Something I Never Thought About

 I think I am going to have to get my Ashford Spinning Chair upholstered.  I seem to have lost quite a bit of padding over this last year.  The only question that remains is whether I pay a craftsperson to do it for me or I research how to upholster a chair and do it myself.  I don’t think they make pre made cushions in this size. If I am wrong please point me in the right direction. The one person I know would have the answer is no longer with us. 

As you can see from the picture it is just a solid wooden chair.  When I got it, it was so comfortable.  Now I just feel like my hip bones are banging against the wood.  This is the only and I do mean only disadvantage of losing weight and inches.  I like everything else about losing the inches and weight.  

Also I was thinking a nice denim would be comfortable and not scratchy. I know it would not go with the room, but I think a blue chair would look nice.  

A Stressful Day

 Today was a very stressful day.  I did manage not to do my stress eating at a National coffee chain.  I did go home and make a lower calorie and carb chai.  I did indulge In a vegan brownie though.  Since stress eating was not working I moved on to stress cleaning.  I decided to get a head start on my Passover food cabinet clean out.  I found a lot of expired canned food in the very back of the shelves.  I did find some I had to buy a whole case to get any of somethings from the start of COVID19.  On somethings I did ok on. Like the crackers that came in a case of 24, I finished all but 4 boxes.  Other things not so much.  

I also decided on what we probably would not eat before they expired so I am passing these items on.  The high salt items that I missed in previous sweeps are also going.  I am not totally not distressed but I am too tired to think about it.   I am happy to report that the trash can was not to heavy to make it to the street.  

I find it’s always good to do stress cleaning on trash day so the house does not get cluttered up.  Of course charity runs are tomorrow.  I am exhausted and have early errands tomorrow.   

A Bit of Everything

 I saw the dentist earlier today and got my tooth fixed. The crown is now back in place.  I always get a little tired and loopy after the dentist even with out pain meds. So after a very late breakfast I took a long nap.  I was still a little bit loopy but I made it through the day.  

I did spend the afternoon knitting.  I am happy to say I am almost done with the 3rd pattern repeat. The knitting is perfect just don’t look at my pattern notes. They got kinda wonky towards dinner time.  Knitting this pattern is ridiculously easy for me but writing down what I do line by line is another thing.  I still don’t know where I am going to block it or photograph it yet.  I should not try to get ahead of myself, I still have rows to knit before I am done.  The next question is to fringe or not to fringe.  That’s not a rush because I can do that after I am done blocking.  

With the post holiday COVID19 surge I am back to staying home.  Yes, I have enough yarn, fiber and fabric. Thanks for thinking about it. Also please do us all a favor. If you have not had the vaccine for COVID19 please start the vaccine series. It’s no different from getting the MMR, Poliomyelitis, tetanus, or any other vaccine that you had as a kid to go to school.  Also I highly recommend wearing an N95 or Kn95 mask when out and about.  Just in case you were wondering, yes there is a new variant of COVID19. So we all need to work together to end this pandemic. 

Reading

 Today did not go as planned.  I had a bad night and slept in.  Then for brunch I had a high fat but delicious meal.  Let’s just say my body did not like my choice.  So nothing got done on the new pattern.  I did manage to get through another 2 hours of my new audio book.  I am currently reading The Witch Elm by Tana French. So far it’s really good   I just finished Where The Crawdads Sing which is another excellent book   

A Break Through

 That moment of pure joy when a pattern that I am writing finally clicks in my head.  The moment I know that I can walk and knit the pattern at the same time. Of course I don’t because I need an accurate row count. I also need each line of the pattern to count out equally.  I need to hit my magic number on every single row. I also need the geometry of the pattern to aline.   I also know how the pattern is going to be typed up without sending it out to my daughter to decipher.  How to type it up with out having to type more than 250 rows of the pattern. The moment the pattern does not look like a dyslexic dance party. The moment the pattern stops swirling on the page. I figured out how to get the instructions down to beginning and end with 2 other sections just repeated.  The math is now easier too. 

This only took me a few months.  This is one of the complicated patterns  that I can knit while walking and talking that I have ever written down.  The end is in site.  Now to decide where I am going to put the blocking cubes. In summer I put them outside, it’s January hence it is not summer.   I also have to find a table to photograph it on. We have been getting rid of things that we don’t need or use anymore, the coffee table left 3 or 4 years ago. This is probably poor planning on my part not to have the foresight of my needs years into the future.  I wonder If can go into World Market and use one of their coffee tables to take the pictures? I would give them credit in the pattern.  I will have to call them.  This is all the easy peasy stuff.  

2022 Here I Come

 The year is off to an interesting start. Yesterday a 36 hour tummy bug hit.  I am feeling much better right now.  Just don’t ask about last night. However the new year is not done with me yet, tonight I lost a crown.  So off to the dentist for me.  I hope that this is not how 2022 is going to go.  I could really use a good year after 3 dismissal years.  I am not counting my daughter and her husband’s visits as part of the dismissal times.

My new pattern is going well. This is how I want my year to go.   I am on the last major section.  I think I have figured out how to type up the pattern without typing over 250 rows of the pattern.   It will should be out by the end of the month.  This one should be easy to knit while watching television or listening to an audio book once you have the pattern set.  For me this would be a knitting while walking pattern, if my family would trust me to walk and knit.

Then it will be a baby blanket for someone here in Tucson.  I have the yarn pulled.  I just need the pattern to pop into my head.  I hope this happens soon.  It’s going to be a modern nursery.  So nothing old fashioned.  

Baked Blueberry French Toast

 This is the special NewYears Day breakfast treat that I made for breakfast today.   If you have seen this recipe in a past blog I have changed a few things. There is no added sugar.  My thinking is that there are enough carbs between the bread, blueberries and milk so that no empty sugar calories are needed.  The blueberries provide enough sweetness.  I used duck eggs because of an allergy to chicken eggs, you may use the egg of your own choosing.  I used whole wheat bread, you many use gluten free bread or any other bread of choice. Egg bread is always a good choice.   I used vanilla soy milk, you may use any milk of choice except chocolate milk.  Look I do have to draw the line somewhere.  Plus I am not sure if it will taste good if made with chocolate milk.  I also did not add any additional salt because I feel we get enough sodium in our diets   Also there is sodium in the bread and milk   Trust me you will not miss it   

Pre heat the oven to 350f

Supplies Needed

1 8 x 8 inch baking pan sprayed with a non stick spray

1 2 quart mixing bowl 

1 fork 

8 slices of bread diced

1 cup fresh blueberries rinsed and dried 

1 cup of milk

4 eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla 

Preparing 

Place the diced bread and blueberries in the baking pan. Gently toss them together making sure that the blueberries are evenly distributed   

In a 2 quart bowl place the eggs, milk and vanilla.   Mix well making sure that the eggs are well blended. Pour over the bread and blueberries making sure that the bread is evenly coated with the egg mixture. 

Carefully place the baking pan in the preheated oven. Bake for 30 minutes. After 30 use a knife to test for doneness.  If not done just put it back in for a few more minutes. Servers 4 to 8  

For 1/8th of the pan you will count 1 slice of bread, 1/2 egg, 1/8 cup milk and blueberries 

For 1/4th of the pan you will count 2 slices of bread, 1 egg, 1/4 cup milk and blueberries 

Happy New Years

 First off I like seeing 2021 in the rear view mirror.  Year 2 of the pandemic was not easy for me.  I am tired of the isolation.  

Next I would like to wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous 2022.  I pray that we can put COVID19 behind us this year.  Maybe this year we can venture out into the world. I really don’t care if I have to wear a mask.  

We had a lovely New Year’s Eve dinner of homemade soup and store bought rolls.  The company was very nice.   If you would like the soup recipe, I posted the recipe in my December 29, 2021 blog post.  

Because it rained last night we were able to dig out some roots of the cottonwood infestation in the front yard.  I even managed to get some in the trash can before the trash pick up.  The trick is following the roots.  The roots go from plant to plant.  They can be really thick roots.  I went for the smaller plants and John went for the bigger ones.  We stopped when it started raining again.  Maybe we will be able to get a couple more out tomorrow.  

I am also working on a new knitting pattern. I managed to to write and knit 14 more rows. I am also past the halfway point in the design.  Yes there is a lot of math involved.  I am not sure if I won’t do a major revision before I publish it.  I will have to see once it is blocked. I am sure you will be happy that I am doing all the math and all you will have to do is knit.  

A slow Day

I did not sleep well last night and made it through the day on caffeine.  I am hoping for rain tonight, but not the kind of storm that sends the barometric pressure all over the place.  Not much got done today.  That’s ok, there is always tomorrow.  

Thank You Brandy

 Brandy was one of our favorite aides for Eric. Yesterday she reached out and asked for a favorite family recipe.   Then John goes it’s cold now, we should have that for dinner tomorrow night.  So I got up early to head to the store as early as possible.  Yes, I wore my Kn95 mask and the store was not crowded.  So here is the minestrone soup recipe.  It’s quick and easy.  

I used to make it more with stew beef when the kids were younger   Now that I am on a very low fat diet I use skinless, boneless, chicken breast meat. I have my butcher cut it up in cubes for me about 1/2 square. Both are tasty options   

Minestrone Soup

1 4.5 quart LeCreuset soup pot 

1 package Manischewitz Minestrone Soup Mix

1.5 pounds of diced chicken breast or stew beef

1 large sweet onion diced

1 bunch of celery cleaned and sliced 

1 pound of carrots peeled and sliced 

5 cups of water

2 Tablespoons olive oil 

1/2 teaspoon of salt and white pepper 

1 pound frozen mixed vegetables 

Sauté meat, salt and pepper in the olive oil until the meat is no longer red or pink.  15 to 20 minutes stirring every few minutes.  Add the onion and continue to sauté until tender and translucent.  Add celery and carrots mix in and cook until softened about 5 minutes.  

Add 5 cups of water and bring to a boil.  Add the soup mix. Bring to a boil again.  Lower the temperature to a slow simmer and cook 45 minutes stirring often.  

About 15 minutes before the basic soup is done remove the frozen vegetables from the freezer.  Add the mixed vegetables to the soup once the 45 minute timer goes off.  Stir in well. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes more until the frozen vegetables are cooked.  You may add other vegetables too.  Just don’t over fill your pot. 

Serve with warm dinner rolls.  It is better the second night. This makes about 4 quarts of soup.  Yes you may freeze the leftover soup in individual containers and freeze.  

A Disjointed Kind of Day

 It was one of those days that I could not figure out what to do.  So I started out sorting laundry, that was a bust, not one full load to do. Then I worked on a scarf and got it through the first color change.  Then John and I did something that we would not have done in the pre COVID19 day.  We voluntarily ate lunch out side while it was in the mid 50’s.  Of course we were bundled up, but we had to take our gloves off to eat. While we were out I worked on knitting another hat. I got through the color change on the hat too.  

After lunch it was 18 rows of lace knitting.  Somehow 18 rows of lace knitting is all I can do in one sitting.  Then John raided the fridge and made a lovely dinner.  Then it was time to exercise, so I sat down at my Cubii2 and worked on another scarf.  My knitting bowl was not large enough so 1 skein of yarn kept rolling around on the floor.  It was actually great knitting while I was exercising, it made the time go so much faster. I just love multitasking. While watching television tonight, I went back to the scarf I was working on this morning.  

I just could not figure which knitting project need more knitting time    

Tomorrow it’s supposed to rain all day.  So I will try to get out early to get meat for a soup.  It should be a good day to have a pot of soup on the stove.  

More Changes for 2022

 After many discussions with my family over the past couple of years I am going to change up my knitting style.  I will no longer try to knit more than everyone else. Instead I will do charity projects while John is driving.  I usually work on hats and scarfs while watching television. That will not change.  I will still continue to teach knitting, spinning and weaving as the opportunities present themselves. I will continue to design knitting patterns as the patterns want to be written.  I will cut my knitting goal by 50% to give me time to work on projects for me.  

This is being done because I am not getting any younger.  We also want to preserve my hands and my ability to use them.  Less is going to have to be more.  I will also explore other areas of my creative self.  I will try painting and drawing.  I will do more sewing.  I will do more weaving. I will try not to be singular in my artistic pursuits.  This is also because arthritis really suck’s big time.  After decades of trying to push past the pain, I have nothing let to prove to myself.  I really hate being in pain most of the time. I am hoping that these changes will help in the long run.  

These are just some of the me projects I have lined up. 

Picture Time 100th

 This is knitting project 100 for 2021.  A charity scarf.  Taken in the back yard today.  

100

 Tonight I reached my goal of 100 hand knit or hand woven projects for 2021 with days to spare. I have not taken a picture of project 100 because it is black and white, which needs good natural light to photograph.  So here is a picture of numbers 98 a long scarf and 99 a child’s hat.  I will rotate the hat on the desktop  

Boredom can be Boring

 The storm that has been pounding the west coast made its way here overnight. There was a drop in the Barometric pressure that was large enough to give me a vice like grip headache. Think of it as migraine plus. So not much got done  

I am at the stage of the pandemic where I’m bored. This may be partly due to the the headache.  I did some knitting, paid a few bills, the usual stuff.  But I am bored.  I want new episodes of tv shows.  I want some new actors like on Ghost.  I am tired of looking at actresses who are younger than me somehow look 10 years older than me.  All the while trying to look hip and young.  Can you tell we have run out of tv show’s that were supposed to last longer than COVID19. 

Maybe a good nights sleep will help. 

98 Down 2 to Go

 I finished my 98th project of 2021 and actually thought it was project 99.  Oh well, 2 projects in 7 days easy peasy.  Much easier than getting served at lunch today.  We have a new to us outdoor patio dining. After a 20 minute wait the hostess seated us at a table outside the patio where we normally sit.  The only problem was that there was no server assigned to our table.  After 15 more minutes John got up searching for our server.  The bartender took pity on us and took our order and brought the food.  Does this happen to anyone else or do the crazies just seem to find me? 

We took a walk at Tohono Chul Park after lunch and actually found an area that we had not explored yet.  I wanted to look at the indoor exhibits but there were too many people without masks.  It’s not like we’re in the middle of a world wide pandemic with a variant that spreads faster than the measles or anything like that.  We wore our mask all the way through even though we were outdoors.  This also had the benefit of screening out the ragweed.  We could not believe the number of monarch butterflies that we saw today, just a few days before the end of the year.  The butterflies really should be down in Mexico this time of year instead of flying around Tucson.  I believe that this is all because of Global   warming. It’s the end of December and the high was 75 instead of the low 60’s.  I predict another very hot summer.  

This and that

 We were lucky enough to be the first service call of the morning.  The garage door is now fixed.  The cause was above my pay grade.  The sensors went out.  The repair man installed new sensors.  He also cleaned the tracks and greased them.  We are good to go.  

On the other hand it is rag weed season in Tucson.  Because of the unusually high temperatures we have rag weed in December.  That’s supposed to be a late January- February thing.  Also don’t move to Arizona if you want to get rid of your allergies.  The people who moved here in the 1920’s to 1950’s to get better air quality brought all and I do mean all their pollinating plants with them.  So because of our moderate temperatures we have some form of pollen all year long.  My poor nose.  

I did get to a color change on my latest 60 inch scarf. I do have to say that by the time I am finally finished with this scarf nobody will be able to tell that I have 2 full skeins of yellow in the scarf.  The yellow which is worsted weight yarn is dominated by the sock weight yarn.  It is making some interesting color ways.  

It’s time to call it a night.   

Planning for 2022

 As 2021 comes to a close and we’re getting ready to enter the zillion th year of COVID19 and all of its variants I am beginning to wonder if it would be better for me to leave Facebook and cut down on my other social media.  Instead spend my time reading, walking outside and crafting.  After all if the science is to be believed the Spanish Influenza of 1918  took 3 years to settle down.  I know people traveled a lot less back in 1918. I hope all the traveling people are doing now does not  prolong the current pandemic. 

I have literally no place to go. No travel plans. I have lots of projects, lots of craft supplies, lots of books and  most of all lots of time.   What I don’t want is an email box that is overflowing with junk mail.  Spending time on social media  tends to add to that.  I deleted over 1000 emails today and did not make a dent.  I have to think on this.  I will keep my blog though.  

My New Golding Drop Spindle

 Today I did manage to get to 2 different grocery stores, the post office, fill up my car before and put the groceries away  before my breakfast caffeine wore off.  I garage door broke when I came home.  Last time this happened there were spider webs in the tracks. So I vacuumed the tracks to try again. Still no luck.  The service man comes on Wednesday.  

After starting the laundry I decided to close my eyes for 5 minutes, you all know where this is going. So 2 hours later I woke up freezing.  I started the tea maker. Hung up some wet laundry and put a little bit in the dryer.  Started the next loads. Had my hot tea and apple, that did the trick.  It’s weird that sometimes I don’t feel hun, but get really cold when I need to eat.  

I did a little bit of knitting. I really wanted to try out my newly refurbished Golding Drop Spindle. Tom Golding did a fantastic job at a reasonable price.  The turn around was much quicker than I thought it would be.  I just happened to have some silk on the table that I had been meaning to put away. So I started spinning the silk instead of putting it away.  The spin was awesome.  As you can see by the picture below that I was able to spin a very fine thread.  I can always spin silk finer on a drop spindle.  I think that I will spin some more to go with some sock yarn and make a shawl.  

I was too tired to list and of my spindle herd on Ravelry. 

Burned Out

 I got a little burned out knitting 3 scarfs in 3 days.   Today I started the next scarf, but stopped working on it when the morning news show ended.  Instead I did paperwork and filled recycling bags.  Tomorrow I might even just polish a few drop spindles and play with one or 2 of my new to me ones.  I will also try to lay out the spindle herd to see if a few can go.  

 Will also list a few more de stash items on Ravelry.  There might even be a few spindles.  Just a heads up.

Scarf 29 - 2021 Project number 97 - 2021 

96 Down 4 to Go

 This is project number 96 for 2021.  This scarf knit on U.S. size 17 (12 mm) knitting needles.  Using one strand of super wash wool and 1 skein of novelty yarn. It took 2 days to knit.  

Busy

 I have been busy knitting, running errands and fighting a Sjogren’s flare up.  I am really hoping that the onset of winter is the real cause of my headaches and stiffness. Who would have ever thought that winter would rear its ugly side in the middle of December?  I going to try to call it an early night.  

Projects 94 & 95

 These are both charity projects.  Project 94 is a hat.  I tried a new pattern that I saw on Instagram.  It is so cool that it is reversible.  This is meant for an older child or teenager. 

The next project is 95.  A 60 inch scarf for an older child or teenager.  It is meant to be folded in half or can go over the head and wrapped around the neck. It was knit with 2 strands of yarn on size 17 knitting needles.