It’s All About The Tink

Sometimes when designing a new pattern way outside the stitches per inch on a different size knitting needle things can go terribly wrong very quickly.   I am using U.S. size 10 knitting needles on a fingering weight yarn.  I knew my first guesstimate was off so I doubled the amount of stitches that I cast on.  It looked pretty good until tonight. Let’s just sat after knitting 12 rows I know I am way off.  Not wanting to do the math involved tonight it will wait for tomorrow.  Then I will begin again.  I will also have it finished by the Birthday Celebration at Grandmas Spinning Wheel here in Tucson.  Yes, I will be on hand to help you select the perfect yarn for you.

In other news Debra showed me her latest knitting project. She took my Count1-2-3-4 shawl pattern and cast on 81 stitches for a narrower shawl.  Even better she is knitting it in 100% silk yarn in a sports weight.  The drape on the shawl is fantastic.  If you have some spare silk yarn in a sports weight give it a try and post the picture on  Raverly.  P.S. the pattern is on Raverly or your local yarn store.

De Stash

This is today’s de stash project. All these magazines are going to a friend who sells vintage.   A lot are over a decade old, this is vintage in the knitting world where the yarn companies try to bring out new yarn every 3 months.  A lot of them I bought before I knew how much I disliked knitting socks.  Others because I no longer need a pattern to knit hats, blankets  and scarfs.  Some of the styles will not a look good on my older self.  So out they go.  I decided not to count them, but I did put them into a box that I don’t have the lid for.  If I give the box with the Magazine’s does this count as de stash too?

On ward with more deep cleaning.  Zen on.

Weaving Loom Repairs

Why has no one ever told me that I would need 2 - 1/8 inch thick dowels to repair my loom.  Really is it to much for someone to say what supplies I need to keep on hand? Well off to the temptation store tomorrow morning.

We are now taking bets on how many things I actually buy.

More Inches Gone

It is that time of year again. As I am getting ready to change to my fall and winter wardrobe I am finding that some clothes have grown in size over the summer. I really don’t feel any thinner, but my clothes say otherwise.  Of the pants I tried on today 2 out of 3 pairs are now resting half way up my rib cage, in just what seems a very few months they grew too big. Darn I really liked on pair of pants.  So I will be going through my closet and trying on pants, shirts and skirts.  The items that are too big  will be going to Goodwill.  I really hope some of my favorite clothing will fit again.

Then once I have a good idea what I need, I will be scouting out the sale racks to see what I can find. Wish me luck in both shopping and good body days.

Projects 150 to 165

Including 1 scarf  for sale, 2 skeins of yarn for weaving. 3 hats for charity. Lastly 10 bibs for charity.

Project 149

Hat number 56 of 2019.  I almost feel like I am slacking. Some days it is too hectic to get anything done this year.

Projects 147 and 148

Two more charity hats.  I now have 55 hats finished for the year and the next 3 are on the knitting needles.  I just might make 60 hats this year.

6 Inches

I managed to find time to weave 6 more inches tonight on the very special one of a kind shawl for my sister in law.  Here is a small peak.  I know the lighting is not very good at night.  Once the shawl is off the loom and the finishing work is done, it will not be so see through.

146

The next hat.  Hat number 53 of the year.

Projects 134 to 145

The next 11 projects are 11 skeins of hand spun art yarn for my older sister. Hopefully these will leave the house tomorrow.  Unfortunately I did not count the yardage.  Each round on my Knitty noddy is 2 yards long. Since she is an engineer I think that she can handle the math.

Projects 129 to 133

5 hats.  3 for a demo and 2 for charity.

Another Busy Day

It was a busy day around here. I walked almost 9,000 steps without leaving the house.  I finished weaving a scarf tonight,I had just enough yarn to finish it. I wound lots of yarn for plying and still have a pile to go.  I did not manage to even come close to finishing my to do list, but there is always tomorrow.

Eric had a good day and managed to con us in to staying up late.

The picture below is what yarn looks like when the yarn goblins invade.

You. Can’t Have It All

It was another lazy summer day here in the Old Pueblo. I slept in late.  Did a few loads of laundry and other chores. I did not have the energy to do all the knitting, weaving or spinning that I wanted too, but the house looks cleaner.

The Next Challenge

My next Spinning and knitting challenge is to take these 2 tubs of lace and fingering weight yarns and reaping them to make a worsted weight yarn for charity hat and scarf knitting, and scarf weaving. There was a phase in my knitting where I actually thought I could find the perfect time to knit lace work.  After adding bits of lace to some projects I found that lace knitting was not fun and not for me.   To compound the problem well meaning friends gave me a lot of wool to knit with.  I just don’t knit with those weights of yarn.  

So the first part of the challenge will be to sort the yarn between super wash and non super wash wool.  The super wash wool will be plyed to make charity hats and scarfs.  The non super wash will be plyed to make woven scarfs.  The reason for this is that when a scarf is woven and washed there is a certain amount of shrinkage that goes along with the finishing process.  So I don’t have to worry that it will shrink. The shrinkage would be a major problem with hand knit hats and scarfs.  

The first photo is how the yarn will look like after it is replyed the second picture is the first stage of the challenge. Once this is finished I will move to odd balls of dk weight yarns. If you are a spinner and want to learn how to do this and just happen to live or visit the Tucson area just call Grandmas Spinning Wheel to schedule a class. I can schedule a class with anywhere from 1 to 5 students.  If your spinning group or guild would like to learn just contact me.   It is a great stash buster.  I even make art yarns with plying.

Bits and Pieces

I came up short on steps by 2020 steps. I think I will let it go today. My nap was more important than walking.

I started my sister-in-laws shawl. I finished the warping and got the first 5 inches woven.  The picture is earlier in the weave before the color change.  I am using the 24”wide loom which is harder to weave on than the 15 inch wide loom.

My Favorite Hat of the Day

This is my favorite hat that I finished today.  I hope it is well loved.

Small Steps

I make some progress today. I finished 2 bibs and 1 hat for charity today.  I am still tired and frazzled.  Eric is done with the current round of extra medicine so I get to sleep tonight with out setting an alarm to wake up and give the every 6 hours dose. Since Eric is asleep I am turning in too.  

Getting Back InSync

I have been a little out of sync this past month.  I am trying very hard to adjust to my new normal. I am trying very hard to play catch up.  I have managed to finish knitting  a hat and scarf in the past 2 days. I am knitting up a new sample for a pattern and editing it as I go along.  Hopefully it will be camera ready soon.

Tomorrow I hope to tackle a pile of sewing projects.  I figure the more I get done the closer I will be to getting back in sync. Also the more charity work will be leaving the house next month. . Wish me luck in this endeavor.

A Rest Day

i took a much needed rest day and kept the chores light.  I even found some mindless knitting to do.

Weaving and more

I have decided that I like highly engerized hand spun singles for weaving scarfs. It makes a nice light scarf with a lot of body.  After I am done spinning up a custom spinning order of art yarn, the rest of my Tour de Fleece 2019 will be some highly engerized yarn.

I am still tired from yesterday, I think I need more than 2 hours of sleep to have a jammed packed day.  After all I can honestly say that I am not 30 anymore and have to make adjustments to my life. Whom ever said that you need less sleep as you get older was wrong.  With that in mind I am calling it an early night.

Super Powers

We all have super powers. Each and everyone of us.  We all don’t have x-ray vision like Superman.  Can I give a collective thank goodness for that. Stopping a speeding train or lifting up a bus, who really needs that? What most people don’t realize is it’s the small things in life that make us superheroes.  Giving a friend a hug when they need it is an awesome superpower. Opening a door for someone pushing a stroller or for someone in a wheelchair, again an awesome superpower. Wishing someone a good day is an awesome superpower.

Today my awesome superpower was repairing Eric’s Wheelchair.  Some how the crossbar had come loose.  So before I ran off to Ace Hardware I did a bit of trouble shooting at home.  It turned out that a screw had come loose and only needed to be tightened.  This involved turning the chair on its side. Pushing the lower half of the chair up to meet the connection while lining up the screw. I took the Allen wrench otherwise known as the Hex Key to tighten down the screw.  Yes, it is as hard as It sounds. As long as the chair was on its side I took off the rear wheels, cleaned and oiled the axles.  I then sent the chair off to be cleaned.

So my superpower today is Wheelchair repairs.  It took me all of 15 minutes and Nick 20 minutes to clean the chair. I would like our health insurance company to know that we saved them an awful lot of money today.  I did not even charge for a home based Wheelchair repair service.

So I would like to know what your superpower is.

Stress Management

If you read my blog on a regular basis you might have noticed that I am doing a lot of cleaning and Zenning lately.  My inner circle knows what all the stress is about.  For right now that is what I am comfortable with.  I am stressed to the point that my creativity has dried up, so new patterns will be on hold for a while. I still need to keep busy.

So I have been turning the house upside down. Digging into the back of closets. Trying to be realistic with my cleaning.  I am never going to get back into my pre kids clothing, so to Goodwill the clothing went.  The Tupperware that was being stored in the garage went to a friends daughter. I have been dropping of delivery’s to Goodwill at least once a week.  If a magazine is a few weeks old it will go to Eric’s day program for the young adults.  Today’s results are 3 empty boxes of paper that at one point I had no time to look through.  I filled the recycling bin to the top this week.

I have also been doing a lot of walking.  My daily goal is 8,080 steps a day.  Most days I leave that number in the dust.  It seems to be helpful.  The only hiccup has been my Knitter’s elbow.  Right now it is one week without knitting, my elbow is better but not good enough to start knitting again.
I hope that it is better soon as I have a hard time finding  the right time to warp the loom.

More Deep Cleaning

I got my Zenning done before breakfast. I now have another rag tag group of bags to go to Goodwill. Teri and I will never be able to fit into them again.  Teri, because she has almost 6 inches on me. Me because I will never be my high school size ever again.  The 1970 and 80’s are long gone. If by chance I do get back to that size they are not classics that stand up to the test of time. Although I am sure some  rebellious teenager will buy them just to drive their parents crazy.

The best part of this is that I have freed up enough hangers so I will not have to ask the sales clerks for hangers for quite a while. I wonder if I will be able to part with more before my next Goodwill run?