I was busy today. I finished 2 more dog pillows before breakfast. Went to lunch and knit with a friend. Truth be told we brought our lunch back to the house, it was even too hot for a patio with misters. Worked on a new pattern and got past the half way point and color change. Did some random cleaning. Grocery shopping. All this dispute my body and a heat wave. Tucson peaked out at 110f today.
I ran out of energy for spinning and tagging yarn. I am now going to call it an early night.
With Christmas in July coming to the Old Pueblo Knitting Guild on July 19th at 9:30 am, I have been spinning up a storm and deciding which of my current hand spun yarns are going to leave the nest. With my hand issues still not going away. Add to that my limited time to use my hands daily some big decisions had to be made. I only kept what is currently talking to me. To that end, I now have over 1 cubic feet of hand spun yarn tagged and ready for the 19th. I still have a bit more to tag tomorrow.
When that is done I will come up with a few more simple things that I hope my friends will love. I also have a bunch of dog pillows to make. Then those will leave the house too. I think I might be able to fill my car with dog pillows once I am done.
I am really hoping we don’t have another summer like 1994 with over 100 days over 100f. On the other hand being just a couple of years older the heat seems to be effecting me a bit more. I am less heat tolerant. I am trying hard not to mope and being more proactive on getting things done.
One last thing. This is the first batch of Tour De Fleece 2023 newly minted or should I say hand spun yarn. I had fun spinning it.
I have released My Doodle Shawl knitting pattern today. I also have a version with a lighter weight yarn in progress. The numbers are totally different. I am knitting as fast as my body will allow me. My Doodle is currently on Ravelry or your local yarn store. Here is the link to My Doodling Shawl . Since the yarn I used has been discontinued by Cascade Yarns I would personally recommend going to your local yarn shop or Indy dyer to get 5 skeins of Aran weight yarn in your color choice. If you are giving this as a gift, yes it would make a fantastic gift make sure you use a washable yarn. If you don’t have them already you will also need a U.S. size 11x 60 inches or an 8mm x 150 circular knitting needle.
This is a beginner level pattern perfect for watching television for the more experienced knitters out there. Please post pictures when you’re finished. Also let us know which yarn you chose, and who the Yarn maker was.
It has been too hot to take out door pictures here in Tucson.
My biggest accomplishment today was dropping off 11.9 pounds of soda tabs to the Tucson Ronald McDonald House. They took up most of the back of my car. They will go to pay the utilities and the leftover money will help the families. I do this to remember both my dad and Eric. I know that their memories will always be a blessing.
Please feel free to drop off your tabs at your local Ronald McDonald House in memory of a loved one so that they may be remembered with fondness..
We took a small break from the everyday of life. I took a spinning class on the Navajo Spindle and wandered around the Flagstaff Wool and fiber festival. We then went to Page to explore. If you have not gone it has some must sees. More later. Also a bit of shopping in Phoenix at my favorite store.
I came back with a cold because a twenty something turned around and sneezed in my face. Yes we were outside with no masks on. However there is no way to avoid the fall out when someone is just that rude. Please remember for the health and safety of your community to sneeze into your arm, elbow, tissue or shirt or if you have a really good friend the back of their shirt will work too.
In this case offering to wash said shirt is just a very humble suggestion. It is never ok to sneeze into someone’s face.
We have already unpacked and the laundry is sorted. The beds changed. Laundry will start tomorrow. I will be going in the speed of snail for a few days. I can already feel the achy feeling.
TTFN
After almost 24 years of knitting I have finally figured out that “Sheri you should know” is knitting speak for a yarn shop owner (By the way those shops are no longer in business.) saying I don’t know what to do. I have no idea how to knit the stuff that I am selling you. If I make you feel stupid you will just go away…so will my local yarn store with time.
Well the pattern Anne Shoulder Scarf came up on my UFO rotation. I started it when the kids were in elementary and middle school. Yeah, as I said it’s been a while. So it was best to start it over from the beginning. So this morning I have frogged it, which is knit speak for ripping it out. Cast on again. Gone to youTube to look up how to do the stitches that I still did not know how to do. So far this morning I have learned 3 new knitting stitches. Yeah me. I am also 6 rows into the knitting of the pattern “Anne” as designed and knit by Chris Carroll. I am using Schaefer yarn call Anne. A really nice Superwash Merino, Mohair and Nylon yarn in a variegated pink, yellow and orange color way
Did you notice that after 6 months post surgery I can knit again. Yeah hands.
Well it is time to get my day going so I can find more time to knit. Have a fantastic day.
I am still dealing with a stupid sinus infection. I am almost done with the 2nd round of antibiotics. Not much else is happening here.
Well everything is off both looms right now. I was a bit to tired to take 30 minutes to warp the smaller loom for a scarf. There is always tomorrow for that. I say this because I have a bad sinus infection and don’t have much energy for anything.
I finally finished tying the ends of my open weave summer shawl. As predicted by John, the colors did not look right on me. The yarn pooling though not done on purpose was spot on. The width and length were perfect. It’s just that the color did not look good on me. I also have 3 full cakes of the yarn left over. I really hate bringing back unused yarn to exchange, but they are the same color and dye lot. I guess that I can always use the yarn for warp for scarfs. Also since this shawl is going in my give to people I like gift box there will be no pictures until gifted.
I am really tired so it’s TTFN.
A decision has been made to use all the yarn in the Bye-Bye project bag for one of a kind scarfs for a local children’s clothing bank. Each one will be different. I have 2 completed. I have one that I am doing the finishing work on. I have also picked out the next warp color for scarf number 4.
Below is a look at the yarn I will be using. You might see a pile of odds and ends, but I see an endless cacophony of scarves. As it is still easier to weave and spin rather than knit, I suspect that I will have a whole bunch of scarfs done by the holidays. I wonder if I will be able to fill the Bye-Bye project bag with hand woven scarfs. It is a very good goal in my humble opinion.
I was given quite a few cones of very fine cotton yarn for weaving cloth. Since I don’t anticipate getting a multi heddle loom any time soon. I decided to try an experiment with the yarn for my warp threads. Instead of threading every other slot on the heddle I put a double thread through the slots and holes. It does take longer to thread. However once the threads are all through, I just roll everything on to the back roll. Then tie everything down and start weaving
The first scarf I tried this with was on a 5 dent heddle. I wove this with a combination of hand spun yarn and yarn that had a hand spun look. That was taken off the loom tonight and still needs finishing work. Tonight’s warp is on a 10 dent heddle that will be woven with sock yarn recovered from last night’s Bye Bye project. I think I will have enough sock yarn to weave at least 3 scarves.
At this point if you are a weaver and are offended by this, sorry not sorry. If I were not meant to experiment like this, the cones of yarn would not have been donated to a Knitting Guild. Also you might just like the way the weave turns out. It is not textbook weaving, but it does create a nice scarf with a pretty texture. So give it a try before you start making the comments that I am doing it wrong. Just weaving outside the box.
Nothing in my book says life is unfair more than having to donate a white shirt to charity because I shrunk out of it. Those that know me well, know that I have a very bad habit of staining white shirts beyond use. It just seems so wrong.
My reading glasses were found neatly tucked in bed under the covers last night. I must have been in a hurry while making my bed up yesterday morning. The remote control for the fan was found underneath what was a very big pile of paperwork. I think I need to be more mindful about things.
In much better news, I have lost another 2 inches around my rib cage. I predict smaller summer dresses in my future. Unfortunately I might have to drive a bit to find some new summer dresses. Tucson Mall had nothing that I liked. It is nice to be able to be picky about things like new outfits, instead of just buying what fits.
So far today I have lost one pair of reading glasses and one Dyson fan remote control. I think I will call it a day before I lose anything else.
Life seems to be about taking 2 steps forward and 4 steps backward today. The hand strengthening exercises, well, I wasn’t quite ready for those. So here we are are at almost the beginning again. I am back to just mild stretching exercises once a day.
So for now it will be just spinning and weaving. At least with weaving, I am using up yarn faster than I am spinning it. I have 2 scarfs completed ready for pictures. The scarf that I started in January will have to wait a bit longer for those final rows. Sighs!
Since I could not sleep this morning, I spent 3 hours cleaning house before breakfast. The results are 1 bag of trash and 2 bags of recycling out. Two loads of laundry completed. Five dog pillows finished and ready for delivery this weekend. With lots of stuff going to their proper places. Also 1 mile walked. Did I mention that I also managed to fill one box for Goodwill too?
Today I finished plying 3 mini skeins of hand spun yarn. I used the drop spindle instead of the spinning wheel because it gives me a better yarn. By this I mean a more balanced twist. It is so much easier to control the twist.
I also made a concerted effort to catch up on my back log of making dog pillows. I made 6 cases. I stuffed 5 and pinned them. I left 1 by my squirrel cage for all the little bits and pieces I get when caking yarn. I also cut the fabric for 2 more pillows.
After all that hand work my hands were just too tired to knit tonight. Sometimes I feel like a beginner in knitting were projects took months instead of days. I have about 2 more ounces to knit. I hope to be finished by Mother’s Day. I am really ready for my hands to be better.
Quiff is a real word. Good for Scrabble or W.E.LD.E.R.. if you don’t believe me just look it up.
Today I tackled some deep cleaning, tossing and redoing a bathroom to make it less cluttered. Gone is the magazine rack that held magazines and wash cloths. I used to go through about 50 wash clothes a week with Eric, now that I am only using them to dry my hands I don’t need that many out anymore. All the wash cloths are either in a drawer or have been reassigned to other uses. The counter is far nicer to look at.
At lunch I was able to open a fresh jar of peanut butter for the first time since January. I am not sure how much of that is contributing to my current level of hand pain.
I had so much recycling going to the bin that I asked John to carry it all out. By the way he was more than happy to help carry it out. I wanted to do more cleaning and tossing. My body said it was nap time. My hand said “what did you do to me?” Yep, I might have been too gung-ho on the cleaning front today.
We also went dryer shopping today. We tried to shop local first, they said it would be about 10 months to get a gas dryer I wanted. Then we went to a big box store and got the same dryer to be delivered this week. Guess which store we bought from?
I also filled one box for Goodwill for good measure.
No it is not a fiber project that has been finished. It is however just as important to me. The dryer has died after about 15 years of service. This is to read no laundry until the replacement arrives. Thank goodness I was mostly caught up. However the sheets will have to be rewashed as they pick up the odor from the dryer. Something has just decided to burn out. As per Consumer Reports it is not a great investment to repair something that old. So we will be trying to find one that fits in our limited space that is white. Easy peasy right. Not so much. The Gold Star appliances tend to be larger for some reason. The newer houses are designed for larger washers and dryers. Sadly the houses built so last century are not. So wish us luck.
Since knitting is still very tiring for my right hand. Not to mention that it is hard to knit more than a few rows a day. Also I should not be spinning tons of new yarn just to sit in bags on my shelves. I decided to try a bit of weaving.
Why weaving you might ask. Well for one thing I use 2.5 times more yarn in a weaving project than a similar knitting or crochet project. That is a very good thing right now, since the new winter shawl that I started in January still has one skein more of yarn to go before it is finished. Another reason is that it is now April 10th and I have not completed one project this year. Yes, you have read that right, nada, not one completed project has been completed for 2023. Yes, I am giving my hand time to heal after multiple surgeries in January and February on my right hand. Yes, I am making very slow progress. Also the older I get the longer it takes to heal.
Well the news isn’t all that bad. Since I have brought the looms, yes plural looms out last week, I have almost completed one scarf. It took 2 1/2 skeins of yarn. I took it off the smaller loom last night. I gave it its hot water bath this morning. With the temperatures in Tucson in the low 90’s it should be dry by sometime tomorrow. Then I can do the finishing touches on it.
On the larger loom I have a cotton open weave shawl going in a variegated yarn. This is my first attempt at open weaving. The first few inches look fantastic. I can’t wait to see what design the yarn will make. A 2nd scarf was started on the smaller loom tonight. I am using up a bunch of bulky yarn on a 5 dent heddle. In English that translates to 5 warp threads per inch. Where the shawl is a much denser 12 warp threads per inch. A huge difference in the time it takes to warp the loom., not to mention the time it takes to weave each piece. It took 4 hours to warp the shawl and less than 30 minutes for the scarf.
So without further ado here is an almost side by side of both looms. With a picture of the open weaving too. The bottom of the open weave will be straighter once it is taken off the loom
We got this ceiling fan shortly after we moved into our house. We have been able to to find parts to fix it for over 2 decades. Now we are having trouble finding a new light kit, which are no longer manufactured. So we sadly have decided to replace the fan because the lights don’t work properly anymore.
I even tried threatening it with replacing it. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t. It’s like hitting the old style cathode ray tube TVs. Sometimes hitting them in the right spot would make it work just a little longer until dad could come home and pull out the burnt out tube, then go to the store and buy a new one to plug in. Then the television would work until the next tube burnt out. We could always get new tubes. This time it did not and no parts available. So tomorrow after lunch we will have the fan and lighting unit replaced. I really hate designed obsolescence. It is a tremendous waste of resources. Not to mention more things landing up in the landfill.
