2:30 A.M. Really!!!!!!

Eric was up until 2:30 am this morning. As a result he stayed home today. The combination of things really put a crimp in my day. I only got through a third of my to do list today.  I knew I was to tired to drive today and John was gracious enough to do my post office run.  It was one of those rare days that I was even to tired to do any laundry, which just means I have more to do tomorrow.  

On the bright side today I successfully got through the first of 10 repeats on the lace pattern.  I am so glad that I put the life line in.   Without the life line. I would have been in trouble.  It took me 2 hours to knit 2 rows of the lace pattern. I know it's not much, but here is a picture of the 1st repeat of lace. I know it does not look like lace yet. 

Moving Forward

I think I have fianally gotten out of my rut. It only took core spinning 3 skeins of yarn this afternoon.  The good news is that I have finished using all that yucky roving. The last skein is soaking right now. With the hummidity in the teens even with the core they should be dry sometime tomorrow. The bad news is that I can feel my finger joints throbbing.  

I think that the rest of the week will be more productive. I also have figured out where I can send some roving to, to do some stash busting.  I know someone who is doing some felting and this would be perfect for her. 

I also got the last bit of sewing done. Tomorrow the sewing machine will go in for service. Since it is mid March, I hope it will only take a week because most snowbirds are gone.  

It is time to get things ready for tomorrow. 

It's Only Tuesday

I know that I should not take it personally, but we lost 2 aides for Eric this week. This leaves me feeling what did I do wrong? How can I make the work environment better? Why over the last 20 years have all the aides I have recruited for Eric gone on to other consumers with in months or days of hire? You would think that after a month or 2 or longer of recruiting someone to take care of Eric they would not jump ship so fast. This has left me a little bummed out. Oh well off to recruit more people. UCP of Southern Arizona is always looking for good people. Here is a link to their employment page.

I spent the rest of the day going from one crisis to another. With the exception of the aides, I can go to bed knowing that I have cleaned up all the messes of the day.  I also got a few more projects done and out of the craft room. I think I will cut this blog short tonight as the house is turning off all the lights and 6 am does come awfully early when I stay up this late.

I know that tomorrow will be a better day.

A Slow Day

After yesterday's busy day I needed a rest day. So except for 1 load of laundry and grocery shopping not a thing got done.  

That is what I want the world to see, but you know me to well not to ask about my to do list too. Yes I got everything on my to do list done too. So I guess I have a slightly different version of a slow day. 

One last thing. I have a poll that I would like you to weigh in on. I got a batch of roving for spinning that is so bad that I can not spin it into singles.  It is over dyed and felted in some areas.  I have been using it to practice core spinning. The yarn is coming out so course that all it is good for is weaving.  I was hopeing to core spin the last 3 rovings. John, Teri, Eric and my mom think it should go into dog pillows. Not to waste my time on the yucky stuff. Can I get some spinners to weigh in on this.  I have never had roving this bad before and feel guilty about not spinning it.  I hate to waste the money. 

I look forward to your opinions on this. 

Tucson Festival of Books

I left the guys at home and went to the Tucson Festival of Books.  It was a very nice day with lots of walking and a bag full of freebies. Apples seemed to be the giveaway of the day and I enjoyed 2 while I was walking around.  

I was good and did not buy books. Some looked really good but I have a back log to get through first. I also saw some Native American weaving and figured out how I could I could speed up my weaving.  It was just one of those aha moments. 

As I write this, I am sitting outside Old Main where my dad took classes when he was a student at the UofA. They are in the middle of restoring the building so when they are done it will look a lot like it did when dad was here. 

Well I still have to walk over to the Tyndel garage where the car is parked.  I better get moving before I don't want to move. I still have more laundry waiting for me at home. 

A Great Day

Last night was pretty wonderful, everyone including Eric slept. Which left me with the energy to pick up around the house. I unpacked some of Eric's supplies And made the pile of supplies smaller. The main thing though was finding a place for everything. Every item no matter how small found a home or an exit strategy. 

Eric also went back on formula today. He is doing well enough to be back at his full night time rate tonight. 

I even got 15 more rows of the shawl knit tonight.  This was made possible by the short rows I am doing. Each row is 2 stitches shorter than the last row for another 23 rows.  Then there will be a pattern change. 

Well it is time to write up my to do list for tomorrow.  So have a great day. 

Life as Usual

I came home exhausted from the fundraiser on Wednesday totally exhausted.  John made dinner and I went to bed early. That is when Eric decided that he was not feeling well and kept John up until midnight.

I slept until 4ish in the morning when it was my turn with Eric.  He was sick all day Thursday and today. Including being up all night.  John and I took turns with him so that we could do things. 

I am exhausted, more tired than Wednesday night if that is possible. Please join me in the hope that Eric will sleep tonight.  

The First Change

Today I finished a 3 day sewing marathon that resulted in 35 bibs for the Taglit fundraiser at the Tucson JCC on Wednesday. We will be there from 8 am to 4 pm. The car wash will finish up at 1 pm. 

So this picture below is the 1st change made possible by clearing the clutter of someone Else's dream for me. That space use to hold the terry cloth towels and wash cloths necessary to make 35 bibs. I have to be honest the first 5 were fun to do. I still enjoyed the sewing yesterday, but my hands were absolutely useless for knitting last night. Today I wanted to avoid the project at all costs but forced my self to finish the remaining 15 bibs. I could not knit tonight either. The bottom picture is of 30 of the 35 bibs. I can say with out a doubt that this is not the business I want to be in. Even using production line techniques I maxed out at 15 bibs a day. I could not see myself sewing bibs day in and day out. 

I will continue to make all of Eric's bibs but I usually only have to do a dozen every year or so. Not such a bad task. I can get it done before I am tired of them.

So I was finally able to un-box the carding board I am going to make rolagaes on. I still have space left over. I got the carding board from Sheep Banks.  You can find her on Facebook.  

Well it is time to call it a day. 

Another Big Change

Today I spent the day making bibs. Most were baby or toddler size.  I have started clearing out others peoples dreams of what I should be doing with my life. Even others peoples dreams of the next big money maker. If it really was a big money maker why were they not doing it for themselves? Why did I need to do it? I will be finishing half done projects and clearing them out of the house. I will try to spend 1 day a week doing this.  In this new phase of my life I will only take on  new projects that I want to do. I want to spend time exploring my creative side. I can not accomplish this by doing unpaid work that other people think I should be doing. I will pick my own charity projects.

The upside of all of this is that I will have more space for the things I want. By sewing the bibs today I have cleared 1/2 of a shelf in the craft room.  Less is really more.  I will also have a lot of different things that can be used by the Taglit Day Program for fund raising at the Tucson JCC to benefit Eric and his friends.

So to sum up this change a succinctly as I can here goes. If your name is not Teri, John, Eric, Lisa or Matthew. If you are not the Taglit Day Program at the Tucson JCC. If you are not a charity near and dear to my heart. The answer to most unpaid inquires will be no. I will not buy the supplies. I will not drop everything to get your project done and fall behind on things that really need to get done. After so many decades on this earth I will not be every one's go to  person who always says yes.




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Spinning Again

I finally made it back to my spinning wheel today. I took John's suggestion and used the Luate  wheel because it had the peddle on the right side. I am giving my left foot time to heal.  I will take a picture and add it to the post tomorrow.  

I Survived Tuesday.

Not the most terrific day on record, but we did make it through it.  High lights and low lights in no particular order include getting into a dress that has not fit since Teri was at the U of A. I am losing inches like crazy, but the scale refuses to budge. 

I have tendinitis again in my heel. Just so much fun.  The doctor said it could take up to a year to heal.  She also gave me Excersizes to do. I guess I won't start marathon training any time soon.  So I guess I will work on next weeks fundraiser. 

Someone decided to throw a whole lot of soda on the car while I was shopping. The van landed up with a car wash. After the car wash I saw where they also keyed the car. Really was either thing necessary? I rarely say things like this, but I think that they need a little karma in their lives.  

John made us a lovely dinner of waffles and oranges. He really knows how to take the sting out of a bad day.  

Well I think it is time to call it a night.  And below I included a picture of me in the dress. 

Busy, busy, busy

Today was filled with laundry, 4 loads all of it Eric's. Grocery shopping, yes I managed to fill the cart and save $75.00 with coupons. Now if I could get deals like that on fruits and vegetables.  Yes fully half the cart was filled with fruits and vegetables. A little cleaning and some knitting also got done. 

Mondays to do list is longer, if you can imagian that.  I have 1 meeting, working on 1 fundraiser, making a red pot for dinner with my sous chief busy for the day. That means that I will do all the choping of vegetables myself, finish today's laundry. Do some sewing for a fundraiser. Last but not least more cleaning.  Wish me luck and don't get between me and my caffeine. 

Have a busy and productive week everyone.  

Good verses Bad

Eric has been sick for a few days. The hours have been very long. I am tired and sore. Now my delimia. A lot of the yarn producers and clubs are now listing there spring clubs.  

To be good I know I have about 50 projects all ready to be knit. I have lots of fiber ready to be carded and spun. I also have lots of braids to spin. I have lots of other yarn that needs to be knit too. So I should not sign up for any new clubs. 

To be self indulgent I would love to sign up for a couple of clubs.  After all they are soft and squishy. I have had a really bad couple of days. Yarn diets are blah.  

To be good I will not order any. After all I am enjoying less clutter in the house.  As much as I hate to admit it. Too much yarn and fluff can lead to a lot of clutter. 

To be bad I would go ahead and order a couple of clubs.  After all I got over 100 hand knit items out the door last year. 

To be good I should knit up at least another 100 projects this year.  I should shrink my yarn and fiber stash by at least 20 if not 50% more.  

Well I hope I can stay on the right side of the equation, good or bad. Time will tell. 

More of the Same

Eric is still sick and shared.  This has left me the only one fully standing.  I have hit exhaustion.  Eric will also be home tomorrow too. So I will be home too. 

I spent the day doing laundry, taking care of Eric and working on making more earrings for the up coming fund raiser. I decided to skip cleaning, I only have so much energy. 

So tomorrow will be much the same as today, with the exception that it might rain Friday.  

Hump Day

It has been a long but productive day around here dispite everything that the day threw at us. At 4 am I woke up with a headache. By the time I had breakfast and medicine at 4:30 am Eric started the wild eyrping.  At 10:30 am the crew came to install the new pool pump and filter. I was also ready for lunch.  By 11:00 am Eric decided a fever should be part of our day. Then his asthma kicked in too. 

So while all of this was going on, John printed some cards for me. I bagged and priced all the earrings I made Sunday.  I sorted out a pound of glass beads. Finished 2 dog pillows. Repaired 1 shirt and reinforced a few seams. Started to assemble the supplies to 6 toddler bibs. Worked on 2 different knitting projects, I keep 1 in Eric's room and 1 in the den. Did 5 loads of laundry and all but the load that is drying now are put away. 

When you see John tell him you heard how wonderful he was today. He made lunch and dinner.  He also found some nap time for me. 

For some reason which is beyond me I did not find the time to do the cleaning or making earrings with Eric's friends that I had planned to do.  Yet here it is 10 pm I know I had a full day, but did not accomplish much. 

A Busy Day

Eric had a rough night followed by a packed day for me today.  I spent 2 1/2 hours making earrings for Eric's day program fundraiser on March 11.  Almost all Eric's friends have made at least 1 pair. So now the staff is starting to make some too.  They put together the beads and I do the assembly. 

I restarted the green shawl for the 3rd te tonight. I cast on all 280 stitches and knit the first 3 rows.  I really hope that the 3rd time is the charm.  Although with the days hitting the mid 80's already it might be next fall before I get to wear it.  I am beginning to wonder if we will have ice break in April or May this year. 

Another Day at Home

Eric decided very early today that he did not want to leave the house. So we caught up on things like the rose parade and a few situation comedy's. I also worked on making some earrings for the next fundraiser for Eric's day program. Nothing fancy this is the $5 to &10 crowd.  I will make a couple of dozen more and call it quits on those. 

Today Eric needed lots of attention so I spent most of the day just trying to keep him happy. The one accomplishment that he seems very happy with is that he made 4 loads of laundry all by himself. I did not even get to the towels or our clothes, but I can work on that tomorrow. 

I noticed this evening that my pants were starting to get a bit uncomfortable.  They are riding about an inch above where they are suppose to be.  When I lowered them to where they we're suppose to be they just looked all droopy.  I guess this means that in a few more months it will be time to shop my closet again and then hit the sale rack. 

Well Eric is fianally asleep so it's time to call it a night. 

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.