The next 7 charity hats.
A blog about my life, my fiber arts and pictures of my finished work. I will also throw in the very occasional recipe or shopping tip.
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
The Sick House
I am not sure whom shared with whom. Even if we have the same bug. All I know is that we are all sick. It got bad today because I am sick. We usually can manage if I don’t get sick. I am not sure which is worse for me, being dizzy or sleeping almost all day and still being exhausted. We are calling it an early night although I still have to get up twice to give Eric medicine.
Saturday, May 18, 2019
Beware While Driving - Staged Accidents
Please be aware that a new/old scam has hit the streets again. This has happened to me twice this week. It happens every so often. The cars are usually full of passengers, all the seats are full. They like to dart from parking lots or side streets without regards to traffic conditions. Usually a driver will cut you off and come to a dead stop even when the traffic ahead of them is moving. These cars usually have rear end damage already. They seem to get really angry when I did not hit them as they had planned. Yes they did flip me off. This is dangerous for the entire community.
Their goal seems to be to get hit so they can soak you and your insurance company for everything that they can get. They usually work with an unscrupulous medical clinic and lawyer. If this happens to you please call 911 or the emergency number in your area. The only way to stop this scam is to get the lawyers sanctioned and the clinic operators charged.
Be sure to take lots of pictures of both the car and all the people in the car. Sometimes if there is not enough damage to the car or the people. In this case they rough up the people to make the injuries look worse and crash the car again to make the damage worse. If you have good pictures of both the cars and the people in the car, your insurance company will handed the accident over for prosecution.
I avoided hitting both cars and with the grace of G’d I did not get rear ended. Both the brick and I are fine. For those that do not know me well, I call my car the brick, because it looks a like brick and is as aerodynamic as a brick.
Please drive defensively.
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
The ISP
After being up with Eric a lot last night the last thing I wanted to do was prepare for Eric’s ISP which is short for an individual service plan. Better understood by parents as the quarterly we want to annoy you and tell you how you are not living up to some silly bureaucrats idea of how we should be living our lives and that our kids are not making enough progress. Can you tell how much I hate the process? Every few years they decided to revise what they want and this was the year. So instead of taking a much needed nap, I went through 42 pages of regurgitate questions. Before I even got there to look through the questions, while eating breakfast, I was the very annoyed recipient of 16 robo calls in 32 minutes. I do not pick up calls when I don’t recognize the name and instead let it go to voicemail. Yes, all 16 calls during breakfast went to voicemail and did not leave a message. This did not make for a calm start to my day.
I did manage to make a good friend very happy with a box of gluten free cupcakes and a half a loaf of bread. I also introduced her to goat cheese sandwiches.
With all that was going on today, I forgot about my step count and had to walk 5,000 steps after dinner to meet my daily goal. Well Eric is asleep so wish me luck tonight. I hope I get a full nights sleep tonight.
I did manage to make a good friend very happy with a box of gluten free cupcakes and a half a loaf of bread. I also introduced her to goat cheese sandwiches.
With all that was going on today, I forgot about my step count and had to walk 5,000 steps after dinner to meet my daily goal. Well Eric is asleep so wish me luck tonight. I hope I get a full nights sleep tonight.
Labels:
Friends,
Gluten Free,
goat cheese,
ISPs,
robo calls,
sleeping,
walking
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Bits and pieces
Today was all about making a lot of progress on many different projects and completing none. With any luck Eric will sleep tonight and I will have energy tomorrow.
Monday, May 13, 2019
Zenning and gifting
I was able to zen the house and gift all at the same time, awesome right! I gave a younger mother of 4 my electric carder. I gave her daughter a Spinning Wheel that mother and daughter can work on together. I know the Wheel is going to a good home and will be loved. I also gave a few bags a fiber to go along with the carder and spinning wheel. My daughter would not be surprised at my request as part of the young spinners commitment to the Spinning Wheel was to learn about the new to her Wheel and do a few minor repairs. This should help keep her busy over summer.
I got the benefit of 3/4 of an empty shelf in my craft room and more room in the garage. The guys seem very happy too. I got all this done despite my flare up and sleeping for 3 hours after dropping Eric and staff appreciation treats dropped off. My gifts from Mothers Day. Well it is time to call it a night.
I got the benefit of 3/4 of an empty shelf in my craft room and more room in the garage. The guys seem very happy too. I got all this done despite my flare up and sleeping for 3 hours after dropping Eric and staff appreciation treats dropped off. My gifts from Mothers Day. Well it is time to call it a night.
Thursday, May 9, 2019
Project Number 101
Project 101 is a hat. The 16th hat I have knit this year. 14 of the hats have gone to my favorite charity project. Yes, the next hat has been cast on.
Eric has been giving me very little sleep. I really hope that he sleeps tonight. I am so tired that my skin hurts. So I close with a picture of project number 101.
Eric has been giving me very little sleep. I really hope that he sleeps tonight. I am so tired that my skin hurts. So I close with a picture of project number 101.
Labels:
hat.,
knitting,
knitting. sick kid.,
overwhelmed mom,
tired mom
Tuesday, May 7, 2019
My Watch
My watch started losing time today. It was behind a whole half hour by pick up time today. So I did some research tonight. I learned that crystal quartz watches need a near constant temperature to function properly. The human wrist is almost perfect. There was a cool equation on Wikipedia that I understood most of it, yes I am just as shocked as you. So I reset my watch and put it on. It has not lost time since I put it on.
I think I will have to add back one on the links that I took off 11 years ago when I got the watch or just get a new band. I think I keep taking it off because my wrist is a bit larger than it was 11 years ago. Imagine that.
Apparently my watch needs more Sheri time to. I think I need a sign up list for who needs my time.
Labels:
math equation,
Quartz Crystal Watch,
Sheri time,
Wikipedia
Saturday, May 4, 2019
What to Do With Lace Weight Yarn
For those of you who know me well, you know that after 20 years of knitting I still don’t have time to knit lace or socks. This should read that I usually need mindless knitting. So I decided to ply my lace and sock weights yarns into yarn for charity hats.
An elegant solution to having too much lace weight yarn. I took 2 skeins of lace weight yarn and did the 1st spin in an S ply. It was still to thin to knit hats with. So I wound the yarn into a cake and Z plied from both the inside and outside together. Tomorrow I will skein it and give it a hot bath to set the twist then track and hang dry. Below is a nicely balanced 4 ply yarn. The sock yarn will only need to be plied once.
Normally I do my plying on my Louet S15, but in this case I used my Louet Victoria for the second round of plying because it was easier on my right leg. The S15 is a single treadle Wheel, while the Victoria is a double treadle Wheel.
Friday, May 3, 2019
Thursday, May 2, 2019
Projects 75 to 99
The next 15 projects include 12 hats and 3 scarfs. They all went to The Flowing Wells School District Clothing Bank. There are also 18 pairs of socks that I got from trade in credit at Bookman’s.
Labels:
Bookman’s,
charity knitting,
hats,
scarves,
socks
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Timing
I think my timing is a little off lately. Take today for instance. I spent 3 hours this morning typing up a new pattern and getting it posted to 2 on-line shopping sites. I really thought my timing was excellent with Saturday being National Support your Local Yarn Store Day. My feeling was this would be a great time to post a pattern so people could go and buy the yarn and purchase the pattern.
Not so much. It turns out that the large yarn companies are sponsoring trunk shows across the country and giving away Free Patterns with a yarn purchase. If this is not a head desk moment than I really don't know what qualifies.
I have tried the free route before. It does not work for me, wait for it...I am not a large yarn company that can recoup the free pattern cost by selling the yarn. Even worse when a pattern is given as a small promo, everyone ignores the copyright and makes zillions of copies to give to their friends who were not part of the promo. Thus leaving a whole city of knitters who don't need to buy the pattern. With comments such as if you enjoy what you are doing why should we pay you? Or better yet, it's not like you are doing real work and you owe it to the knitters of the community. I am pretty sure that these are the people who copy patterns and don't pay the designers for their work.
Please remember that small independent pattern designers, who self publish must buy their own yarn to knit the design that pops up in our heads. So for a small item like a washcloth, 2 patterns must be sold to just cover the cost of the yarn. The costs only go up from there. Today's pattern will require 6 patterns being sold just to cover the cost of the yarn. Then there is design time, knitting the sample to see if what is in my head works out. Then and additional 3 to 4 hours to photograph, type the pattern and get it published.
So if you are looking for a moms day, fathers day ( yes, men do knit ) birthday or holiday gift for a knitter please consider this pattern, 2 of 3 A Shawl Study and a skein of yarn to go with it. Thank you and happy knitting.
Not so much. It turns out that the large yarn companies are sponsoring trunk shows across the country and giving away Free Patterns with a yarn purchase. If this is not a head desk moment than I really don't know what qualifies.
I have tried the free route before. It does not work for me, wait for it...I am not a large yarn company that can recoup the free pattern cost by selling the yarn. Even worse when a pattern is given as a small promo, everyone ignores the copyright and makes zillions of copies to give to their friends who were not part of the promo. Thus leaving a whole city of knitters who don't need to buy the pattern. With comments such as if you enjoy what you are doing why should we pay you? Or better yet, it's not like you are doing real work and you owe it to the knitters of the community. I am pretty sure that these are the people who copy patterns and don't pay the designers for their work.
Please remember that small independent pattern designers, who self publish must buy their own yarn to knit the design that pops up in our heads. So for a small item like a washcloth, 2 patterns must be sold to just cover the cost of the yarn. The costs only go up from there. Today's pattern will require 6 patterns being sold just to cover the cost of the yarn. Then there is design time, knitting the sample to see if what is in my head works out. Then and additional 3 to 4 hours to photograph, type the pattern and get it published.
So if you are looking for a moms day, fathers day ( yes, men do knit ) birthday or holiday gift for a knitter please consider this pattern, 2 of 3 A Shawl Study and a skein of yarn to go with it. Thank you and happy knitting.
Labels:
2 of 3 A Shawl Study,
design,
knitting,
New Pattern,
timing
Thursday, April 18, 2019
Old Hands
I think my hands are getting old. After only 4 hours of knitting they are very tired and don’t want to do anything else for the day. I am not sure how to build my hand stamina up to be able to knit for 8 or more hours per day again. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Sunday, April 14, 2019
Spoiler Alert
This is a spoiler alert for Game of Thrones. The season 8 episode 1 is so good that it makes knitting and spinning impossible. What? You were expecting me to give plot information. No way. Watch it for yourselves.
Labels:
Game of Thrones,
knitting,
Spinning,
spoiler alert
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
I have been busy trying to put store throat and it’s aftermath behind me. I have not caught up yet. I still have a few patterns to type up and take pictures of. I also have a few designs in the process, yes I am taking good notes.
I am also getting a lot of Spinning and art yarn spinning done. I am trying for a couple of skeins a week until my fiber stash is smaller. So if you need art yarn for a project be sure to check out Grandmas Spinning Wheel in Tucson for some very 1 of a kind skeins.
I have a slew of knitting that needs the rows counted and added to Raverly too.
Well it’s time to call it a day.
I am also getting a lot of Spinning and art yarn spinning done. I am trying for a couple of skeins a week until my fiber stash is smaller. So if you need art yarn for a project be sure to check out Grandmas Spinning Wheel in Tucson for some very 1 of a kind skeins.
I have a slew of knitting that needs the rows counted and added to Raverly too.
Well it’s time to call it a day.
Thursday, April 4, 2019
Projects 68 to 74
Here are the next 7 finished projects. All are hand spun yarn. 4 are art yarn. All are going to Grandmas Spinning Wheel in Tucson on Friday. They are all one of a kind skeins of yarn. They will be in the hand spun yarn by local Tucson Fiber Artists section of the shop. All will be priced $34.00 or less.
Projects 37 to 67
You will notice that you only see 28 items, not 30. The simple explanation is that 2 pair of earrings are hiding in my bedroom. I just loved 2 of the pairs of earrings so much that I could not part with them. These are all for the Taglit fundraiser tomorrow morning at the Tucson JCC At Alvernon and Dodge. From 8 am until noon. Please come out and support Eric and his friends. Thank You.
Labels:
bracelets,
earrings,
Fundraiser,
jewelry,
Tucson JCC
Wednesday, April 3, 2019
Friday’s Fundraiser
I did not have the energy to do errands today. So after my eye doctor appointment I came home and made a lot of earrings for the Friday morning fundraiser for Eric’s day program. I only have 5 more pairs to make for my promised 2 dozen. Let’s just say I really prefer more than 2 weeks notice for making things for fundraisers.
Also since I can’t commit to a full day Friday, the fundraiser will end around lunchtime. All my earrings will be priced at $5.00 and the bracelets at $10.00. This will be a good time to pick up something for mom and help a good cause.
The fundraiser will be at the Tucson JCC at the corner of Alvernon and Dodge. That is unless you come in on the back side and use River Road. There is not a hard start time, but around 8:00 am to noon.
Also Eric and his friends made some great greeting cards and other art projects to sell. So please try to stop by and make it a sell out. Usually the money goes to scholarships and supplies.
As usual 100% of the sale price for my jewelry will go to the day program. Also if you have any tabs for Eric’s charity project they can be dropped off too.
Also since I can’t commit to a full day Friday, the fundraiser will end around lunchtime. All my earrings will be priced at $5.00 and the bracelets at $10.00. This will be a good time to pick up something for mom and help a good cause.
The fundraiser will be at the Tucson JCC at the corner of Alvernon and Dodge. That is unless you come in on the back side and use River Road. There is not a hard start time, but around 8:00 am to noon.
Also Eric and his friends made some great greeting cards and other art projects to sell. So please try to stop by and make it a sell out. Usually the money goes to scholarships and supplies.
As usual 100% of the sale price for my jewelry will go to the day program. Also if you have any tabs for Eric’s charity project they can be dropped off too.
Labels:
Art sale,
bracelets,
earrings,
Fund raiser,
greeting cards,
TucsonJCC
Tuesday, April 2, 2019
Feeling Better
After sleeping most of the day, I am happy to report that I am feeling better. I will still try to keep things on the light side though. So this afternoon I designed 4 pairs of earrings, 1 of which I am keeping. I plied 3 skeins of art yarn. To top the night off I started knitting a new hat. I expected that my creative energy will be all over the place for at least a few days. I really can’t wait to see what happens.
Labels:
art yarn,
earrings,
feeling better,
jewelry design,
knitting
Monday, April 1, 2019
25 to 36
A dozen new bibs for Eric. He likes them very much. They don’t have the been washed over 100 times feel. They are still nice, fluffy and very soft. The pattern was published in 2010 under key word bib.
Bad at Posting
I have been very bad at posting pictures. I have not posted since project number 24. Since then there have been almost another 24 projects completed. I will try to post some pictures later.
I am still sick, although feeling better. I have knit 2 hats in 2 days. Pictures later.
I am still sick, although feeling better. I have knit 2 hats in 2 days. Pictures later.
Labels:
Falling behind. Still sick,
hats,
knitting
Sunday, March 31, 2019
Wher Did March Go?
I am ending the Month of March sick and resting. I don’t know where the month has gone. There has been a lot of knitting and spinning. A dozen new bibs for Eric. By the way he loves them all. They have the soft not washed a hundred times feel.
What I have not accomplished is writing the 2 new knitting patterns. The finished items are folded on the table in need of blocking. Taking photos of the new patterns. So my goal for April is to get 2 patterns self published. Finish knitting 2 more shawl patterns and completing the process. To get that done I will stop writing and go to sleep.
Labels:
knitting,
new bibs,
pattern wrtting,
sick mom,
Spinning
Tuesday, March 26, 2019
A New Design
The new design with Mary Gavin’s yarn is coming out better than expected. Only 10 zillion rows to knit, just kidding only about 300 rows to go. youcan ask for her Measyarn at your local yarn shop or go to MartGavinYarns.com.
Monday, March 25, 2019
No Carpe Deim
Not all days are a Carpe Diem kind of day around here. Some days my standards are very low as long as everyone is alive at the end of the day and the laundry is not above knee level, I will call it a win.
I did get some Spinning done. This is going to be plied as an art yarn. Pictures will follow when finished.
I did barely manage to get my 8,000 steps today.
I did get some Spinning done. This is going to be plied as an art yarn. Pictures will follow when finished.
I did barely manage to get my 8,000 steps today.
Labels:
arthritis flare up,
Carpe Deim,
laundry,
Spinning,
tired mom,
walking
Sunday, March 24, 2019
I had a very enjoyable day. I went to the n4th Avenue Street Fair today. All my usual parking places were gone. I truly mean gone. The church parking lot is now a building under construction. My others were filled with vendor booths. So I parked at the Tyndall garage at the University of Arizona and walked down hill to the street fair. I did do a little shopping but skipped the street fair food. I picked out a few things for my birthday while I was there.
It was a very good step day with over 10 thousand steps. Just before bed my body decided what it thought of all the days activities. Let me tell you that it hates me at this moment. I am hopeful that a good nights sleep will fix everything.
It was a very good step day with over 10 thousand steps. Just before bed my body decided what it thought of all the days activities. Let me tell you that it hates me at this moment. I am hopeful that a good nights sleep will fix everything.
Labels:
4th Avenue Street Fair,
No Parking.,
walking
Monday, March 18, 2019
Failed Parenting
Eric has not slept for the last 2 nights. In my extreme tiredness I decided that Eric would not get his afternoon television time. So instead he came in the sewing room with me. I am in the middle of making a dozen new bibs so we can retire the worn looking ones.
It did not occur to me until his afternoon aide came that it looked to her like he was getting a special treat. Extra time with me and brand new bibs to boot. This is an epic parenting failure.
In my defense I did try to nap today, but every time I fell asleep the door bell rang.
It did not occur to me until his afternoon aide came that it looked to her like he was getting a special treat. Extra time with me and brand new bibs to boot. This is an epic parenting failure.
In my defense I did try to nap today, but every time I fell asleep the door bell rang.
Sunday, March 17, 2019
Busy
Despite Eric wakings me up every 2 hours last night, I got a lot done around the house. I did not finish the laundry and only did 2 loads. Other chores were done instead
On the fiber side of my life Eric did help me start and finish 4 new bibs. I really don’t think he quite understood how many steps there are to making his bibs. I only have 8 more to make and we can then retire some of the worn out bibs. I cast on a new hat and got the first 1/2 inch of ribbing done. Only another 6 1/2 inches to go before the crown work. I added another inch to the hand spun sherbet shawl on Raverly. It was pointed out to me that I might just need to rewrite the pattern for a zourball. As not everyone can look at a basic pattern and just decide to use different yarn and needles and know it will come out. Last but not least I got my Louet S15 out and started spinning some rolags from The Wooly Witch on Etsy. I am getting an nice fine spin. Once plyed it should be a sport weight yarn. It has been on my to do list since the spring of 2017. I am still on the first rolag. See the yardage so far.
On the fiber side of my life Eric did help me start and finish 4 new bibs. I really don’t think he quite understood how many steps there are to making his bibs. I only have 8 more to make and we can then retire some of the worn out bibs. I cast on a new hat and got the first 1/2 inch of ribbing done. Only another 6 1/2 inches to go before the crown work. I added another inch to the hand spun sherbet shawl on Raverly. It was pointed out to me that I might just need to rewrite the pattern for a zourball. As not everyone can look at a basic pattern and just decide to use different yarn and needles and know it will come out. Last but not least I got my Louet S15 out and started spinning some rolags from The Wooly Witch on Etsy. I am getting an nice fine spin. Once plyed it should be a sport weight yarn. It has been on my to do list since the spring of 2017. I am still on the first rolag. See the yardage so far.
Labels:
cranky kid.,
hat,
house work,
knitting,
laundry,
Sewing,
shawl,
Spinning,
zourball
Saturday, March 16, 2019
Finished
I finished 3 knitting projects today. Pictures and row counts will follow when I am more awake. The 2 new patterns will follow once the items have been blocked, photographs, data collected and the patterns typed up. I also started working on a new UFO and it should be ready for summer. I am using the Hand Spun Sherbet Shawl pattern on Raverly with 2 zourballs of yarn. and US sized 4 circulars. Don’t be afraid to try my patterns with different yarns and knitting needles. Just use the right size knitting needles for the yarn. Have fun knitting.
Labels:
Finished,
HandSpun Sherbet Shawl,
knitting,
Raverly
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Finished Projects
A lot of projects are coming off my knitting needles. Some need to be blocked. Although I will need to find a new place to block my knitting. My favorite spot has broken. Patterns need to be typed up. I am even finishing projects that have been put aside for awhile.
Monday, March 11, 2019
Frogs and Other Things
Today while looking for a lost skein of Mary Gavin’s yarn, which is still hiding. How could I possibly lose a skein of yarn wound on to a bobbin for knitting my house? I also found a few projects that needed to be frogged. I also threw out the pattern that came with the very colorful sock blank that had been dyed in rainbow colors, this will make a wonderful shawlette.
I am not quite sure how the wonderful people at Sock Panda dot com manage to match my socks with my current actives, but today’s shipment was of frogs, rip it, rip it. This is the perfect gift for someone who likes socks that are not plain. The bonus is that for every pair of socks you buy 1 pair is given to charity. How cool is that?
I also finished 3 more dog pillows and along with 4 hand woven rag rugs Eric and his aide help me to deliver them to our local humane Society. Thanks to Google maps for helping find it and miss all the construction and road work projects.
*Sock Panda , Mary Gavin Yarn’s, and Google Maps did not pay any advertising fees. I already use the products. Also I have gifted several friends with a sock panda club.
I am not quite sure how the wonderful people at Sock Panda dot com manage to match my socks with my current actives, but today’s shipment was of frogs, rip it, rip it. This is the perfect gift for someone who likes socks that are not plain. The bonus is that for every pair of socks you buy 1 pair is given to charity. How cool is that?
I also finished 3 more dog pillows and along with 4 hand woven rag rugs Eric and his aide help me to deliver them to our local humane Society. Thanks to Google maps for helping find it and miss all the construction and road work projects.
*Sock Panda , Mary Gavin Yarn’s, and Google Maps did not pay any advertising fees. I already use the products. Also I have gifted several friends with a sock panda club.
Labels:
dog pillows,
frogs,
Google Maps,
Mary Gavin yarns,
Rag Rugs,
sock panda dot com
Saturday, March 9, 2019
What It’s Not Sunday?
I spent most of the day going around as if it were Sunday. I spent the day cleaning and organizing the house. I went through piles of paper. Found projects that were never going to be done and sent the fiber to the dog pillow bin. I now have 3 dog pillows to do the final seams on. I got the kitchen towels down that I can’t remember who gave them to me for bibs down. They are not Eric colors so the will go to The Flowing Wells SD Clothing Bank. If you need the pattern for the bibs I.believe that I published it in October of 2009 or 2010 under the key word bibs. I also got by with only doing 4 loads of laundry.
I finished another hat and cast the next one on. I am on the final rows of 2 of 3 A Shawl Study pattern. Sadly this one is more fussy and will require blocking. Hopefully it will be done tomorrow.
Well tomorrow is going to be just as busy so it is time to call it a day.
I finished another hat and cast the next one on. I am on the final rows of 2 of 3 A Shawl Study pattern. Sadly this one is more fussy and will require blocking. Hopefully it will be done tomorrow.
Well tomorrow is going to be just as busy so it is time to call it a day.
Labels:
Bibs,
cleaning,
dog pillows,
knitting,
New Pattern,
Sewing,
Zenning
Friday, March 8, 2019
It’s Official
This afternoon I found out that Eric will be home for another week. The site where he goes for his day program is under going major repairs to its gym. Air quality is the issue for Eric. So Eric and I have planned some activities for next week.
So to make this happen for Eric, I will be making dog pillows, with help on the stuffing stage. Then sewing them up. These will go to the Humane Society. I will also go through my knitting bags to find all the tabs I can. We are going to drop them off at the local Ronald McDonald House to help the kids. The tabs pay for the utilities here in Tucson with any leftover money going to help the families. This is Eric’s favorite charity project.
So if I am cranky next week, please forgive me. I also am apologizing in advance. Now I am going back to knitting.
So to make this happen for Eric, I will be making dog pillows, with help on the stuffing stage. Then sewing them up. These will go to the Humane Society. I will also go through my knitting bags to find all the tabs I can. We are going to drop them off at the local Ronald McDonald House to help the kids. The tabs pay for the utilities here in Tucson with any leftover money going to help the families. This is Eric’s favorite charity project.
So if I am cranky next week, please forgive me. I also am apologizing in advance. Now I am going back to knitting.
Wednesday, March 6, 2019
Q
Did I ever mention how much I love crocheting using a size Q hook and bulky yarn. I was able to start a scarf at 3 pm today and finish it around 8 pm with all the ends woven in. I still had
time to cook dinner, take a walk and clean up dinner. It was a bright spot in an otherwise dismal day.
Eric kept me up last night so I was tired to.begin with. Then there is building construction at Eric’s day program which will muck with the air quality, so he will be home until at least Monday. So besides a much needed nap, all I did was play pick up. This lead to a cranky mommy day. Yes, I know in my heart that things could be worse, but sometimes it is hard to see outside my four walls.
So this is what 56 rows of crocheting looks like when you only go through the back of the top loop.
Eric kept me up last night so I was tired to.begin with. Then there is building construction at Eric’s day program which will muck with the air quality, so he will be home until at least Monday. So besides a much needed nap, all I did was play pick up. This lead to a cranky mommy day. Yes, I know in my heart that things could be worse, but sometimes it is hard to see outside my four walls.
So this is what 56 rows of crocheting looks like when you only go through the back of the top loop.
Labels:
bad day,
charity scarf,
cleaning,
cooking,
crocheting,
tired mom
Tuesday, March 5, 2019
Tuesday
Dropping off Eric. Paying activity fees for the year.
Getting 2 knitting projects off the knitting needles and weaving in the ends. I am to tired to take pictures or count the rows. Cast another hat on and knit 1 3/4 inches of the band.
A trip to Bookman’s and they took everything today. I used the credit for 2 more pairs of socks for The Flowing Wells SD Clothing Bank.
Went to 2 different grocery stores to get shopping done. I managed to put almost
everything away and do the rebates.
Fixed Eric’s Wheelchair and cleaned off some of the formula that spilled on the chair.
Was too tired to cook dinner. I don’t have to wonder much about that.
Praying that Eric does not want a 1 am play date with me.
Time for lights out.
Monday, March 4, 2019
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
23
This is my first non Elmo size sweater. After helping more then 20 people finish their sweaters I have finally finished mine. Yes, this is the sweater that I completely frogged and re knit. It has 500 rows of knitting towards the 1 million row challenge. It also fits to a T. It is made from 100% cotton that was kettle dyed to give it a unique color. Yes, I love it and will wear it often. No I can’t give you the pattern name because I changed the pattern as I went and did not take notes. I will not be re knitting this sweater to create a knitting pattern. This sweater was more a work of perseverance than of joy to me. Mist ask my friends how many times I fell asleep knitting this.
Labels:
1 million knitted rows challenge,
Cotton,
kettle dyed,
knitting,
sweater
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
A Little Tinking
A tinking we will go
A tinking we will go
High ho the cherry’o
A tinking we will go.
Did you ever have a night where you were too tired to knit but did so anyway? That was me tonight. I am on the second sleeve of my first sweater for me. I am diligently doing the every fifth row double decrease. When I really wasn’t. I had managed to pick up 1 stitch at the needle change for every 2 stitches I decreased. By the time I noticed it I was 15 rows into tonight’s knitting and had to tink out all of my progress. I actually frogged it.
So I picked up all the stitches and tried to divide them equally, another fail, but not a big one. I knit 1 round to get the stitches untwisted. Then the next decrease row and the next row. I decided to stop there for the night so I would not make the same tired knitting mistake.
Maybe tomorrow night I can finish the sleeve. Then all I have left to do is the front placard and sewing on the buttons. That might get done on my way to Stitches West on Thursday. I am leaving the guys home for the weekend.
*tinking is knitting backwards.
*frogging is when you take out the knitting needles and rip out several rows at once. The put the knitting back on the knitting needles. In this process you hop it a stitch does not run away. Rip it, rip it.
A tinking we will go
High ho the cherry’o
A tinking we will go.
Did you ever have a night where you were too tired to knit but did so anyway? That was me tonight. I am on the second sleeve of my first sweater for me. I am diligently doing the every fifth row double decrease. When I really wasn’t. I had managed to pick up 1 stitch at the needle change for every 2 stitches I decreased. By the time I noticed it I was 15 rows into tonight’s knitting and had to tink out all of my progress. I actually frogged it.
So I picked up all the stitches and tried to divide them equally, another fail, but not a big one. I knit 1 round to get the stitches untwisted. Then the next decrease row and the next row. I decided to stop there for the night so I would not make the same tired knitting mistake.
Maybe tomorrow night I can finish the sleeve. Then all I have left to do is the front placard and sewing on the buttons. That might get done on my way to Stitches West on Thursday. I am leaving the guys home for the weekend.
*tinking is knitting backwards.
*frogging is when you take out the knitting needles and rip out several rows at once. The put the knitting back on the knitting needles. In this process you hop it a stitch does not run away. Rip it, rip it.
Labels:
knitting,
rip-it frogging,
sweaters,
tinking,
tired mom
Saturday, February 16, 2019
Pattern Release Day
My new pattern 1 of 3 a Shawl Study has been released. The pattern is available on Ravelry at the following link, 1-of-3 A Shawl Study . The yarn is available at Blue Moon Fiber Arts . I used Socks That Rock in the color way Delirium. This is a one skein wonder that has replaced my favorite small shawl that I knit 20 years ago.
Friday, February 15, 2019
20,21 and 22
The next 3 projects are dog pillows. No fiber goes to waste. The stuffing is made from yarn scraps, fiber leftovers from the carder, left over fabric scraps from sewing, UFO’s that are not worthy of finishing or tinking and mixed with Polly fill to even things out. Nothing goes to waste. I use material from my material stash and material that can be gotten for a good price on the clearance table. They are give to dogs without charge. This is a great recycling project.
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Not a Terrific Day
It was one of those days where my body, hands included could not keep up with my mind. I had my list my body had it’s list. We know who won. Well there is always tomorrow. At least the barometric pressure has stabilized. Here is to a good nights sleep and a better day tomorrow.
Labels:
arthritis flare up,
barometric pressure,
sleeep
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
New Designs
As I was looking at my mini shawl number two today I noticed that there were major differences between shawl 1 and 2. I find it simply amazing what the addition of a stitch or two can make in the overall design. So instead of 1 mini shawl patterns there will be 3. Since my arthritis got the better of me today, I will get the first one published tomorrow. Number 2 should follow shortly as I have knit 48 grams of a 100 gram ball of yarn.
Time to call it a night so I will be productive tomorrow.
Time to call it a night so I will be productive tomorrow.
Monday, February 11, 2019
Eric is Sick
When Eric gets sick he usually does 2 things. First he makes a not literal ton of laundry. Second he shares his cold. Well he managed to fill the washing machine to the top 3 times in 12 hours with dirty laundry And had dirty laundry to spare. John called it an apocalypse of laundry.
He did manage to share the cold with me too. Since John was home I tried to sleep today since I was up with a Eric last night. The good news is I am already in an arthritis flare up so the cold is almost gone. The bad news is it will add about 6 weeks to the current flare up from Eric’s last cold. Let’s hope that John does not get it.
This picture does not include the weekly load of bath towels that got washed before the start of everything going into the Blender. Also over 90% of this is Eric’s laundry. Our young man certainly knows how to make laundry.
He did manage to share the cold with me too. Since John was home I tried to sleep today since I was up with a Eric last night. The good news is I am already in an arthritis flare up so the cold is almost gone. The bad news is it will add about 6 weeks to the current flare up from Eric’s last cold. Let’s hope that John does not get it.
This picture does not include the weekly load of bath towels that got washed before the start of everything going into the Blender. Also over 90% of this is Eric’s laundry. Our young man certainly knows how to make laundry.
Sunday, February 10, 2019
Life Does Not Always Bring Joy. Get Over It
The next round of Zenning has begun. Those around me want me to move faster like the latest television guru. Wildly throwing thing away without thought. I however will continue to move at my own speed deciding what goes or stays and when. I am tired of the mindlessly chants if it does not bring you joy it must go. I think this chant is very pathetic and irritating. It is worse than the “build the wall” chant of the racist.
Things like laundry don’t bring me joy, but it must be done on an almost daily basis. I don’t mind the car rides with Eric, but the traffic drives me nuts, but the almost daily commute must be done. I hate the noise of the percussion machine, but it must be done twice daily. I hate People who don’t pay attention to the road when they are on their cell phone, this does not bring me joy. Yet, I fear that they are here to stay. The list goes on. All life is not meant to bring joy. Some days you just have to slog through it.
I think it’s time for this cranky and over tired mom to call it a night.
Things like laundry don’t bring me joy, but it must be done on an almost daily basis. I don’t mind the car rides with Eric, but the traffic drives me nuts, but the almost daily commute must be done. I hate the noise of the percussion machine, but it must be done twice daily. I hate People who don’t pay attention to the road when they are on their cell phone, this does not bring me joy. Yet, I fear that they are here to stay. The list goes on. All life is not meant to bring joy. Some days you just have to slog through it.
I think it’s time for this cranky and over tired mom to call it a night.
Monday, February 4, 2019
The Good, The Bad and The Dog Pillow
I am sure that most of you know that I have to re knit 2 patterns for lack of copious notes. So today I tried to start the rewrite with what I thought was a beautiful and expensive skein of merino,silk and nylon with a lovely color way and very long repeats for the pattern. Well 20 yards in I was already at the 2nd manufacturing tie and I could see the third. By industry standards they are only allowed 3 tie offs per skein. It did not bode well. If you know me well my motto is “Life is to short to knit with bad yarn or spin with bad roving.” I pulled the project off the needles and removed the stitch marker. So into the dog pillow box it went. An hour of design time wasted.
I went stash diving and found a Crazy Zauberball from Schoppel Woole made in Germany. I have never had a problem with their wool or cotton yarn. It has a nice long color way. I started it after dinner and have the first 2 to 3 inches knit, so I did not lose to much ground. Since it is a 2 line pattern with very little explanation I. Ishtar be able to type up this pattern and wait for the new sample to be finished for the pictures.
I also got another 72 rows done on the blanket and am ready to cast on the next square tomorrow. It is going much faster this time because I have the first sample to work off. By the way the 2 blankets will look totally different because with modular knitting I really have fun with color.
With any luck Eric will be back a program tomorrow. It has been a long weekend with him sick. This tired mom is going to bed.
I went stash diving and found a Crazy Zauberball from Schoppel Woole made in Germany. I have never had a problem with their wool or cotton yarn. It has a nice long color way. I started it after dinner and have the first 2 to 3 inches knit, so I did not lose to much ground. Since it is a 2 line pattern with very little explanation I. Ishtar be able to type up this pattern and wait for the new sample to be finished for the pictures.
I also got another 72 rows done on the blanket and am ready to cast on the next square tomorrow. It is going much faster this time because I have the first sample to work off. By the way the 2 blankets will look totally different because with modular knitting I really have fun with color.
With any luck Eric will be back a program tomorrow. It has been a long weekend with him sick. This tired mom is going to bed.
Labels:
bad wool,
Blanket,
Crazy Zauberball,
knitting. sick kid.,
new patterns.,
scarf
Sunday, February 3, 2019
Scattered Knitting
I think that John has it right. I am a very scattered knitter. How did he come to this conclusion you might ask. Well it occurred tonight during Super Bowl 53. I was working on the remake of a pattern do to a lack of copious notes, see yesterday’s blog post. I got up to get my last Yarn Butler not in use, I have 3 for the record. They are now all in use. Plus I have various baskets and bags most filled with multiple UFO’s. I also have knitting projects in more than 1 room of the house.
I think it might be time to finish all my UFO’s in progress before I start any new projects. Then sell off some of my soon to be extra bags and baskets. I need to learn to focus. Being focused, squirrel, is not one of my fortes. The exception to this would be hats and scarves for the clothing bank, that is my take along project and a device I use in restaurants not to eat chips or bread before a meal. It’s just a way to keep my Carib count down.
Wish me luck. Since this is a short month my goal is to get 3 patterns written and posted to Raverly. Then finish my sweater. Hopefully there will not be to many squirrels this month.
*Squirrels is a term use to say a distraction in a somewhat funny way.
*UFO is short for unfinished projects or objects.
I think it might be time to finish all my UFO’s in progress before I start any new projects. Then sell off some of my soon to be extra bags and baskets. I need to learn to focus. Being focused, squirrel, is not one of my fortes. The exception to this would be hats and scarves for the clothing bank, that is my take along project and a device I use in restaurants not to eat chips or bread before a meal. It’s just a way to keep my Carib count down.
Wish me luck. Since this is a short month my goal is to get 3 patterns written and posted to Raverly. Then finish my sweater. Hopefully there will not be to many squirrels this month.
*Squirrels is a term use to say a distraction in a somewhat funny way.
*UFO is short for unfinished projects or objects.
Labels:
goals,
knitting,
Raverly,
UFO’s,
yarn butlers
Friday, February 1, 2019
A Lack of Notes
I am having to re knit a blanket do to a server lack of copious note taking on my part. The only two blessings that I can think of is that most sections are repeated 4 times, and I only have to write it once and say please repeat this section 3 more times. The other is that I have a blanket to knit as a present so I will use the duplicate as the gift. If I hustle I can get this done fairly soon as there is no design work left.
To answer the question everyone has been asking, yes there will be a knit along. I just have to make the arrangements.
To answer the question everyone has been asking, yes there will be a knit along. I just have to make the arrangements.
Labels:
Blanket,
knit a long,
knitting,
notes,
patter design
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
18 and 19
The next 2 hats are finished. They have been placed in the bag going to the Flowing Wells SD Clothing Bank when it is full. This also added 136 rows towards the 1 million row challenge on Raverly. I know I probably won’t make it to a million knitting and Crochet rows, but I can have fun trying.
I spent most of the day sleeping. I caught the bug du jour. I would just like to remind everyone to try to stay home when you are sick. It is just better for everyone. I put off my errands to stay home and not spread the cold.
I now have 2 bags of books for Bookman’s and will spend the trade credit on socks for the clothing bank too. It’s a win win for everyone. I have less stuff. Bookman’s has more stuff to sell and I am supporting a local Tucson business. Some kids who need socks will get them. Plus nothing goes to the landfill. What could be better than that?
T
I spent most of the day sleeping. I caught the bug du jour. I would just like to remind everyone to try to stay home when you are sick. It is just better for everyone. I put off my errands to stay home and not spread the cold.
I now have 2 bags of books for Bookman’s and will spend the trade credit on socks for the clothing bank too. It’s a win win for everyone. I have less stuff. Bookman’s has more stuff to sell and I am supporting a local Tucson business. Some kids who need socks will get them. Plus nothing goes to the landfill. What could be better than that?
T
Monday, January 28, 2019
Zenning
Nothing but Zenning got done today. All my knitting books fit on the allotted shelf space. Now I just have to sort them by knitting,spinning ,weaving,crochet and quilting. I found another foot of knitting books that are ready to go to Bookman’s. If they take most them I should be able to trade them for socks for my pet charity project. They liked the last dozen pairs that I brought in. Who knew that you could trade knitting booksthat are no longer needed for socks and make it a win for everyone. I also went through the rest of my Molly magazines. I decided that I did not need most of them. So I will be sharing them. I also managed to get my to read books all lined up. No wonder I was too tired and too sore to knit today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)