The thought occurred to me to night that you have not seen me wearing my new Maxi Fingerless Gloves. I have got to tell you that I did not take time to set up my tripod. I also found it hard to take a picture of my own hand. None the less, here it is in action. Yes I did type up this blog wearing my new gloves. I tend to like warm and toasty hands at night and on cold days. It helps me sleep better.
I will try to take a picture of the red ones at a later date.
I finally have found a path to take. I know it’s been a while.
In knitting, I found that if I knit a few rows and rest a bit. Repeat until it’s time to stop. I do not have pain. Yes, I am not knitting as fast, but I am knitting again. Also no more big projects.
I can really Start exercising again. I will ramp it up slowly so I don’t injure myself. I wish COVID19 was over so I can walk inside the mall without a mask. It’s a lot cooler there.
I have also discovered that I am really, really bad at judging water and ice tea intake when we go out for lunch or dinner and it’s over 100f. Yes we are still only doing outdoor dining. I drink way too much and spend to much time getting rid of the excess. Although I personally feel it’s better to drink too much than not enough.
I have been hiding out in my knitting room listening to an audio book alternating between knitting a UFO That was started before Eric went into hospice. Then was tinked because I should never knit lace work when I am taking care of someone going through hospice. Then thinking it is time to spin on every drop spindle I currently own. Maybe even fill up a basket and ply them later.
I am so totally exhausted and out of sink that I totally forgot about Tour de Fleece. At this point 11 days in I am not going to stress myself. I will just look at my lovelies as I spin on the drop spindle of the day or 2 it takes to fill them. I will pull one braid at a time and spin until I run out and then go to the next one.
I am currently on an Orson Scott Card binge. Currently Invasive Procedures. The last book was Stone Father. Both good reads.
Below is the first spindle filled in this endeavor. A Golding that has an amazing spin on it. I did not think I would be able to spin lace weight on a spindle this heavy. I spun a blend of merino wool and silk.
Things are going pretty good right now. I just wish at times I had a staff to type up my pattern notes and take pictures of my finished objects. I am about 3 patterns behind now. Maybe I will just have to buckle down. When John’s at work I should be working too. I think I will give it a try next week.
I just don’t make enough on pattern sales to hire anyone. If I am really lucky I sell enough patterns to pay for the yarn. I usually don’t include time to design, knit, photograph or type my patterns. The numbers would be just to dismal even for me. Bring a pattern designer is a lot like the other arts. A few make bank and the rest of us have a supportive spouses or full time jobs or both.
Stay safe and consider wearing masks again. The COVID19 numbers are going up again.
It was one of those epic bad body days. Fold 2 loads of laundry and rest for 2 hours. Repeat.
John did not want to go shopping at Tuesday Morning, but since I was too tired to drive he drove and found a new tool for the garden. I found nothing.
After a baked chicken lunch and shopping for coffee, ,guess what? It was nap time again.
I did manage to fill and sew one dog pillow. John loaded my car for tomorrow
I hope I got enough rest today so that I can sleep tonight. Wish me luck.
A few errands left me exhausted. Because of the Jiffy peanut butter recall Skippy peanut butter is still in short supply. I will have to come up with another fast and easy protein. I got 95 zone minutes for 5,200 steps. I need answers. I am just rambling. Time to go to sleep.
This is a tongue and cheek kinda of blog post. Yes it will be cheeky.
First off I would like to thank a nameless local Tucson home improvement store for refusing to help us with our shopping needs. They also had a front desk clerk that refused to get us a sales person to take our money. Silly me. I thought green money was green money, good for helping the bottom line of any retail business during a recession. We came dressed Tucson summer casual, what else are you supposed to wear during summer in Tucson. We were even wearing tennis shoes and not flip flops. At this store it was apparently not good enough for help. This in the end run saved us lot’s of money.
Today we went to Lowe’s Store 1638 where we meet the most helpful and friendly sales associate Estevan. I could not find a more helpful and knowledgeable sales person (outside of Grandma’s Spinning Wheel and Artemesia if I tried). Estevan helped us with a shower head, and plumbing supplies for the new sink faucet, to replace the one that broke in the guest bathroom. You know the one that made 3 full loads of towels . We also got a new rain gauge to replace the one that was literally crumbling in place.
For everything we bought we spent less than the bathroom faucet cost all by itself at the local home improvement store. They also did not have rain gauges which would have meant a separate trip. I know the store manager made a very wise decision in hiring Estevan. Friendly service, help and everything we needed all in one stop. They also did not care that we were wearing Tucson summer casual or that my hair was still wet from my shower. So I will count today’s shopping trip as a win.
Thank You Very Much
John was busy too. He installed the new shower head and rain gauge already today. All that is left is installing the new faucet. We just have to figure out how to use towels to pad the sharp angles and the wood floor of the cabinet. After that is done I can treat the wood with a 10% bleach solution once or twice to get rid of any lingering mold that might have occurred. Let it dry a few more days and pit the pool towels away. Then I can do a happy dance that the a hip high pile of towels will no longer be gracing our den. Not that I don’t love our pool towels.
So it was a very good day.
It has been a year snd a day since we had a Summer Monsoon at our house. We got a good storm with most of the rain falling in the first 30 minutes or so. We had river’s flowing in the front and back of the house. We also had a little white water as the water flowed through the front yard over some smaller rocks.
I was too busy sitting by the window watching the rain to take any videos. So you are just going to see the rain gauge afterwards and our double rainbow. The second rainbow was hard to see from where I was standing trying to stay dry.
This has been a very strange week for me so far. Somethings I will talk about, some things not so much. Well here goes.
I was at Whole Foods this week when a lady stopped me in the parking lot and wanted to buy my car right there on the spot. I suggested that she go to the dealership to see what they had.
She said she did. However she wanted my make and model which they did not have.
I kept saying no. I really have to learn to be ruder.
She thought it was brand new. I reality my car is about 2 years old. It was bought just before the COVID19. Since it don’t go out much it sits in the garage a lot. It still looks new. I am about to cross the 5,000 mile threshold too.
She told me I could buy a Tesla and I said no, why not buy one for your daughter. Maybe next time since the are in short supply I should just say I will sell it for some outrageous price like $ 1.5 or $2 million and if they are will to fork over that much cash, no financing, I would think about selling it. I think I should be able to buy something suitable and add a little money to savings.
I am finding that my hands are good for about 2 hours a day of crafting. Then they get too tired to move. So I am rolling with the punches. I decided to hand off 2 charity knitting projects at the next knitting guild meeting. I am no longer going to finish a project for the sake of finishing a project. I must love it or it will be handed off or tinked. I must use my limited time wisely.
I have a little more energy so I am very slowly trying to catch up with housework. Well I am running out of battery and it’s time to plug in and turn in for the night.
I found that using my spinning wheels, yes I have 2 spinning wheels. Has helped ease the arthritis pain in my foot. Some exercise is good. So today I finished filling up one bobbin. It was so full John could see it from the couch.. I don’t think I really could have gotten any more yarn on the bobbin if I tried. I found more roving in the same color way in my stash and started another bobbin. Yes, I did some stash diving. I also found some nice silk to ply it with from Ito. I hope I have enough, because Ito Japan, sold out to a company in Europe which does not like to work with American yarn shops.
Since pictures are worth a thousand words, I thought I would save you some time. Today in pictures. The top picture is the really full bobbin. As you can see it is just about to go over the edge which is not a great thing. The second picture is about 8 ounces more roving. That bag should fill 2 more bobbins.
Depending on how the yarn turns out it will either be woven into a shawl or knit into a sweater. Yardage will help make the decision.
Today I found out that I could only knit a row or 2 before I needed to take a break on my new shawl. The rows are getting incredibly long. I increase by 6 stitches every other row. I am almost back to we’re I was before I had to tink 10 rows. It is going to be the perfect summer shawl. It just might be next summer before it is ready.
Ok, so I said I found balance today. It was in the form of one of Mr. Golding’s drop spindles. The spindle is so incredible. It is perfectly balanced. Spins like a dream. With the weight of the spindle I was very surprised to find out how thin I could spin the 50/50 combo of Merino and Silk. I don’t know why I can’t spin this fine on either of my spinning wheels. I can’t wait to see what it looks like when I ply the yarn . It definitely needs to be a 2 ply yarn. Definitely for a one of a kind project.
In the rush to make yarn to sell, I forgot how much I love my drop spindles. I learned to spin on drop spindles. Kathy Withers’s is a great teacher if you want to learn to spin on a drop spindle and are on the East Coast you should really try and take her classes. She also teaches other forms of fiber arts if you want to support a small farm and just knit or Crochet you need to try Kathy’s yarn which is available on line.
I decided today that I will no longer be taking commission work or repair jobs. This is all me no outside influence. I do know a few wonderful fiber artists at Grandmas Spinning Wheel here in Tucson who would be happy to help you out. Stop by during regular business hour’s for help.
The picture does not do the roving, yarn or spindle justice. I hope that you can see how fine the yarn is coming out. Yes it really is that thin.
The good or great news is that I don’t need hand or elbow surgery for now.
The bad news is that I can only knit for a couple of hours a day.
So I have been binging on audiobooks. Reorganizing a house that has been reorganized way too many times since COVID19 hit.
I need to come up with other relaxing activities like jigsaw puzzles, I currently do about 2 a day. I am not buying that many puzzles to clutter up the house, I have an app for that. I also color occasionally using my left hand just to sharpen my fine motor skills.
I am trying very hard not to shop. So far so good. I am only replacing worn out items and grocery shopping. I really have to start cooking more too.
So ideas that don’t use my right hand would be wonderful.
We are currently waiting for our summer rains. I think it is getting closer because I can smell the moisture in the air. I am still waiting for the smell of the wet creosote bushes. That is the smell most people think about when they think of the after rain smell in the desert.
I did get a bunch of errands done today too. The paperwork will have to wait for tomorrow. I am glad it is cooler this week too. Yes, I have hit the summer doldrums on the first day of summer. How is that for perfect timing.
I took a day off from the kitchen reorganization to do a bit of spinning. This is a really nice and relaxing spin. The wool is merino which will be plyed with Ito silk from Japan. I bought both from Grandma’s Spinning Wheel here in Tucson.
This will be part of a shawl for me. Now it’s time for a quick nap before dinner.
Today I decided to reorganize the kitchen including but not limited to moving things around on the counters to make room for my birthday present from John. He got me an air fryer. I am hoping to make things like taquitos and sweet potato fries. There are just so many things I miss on a low fat diet. I also flipped a couple of cabinets around, no not the cabinets themselves, but the contents. Some things went to the trash. Other things made it to the Goodwill box. I hope that the countertop will give good visual clues as to where things have moved.
I also finished up plying the yarn left on 4 bobbins from Tour de Fleece 2021. The art yarn all looks good. Tomorrow I will skein it. Wash and thwack the yarn before I leave it in the garage to dry.
Maybe the above activities will inspire me to get more projects finished. Speaking of projects, I really need someone to remind me to call Vicky about ordering a new drive band for my Louet Victoria. Who is going to volunteer. It is for the large plying band. I should also order a smaller drive band too. Also none of the above was on my to do list, so that was only half done today.
See if you can spot one of today’s major kitchen changes. From left to right our toaster, my beloved Kitchen Aide K-5 bought in 1977 as a present for myself, our tea set up and John’s MK. The colorful squares on the counter are my hot pads from Trader Joe’s.
I have decided that John needs some new towels for Father's Day. First I checked out the mall and found nothing. Then after searching the internet for a couple of hours and finding nothing, I went to Costco.com and found just about the same ones we bought years ago from our local Costco. So the open secret is John is getting 2 new towels for Father's Day. Yes. he already knows that they will not be delivered until after Father's Day.
Just in case you need any new towels here is the link, Turkish Bath Sheets. I am not getting any commission off this link. I just thought that they were good towels. The price might be higher for non Costco members.
By the way, I noticed a new feature at the nearly empty mall. The mall now includes armed Tucson Police Offices in Tactical Vest. I know its suppose to reassure me that things are safe. I have to tell you it had the opposite effect. I mean the officer was friendly enough, but still....
In other news, John taught me about right clicking on the mouse for spelling corrections. This is my new skill of the week.
My Sjogren's is still kicking my behind this week. So I have been super tired. It's got to get better soon.
Today was a hot day in the Old Pueblo. So we took it easy. A little picking up, knitting and spinning. John brought in dinner so we did not have to heat up the house. My body needed a quite day.
The picture below is the real reason we went to Flagstaff for vacation. I would like everyone to know that I showed great restraint in my purchases. I really, really did. I could have bought so much more. Knowing full well that I could have filled 3 or 4 booths with my stash alone. So here is my list.
1. A small Takai Spindle and bowl from The Natural Twist in Albuquerque,New Mexico
2. Hand-Dyed Fiber by Kimberly Perkins of Colorado. A pack of minis and a skein to go with for a shawl. You can find her at yarngalleryonline.com
3. Some Hematite balls from a shop near a restaurant we ate at. I might need some squares or rectangles to properly play with them.
4. Some lovely comb covers by Mrs. Aragon, mother of Artie Aragon who made the weaving needles. From Dine Weaving Textile & Looms From Farmington, New Mexico
The whole lot fit neatly into one bag.
We were to busy having fun to take many pictures. We took more on our second part in Sedona Arizona. This was our first vacation since the end of 2019. I lost 5.5 pounds because I was limited to outdoor dining, low fat and carbohydrates meals. I hope that I can keep the trend going. We also walked an awful lot. No days of less than 10,000 steps.
I needed to develope a new learning curve for knitting. I am taking a multi facetted approach. The first thing I did was figure out how I was holding my knitting needles. It turns out I was holding them too close to my body. So I am learning to hold my knitting further away from my body. This has changed a couple of things like muscle memory for one. I am now prone to make more mistakes and can not knit with my eyes closed when I am tired.
Which brings up the second change which is a major one for me. I stop knitting when my hands or arm gets tired. This means I have less knitting time on bad body days. I used to do more knitting on bad body days to keep my mind occupied. Now I read more or listen to books on tape. I am actually watching television during the day. This is something I reserved for sick days in the past.
I am also doing more things with my left hand. I am teaching myself knitting with my left hand for starters. I am practicing coloring with my left hand and then onto writing which I have not done much of since 3rd grade when my teacher did not let us use our left hands at school.
No my arm is not totally healed by these changes. My right hand is more useful. I am dropping less things. My right hand is not in as much pain. Less pain is always good in. My humble opinion.
I know that there will be other changes along the way. I need to learn to live within the limits of my body instead of pushing my body to live beyond its limits. I still push it a little, but not like i use to.
My fingerless mitten version 2.0 is a complete success. I will be knitting up the 1st mitten starting tomorrow. You know I always knit the second mitten 1st. That way the second mitten always gets knit up. With any luck I should publish this pattern before the end of the month so that you can start your holiday knitting. This will make a great gift and you can get 1 1/2 pair per 100 gram ball of worsted weight yarn.
Then I will pick another color and knit Another pair for myself. They are really comfortable and the yarn is really great. I use them for sleeping to keep my hands warm at night. And also other things. I find fingerless mittens so useful. I also don’t have to take them off to use my iPad.
My body and I are not on very good terms today. The only major accomplishment was that I got my 5,000 steps today. I am hoping for a better day tomorrow.
I made an appointment at the app;low store in La Encantanda to get my battery replaced. They were out of stock. I guess John was lucky when he got his replaced. This was not the only item that they were out of stock on this week. John went to go buy a new IPad and they were out of stock on those too. You need to preorder any iPad and some other items and then you can go in and pick them up.
We as a world are still working through supply chain issues caused by Covid-19. Since we are still having break outs of Covid-19 variants I personally think it will be a year or 2 before we get back to some semblance of normal. In the mean time please be kind to the store personal, they are just as frustrated as you are but have to deal with it hundreds of times a weeek.
So I am taking this time to finish up Version 2.0 of my Fingerless Mitten. Then do some spinning. My version of lemonade.
Today we braved Costco on the weekend to pickup my new pairs of glasses. A regular every day pair and new Ray Bans. The Ray Bans are not the black aviator frames that I have been wearing since the 1970’s but a gold metallic frame. Every fewish decades a girl needs a change. We also picked up some Cheerio’s and Kleenex.
Then lunch out at a local Tucson favorite, Beyond Bread for a half a sandwich and gazpacho soup. Then home to finish the 4th load of laundry for the day and naps.
I actually cook dinner tonight. I made quesadillas with mushrooms and black olives and John made the mixed vegetables. It was a nice light summer dinner. It was also super easy to clean up after.
On the craft front I am teaching myself how to knit left-handed. This will give my right hand break. After the first few rows it wasn’t too bad. I guess that’s the great thing about being ambidextrous. It’s easy to switch up somethings between hands. Although I should have not started with double stranded knitting on U.S. size 17 knitting needles. I should have also started a new project instead of switching in the middle of a project. I know no one will be able to tell the difference with this scarf. It also required me actually paying attention to what I was knitting. It’s always good to try new things.
38 years ago John and I got married by a small lake in California complete with ducks. Our kids took us on fabulous adventures. We had lots of fun along the way. There was some hard stuff too, but we got through it as a team. I can still manage to surprise him too. So a very Happy Anniversary to my taller half. Yes I was wearing 2 inch heels in the picture.
I want to send a really Big Thank You to the Google Docs Team. I have been using it for a few day and I never had to go to my personal technology support team. This is pretty good for an artist. I am typing up a new knitting pattern. Things went much more smoothly than on the other word processing app that I had been using since the kids were in elementary school and we still had dial up on A.O.L. Yeah, that long ago. I still have to get help with that one sometimes.
I really like the light / dark contrast. It was very easy to see. Now I have to admit that I did the engineering thing and jumped in without reading the directions. I was able to find most everything I needed with just a little looking around. I will look around to see if I can adjust the pica on the finished pattern. I write patterns for knitters with learning disabilities and things like post stroke. A larger font size is mandatory especially for my older eyes.
I have not gotten use to making edits with my pen straight on to my iPad Air yet. So I printed out the pattern and got my blue pen ready. I made the edit’s on paper and then went back to the pattern to make the corrections. You do have to understand that it is easier to hold a pen, knitting and writing then holding knitting and typing. In my humble opinion that is not bad for someone who learned to type on an Underwood typewriter built in the 1940,s.
Thank you again for a job well done.
It was time to wash couch pillows today. The only hitch was that after a decade the liner of one pillow exploded in the washing machine. Yes, it was a tall persons job to clean up. Unless I am in at least 2 inch heals or standing on a step stool,I can not reach the bottom on the washer. These new high capacity washing machines are not made for short people. So tomorrow I get to go to Joann’s, I will be fully masked. I will be getting a new pillow liner. Maybe even some leather to fix my swift.
Aside from that it was grocery shopping day. At least the people who were not wearing masks did not snicker today. I also got a nap this afternoon. I was so tired that I did not move the entire time I was asleep. I woke up in the same exact position I fell asleep in.
The numbers for today.
The 4th day of 2022 over 100f in Tucson.. it’s going to be a long hot summer.
The 20th day in a row that I walked 5,000 steps or more I am beginning to feel better on most days
Version 1.0 of my fingerless gloves has failed. I now know why designers tend to go very short on the fingers it takes a lot of shaping to make it fit right. The good news is I know how to do that. The good news is that the pattern until the thumb is a perfect fit.
So now I am in the process of typing up the pattern and will make the changes to the pattern as I go. My daughter suggested the Google writing application. I am somewhat nervous about trying new things. That being said we raised a very smart daughter and she is generally right about stuff like this because she uses it more. She and her dad are new technology all the way. Where as fiber arts by it’s very nature seems to be old technology even if I use a 3D printed drop spindle. By the way there are still a few of John’s drop spindle designs at Grandmas Spinning Wheel here in Tucson is you want to get one. They are the only place that they are sold. They can also be special ordered in a color to match your Knitty Noddy.
Sorry I squirrel on you. I have found away to knit with my right arm pretty straight so I will start the redesign tomorrow. Below is the failed glove. See if you can find the design errors. I know of at least 6. Can you find more?
I had a rare quiet day at home. So before breakfast I ran the foot and calf massager. Then over breakfast I made my to do list in hopes that the Tylenol would kick in so I could try and finish my list. I worked on it till exhaustion caught up with me. I then crashed and took a nap. I don’t care what anyone says, adults need naps. I got a few more things done after my nap. When John got home I took another break and watched one of my shows.
I did not make 10,000 steps today but will settle for 6,000.
Today is the 1st day since I got sick in November that I walked over 10,000 steps. I also picked out and ordered 2 pairs of new glasses. Seriously it took less than an hour to choose both pair. Got my 4th COVID19 booster. Was not tired most of the day. Walked up hill without having to stop to catch my breath.
What more could I want except being able to knit again.
Today I felt like I did when the kids were little. I had 2 doctors appointment’s, did 2 errands and was so tired that I skipped the last 2 errands of the day. I was too tired to cook dinner, so John took us out to Cafe Ole for their wonderful Chicken and rice soup with a salad.
After dinner we took a walk to LeeLee’s and found some duck eggs. The perfect end to a busy day.
I packed up the last bag of hand spun yarn, even some of my art yarn today. It is heading to the Flagstaff Wool and Fiber Festival, which is the first weekend in June. Merino y Vino will have it in her booth. This is a rare opportunity to get some of my hand spun yarn. Most are one of a kind. Combined with Merino y Vino’s yarn you can knit, spin, crochet or weave a one of a kind creation.
There are going to be a lot of classes and demonstrations. A lot of local crafts people and fiber artist. For more information go to the website for Flagstaff Wool and Fiber Festival. This will have something for everyone.
Of course if you can’t wait Merino y Vino has a shop on Etsy where you can find her small batch dyed yarn. She can work with you on special orders and customize yarn. Merino y Vino is the dyer of my Square Dance scarf pattern on Raverly. If there are no kits in the shop she can make one for you in the color of your choice, please allow extra time for dyeing the special order yarn.
Thank you for supporting local hand made items.
I had an early Mother’s Day. It was nice sharing brunch with the adult kids over face time. Happy Mother’s Day to all he mothers out there. I had a great day.
Package B that was supposed to arrive on Monday arrived tonight. Package A that was supposed to be delivered today will arrive tomorrow. So my Mothers Day present from John will arrive on time.
In other news my body and I are not on speaking terms today. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
If you recall I had a problem with a ChaioGoo knitting needle. My local yarn store owner let me know that ChaioGoo guarantees their product. All you need to do is bring it in to where you bought it and they will replace it. On a very busy local yarn shop day Vicky exchange the needle for me. This is the first time that that has ever happened with a knitting needle in 22 years of knitting. I do tend to wear out knitting needles with high usage. I was very surprised and grateful. A special thank you goes out to Vicky of Grandma’s Spinning Wheel here in Tucson.
This week we decided to clean out under each sink in the house. 5 cabinets in all. So Tuesday I emptied all of them into laundry baskets. 2 baskets for the kitchen and one for each of the other cabinets. I think this should be done more often than I currently do it. I found empty containers, half filled bottles and boxes, and more than a few cleaning rags. This afternoon we put everything back. John volunteered to do the kitchen,By the way he is great at organizing things. We each did 2 cabinets. That leaves the 5th cabinet. While emptying the cabinet out I discovered that the towels felt crunchy, like they were put away wet. Not in this house. Then the towels started sticking to the wood. Not a good sign. Then I got to the bottom of the cabinet and they were hard to pull out. Underneath all the towels was discolored wood. Apparently the sink had been leaking and we did not notice because of the almost 2 foot layer of towels. Being one to divide up chores I took washing the 3 loads of towels with bleach and hot water. Then I got to fold them. I know that I could probably pin point the leak and try to fix it myself, but not this week. So John it going to tackle the leak and clean off the wood. Then I can put everything back together.
As of Monday afternoon I am on a temporary knitting hiatus again. My right elbow is giving me trouble. Next week will involve a test to see where we go from here. Because of all the cleaning of the past 2 days I have not gone through knitting withdrawal yet. I have been too busy. I did however ask John if he was really sure if he wanted me to passenger without my knitting. He was very brave to let me in the car without my knitting.
I am trying coloring in a coloring book to keep me distracted when I want to knit. I am doing really well with my left hand. I am staying in the lines. Playing with colors. Dropping a few colored pencils under the couch. I will pick them up when I have dropped a few more so I have plenty of colors to play with. I am going for abstract in the picture I an currently working on.
Well it has been a long week and it’s only Wednesday. So I am calling it an early night.
After a bad morning dealing with getting older and still feeling very trapped by COVID19. I resorted to binge cleaning after lunch. I did a pretty good job. I filled the green rollout recycling bin 1/2 way full and added one trash bag to the garbage rollout. That made me feel a little better.
After dinner I finished the same gloves I made a few months ago in pink. The picture is below. This time I kept copious notes and they were 1/2 inch too short. So doing my thing, I will rewrite the pattern to suit my needs. If they turn out good, I will type the pattern up. Wish me luck.
Yesterday afternoon John and I went on a nearly impossible quest. To find tennis shoes that I could put on by myself without help. It involved going to 3 different shoe stores and buying something I was not expecting to get. I was expecting to buy another pair of Finn Comfort shoes. Or something similar.
The first 2 stores were a total wash out. I was ready to go home and take a nap. Thank goodness John was driving because the next shoe store was on the east side of Tucson. We went to a locally owned shoe store called Alan’s Shoes on Speedway. I first tried on the Finn Comfort shoes and found out for closed toed shoes you have to go up one size which they did not have. Apparently in Tucson these shoes are considered fall / winter shoes only.
So I explained to the very knowledgeable sales woman that the arthritis was getting worse in my hands and I really wanted a pair of tennis shoes that I could put on by myself. She asked if I had any objections to New Balance Shoes and I said no. So she went to the back and found a pair of shoes she thought would work.
She came out with the New Balance shoes pictured below. They are model WW813HWT Walking Shoes. As you can see they have a long strap made with Velcro. Don’t cut the strap as it will make it easier to put the shoes on. The secret to putting them on is to open them as wide as possible. Slip my foot in then tilt my foot towards the heel of the shoes to make sure I am are all the way back. Then just pull the straps starting with the toe strap first.
I can put them on by myself I wore them shopping today. They did not exactly go with my dress . They were comfortable although a higher arch support would be nice. That however is a tiny problem
If you can’t get them at your local store Alan’s shoes has a website. I used it during the pandemic and they were fast and efficient. Alan’s Shoes is a link to their website.
The day was spent doing a little cleaning, laundry,and knitting. A lot of time was spent Zenning. We also went to a store that claimed that they just got a shipment of Tilly hats and had one in John’s size. A knock of is not a Tilly hat with proper ventilation. A tiring but productive day.
I am about to start my next project. I had to steal a pro owl from my weaving supplies because the skein of yarn is so big. Updates to follow.
The picture of Grandma’s Summer Shawl in yarn I spun. Fiber from Cloudlover in 50 % merino and 50% silk. I also won yarn chicken. The tiny ball in the center is all the yarn I have left. The pattern is available on Raverly and Love Crafts dot com.
I finished the shawlette at 9pm tonight. Alas it was to dark to take pictures. I also won yarn chicken. I did not even have enough yarn left over for an extra row.
I also did something I have not done since March of 2020. I went to Starbucks, ordered a tea. Yes I sat on the lovely patio in the shade. I had the patio to myself. I listened to my book and got a whole lot of knitting done. I also got to the post office and gas station. The gas was down to $4.79 a gallon. Then it was time to go home and do a couple of loads of laundry. A little picking up too.
There is an old adage in knitting circles. When a project looks almost finished. When someone asks how much more knitting do you have to go? The response is always holding up the last of the yarn and saying this much. Well tonight is my this much moment on Grandmas Summer Shawl in my own hand spun yarn. Ooo’s and awe’s welcome. Tomorrow morning I will finish it and block it.
Last nights dinner did not sit well on my tummy. So instead of errands I relaxed and knit. You can see progress on the shawl. I am about to add the last skein of hand span yarn to this project. I did manage to make a color change on the 5 foot long scarf. So very visible progress there.
I am going to call it an early night.
These are my current couch works in progress. These are the projects that I work on at night while watching television. One wash cloth, One drop spinning project. One shawl in the Indigodragonfly bag that I am making with hand spun yarn. One scarf destined to be 60 inches long, yes I have a bit to go.
I delivered this completed baby blanket to the mom to be today. Just 2 weeks before the baby is due.
I had an incredibly bad night, followed by a BBD with a pain level of crying. I still managed to sew 2 pillows to be filled and filled 2. This leaves me with one pillow to add my yarn scraps to. The pillows are loaded in the back of my car. Yes this is the 3rd charity trip in the last 7 days. I am on a roll. I thought I would be able to make more pillows but the green one is very large. There is just no comparison on the sizes. Off to the shelter they go tomorrow.
Getting rid of 2 car fulls of unwanted stuff combined with the yard sale has freed up space in the house and my head. I now find myself wondering around the house putting things away or in the appropriate trash or recycling place.
Have also done some more fiber arts. Tonight I spun a little yarn, about a 1/2 ounce. Finished project 14 for the year. And worked on a hat.
I am becoming a firm believer in less is more. It’s just so hard to look at all the new spring yarn colors or look at the holiday Boxes for December and not order more yarn. So I am in make more buy less mode. It is so hard.
I think I will drag the sewing machine out and bring it to the knitting room to make some dog pillows this week. That should fill up my car one more time. An free up more space.
