The Attack on the Sewing Room Has Begun

 To day I decided to attack UFO’s and repair work in the sewing room.  First on the list was putting the final seam into 2 dog pillows.  

Next on the agenda was to make a personal scrap bag for my personal sewing, weaving and other fiber arts of my own creation.  The bag is no longer empty.  

Next on the agenda, to repair 3 bags that I bought at Follow Your Heart in California when I started living on my own.  I bought 1 new bag every paycheck for a total of 3 canvas shopping bags.  The first bag was easy. I just pulled out some scrap fabric and cut a small square out. I found matching thread. Then patched a small hole.  The second and third bags took me a few minutes to figure out.  Once I had figured out how to replace the handles without changing the structure of the bag the work went quickly. After I finished the second bag I ran into dinner time. So bag number three will be completed tomorrow.  

Below is a pile of most of what I completed today.  

A Hectic Life

 My life has been very hectic lately.  I feel like I am running in so many directions with many different goals competing for my time. 

 I am in the final planning stages for combining my sewing and knitting rooms together. Which means that I am getting busy doing all the mending. Finishing projects that have been started.  Going through everything in the sewing room to see what is leaving and what needs to be temporarily stored in the garage. Thank goodness I have spent months on the knitting room. The knitting room is ready to be packed up once I get our new designer updated with some minor changes.

We will then have to pack up the room. Remove the bookcases to be rehoused.  Move the metal rack into the garage. The plastic boxes will not be rehoused until after the new room is completed.  We need to do some electrical work. Remove Eric’s old lift. Then paint the room.  Hopefully that will coincide with the delivery and set up with the new room.  

Right now I am in the process of deciding what long term projects that I am giving up entirely, including but not limited to dog pillows. The dog pillow project started as a way to keep my yarn scraps out of the land fill. Then other people heard about the project and started giving me their scraps of yarn, fiber and batting.  Over the years it has morphed out of control.  Then I stopped the project cold during Covid. Friends started giving me their scraps again.  With in a few months I filled two 32 quart containers with scarps.  I made an entire dog pillow today.  It was just too much physical exertion for me.  So considering that as long as my husband and I have been together we have never owned anything but goldfish with our daughter.  I am humbly requesting that someone take over this project.  The pillows are very easy to put together.  It just takes time and energy that I no longer have.  I can even write a blog post with the directions.  I have to put myself and my health first.  

It is now time to call it a day.  TTFN. 

A Recovery Day

 Today we did a recovery day.  Yesterday afternoon we got our annual Covid19 vaccination. My arm did not hurt until this morning.  Yesterday I caked 5 skeins of yarn which helped with the soreness. It was a lot of work considering 1 skein had to be done twice.  

My body has almost recovered from my big yarn de stash. Now I am going to be taking smaller steps with the reorganization of the knitting room.  Also I am no longer going to be making mass quantities of dog pillows. I have other things that I would like to spend my energy on.  So if you have been saving scrap wool for me consider using your scraps to make your own dog pillows to drop off at the animal shelter. I can share my pattern with you. 

If you would consider getting your Covid19 shot and about 3 weeks later the flu vaccine it would help make us all healthier this winter.  

Dog Pillows

 The last of the dog pillows for 2023 we’re finally finished this morning. I think that I will have time next week to drop them off at the shelter.  These are some of the nicest that I have made.  I have also changed the way I do the final seams which gives the pillows a more finished look.  

Busy is Good

 I had a busy day today.  I traded in some books for store credit at Bookman’s on Speedway. I used my credit to add 4 more pairs of socks to my charity project for next winter.  Then I dropped off the ai fryer we decided not to keep to a local charity Youth on Their Own.  Then it was off to lunch and knitting with a friend.  

Four dog pillows got stuffed and all I need to do is seam them up.  Then one of us will drop the pillows of at the animal shelter.  I am on the last 3/4 of an inch on a hat before I start the crown.  I am not going to update you on all my works in progress, but there are quite a few.

Tomorrow I need to do the laundry that I ignored all week. Then some general house cleaning and organizing.  Just maybe I can fill another couple of bags to take to Bookman’s on River.  I probably need to start another goodwill box too.  

Have a happy and productive day.  

A Head Start on 2024

 Since I have delivered all my charity knitting projects it seemed like a fantastic time to start work on the holiday knitting for 2024.  So I already started the big Ziplock XXL bag with a pair of socks and these 2 scarfs.  

Now it’s time to make some dog pillows.  My yarn scrap bin is overflowing.  So it is off to the sewing machine for me.  I think I will make a few extra cases this time.  

Leaving the House

 The next batch of 6 dog pillows stuffed with yarn scraps are going to the dog shelter.  The dog pillows are a great way to keep yarn scraps out of the land fill and benefit my community too.  

I got my stress cleaning out of the way early today. I have only done a couple of hours today. But it’s not even 11 a.m. yet, do the day is still early.  

Now if I could just distress and relax.

UFO Day and Wishful Thinking

 I am declaring tomorrow, Wednesday to be UFO Day.  I have at least 10 projects that need 30 minutes or less to finish up.  Six dog pillows that just need a 6 inch seam closed.  Then 4 knitting projects that are almost done.  The scarf on the loom has at least 4 hours to finish, so it may not get done.

 Of course there will be laundry too, but let’s face it the washing machine and dryer do most of that work.  Now what I need is some very cleaver engineer to make a system where I put the sorted load in one end. Out will come the clean wet clothes that need to be hung up on hangers. Then put the wet clothes on the clothes line. The rest of the clothes sent to the dryer to be hung up or folded depending upon the article of clothing.  The folded clothes will go neatly into a basket and the clothes on hangers will go directly to the clothes line to be put away later. Of course all the socks will be matching and folded too. Now how hard could that be with all those and/ or variables? Easy peasy right. We just have not asked for it yet. 

Then I can going with my last minute holiday gift projects.  

Busy Again

 I was busy today.  I finished 2 more dog pillows before breakfast. Went to lunch and knit with a friend.  Truth be told we brought our lunch back to the house, it was even too hot for a patio with misters.  Worked on a new pattern and got past the half way point and color change. Did some random cleaning. Grocery shopping. All this dispute my body and a heat wave.  Tucson peaked out at 110f today. 

I ran out of energy for spinning and tagging yarn.  I am now going to call it an early night.  

Big Steps

 With Christmas in July coming to the Old Pueblo Knitting Guild on July 19th at 9:30 am,  I have been spinning up a storm and deciding which of my current hand spun yarns are going to leave the nest.  With my hand issues still not going away. Add to that my limited time to use my hands daily some big decisions had to be made. I only kept what is currently talking to me.  To that end, I now have over 1 cubic feet of hand spun yarn tagged and ready for the 19th.  I still have a bit more to tag tomorrow.  

When that is done I will come up with a few more simple things that I hope my friends will love.  I also have a bunch of dog pillows to make.  Then those will leave the house too.  I think I might be able to fill my car with dog pillows once I am done.  

I am really hoping we don’t have another summer like 1994 with over 100 days over 100f. On the other hand being just a couple of years older the heat seems to be effecting me a bit more.  I am less heat tolerant.  I am trying hard not to mope and being more proactive on getting things done.  

One last thing.  This is the first batch of Tour De Fleece 2023 newly minted or should I say hand spun yarn.  I had fun spinning it.  

Making Progress

 Today I finished plying 3 mini skeins of hand spun yarn.  I used the drop spindle instead of the spinning wheel because it gives me a better yarn. By this I mean a more balanced twist.  It is so much easier to control the twist.  

I also made a concerted effort to catch up on my back log of making dog pillows.  I made 6 cases. I stuffed 5 and pinned them.  I left 1 by my squirrel cage for all the little bits and pieces I get when caking yarn.  I also cut the fabric for 2 more pillows.  

After all that hand work my hands were just too tired to knit tonight.  Sometimes I feel like a beginner in knitting were projects took months instead of days.  I have about 2 more ounces to knit.  I hope to be finished by Mother’s Day.  I am really ready for my hands to be better.  

Finishing Work

 I don’t know about you but weaving in the ends and doing finishing work often takes a backseat to creating.  Tonight I had an ever growing pile of the evil finishing work.  I decided it was time only because I am currently creating more art the will require finishing work.  It is an evil, vicious cycle.  Create many, many things. Wait until I have a small pile and just sit down and do it.  Repeat.  

You know what comes next, don’t you. Taking pictures and posting to Ravelry. Well that will be tomorrow in better light.  In the meantime please enjoy the group photo.  Three hats for the Flowing Wells SD Clothing Bank, 2 cotton and 1 super wash wool hat made of hand spun yarn.  I hope the kids like the colors. Also 6 coasters woven from hand spun yarn. I wove 7, but one had a major problem not worth fixing so it is going to the dogs for pillow stuffing. Waste not want not.  

Then everything will go in the proper storage bags. 

Dog Pillows

 I had an incredibly bad night, followed by a BBD with a pain level of crying.  I still managed to sew 2 pillows to be filled and filled 2. This leaves me with one pillow to add my yarn scraps to.  The pillows are loaded in the back of my car.  Yes this is the 3rd  charity trip in the last 7 days.  I am on a roll.  I thought I would be able to make more pillows but the green one is very large.  There is just no comparison on the sizes.  Off to the shelter they go tomorrow. 

Almost Done

 Most of the knitting room is finished.  All I have to do is make some dog pillows and do a charity drop off later this week.  I just have to pull out my sewing machine and bring it to the knitting room. The table I use for the sewing machine is currently occupied.  

I am exhausted.  I only had the energy to do four hours of cleaning today.  I hurt down to my finger tips  so I am going to bed early   

After the dog pillows are finished I will start pulling out the cones of yarn for weaving that I don’t think I can use in a reasonable time frame.  I have a feeling it is going to be a lot.  

My biggest project was combining 2 accessory bags into one roll.  I won a Twig & Horn roll up accessory holder. It took me a few hours to work things out. But here is what it looks like.  By the way I just love it. As you can see I did not fill all the pockets but put everything I need in it. You will not be surprised to know that between the 2 bags that I condensed down , I had 5 measuring tapes. Oh, and I did add a pen after I took the picture.  

Thriving Me Nuts and more.

 I just finished the next 3 dog pillows.. All I have to say is thank goodness dogs can’t see in the green range, because I had 2 pillows that were the same pattern but different colors.  No, I am not ripping out the final seam.  At least something is finely finished. I am so use to finishing multiple projects a week.  This not using my hands is driving me nuts..

I guess my sewing is done for the day.  I see lighting is the distance. Unlike my old Kenmore mechanical sewing machine which ran in any weather, my newish BERNINA does not like static discharges. It just messes with the programming. Not to mention it can fry the chip.  Newer innovations are not always better.  

Something else that is driving me nuts is the weather forecasters and the National Weather Service   They have decided that 100 degrees is a heat emergency. I live in the middle of the Sonoran Desert.  Did anyone bother telling them in school that it gets hot in the desert, it’s not unusual for the temperature to stay above 100f for weeks at a time. We usually only used to keep track of days above 110f.    I can really see setting it at 110f or 115f  or above for a heat emergency. I am the 3rd generation of my family to live in the desert. My grandparents came when swamp coolers we brand new technology.  The swamp coolers did not work during the monsoon season, which is our rainy season. For those of you who are not familiar with swamp coolers, they are also called evaporative coolers. The equivalent of blowing air over a bowl of ice cubes to cool off.  My point is that if you don’t like the heat don’t move into the desert because you like our winters.  We just don’t have enough water..

We have always known that we did not have enough water in Tucson. My dads 1st job after graduation from the University of Arizona in 1956 was with the Better Business Bureau to tell people not to move to Tucson, because there was not enough water.  Fast forward to 2021 and low and behold they were right.  We are 20 years into an Epic Draught.  One good year of rain is not going to fix this.  Growth is not always good.  

This blog post is a bit rambling and disjointed.  That is where my mind is now.  The rising COVID19 numbers across the country combined with a very low vaccination rate , means that I probably won’t see my family until spring. But to end the blog on a good note, here are the dog pillows.

Finished Stuff

 This week’s finished projects. 3 dog pillows for the shelter.  1 hat for the kids. 1 blanket headed to the V.A. When I have a box full.  Pictures are here.  the car is loaded for Monday’s delivery of the pillows.  

3 for 3

Today was the third day in a row that we made charity drops.  Today we filled the back of my car to capacity with dog pillows for the animal shelter.  There were 9 in all plus a few odds and ends. Thank to new donation procedures we did not even have to get out of the car. We just popped the hatch and they took what would have been several trips for us. I did not even have to stop knitting. The result is a much cleaner craft room.  Although I still need to vacuum.

I also tried starting my day with a walk around the block, that seemed to help my mood. We also cleaned out part of the garage and put the new patio umbrella up.  All in all a good day.

Moving Forward

After resolving some issues in my mind last night. I was able to move forward today.  I made some crafting decisions like if I make rag rugs in the future, I will just order the supplies needed.  The reasoning behind this is takes an awful lot of work to turn old t-shirts into useable weaving fiber.  People love the idea of a recycled rag rug, but the don’t want to spend more than $20 or so one one.  Because I was using some recycled material they think that they should be able to pay less, but the warp alone usually runs about $20.  If I am going to work at a loss it has to be better than decorating someone else’s house cheaply.  So the t-shirts were torn up for dog pillows.   

I did manage to sew 2 face masks and start 3 dog pillows. I think I can get a few masks sew every day too.   I should be able to get at least 6 or 8 dog pillows done with this batch.  Yes, I called the Humane Society and they would love more of my pillows.  I don’t even have to go inside to drop them off.  I have also gathered enough yarn to make 2 cotton scrappy hats for the clothing bank.  The next hat has a rolled brim. 

I also think that it is time to create a spreadsheet for grocery shopping and what we have in the house.  I think the Excel Spread Sheet should work.  Well another busy day tomorrow.  Stay safe.  

Dog Pillows

I finished the 9 dog pillows for left over fabric. I sure hope that the dogs like Mickey Mouse. They are going to the shelter tomorrow.

Then I cleaned up the craft room. All I have left to do is vacuum. Lower the Murphy bed and make it.  Then the guest room will be ready.

Still Sick

I am still home sick. I am a little less tired, but the arthritis kicked in with vengeance today, so it was another slow day. I rested most of the day again.

I did manage to fill 9 dog pillows and they are awaiting their final seam. Maybe in the effort to declutter John will take them to the shelter for me. Unfortunately I still have more dog pillow stuffing. I really thought that 3/4 of a bolt of fabric was going to be enough with one or two left over. No such luck.  So after the holidays I will make the next batch of pillows. It is company season so I want to wrap things up by tomorrow. The craft room must become the guest room.

Is am working on a new blanket pattern.  I wonder if I can get the knitting, pictures and pattern done by Christmas? Will my hand hold up under the stress? Please join me in saying how much you hate arthritis too.

Well it’s time to call it a night.