Monday Where Did You Go?

Monday was a very busy day around here. We had a couple of appointments followed by  errands. This left me pretty tired. So I can't figure out for the life of me why after I picked Eric up from his day program I decided to start cleaning the garage. I was dressed in a skirt and blouse for the earlier appointments, not dressed for cleaning. I also forgot to put an apron on.

Thirty minutes latter John and I had made a very small dent. We had filled 1/2 of empty recycling bin, you know the big on that rolls out to the street. Added more to the garbage can and the charity bin. We were even able to move 5 storage boxes from useless piles to easy access. This might not seem like a big deal, but it gave me a better idea of which yarn was going to be used up next in my yarn stash down challenge.

I am just thinking that it will only take a couple of dozen more hats and scarfs before I can refill the cotton basket with more one of a kind skeins of yarn to make more hats and scarfs. This will intern make more room inside for yarn to come from the garage to used. Looking around the house and garage it seems to me that I am about 50% of the way done in my goal of having yarn in only one area of the house with none in the garage.

The only thing that is really hindering my stash down process is my need to spin more yarn. To that end I will try to list a few skeins of yarn either on my Raverly stash down page or my etsy shop. Either way I will add links to my blog.

Another Big Change

Today I spent the day making bibs. Most were baby or toddler size.  I have started clearing out others peoples dreams of what I should be doing with my life. Even others peoples dreams of the next big money maker. If it really was a big money maker why were they not doing it for themselves? Why did I need to do it? I will be finishing half done projects and clearing them out of the house. I will try to spend 1 day a week doing this.  In this new phase of my life I will only take on  new projects that I want to do. I want to spend time exploring my creative side. I can not accomplish this by doing unpaid work that other people think I should be doing. I will pick my own charity projects.

The upside of all of this is that I will have more space for the things I want. By sewing the bibs today I have cleared 1/2 of a shelf in the craft room.  Less is really more.  I will also have a lot of different things that can be used by the Taglit Day Program for fund raising at the Tucson JCC to benefit Eric and his friends.

So to sum up this change a succinctly as I can here goes. If your name is not Teri, John, Eric, Lisa or Matthew. If you are not the Taglit Day Program at the Tucson JCC. If you are not a charity near and dear to my heart. The answer to most unpaid inquires will be no. I will not buy the supplies. I will not drop everything to get your project done and fall behind on things that really need to get done. After so many decades on this earth I will not be every one's go to  person who always says yes.




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Changing Directions

I think it is time for me to change directions. After what seems like years of knitting in the range of 100 to 200 items a year for charity, I need to knit some things for me. I have at least 3 sweaters that I need to finish or start. I have shawls, mittens and accessories that I would like to have. I have the yarn and the patterns lined up. I am thinking some where in the 50 project range. I have a blanket for Teri that is 2/3's done that I started in her first year of law school. I want to make John a new quilt. I have fluff that I want to spin. I want to work on weaving. I want to design more patterns. I need to exercise more.

Eric's life has become more unpredictable. He is requiring more care on our part. I feel stressed out that he is not up to going on many outings. That use to be a big part of our lives.  He just does not have the energy.  I feel that I am spending my life in catch up mode. I need to take time for me. It is time for a change.

As Eric's life becomes more unpredictable I am having a harder time being as artistic as I would like. I can't do as many have suggested just to block off regular time each day to create. I never know when I am going to be up until all hours with Eric. I never know how many days it will take Eric or I to recoup, or how many days he will be at his day program. I always wonder if  I can recoup my energy before Eric gets the next cold. Yes, we always know it is just a matter of time before the next cold hits.

This does not mean that I will stop working on charity projects. This just means that it will no longer be my main focus. I want to spend more time creating. So a few times a week I hope just to post pictures of my latest projects. I am hoping that by taking some of the pressure off myself to make the world a better place at all cost, I will instead try to make my little corner of the world a better place.

So the new journey begins.....

Scrapy Hats

I think I will be knitting Scrapy Hats for at least another 6 months. My goal is to knit through all my odd balls of yarn before I move on in my night time knitting.  I have knit 81 Scrapy Hats since mid October. Yes I have another one half knit. 

To give you an idea of how many odd balls I have to knit through, I am including a picture of just about 1/3 of what I have degisnated for hats. Take in mind that this is after 81 hats. This is only 2 bags. I have  at least 2 more to go after these are empty.  I have already emptied 2 bags. 

Thank goodness I have people lined up to distribute these to kids in need.  We'll it's time to get in a few more rounds before bed. 

Change is Coming and Things are Leaving the House

My deep cleaning spree seems to be over.  I got most of today's cleaning done in less than an hour. So it seems I must now come up with a routine that will keep moving between 2 and 4 hours a day.  I need to do this without getting bored. 

I did manage to get 2 more hats finished today. So tomorrow I will drop off a couple more bags of cold weather gear to the same school that I dropped them off at last time.  I wonder how many I can drop off before they say no more.  For those keeping track that's 71 hats finished since the 3rd Thursday in September. By the way I don't think sitting and knitting will not get me the excersize I need. Well it is time to try to finish hat 3 today.  Here is a picture of a few of the hats and scarfs leaving tomorrow.  

Understanding People

Sometimes I really don't understand people. Take yesterday for instance. I listened to a speaker from a local charity. She talked about all the good work her group was doing helping children. this was perfectly acceptable. Then she went on to criticize the very people her group was helping use racial overtones just because the people her charity were helping were not like her.

I would like everyone to remember "That all Gd's children are special ALL the time." and that we are all Gd's children. No matter what your religion or race we all bleed red. No matter your economic standing we all bleed red.

I am not saying that you have to like or agree with all other religions or cultures. The really important thing is that you have to RESPECT all other cultures and religions. All cultures have provision for helping the elderly, frail and less fortunate among us. Not everyone can be the top 1 percent , the math just does not work out that way. So we do have to work together to make this a better world.

In an ideal world we would all have a roof over our heads, food on the table, enough clothing, heat or fire wood for a cold winters night. Even health care. But the world is not perfect and we need to help one another through life. We come into to this world alone and leave this world alone. In between we need to help and care for one another. "For no man is an island".

So as the holidays approach try to be a little kinder. If someone is looks great, tell them. A kind word or action go a long way. Donate things you no longer need to charity, its good for the environment, your closets and your wallet. Live life and treat other people the way you would like to be treated. Yes, it the whole Golden Rule thing. I am an idealist who has been tempered with reality, so come join me in my world for a while.