, but used the pattern with other yarns.  Fellow knitters seemed to give it away in spades.  No matter what pattern I used, I was not happy with the results.

Fast forward 12 years and a new skill, Tunisian Crochet. At last a way to make to make this yarn look really, really good. Below is a cup cozy.  So after 12 years I can absolutely say it was not the yarn, it was the project and technique. So I might just have to see how much of this yarn I have and what to make with it.

When Yarn is Knotty

Today I decided to finish winding yarn to set up kits for weaving.  This is what I have to wind on the first skein after 90 minutes.  So I put it aside and started winding a second skein. Yes, there were also to many knots to use the ball winder. Forty five minutes into that skein I am finally out of the knots. I am hoping it gets better from here. 

Tonight I will tag hats so I can get 3 bags of hats to the Flowing Wells Clothing bank next week.  Hopefully I can soon start knitting hats again. I am still working on getting my hand working at optimal effency or at least not hurt so much when I use it.  

A Little Miscaculation

Today is day 2 of the 2016 Tour de Fleece and I have spun half of the 900 grams of I had picked out to last the entire month. I spun 4 batts and 1 batch of roving that I turned into 3 singles today.  So, I went into the craft room to get more batts and roving.  Here is a picture of today's spinning.  

I Cheated

I am not usually the one to really break into any kind of present early. I really enjoy the aniticapation, wondering what is in the box. That said, I knew what John had gotten me for my birthday this year and the box was taunting me to open it. The box won, I could not wait any longer to play with my new WooLee Winder for the Lendrum spinning wheel.  

Well I have to say this, I do not feel guilty about it.  I actually played 2 skeins of yarn and spun another 2 skeins of yarn yesterday.  I have not measured ounce for ounce but to the naked eye it seems to get twice the amount of yarn on the bobbin. I think this may be due to the way the yarn is wound onto the bobbin. I have to say that John really knows how to pick out birthday presents.  Thank you John.  

Squirrel

Today did not go as planned, but it was very productive anyway.  My closet floor got cleaned and a few more things were purged from my closet. My purses were organized, with the larger ones going up on the closet shelf and the smaller ones hanging.  I did not get any spinning or the new pattern posted to Raverly. I did manage to do a bit of knitting though.  

I did manage to get over 13,00 steps on my fit bit today.  That is a little over 5 miles of walking with most of it done doing house work. I also managed to gift 2 project bags and a couple of skeins of yarn.   Eric thinks that I should have given more yarn away.  

I think that I will call it a night so that I can get more things besides sleeping done tomorrow.  

Modular Knitting

Thursday I am going to teach modular knitting at The Old Publeo Knitters Knitting Guild Meeting.  I am currently working on the samples. I will teach 3 different ways to connect the knitted squares so you do not have to do any seaming.  I will also give a brief history of modular knitting.  

So if you are in Tucson on Thursday our meetings start at 9:30 am at St. Phillips Church at the corner of River And Campbell Avenues in the Murphy Hall.  The first 2 meetings are free.  All you need to bring are 2 skeins of Sugar and Cream, one ombré and one solid color skein, US side 7 or 8 by 24" circular knitting needles, a Crochet hook, and a pair of scissors.  Yes, I will weave the ends in as part of my demonstration. I will be teaching the 9 Patch Dish Rag.  Here is the sample that I started tonight.  This is about an hour of knitting so far.  

Knitting and More

Eric is still sick and tommrow is up in the air.  He is currently running a fever. I am hoping that Eric's fever breaks tonight and that he feels better tomorrow. I on the other hand feel much better.  My back is finally starting  to feel better after the December accident. I guess everything gets better In its own time.

On the knitting front my new design is coming out much better than I hoped.  It has a lot of body and swish. I am really loving the Dream in Color Marino Cashmere blend. I also got 8 more inches knit today. This might just be the pattern that will be given at the March Old Pueblo Knitters luncheon and fashion show. I will include a link when the web site is updated.  My plan is to add the second skein of yarn tomorrow. Don't worry this pattern will be suitable for a beginning knitting project.  

The Party is Over

We dropped the kids at the airport this morning.  They have arrived at their destination safely. We then headed to Costco to pick up a few items. We put everything away and finished the leftovers for lunch.  Laundry has seemed to have grow exponently today. 

Now that everything is back to quiet, I plan on finishing the rest of the of decluttering. Most is in Teri's room. The down side of decluttering today so far has been finding more partial yarn skeins that I am using for hats.  So I guess I will be making a few more hats.  By the time the house is done, I hope it will be warm enough to work in the garage.  

The Yarn Sink

I used the yarn sink for the first time this afternoon. I had half a pound of Cherry Tree Hill Roving that I spun and finished plying last night. There was plenty of room in the sink for all the yarn. To speed up getting hot water to the sink I started a load of hot water wash first.  There is some multi tasking that is good.  I like using soak when I wash my hand spun yarn. I will have to come up with another method of thwacking the yarn.  I am afraid it made the whole sink shake and I was worried that I might break the sink. Too bad they did not have a cast iron sink for a laundry sink.  Check with your local yarn shop or Raverly to get some Soak.

A Partial Day Off

Today John only worked a half a day and the contractors were not do until this afternoon. I took the morning to do a little shopping after I dropped Eric off at his program.  Then I spent the afternoon at Grandma's Spinning Wheel.. I got a good 3 ounces spun and managed to relax. 

I also received a donation of yarn today.  Since I knew the knitting guild yarn stash was full, I dropped it off to a group who knit blankets for kids who are trying to stay in school despite being abandoned by their families. They should have enough to knit 3 more blankets.  Did I mention that commercial yarn cones are heavy?   

I am ending the day washing eyrpy laundry..yes, Eric is eyrpy with a sore tummy.  I think I will try to sneak off for a little sleep after I start the 3rd load of laundry for the night.  As it stands at the moment load 1 is in the dryer, load 2 is in the washer and load 3 is pending.  

I think it is time to start knitting scarfs.  

Lace Weight Yarn

I don't know about you but as a newer knitter I got caught up in the lace weight yarn, anyone can knit lace craze.  After all it looked so pretty. Did I mention how soft the yarn was. How the colors looked so pretty.  All you have to do is yarn overs and knit 2 or 3 stitches together. Just follow the chart, yes I did learn to read charts. So I got something out of the craze.  But and this is a big but, nobody told me it could take hours to knit a row without interruption.  If I did get interrupted I would need to rip out part or all of a row, or worse yet have to go back to the life line. Whom ever came up with lace knitting oh so long ago never had a child with the needs of Eric. 

Fast forward to 2015. I have a solution to all my lace weight yarn that I can not seem to resell.  Hats, yes hats.  I found by accident that if I wind the yarn into cakes and pull yarn from both the inside and outside of the cake and knit with U.S. Size 6 knitting needles.  It is a perfect light weight winter hat for climates such as Tucson.  

Here is the first hat in progress.  

Over 800 Yards

I just finished spinning and plying over 800 yards of Merino, Alpaca and Silk today.  Now what should I do with it?  

Just Maybe Catching Up

I just might be just a little ahead with things.  I might only have 20 hats completed so far this month, but I am also completing UFO's that have been on the knitting needles for to long.  Tonight I finished the second panel of a poncho that I started several years ago, all I have to do is the assembly. I am also nearing completion of a second poncho that was started at about the same time.  I am knitting through yarn at a good pace.  I even pulled some yarn out of the garage today, don't get to excited it was only a couple of skeins.  

I have also been doing a lot of cleaning too. Today I tackled the mess behind the treadmill. It was amazing how much either found a new home or got recycled. The yarn I found behind the treadmill will go for hats since I can't remember what I bought it for in the first place.  This is a good thing because the basket I use for wool hats was in need of a refill.  The living room was also worked on today. I have enough room to do some assembly work and not have to move it before I am finished with the sewing.  

I made the mistake of starting to warp the loom when I was sick. Lets just say that I learned my lesson and I should have the issues fixed in a few days and then start weaving a few rugs.   I am also turning that 2 pounds of awful Shetland wool that I spun in to a few rugs too, it is not as soft as I would like for a shawl. 

It is getting late and I have to convince my body that it is time for sleep. Iced tea was not a good beverage choice at 9:30 pm. 

Yarn

I seriously thought that knitting 6 dozen hats would have used a lot more yarn. I guess I will have to knit more hats.  Pictures and row count to follow. 

Playing Catch Up

I am doing a very poor job of playing catch up.  I only got 2 loads of laundry done today. I have not finished a hat, the hat I started tonight is only 1/2 way done. I did not get to the grocery store either. Maybe with more rest tomorrow will be better.

I did manage to drive to Saddlebrook to pick up a donation for the Old Pueblo Knitting Guild. I think I will have lots of happy knitters at the next meeting. I am almost through sorting the 10 garbage bag donation. I see, lots of hats,mittens, scarf's and sweaters in this donation. By the way if you would like to come to the next Guild meeting it is on October 16, 2014. At 9:30 am at Saint Phillips Church Murphy Hall. This is at the corner of River Road and Campbell Avenue in Tucson.

It's time to update my phone then call it a day.

The Craft Room

Today I tackled the craft room.  I did a lot of throwing and managed to fill 1/3 of the recycle barrel. The bright side of this is that I will never have touch those things again.  Then I went through half of the craft bags and managed to empty 4 bags and 2 baskets.  

I also made the hard choice to to deconstruct several projects that were going no where.  I think I have a few more to deconstruct tommrow too. 

The top of the craft cabinet was emptied, dusted and reorganized. I know later in the week I will also have to tackle the drawers too. 

Then I finished 1 doll blanket. Followed by reorganizing the yarn into new project baskets,  mostly for hats. 

My only problem seems to be it is 9:30 at night and all I want to do is keep cleaning.  I guess it would not be that bad to stay up and clean because tommrow is Johns day with Eric. 

Procrastination

In some respects I am a lot like my dad. I get things done promptly no matter how long it takes.  I started this on a drop spindle the day it came in the door, over 2 years ago.  Tonight I finished plying it. This is a wonderful silk and merino blend dyed by Cloudlover.  I see something for me in its future. 

Not as Planned

Today did not go as planned.  Eric has a 5 day vacation from his program.  I wanted to go to the mall and take a walk and do a bit of shopping.  Instead we stayed home.  We watched PBS kids most of the day.  

So I caught up on washing the rest of the yarn from the Tour de Fleece. I caught on laundry the started washing a fleece. This was the dirtiest fleece that I have ever washed. It is still washing now. 

I fixed the the error made in assembling the loom, warped it and started weaving. I have found out that I can not use a 20" shuttle when weaving in Eric's room.  There is just not enough room. Almost 3" are already woven.  

I think my foot was not quite up to as much double treadle spinning as I did last week.  My foot is a little unhappy.  So I will give the Ashford a break for a little longer.  

S to Z or Z to S

In spinning there are 2 ways to spin and ply the yarn.  I was taught S to Z and find it very easy.  I decided to try Z to S. After spinning and plying 5 skeins, just about a pound of roving, of Z to S, I think I will go back to S to Z.  I just find it easier to spin. My hands and fingers just want to work that way.  My yarn is just a little smoother. So here are the pictures as they were washing.