Rumors Abound

 There are some very disturbing rumors going around that I may have too many unfinished projects scattered around the house. This may or may not be true depending on how you determine if there are too many or too few projects that need to be completed.  

Once completed that will lead to different problems, such as too many empty project bags and baskets.  Drawers overflowing with knitting needles, Tunisian crochet hooks, crochet hooks, bobbins for spinning wheels. Hanks of newly spun yarn needing to be washed and dried. Then woven and distributed. Where to put all the drop spindles?

This may also lead to off schedule donations. A fire place that can actually be seen. Clear counter tops with no baskets overflowing with unfinished projects.  

This will then lead to the question, do I have too many knitting needles and crochet hooks.  There are too many empty project bags.? Do I have too much yarn? Should I limit the amount of projects that I have going at a time.  Some projects are big that require a table or a couch in the winter to finish, but they all started off as little projects and grew. Some projects are small enough to put in my purse or a small project bag.  Should I carve extra double pointed knitting needles into hard to obtain Tunisian Crochet Hooks?

I can tell you with the upmost confidence that all my stashes are smaller than at the beginning of COVID19. I can’t remember if I gave 2 or 3 loads of fabric to Project Linus, Eric would have liked that all his favorite fabrics went to help other sick kids.  50% of my fiber stash was divided between two friends.  Lastly there is very little yarn left in the garage, it used to be stacked to the ceiling.  One truck load went to The Old Pueblo Knitting Guild in Tucson.  I lost count of how much went to the Navajo Nation in Northern Arizona.  Some went to my students and friends.  The empty boxes are still in the garage to transfer things in the storage room to clear boxes for easier identification and access.  

One thing that I know for certain is that I am going to be spending at least 20% of my work time on projects for myself.  After 26 years of knitting hundred’s of projects for charity, I need a few items for myself.  Below is the 1st of 2 Quick Knit Mittens by Jen Hintz.  I love this style of mittens for knitting and eating out in the cold.   Any useful advice will be looked at.  

The Good and the Exasperating

 The good news is I finished 3 more projects so far today. This brings me to 73 out of 100 planed projects completed. If you are thinking like me then you will agree that there is no way I am going to stop at just 100 projects this year.  The only question is how many over 100 I will get finished.  

The bad news is that after so many days of rain, as of right now 4 inches in less than 2 weeks the roof is leaking yet again.  Today I even emptied a closet of fiber to check for leaks.  We found a thermal difference , but not enough to show a leak.  So now it is time to put the fiber away.  

Theo will spend so much needed fiber and relaxation time.  Below is my 73rd project of the year.  A handwoven scarf that will be someone’s holiday present.  

Would You Believe?

 Would you believe that carding batts is this weeks strategy for cutting down my fiber stash. If it is not ready to spin it is harder to use up. Today I spent enough time to card a dozen batts using bits and pieces of fiber to make many one of a kind batts. I also did two bundles with 3 batts each that can be spun together for more yardage.  I have a feeling that I will be changing up my Louet Victoria to accommodate the smaller bobbins for the one of a kind batts. These batts will be spun up and used in scarfs for the clothing bank.  My carder needed a short break so I took a picture of some of the action.  

This is a batt of mohair.  The mohair might not go into the scarfs.  
 

Unintended Cleaning

I was already to go and finish cleaning the craft room today.  I got a little sidetracked and organized my fiber stash instead. At least I can see the difference.

Well there is always tomorrow to clean the craft room.

Tour de Fleece 2016

Today I was going to go through my fluff stash to pick out fiber to spin for this years Tour de Fleece. Instead I just took batts and rovings from the top of the pile. I pulled 900.5 grams of fiber to spin this month. That is a little shy of 2 pounds.  It is a lofty goal considering the state of my hands.  Wish me luck. Here is a first look at the fiber.  The spinning starts tomorrow.  I will even preempt Eric's programming to watch the Tour de France while I am spinning. 

Both guys are still sick. I am hoping that I don't get this crud too.  I am trying to tell myself that I don't have an itchy throat or cough. The talley just keeps going up on who is getting this bug from Eric. A lot of his aides are getting it too. This being a holiday weekend in the states it is hard to find someone that I don't have to train from scratch, so John and I are taking up the slack.  I really hope that everyone is ready to get out the door on Tuesday.  I really need a quite day.  

A Wet Weekend

We had an unusual winter storm this weekend. We got 2.5 inches of rain in 36 hours. Considering that we consider 12 inches of rain a good year, this was an exceptional storm.  I am glad that it was a slow rain so that the cactus and trees had a good deep soak. I also do feel very badly for the riders in the El Tour de Tucson bike race. For those riders going the 111 mile route who did not make it past Sabino Creek before it was closed, I am truly sorry that you did not get to finish your race. I hope that you give us another chance in the future. We would love to have you back. 

Since it was a cold and rainy weekend we stayed home. I have a house full of company coming Wednesday for Thanksgiving so I am working on last minute cleaning.  I also took time to start the next batch of hats. I got 7 done this weekend. 

I also now know what John considers a reasonable yarn and fiber stash. I have a lot of knitting and spinning before I get it down enough. 

I am looking forward to this week, even though I will be super busy. Have a wonderful week.