Black Yarn and more

 Every once in a while black yarn makes it’s way under cover of darkness into my yarn stash. Since this was a very good quality yarn I decided to keep it and make something with it.  So I gathered up the black yarn and a couple of my yarn butlers and set to work making a scarf. I decided to knit it in the round so that I would not have to look at the work while I was knitting. As you can see one skein has some white in it.  So when I run out of that yarn I will probably use some white yarn to keep the theme of black and white.  

You might be surprised to see me using 2 yarn butler’s. I am using 2, because black yarn is impossible to salvage when it gets tangled. Also I did not borrow one, I have five. I have four wooden yarn Butler’s and one 3D one that John made me. I find that for some projects yarn butlers are essential. When working with very dark yarn. When working with very large skeins of yarn. I also like to use John Butler’s when I am warping my looms. So there are a couple reasons that I have five yarn butlers. 

Talking about multiples of things, some days I wish I had two clothes dryers. I start doing laundry this morning after breakfast and just after 10 PM I put the last load in the dryer. It took a while for the blankets to dry. If I can’t get the big quilts washed in hot sunny days it takes about three rounds in the dryer to dry the big big quilts or bedspreads.  I am doing good so far with laundry. I have about 1000 yards a freshly spun, washed and thwacked yarn drying. Also the clothes I hung up with this morning. The only loads that have not been put away are the ones drying on the clothesline and the sheets that I just put in the dryer. So I think I conquered laundry today.

A Joyus Day

 Today started out on very bad footing. My neck and right shoulder hurt to the point I had to turn my body to look right. I was out of precooked home made oatmeal and did not have the time to make any before I had to leave. 

At lunchtime things began to slowly change for the better. I was just wishful thinking when at my favorite bread spot in town Beyond Bread, I asked if my favorite sandwich the Avi’s Avo could be made without bread or mayonnaise.  They said yes.. they really said yes and asked if I would like Romain lettuce instead of the bread. Of course I said yes. They brought out an overflowing bowl of lettuce, cucumbers, Sprouts, and turkey with two small cups of guacamole on the side. It was absolutely amazing paired with gazpacho soup and I was in heaven. Thank you Beyond Bread.

The day got even better my day got even better when I was working with my knitting student. The first thing we did was casting off a table runner That she had been working on for about a year. All it took on my part was showing her how to cast off just two stitches and she cast off the rest. The smile on her face for the accomplishment was just so wonderful. It just filled my heart with joy.

We then had to tackle the fringe on the table runner. First we pick the length the easy part. We use the short side of a CD case because it was the perfect length. First she learned how to cut the fringe. That was another easy part. Then we worked on putting the fringe in. That took a little more work, however she got the hang of it and got almost 10 inches of fringe done today. She had never picked up a crochet hook in her life. She learned how to put the crochet hook in the right stitches. How to do a quarter turn and pull the yarn through. And then how to tighten the fringe.  She was so excited and happy it was just absolutely amazing.

John managed to quickly get the spasm out of my neck and shoulder and now at bedtime even though I don’t have full range yet, I don’t hurt. I am hoping that a good nights sleep will take care of the rest. Having my neck and right shoulder hurt threw my whole body out of alignment. 

I did not get any spinning done today. I did manage to get 3 loads of laundry done with 2 being put away. So it turned into a good and joyous day. 

Turkey Taco Salad

 This is a new recipe to our house that became an instant family favorite.  It is a one pot meal that makes 4 servings. It takes about 15 minutes to put together, with breaks in between to do things like hang up laundry or other quick chores. It does take about 30 minutes total cooking time.  When I call out brands, they are the brands that I use at home on a regular basis.  If you have your preferred brands that’s fine too although the taste may differ from mine. I also have not asked permission from the brand’s to list them in the recipe and if asked I will change to a generic listing.

This recipe makes 4 servings or more if you have small children. This also reheats well  This recipe may be double. You may also use this recipe in tacos or burritos.

Turkey Taco Salad

1 Soup pot, I use my Le Creuset soup pot

1 pound 99% fat free ground turkey

2 Tablespoons of  California Olive Ranch Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 teaspoon  each of salt and pepper 

1 Tablespoon of dried Onion Flakes or 1 fresh onion diced.

1 Tablespoon of Penzey’s Spices Chicken Taco Seasoning 

10 ounces of Mirepoix mix

1 - 12 ounce package of Good and Gather mixed vegetables 

2 - 2 1/2ounces cans of Early California Sliced Ripe Olives

A nice fresh vegetable salad with your favorite vegetables. We use romaine lettuce as the base. 

Optional: shredded cheese

Cooking Instructions:

Add the olive oil to the pan and heat to a medium heat.  Add the ground turkey, salt, pepper, and dried onion flakes. With a spoon mix in the spice’s breaking up the meat. Cover and let brown. Come back every few minutes to further break up the meat until it is crumbled and no pink shows.  Change to a fresh spoon once the meat is thoroughly cooked. Add the chicken taco seasoning and mix in thoroughly. Then add the Mirepoix mix and if you are using fresh onion, stir in and cook until the onion is translucent. Add the sliced olives and the frozen vegetables and thoroughly mix in. Cover and cook for 10 to 15 minutes until the frozen vegetables are thoroughly cooked.

While the frozen vegetables are cooking make up the salads. Place 1/4 of the mixture on top of the salads. 

Knitting

I finally finished a couple of knitting projects. It was to dark to take good pictures tonight. So tomorrow you get pictures. 

I also avoided the donut monster today. 

Buttercup Yarn

 I have finally finished spinning the buttercup roving and plyed it with Ito raw silk yarn. Here is a picture of the last 2 skeins in the middle.  I have not counted the yardage but I am sure that I will have enough to knit a shawl.  The single skein I finished yesterday is on top. The one I finished today are in the middle. The top one was photographed on a light grey table with an Ott light.  The middle 2 skeins were photographed on a brown couch with an Ott light. This is a perfect example of how background color can modify the look of any yarn. The gray brings out the yellow tones while the brown brings out the white tones and mutes the yellow. 

I skeined the yarn tonight during the Lord of the Rings Trilogy fight scenes. I know fight scenes are part of the book. They are also part of the TV show. That does not mean I have to watch them. Skinning each bobbin took up one fight scene. 

The bottom photo is the start of 4 ounces of super wash BFL. It is obviously still on the spinning wheel.  It is not going to be an art yarn. Since it is a super wash wool, I will be using it in charity hats.  My rationale behind this is that a few hundred years ago this was the normal thing.  It will also give me another one of a kind hat.  Just because the kids may get them from the clothing bank does not mean all the hats have to look the same.  The teachers usually get to pick the hats out for the students, so I try to give each on a unique personality. 

Life Happens

 Well this week has been interesting to say the least. Friday I dropped my favorite tea cup when my silly arthritic hands lost my grip on the cup. Apparently it dropped at the perfect angle to fracture into many pieces. The fantastic news is that is was empty at the time.  I will also never have to wash it again. The question remaining, is will I be able to “Keep Calm and Carry Yarn”? The cup has permanently retired from carrying tea. I think it will be hard for me to stop carrying yarn.

Speaking of tea, yes I was speaking about tea. I have discovered that at my current age I will no longer be able to drink caffeinated iced tea with dinner. It called for Tums tonight. Maybe I should just carry some herbal tea with me and ask for hot water and a cup. Otherwise it will be iced water with lemon. 

I also figured out while I was having trouble with my spinning wheels. The very good news is that is was not me. It was a positioning problem. With my Cubii2, I needed a 2 inch cushion on my spinning chair to be in the best position. The only problem is that my spinning chair is the perfect height to spin with , without the cushion.  Yes, that’s why they call it a spinning chair. So today I removed the cushion. I filled 1 bobbin with merino wool. I then plyed that bobbin with raw silk for a beautiful skein of yarn. 

This is my first skein of yarn for Spin Together 2022. Since I used a commercial raw silk yarn for the plying I could only count the 366 yards of the merino.  You will notice that it is a thick and thin art yarn. I have 2 more bobbins to ply that won’t count for Spin Together 2022. The yarn will be a Shawl with the pattern  Count 1,2,3,4. Yes it is one of my designs. You can get the pattern from Raverly, LoveCrafts.com or your local yarn store. Have a good rest of the weekend. 

Reading Glasses

 We went to Costco today to buy another 3 pack of Foster Grant reading glasses.  I now have them placed at all the Strategic locations around the house. I even have two spare pairs. Still getting used to not wearing glasses all the time.

I Cooked Dinner

 It was a very slow day around here. Don’t look so schocked, I have not forgotten how.  I have just been super tired. Not to mention 2 eye surgeries this month.  I did make dinner.  I made taco salads with extra lean ground turkey ,let me know if you want the recipe.  It’s another quick cook one red pot meal that makes 4 to 6 servings.  Low fat, low carbohydrates and tastes good too. 

Lashana Tova - Happy New Year

 For all of you celebrating please have a happy, healthy, prosperous and peaceful New Year. I did not get to go to services because of COVID19. I am afraid that it will impact most of my fall and winter this year, yet again. 

I know in my heart of hearts that COVID19 will be around in some form or another for at least the foreseeable future. I base this on the fact that the 1918 Flu is still in our flu shots sometimes.  I am not sure of the exact science behind this, it has to do with constant mutations though. 

I have yarn so don’t worry about me. 

A Work in Progress

 I have 1/4 of my knitting room just how I want it.  Elmo is even supervising my progress.  

I finished another scarf for Operation Gratitude today. It is now in the basket to go to Knitting Guild next month. All I have left to do is add a small note.  It is pictured above. 

Redesign Progress

 A lot of progress has been made in my knitting room.  If you were here on Monday, by today you would not recognize it.  I will take some pictures tomorrow.  John did all the heavy lifting. All the space created by the donation to our community food bank is now filled with yarn. This s makes my yarn more accessible.  I have moved every single roller to a new spot in the room.  

When I went to get my afternoon snack, it turned out that it was dinner time. How did that happen? So while dinner was cooking I did some organizing and straightening in the dining room.  It was a good day to get rid of clutter too, John was kind enough to take that all out for me and Roomba the knitting room while we cooked dinner   

I spent the evening knitting.  Only 1 project got finished today. My 19th charity hat for the year.  Another operation gratitude scarf is a few rows from being finished. You guessed it, I cast on another charity hat too.

Can I Have Too Many Readers?

 Ok, I have to admit it. Since my cataract surgery I have turned into one of those people who have “readers” all over the house.  Readers are just portable magnifying glasses. I leave a pair on the kitchen table, in my knitting room, by where I knit at night, on my nightstand, and a pair in my purse. This is just so I don’t have to carry one pair everywhere.  

Am I wrong in thinking that I might also need to leave a pair by the computer too. Also, just maybe a spare pair in case I lose or misplaced a pair.  

The same goes with sunglasses too.  One pair in my purse. One pair by the back door for errands around the outside of the house.  I am not sure if I don’t need a spare just in case.  

I also started the knitting room reorganization today.  I had no problem filling the newly open space. I also moved on big basket to a new home.  Just a few more things to move before John comes in for the heavy lifting  

I am really close to finishing 3 more knitting  projects. I have figured out the pattern revision, now just new pictures and a bit of typing.  The sample for my next shawl just needs the ends woven in and the pattern typed.  I still need the daily nap so things are going a bit on the slow side.  Everything will get done in its own time.  

TTFN

By the way I have bought all the Foster Grant readers on my own.  His is my own personal opinion..I am not being paid for this blog post.  

Good News

 The good news is that if I put the back seats down in my car I can get 17 bags and 2 boxes of donations in the back of my car. Yes we did have just a little bit of room to spare.  Yes, we did overwhelm the drop off site. If we would have used the boxes that they were hoping to be filled we would have filled them up and then some. Since our donation was nicely bagged and boxed we just put it on the side of the donation boxes.  I am sure as the holidays get closer more people will donate too. 

You also know what this means, don’t you? Of course you do. With all that empty space we will be doing a knitting room redesign this weekend. I will get all the light lifting done first and then bring John in for the heavy lifting and rolling. 

Also today at knitting guild they did not care that the gloves were store bought, but I did trigger a lecture for the whole group. No a bad one. Just a don’t feel guilty if your are sick or can’t do the monthly challenge, it’s a suggestion not mandatory. Good to know. 

TTFN

Cheating

 Yes, I am going to cheat tomorrow at the knitting guild meeting. I was supposed to knit a few pairs of gloves for the Navajo Project this month.  Somewhere between 2 eye surgeries and my hands looking a little Craigy from all the stress I am cheating.  In a good way through. I will not disappointed any child.  

Tonight John and I walked over to Tuesday Morning while waiting for an outside table that never materialized, but that’s another story.  I found 2 pairs of gloves that would be great for the older kids.  They are even in the preferred yarn of polyester.  The best part is that they cost as much as I would have spent on yarn.  So even though I am really cheating by not being in hand knit gloves I will still keep 2 sets of hands warm.  

That is my story and I am sticking to it.  

15

I am purging  my house of processed foods in an effort to get healthier. For the last 2 days I have been working on this. I am trying to go back to the way my great grandparents ate. I am not sure all this processed food is having a positive effect on my health.  Although in the short term it has left my body very sore. 

If you have been following my blog for awhile you will remember that in 2009 I give up all artificial sweeteners and all diet soda.  This made a very positive change in my health.  I have my friend Kay of blessed memory for leading me to this change.  It was not easy and I had withdrawal headaches for 2 weeks  

In 2017 I gave up all sugar sweetened sodas.  That made another positive change for me. Although it did make those 48 hour work days next to impossible.  

Now I am making the next step in this slow set of  steps. I am trying to give up processed foods.  In some ways it is easy, we do not eat much fast food.  Bread, bagels and tortillas are going to be a little bit harder. Although, as I went through our 2 pantries I was really amazed at how much processed foods we have in the house.  So much so, that I am down to 1 pantry.  That one pantry even has extra space. Did I mention that this leaves more room for yarn. Maybe I can consolidate some of the yarn I have around the house to 1 or 2 rooms. It is worth a try. 

This has lead to 13 bags and 2 boxes heading to the community food drive this week.  See the picture below for the bags.  The boxes are up on a shelf.  

This and That

 I have worked on 3 of my knitting projects today. Nothing got finished.  I did however find a very delightful cast off in the Picot Edge Style.  There are countless ways to make a Picot Edge.  As usual I have found a simple but elegant edging for my new shawl. It only takes one extra length of yarn at the end. 5 lengths of yarn versus 4 lengths of yarn for a stretchy bind off. 

The next clue in my new pattern design is as follows.  

1. Knit 2 stitches on to the left hand needle. 

2. Bind off 4 stitches 

3. Slip the remaining stitch on the right hand needle back on to the left needle. 

Repeat steps 1, 2, & 3 until the bind off is complete. 

Weave in the end.  

For left handed knitters just reverse my instructions to read:

1. Knit 2 stitches on to the right hand needle.

2. Bind off 4 stitches.

3. Slip the remaining stitch on the left hand needle back to the right hand knitting needle. 

Repeat steps 1, 2, & 3 until the bind off is complete.

Weave in the ends..  

who is ready for a new knitting pattern?

Yes, I did manage a few chores. I am also wondering when the bruise from Wednesday’s surgery will go away.  It is looking nasty. Did a little more deep cleaning.  

Yarn Chicken Time

 I am at the end of a very large shawl. It did not start out that way. I started with a 3 stitch wide key. After the key was completed I increased by 6 stitches every other row. So the rows got very long very quickly.  I have been playing yarn chicken for a while, since I am just awful at the Geometry needed to calculate how much yarn I would use per 4 square inches. Then figuring out my yardage divided by the yarn used in 4 inches. Then factoring in the 6 stitch increase every other row.  Then when to stop when I hit a certain gram weight of the yarn. The designers I know that are mathematicians, engineers, physicists and science types have the easiest time with this.

Yes, I know that they have computer programs that figure all that out for you. Personally the artist in me thinks that is cheating.  It take the spontaneity and creativity out of the process of designing. So I put Yarn chicken. This is also why I give the gauge for before and after washing. I really know that is Quirky of me.

Since I am doing a picot edge on the shawl, I want to make sure that I have enough yarn to complete the edging. If I have a little extra I’m fine with that. I mean the rows are so long and the shawl is deep enough that a row or two wouldn’t matter. It’s better than ripping out a few. On this shawl it’s a demon. I already ripped out 20 rows mid shawl to fix a mistake. 

I want to make sure that I have enough yarn to complete the edging. If I have a little extra I’m fine with that. I mean the rows are so long and the shawl is deep enough that a row or two wouldn’t matter.

So tomorrow I pull out the stitch Bible and find my edging pattern and finish the shawl. By the way here is how much yarn I have left. 

2 Down 0 To Go

 I had my second cataract surgery earlier this week. Everything went well. I am healing well too. There are some things that I have noticed. First being that sometimes I can even read with out the readers the eye doctor recommended.  Things are definitely brighter and I can’t go outside without sunglasses. So I keep a pair in my purse and a pair by the back door.  I have also noticed that the colors are more brilliant. Today’s trip through Costco was amazing. I made John go up and down every food aisle even if we did not need anything on the aisle just to look at all the colors. The packaging was an amazing Kaleidoscope of colors. I am not sure if it was dorky or my inner artist coming out from a years long nap. 

The strangest side effect of the surgery involves the scale. As of this morning I have lost a total of 8 pounds. Strange right?  I am not craving sweets or other carbohydrates. I am not eating to keep myself awake. If I am tired I take a nap. I am actually happier than I have been in a long time. It’s almost like I got rid of the cataracts and my body is coming back into balance. I can’t wait to see where I go with this.  

I woke up from a nap and reached for my glasses and they were not there  it took me a few minutes to realize that I did not need them anymore. Well except for my readers.  I now have four pair and I know that a day will come when I can’t faint a single pair. So I have them strategically placed around the house.

I have not wanted to do any fussy knitting like hats, gloves or shawls.  Instead I am working on 2 different Operation Gratitude scarfs. One for the car because I am still not driving.  I can also knit these with my eyes closed if the sun is at a bad angle. I need to give my eyes time to heal and balance out.  The good news is that I figured out what I thought needed a small revision in a pattern and will fix it as soon as I feel like taking pictures and editing a pattern. 

It’s getting late so it’s time to call it a day.  

Oops

 My day did not go as planned. When I went to seam the new gloves, I was missing 1/4 of a glove. So back to the knitting room I went. First things first, I had to find a second pair of US size 6 wooden knitting needles. Thankfully I have at least 2 pairs in each size. I think that everyone should have at least 2 pairs in each size. Your local yarn shop can help you with that. You don’t have to buy them all at once. Save up your coupon money so it does not have to come out of the household budget. I am also grateful that the second pair were not on a project. 

Forty five minutes later it was really finished. So while dinner was cooking I wove in the ends and clipped them together for seaming. I was too tired after dinner to do any sewing. So I choose to relax and watch another the Moon is going to crash into the earth movie. Of course the astronauts saved the earth at the very last minute.  They always do.  

So below is a picture of my oops.  

Getting Ready

 While I have been busy recovering from my first cataract surgery, I can say I think it is going well. My distance vision in my right eye has ne going back to my 30’s.  I have an up coming check up to see if my right eye is healed enough to do my left eye.  Wish me luck.  

Meanwhile I have been doing a lot of napping.  I gave up stress eating.  I gave up eating when I am tired and have opted to take naps instead after all I am retired.  I have been doing some knitting, I have only finished 2 small projects this week.  I have gloves to seam, I have a shawl, 2 scarfs, and a third pair of gloves to finish.  I am also throwing in random acts of cleaning, not too much though because I am still supposed to be resting. They Obviously did not write those instructions with me in mind.  

Sorry for any misspellings, I am doing this with out glasses because my eyes are tired.  So I guess it’s good night. 

The Gathering

 This morning I went to World Market and bought a medium sized glass jar for my stitch markers. I starting the gathering of stitch markers after I came home.  Please be aware that I do have more stitch markers hiding in various knitting bags around the house.  I have stitch markers that range from lace knitting sizes all the way up to size 35 knitting needles.  I do not have any for the size 50 knitting needles, I don’t think that they make them, since very few people knit on size 50 or larger knitting needles. At this point I would say I have well over 300 just in the jar.  

Some of the stitch markers are hand made by me, they are mostly the beaded ones and the ones with charms. Some are from events that I have gone to. Some come with yarn and fiber orders.  I do realize that I could lose a stitch marker a day for a year and still not run out of stitch markers. Please send more. Perhaps we could swap some. 

I have stitch markers from New Zeland, Australia, The United Kingdom and of course the United States.  I even have some that my husband printed on his 3D printer. 

I did make a choice to remove about a dozen stitch markers in a style that I do not like and will pass them along to other knitters.  I also found one that is in need of repair. One that is broken beyond repair that will go into the trash.  

As I consolidate my knitting and notions bags I am sure that a lot more stitch markers will make their way into my jar. I always switch out the stitch markers so that they all get used.  Here is the best picture that I could take today.  Unfortunately I have so many that they could not be photographed individually.  

Stitch Markers

 I know I have a really bad stitch marker addiction. I have stitch markers all over the house and in multiple knitting bags.  So tomorrow I will buy a small cookie jar to stash them in. I will not include the ones I make for gifts and the ones people want duplicates of some that I can not part with.  Yes, I make more stitch markers when the mood hits. 

Day 2 post surgery I was still tired and spent most of the day sleeping.  I added a little bit of cleaning while I was sitting down.  A little bit of knitting, yes I fell asleep in my chair while knitting.  I did not do any damage to the glove I was working on. I still have big rings under my eyes too.  Just think next week I get to do this all over again.  

The Downside

 There is a downside to almost everything.  Take cataract surgery for instance. We all know the upside, better vision, possibly no more glasses, the ability to read printed books easier with cheaters in some cases.  Being able to read smaller print again. The list goes on and on.  

What they don’t tell you is that what you though was light brown hair with a touch of gray is actually very gray hair with almost no brown hair left. That the walls that looked perfectly cleaned are really a few hour scrubbing job to get them to what you saw before the surgery.  Which will have to wait until I recover from surgery. Dust bunnies that were too small to see before are now very much in need a chasing. 

The downside of stress cleaning is misplacing things. Take my clips that I hold seams together with when seaming found in a hat knitting bag. The U.S. size 8 by 16 inch knitting needles that I needed to do the increase for the hat at the top of that same knitting bag actually had a hat that was 2 inches away from the crown decreases. That is just a snap shot of the things going on around me. 

The superwash wool from a major yarn manufacturer that Felted resulting in 3 relatively new gloves being given one final wash before going into dog pillows   I am in the process of knitting the replacement pairs.. I am at 1 pair complete. One pair in progress. One pair that I will stash dive to find some yarn. 

I hope you experience more of the upside of life. 

A Knitting Hack

 My next pair of Maxi Fingerless Gloves are almost finished. I am sewing the final seam. You will notice that my seam clips are missing. Yes, I reorganized everything and forgot where I put them. However these movable stitch markers placed in strategic places long the seam work just as well. I have one gloves finished and just the thumb to seam. 

I will have nice new gloves to keep my hands warm tomorrow.  Of course the leftover yarn scraps will go to fill dog pillows.  

Knitting Humor

 The second Maxi Fingerless Glove has been finished except for seaming. I have cast on the first glove of the pair. I always try to finish the second one first because it is so easy to forget to knit the second of anything. The yarn is from Merino Y Vino.  

 The yarn for the second pair arrived today so I can start the next pair very quickly. I also got yarn for a matching shawl too.  This came from Gingersnap Yarn

Knot’s Be Gone

 Well I finished my holiday weekend project today. Sometimes I can be an over achiever. So I guess I will just have to knit, spin or warp a loom this weekend. Maybe all 3.  After all I do have a new pair of gloves to make.  If I finish them I will stash dive and see if I have another skein of worsted weight yarn.  Now get off the floor and stop laughing, I might take time to find one.

I spent the evening working out the knots from the yarn throw up and it is safely in the project bag, all 3 balls of sock yarn. Did I mention that is was supposed to be a single 435 yard skein?  It did take a size 1 crochet hook at times.  Yes, I think everyone needs a size one crochet hook. 

Other than that I am getting moody about Tuesday.  

I am feeling better

 I am feeling better. I woke up at 3 am very hungry. I had 1/2 peanut butter and jelly sandwich with water. Picked up a little. I have 3 loads of laundry going while it is still a relatively cool 80f outside. 1 hand wash, 1 in the washing machine, 1 in the dryer.  Now it is time for a nap. By the way I had all my laundry out of the dryer  or hanging on the Clothesline by 1030 am. Well before it it hit a 100f and something today.  

I am also going to use a different modular shell pattern for my new shawl.  I will start the search this weekend.  I was only 6 rows in so there won’t be much to frog.  So I started a much needed new pair of Maxi Fingerless Gloves in some wonderfully squishy and colorful yarn from Merino_Y_Vino on Etsy.  The turn around time for delivery was excellent too. 

My Thursday afternoon knitting buddy and I were working on a new skill.  She wanted to learn how to use the squirrel cage to wind yarn.  All was going well,  she was enjoying herself and relaxing until we came upon a 435 yard skein of sock yarn.  

Let me preface this by saying that yarn industry standards allow up to 5 knots per skein of yarn to prevent a mess like below.  Well this Indy dyer decided not to have any knots in her yarn.  So after the first break we restrung the ball winder and started again.  All went well for a while.  Then we started to get tangles that I was able to work through.  Then we got the knots. Not just any little knots but big ones, 4 to be exact.  So I took the reminder of the yarn off the squirrel cage and started to work out the big knots.  By the time I had to drive her home we were working with 3 separate ends.  This means that there is still a missing end in this yarn throw up.  She was enjoying herself watching me tango with this mess. Before you ask they were scissor cuts, not from moths.  

Pardon my messy work station as I seem to have many projects going at once, as usual.  I am currently working actively in tandem on 1 charity hat, 2 operation gratitude scarfs located in different parts of the house, 1 shawl on my couch and 1 pair of Maxi Fingerless Gloves, 1 project on the spinning wheel, and several projects on drop spindles. I also have 2 patterns that need typing and photos.  I do have other UFO’s that are in holding patterns. Also a lot of projects to be started and finished.   

A Surge of Activity

 Some how getting rid of the 6 cubic feet of yarn created more open space in my knitting room.  Which has lead to me being able to think more clearly. Find the projects that were missing in clutter. Found among the now less cluttered room was a knitting pattern and yarn bought almost a decade ago. It is a modular shawl  and I am using Koigu wool. Specifically the KPPPM wool which when I purchased it sold for $14.00 a skein.  I have no idea what it costs now.  

As you can see I do have a red themed stitch marker on one end which tells me in Sheri speak that this is a working row with stitch changes.  The other end is not red, so that is a resting row.  I also put a right side marker on the right side.  I will be doing a lot of casting on for this pattern and I want the seems all on the same side.  

There is not much shape to the first shell yet.  That will come towards the end of the shell.  

Would you believe I found another shawl from that same time period. I put it away because it vexed me.  I asked for help and even offered to pay for a lesson for the help. I was told then I should know how to do something that basic.  Well I did not and it sat on the shelf for years.  Fast forward to today and I know the person did not know how to do the stitch either and was to lazy to ask for help.  I know that now as a teacher of knitting.  I wonder if this was a contributing factor of the store closing down.  Since I can only knit 2 different shawls at a time and keep the patterns straight, this is number 3 and will have to wait. So you will have to wait for pictures too.  

I will have 3 new shawls finished soon.  

The photo was deleted at the request of the pattern writer. No further photos of this project or mentions of the shawl will ever be posted again. Sheri

Too Much

 Well it seems that fried eggs are permanently off my menu. It seems that frying 2 duck eggs in 1 teaspoon of butter along with a teaspoon of butter for my toast is just to fat much for my system.  Can I tell you how much I really hate my low fat diet.  It’s strange because I can manage 2 hard boiled duck eggs with no problems.

My body was not really happy with me after breakfast. 

A Little Yarn Destash

 A little yarn destash has never hurt a knitter.  The yarn I am destashing today knit up well for a super wash wool. However after about the 5th time through the washer and dryer. Which this wool was supposed to handle with ease, it started felting and getting that burnt nylon crackle.  

I will not be replacing this yarn with any other yarn.  Instead I will diligently work through the yarn in my stash. Once I am down quite a few projects, let’s say in the few hundreds I might consider adding more yarn. Well I might get a skein here or there after all it’s yarn.

With the return on time invested on my last destash sale, I will be skipping that this time. Now that I have had a few minutes to rest and have some water.  I am loadings the three 64 gallon bags and the smaller 2 shoe box bag ( about 6 cubic feet of yarn in total) into the back of my car.  Then it’s off to Goodwill.  

If I have the energy I might just sneak into Target for some frozen vegetables and almonds on the way home.  

Yet Another Cut

 No sooner than I repaired the last cut 5 minutes ago, I found yet another deliberate act of vandalism on my shawl.  I really hope that I do not run out of Sulky 100% viscose/rayon thread in color 943- 1019.  Sighs.  

Another Cut in the Yarn

 Just when I think that I am making progress on the shawl repair, I found yet another piece of yarn with a deliberate cut. This one will be easier to fix because it is near the top of the shawl and I have less space that needs to be stabilized before and after the repair.  

The single double pointed knitting needle is pointing to the last patch repaired.  The 2 double pointed knitting needles are at the my latest find of Deliberate damage to the Shawl. I think I’m going to have to go over the shawl inch by inch to make sure there are no cuts because I almost missed this cut. This brings the number up to 6 repair’s that are going to be needed.  

I found that walking after each repair helps bring down my stress levels. I find this whole situation unnecessary and stressful. This is even more stressful than caring for a sick child.  I can not spin my way out of this   

As an artist, I truly think the people who destroy other peoples art need to be severely punished. I have more feelings on this subject but they are truly not fit for the printed word.

I Want to Cry

 After hand washing the shawl I blogged about yesterday in Soak Wash. I went to block the shawl.  As I was laying it out to my absolute horror I found another deliberate cut in the lace work.  So all attempts at blocking were stopped. I found 4 more holes in my shawl. Two of the holes were side to side. As you can see by the double pointed knitting needles I did my best to stabilize the area’s. I will also have John look over the shawl to see if he can find any other areas.

Thankfully I did not have time to put the thread away yesterday. So it is ready to go when the shawl dries. It will be a little harder this time because the washing brought up a beautiful halo in the mohair. The halo will also hide the repairs very well.

It’s Finally Finished for the Second Time

 About 10 years ago I finished a one of a kind shawl with the mohair spun by Kathy Withers.  I did not have a chance ro wear it before one of Eric’s aides took a scissors to the beautiful lace. Less than 24 hours after completing the shawl. It was placed in a canvas shopping bag to wait the needed repairs.  In his opinion all I was allowed to knit in my own home was hand knit items for kids in need.  This was the first but not the last thing he cut up or outright stole.  

Well he is long gone. 

Fast forward a few years and I could not get anyone to mend it for me. No matter how much I was willing to pay. I did however get some pointers.  I was really scared that I would ruin it.  

Fast forward to today.  I finally got the nerve to do the repair on this hand spun mohair lace yarn spun by Kathy Withers’s and a pattern designed by me.  Really I just wanted to clear my backlog of repairs, UFO’s and long ago purchased projects.  I pick out the right shade of thread. I did not have any yarn leftover, let’s just say I won at yarn chicken. I secured the thread and trimmed the end. I started weaving everything together. I was so tense that my shoulders throbbed. I carefully did tiny French Knots to gather the tiny clipped yarn. I did the final thread tie off and clipped the excess thread.  

Tomorrow it will get washed in Soak. Then blocked. It should be ready to wear this weekend. 

Below is a picture of the repair work.  The picture below that is halfway through the repair work. I know it’s not perfect. I did my best.  You can also not see it from 5 feet away, which is my gold standard for knitting boo boo’s.  

To Much Salad Dressing

 I tried a new recipe for a farrow salad. I followed the directions including the dressing.  I came to 2 separate conclusions on the recipe.  

1. The recipe calls for too much salad dressing.  The recipe made a 1/2 cup and I used less than half.  John and I agreed that it was still too much salad dressing.  I personally think that Americans in general use too much salad dressing. I really want to enjoy the flavors of the salad and not some greasy concoction.  Most of the time I do not use salad dressing at all  

2. I need to go back to California Olive Oil and not the store brand which has a greasy texture and flavor.  My preferred brand was not available for a while for home shopping during COVID19.  I don’t use much oil on a low fat diet.  I need to pick up a bottle next time I am out shopping.  Along with red wine vinegar.  Don’t ask. 

By the way it was so bad hat I will not share the recipe. John will not eat anymore than the taste he took. I have it sitting over night in the fridge. I hope that this settles the flavors out a bit otherwise you do know where it is going, don’t you?

What Storm?

 On Thursday night the weather man warned of a huge multi day monsoon storm.  Well Friday morning I got up early and went to 3 different stores to stock up on a few things.  

We debated going out for lunch. We stayed home.  It did not rain.  They kept pushing the time line back.  Yes, it did rain in the usual places. Flooded in the usual places. Yes, there were stupid motorists who drove through flooded washes.  Even school bus drivers who were to green to know that they had to call dispatch if they had flood water on their routes to be give a different route to drop their riders off. The news had to look really hard for flood disasters.  We even had one news caster comment on how awful it must be for the plants and field to get water. Ah, this is a drought, the plants loved it along with the farmer on reduced water.  Free water that is not metered is always good in moderation.  

Today it mostly drizzled. We landed up with a 1/4 inch of water for 2 days of severe rain storms.  

Also I would like to officially announce that I am very tired of COVID19 and it’s variants.  People if you are sick stay home.  I am so sick of staying home most of the time to avoid getting COVID19.  I want my life back.  I want to eat indoors in a place that is not home.  I want to get a pedicure. Is that really too much to ask? I want to eat and talk indoors with my friends, instead of grabbing food and going outside to eat.   Is that too much to ask?  I want to stop calculating on how crowded a store is going to be before shopping and skipping shopping if it is too crowded.  Etc etc etc.    

Finishing UFO’s Creates Problems

 There is a downside to finishing a lot of UFO’s very quickly.  

The first problem is just how many knitting needles do I really have? Yes I need all of them.  I know I have several in every size. There are times when they are all in use in one size an I contemplated getting another pair.  Yes, the beginning of the UFO problem. 

The second problem is knitting bags. When I am finally finish a project, I then have an empty bag that either needs a new project or a new home.  The last 5 out of 6, went to new homes.  Bag six had yarn sneak into it saying knit me. Sometimes yarn is worse than chocolate when it speaks to me. 

The third problem is knitting accessories. Take the Fisherman’s Wife’s scarf that I finished earlier in the week.  I freed up some cable needles, scissors and stitch markers. Yes, I know I have some others in the house, but they are all in project bags of UFO’s. So now I need a system to keep track of them and other accessories so that I don’t go buy what I already have.  The craft store holders just don’t cut it.  Maybe a sportsman’s box or a small toolbox would work. 

The fourth of my problems, but not the least of my problems  is stitch markers.  Yes, I do know that are classified as accessories, but are they really accessories? In my humble opinion definitely not.  They are stitch markers.  They are knitting jewelry. An art form of their very own.  I must have enough to lose a stitch marker a day and still have too many at the end of the year.  I even give stitch markers away randomly and to large groups of friends.  This is what my stitch marker cups look like when I finish too many projects at once.  I normally like to keep about 20 out at a time  rotating them every so often. This is how it looked today when I finished knitting a new pattern. This is at least the second project this week.  It’s time to thin them out yet again.  Perhaps start some new UFO’s.  It’s just a random thought   

Passing Supplies On and More

 Today I filled the back of my car with quilting supplies, mostly fabric  to give to a friend. I even gave her a few storage containers to put the fabric in.  There was more in the back seat too. I did not realize that fabric  had gone up to $15 a yard. So I came home and started going through the rest of my quilting fiber to see what I really won’t use in the near future. It will give 3 church groups fabric to make blankets for those in need. It will make John happy and give me more space. We are going for less is more around here lately. 

At guild today I also gave away 4 more knitting bags each with a skein of yarn to make a scarf for Operation Gratitude.  Less is more.  For those counting that totals 6 less knitting bags.  4 less skeins of yarn and 2 unfinished blankets. 

Talking about less. I have 1 less UFO ( unfinished object ) Yesterday I finally finished a scarf in the Fisherman’s Wife pattern on Raverly after over 4 years. It was a cool 89f when I finally finished it last night.  It fits perfectly.  It is going into a drawer until the end of October when it gets cooler in Tucson.  Next time I make it I will use a solid color to show off the cables better. 

To Be Filed Under WTF

 Dear Lab,

A patient should not be able to knit over 2 inches on a hat while waiting for an appointment.  

I do admit that I don’t get out much. But I do not like what happened today.  I needed to be at a lab at 7:00 am for a 7:45am test or it would be rescheduled.  I saw most employees arrive at 7:30am including the gal who did my testing today.  Why do I have to be there  30 minutes before the employees? I can see 10 to 15 minutes early but 45 minutes is getting a little rude.   What is the justification for this? Do they literally call the employees to come in once we the patients show up and check in.  

They also did not pay me to sit around or give me a discount on the bill. They did not offer my ride a refreshment. But if I would have been late they would have canceled.  If I was a no show they would have billed me.  

Is this the new normal for lab testing?  When did some provider’s become so rude?   Yes, it is rude to make the customer show up before the employees and just wait.  

The gal who did the testing was nice snd polite. I know she did not set the policy.  

By the way I got the first stripe knit and the second started on my current hat.  Thank heavens for my knitting of I would have been more irate than I was.  

More Stress Cleaning

 It took me less than 1 hour to go through my fabric cabinet and fill 2 more bags of fiber to give to a quilter I know.  I will also give her the inserts for some weighted blankets for charity.  That means I cleaned out 3 square feet of sewing supplies this afternoon. The bag I brought in from the garage is already put away.  I feel a little shaky from getting rid of so much in one fell swoop. Bring on the lemon or chocolate cake I’m ready for it, just kidding to much sugar.  

Now I am off to finish the hat I was playing yarn chicken with.  I won.  By a whole lot. See that little ball of yarn on the left side of the hat?  

History

 The purpose of history is not to Vilify historical people centuries after they have died. The purpose of history is to learn from their mistakes and their accomplishments.  As not to repeat their mistakes, but rather double down on their accomplishments to make the world a better place.  

We are standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before us. Only if those shoulders are strong and just shall we create a better world.  

My random thought of the day. 

Yarn Chicken and More

 Today has not been the best day for me.  So I started doing what I do best.  Stress cleaning. I filled 1 box for Goodwill.  Filled 3 bags of quilting and sewing projects that I am going to pass on to a friend. Emptied 6 inches of books on quilting to give to the same friend. I figured that if she could not use them she would know someone who would.  Emptied half a craft cabinet drawer.  Tomorrow I will go through my fiber stash and see what I want to keep.  The rest I will pass on to a friend.  I also emptied 3 large plastic storage boxes that I will pass on to the Old Pueblo Knitting Guild next week.  

After all that you would think that would have made a dent in my mood.  Sadly, no.  It only left me questioning my life choices.  Would I have done anything differently? Probably not.  

I am also playing a game of yarn chicken with a charity hat.  I am not sure that I will win.  To win I need enough yarn in this little ball of yarn to finish this hat.  I am at the point where I need to change to a set of double pointed knitting needles. Wish me luck. 

A kick back day

 Even after 9 hours of sleep I spent the day exhausted.  I was too tired to pick up my knitting or spinning.  Way to tired to warp the loom. To tired to play Wii tennis or bowling . Too tired for Cubii2 .  

I did do a Bridgerton season two marathon. I watched 2 1/2 episodes. I am liking it so far.

We did do a Disney+ shorts marathon on “I am Groot”. If you love Baby Groot you’re going to love these minis. It was very relaxing.  Baby Groot is always amusing.  

Off the Loom

 Teri and I made a mother daughter silk scarf for Teri.  Teri choose the colors, warped the loom and started weaving it.  She choose Debbie Bliss Silk yarn for the weft and cotton cone yarn for the warp  

I offered to send the loom home with her so that she could finish the scarf.  She politely declined.

So in between other projects I finished the weaving.  Did the finishing work and the final trim.  I bet she is sorry that she missed the hot water bath and thwacking.  The thwacking can be a great stress buster.

Tomorrow this is being mailed to Teri.  I do have the scarf folded in half for the picture. The edge of the loom she used is in the background. 

Progress Maybe?

 I did my first 30 minute workout since I got sick last November.  I am really hoping that this is not 1 step forward 2 steps backwards.  It did leave me tired. 

My Oatmeal Cooker

 After finding I like long cooked oatmeal rather then instant. After the daily boil overs on the stove and the ensuing mess to clean up. I got this Hamilton beach rice cooker.  I just love it and it has not boiled over the stovetop once.  I get the first bowl hot from the cooker and refrigerate the other four servings eat them cold. Yes this is so good you can eat a cold. But if you would like you can also microwave the others for one minute.

My favorite recipe makes 5 servings. 

Sheri’s Favorite Oatmeal Recipe 

1/2 teaspoon of salt

3 cups of rolled oats, they include a measuring cup with the rice cooker. 

Fill to the #4 water line.

This is my basic recipe. You can also add flaxseed, nuts or dried fruit. Stir in well before adding water. I also like to stir it after adding the water too. 

Press hot cereal and 10 minutes. You do this by pressing the Hot Cereal button until it reaches 10.  Do some chores.  After the oatmeal is cooked wait 2 minutes and measure out 1 cup servings. The calorie count will vary depending on what you put in.  Remember that nuts and flax seed will up the fat grams.  Anything you add beyond the above recipe will add extra calories so be prudent on your add ins.  

John likes this for steaming vegetables. He likes how easy the clean up is.  For Spinach he set it for 2 minutes on Steam Cook and it came out perfect. 

Hamilton Beach Digital Programmable Rice and Slow Cooker & Food Steamer, 20 Cups Cooked (10 Cups Uncooked), 14 Pre-Programmed Settings for Sear Sauté, Hot Cereal, Soup, Nonstick Pot, Stainless Steel. Look for it in your Google Search engine.  

I am not receiving a commission on this item. So look for the beat deal you can. 

For Operation Gratitude

 I divided my time today between making more stitch markers and knitting Operation Gratitude scarfs.  I won’t sho the stitch markers, they are all red.  I have been working on this scarf for a few months at my slower speed.  I do have 2 more scarfs for Operation Gratitude in different parts of the house.  

Play Time

 This afternoon I was bored and decided I needed some play time.  So I got out a drawer of beads. Pick out a few strands of beads, then got out my box of findings.  Findings are the bits and pieces that are needed to make jewelry and more importantly stitch markers.  Today I made 2 strands of glass mushrooms and 1 strand of ladybugs into stitch markers. I also took a few miscellaneous beads , then made a few more stitch markers.  I have a few more strands pulled for tomorrow too.  The stitch markers on the left are the ones that just happened to wonder off to my knitting room. I finally made the hand carved bear bead into a stitch marker, it has been in my box for years.  The rest I will bring to knitting guild with me.  

Another One Bites the Dust

Today’s first finished project is a scarf for the Old Pueblo Knitting Guild Navajo Project. It is knit with 2 strands held together. 1 novelty yarn in black with 1 strand of super wash wool in green. This is the last for this series because I am thankfully out of the novelty yarn. The empty shopping tote will be used for another project, it is from one of my favorite clothing designers Bryn Walker.  

You many notice a second picture.  This beanie is another Old Pueblo Knitting Guild charity project. This one is a cotton hat going to the Flowing Wells School District Clothing Bank. Since I consider hats like M &M’s I have already started another cotton hat. My 2 hat bags will never be empty because I am always knitting hats.  It is my mindless knitting for car rides.  

UFO’s

 With my limited knitting time my goal is to finish as many UFO’s as possible. Some of the empty project bags I will keep. Others I will destash with enough yarn for a charity project. So hopefully you will see lots of project pictures in the coming weeks.