Shopping from My Closet

 I have finally lost enough weight and inches to start shopping from my closet.  I can’t wait to see where that takes me.  What style trends can I start with clothing that I bought when my daughter graduated graduate school.  I now have more energy because of the weight loss and as a result I am doing yet another round of deep cleaning. 

Leaving this time are lace knitting patterns.  Those who know me are quite understandably happy. Quilting patterns. Also patterns for outfits that I will never make that are back in style.  Not to mention all the things that went into recycling. Did I mention that the Goodwill box is overflowing? Less is turning into more.  Less time to find things. More time to do things. More open space.    A win- win for me.  

This week I might even try my Lucet for the very first time.  A kind artist at the renaissance fair in Phoenix showed me how to do it. Now it is my turn to try it. My right hand is still wonky so wish me luck.

I got some bad food last Saturday and landed up with a mild case of food poisoning, but have finally fully recovered.  It was a rough couple of days.  We have all been there.  

TTFN

Contest Winner

The contest winner is Faith K.  Not only did John draw Faith’s name but he added more yarn to the box, he also found a bigger box so I could send Faith more yarn.  He also said to send more stitch markers in a nice bag. Plus there is a pattern of Faiths choice from my Raverly Store. So I will email Faith to get the shipping information.

Don’t worry everyone else can use the discount code Take20BlogContest for a 20% discount on any one pattern in my Raverly Shop Sheri Karobonik Designs. This discount will run from Tuesday March 3, 2020 to March 16, 2020.  Limit one code per Raverly account.

Thank you for your support.

Faiths Prize

Delving Deeper - Less is Really More

Today I hit another level of deep cleaning. I started going through the note books that I started making 12 years ago as a new knitter. I tore out and saved everything the new knitter in me thought was important. Things like how to do certain stitch patterns. Patterns that I was going to knit. Patterns that other people thought that I should knit. To the very old knitting magazines that I just could not let go of. Things that were just plain neat to a brand new knitter.

Fast forward 12 years and the notebooks are a bit dusty. Some of the stitch patterns that I thought were so difficult that I knew I would need written instructions for if I was ever going to knit them. Now most of what got tossed I can do without thinking. They are also in knitting stitch dictionaries or on the web. Patterns for triangular shawls that were and still are so pretty, that do not look good on my body type, my shoulders are just too broad. Yes the boring rectangular shawls look much better on me.  To the very lacy patterns that 12 years later I can now knit, but do not fit into my knitting life style. To the hat and scarf patterns that I can knit while I am half asleep or busy talking, yes they got tossed too.

I still have piles of old knitting magazines to go through and decide which ones I want to keep. If there is an old or vintage knitting magazine you are looking for just let me know very soon. I might just have a copy.

I am keeping it very simple. I go through one notebook at a time or one pile of papers 6 to 12 inches in height. If I finish that and still have energy I go onto the next pile or notebook. Depending on the age of the notebook or pile of knitting magazines I toss between 30 to 70% of what I have. Now everything else can be condensed in an orderly fashion without having to buy or find more storage. This will be the third week in a row for an over full recycle bin too. I am going at my own pace, but I feel that some people want me to go faster and just toss without looking at everything. I am not quite able to do that yet. I know that in the end that I will have more room for fluff and yarn. That's not what my minions really want to hear, but I still have bins full of yarn and fluff in the garage that I would like to someday soon move back into the house.

So the short term plan is more tossing, gifting, knitting, weaving and spinning things in the house. The long term plan is to go through the things in the garage. So that in forty years or so whom ever is going to do the last cleaning of the house will not have to call yarn hoarder's anonymous to haul everything off to sell to other fiber people.

A Milestone

Today at knitting I was able to track down a pattern everyone was sharing from a supposedly out of print magazine.  I did not have the name of the pattern, only the designers name.  I then went to Raverly to find the name of the pattern and to see if I could buy a copy. The pattern was not available for purchase on Raverly, but it gave me the name of the 2012 knitting magazine it was in. 

So off to the publishers web site to find the pattern.  I first check under the free patterns, but no such luck.  So I went under the tab for old magazines. I did not find a hard copy but was able to find a digital copy for $1.75. So I bought a digital copy of the magazine. I got the pattern I wanted plus 19 other patterns for less than the cost of most patterns without denying a designer and a publisher of their money. 

In this age of the digital magazine, I would like to urge all my readers to check with reliable resources when looking for old patterns.  Please use places where you know if a designer chooses to try to earn a living selling patterns, that they have a chance. Not everything in life is free.  They have bills to pay too. 

This was accomplished all from my cell phone. A first for me.  It only took 10 minutes for all the research. Then another 5 to figure out their check out cart. I want to assure my readers that I was not hooked into the malls wifi, so I am hopeful none of my personal information was stored on the mall server. 

When John is available, I will down load the magazine to the computer and possiably the pattern to my I-pad.  By the way I also finished 2 hand knit items today.  It is time to put the last load of laundry I the dryer and head to bed.  

A Great Day

Today was a busy day. It started out with therapy for Eric. Followed by errands. Followed by a luncheon where my 2 new patterns were released. Followed by knitting. Followed by more errands. Followed by finishing one hat. I am a little tired. 

Tomorrow I will post the pictures and how to get a hold of each of the patterns. 

The Designs Are Done

After spending all afternoon knitting. Yes it was well over 100 rows. I finished the second project. I also finished off the rest of the Drop Dead Diva episodes on the DVR for this season.  As of 5 pm today both designs are done. As of 5:30 pm both are photographed. Now all I need to do is type up the patterns. This is not as simple as it sounds if you have had a look at my notes. So I now have until the 19th of June to type them up and set the pictures in place.

Then I have to decide if I am going to the printers or printing them at home. I guess it depends on how many copies I need to print. I think it is time to take a few hours off of knitting and do a little spinning.  

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. 

Out and About on Sunday

Today was a very productive day. I got the first pattern finished, now I just need to type it up and photograph it. Out of consideration for my model I will wait until I get the next pattern finished.  I have already started looking at stitch patterns and might have narrowed it down. The sketching will start tomorrow. 

We also got to Phoenix to go shoe shopping.  John got 2 pairs at a great price.  We were ahead even after we filled the van.  The Mills mall seemed empty compared to past trips. Although we could hardly walk without bumping into the kiosks.  I also like the fact that there are 3 lanes most of the way from Tucson. This took about 30 minutes off our drive. It also seemed to me that a lot of people got flat tires at the place where I blew 2 out last time. The shoulder was just littered with parts of shredded tires.  This was the only place that look that way on the whole drive. 

No Rhythm

Today was one of those days with out rhythm. Nothing was in sync. Although we did manage to get to Eric's therapy appointment on time. After that it was all rocky.

I got the newsletter I was suppose to have mailed out on Monday out today. It took me over 3 hours to figure out the the e-mail addresses I used last time were locked out of the system. Someone had put it in a mode of no data retrieval allowed. So I could not just copy and paste the addresses in the e-mail. Once that was resolved the e-mail went out in under 30 minutes. As a plus, I only had to print 3 copies to mail the old fashion way. Yes I screwed that up too. I picked the wrong printer setting. I am so glad that I have in house tech support. John fixed the whole mess up in less than 5 minutes including printing.

I also have to design 2 unique patterns by mid June with specific yarn requirements. This is something I have never done before. So On the 1st one I have been mulling over the shape since yesterday. Today was spent doodling and making newspaper cut outs of the approximate size and shape. Yes I did try on the newspaper mock ups. Then I wrote the beginnings of what I though would work. 2 inches in it was not looking good. So it got tinked. I got a new sheet of paper and tried again. Yes 2 inches in and it got tinked too. With the help of 4 stitch markers I think I finally have something that will work as summer wear in Tucson.

Something I can't figure out is why when some of Eric's aides do not like a particular body wash they feel the need to pour the contents of the bottle into the trash. There is nothing like finding a half of a bottle of Lush body wash poured into the trash can. I really like the smell of that one too.  That is just so wasteful. If they don't like the one I have out would it not be easier for them and cheaper for us if they just asked for a different bottle? After all we do have a few different body washes under Eric's sink. I am still shaking my head at that one.

Then Eric had an asthma attack followed by a headache tonight. So I was with Eric a little over an hour. 30 minutes to make sure his breathing got better and to do some percussion. My hands were not to fond of the percussion. Just a I began to unwind from the asthma attack Eric's headache kicked in. I took me about 15 minutes to figure out what was wrong. He held my hand tightly until the Tylenol kicked in.

I finished the day by going head to head with a white spider about the size of a quarter. Lets just leave that as Sheri 1 - Spider 0. It is time to throw the last load of laundry for the day in the dryer and see if I can get to bed before tomorrow.

A New Begining

Birthdays always bring out a spark in me. This year is no different.  After some input from some very good knitters, it has been decided that this year I will study, peruse and learn new knitting stitches.  To this end I will try to create at least 12 one skein wonders that will be useful.  Using one or more new to me stitches.  I will share them with my fellow guild members. After that they will go on my Raverly designer page and in my Esty shop. The first one will be released  Thursday afternoon.  I hope you will join me in this journey.  

How Not to Write a Pattern

I am still working out the best ways for me to put my knitting patterns to paper. I am currently working on a pattern that I started writing a few days ago. So I went through a dictionary of knitting stitch patterns. This is good because I know what direction I want to go. I know I am working on a wash cloth so I know that I need to cast on 40 stitches. This is very good so far. This gives me a boarder of 5 stitches on each side and enough for 2 pattern repeats in the center of the washcloth with the stitch I picked out.

Things are still going great I have knit the first 8 rows for the bottom of the wash cloth. I like to knit the pattern as I am designing it. I need feed back from the yarn and the pattern. So I get the next 16 rows done and it looks wonderful. Now this is where things start getting wonky.

Eric had an asthma attack so I gave him his first dose of medicine and went to grab the note book that I was writing in plus the knitting pattern under way. Yes I moved everything into Eric's room. I figure once he had the meds he would settle down. I started knitting like I had done hundreds of time in his room. Of course I was not writing a knitting pattern but rather doing mindless knitting on ponchos, scarfs or caps. Some where along the way in the next 2 hours of popping up and down from the rocking chair aka the knitting chair and Eric's bed to get him in a better position to breath I screwed up on my row count.

My first reaction was that the knitting dictionary was wrong. I could not possibly make a mistake like that. My row count and the books row count for the second half of the pattern did not match. Just to prove that I was right and the book was wrong. I sent out a call on Facebook and Twitter for a couple of test knitters. This is where I have to give a really huge thank you to Jen. In less than 24 hours she managed to not only knit up the pattern but find all the mistakes. So I started a second one following the corrections so far so good.

So to sum this up don't expect to write of coherent or cohesive pattern while taking care of a sick child. Calm and quite are necessary. As to the question can you see the wonky pattern the answer is no. I am still some what of a perfectionist at heart on somethings. If you want to take the pattern and make it wonky go right ahead. It will be out sometime around the 20th of this month.

I am Still Recovering

I am not quite back to full speed. This bug has really knocked me for a loop. I slept a good part of the day. If you know me well this will tell you where I am on the road to recovery. I have a homemade spice cake with butter creme frosting just sitting on the counter and I really don't want a slice. My joints are still swollen and my rib cage still hurts, so please don't try to make me laugh.

I have been listening to books on tape and knitting when I am awake. I am finishing little odds and ends. I am also writing a pattern out. I figured if I am still liking the pattern on the 6th one, it is time to write it up.

John is doing a wonderful job taking care of Eric and I. This is a very good thing because I am still very low on energy. 2 loads of laundry with help equaled a 2 hour nap for me this afternoon. Well its time to call it a night.