Project Bags

It is my very humble opinion that project bags need to be washed when the start to look dirty. If you are anything like me, you put your project of the day, notes snacks and a whole lot of other stuff.  When I finish a big project I usually empty the bag. Hat bags are emptied when I switch from cotton to wool or wool to cotton. If it looks dirty, I empty out the bag and wash it.

By the way the same should go for grocery bags too.  My rule of thumb there is if meat or raw fruits and vegetables  are put in the shopping bags it goes in the wash as soon as I get home.  I tend to like bags that go into the dryer too.  Your grocery clerks will like you for doing this too.  Did you know that your bags will last longer if you keep them clean? They will have less germs too.

At least several times a month grocery clerks ask me where I got the shopping bag if they don’t recognize the print.

Most of the time I have to say that I got it so last century when my daughter was a toddler or for a few in the early 1980’s.

The next question is why are they so clean? Don’t you use them?

My answer is that I use them a lot. I just wash them when they have, meat vegetables or look dirty.

So keep America clean. Wash your project and  grocery bags when they look dirty.  Make everyone happy.

New Designs and a Contest

The best thing I love about designing new patterns is that I can change the flow of the pattern at the drop of a hat.  Well today the hat dropped on the new NH Shawl. I was knitting and did not like my ending. So today at lunch I looked through my design bibles. I found an ending that I like but wanted it less over the top.  So I am modifying a ruffled edging.  Hey, just because it’s in a stitch bible does not mean I have to use it as written. It is called pattern design for a reason. I should have it done by tomorrow and then  start writing the pattern.

Now to the fun part of the new pattern. My second pattern of this year. Will I be able to get it self published by the end of the month, remember it’s a short month.  It does not matter if you are right or wrong. Just send in your guess of yes or no with contest written in the subject line to skaro964@gmail.com.  The winner will get an assortment of my choosing of my hand spun yarn and some stitch markers plus a copy of my new pattern. I will put all of the names in a bowl and John will pick the winner. By the way John does not know that he volunteered for this job.

Just to let you know that this contest is open to everybody, but those outside of the United States will be asked to share the cost of postage if they win. This will be the difference of the the U.S. postage and the international rate.  This contest is not sponsored or endorsed by blogger.com. I am solely responsible for the prizes.

A Rest Day

Today I woke up feeling yucky. So I made it a rest day.  John joined me in the rest day. We binge watched TV watching The Good Fight. This lasted until the  CBS all access app crashed. I spent the day binging on yarn. I am on the last section of my new pattern.  The reveal will be later this week.

Well I am exhausted and going to call it a very early night.

A Hard Day

Today was a hard day. It was not hard because I vacuumed half of the house in a round about fashion. Not because I did my chores in 10 minute spurts every hour. It was hard because I was running out of things I can only get at Fry’s supermarket. I had a very hard time walking through the front door.

I have not been to Fry’s since a few days before Eric died. We just don’t seem to go through things as fast anymore. Some things we no longer use at all. Things like Tide, a small bottle lasted a week and a large bottle maybe two and a half weeks at best. I opened a large bottle of Tide in the last week of December and it still has detergent in it. Plus we have at least 2 spare bottles.

It was hard because I had to walk by the Huggies Wipes to get to the toilet paper, paper towels and trash bags. By the way we are using less of these things too. To get my over the counter stuff, I had to walk by the Mucinex  liquid , Liquid Tylenol, Head and Shoulders shampoo , and other things Eric used on a regular basis. My hand wanted to automatically put these things in my cart. I had been buying them for so many years.  I had to stop myself.  Eric does not need these anymore. Not very surprising was that my bill at check out was about 50% less.

I will not change markets because I like my Fry’s.  It is just down the street.  I know it is one of the smaller ones in town, which means a little less selection.  I think it is worth it not to drive 20 or 30 minutes to go shopping.  I like the nice family atmosphere too. The employees are great.  So maybe next time will not be as hard. I will wait and see.

Leave it at Home

I usually love meeting up with friends to knit.  Today was not one of those days. Little miss I am not happy with my life choices was in over drive today. When I left the house it was 28 degrees below my minimum temperature requirement of 70 degrees f.  So I wore my wool coat, the one I got when Teri was a toddler, so last century.  Well yes I did buy and expensive coat but amortized over the years the current cost per year to wear my nice coat so far is $6.66 not bad for a nice wool coat. Then again the devil is in the details.  Next was my sweater, a fancy one if I have to admit it.  Bought when the kids were in elementary school and on sale. Amortized over the years works out to $4.75 a year of wear at this point. My point to her was that I buy nice things that last, I also take care of them, they might cost more at the beginning,  it the cost per years of wear. Brings the price way down.  It went this way for yarn and other things in my life. Let’s get one thing straight right here and now. Life to to short to knit with crappy yarn.

Then it came down to how to pay for things. Here I was even called un-America.  This is going just a bit to far.  Every family handles their finances to the best of their ability. Every family is different. Every family would like a redo at some time in their lives. A blog is no place to go into this.  Suffice to say my knowledge of our country and financial well-being has been one of saving for what you need.  Not living beyond your means.  The changes came about in the 1960’s with the advent of readily available credit.  The banks learned that they could create a new revenue stream by giving people more credit then they could handle and charging high interest rates and late fees.

Then came  The Lifestyle’s of the rich and famous in I believe was the 1970’s showing what more money could buy, whether it was trips, bespoke clothing or accessories. Designers are very smart people. They created mass produced lines with a lot less detail than their bespoke lines, but enough to get the customers flocking in to buy the goods.  Travel also became cheaper and faster.  Work ethics were also changing.  Gone was the 6 day, 80 hour work week of past generations. Most jobs even introduced paid vacations.

This is were the country started changing.  Some people planned and saved. Thought it was still a good idea to live under their means.  Other people went headlong into the credit card debit way of life.  Let’s fast track forward to this century.  The people who were frugal are for the most part doing OK.  The people whom opted for the credit card to the max way of life are nearing or at retirement age. They have started wondering if they are going to be able to get out of debt before they retire.  They have visions of county run, rat invested living conditions.  They are scared and need to lash out.  I understand all of this, however I am not in the mood to be on the receiving end of someone else’s bad choices.  It’s time to pay those credit cards off no matter what you age is and save for big purchases.  You probably won’t be able to buy a car or house without a loan, but the more you put down on the big ticket items the less interest you will pay and have more money for the things you want.

Now want and needs is an entirely different conversation.  Not for now but later.

Weird Weather

I get I live in the Sonoran Desert. We are use to extreme weather, but not all in one day.  This morning was in the mid 70’s so I choose a short sleeve shirt to wear. A few hours later it had cooled to 71 degrees so we went for our walk.  By the time we got back from a walk around the block it was 67 degrees.  Even in winter the temperature peaks about 3 pm.  By dinner time it was in the 40’s.  So I wore my fur line house slippers out to dinner.  It is supposed to get down to 25 degrees tonight.  A fifty degree drop is a bit much even for me.

We my new pattern the NH Shawl is getting big enough to warm my lap. So it is time to knit.

New Patterns

I have started a new shawl pattern that is going to be called the NH Shawl. I am almost a third of the way through the design.  I also have a pattern that needs a little bit more data and typo corrections and it should e out the door this week.

Check back for further information.

Progress?

Today was better.
Arthritis- 1
Sheri - 1
So I will call it a tie.
I am on the last broader round of a baby shower gift 6 months over do.  I dis not sleep most of the day. I am still exhausted though I even managed to put a few things away and drop the crochet hook under the couch twice. Progress in a wired Sheri way.

Today’s Score

Today’s score was dismal.

Arthritis- 1
Sheri- 0
Steps 4578 out or 8100.

I rested most of today. I am hoping for a better day tomorrow.

By the Numbers

Today by the numbers goes like this:

I went to Bookman’s Mid town and Bookman’s East side.2
The number of socks my store credit bought. 12
Hand knit hat finished.  1.
Pillows given to Ivan.  I not sure weather he liked the Elmo or truck pillow better.  I know that they will be loved.  2.

The Bookman’s stops were for my on going Zenning. I guess I will need to figure out what to zen next.  Maybe a couple of extra dressers that are no longer needed. Then more books. Maybe even tackling organizing my fiber books or my closet.  I am sure all that can result in more trips to Bookman’s.

In the meantime I have:
3 hats to knit. 2 to find and correct errors these will go to Flowing Wells School District Clothing Bank and 1 for a friend.
1 blanket to knit and add a crochet border.
Some animals to sew.
3 purses to finish.
1 random animal to finish.
Can I get this all done before the end of January? I hope so.

Yeah for Zenning

More stuff gone. Today I filled the entire back of my car with socks, hats, books and bibs for a charity run. Then when John came home we filled it again for a Bookman’s run tomorrow. Yeah for Zenning. Less stuff. Did I mention that I also filled and entire box for Bookman’s today while I was putting other things away?

More Socks

Yes, I am still zenning the house.  This is yesterday’s sock haul from Bookman’s NW. Five pairs of socks for the Flowing Wells School District Clothing Bank. I am really grateful that I can turn my house decluttering into something very useful. I really like the Yoda socks.

Remembering Eric

Sometimes I think I have everything under control with losing Eric.  Then I will do something really stupid like opening up some mail before bed.  See an unexpected donation made in Eric’s name. I really do appreciate people remembering Eric. Making the world a better place because of Eric. That is totally awesome.  Then the waterworks just start.  Then I think about his smiles and hugs.  Then I feel I was so lucky to be his mom, to be apart of his life and world. More tears.  I think I better stop now before I flood Tucson with my tears.

Fantastic

I had a fantastic Zenning day. I went to Bookman’s Mid Town and Bookman’s East today. With today’s trading and some credit when they were out of socks it was just fantastic. I have traded for 17. Ore pairs of socks for the Flowing Wells School District Clothing Bank.  This is a total win for me and the clothing bank.  I have a lot less clutter to worry about putting away or dusting. For the clothing bank it is a very small boost in their supply of socks.  

So a very big thank you to Bookman’s Mid Town And Bookman’s East.

Too Much Tension

It has been a very busy tension filled week. Weeks like this are not kind  to my arthritis.  I find the more tension the worse the arthritis flare up is.  It has really been too much tension for me. We got a lot done which really helps. This being said, I am on day 2 of an awful tension headache. So my game plan for the rest of the day is chores, knitting and working on a new design.

I really want to see how many projects I can get finished today.  Wish me luck.

Exhausted

Tonight I am exhausted. Partly because of an arthritis flare up. Partly because John and I were very busy today with friends and chores.  Even though I was exhausted I managed to get my steps, drink my water and eat right.

I hope you all have a wonderful and productive weekend.

Knitting Books

I have got to really organize my knitting books by subject matter. I spent one and a half hours looking for Domino Knitting by  Vivian Hoxbro, for a class I am teaching tomorrow. I decided to take one more quick look before bed and found the book in the sock knitting section of my library.

This means that I really need help to sorta d organize my books.  I would trade this for duplicate books or hand spun yarn. I think I am down to about 10 feet of shelf space for knitting books.  I am not the best at organizing despite my best intentions.

On the bright side while I was looking for Domino Knitting,I managed to fill two bags with recycling. These things will never have to be dealt with again.  I also manage to get over 9,000 steps today. Then just like that it is almost 11:00 p.m.  so good night.

A New Pattern in Progress

My head is reeling. I have just spent 3 hours translating my knitting notes into a new pattern to be released later this week. Can anyone explain to me why it is so much easier to design and knit the prototype then it is to "just" type up my notes into a usable pattern. If you think the pictures are set in the pattern well all I can do is laugh and say how funny you are. That will take me another few hours. Then a few more to add it to Raverly.

When I started designing patterns nobody said anything about knowing graphic design. Even that your notes should be very copious, even if it does not get put into the pattern. Given all this I still enjoy the process of design. I hope you enjoy my patterns.

I thank Gd for Microsoft word. I can't imagine doing this on an Underwood or even a Selectric typewriter. So a very well earned Thank You to the software engineers at Microsoft.

Now to go figure out how not to lose my pictures in the computer or dinner. Whichever comes first.

Bye Bye

I am saying bye bye to more inches.  In the last 18 months I have lost 4 inches off my rib cage.  I know I am losing inches in other places too, I am just not measuring them.  You can tell by how often I need to buy smaller clothing. The most frustrating part for me is that the scale refuses to budge. I am building more muscle mass.  Muscle also weighs more than fat, but is much more compact.  This means that my exercise plan of house cleaning is working well.

Tomorrow is another busy day so I am calling it an early night.

A Hard Day

It’s been almost two months since we lost Eric. I needed to do Eric paperwork which in it self is not hard, but the emotions will over take me in a snap. I got through about half of what I needed to do.  Then it was time to find smiling pictures of Eric to remember the happier times. Eric had a smile that just lit up the whole room.

After that I went on a small cleaning spree.  I managed to get a lot in the recycling can. I also did 2 loads of laundry.  There seems to be a lot less laundry now. The loads are also smaller.

Before I knew it time had flown. It was time to reheat some stew for dinner. After dinner it was. I needed to figure out how I managed to get 6 eye lashes stuck in one eye. I still don’t know how I did it.  The skin around the eye is still a little tender.  My advice is not to get 6 eyelashes in your eye at one time.

It’s getting late so it’s time to call it a day.

Leaping Lizards

Have you heard the news? I am now showing my hand woven scarfs at the Leaping Lizards Gallery here in Tucson, Arizona. I am just one of many artists in all different mediums.  I would like to extend my personal invitation to you to visit the gallery located at:

Leaping Lizards Gallery
6530 East Tanque Verde Road
Tucson AZ 85715
520-722-1266

Located in the LaPlaza Shoppes

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Living Near a Fiber Artist

Sometimes I wonder what our neighbors that of me.  Living next door to a fiber artist must be weird at times.  What got me thinking about this is that I have woven 3 scarfs since the beginning of the year.  After I am finished weaving them, I soak them in a hot bath of *Soak Wash* and very hot tap water and rough them up a bit to help set the weave.  After the water cools I rinse the scarf out of the excess dye.  Then it is time for thwacking. To do this I take the soaking wet scarf to the back yard and swing it as hard as I can on to the patio table for a few minutes.  Then it goes into the garage to dry on the line.  The same thing happens to freshly hand spun yarn too.

At other times I have freshly washed fiber drying in the sun. Perhaps blocking mats laying outside when I have to block something. Sometimes it’s a freshly wash quilt hanging on the fence.  On a nice day I might take my spinning wheel out side to spin.  If a fleece has a lot of vegetable matter I might take the carder to the driveway or front porch to card so I don’t have to sweep and vacuum a mess in the house.  I might even sit outside and knit.

I have friends who hang freshly dyed yarn outside to dry.  Even decorate fences with fiber art.  I have friends who dye yarn in their back yards too. I also will dye yarn in the back yard at times.  When I waited for Eric’s bus I used to stand outside and knit scarfs.

Does this make me weird? Does it mean that I just know how to have a lot of fun? That I don’t know when to stop having fun?

* I have been using Soak Wash for a long time.  If your local yarn or lingerie shop does not carry Soak Wash you can get it directly from Soak Wash , Raverly or Amazon. The makers of Soak Wash did not pay for this endorsement. I have not received anything for the mention in the blog.  It is just my favorite wool and lingerie wash.  I always have at least a couple of spare bottles in the laundry room so that I don’t run out.  I also recommend it to wash all of my by hand created fine washables.

A Sneak Peak

Tonight I am giving you a sneak peak of part of the third scarf I am weaving this year. Yes I know it is only January 6th.   My creativity is running on high octane.  I am just trying to keep up. This section is woven with a 3 ply yarn. 1 ply merino and 2 plies of crochet thread. Just look at the lovely pattern it creates.  This scarf was started this afternoon.