Toggling Knitting Projects.

 Right now I am toggling between three knitting projects. I have 2 in the den. I am knitting squares for a blanket and am knitting hats for the kids.  Hats are for when I don’t need to pay attention to what I am knitting.  The squares are a little more precise so they are worked on at other times.  I am still working on the long scarf when I am on zoom.  

For those keeping count I am on hat 18 for the year or 1.5 dozen hats.  

I see more knitting in the next few weeks while my foot heals.  My feet don’t like cold weather so the tendons are inflamed.  So that does limit my walking time.  I am doing the right exercises for my foot. I have been here before.   

A Needy House.

 Last year was my year of retooling. This year the house is being super needy. It’s only the middle of February.   We started out in January having the refrigerator dying on us.  That was replaced at the end of January, it took a long time to deliver due to COVID19.  

Then in quick secession the washing machine started leaking in two different areas.  The first repair took care of half of the leaking.  The second leak was from the back hoses, intake and out put.  After the third try the washing machine is finally fixed.  It wash just in time. Because I have been loosing weight and inches I don’t have a lot of outfits. I had just enough clothing to last through today.   So before breakfast the laundry was started.  By tomorrow morning everything will be dry.  

The the ceiling fan lights went out.  Thankfully John was able to fix it the same day.  Later that night the guest bathroom toilet decided to die.  The parts are on order.  Pre COVID19 it would have just been a quick trip to the hardware store, now it’s order the parts and wait.    

Honestly there are other things that need to be done around the house like repairing the chips caused by Eric’s wheelchair. Rooms that have not had a new coat of paint since 1994 and other paint touch ups.  It’s also time to replace the grouting in two bathrooms.  As I am feeling better or after we have our COVID19 vaccines and we can hire someone. It will get done in due time.  

Attacking Mistletoe

 Today we worked on getting some mistletoe out of a mesquite tree in our yard. It seemed like we took out a lot of tree. I have to admit that I have not been doing much mistletoe removal in the past couple of years. I have instead relied on the gardener, that was a huge mistake.  He has not done any mistletoe removal. He is supposed to be here this weekend, so I left all the branches we cut off for him to clean up.  It’s my passive aggressive way of say you did not do your job, so John and I had to.  So you get to pick up all the branches. 

I finished knitting my yellow shawl today. It is a little small for me and I think I am a bit to pale to pull it off. I will weave in the ends tomorrow and take a picture.  It will probably be sold.  Now to pick the next project.  

Household Repairs

 We have spent part of the last three days on household repair projects.  The first repair was repairing two of the backyard screens.  The second repair of the washing machine lead to the third repair or more accurately the replacement of the water valves for the washing machine water intake.  John made it as COVID19 safe as possible by opening the newly repaired screen door window in the laundry room. He then sealed off the room with plastic.  Then we left the fan running to create a constant flow of air out of the laundry room into the backyard.  Even though we were on the other side of the barrier we wore masks while the repair men were here.  

I am absolutely done with household repairs for the time being.  I was too tired to do much today. I was to tired to knit which should tell you exactly how tired I am.  I did manage to get one load of laundry finished, John did a great job hanging all the clothing.  

It’s time to call it a day.  

Over Achieving

 Today is January 28th.  I might need to rethink my knitting goals for the year.  I have already hit 11% completed. I am only knitting a few hours a day, no all day marathons in deference to my hands. Maybe it’s time to pull out a really if project to slow me down. 

Serial Knitting

 I have turned into a serial knitter. Well what does that mean?  It means I have one project for the kitchen table so I can keep copious notes on my rows.  I have hat knitting on the couch for television time.  I have a third project at my computer for zoom meetings and face time. What does this mean for you? Well you will get to see more finished projects.  What does that mean in general, more items will go to the kids clothing bank. What does it mean for my yarn stash, hopefully it will shrink this year.  

Keeping Busy, Well Sort Of

 Today I did some deep cleaning. I managed to fill two trash bags. The sad part of today’s deep clean is that it hardly made a dent. I also spent time unpacking deliveries and putting things away. Then only when I was tired did I get to the first thing on my to do list. Reorganizing my dresser.  I used up my morning knitting time and the took a long nap after lunch. 

I am still at the get tired fast stage of recovery.  I wish it would just resolve it self and I can have a full active day again. I am really bad at living life in the slow lane. I am even worse dealing with pain  yes I am back on the Tylenol.  I just have to remember that it is one step at a time. 

After dinner I did manage to get some knitting done. I finished charity hat number 5, then started charity hat number 6 for 2021. This leaves me at 5% of my knitting goal for this year completed.  I wonder if I will be able to exceed my knitting and weaving goal again this year.

Below is hat number 5. I am sure that someone will love wearing it. 

 

Totally Crazy

 Today was totally crazy. Our new fridge was supposed to be delivered today. The only problem was that it has not left California.  I don’t know why people are so geographically impaired. The delivery was supposed to be by 2:00p.m. After dinner we find out that we might get it by next week. I am really mad at the vendor. That added a lot of stress to my day.  

I almost finished one hat, I just have to weave in the end. I started hat number 3 for the year. Day 2 of no Tylenol.  I am just to tired to type any more.  Goodnight.  

An Extraordinary Day

 Today was an ordinary yet extraordinary day. It might not seem much to most people, to me it is a huge step. My body has been going through a lot of changes since the last retooling. Today was the first day in decades that I didn’t need any aspirin or Tylenol. For that I am extremely grateful. 

I did get some knitting done. We started cleaning out the fridge, tomorrow the new one is coming.  Not a moment too soon in my humble opinion.  The last repair is already starting to fail.  I know this because our frost free fridge is starting to frost up again.  We are getting the same fridge but a five year newer model.  

I had a very tired day so napping took priority over laundry. Tomorrow will be better   

I am exhausted so it is time to call it a night.  

Still More Recovery Time

 I went to the doctors yesterday.  The bottom line is that it will be about the end of May or early June before I am totally recovered.  Apparently I am very good at hiding how awful I feel.  In my defense I did have almost 30 years of practice.  With Eric unless I was to sick to move, I had to keep going with that wonderful mommy smile. Who knew it would backfire on me.  

On the bright side I am cleared to start driving again. However with the COVID19 numbers in Pima county so high we are staying home.  This in turn will give me more nap and rest time. Isn’t it great how things like this work out?

Today was a prime example.  By the time I got my knitting project set up, I was too tired to move and took a 2 hour nap. I was to tired to concentrate on a pattern so I worked on the hat I started yesterday while we watched television tonight.  I only added 5 inches of knitting. I am Decreasing the crown right now. It should be finished in a few days. I don’t think I’m up to knitting  hat a day right now.

Visible progress

 Today I made visible progress. I finished my first hat for 2021. This is the first finished knitting project I have completed in 3 1/2 months. My knitting is going very slowly it took me four days to finish this hat. I am happy to say even though my Knitting progress is slower, I am knitting again.  Yes this is the first half of the year for the flowing Wells school district clothing bank. 

Yes, I have other knitting projects that I am knitting for me too.  But they are bigger and more complex. 

Doing Better

 I am feeling better than I have in years. I have started knitting again and have to active works in progress. I almost got to 10,000 steps today with a total of 9,729 steps.  Not bad.  At lot was just picking up around the house and putting things away.  

Either Or

 It has come to the point in my recovery that I either have the energy to clean or to spin. Today was cleaning. Not heavy duty housecleaning, just straightening up and putting things away. I do consider this progress. I think it will take me a while to be back at full speed.

I hope everybody will join us and staying home for New Year’s Eve, it has been a family tradition since so last century. Make an hors d’oeuvre tray and other munchies. Chill some sparkling apple cider. You won’t have to deal with driving and walk back to bedroom is very short. Have a happy healthy new year.

About the Same

 I came to the conclusion today that recovering from some types of retooling is like a very bad arthritis flare up.  The thing that they all have in common is erratic sleep, energy and the weird time of day that my body craves caffeine.  Yes it is 10:15 pm and I am having my first chai of the day.  The odd thing about this is once the caffeine hits my system I will be sound asleep within 30 minutes. 

I am one of those weird people who can fall asleep after caffeine and sleep for hours.   I also find caffeine very calming.  Three quarters of the way through the cup I can feel the tension leaving my body.  The lack of caffeine headache is leaving too.  

Also did I mention how bored I am being a partial couch potato.  So looking forward to next year.  I am just counting the days.  I know it is going to be better.  We are also staying home for New Years Eve and having a party for 2.   Please join us in keeping the party small and in your bubble.  

Cravings

 Tonight was just a top off to a bad body day.  I was craving ice cream and chocolate pudding. Both of which are big no no’s on my post retooling diet. I am on a very low fat diet. It’s great for the scale, I have dropped  8 pounds down since the retooling and 13 since I got sick. This is very bad for my bad inclinations of eat yummy high fat food occasionally. I landed up settling for chai with soy nog and a few low fat cookies.  

Tomorrow I am going to be ordering more low fat vanilla soy milk. 

On the bright side I plyed 1 small skein of yarn on my favorite Golding Drop Spindle.  I also got 2 more ready for plying.  I returned 2 drop spindles to their homes. I also played with a very lightweight drop spindle to start spinning the 1st shearing of some baby alpaca, talk about a heavenly spin.  

Well it’s getting late and sleep is necessary for healing.  

To get your own Golding Drop Spindle go to www.goldingfibertools.com.  I have several and you can never go wrong with buy a Golding spindle. They make great gifts too. 

Last Retooling of 2020

 I had what is hopefully my last retooling of 2020 eleven days ago.  The road to recovery is slow on this one. I can honestly say that I can not get through the day without a nap. I am only walking about 2 1/2 miles a day, but I am not worried about my step count right now.  I also found the most amazing thing with this retooling, with in days my arthritis pain levels dropped to a pain level that I have not seen since my 30’s.  So I am hoping for an onward and upward 2021. 

I will start 2021 with selfish knitting.  My current plan is to finish every work in progress without frogging for a smaller size. This means that if between the time I started the project and the time I finished it the finished object is to big I will just sell it on my Facebook page Handmade by Sheri. Then I will go through a backlog of projects that I have wanted to do for a long time and are just waiting for the time.  Well now is going to be the time.  I have sweaters, gloves and a whole lot more. 

With the COVID19 vaccines I am really hoping that I can knit in person with my friends soon.  I can’t wait to knit at Grandmas Spinning Wheel here in Tucson again.  I can truly say that I am more optimistic than I have been in a long time.  

I think it is breakfast time and I hear my oatmeal calling.  

Sheri’s Big Adventure

I had a wonderful adventure today  First I headed to the Post Office to drop a letter off  Then I headed south on Oracle to the Flowing Well School District to drop off things for the clothing bank.

 I landed up weaving 5 scarfs for the Flowing Wells School District Clothing Bank District.  Since I did not see a chance in he double toothpicks of selling the inventory of scarf’s I had selling at the art gallery (they were returned do to lack of business), I took those and added them to the donation.  Plus a few pairs of socks.  A few more presents or warm clothing for the kids. That is my holiday present to myself. 

After the clothing bank drop off I went to see the construction on the I-10.  Not much work going on.  I think I wanted to just drive my car on the freeway.  My car has almost 1,700 miles on it.  Yes, it sucked to replace my car right before COVID19.  It was a necessary step as I did not need a car that was wheelchair accessible. Don’t get me wrong the van was perfect when I needed it.  So yes it was time to replace it.  John and I were thinking other than not living in California, someone might confuse me with the little old lady from Pasadena with as much as I drive lately.  

Then there was the grocery delivery. That usually is the highlight of our week.  That was so much activity that a 2 hour nap was necessary. After all that I was too tired to do much even spinning.

Stress Cleaning

 I spent a couple of hours stress cleaning and made a lot of progress.  I was starting to relax when we figured out the reason the ice maker was not working was the the refrigerator had died.  After throwing out a lot of partly defrosted or totally defrosted food I was again stressed out but too tired to clean.  If it can’t be fixed we might have to actually go into a store to get a new one.  

Keeping Busy

 Today I kept busy.  As of 7 p.m. I walked 12,500 steps or 5.2 miles.  I also attacked a few of the shelves in the sewing room.  I did not take a before pictures but the messy top shelf of the rack is what it looked like.  The picture is what some of the work today. A lot of skeins and kits were organized.  I also work on the closet organizing   I also filled 1 1/2 boxes with yarn, fiber and weaving supplies.  I am hoping that the friend who took the box last week will take these also.  

I spent part of the afternoon spinning.  First some pencil roving. Then some alpaca with silk.  I can say that I did keep myself to busy to think.  I am exhausted an so I am hoping to sleep tonight.  Then more tomorrow.  

Grief and Loss

 This week is going to be hard.  It’s been a year and 1 day since we lost Eric.  Today is the one year anniversary of his funeral.  In five days it would have been his 31st birthday.  Although we tended to celebrate Eric’s birthday all month long and when ever we went somewhere special.  I am not sure how the week will go, but my goal is to try to stay in the now and not eat my way through my grief.  I also plan on a lot of walking. So far so good on the eating and walking front.  

Since stress makes my arthritis worse and I still have 6 weeks before I can try knitting again.  I know that I can spin and weave but I might not have any creative mojo this week. I just might go on a cleaning and de stashing spree.  So a few people might just get some calls to pick up some crafting supplies.  I am sure that you won’t mind. I just don’t know about you’re families will like it  

If you are so inclined to remember Eric a donation in his memory would be most appreciated.  The first that I would like to suggest is www.ML4.org as they are continuing to do research on this disease that turned my family upside down.  ML4 was Eric’s primary diagnosis. The second  is your local community food bank, like all kids with ML4 Eric loved to eat.  Eric also loved making donation runs around Thanksgiving every year.  We would fill up the van with a donation that Eric would hand off while I slipped in a check.  He was delighted when the volunteers remembered his name and that he like to hand them the food. 

I will miss his smile this week and his delight in having the birthday guy sing happy birthday. Eric might be gone physically, but he is not forgotten. I love him to the moon and back. 

Yarn Away

 Today was a relatively good day.  I was feeling good after the aspirin and nap.  I was preparing to yarn bomb a friend.  I started out with a mid sized carrier bag and filled it. Then went and got another And filled it too. So I grabbed a paper grocery bag and filled it too. By then I was half way finished and had 2 empty storage tub’s.  So I dumped the three bags in and continue my yarn de stashing .  By the time I was through I was sure my friend would be mad for giving her so much yarn at once. I had filled a 60 quart tub full of knitting and weaving yarn. Much to my surprise she and her niece were very happy. When they picked it up I wished them a very happy knitting and weaving time.  John is also very happy too.

With the progression of the arthritis in my hands and all the hand surgeries my burn through rate of yarn is way down. Long gone are the days that I could knit through 45 quarts of yarn in a month. Let alone 13 ponchos in a month.  With that in mind I am starting to curate my fiber stash and make sure I really want and love the yarn.  To day was a first cut. I still have 6 more weeks of no knitting.  I am pretty sure it will not be a hat a day speed when I restart my knitting. So to that end I will be working on gasp, some projects for me. I have some sweaters, shawls, tops, and socks in line.  I am not sure how much more weight I will lose, but since it has been a steady 10 pounds a year I think I will be able to wear the clothing for a while or at least be able to take it in,  

This will be a huge change from the last 20 years of knitting where 95% or more in any given year was for charity.  I will still do charity knitting and weaving, but it will not be my main focus for a while. This has been a year of many changes and my life has been turned upside down and inside out all at the same time. In a couple of days it will have been a whole year since we lost Eric. I feel blessed that we had him for so many years. It does not seem possible that a year has passed. The world is a little less gentle since he left.  Then just as we were feeling almost normal COVID19 hit.  That turned our world upside down again.  I am not sure what life has in store for me, but a little guilt free me time is in order even if we are stuck at home for the foreseeable future.  

Oops

 Oops I did it again.  The election drove me crazy. So I cleaned beyond what my body could handle.  I also started, wove and finished 4 scarfs in 4 days.  Not to mention the regular house hold chores. So I am beyond exhausted.  I have spent the day resting and sleeping.   With just a little bit of cooking thrown in.  Yesterday I got my sourdough bread starter.  So today I have my sourdough starter going.   Sourdough pizza crust and sourdough pancake sponge started.  I will also try my hand at low sugar sweet rolls using the pizza crust recipe tomorrow.  

The big news though is that we got a nice winter storm and got 1/4 inch of slow rain.  There was almost no run off so I hope the plants are happy.  

Green bowl sourdough pancakes, clear glass bowl sourdough starter, front bowl pizza crust.  

This and That

 Did you ever have one of those days when your busy all day long and at the end of the day feeling like nothing got done.  I felt that way today, but I finished weaving a scarf. Organized the craft room and found I needed 2 less jumbo tote bags to store yarn in.  I guess I did use more yarn than I thought, but with over 100 completed projects this year, I should not be surprised.  The down side to organizing the craft room is I have all these knitting projects that I wanted to knit but must wait until January.  The down side of a better functioning hand is letting it heal after surgery  

Also on the list was washing and twacking yarn. The to wash basket is almost empty.  I spent about an hour detangling a skein of yarn. By the way I found the skein while cleaning the craft room.  I tinked a knitting project and decided the yarn would be a better warp.  I put away knitting needles. I still have not found the missing spindle.  Maybe the next round of cleaning. So for the next dozen or so scarf’s there will be very colorful warp.   Below is the scarf that I did the finishing work on today.  It is already in the bag to leave the house.  

Finding Calm

 I have finally found some calm in my life. This current political cycle has been brutal and combined with COVID19, it has been too much for me. Since I can’t knit until next year I have started weaving again . So far I have finished one scarf . Have one scarf drying and  awaiting finishing work and one scarf on the loom.  Once I fill up the bag that I started, I will drop them off at the Flowing Wells School District Clothing Bank.  I am sure that they can find homes for every scarf I weave.  

When my hands got tired, I organized my warp  bowl. I have a lot of odds and ends so I will be making some very colorful scarfs. I also filled up my weaving basket with more yarn.  I don’t know if this will make a dent in my stash the 102 knitting and weaving projects I have completed so far this year lead me to believe that I might make a dent by the end of 2021. Just don’t hold me to that. I don’t feel that 102 projects made much of a dent so far in 2020. I want to see more empty bins and everything in less space. 

Getting Crafty

 Despite a very bad body day I did manage to almost get caught up on folding laundry. Honestly I can not figure out how 2 people make so much laundry. We make almost half of the laundry that Eric made. I then spent some time weaving while giving a knitting lesson. The lesson was over face time not ideal in my humble opinion. By the way the Childs sized scarf is ready to hit the hot water.  I did not spin today, maybe tomorrow. 

Not Recommended

 Tonight I tripped on one of my spinning wheels and banged up my left hand.  I hit the woolly winder pretty hard. I was just trying to get a few shuttle’s for the loom.  I have them tucked in a back corner. I am doing a random pattern scarf to empty the shuttle’s. This will go to the kids clothing bank when finished. A few hours later except for the small bruise my hand looks and feels fine.  

I will check out the spinning wheel tomorrow.  

A Better Day

 I stayed away from the internet most of the day.  That alone made the day better. I found a missing drop spindle, one of my favorites, it was in a basket in the same bag I left it in over a decade ago.  The batt needed some tender loving care, but still spun a nice lace weight yarn.  No just one more lost spindle to find.  

My hand did fine with the drop spindle.  My hand was still tired later in the day.  

Time for a Change

 Tomorrow I am going to do things differently.  Instead of starting with chores and finding my left hand to tired and sore to do anything but ice it and be bored for the rest of the day, I am going to start out by setting up the loom for tea towels and doing some spinning. Only then will I do chores.  After John is done for the day he will help with the rolling of the warp.   On my 24 inch wide loom it’s a 2 person job.  

I know it’s only been 3 weeks but, my hand being to tired and sore after only 3 loads of laundry.  I Know last week it was 2 loads of laundry.  So very slow progress is being made. I did not even fold the last load today.  The last load is going to fall under “Laundry is like fine wine, no laundry shall be folded before it’s time.  

A Slow Day

 Slow best describes my day. I did manage to get most everything done. The hardest part was locating flu shots. Normally this is not a problem, but 2020 has made flu shots scarce.  So call before you go.  I had to make a lot of calls and wait on hold at least 5 minutes per call.  So go get your flu shot sooner than later.  

I did have one big surprise today. I had ordered a kit to make kitchen towels for Teri on the loom.  I opened the kit today and to my surprise half of the yarn was wool. John’s only comment was who would design a kitchen towel using wool? The water would not absorb. So I went stash diving in hopes of finding enough yarn with cotton and or linen content.  I really hope that Teri likes the colors.  Lesson learned is just go pick the fiber myself, the heck with kits unless they come from Mary Gavin.  

Laundry

 Folding laundry is very difficult for some reason. Just one load can send me running for an ice pack.  Also forget about spinning or anything fun for the rest of the day.  Thank you for listening to the worlds worst patient. Only 2 months and 11 days until I can try to knit.  This probably is not helping, because knitting is how I have found most of my relaxing time for over 20 years. I might have to find a worry stone to see if that helps.  

I can’t decide which is worse, the stresses of not knitting or the recovery from the hand surgery.  Perhaps is is this COVID19 pandemic that has upturned our lives.  Maybe it is a perfect storm of everything.  Only time will tell.  

Better

 I am feeling better today, although I have very little energy.  If I were racing a snail, the snail would win by a mile.  Please join me in the chant, I hate arthritis.  

 No progress on hand recovery.  It’s going to be a very long 2 1/2 months until knitting.  My left hand gets tired very fast.  My right hand does not like the cold.  I can handle the cold with good gloves.  The tired hand is more bothersome.  

A Very Bad Body Day.

 I had a very bad body day.  I slept a lot but finally got most of the pain in control by bed time.  I am hoping for a better day tomorrow.  

A Recovery Rant

Three weeks down 9 weeks to go before I can start knitting again, hopefully.  I am bored out of my mind.  Trapped at home because of COVID19 and in addition no knitting.  We are running out of tv shows. I have 2 books going right now. I can’t spin as long as I want to.  I still can’t use my left hand to eat a full meal.  The pain is waking me up at night and I am grumpy.  I am a better caretaker than a patient. 

Spinning Woe’s

 Ok I will admit it, I made a rookie spinning mistake today.  I had my wheel turning for an S spin while my fingers were working the roving for a Z spin.  I can’t begin to tell you how badly that went. While I was debating if I should ply the yarn or make it a single for weaving, John said he would suggest tossing it and not worry about it.  I should just enjoy my spinning and relax.  Don’t I have a great husband?  

I think I will think about it overnight.  Any suggestions?