I divided my time today between making more stitch markers and knitting Operation Gratitude scarfs. I won’t sho the stitch markers, they are all red. I have been working on this scarf for a few months at my slower speed. I do have 2 more scarfs for Operation Gratitude in different parts of the house.
This afternoon I was bored and decided I needed some play time. So I got out a drawer of beads. Pick out a few strands of beads, then got out my box of findings. Findings are the bits and pieces that are needed to make jewelry and more importantly stitch markers. Today I made 2 strands of glass mushrooms and 1 strand of ladybugs into stitch markers. I also took a few miscellaneous beads , then made a few more stitch markers. I have a few more strands pulled for tomorrow too. The stitch markers on the left are the ones that just happened to wonder off to my knitting room. I finally made the hand carved bear bead into a stitch marker, it has been in my box for years. The rest I will bring to knitting guild with me.
With my limited knitting time my goal is to finish as many UFO’s as possible. Some of the empty project bags I will keep. Others I will destash with enough yarn for a charity project. So hopefully you will see lots of project pictures in the coming weeks.
The thought occurred to me to night that you have not seen me wearing my new Maxi Fingerless Gloves. I have got to tell you that I did not take time to set up my tripod. I also found it hard to take a picture of my own hand. None the less, here it is in action. Yes I did type up this blog wearing my new gloves. I tend to like warm and toasty hands at night and on cold days. It helps me sleep better.
I will try to take a picture of the red ones at a later date.
I finally have found a path to take. I know it’s been a while.
In knitting, I found that if I knit a few rows and rest a bit. Repeat until it’s time to stop. I do not have pain. Yes, I am not knitting as fast, but I am knitting again. Also no more big projects.
I can really Start exercising again. I will ramp it up slowly so I don’t injure myself. I wish COVID19 was over so I can walk inside the mall without a mask. It’s a lot cooler there.
I have also discovered that I am really, really bad at judging water and ice tea intake when we go out for lunch or dinner and it’s over 100f. Yes we are still only doing outdoor dining. I drink way too much and spend to much time getting rid of the excess. Although I personally feel it’s better to drink too much than not enough.
I have been hiding out in my knitting room listening to an audio book alternating between knitting a UFO That was started before Eric went into hospice. Then was tinked because I should never knit lace work when I am taking care of someone going through hospice. Then thinking it is time to spin on every drop spindle I currently own. Maybe even fill up a basket and ply them later.
I am so totally exhausted and out of sink that I totally forgot about Tour de Fleece. At this point 11 days in I am not going to stress myself. I will just look at my lovelies as I spin on the drop spindle of the day or 2 it takes to fill them. I will pull one braid at a time and spin until I run out and then go to the next one.
I am currently on an Orson Scott Card binge. Currently Invasive Procedures. The last book was Stone Father. Both good reads.
Below is the first spindle filled in this endeavor. A Golding that has an amazing spin on it. I did not think I would be able to spin lace weight on a spindle this heavy. I spun a blend of merino wool and silk.
Things are going pretty good right now. I just wish at times I had a staff to type up my pattern notes and take pictures of my finished objects. I am about 3 patterns behind now. Maybe I will just have to buckle down. When John’s at work I should be working too. I think I will give it a try next week.
I just don’t make enough on pattern sales to hire anyone. If I am really lucky I sell enough patterns to pay for the yarn. I usually don’t include time to design, knit, photograph or type my patterns. The numbers would be just to dismal even for me. Bring a pattern designer is a lot like the other arts. A few make bank and the rest of us have a supportive spouses or full time jobs or both.
Stay safe and consider wearing masks again. The COVID19 numbers are going up again.
It was one of those epic bad body days. Fold 2 loads of laundry and rest for 2 hours. Repeat.
John did not want to go shopping at Tuesday Morning, but since I was too tired to drive he drove and found a new tool for the garden. I found nothing.
After a baked chicken lunch and shopping for coffee, ,guess what? It was nap time again.
I did manage to fill and sew one dog pillow. John loaded my car for tomorrow
I hope I got enough rest today so that I can sleep tonight. Wish me luck.
A few errands left me exhausted. Because of the Jiffy peanut butter recall Skippy peanut butter is still in short supply. I will have to come up with another fast and easy protein. I got 95 zone minutes for 5,200 steps. I need answers. I am just rambling. Time to go to sleep.
This is a tongue and cheek kinda of blog post. Yes it will be cheeky.
First off I would like to thank a nameless local Tucson home improvement store for refusing to help us with our shopping needs. They also had a front desk clerk that refused to get us a sales person to take our money. Silly me. I thought green money was green money, good for helping the bottom line of any retail business during a recession. We came dressed Tucson summer casual, what else are you supposed to wear during summer in Tucson. We were even wearing tennis shoes and not flip flops. At this store it was apparently not good enough for help. This in the end run saved us lot’s of money.
Today we went to Lowe’s Store 1638 where we meet the most helpful and friendly sales associate Estevan. I could not find a more helpful and knowledgeable sales person (outside of Grandma’s Spinning Wheel and Artemesia if I tried). Estevan helped us with a shower head, and plumbing supplies for the new sink faucet, to replace the one that broke in the guest bathroom. You know the one that made 3 full loads of towels . We also got a new rain gauge to replace the one that was literally crumbling in place.
For everything we bought we spent less than the bathroom faucet cost all by itself at the local home improvement store. They also did not have rain gauges which would have meant a separate trip. I know the store manager made a very wise decision in hiring Estevan. Friendly service, help and everything we needed all in one stop. They also did not care that we were wearing Tucson summer casual or that my hair was still wet from my shower. So I will count today’s shopping trip as a win.
Thank You Very Much
John was busy too. He installed the new shower head and rain gauge already today. All that is left is installing the new faucet. We just have to figure out how to use towels to pad the sharp angles and the wood floor of the cabinet. After that is done I can treat the wood with a 10% bleach solution once or twice to get rid of any lingering mold that might have occurred. Let it dry a few more days and pit the pool towels away. Then I can do a happy dance that the a hip high pile of towels will no longer be gracing our den. Not that I don’t love our pool towels.
So it was a very good day.
It has been a year snd a day since we had a Summer Monsoon at our house. We got a good storm with most of the rain falling in the first 30 minutes or so. We had river’s flowing in the front and back of the house. We also had a little white water as the water flowed through the front yard over some smaller rocks.
I was too busy sitting by the window watching the rain to take any videos. So you are just going to see the rain gauge afterwards and our double rainbow. The second rainbow was hard to see from where I was standing trying to stay dry.
This has been a very strange week for me so far. Somethings I will talk about, some things not so much. Well here goes.
I was at Whole Foods this week when a lady stopped me in the parking lot and wanted to buy my car right there on the spot. I suggested that she go to the dealership to see what they had.
She said she did. However she wanted my make and model which they did not have.
I kept saying no. I really have to learn to be ruder.
She thought it was brand new. I reality my car is about 2 years old. It was bought just before the COVID19. Since it don’t go out much it sits in the garage a lot. It still looks new. I am about to cross the 5,000 mile threshold too.
She told me I could buy a Tesla and I said no, why not buy one for your daughter. Maybe next time since the are in short supply I should just say I will sell it for some outrageous price like $ 1.5 or $2 million and if they are will to fork over that much cash, no financing, I would think about selling it. I think I should be able to buy something suitable and add a little money to savings.
I am finding that my hands are good for about 2 hours a day of crafting. Then they get too tired to move. So I am rolling with the punches. I decided to hand off 2 charity knitting projects at the next knitting guild meeting. I am no longer going to finish a project for the sake of finishing a project. I must love it or it will be handed off or tinked. I must use my limited time wisely.
I have a little more energy so I am very slowly trying to catch up with housework. Well I am running out of battery and it’s time to plug in and turn in for the night.
I found that using my spinning wheels, yes I have 2 spinning wheels. Has helped ease the arthritis pain in my foot. Some exercise is good. So today I finished filling up one bobbin. It was so full John could see it from the couch.. I don’t think I really could have gotten any more yarn on the bobbin if I tried. I found more roving in the same color way in my stash and started another bobbin. Yes, I did some stash diving. I also found some nice silk to ply it with from Ito. I hope I have enough, because Ito Japan, sold out to a company in Europe which does not like to work with American yarn shops.
Since pictures are worth a thousand words, I thought I would save you some time. Today in pictures. The top picture is the really full bobbin. As you can see it is just about to go over the edge which is not a great thing. The second picture is about 8 ounces more roving. That bag should fill 2 more bobbins.
Depending on how the yarn turns out it will either be woven into a shawl or knit into a sweater. Yardage will help make the decision.
Today I found out that I could only knit a row or 2 before I needed to take a break on my new shawl. The rows are getting incredibly long. I increase by 6 stitches every other row. I am almost back to we’re I was before I had to tink 10 rows. It is going to be the perfect summer shawl. It just might be next summer before it is ready.
Ok, so I said I found balance today. It was in the form of one of Mr. Golding’s drop spindles. The spindle is so incredible. It is perfectly balanced. Spins like a dream. With the weight of the spindle I was very surprised to find out how thin I could spin the 50/50 combo of Merino and Silk. I don’t know why I can’t spin this fine on either of my spinning wheels. I can’t wait to see what it looks like when I ply the yarn . It definitely needs to be a 2 ply yarn. Definitely for a one of a kind project.
In the rush to make yarn to sell, I forgot how much I love my drop spindles. I learned to spin on drop spindles. Kathy Withers’s is a great teacher if you want to learn to spin on a drop spindle and are on the East Coast you should really try and take her classes. She also teaches other forms of fiber arts if you want to support a small farm and just knit or Crochet you need to try Kathy’s yarn which is available on line.
I decided today that I will no longer be taking commission work or repair jobs. This is all me no outside influence. I do know a few wonderful fiber artists at Grandmas Spinning Wheel here in Tucson who would be happy to help you out. Stop by during regular business hour’s for help.
The picture does not do the roving, yarn or spindle justice. I hope that you can see how fine the yarn is coming out. Yes it really is that thin.
The good or great news is that I don’t need hand or elbow surgery for now.
The bad news is that I can only knit for a couple of hours a day.
So I have been binging on audiobooks. Reorganizing a house that has been reorganized way too many times since COVID19 hit.
I need to come up with other relaxing activities like jigsaw puzzles, I currently do about 2 a day. I am not buying that many puzzles to clutter up the house, I have an app for that. I also color occasionally using my left hand just to sharpen my fine motor skills.
I am trying very hard not to shop. So far so good. I am only replacing worn out items and grocery shopping. I really have to start cooking more too.
So ideas that don’t use my right hand would be wonderful.
We are currently waiting for our summer rains. I think it is getting closer because I can smell the moisture in the air. I am still waiting for the smell of the wet creosote bushes. That is the smell most people think about when they think of the after rain smell in the desert.
I did get a bunch of errands done today too. The paperwork will have to wait for tomorrow. I am glad it is cooler this week too. Yes, I have hit the summer doldrums on the first day of summer. How is that for perfect timing.
I took a day off from the kitchen reorganization to do a bit of spinning. This is a really nice and relaxing spin. The wool is merino which will be plyed with Ito silk from Japan. I bought both from Grandma’s Spinning Wheel here in Tucson.
This will be part of a shawl for me. Now it’s time for a quick nap before dinner.
Today I decided to reorganize the kitchen including but not limited to moving things around on the counters to make room for my birthday present from John. He got me an air fryer. I am hoping to make things like taquitos and sweet potato fries. There are just so many things I miss on a low fat diet. I also flipped a couple of cabinets around, no not the cabinets themselves, but the contents. Some things went to the trash. Other things made it to the Goodwill box. I hope that the countertop will give good visual clues as to where things have moved.
I also finished up plying the yarn left on 4 bobbins from Tour de Fleece 2021. The art yarn all looks good. Tomorrow I will skein it. Wash and thwack the yarn before I leave it in the garage to dry.
Maybe the above activities will inspire me to get more projects finished. Speaking of projects, I really need someone to remind me to call Vicky about ordering a new drive band for my Louet Victoria. Who is going to volunteer. It is for the large plying band. I should also order a smaller drive band too. Also none of the above was on my to do list, so that was only half done today.
See if you can spot one of today’s major kitchen changes. From left to right our toaster, my beloved Kitchen Aide K-5 bought in 1977 as a present for myself, our tea set up and John’s MK. The colorful squares on the counter are my hot pads from Trader Joe’s.
I have decided that John needs some new towels for Father's Day. First I checked out the mall and found nothing. Then after searching the internet for a couple of hours and finding nothing, I went to Costco.com and found just about the same ones we bought years ago from our local Costco. So the open secret is John is getting 2 new towels for Father's Day. Yes. he already knows that they will not be delivered until after Father's Day.
Just in case you need any new towels here is the link, Turkish Bath Sheets. I am not getting any commission off this link. I just thought that they were good towels. The price might be higher for non Costco members.
By the way, I noticed a new feature at the nearly empty mall. The mall now includes armed Tucson Police Offices in Tactical Vest. I know its suppose to reassure me that things are safe. I have to tell you it had the opposite effect. I mean the officer was friendly enough, but still....
In other news, John taught me about right clicking on the mouse for spelling corrections. This is my new skill of the week.
My Sjogren's is still kicking my behind this week. So I have been super tired. It's got to get better soon.
