All Tinked

The Shawl is all tinked and I will cast it on again tomorrow.  I feel sad that it had to be tinked, but there were just so many errors and some were quite visible. As I started taking the stitches out one by one all of a sudden I had 2 strands of yarn and then 3. I had found places where I had turned in mid row by mistake. This time I will go a little slower and pay a little more attention when I pick up the knitting after a break. Since this will be the 3rd time knitting the same pattern I am sure that it will come out just right. I am also quite certain that Teri and John would have never made the silly mistakes that I made in knitting this shawl the first 2 times.

I had made some plans for fun things for Eric and I to do today. Eric had other plans. Eric was up and down almost all of last night and into this morning. He finally settled in at around 4:30 am. He slept until 7:30 and was up for a whole 2 hours before he decided to go back to bed for the day. So needless to say we were at home all day. I was too tired to accomplish much and managed to grab a nap when Eric took one. I will have to wait and see what my dear darling son wants to do tomorrow. I hope we get out for at least a little while.

Lace Knitting

I have decided that I am not very good at lace. I really screwed up the the set up row of lace and am just now on row 3 finding all of my mistakes. I don't want to rip out about 1,000 stitches and redo it. That being said I want my first lace project to look good even if it just 10 rows of edging. Johns vote is to fudge row 3 so that the last 7 rows of lace look good, with the theory that not many people will notice or know the difference. It would also take me at least 1 if not 2 nights of knitting to get back to the beginning of the lace as I did not put in a life line. Then another 2 days to get back to where I am now. Does anyone else want to weigh in on the subject? If so just leave a comment.

Being Creative Without Spending Money

My challenge this month for knitting guild was to come up with a very nice gift for our speaker without spending any money. To that end I cut up 2 pairs of worn out jeans, one from each of my kids. I then went on a fabric hunt through my quilting material to find larger scrapes of fabric that were the right color and size.  Then the pinning and sewing commenced. 

I have created 8 unique project bags for knitting, spinning or crochet projects. I also found 6 other larger pieces of fabric that could stand alone and made them into project bags too. 

Then it was off to the ribbon box to find the right ribbon or cording to finish the bags off. So after 2 days of sewing I have 13 bags for the speaker to choose from without spending any money. The rest will be sold off on a first come first serve basis. The project bags are all one of a kind. No 2 are exactly alike.  I like the fact that I could be creative with the bags. They are more artistry than production line ones too. 

The sad news from this is that I did not make a dent in my fabric stash. I only finished 1 spool of cording and only bits of ribbon. No spools of thread got finished either. I will have to work on that stash getting smaller too. 

Yes I know that 6 + 8 = 14, but I decided to keep one of the bags for myself. Here is a picture of mine at the top of the post. 

Another Day and the SevOld Cold

This cold still has me in its grips. I cancelled most of my day and slept. The only things that got accomplished were some knitting in which I made it through the first row of lace. I placed a stitch marker every 14 stitches, which is the pattern repeat.  

I also now know where all my pants are. They are hanging on the cloths line drying.  I will never understand how I can keep up with Eric's laundry, but fall so behind on my own. 

Now I just have to figure out how to sleep so I won't be coughing all night. Here is hoping for a better day tomorrow.  I still have 8 more project bags to sew before Thursday. 

Colds

It seems that since John retired last year my body has decided that it is really OK to get every cold that comes my way. Not only that, my body is giving the colds time to linger. If I sleep through driving time John graciously picks up my slack. If this is part of retirement, this part is for the birds. I wonder if it has something to do with getting more sleep and eating better? Perhaps actually having time to get sick. I have had at least a dozen colds since John retired.

Yes I have the latest cold that is going around, it is hang around my head and neck. It has zapped me of all my energy. Not that I have time for it right now. I should be working on making project bags,making earrings, knitting, spinning and weaving.

Well I think I will try to make some project bags today. It is time to go get crafty.

Tomorrow Will be Better

Today I got 2 more crowns placed. As usual after a dental appointment I feel a bit out of it.  A mere 10 hours after the appointment I am just beginning to feel human. I did tell the dentist that I was taking a month off before the last 2 crowns. 

After the dental appointment I went to Sunflower market and was truly disappointed that they had decided to discontinue my favorite brand of peanut butter cups. If you have ever had the Justin's dark chocolate peanut butter cups you know exactly what I mean. Sunflower was the only place I knew of in Tucson that carried them.  On top of that they decided that prime shopping time for dinner was the perfect time to have all the shelfs stocked. Between all the stocking carts and staff blocking the aisles. Dodging stockers and people trying to make it a quick and coming from the dentist it was not a pleasant trip.  I don't think I will be going back there any time in the near future. I go shopping to unwind and escape, not to battle it out for space to stand or walk. 

The only other things that got done were knitting and spinning.  I am exhausted so I am going to cut this blog post short tonight. 

Hump Day

It was a very busy day today despite the fact that my allergies kept me up part of the night.  More earrings were made with the Taglit Young Adults. I barely kept up with their design work. Again some of the designs were increadable.  

I got 20 more rows done on a shawl that I started 4 years ago.  It is a push on wether I will have enough yarn, but I will come up with something in case I don't.  The joke at the end of the evening was its time to put this project away, because I am coming close to finishing it. 

Well I have another busy day planned for tomorrow so I am going to call it a night. 

Creative Spirit

I have been working with some fabulous jewelry designers from the Taglit Group at the Tucson JCC. They get to rummage through some of my beads and designing earrings which I then put together for them. They are coming up with some incredible designs that I would not even have considered. I usually try to keep my earring systematical. They are going asymmetrical and in all different ways because they have not learned the rules. I think that after working with these creative young people I will try to throw some of the rules out the window too. In the past few weeks most have also been shown the basics of weaving and are busy making Mug Rugs. Over the summer they were busy making dog toys and greeting cards.

This is all in preparation for our big spring bake sale, car wash and craft sale. This will all happen on March 11, 2014 in front of the Tucson JCC starting at 8 am. and running until 3 pm. The money raised will cover projects not covered by state funding or grants. It also show the young adults from the Taglit Special Needs  Program for Young Adults that they can create things that other people had not thought possible from them.

So I would like to urge everyone to stop by with a dirty car to be washed. A shopping list of gifts to buy for people and pets and room for some bake sale goodies. I might even have a few hand crafted items available with the total purchase price of my items going to the Taglit Program.

If you can't stop by, but would still like to help this great group of young adults with special needs just follow the links and make a donation. For cash donations follow this link and indicate Inclusion on your donation form. If you can make an in-kind donation follow this link to Wish List. If you would like to order some Greeting Cards that are sold in packages of five, please use the link.

I would like to thank you in advance for your support. This means a lot to Eric and his friends.

I am Not Superwoman Today

I know that I should not be feeling like I had the most un-productive day in the history of man. After all I got 3 loads of laundry done, cut my coupons and made a list,went grocery shopping, made 11 new  pairs of earrings, gathered my supplies for tomorrow, picked up a little, helped John watch a friends son. Took care of Eric. That sounds pretty busy to me.

What I did not get done was my walk, any sewing, knitting or spinning, have all flat surfaces cleaned off.  Maybe I am not feeling like much of a superwoman today. I did not get my other shopping or errands done. I am beginning to wonder whether I have un-real expectations of what I can accomplish in any given day,

While I am pondering this I think I will go clean some more.

Getting Crafty

I took Eric to The Lego Movie today. It was a cute movie although I would not recommend it for the visually impaired. There are just to many booms and unpredictable loud noises. My hand is still a bit sore from all the gripping Eric did almost 12 hours later. 

I also got 19 pairs of earrings done for the mid March fund raiser that Eric's Taglit group is doing. I would have made more but I was loosing my natural light. I find that natural light is better for me when I make jewelry. 

Tomorrow I plan on making more jewelry plus deciding what supplies to take on Monday when some of Eric's friends get a chance to design some of their own pieces. 

It has been a busy day and tomorrow looks a little fuller.  So I am calling it a night. 

A Very Slow Day

Today was not the most productive day. In fact it was a 2 nap day. The only things I accomplished were doing the finishing work on 2 bags full of knitting while Eric did his afternoon breathing treatment. Knit 6 rows on my new shawl. In my defense it is a top down shawl wider at the top.  I only managed to walk 3.5 miles today, I think the cold weather did me in. The 50's is a little cold for me to be outside excersizeing even if I am bundled up. 

I even managed to sleep through my afternoon spinning group.  So no spinning got done today. 

The picture is of the knitting that got cleaned up today. I will update the row counter tommrow.  I am much to tired to write more. 

Finished Work

Below is a picture of the mittens that I knit for myself.  They are the Paradise Valley Fingerless Mittens by Mountain Colors inc. They add 102  rows to the 1 million row challenge. Sorry about the sideways photos. I am in the middle of a shawl, hat and a few scarfs, pictures will be forth coming when they are finished.

I am also trying to walk between 10,000 and 20,000 steps per day. So if you would like to help me in this endeavor just let me know when you can join me on a walk. As of 6:00 pm MST I have 10,512 steps so far today, this is a good first day.

Changing Directions

I think it is time for me to change directions. After what seems like years of knitting in the range of 100 to 200 items a year for charity, I need to knit some things for me. I have at least 3 sweaters that I need to finish or start. I have shawls, mittens and accessories that I would like to have. I have the yarn and the patterns lined up. I am thinking some where in the 50 project range. I have a blanket for Teri that is 2/3's done that I started in her first year of law school. I want to make John a new quilt. I have fluff that I want to spin. I want to work on weaving. I want to design more patterns. I need to exercise more.

Eric's life has become more unpredictable. He is requiring more care on our part. I feel stressed out that he is not up to going on many outings. That use to be a big part of our lives.  He just does not have the energy.  I feel that I am spending my life in catch up mode. I need to take time for me. It is time for a change.

As Eric's life becomes more unpredictable I am having a harder time being as artistic as I would like. I can't do as many have suggested just to block off regular time each day to create. I never know when I am going to be up until all hours with Eric. I never know how many days it will take Eric or I to recoup, or how many days he will be at his day program. I always wonder if  I can recoup my energy before Eric gets the next cold. Yes, we always know it is just a matter of time before the next cold hits.

This does not mean that I will stop working on charity projects. This just means that it will no longer be my main focus. I want to spend more time creating. So a few times a week I hope just to post pictures of my latest projects. I am hoping that by taking some of the pressure off myself to make the world a better place at all cost, I will instead try to make my little corner of the world a better place.

So the new journey begins.....

Not Sure Which Way To Go

I am not sure which way we are headed with Eric. We did start him back on formula this morning, but it has been very slow going. 12 hours later we are still going at 40 mils per hour. It is not where it should be. That being said he is feeling better than last night.

I on other other hand am dealing with a very stressed out body. I will have to slow down for a few days to give may body time to relax. I did do some knitting today and past the 3/4 mark on the new pattern. I did manage to empty another bag of yarn from my closet. I also went through some old paperwork, straighten my dresser and the black hole of my purse.

I was going to put together the spinning chair today but did not have the energy. I also did not have the energy to spin either. Thankfully I did not have a full load of laundry, so no laundry was done. Hopefully everyone will sleep tonight. I know today will be better.

A Wirlwind of a Week.

It has been a long time since I have written a blog. First off I have been very busy getting caught up around here. Some real progress was made. Projects were actually getting finished in the craft room. You know the kind, with just a few minutes of work and then the project is done. I cleared a bunch of them.

Saturday I got to go see the Pinatas that I had been working on get smashed. It left me with some design changes to mull over for next year. The first will be to add more layers of paper ma'che and maybe even a few pieces of well placed duct tape. The second would be to come up with a different hanging mechanism. Something a little more sturdy. I want to make it a little harder to get to the goodies inside. Eric had a good time at the party, but it left him a little tired.

Sunday was an all around rest day around the house. Everyone took a 3 hour afternoon nap. That did not stop Eric from having a bad night. The wild eyrping started at around 3:30 am Monday morning. By 5;30 am I had hoisted the virtual white flag of surrender. Eric did manage to give me a 20 hour work day. We also discovered how to ramp down a little bit on eyrpy laundry. When Eric was getting ready to eyrp we just powered up his suction machine and got it very close to his mouth. Then when it started, we just suctioned all the eyrp we could. I think it may have been easier on Eric too, as he did not have to work as hard to get everything out.

As bad as the eyrping was the dry heaves were much harder on him. He did not want me to leave his room. Mommy just had to be there for him. So what else was there to do but knit. That lasted a good 12 hours. He is still feeling miserable today, but not as bad as yesterday. Yes, he had to be close by today. Eric was also a little miffed at me for not making him all better. I am hoping to get him back on formula sometime Wednesday. John was so wonderful through this all, he even manage to get me 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep this morning.

As strange as it may seem, during all of this I got my knitting and design mojo back. I am in the middle of one design. I am making the middle size as a sample, this is just by a random act of casting on.  I think I might ask the test knitters to knit up the small and large sized ones. So if you have a pair of US sized 13 knitting needles and a very full scrap basket of odd sized balls of yarn let me know. I also sketched out the next pattern idea in the middle of my hair cut today. I think I should add a small sketch book to my already over heavy purse.

We are hoping for a very good night where everyone gets to sleep. Wish us luck.

A Very Good Day

I started back with a to do list. It really made a difference in getting most everything done.  I really like the new app I am using called Any.DO.  I can type in or use the voice recognition.  I really need more practice with voice recognition, it is a new element is my gadget world. It is a very easy app for non-geek.  I think they had the quirkiness of the artist and the busyness of a mom in mind while they were designing this app. I really like how it reminds me the night before to think about starting my to do list. It also moves unfinished items to the next day without prompting.  I have not had anything this easy to use since the Palm-M500 to do list. I would like to say to the programmers, a job well done.

I would also like to say thank to the wonderful Customer Service Team at I-Robot. Less than 24 hours after the pump died in my Scooba a replacement is being sent out.  Since it was a long way out of warranty their solution was more than generous.  I am always in awe of the wonderful team at I-Robot from the designers, engineers, and customer support.  

As you can tell even with a dental appointment, I had a fantastic day.  I even got a little bit of Yoga in which helped my hip. 

Up and Down

Yesterday it was the shredder that got fussy.  Today it is the Scooba,  John thinks it is the water pump.   It looks like the part can be replace.  

I have not measured, but I think I am over 25% done with the poncho. Eric is not impressed.  I do like the 2 stranded knitting with 1 light and dark together. It is making an interesting fabric. Just to let you know, I am pulling the yarn out of the basket randomly. It is also all scrap yarn. So no pattern will follow.  Just use the Lion Brand pattern from a few days ago. 

I can't believe that both John and Lynn, a local yarn shop owner think I have more yarn at home than she has in her shop. That I should think about renting out her shop when she retires to destash.  That just won't work at all it would give me an excuse to buy more yarn.  What were they thinking. 

Mondays This and That

I seem to be having a hard time getting back in to the grove this year. I have to admit that after the cold from he-double toothpicks that Eric and I share at the end of last year, I was expecting a flare up. I just did not expect it to hit my hip. This has left me very out of sync and very cranky for the last few days. I still can not bend down to pick things off the floor. It has interrupted my sleep and everything else. Don't get me wrong it is getting a lot better, but it is a lot worse than having my hands flare up.

The new knitting project of a scrappy poncho is going well. The link to the basic pattern is in yesterdays blog.  In the last 2 evenings I have knit 11 inches. Since the poncho is 15 inches wide, I am almost a quarter of the way through it. I am double stranding the yarn using 1 strand of light yarn and 1 strand of dark yarn. I am really liking the way the color is flowing. When 1 skein of dark yarn is gone, I am just picking a random skein of dark yarn to go on. I am doing the same with the light yarn. Did I mention that I am going through yarn at a good pace. So far 1 full skein of black and at least 6 partial skeins of light and dark yarn. I really like this, it gives an interesting colorway. Pictures will follow when it is done, unless you want to see the work in progress, just let me know. It will also be nice and warm. I think the lucky child who gets this will like that it is so colorful.

I also went to my first over 50 fair today. The vendors were limited to assisted living, health care, insurance, wills and trusts, hearing aids, large button telephones. The bling was mostly pens. I don't think I like their version of what over 50 is. I saw none of the things that I thought should be there such as leading an active life style, travel, community involvement, or classes to learn new things. I was even told that I am the right age for senior living communities, yeah right. So I am going to ignore their version of life over 50 and go down my own path. I will only go back to one of these fairs if I need more pens.

I need to try to get some sleep now, but I am finding it hard after a long nap after lunch. Maybe a snack will help. Have a good night and enjoy your families.

10 Dozen

After knitting more than 10 dozen hats without a break for any other knitting project, I seemed to loose my knitting mojo. I guess to much of anything, even knitting hats for kids in need can be too much. So I am changing my game plans just a little. The yarn I had reserved for hats will now go into poncho's for kids. I will of course finish the hat currently on the needles.

If you would like to make a few ponchos with me,I will be using this Lion Brand Yarn Pattern , the 

Downtown Tot Poncho pattern which is free. The yarn listed is discontinued, but you can use any yarn you would like. I am going to be using various wool yarns combined to be the right wraps per inch for US size 13 knitting needles. If you are going to be knitting this for charity I would leave off the fringe, because most charities will just cut it off for "safety reasons".

We have had a quiet weekend playing catch up.

The Pinita's Have Left the House

I spent most of the week working to get the Pinatas for Mr. Matthew's birthday ready to be decorated.  So everything got pushed to the way side while they were finished. Lisa and Matthew picked them up today. I can't wait to see how Lisa decorates them.

It is now time to clean up after the pinata  mess and go back to other crafty endeavors. I have hats and scarfs to knit, yarn to spin and a few sewing projects. Not to mention weaving and designing a few new earrings. So now it is time to get back to my regular schedule.

10,000

Today was the first day since I had the cold from he double toothpicks that I made my goal of 10,000 steps. Yes I managed to walk 5 miles today.  It did leave me tired, but it is a good tired. 

I also found time to do some training with  with Eric at his day program. Which meant that I got down on the floor to do some physical therapy training. I also answered all question about Eric.  

Followed by  a shopping trip to finding all the supplies I needed to make the pinita's. It only took 3 stores. The funny thing is I found none of the supplies at the craft store. Go figure.  I even made it to the grocery store today.  

My craft project for today was to start a multi day paper mâché project.  I am making 2 piñata's for a birthday party. One is going to be a fancy and the other will be on the plain side.  Here is the picture of the fancy one in progress. This is after the first layer of paper mâché. 

Needless to say this has left me too tire to knit or spin tonight. 

The Weekend

We had a lay low weekend. We did a little house work. Eric and I are trying to kick the last of the latest cold, I think Eric is having an easier time of it. 

I might have over done it yesterday when I mopped Eric's room old school after Scooba's battrie died yesterday. So except for laundry I did not get any housework done today.  

I did get a lot of spinning done this weekend. So a lot less knitting got done. I am getting tired so this is the end of this post. 

A Day in Pictures

Stash Down 2014.....

This is the first empty stash down bag of 2014.t. Yes the knitting of hats is going on and on my friends, I am well over 100 hats since October.  With one basket and 2 more bags of yarn to go I just might hit 200 hats in this burst of knitting. 

When I have the stash down, I will start knitting for myself. I know this will lead to more scrap yarn for hats. I will try not to let the bits and pieces get so out of hand again. 

I also managed to get 8 ounces of plied yarn on a single jumbo bobbin. I have not taken it off yet, but there should be some good yardage there.  I see a shawlette in its future.  

Yes I know the spinning is leading to more stash yarn. I just find spinning one of those relaxing activities that I can "run away" from home without leaving the house. I would like to thank Kathy Withers for taking the time to teach me. I am going to try some art yarn next. 

Well I think it is time to settle Eric in for the night. 

Vegan Corn Chowder

As promised here is a brand new recipe to end the year. On top of having a wonderful texture and taste it can be one of your higher fiber soups for the coming year. With only 5 ingredients it is also very quick to put together. You will also note that it is slightly different from the Corn Chowder recipe of January 20,2011.  It does not include the carrots or celery, i.e. the marpoix mix. So here goes.

Vegan Corn Chowder

1- 32 ounce carton of Imagine Creamy Sweet Corn Soup

1 very large onion or 2 smaller onions peeled and coarsely chopped, about 2 cups

2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Large Russet Potatoes peeled and coarsely diced between 2 to 3 cups

1 pound of frozen sweet white corn

In your LeCreuset 4 quart soup pot, heat olive oil over a low heat. Add the onions and saute over medium heat until translucent. Add the diced potatoes and saute until they start to stick to the pan. Add the Imagine Sweet Corn Soup and the frozen corn. Cook over a medium low heat for at least 1 hour stirring occasionally to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan. The soup is done when the potatoes are tender. 

This should make between 4 to 8 servings depending on the size of your bowls. 

A Good Day

It was a good day today. I felt well enough to start digging the house out of mommy being sick mode. There is still a lot to catch up on but progress was made.

I also got to teach Lisa how to use a drum carder. We worked on some of the buffalo fiber her dad gave is to play with. I was amazed at the difference between the under coat and the outer fiber, which was still very course even after all the guard hair was removed.  We almost got through the first carding. I think it will take 2 or 3 more trips through the carder before we blend in the silk. 

I made a lovely vegan corn chowder for dinner. I will try to get the recipe up layer in the week.  After dinner I managed to knit 2 more hats for charity. 

Mostly on the Mend

Eric and I are doing much better. The antibiotics are working their magic. John on the other hand has gotten what I hope is a milder form of what we had. 

I did figure out why I was running out of clean clothes. I have not done any laundry for John and I since Eric got sick.  Today I took care of that. Yes Eric still had more dirty clothes than we did. I have been doing at least 2 loads a day for him since he got sick. 

I did venture out today to Whole Foods for a few things we had run out of and dinner. It was nice to get out but it did leave me a bit tired. 

After dinner I finished a hat that I had started 2 days ago. Then promptly cast on the next hat with bulkier yarn. I did not get much spinning done today. It seemed that every time I got my rythem I got interrupted.  After 30 minutes and 4 interruptions I gave up. 

We'll it is time to call it a night. 

An Update 1461 Days in the Making

If you were following my blog in December of 2009 you might vaguely remember the one from December 9th. That was the one in which I stated that I gave up everything with HFCS and aspartame. This is thanks to my friend Kay. As you might recall the weight came off very fast for the 1st 10 pounds and then seemed to slow to almost nothing. I have since dropped 3 dress sizes and as of today a total of  24.5 pounds.  Which is also bucking the trend for women my age to gain 1 to 5 pounds a year.

In the 4 years since I have give up HFCS and aspartame, I have found more energy. I am eating a lot less junk food, because lets face it those 2 things are in a lot of processed foods. I have also gotten more active. I have given up the house keeper, which is a huge bonus since I get more exercise time in and have a cleaner more organized house. I also have more money for things we need and want. Yes some of that money made it toward yarn and fluff. I am not an angle after all.  I have more time for the things that I love. I can now wear more fashionable clothing. I am getting sick a lot less. Yes, I know that as I write this blog post, Eric and I are recovering from a very aggressive cold that has put us on antibiotics.

The best news is that my body is changing shape and redefining itself. I am finally getting happier with my body. Not that I still don't have a long way to go, in my humble opinion. But  I am letting my body lead the way without the aide of crash diets or weighing and measuring everything. No more paying for rah rah sessions where I tend to pick up bad habits.  My body has reset itself. I now stop eating when I am full. This is a very good thing. I tend to eat more when I am more active and less on quieter days. Which with restaurant portions it often leads to boxes of leftovers or I just order an appetizer instead of a meal. I also tend to snack a lot less, even when Eric is sick.

I know that 6.125 pounds a year is not a huge weight loss in any ones book. The daily average weight loss looks even worse just 0.01676933607118412 pounds per day, yes I was playing around with the numbers. This just means that I will not look at the daily weight loss. I will try not to become to attached to the scale, but rather how my clothes are fitting me and how much energy that I have. I will let you know how I feel when I hit my next milestone. Just think you might not have to wait a full 1461 days to find out.

Feeling Yucky

The crud has invaded. Both Eric and I are sick. We will try to get into the doctors or urgent care this morning. Now to keep John from getting it, because I have so little energy even knitting seems to be a lot of work. I am drinking my hot tea with lemon and honey while I write this. It might be old school but it tastes better than cough syrup.

I do have to end this on the bright side thought. Just remember that the family that gets sick together stays together.

Update:

Both Eric and I are on antibiotics and will lay low for a few days and hope that John does not get this. 

101

No we are not talking about Dalmatian's. That would be a major copy write volition and I am sure the fine Lawyers at Disney would have a taken down notice out pretty fast. What I am talking about is the number of hats that I have knit for charity and people in need in Southern Arizona.

This adventure began on October 17, 2013 at knitting guild. There was a presidents challenge to knit 30 hats in 30 days for The Kids Closet, an out reach program run by the retiree's in Saddle Brook. So I came home from knitting guild and gathered some odds and ends. Since the pattern required 2 strands of yarn it did not matter on the weight or amount of yarn. After all I was using US sized 11 and 13 knitting needles. The thing that I learned about kids hats is that the more colorful the hat the better. I had the first 30 hats done in 19 days.

Since I had more yarn I kept knitting hats. I thought maybe another 5 or 10 hats with the yarn I had. Then John gently suggested that I remove all the yarn from Teri's room before her visit and add it to the yarn for hats. That added 5 more bags / baskets of odds and end yarn to the project. 2  bags have since been used up.

I then knit up 23 hats for the kids in the Flowing Wells School District. 2 weeks later I dropped off 28 more hats and 11 scarfs. Then there where 2 more hats knit for Eric's Day program charity event for a local shelter. Today I dropped off another 13 hats at a stuff the bus event for kids in need. 4 went to United Cerebral Palsy of Southern Arizona and 9 went to Child Protective Services. Then there were another 17 hats that I can't quite remember where they went, but rest assured that they are out of the house and hopefully keeping some little head warm this winter.

There are 3 more things that I should mention. First I really thought that today's hats brought the total to 101 hats since October 17th, but in actuality there were 113, but 101 sounded far better as a title. It really made a better intro too. I also can not keep a running total in my head like my dad use to do. I Secondly at Thursdays guild meeting 2 dear friends sent me home with another bag of yarn for hats. Thirdly with every other project I finish there is a little more yarn that is going to the hats. So I will be knitting hats for quite a while. Even averaging 1 skein per hat I still have a lot of yarn to use up. At least during the colder months I will try to find them homes instead of a neat pile somewhere in the house.

For those keeping track of my stash down challenge, the sad news is that even burning through 113 skeins of yarn in the past 67 days it has not made much of a dent in the over all volume of my stash. Although it has added quite a few rows to The One Million Knitted Rows challenge on Ravelry.

Hats Away

These are just a few of the 113 hats that I have knit since October 17th. Just 67 days.  

Eric Shared His Cold

Well if the cold is bad enough Eric usually shares it with me. Today was no exception. I did not even have enough energy to get the bare minimum of 2 loads of Eric's laundry finished. The last load is still in the dryer, its dry so it can stay there a few more hours or days. It is not like there is a shortage of chucks and face wipes.

The high light of my day was drinking Christmas Blend Black tea with honey. After the 5th cup I changed to Sprite for 1 bottle, don't worry it is the imported kind so it has no HFCS's. In between napping and drinking liquids my only real accomplishment of the day was finishing 2 charity hats and getting a 3rd one cast on.

Pattern Alert On today's hats I changed up the hats to a 2 x 2 ribbing for 8 rows, so the cast on was in multiples of 4 + 1. I do this because I knit the 1st and last cast on stitch together to elimate the jag that knitting in the round sometimes produces. Followed by 4 even increases in row 9. I then knit in the stockinette stitch for 4 more inches. For the decrease I evenly spaced the 4 SSK"s. At 8 stitches left the hat was finished and then weaving in the ends and casting on the next hat.

I am leaving John in charge of dinner and plan on spending the remainder of the day resting. I hope I beat this bug soon, tomorrow would be nice John is thinking longer grrr.

The Usual

Eric has been sick and I have been knitting. Not to mention it was cold and rainy today.  I have only gotten 1 scarf finished today. I have been project jumping. 

Of course I have the knitting basket in Eric's room with a couple of ponchos in different stages. I have the hat project in the den.  I have my small 1 project to go bag, that was the scarf that I finished tonight after tinking 3/4 of a block because I ran out of yarn. By the way a new scarf is already on the needles so that the needles would not get lonely. 

I also went project diving in a bag of ufo's and pulled out a shawl that I had started last summer with sock weight yarn.  I had it halfway done before it landed in the UFO bag. Today I made  a lot of progress and knit another 1/2 skein of yarn, about 110 meters of yarn. I think that I will try to get it finished tomorrow.  

We also got a chair for the sitting area. I think it was in just about record time. Just 1 week shy of 5 years. That was the beginning of the remodel that added the sitting area.  

Well it is time to call it a night. 

Cranberry Chicken

Lets face it, it has been quite a while since I posted a new recipe. This one is a new family favorite. It has only 5 ingredients. Takes less than 5 minutes to put together. As a bonus it has 4 servings. It also tastes good cold.

Cranberry Chicken

2 Large chicken breasts, skinless and boneless about 1 pound

1 cup of cranberry sauce, I use the chunky kind

1/2 cup of water

a pinch of salt and pepper

4 quart LeCreuset Cast iron pot with lid or something of a similar weight.

Spray the inside of of your LeCruset 4 quart soup pot with Pam. Who ever is washing the pot can thank me later. Wash the chicken and place in the pot. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Cover the chicken breasts with all the cranberry sauce, you will have a nice thick layer. Add the water to the bottom of the pan. Cover and place the pot in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour. The chicken will not come out dry. The chicken will also be very pink on the outside when cooked. 

Let the chicken rest for 5 to 10 minutes in the covered pot before slicing. Slice into medallions no thicker then 1/2 inch and arrange on 4 plates. It is also good to have a little extra cranberry sauce on the table in case anyone wants a little more cranberry sauce on the chicken.

I hope that you enjoy this quick and easy recipe as much as we do. 

Clare's Cafe

Today while I was out and about with Nancy she took me to this terrific little cafe called Clare's in Oracle.  The food was good. I had the hash browns and a bowl of fruit.  I could have gone for another plate of the hash browns they were so good. Nancy had the breakfast casadia with eggs, cheese and sausage. It looked wonderful.  There was a small basic menu and all the food that came out to other tables looked good too. 

On top of the great food there was wonderful art work on the walls. If you want to add some art work to your walls this is deffently the place to go. There are several different mediums from water color, oils, photography. Some local crafts people also had things like silk purses, totes and a viratey of hand crafted purses.  I also saw jewelry, cards, hand woven baskets.  

Clare's is deffently worth the drive.  Here is a poster from the ladies rest room that includes the address. 

Monday

Last night was a long night with Eric. I managed to get to bed by 2:30 and John let me sleep in until after 7am so it was not the caffeine rich day I was anticipating. 

I did manage to spend time with Nancy and get some knitting and talking in.  Do you believe that I ran into someone who did not remember my name but rather my shawl.  I will add the link tomorrow. 

At home I got some cleaning in and finished 2 more hats tonight. Now that I refilled the yarn bag it seems that I have a long way to go again. 

Small Steps

One empty bagay may not seem like much. But this is one of the bags that that was full of yarn for the hat stash down. This bag represents about a dozen hats for kids in need. This bag is also represents my long term goal of deep cleaning the house. One less bag of clutter in the house. Yes I know that I am am talking about yarn.  But even too much yarn can lead to clutter, sigh. I guess I will not be the one with the most yarn. I will have leave that to friends. 

Oh well it's time to end this blog and head off to the 4th avenue street fair.  It's a little too cold to take Eric so I am leaving the guys at home.  

Scrapy Hats

I think I will be knitting Scrapy Hats for at least another 6 months. My goal is to knit through all my odd balls of yarn before I move on in my night time knitting.  I have knit 81 Scrapy Hats since mid October. Yes I have another one half knit. 

To give you an idea of how many odd balls I have to knit through, I am including a picture of just about 1/3 of what I have degisnated for hats. Take in mind that this is after 81 hats. This is only 2 bags. I have  at least 2 more to go after these are empty.  I have already emptied 2 bags. 

Thank goodness I have people lined up to distribute these to kids in need.  We'll it's time to get in a few more rounds before bed. 

Really!!!

I really do think some people are very dense. Take yesterday at knitting for instance.  *I did edit out most of this paragraph to protect the truly dense. The bottom line is that is not cool to demand a designer give their patterns away for free. Also it is not cool to buy one copy of a pattern and make photocopies to distribute to friends.  All I can say is that it was a classic head desk moment.

Please remember that when you think of photocopying someone Else's work to copy and distribute for free you are depriving that person a small monetary reward for their work. Every designer and pattern maker loves what they do. Some rely on the money to pay for the basics like putting food on the table.
Some of the larger publishing houses have been known to go after people for copy write infringement. Is your check book large enough for this? So please think before you copy and share. Maybe even contact the designer to see if they are available to teach a class on their books or patterns.

Or another good one was later in the day. I was waiting for the last wheelchair accessible parking space at Trader Joe's. When I was the subject of numerous rude gestures. * This paragraph has also been edited to protect the rude drivers out there on the roads. Please Remember Manners are necessary when driving during the holidays and year round..

A Little Bit of Everything

A lot has happened since the last post. I got a request from Eric's day program for winter gear for the Primivera Men's Shelter in town so that the young adults from his Taglit program learn about clothing the poor. So I stopped knitting kids hats for a few days to make a couple of adult hats. Everyone is suppose to bring something, so I don't feel the pressure to make dozens of hats. I will add the rows and picture at the end of the blog. I have since gone back to making kids hats.  I enjoy these, they are like candy because they go so fast. I also found out that the kids who got them so far love them. Plus they said that they would take as many as I could knit.

We went to a marshal arts recital of sorts. Yes I know it is not called a recital but my Japanese is not good enough to remember the name of the event as well as spell it. My apologies to all. Eric's friend Matthew a second degree orange belt, did a terrific job. We were rewarded for the outing with a Saturday night of wild eyrping and laundry. Followed by a day of trying to get liquids into Eric. We are hoping to get Eric back on his formula tonight. Needless to say it was a lot of long hours and a very wild weekend.

Today I got some spinning done. All I have to do is spin 3/4 more of the next bobbin and then I will ply the yarn. Hopefully John can get the Lazy Kate straightened out before then. I also think I might have over estimated the time I have for the on line course that I am in the middle of. I hope to play catch up this week. I find it hard to get really creative things done when I am in a state of exhaustion.  Plus it is probably not safe to use certain carding tools while half asleep.

Well it is time to go make dinner.

2 hats for 88 more rows toward the 1 million row challenge. 

Change is Coming and Things are Leaving the House

My deep cleaning spree seems to be over.  I got most of today's cleaning done in less than an hour. So it seems I must now come up with a routine that will keep moving between 2 and 4 hours a day.  I need to do this without getting bored. 

I did manage to get 2 more hats finished today. So tomorrow I will drop off a couple more bags of cold weather gear to the same school that I dropped them off at last time.  I wonder how many I can drop off before they say no more.  For those keeping track that's 71 hats finished since the 3rd Thursday in September. By the way I don't think sitting and knitting will not get me the excersize I need. Well it is time to try to finish hat 3 today.  Here is a picture of a few of the hats and scarfs leaving tomorrow.  

The Journey Has Begun

My body won today. After getting up very early with Eric and taking care of him, I started the laundry. I then took a long nap after he left for his day program. Not everything on my to do list got done or even finished once I started. With 8 loads to start the day I did stop after the 5th load of laundry. John was very nice in folding the last 3 loads of laundry and putting all the laundry away. He is a  keeper.

I did find the time to start on on line fiber course today. I am only 2 weeks behind on a 6 week course. I wonder where Teri learned to dig her holes at the start of classes? I did read both the 1st and second e-mails. I also think I finished my Pintrest board, but might go back and add some color. I also started the journal of my Journey for the Golden Fleece. Tomorrow I will start the next packet.

For now it is time to wave bye bye to the computer and get back to work. TTFN.

A Busy Holiday Weekend

We were lucky enough to have Teri and Tej visit for the weekend.  They came in very late Wednesday after a full day of work.  We had a great weekend full of eating and talking.  

We hit most of Teri's favorite eating spots including Cafe Poca Cosa, Micha's, Eegee's, Blue Willow, Frost and China Phoenix.   We also had treats from 5th Street Deli and Nadine's. 

Yes we did spend a lot of time eating. We also spent a lot of time catching up. The long weekend went much to fast.  I will share one picture of our wonderful weekend. 

Bits and Pieces

I don't get to decorate the dead computer as a center piece. Apparently John and I had major differences in how to decorate it. So John boxed it up.  I guess I will have to go with traditional Thanksgiving decorations. 

I am still in the purging junk from the house mode.  I wish I had grown up in a house that did not have to hang on to everything.  I have managed to fill 1/2 the recycle bin since yesterday.  I have learned that once something is gone I don't have to deal with it again.  I am also finding more things that need to go, even in areas I thought were done. I am hoping that all this work now will give me time to play catch up with my on line spinning class next week.  

I also think that the new medical supply company that the insurance company assigned us to bid their contract price to low.  When we needed new supplies for Eric's suction machine they sent us parts from another machine. They also sent us trech supplies. No trech here. When I called to say that the machine was not working right with the wrong parts. I was told that the parts were no longer available.  That I had to kludge the parts together and try to make it work. My only question to the insurance company and the medical supply company is; why are the necessary parts available on Amazon, EBay and at least a dozen other sites.  My search was so exhaustive that it took all of 15 minutes. In that 15 minutes I did notice that the retail price of the wrong parts were between 20 and 40% less expensive than the correct parts.  Which brings me back to the first question, why did the medical supply company make their bid so low that they can not do the job that they are being contracted for?  This was my head desk moment for the day. 

Only one more day until Company comes for the holiday weekend. So the work that is not done tommrow will not get done until after company leaves.  We'll that is not entirely true.  I will try to keep up with the laundry. 

Busy as Usual

Eric is sick again. I did the usual of being up late and waking up early with him.  After a trade off with John I took a nap. 

I managed to get 2 1/2 hours of more deep cleaning in. With 3 more baskets of recycling going out. No matter how much I toss I still seem to find more to toss.  John also started the repair job on the sewing table. 

Tomorrow I will get the the counters done  and the last bastion of clutter will be taken care of.  Although I am not quite sure that I know how to turn a dead computer that is in parts into a center piece for the Thanksgiving table. I am thinking pleanty of candles.  I will also try to get the last of the shopping done. 

A Wet Weekend

We had an unusual winter storm this weekend. We got 2.5 inches of rain in 36 hours. Considering that we consider 12 inches of rain a good year, this was an exceptional storm.  I am glad that it was a slow rain so that the cactus and trees had a good deep soak. I also do feel very badly for the riders in the El Tour de Tucson bike race. For those riders going the 111 mile route who did not make it past Sabino Creek before it was closed, I am truly sorry that you did not get to finish your race. I hope that you give us another chance in the future. We would love to have you back. 

Since it was a cold and rainy weekend we stayed home. I have a house full of company coming Wednesday for Thanksgiving so I am working on last minute cleaning.  I also took time to start the next batch of hats. I got 7 done this weekend. 

I also now know what John considers a reasonable yarn and fiber stash. I have a lot of knitting and spinning before I get it down enough. 

I am looking forward to this week, even though I will be super busy. Have a wonderful week. 

Understanding People

Sometimes I really don't understand people. Take yesterday for instance. I listened to a speaker from a local charity. She talked about all the good work her group was doing helping children. this was perfectly acceptable. Then she went on to criticize the very people her group was helping use racial overtones just because the people her charity were helping were not like her.

I would like everyone to remember "That all Gd's children are special ALL the time." and that we are all Gd's children. No matter what your religion or race we all bleed red. No matter your economic standing we all bleed red.

I am not saying that you have to like or agree with all other religions or cultures. The really important thing is that you have to RESPECT all other cultures and religions. All cultures have provision for helping the elderly, frail and less fortunate among us. Not everyone can be the top 1 percent , the math just does not work out that way. So we do have to work together to make this a better world.

In an ideal world we would all have a roof over our heads, food on the table, enough clothing, heat or fire wood for a cold winters night. Even health care. But the world is not perfect and we need to help one another through life. We come into to this world alone and leave this world alone. In between we need to help and care for one another. "For no man is an island".

So as the holidays approach try to be a little kinder. If someone is looks great, tell them. A kind word or action go a long way. Donate things you no longer need to charity, its good for the environment, your closets and your wallet. Live life and treat other people the way you would like to be treated. Yes, it the whole Golden Rule thing. I am an idealist who has been tempered with reality, so come join me in my world for a while.

Busier Than a Bee

It has been crazy busy around here. I have holiday guests arriving on Wednesday. I really think that it was a very good thing that I started cleaning 3 months ago. It gave me time to really go through everything. I know that I have not reached perfection by any means, but I consider it a major victory to only have 2 boxes of things that need to be dealt with instead of a whole room going into the garage.  

I will have 30 hats leave the house tomorrow for the knitting guild challenge. I have also found a small local school district that is very willing to give out more hand knit items to their students through their family resource center. I have 5 gallons of yarn for that project. I have 21 hats finished for that project. That means I have finished 51 hand knit hats in the last 30 days. Sadly even with 51 hats knit this month, it has not made much of a dent in the yarn stash. Just to give you an idea of how much yarn was used. Each hat took the equivalent of 1 skein of yarn which equals about 51 skeins of yarn. Of course I used a lot of bits and pieces to make the hats more colorful. 

I have run out of some of my design mojo for now. I have been asked to design and sew up some project bags for other peoples knitting. I am really thinking that after Thanksgiving would be a better time  to start this project.  I will feel less rushed and will come up with something way better if I wait. 

We'll I have another crazy busy day tomorrow so it's time to call it a night. 

Surrealism in Action

Today was on of those really surreal days around here. The day started off at 5:30 am with Eric needing everything from an early morning physical therapy session to suctioning and everything in between. I did manage to get the laundry started at 6:00 am. By 7:00 am it was decided that Eric needed another down day. He had the sniffles and was cranky all day. By 8:am I knew that I was really out of sync and not much would get done today.

I was really weird at the grocery check out line today too. There were some guys on what I presumed was a golfing trip behind me. What happened next was total rudeness to the max. It appears that everything that they forgot to pick up or looked good from my order they just took and added it to their order instead of going back and getting it off the shelves  for themselves.  I thought it was odd that the cashier said that my order was a little light today. Silly me, I thought it was just that I had a short list. Not until I got home did I realize that things were missing. So I checked the car again to see if I had forgotten anything in the trunk, well the trunk was empty. Next I started checking my receipt and none of the missing items were on the receipt. At least I did not get charged for grocery's that I did not get. The funny thing is that the missing items were scattered all through my order not just at the end. So I had to go grocery shopping for the second time today to get the bread and other things that were missing from the first list.

I can say that I am pretty used to the driving of the tourist's making right turns from the left turn bay and making left turns from the right lane. I answer all kinds of questions as to where certain stores are located. I even tend to steer them to locally owned stores when there is one that fits the bill. What happened today at the grocery store was a little out there even for the height of the winter season and the kicker was that they were not even snow birds.  I just wonder if am am the only ones that the nuts are attracted too?

I am hoping for a better day tomorrow so I can play catch up from today. Did I mention that Eric managed to fill his laundry basket again?

Laundry Math

The math just does not add up I did 4 loads of laundry Saturday with 1 load left over. I started doing laundry at 6 am this morning. I had 1 load from Saturday and 5 loads from today with all the laundry finished by 4 pm. So how is it that just 6 hours later I have at least 3 new loads of laundry. How does 1 boy make so much laundry? Is there an evil genie who goes around just pulling clothes out of drawers to be dirtied and thrown back in the laundry  before the fresh laundry smell is gone?  I sometimes wonder if Eric has a deal with Proctor and Gamble, he will make as much dirty laundry as possible if they agree to put Tide coupons in the Sunday paper once a month. The thing I don't want to hear is that you do only 2 to 4 loads a week. That is unless you convince my son that he does not have to keep mommy busy by doing laundry.

There are other things in life that I love to do. I have signed up for an on line course that I have yet to crack the "book" open or even completed the 1st home work assignment. I have another 6 classes that I need to listen to before next semester for my religious studies class. I can not forget all the yarn I want to knit up in to charity hats next to couch, I think it is about 4 gallons of yarn. Yes I count my yarn in gallons and quarts for the reason that 4 gallons of yarn sounds better than counting just how many skeins make up a gallon of yarn. Also how much  I have to knit up. Its a little less daunting that way. Did I mention that I have both spinning wheels in mid project with a few spindles busy too. Yes I am making more yarn too.

In the sewing room today I just finished a set of toddler bibs. I bought the supplies more than several years ago to go to a set of twins who are now in elementary school. So as long as they are finished, the bibs will now be going to a friends granddaughter. While I was at it I also made 2 more bibs for Eric. Now to get those project bag samples done. The work in the sewing room is part of my deep cleaning effort. Finish all work in progress that can be made relevant or get rid of it.

Now if someone can just get Eric to go to sleep at a reasonable hour. Sleep through the night and not wake up before the sun I would have it made.

Busy As Usual

I has been a busy few days around here. This morning was laundry/cleaning followed by tinking about 8 wash cloths. The yarn will go into some cotton hats. I have a better chance of finding homes for hats than wash cloths. A few more hats got done between yesterday and today. They are getting more creative as I get into the the smaller bits of yarn. Did I mention that I found more yarn as I was cleaning on Friday? I thought I was just about done with cotton hats and ready to move on to wool and other fibers.

Even though I still have a little more than a week to get everything done by Thanksgiving  I am still feeling a bit rushed. Tomorrow I hope to wrap up the work in the craft room by finishing some bibs and making a few project bags for people who have asked for some. The most surprising thing about the craft room was that I did not just throw it all into bags and into the garage. I went through everything piece by piece and found a home for it or recycled it. I still find this level of organization a bit unnerving, but it is much easier to be creative. Who would have thought that a cleaner space lead to more creativity.

Then it will be time to take care of the fiber creep and maybe put some in the garage. I am really trying to get the fiber stash under control, but I can't seem to knit and spin as much as I would like too. This is a case where my mind is working faster than my hands.

Since I have another busy day planned for tomorrow, I know this because the to do list has already been written. I think I will call it a night.