Finishing Unfinished Objects

 It’s been a very rough week physically for me.  Even with all that going on I managed to finish one project, a Tunisian Crochet Scarf for me.  After trying it on, I decided that it was not right for me so it will be leaving the house. I also will not be writing a pattern for it like I planned.  I will not be writing a pattern for every bespoke project.  I have also gone back to the 5 of cleaning.  The five of cleaning is always one of 2 things.  Putting 5 things away or cleaning for 5 minutes.  I know it’s a little Squirrelly in cleaning methods, but it works for me.  

Also when I finished the scarf I actually did not start another project.  My goal is to finish a few more projects before I start another project.  The exception will be charity work.  I know I have at least 6 scarfs in various stages of completion. When I get down the last short scarf or no long scarves

, you know to 6’2” scarf, I will start a new scarf.  So far so good.  It’s hard to pick up a project to finish that has repair work midway or something that I got bored with.  Perhaps the season changed and if I finish it now I can’t wear it for 6 months.  So boring.  So not me.  I have however determined that this will be the only way to avoid the clutter of a massive pile of UFO’s.  This will allegedly lead to less clutter. I will believe it when I see the results or lack of less clutter. 

I also did get some stitch markers finished.  I still have a box full to finish.  I am also working on my sewing repair pile.  I am doing the easy stuff first. This also means for right now the little loom will not be weaving new straps for a few shopping bag repairs.  This also  means that I am also working on my multi purpose room.  My multi purpose room house the guest room, the sewing room and the jewelry making room.   

All of this sounds quite exhausting.   

The Sewing Room

 My sewing room has been dubbed the black hole for small mending jobs.  Today I started to remedy that situation.  It did require me to rethread the sewing machine for each repair job. This being said, I repaired 2 pairs of pants, 1 shirt. I decided to giveaway 1 shirt rather than trying to modify the neckline. I could have done it given enough time.  Did I want to spend the time? Definitely not.  

I was in the middle of modifying 1 of 2 skirts when I noticed that I had bought the wrong size elastic for the waistband.  I had 1 inch elastic instead of 1 1/2 inch elastic.  Since Joann’s closed it has been a different store for each item needed for the repair work.  Cathy’s Sewing and Vacuum for thread.  Believe it or not Walmart had the right size elastic that I needed for the 2 skirts.  Also the poly fill for the dog pillow that I have to finish.

While going to find the right colors of thread, I noticed that some polyester thread had made its way into my thread.  It took about 30 minutes to clear out the polyester thread.  John and I decided that it will be going with my friend when she visits her family in Northern Arizona.  As her family lives off the beaten path, it will be a nice surprise to get a whole lot of thread in a lot of colors.  Craft supplies are meant to be shared.  

Given a few weeks maybe the sewing room will no longer be a black hole.  I even cleared off the ironing board. I even know where the iron is stored. I also know where the distilled water is.  

I Want to Cry

 After hand washing the shawl I blogged about yesterday in Soak Wash. I went to block the shawl.  As I was laying it out to my absolute horror I found another deliberate cut in the lace work.  So all attempts at blocking were stopped. I found 4 more holes in my shawl. Two of the holes were side to side. As you can see by the double pointed knitting needles I did my best to stabilize the area’s. I will also have John look over the shawl to see if he can find any other areas.

Thankfully I did not have time to put the thread away yesterday. So it is ready to go when the shawl dries. It will be a little harder this time because the washing brought up a beautiful halo in the mohair. The halo will also hide the repairs very well.

It’s Finally Finished for the Second Time

 About 10 years ago I finished a one of a kind shawl with the mohair spun by Kathy Withers.  I did not have a chance ro wear it before one of Eric’s aides took a scissors to the beautiful lace. Less than 24 hours after completing the shawl. It was placed in a canvas shopping bag to wait the needed repairs.  In his opinion all I was allowed to knit in my own home was hand knit items for kids in need.  This was the first but not the last thing he cut up or outright stole.  

Well he is long gone. 

Fast forward a few years and I could not get anyone to mend it for me. No matter how much I was willing to pay. I did however get some pointers.  I was really scared that I would ruin it.  

Fast forward to today.  I finally got the nerve to do the repair on this hand spun mohair lace yarn spun by Kathy Withers’s and a pattern designed by me.  Really I just wanted to clear my backlog of repairs, UFO’s and long ago purchased projects.  I pick out the right shade of thread. I did not have any yarn leftover, let’s just say I won at yarn chicken. I secured the thread and trimmed the end. I started weaving everything together. I was so tense that my shoulders throbbed. I carefully did tiny French Knots to gather the tiny clipped yarn. I did the final thread tie off and clipped the excess thread.  

Tomorrow it will get washed in Soak. Then blocked. It should be ready to wear this weekend. 

Below is a picture of the repair work.  The picture below that is halfway through the repair work. I know it’s not perfect. I did my best.  You can also not see it from 5 feet away, which is my gold standard for knitting boo boo’s.  

Stitch Markers

 For those that don’t know me well, I have an obsession with stitch markers for my knitting. I have them in almost all shapes and sizes up until a U.S. size 19 knitting needle. The do break sometimes.  Which means I will put them aside to fix next week.  Well not quite next week from the pile of stitch marker repairs I did today.  I found 1 pretty white flower pot and 1 box of stitch markers that needed repair.  

 

This is the pile of repair work that I started with.  After a few hours of diligent work, I landed up with the next pile of repaired stitch markers.  If you really  want to know, I did not do a very through search for them. So there might be more hidden in the house. I just about filled up my smallest yarn bowl.  Below is a picture of the newly repaired stitch markers. You can tell from the natural light how much time has passed. Yes, there are Dr. Who themed stitch markers too. 

A Perfect Solution

 When a bad body day collides with a highly emotional day there is only one thing to do.  Spin art yarn.  Why art yarn? Art yarn does not have any parameters. If the yarn is not perfectly balanced who cares.  The idea is to have fun.  I make bumps. I spin thick and thin. I spun for 2 hours.  Yes my new medicine is helping.  I make my art yarn batts from bits and pieces.  I play with color.  I never know how it will turn out once it is plyed and washed.  Hopefully it will go with some other art yarn to make a fabulous new shawl for me in a smaller size.  I thought that my shawls would still fit after losing a lot of sizes, not so much. So I need new shawls.   

I also figured out why my Lendrum Spinning Wheel was acting up, it literally had a screw lose.  So rather than  get my tool kit for my spinning wheels, I borrowed a pliers and flat head screw driver from John.  It took more time to locate the tools than to fix the issue.   I guess this means that every so often I should check all the screws out.  

I then changed spinning wheels to my Louet Victoria. After cleaning and oiling the flyer I was ready to spin the core for plying the art yarn just because I can get about 10 ounces on the bigger bobbin.  Once the white is spun, I will ply all the art yarn that I spun today.  From right to left. Pale pink, purple, red and a green yellow blend.  

I Am Happy

Today I actually got some knitting done on U.S size 19 knitting needles. I still have to weave in the ends. I even have the perfect outfit for it. Things ended well today.

Eric is feeling better, but his asthma kicked in with vengence. That is manageable.

John even got the roof fixed and finished a new prototype for me to try. I just have to warp the loom.

Redundant Post

You might have already guessed.  I am writing this post from Eric's room. He is sick again. We did not even make 7 days between yucks this time.  He has an awful cough and a tempature of slightly over 100.  I am waiting for him to settle in for the night so I can get some sleep.  

It seems really weird to sit here in Eric's room and not to be able to knit. I even passengered across town today without knitting.   I am following my doctors orders, no mater how hard it is.  So instead of knitting I am deep cleaning closets deciding what I don't really need to keep.  The craft de stash has begun.  I am slowly piling things to go on the dining room table.  Check with me if you have been coveting some of my craft supplies to see if the item has or will make it to the destash table.  The larger items I will try to sell local first.  Smaller items that can be shipped will go up for sale once I figure out the prices.  My talley for the week is one loom gone, one loom listed and one tapestry loom pending pricing. 

There is a silver lining to my very sore hands. I found a spare feeding pump bag for the kangaroo Joey, so I do not have to take time to repair the one that is falling apart.   More space.  Less repair work. Yeah!!!