More Changes for 2022

 After many discussions with my family over the past couple of years I am going to change up my knitting style.  I will no longer try to knit more than everyone else. Instead I will do charity projects while John is driving.  I usually work on hats and scarfs while watching television. That will not change.  I will still continue to teach knitting, spinning and weaving as the opportunities present themselves. I will continue to design knitting patterns as the patterns want to be written.  I will cut my knitting goal by 50% to give me time to work on projects for me.  

This is being done because I am not getting any younger.  We also want to preserve my hands and my ability to use them.  Less is going to have to be more.  I will also explore other areas of my creative self.  I will try painting and drawing.  I will do more sewing.  I will do more weaving. I will try not to be singular in my artistic pursuits.  This is also because arthritis really suck’s big time.  After decades of trying to push past the pain, I have nothing let to prove to myself.  I really hate being in pain most of the time. I am hoping that these changes will help in the long run.  

These are just some of the me projects I have lined up. 

A Slow Day

The house painting was finished today. I also finished knitting 2 hats. I am not sure why i am so tired.

More Progress

John got the painting finished today. He got tired of waiting for the contractor to finish. I was trusted to help label the cables for the electronics. Then this evening he and a couple of friends moved the tv to the other side of the room. 

The Kitchen and Craft Room Remodel

The morning started sorting out spinning and knitting magazines and putting them in workable order.  By 10 am I finished with the spinning magazines and put the duplicates in one of the Bookman's boxes. I have more magazines than I thought.  The box that was suppose to hold all the magazines is just about full with the spinning magazines.  This is going to turn into one of those "If you give a mouse a cookie" projects. Now I have to rearrange more boxes so that I don't have to buy more storage contIners. I am also going through patterns right now.  I think that should take a day or so.  

While finding more containers, I found more knitting books. They just barely fit into the allotted spaces. After the major work is finished I need to find time to reread the books to decide which books are really wanted now. I have some that I bought as a brand new knitter that might not be as useful to me now.  

On the remodel front some walls were patched. A kitchen light was installed. And a little more painting was done, the rest of the painting will be done on Monday. I also took a picture of the inside of the new light fixture. Look how small the transformer is.  We also said goodby to our old fridge.  

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff is a delightful children's book that both of my children enjoyed. You will also enjoy the illustration by Felicia BondIf you have not read this book to your children or grandchildren please take time to do so.  

Painting and More

Today I started off working on a contingency plan for the guest bathroom. I was looking for a possible base plate to cover up yesterday's boo-boo. The contractor walked in at that point and apologized for making the mistake yesterday. He also reassured me that he had enough "leftover granite to make a new piece for the bathroom. A new sink had been ordered since they could not remove the other sink since they used epoxy to attach the sink to the granite. 

Eric was home sick today, although he is on the road to recovery. He finished his pedialyte and started back on formula.  Eric defiantly did not like the painting. He jumped every time the compressor went off. So I spent a lot of time in his room today. I did not take pictures of the painting because I was so busy with Eric. Basically all the furniture was moved to the center of the room. Everything that was not being painted was covered in plastic. 

Once the painter left and Eric calmed down I got a much needed nap. I have been so stressed out that I find myself knitting in the middle of the night when I should be sleeping. I left Eric in charge of Elmo, Snoopy and Champagne Bear, while they watched TV. I felt so much better after a 2 hour nap. 

I have also been fascinated with the Ruffled Lace scarf’s, but could not find lace that I could work with until now. Red Heart makes a Boutique Sassy Lace in Nylon. So today I started my first ruffled lace scarf. It is slow going but fun. Pictures will follow. 

Hop, Skip and Jump

The tendonitis has moved to my left wrist.  I feel like I am up a creek without a paddle. I will try the Dragon software to dictate the first pattern. I will also adjust the second pattern to larger knitting needles and a less intricate pattern if possible.  

I suspect that 4 hours a day for a week was just a tad too much knitting during a flare up.  I have my hand in a brace and I want an instant cure. I don't really have time for this. 

I think that this will also delay painting the new loom.  Hopefully I can get that done soon.  I am hoping that weaving will lessen the strain on my joints or at least change things up a bit. 

A Catch up Day

Eric went to program today.  So I took a couple of hours off this morning. I spent the rest of the day doing laundry ( not folded yet ) paying bills, painting ( finished for now) cleaning, driving afternoon carpool. I also took Eric grocery shopping at Trader Joes.  I had Eric carry the basket do I could not buy out the store. The clerk was very nice and took us in the 15 items or less even though we had at least twice that.  They also loaded the car while I got Eric in.  All the snack jars are now filled.   I also made turkey chilli  with homemade corn bread tonight for dinner.  The first home cooked meal in a few days. 

John and I found time to relax and I got some spinning do too.  

The 3rd baby lizard in 2 weeks has been relocated.  This one almost got squashed  because being half asleep I thought it looked like a baby scorpion.  

Eric is asleep now so I will call it an early night. 

Painting and More

Today we started out by painting the areas that I had re plastered earlier in the week. We found a few more spots to plaster, and I will do that tomorrow.  After we got the necessary spots done we just went a little crazy with the paint. We hit scrapes along the walls. John did a few spots on the ceiling, including food spots that would not wash off, just think burping a 60ml syringe and the food going a little further than intended. Of course John did this while standing on the floor.  

I on the other hand learned that I am not the agile teenager anymore. I was able to climb up, but thought it better not to jump down and got stuck.  John to the rescue again.  Did I mention how clumsy flare ups make me feel. 

After  lunch and a short rest it was time to do a little cleaning.  I did not get too far but I have until Friday to make the house company ready.  

Eric is still having a rough time of it.  I am hoping he will feel better soon   Eric is asleep now so it is time for me to call it a night.  That was at 10:30 pm. Now it is 2:20am and I am in too much pain to sleep. So what else is there to do but laundry and some very quiet cleaning. .

A Lazy Summer Day

Today started off very good. I got an hour of chores done before breakfast. Grocery shopping before lunch. Then it was nap time and not a whole lot got done after that. I started the tomatillo stew to late for use to eat it tonight, so we had quesadilla's and watermelon for dinner. At least I am ahead of the game for tomorrow, dinner is already cooked.

Eric had a great day at his summer program. He really enjoyed swimming and painting today. We had a slight leak with the pump tonight, but caught it before I had to do more than one load of laundry. I would also like to thank the great people of Johnson & Johnson, being tired tonight I put darks (red (Stuffed Elmo) and blue (New Pillow)) in with whites (a chuck and diapers) on a cold wash with a Stain Catcher. Everything came out the right color and the Nutren 1.0 did not even interfere with the Stain Catcher. Good job.

Well Eric is asleep and I want to try to catch up with some sleep.