More Scarfs Equals Less Yarn Stash

 More scarfs are on my knitting agenda. This bag is full of bulky wool and cotton yarn. Since I don’t need it for sweaters I think I’m going to use the yarn for knitting scarfs.  This is also a great stash buster project.  These will make great Scarfs for the students who need them. I will also have 14 less skins of yarn in the house when I am finished with this bag. I can usually knit a bulky scarf and an evening.

The down side is I will Probably need to start another bag for hats and scarves for the kids. Although Teri and John will agree that this will not be a bad downside.

 

An Update

 I am nearing completion of the next two blankets.  One in cotton and the other in super wash wool.  Pictures to follow when they are completed. The next 2 blankets will both be cotton. One is going to possibly be a new design and the other was slipped into to my knitting basket at Knitting Guild, by the way that is a big No-No.  Don’t assume that someone will finish your project for you because you ran out of yarn and ideas. 

I am still having arthritis issues which are messing with my sleep schedule.  Not to mention it’s pollen season in Tucson.  Even with allergy medicine, I still have issues. Even with all that happening, I am managing to buck the COVID19 trend of gaining 2 pounds a month.  All I know is the last week of April I can go clothes shopping.  I am in need of almost everything in smaller sizes.  I am going to hold off ordering more clothing online so I can get some up to date clothing.  I really hope the spring fashions are not going to be a bust.  

The Scarf Pictures as Promised

 As promised.  My first charity scarf for 2021.  The pattern is called Stash Dive Scarf by Summer Lee Design Company.  It is available on Raverly. Mine used 9 skeins of yarn.  6 skeins of worsted weight yarn and 3 skeins of sock yarn.  I did not follow the pattern to a T, but instead had fun with my colors.

I am showing 2 photos. The first folded over like it was being worn. The second to show off the colors that I used. This scarf was so fun to do that I started another one yesterday and have  20 inches out of the 60 knit.  The next scarf is a different color combination.  It takes me about 6 days to knit, the same amount of time as a blanket.  The kave just about the same square footage.  This will be going to a boarding school on the Navajo Reservation in the fall.  

This is my 25 completed project for 2021  I am ahead of schedule.

24 Percent

 With the last blanket being finished it means that I have 24 out of 100 projects finished for 2021. At this point I really wish that I had made a sizable dent in my yarn stash, but alas the answer is a solid no, not yet.  So the 3 blankets used about 27 balls of yarn.  With about another 10 blankets to go that another 90 skeins. So with 13 blankets it will only use about 127 skeins.  With another 14 skeins of yarn for the hats that brings it to 141 and I think it was 10 for the shawl 151 skeins used this year.  I was really hoping for a much bigger dent in volume of yarn around the house.  I thought I would have at least one empty yarn tub by now.  Sigh..

Have you noticed that the estimate of blankets left to knit keeps going up to?  With all that said here is blanket number 3.  By the way with the 1st box of blankets almost full, with a lot more to knit, John graciously agreed to help deliver them. I added a prayer shawl that I knit and a couple of blankets someone gave for me to donate to a good cause.   

In case you were wondering the pattern is one of mine called Modular Baby Blanket.  You can get the pattern at you local yarn store, www.ravelry.com and www.love crafts.com.  It will be under Sheri Karobonik Designs.  It’s a great stash buster project because each square can be a different color.  So far I have only knit this in cotton, although other worsted weight yarn will work also.  Just remember if you start with cotton all the yarn must be cotton. If you knit with wool all the yarn must be wool.  This would also apply to man made fibers too. 

Finally Finished

 Well finally finished applies to 2 projects. First is the remodel of the craft room. We just moved a whole lot of stuff around. I also got rid of some stuff. From where my rocking chair sits, I can not even see the store room supplies.  I also reorganized the supply shelf’s and found room for some craft supplies.  

The next blanket is finished. However, by the time it dried there was not enough light for a good picture.  So that will happen tomorrow.  I am also going stash diving tomorrow to see if I have a few skeins of a certain shade of blue for the current blanket. If I don’t have any more, I will just mix up the colors some more.  

Spring Cleaning and more...

 I spent part of the last 2 days doing spring cleaning. I decided to tackle the storage room.  I started by emptying the big storage shelf. Then I had John help me move it to a different place. That involved unscrewing one bookcase from the wall and moving it 1 inch to the left. Thank goodness I did not have to empty the bookcase too.  

Today I started out cleaning and organizing the kitchen pantry. I do this every spring. I toss the expired food.  Put the still good but what was I thinking to a box to rehome when I am finally finished.  Then I started loading the shelf in the soon to be partially recovered craft room.  

This afternoon I listened to Hillybilly Eldgy by J.D. Vance while I finished the 3 rd charity blanket of the year.  I will photograph the blanket after it is washed tomorrow.  I got the center square done on the next blanket.  I am on a slow roll here.  

A Sad Anniversary

 Today March 10, is the one year anniversary of the last time we ate out.  I have not been in a grocery store for a few days longer.  My much anticipated craft room has turn into storage and a quarantine area.  It is not comfortable to sit in my favorite rocker and knit. I no longer spin in there either. 

All I seem to do is figure out where to order in our supplies from. Clean house. Do laundry. Cook. Knit hats and now blankets.  Yes, I did have a yarn stash built for the proverbial pandemic. I am making small dents in it. Every 2 hats is about 2 skeins gone, I have knit 20 hats so far this year. Now blankets use a lot more yarn between 5 and 10 skeins per blanket.  I am trying to use up bits and pieces so hopefully a bit more yarn is gone.  The shawl I made used about 15 skeins. So I have used about 45 skeins so far this year. It is all going to be delivered to charity sometime this year. My goal is lots of empty boxes and bags of yarn and more boxes and bags of finished knitted items.  

I still feel very useless. As if life said I am making you redundant.  The sense of isolation is getting worse. Even when fully vaccinated I fear we will still be quiet limited in what we can really do. This is not how I planned to spend my retirement. I have not felt this alone and isolated since Eric died.  

So I try to get dressed nicely every day. Although this to is getting harder since I have dropped about 3 dress sizes this year. I am really tired of wearing shifts and skirts that have ties so I can take them in without sewing. My Goodwill box is getting fuller again. I am also slowing down in the speed at which I get things done.  Chores seem to be done in spurts.  

To plan John’s special dinner tonight, it involved shopping at 3 different stores and planning out delivery times. I also had to pray that between the 3 stores I could get everything I needed.  2 stores were out of bananas and tomatoes. I play grocery roulette every week.  Some weeks I am lucky, some weeks not so much. 

I guess this is a very long winded way of saying that I am tired and stressed out by COVID19.  I am tired of seeing people acting dumb.  I need to be around more creative people. I need to chat with friends.  

I know a lot of this sounds positive, but I don’t feel positive about it.  I am not really doing anything worth while. I really need my old life back.  

Finished

 Need I say more about the 100% cotton charity blanket?  Yes, I am working on the next 2. I am not sure what will be finished first.  

The Next Blanket

 I finally finished the next blanket tonight.  Tomorrow it will get washed, dried and bagged.  

One Blanket Down

 I finally finished knitting one blanket. It will get washed and blocked tomorrow.  I am a third of the way through the next blanket in the basket. I have 2 inches to finish knitting on the first strip. Then I will start the next strip. This is the first of two blankets with 3 different size 8 inch blocks.  Yes, I have another one of those too. We as knitters either have to standardize what an 8 inch block actually is or all use the same rulers. My take on an 8 inch block is 8 inches wide by 8 inches in length. On the next 2 blankets I have six different sized  8 inch blocks.  So I will be knitting a lot of strips. Sewing them together.  Then adding Crocheted boarders.  

I also started spring cleaning today.  I started in the kitchen.  I cleaned for 1 1/2 hours and napped for 3 hours.  I am sincerely hoping that this is still the surgery recovery process. If it’s not I might have to admit that I am not 30 anymore.  

I need to get a good nights sleep.  Tomorrow we will be hunting down tree killing mistletoe and removing it.  Since we have a dumpster bag we will also get some junk out of the garage. The word of the day tomorrow is Zenning.  

Ahead of Schedule

 I decided in the beginning of January that 100 knitting projects was a reasonable amount of knitting for 2021.  About one project for every 3 or 4 days. I am trying not to over use my hands.  At the same time I am trying to finish my UFO’s and do a major stash down.  At the same time making sure I have at least 5 dozen hats for the Flowing Wells School District Clothing Bank.  I have a lot of knitting wishes for the year. 

To that end I choose a basket with three partially finished blankets this week.  I finished the fourth missing square for the first blanket tonight. I will sew together the blanket tomorrow.  Then add the edging by picking out the 3 main colors and adding a Crocheted boarder. Then it will be washed, bagged and labeled.  I have started a box for a local nursing home for the blankets and shawls.  

Tonight I pick up the second blanket from the basket. I decided not to make a whole bunch of squares, but instead make 3 strips. I am doing this because the three blocks that are finished are different sizes.  So as long as the strips are the same length, I should be golden.  This means less sewing too. That is the problem with having a blanket project made by so many different people.  The thing is that even though five other people worked on the  two blankets I an knitting the majority of the squares.  Note to self never ever do this again.  

I will also go stash diving tomorrow to find stash yarn that will go with the second blanket.  I am really hoping that I will not have to buy yarn to finish the second blanket.  I do have a lot of cotton yarn in my stash. Wish me luck. I am hoping to find dark blue and purple.  A turquoise blue, and medium blue and purple.  I already have the white, I just pulled a cone out.  

Well it’s time to call it a night.  

Keeping Busy, Well Sort Of

 Today I did some deep cleaning. I managed to fill two trash bags. The sad part of today’s deep clean is that it hardly made a dent. I also spent time unpacking deliveries and putting things away. Then only when I was tired did I get to the first thing on my to do list. Reorganizing my dresser.  I used up my morning knitting time and the took a long nap after lunch. 

I am still at the get tired fast stage of recovery.  I wish it would just resolve it self and I can have a full active day again. I am really bad at living life in the slow lane. I am even worse dealing with pain  yes I am back on the Tylenol.  I just have to remember that it is one step at a time. 

After dinner I did manage to get some knitting done. I finished charity hat number 5, then started charity hat number 6 for 2021. This leaves me at 5% of my knitting goal for this year completed.  I wonder if I will be able to exceed my knitting and weaving goal again this year.

Below is hat number 5. I am sure that someone will love wearing it. 

 

Visible progress

 Today I made visible progress. I finished my first hat for 2021. This is the first finished knitting project I have completed in 3 1/2 months. My knitting is going very slowly it took me four days to finish this hat. I am happy to say even though my Knitting progress is slower, I am knitting again.  Yes this is the first half of the year for the flowing Wells school district clothing bank. 

Yes, I have other knitting projects that I am knitting for me too.  But they are bigger and more complex. 

Yarn Away

 Today was a relatively good day.  I was feeling good after the aspirin and nap.  I was preparing to yarn bomb a friend.  I started out with a mid sized carrier bag and filled it. Then went and got another And filled it too. So I grabbed a paper grocery bag and filled it too. By then I was half way finished and had 2 empty storage tub’s.  So I dumped the three bags in and continue my yarn de stashing .  By the time I was through I was sure my friend would be mad for giving her so much yarn at once. I had filled a 60 quart tub full of knitting and weaving yarn. Much to my surprise she and her niece were very happy. When they picked it up I wished them a very happy knitting and weaving time.  John is also very happy too.

With the progression of the arthritis in my hands and all the hand surgeries my burn through rate of yarn is way down. Long gone are the days that I could knit through 45 quarts of yarn in a month. Let alone 13 ponchos in a month.  With that in mind I am starting to curate my fiber stash and make sure I really want and love the yarn.  To day was a first cut. I still have 6 more weeks of no knitting.  I am pretty sure it will not be a hat a day speed when I restart my knitting. So to that end I will be working on gasp, some projects for me. I have some sweaters, shawls, tops, and socks in line.  I am not sure how much more weight I will lose, but since it has been a steady 10 pounds a year I think I will be able to wear the clothing for a while or at least be able to take it in,  

This will be a huge change from the last 20 years of knitting where 95% or more in any given year was for charity.  I will still do charity knitting and weaving, but it will not be my main focus for a while. This has been a year of many changes and my life has been turned upside down and inside out all at the same time. In a couple of days it will have been a whole year since we lost Eric. I feel blessed that we had him for so many years. It does not seem possible that a year has passed. The world is a little less gentle since he left.  Then just as we were feeling almost normal COVID19 hit.  That turned our world upside down again.  I am not sure what life has in store for me, but a little guilt free me time is in order even if we are stuck at home for the foreseeable future.  

Hats and More

 I am busy knitting scrappy hats for the kids. I decided not to pull a big tub out for the small leftover bits of yarn this year.  When I reached 2 project bags full of small balls of yarn it was scrappy hat time. I am almost 3/4 way through the first bag.  I finished my 75th hat for the year tonight and have 3 more in progress on the knitting needles.

I am also on a spinning binge. I am currently using the last of my Louet Victoria bobbins. I suggested to John that he make me a few more. He gently suggested that I ply and skein up the yarn to get more bobbin space. So after I finish filling my last bobbin, I will set up my Louet Victoria for plying.  

You all know that this will lead to more weaving of shawls and scarf's. I am not sure what I will do with most of them, as I do not see any art shows or gallery showings in my future.  Oh well, it's not like we have any travel plans in the near future.  I have got to keep myself busy.  Besides shawls, hats and scarfs take up less space than fiber or yarn.

Even More Hats

 The next 15 hats are finished.  This brings me up to 70 hand knit hats for the year, of which 65 go to the kids clothing bank. This batch is all cotton. 

Bingeing Again

 Well I am bingeing on hats again. It was over 107f today.  What else can I knit in the heat? I am knitting at least one hat a day. I also have 3 hats currently in progress. One in the knitting room. 2 in the den. All the hats are being knit on different sized knitting needles with different yarn weights.  Which begs the question, do I have enough 16 inch knitting needles in enough sizes? Double pointed knitting needles are not a problem, I have 2 boxes full of them.  The answer might just be no.  

Number 50

My 50th project for 2020 was a charity hat and the 41st hat I knit this year. I have used about 75 skeins of yarn and have not made a dent in my yarn stash.  So I will keep knitting.

Today’s Hat

May I present hat 13 - 2020.  I am almost out of this grouping of purple yarn.  More colors to come.  Also don’t worry about the knitting needles or stitch markers, hat 14 - 2020 has been cast on and is 2 1/2 inches in.  I go to 7 inches before my decrease begins.

Day 17 of COVID19 and Counting

The dress I wore today is 2 inches longer than the last time I wore it.  I don’t think it can be classified as an Empire Waist dress anymore either, you guessed right that seam is a good 2 inches below where it needs to be. 

On the knitting front I have decided that I need simple knitting that I can do in my sleep.  I am just so stressed by the uncertainty and people not doing the right thing.  So I pulled out this basket of yarn which will be made into hats and maybe a few scarfs.  I want to finish it before the end of April, yes we will still be home for all of April too.  I will show each hat as it is finished. I really hope we will be able to go out by mid June.