This is what craft room number one aka the guest room looks like when all the crafts are finely put away. The room is dusted and vacuumed. John did the dusting and vacuuming. This is usually the only time you can see all the carpet
On the left side of the room is the Murphy Bed. It folds down to a queen size bed. A nice cozy spot to hang out in.
The sewing tables have been folded up. The sewing machine put away. I am leaving John in charge of vacuuming and dusting. I just have to find a home for some blankets. They are washed and bagged. They are too small for the V.A. , Project Linus does not take cotton blankets. So I will call a friend tomorrow.
I just need to wrap a few things , put some baskets away, fold up one table, sweep and mop the floor’s, clean the bathrooms along with my usual chores and we will be ready for company. I am exhausted just thinking about it.
The best part of this companies coming is that I tossed a lot of things rather than just put them in boxes and baskets for later. I hope that this puts me ahead of the curve.
Sometimes the perils in pattern writing is the the letters and numbers dance around the page like a Conga line dances through a room. My current pattern fits this to an exact T as in T Square. Today I tried to figure out if I hit that magic sweet spot of pattern section repeats. I simply could not figure it out. So I will keep knitting and working the pattern out row by row. I just have to have things add up to my magic number and maintain the angles, it’s really not that hard until I can no longer walk, talk and knit at the same time. This sitting down to write patterns down is sometimes very hard work.
If I take this pattern row by row it is a very delightful knit. Just enough change from row to row to keep the pattern interesting. My student whom I am writing it for, loves the pattern so far. She is on section 2 around row 8. She likes the fact that after so few rows knit and purled stitches a pattern is visible. That makes me so happy. I am only 2 full sections ahead of her so I have to find more time to finish this.
In other news the bathroom is now painted. I just have to pull the tape off the grab bar. Give it a few days to dry. This is where a second shower is very helpful. Then put everything back where it belongs. Also just a few projects to go before craft room 1 is ready to become the guest room. My new storage containers for craft room 2 are somewhere in Phoenix. Hopefully they will arrive tomorrow, they were supposed to be here today, alas this is the season of shipping hiccups.
I also came up with an innovative way to put my shoes away. I slip on one pair and walk to my closet Take the shoes off and put them away. I repeated this process until all my shoes were put away while bring laundry from the clothes line to the closet’s. I got 2 chores done at once and added steps to boot.
I am hoping despite be sore all over, all day that I will sleep tonight. Wish me luck.
Here I sit at 2 a.m. waiting for the aspirin to kick in. All because I. choose not to wear my tendon isolation band while knitting last night. As you know I have chronic tendonitis do to arthritis. It just seems to jump all around my body. Currently I have knitting elbow also know as tennis elbow. Since I do not play tennis anymore, I call it knitting elbow.
My arm was feeling good all day. So I thought that I was lucky That it went away very quickly. Yeah, I am not that lucky. So here I sit at 2 a.m. waiting for the aspirin to kick in. I am wide awake.Pain has away of doing that to me. So I might just do some chores while I wait. Since I did not get many things done yesterday. I was having a bad body day except for my elbow. Then again I can feel the aspirin starting to kick in, so I just might be lucky enough to go back to sleep. So maybe I will just get a jump on the day and start a load of. By the way, I am so predictable that the prediction program on my blog had picked out I was going to start a load of laundry before I even had it typed in. A very good algorithm, way to go programmers.
Will the deep cleaning ever stop? That is a question that I have been asking myself a lot lately. It seems the more I organize and the more I get rid of the more there is to organize and get rid of. It seems like when I get one layer removed another layer pops up.
I was very clever in my organizing today. I managed to combine 2 boxes of quilting supplies into one box. That gave me a free box to bring sewing supplies to the garage. I also combined all my fabric into one box that already had a space in the house. That leaves the odds and ends to land in the right shoe box storage containers. Then I can find a place for them. I also started a new box for Goodwill. No new boxes were needed today which is a very good thing. Less boxes equals less stuff. Which equals more organization. Which equals more progress. Which equals more time to make and creat more donations and new patterns.
For the other room, I have ordered 2 storage chests with 3 huge drawers each. That will give me room for my spinning supplies and other loose fiber related items. One is almost a direct transfer, the other will hold additional items. I hope by Friday I can have both rooms finished.
I am 1/3 of the way Into a new scarf and have already used 6 skeins of yarn. I must admit that 2 of those skeins were started tonight so I still have at least 6 skeins more to finish this scarf. Hopefully it will be finished soon
Then maybe I can take an online course Saturday and play with some beads after I put other rooms in order.
This is my 86th completed project for this year. I really like the colors. The pattern is They Stash Dive Scarf by Summer Lee Designs. This scarf is over 5 feet long. It’s meant ti be folded in half which makes it great for my knitting guild project. It’s going to northern Arizona where it gets really cold. This also brings up the question: can I finish 13 more projects by December 31st? This year I might not make my goal of 100 completed knitting and weaving projects in 2021.
I really don’t know why I am still using a to do list. Lately I am half way through and have no more energy to finish my list. It seems lately that it is wishful thinking that I can get everything done in a timely manner. I think it is more appropriate to call it my wishful thinking list of things that need to be done. I know some things need to be done in a timely fashion and other things not so much.
I know that I am supposed to give it a month or so for my latest life style changes to kick in. Let’s face it, the last change was 3 days ago snd I should in my humble opinion be up to full speed and then some. My family would say give it time. I am just to impatient.
So I am wondering if I should return to setting priorities and ranking items. I will have to think about that. In the meantime I think that I will call it a day.
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.
Today was pretty good. I spent some time working on the new pattern. Finished one scarf, pictures to come later. Fix someone’s blanket and taught the difference between leading and lagging legs. If you are a knitter and don’t know what this is we need to talk.
Came home and made dinner. Turkey burgers, yummy. My hands were too tired to do much knitting tonight, but there is always tomorrow.
So I will call it a day.
Not my best day. I let the stress get to me. Although I did manage to reorganize part of craft rooms 1 & 2. Tomorrow will be better.
Today I had more plans than energy. So after an early morning run to get groceries, putting together dinner and putting the rest of the food away it was nap time. I was really to tired to even eat lunch before my nap. So the rest of the day I did small chores in little sprints.
On the good news side, I finished the first 3 sections of my new pattern. Now that I don’t have to do the math for every row, it should go much faster. Yes it’s one of those geometric patterns that I like to walk, talk and knit at the same time it’s easier that way.
We had a good Halloween day. We did just in time decorating. The Halloween decorations were out for less than 12 hours before they were put away for next year. We only had 3 bags of candy leftover, so John agreed to take them to work to leave by the coffee pot. I also found out that kids don’t like marshmallows for Halloween candy treats. They still loved the pencils, pens, animal erasers, bubbles and assorted Halloween toys. We had about 40 kids this year.
I have enough pens, pencils and assorted Halloween toys for next year. All I need to do is buy more candy. Hopefully next year we will be back to normal for Halloween. I really like handing out the candy and treats. I have had enough of this no contact Halloween stuff. This was my Halloween set up for tonight. I kept putting out more candy and bags.
I was in the mood to clean today. So I am filling up a few trash and recycling bags. I also included 2 loads of hand wash and 3 machine loads of laundry. I am still not 100% so I took breaks for knitting. I also found my box of stitch markers to repair, so that will be added to my to do list. I also put a few things away, but more is leaving than staying.
Since we are not on a busy street I made 50 Halloween gift bags and have the candy ready to put out. We are doing a no contact trick or treat again this year. John will decorate in the morning. I have decided that John will bring all the left over candy to work with him to leave by the coffee pot. I just have not told him yet. I am sure it won’t be a problem.
Since I over did things yesterday, I tried to take it easy and have a slow day. I almost seceded. Unless I am sleeping my inclination is to keep moving and going. To that end I used a bag of poly fill in the craft room as a desk. I then proceeded to empty and throw away or recycle most thing. I did find a pair of circular knitting needles that I did not realize that I had lost. Filled up the to be shredded basket that I just emptied on Wednesday.
I did a little knitting on 2 different projects. One were finished. We also tried not to watch every show that dropped today. We did save a few for tomorrow. Well it’s getting late and I am going to call it a day.
Almost everything that I have worked on since January is leaving the house today. The count is as follows: 50 hand knit hats, 21 hand knit scarfs, 4 hand woven scarfs. I acquired 33 pairs of socks and 12 backpacks. I really think the volume of items Surprised John this morning. I know that I fell short of my yearly goal of 60 hats, but I must face the fact that it was a bad hand year. The fact that my hats are knit on US size 6 & 8’s verses the scarfs which were knit on no smaller than a US size 11. By the way the larger the number the bigger the knitting needles are. This makes them easier to hold on a bad hand day too.
I used John’s couch to lay out everything for one last picture before they left the house. I almost covered the entire couch. Everything is now packed up to drop off at The Flowing Wells School District Clothing Bank. It makes me very happy that I can use my idle time like this.
Right now I have about 4 good hours to get things done before i am too exhausted to work. I just have to decide Whether it’s errands or cleaning. Life can be so simple.
I have had my most productive day in a while. I even started 2 loads of laundry and put things away during the 8 minutes that my breakfast was cooking. Not one spot got cleaned, instead a whole lot of things got got trashed or moved to where they were supposed to be.
I was going to take a walk when I got frustrated by my new design. I am not sure how, but it is easier to walk, talk and knit this pattern than it is sitting down at a table with pen snd paper, writing the pattern as I go. There was just one little glitch. There was a coyote wandering around. I make it a point not to venture far when wild animals are roaming the streets. So I did the sensible thing and watered the new cactus we planted last weekend.
When I came back inside, I was a little more relaxed. I figured out it was not the written pattern that was the problem rather I did not count right when casting on yesterday. So I tinked it. Cast on again and everything is ok.
I picked up some wonderful salmon for dinner. It came out perfect. Nice and buttery. No, I did not use butter when I baked the salmon. I use the juice of one lemon, salt, white pepper and dill. I let it marinate a few hours. Add a bit of water before cooking. Bake at 350f for about 35 minutes. I buy enough to cook once and eat for 2 nights.
Charity knitting happened after dinner. The scarf that I am working on will take at least 7 skeins of yarn. It is called the Stash Dive Scarf by Summer Lee Designs.and is available on Raverly. This is number 4 with this pattern.
I am finally feeling better. For real. Sadly no tea seems to be working. I have started a new table runner pattern at the request of my student. It would have been so much easier just to walk around the house knitting this pattern. However, since it is for a student I have to do all the math, gauge swatches, and write every line of the pattern as I knit this pattern. To me geometrical patterns can be done mindlessly. Once I start writing things down, I am amazed at how seamlessly my mind seems to knit them.
I managed to get to the grocery store today. I was amazed at all the Snowbirds who were not wearing masks. Most of these people looked really old. I know some people think I am very old, but I could have been their kid. Some were even frail. Yes, I wore my KN95 Mask from inside the car to when I got back inside the car.
One other thing I noticed was how many people were treating the store staff as personal assistants. Not many thank you's or have a fantastic days. This is just so wrong these people work hard and don't need to be trampled on. A few kind words to everyone who helps you goes a long way.
I found fresh tomatillo's so I got every thing I needed for fresh tomatillo soup, The recipe will follow tomorrow. Shopping and making the soup wore me out. Yes, I did over do it. I spent 4 hours on the couch not moving. Just waiting for the pain in my shoulders to go away. Next time I will wait until I have help with all the prep work before I start the soup.
Well my typing is becoming very dyslexic so it must be time to call it a night. Just let me know if I need to make corrections.
I woke up at 5 am with a headache, since it was too early for breakfast I tried the caffeinated tea route. While I was waiting for the caffeine to do it’s job I woven in the remaining ends and did the last seam of the scarf. Since the scarf seemed dusty, I washed all 3 in that series by had. I did the right thing the wash water and first rinse were muddy looking. By the 3rd rinse I put them out side to dry.
By the time John woke up my headache was gone and we had breakfast together. We did a few chores and worked in plenty of rest time. John installed a new toilet seat to replace the broken one. I got 4 loads of laundry done. This included folding the sheets and putting them away. I have to admit that around 2 pm. I was too tired to move, so I binge watched some Downton Abbey.
John brought in dinner and I cleaned up. Then we relaxed until bedtime. Yes, I am feeling better than yesterday, but not 100%. I guess I am looking fo baby steps on this one.
I am just starting to feel better. I found getting things done 30 minutes at a time helped a lot. 2 plants got new pots and John planted a cactus out front for me. My new sheets got washed replacing a set that I wore out. I also started but did not finish a new organizing project, I have finally found a place to put all the masks and stuff. I think COVID19 will be here for a while.
I did start a new scarf today, so far I am liking that it is a stash buster. I am 20 inches in and have almost used up 1 skein of sock yarn. Yes, at one time I thought I would be knitting a lot of my own socks, not so much. So I am always happy to find a pattern that uses sock yarn up. I have also used up 1 1/4 skeins of worsted weight cotton yarn. The cotton yarn is good for 17 inches between color changes so I think 5 skeins should just about finish the scarf. After I finish the skein of sock yarn I will start on partial skeins to change things up. I will have to finish weaving in the ends of the scarf I finished yesterday so I can drop it off for a friend to take to guild for me.
I spent most of the day feeling awful. This however is no excuse not to get things done. So when I had energy I managed to do a little picking up around the house. 3 loads of laundry, put away most of today’s deliveries. I almost finished a never ending scarf, it is just over 5 feet long, good for the northern Arizona winter. I have enough yarn for 2 more, but they will be delivered next fall. After dinner I started feeling better. John brought in Japanese food for dinner. I had my favorite cold tofu for dinner.
I will have to see how tomorrow goes. I am planning another light scheduled.
