A Roller Coaster Kinda of Day

 I was having a fantastic day until I was not. I got so angry at a sibling for being unwise and unwilling to help himself.  I got so mad I was literally shaking.  There are 2 ways to deal with this. I was proud of myself for making a healthy stress eating option. The first is eating until I feel better, but after 2 bowls of fruit it as time to go to the next phase.  The next phase is  more stress cleaning. I managed to clean an entire 2 food square area down to the bare wood.  Some things went to their proper places. Some things got tossed.  Some things landed in the Bookman’s trade bag.  By the time I was finished I put on over 3,500 steps around the house.  I used up all my spoons for the day and then some.  I still had dinner to cook. 

We were both so tired and stressed that we skipped the chicken dinner that was planned. We had even gone to Trader Joe’s for more kohlrabi before things went south. We then went to our new plan B. A vegetable omelette with fruit for dessert.  On the plus side I managed to flip the 12 inch omelette without having it break apart.  So for 2024 I am flipping omelettes at a flipping average of 500.  Meaning that we have had 4 vegetable omelets and I flipped 2 without them failing into a scrambled eggs mess. 

I was planning to spin some yarn after dinner, but was too tired. I then thought about some knitting.  Again my hands were too tired.  I then resorted to some retail therapy by ordering for delivery a few things we needed for the house.  On low energy days home delivery is a great option for me.  

I should mention that kohlrabi is a turnip which  can be shredded to and cooked to make a great pasta substitute.  I will put the recipe in another blog post.  

My Weight Loss Journey

 This will be a short and sweet blog with pictures of my weight loss journey. My before and yesterday’s pictures.  

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The second picture is an accidental picture of me. I was really taking a picture of the dresser and I just happened to be standing in front of the mirror. I know that the clarity of the picture is not the best. What is so different is my size. Yes, I am down 4 sizes as of right now. It is getting harder as I lose more weight, the rate of loss has almost stalled. Right now my body is doing the inches thing. The short dress that I am wearing just happens to be a shirt that use to come to just my hips.  It is one of the items that still fits from before.  It use ti fit like the gray top above. Now it is at my knees…

Spoons

 Today’s blog is brought to you by spoons.  Spoons are what I never seem to have enough of.  Spoons are units of energy.  

As I am getting older my body is changing. This includes my feet.  I have changed shoe sizes. So I have found a brand of shoes that fit perfectly right now.  I can wear them all day.  So after buying 2 new pairs of shoes, I knew it was time to clean out my closet of the shoes and high heels which I can no longer wear.  I filled 4 boxes with shoes that no longer fit and are still in great shape.  So I think I moved ahead of the clutter curb.  I have also run out of big boxes.  John will take the boxes to Goodwill tomorrow.  I will see what else I can add tomorrow.  

This evening I also started putting my earrings away.  I plan on taking the earrings that are too uncomfortable to wear and the singles to make more stitch markers.  Not that I need any more stitch markers. I just thought it would be fun to do. That they would be more useful as stitch markers than collecting dust.  

Now I am too tired to do anything.  

Not to change the subject, but I am going to change the subject.  Have you ever noticed that the last 6 inches of a 6 foot long scarf seems to take forever.  Maybe I will finally finish it this weekend.  Which me luck.  

What is leaving forever, tomorrow.  Four boxes lined up to go   

Just Medium

 I am doing the clothing replacement thing again.  I started trying on the larger sizes because I was feeling very fat.  Even though I really know that I am a lot smaller than I used to be.  So both pairs of pants and the sweater were a medium.  So I was very happy.  Right now the scale is not moving but my clothes are getting bigger.  So the next Goodwill box will be started this week.  

I have started a log book of unfinished projects.  I am up to 26 unfinished projects, including knitting, weaving and spinning.  I know that I have not logged them all yet.  Hopefully I can finish more than a few of them by the end of the month.  I am hoping that 2024 is my year of being more organized.  Here is to a year of less squirrels.

Volvo the next chapter

 John got on the phone yesterday with the dealership.  So long story short we arrived at the dealership at 7:30 am.  It’s very early, am I right?  They did a computer duomp and found an incident in the log but couldn’t find the actual problem.  

So they did a software update and my 4 year service on my car that has less than 11,000 miles on it.  They said that would fix the problem.  John talked to the service manager and found out when the technicians were available.  So the game plan is for me to drive straight to the dealership if the break issue pops up again.  Since it seems to be an intermittent problem I am betting on John being right that it is either a sensor issue or a broken wire.  Only time will tell.  

I have found out that 59 degrees is too cold on a low spoons day to eat outside.  I finished my chicken before my body said no more food for you. 

I drove the car home after lunch.  I spent the rest of the day solving craft supply issues and knitting.  Of course I did cook a new favorite dinner. A mixed vegetable and duck egg omelette.  Of course I managed to mess up the flip and feed the stove top some of our dinner.  

Update on my Volvo

 There is an update on my Volvo.  John called to ask for the service manager this afternoon.  There was no service manager available. No wonder the service department is such a mess. They repeated that there was not a sooner appointment.  However we could drop the car off and they would try to find time to fix it. 

Really it’s going to sit outside in the elements waiting to get fixed instead of my secure garage.  Ok, we will give it a try. This does not leave me with a good feeling.  

Did I mention that they also cancelled my appointment for the routine service for my car too?  Why would they cancel the appointment for routine service when we were trying to get it done before the 4 year mark?  

You have to remember that this dealership had an official unveiling ceremony with a box of roses less than 4 years ago.  

Wish me luck.  

A Rough night ahead.

 As I go to sleep tonight, I know it’s going to be a difficult night.  It is never a good sign when my skin hurts.  Yes, I am tense.  It’s a sibling issue.  Those of you who are still naive about this.  At some point in time as a grown up you may be required to step in and help.  No it’s not fun. 

Wish me luck on sleep tonight.  

TTFN

You Want What for your Volvo?

 My Volvo started flashing an urgent warning light on the dashboard on Thursday afternoon.  So today I called my local Volvo Dealership to get a service appointment.  I can’t believe for an urgent brake problem they booked the appointment out 3 weeks.  My almost 4 year old car does not even have 11,000 miles on it yet. 

I then  asked if the car was still safe to drive. 

They replied that they were not sure.  

So I will be without a car for 3 weeks. Between the Snowbirds erratic driving and the college students it is a better choice not to take any unnecessary risks.  I have not been without a car at my beck and call since I was 16, so last century.  So I will make sure my Lyft app is updated.  I will renew my Shipit subscription.  Sit down with calendars out so John and I can mesh our schedules. Do much for independence. 

This will require more planning than I am use to for things like shopping.  Going out to knit with friends.  Running the odd errand. 

If you can’t already tell, I am quite miffed at my local Volvo Dealership. I really wish we had a second Volvo dealership in town.  We don’t trust the brakes enough to drive to Phoenix. This is the only time since so last century that it took more than a few days to get my car serviced for an urgent problem. If I had an urgent problem with my GM, Toyota, VW, Mazda or Honda all the dealerships got me in the same day I called or the next day.  I really don’t know what the deal is in making me wait 3, yes 3 whole weeks for service.  Are they trying to say that they are too elite to service what they sell? 

My question is, does anyone else have this problem with their Volvo dealership or is our dealership just especially not good at their basic function. The function being to service what the sales department sells in a timely manner.  

This leads to the next question to ask when buying a new car. How soon can the service department get me in for an urgent problem. How long does it take to Schedule routine maintenance? 

With this lack of getting timely service for my Volvo, I probably would not buy one again.  This was supposed to be my dream car.  It’s turning into more of why did I think this car was so special? Why is the dealership almost as snobby as the Lexus dealership?  For heavens sake it’s just a car.  

The Logbook - A Work in Progress

 The unfinished projects are much worse than I first thought.  Without going into my unfinished project baskets, yes there are 2. I found 18 projects that need to be completed.  This list so far has taken less than 15 minutes to complete. I did complete number 6, but I still have to write the pattern from Sheri shorthand to a readable pattern by everyone.  Since it has yet to be published, I can’t show the picture yet.  

I will however show you my first 2 pages of my log book which is far from complete.  I also did put the location if it is not in the knitting room.  My goal tomorrow is to try to add the items from the baskets.  Wish me luck. 

I Feel Really Silly

 Today I pick up a knitting project that I have not worked on in 2 weeks. What did I find inside? My “lost” notions bag.  Which leads me to my nearly unattainable goal of having less works in progress, currently standing with least 12 in progress projects. No wonder I miss place things like a notion bag. 

My goal for 2024 is to have less knitting projects going at the same time.  To try to finish smaller projects within the week that they were started.  I will exempt weaving, and spinning projects, because by definition they do take longer.  Wish me luck.  

I will also try to get new knitting patterns out faster.  Meaning from concept to finish pattern in a more reasonable and realistic time frame.  

I find it hard not to start a new project on a whim.  Maybe starting a notebook to keep track of things might not be a bad idea.  Finish multiple projects before I start a new project. It would help me keep track of things.  This is another baby step on the way to being more organized and productive.  Wish me luck.  

Below is the project bag that was hiding my notions bag   

A Pounder ? Not Quite

 A pound does not seam to be enough for this scarf.  At 1 pound 2 ounces it is still 15 inches too short.  So the only thing to do is knit on. The maybe good news is that I have enough yarn in the basket to make at least 2 more super colorful scarfs. 

Dog Pillows

 The last of the dog pillows for 2023 we’re finally finished this morning. I think that I will have time next week to drop them off at the shelter.  These are some of the nicest that I have made.  I have also changed the way I do the final seams which gives the pillows a more finished look.  

Busy is Good

 I had a busy day today.  I traded in some books for store credit at Bookman’s on Speedway. I used my credit to add 4 more pairs of socks to my charity project for next winter.  Then I dropped off the ai fryer we decided not to keep to a local charity Youth on Their Own.  Then it was off to lunch and knitting with a friend.  

Four dog pillows got stuffed and all I need to do is seam them up.  Then one of us will drop the pillows of at the animal shelter.  I am on the last 3/4 of an inch on a hat before I start the crown.  I am not going to update you on all my works in progress, but there are quite a few.

Tomorrow I need to do the laundry that I ignored all week. Then some general house cleaning and organizing.  Just maybe I can fill another couple of bags to take to Bookman’s on River.  I probably need to start another goodwill box too.  

Have a happy and productive day.  

A New Algorithm

There is a new math algorithm that you math people might wanna know about. It involves weight loss and glasses. I have found that for every time I drop a pant size I need to go in and get my glasses readjusted or they fall off my face I haven’t worked out the exact formula, so if somebody would like to work on that, go for it. 

This led me on a while adventure yesterday. I went to Costco. Normally, Monday is a very quiet day at our local Costco, however, this being snowbird season, and I think we have a full stow bird season this year everything was turned upside down. The parking lot was a mess to say the least, when some of the drivers got confused, they just sat there and didn’t move leading to long lines of traffic waiting to park. Inside was just as crazy. I am so glad I brought my knitting with me. I stood there at knit while I was waiting for my turn to get my glasses adjusted , I must say the gal did a fantastic job on getting my glasses adjusted. They are staying right where they need to be. She even had to make the glasses narrower because I have lost inches in my face.

Then I did a little bit of shopping then I did a little bit of shopping. I picked up some of the things we needed for the house. Then I tried to look at the refrigerated meat section and the meat section it was total chaos. There were long lines waiting for the roasted chickens apparently by 12 thirtyish they had gone through two pallets of chickens. The concern was they only had one pallet left, and that was supposed to have lasted them through Wednesday when the next delivery came. Apparently they have not experienced a full snowbird season in quite a while. I gave up looking for the meat and decided it was time to leave. 

I found a very short line and a very courteous check out woman. Getting out of the store was another problem. I nearly got run over by a man using a scooter from Costco. He felt that since he was using the scooter, he did not have to wait in the line and was zipping in and out, and even managed to knock my cart. At least I wasn’t holding onto it at the time.

I was going to use the alternate route to get out of the Costco parking lot and go up to Ina but the road was closed due to construction. The bright side is I did not have to wait through 40 cars making right turns to get out of the parking lot.

John was wonderful and put everything away and then I went on my toys for to run. Target was running a fantastic sale as long as I didn’t come into the store and just ordered everything online. So I managed to fill up the back of my car using only 2/3 of my budget, it was so full it took three firemen to empty the back of my car. And then it was off buy groceries for dinner. By this time, I was exhausted after a full day, and was so glad that John made dinner.

Well, it is time to start my day again. I think it’s going to be very busy again everyone have a wonderful day.

Goodbye Old Friend

 Today we went to T-mobile to replace our old iPhone 8’s with a new version. We got more storage and an upgraded camera.  We got the iPhone 8’s just after they had been released.  So it’s been a few year since we got them.  Both our phones were in the midst of dying. We got tired of carrying around battery packs. I have to admit the caring and battery pack around adds a few ounces to my purse.  You know we got new phones just to make my purse lighter, right? Not for the much better picture quality or extra storage space.

I must say that the transfer process has gotten much faster   They even could do 2 phones at the same time.  It only took 1 1/2 hours for 2 new phones. 

Anyway, here’s a chance to say goodbye to my old phone. I will not miss the scratched screen or short battery life. I will now have to remember to look for a dark blue case, it just does not stand out like the pink case.

Feeling Sad

 I lost my favorite knitting accessories bag on Tuesday when it fell out of my knitting basket. My basket fell over twice and I am not sure where I lost it.  Yesterday I checked both parking lots and it was not to be found.  

The bag was from a good friend. I filled it with stitch markers, cable needles, a crochet hook, scissors and various other necessities.  Now I will have to find another bag and refill it with the same things. I think next time I will leave a business card in my accessories bag so people could return it if found.

The knitting still goes on.  Here is a picture of a project I finished yesterday. My latest one pounder scarf for the boarding school on the Navajo reservation.

A Head Start on 2024

 Since I have delivered all my charity knitting projects it seemed like a fantastic time to start work on the holiday knitting for 2024.  So I already started the big Ziplock XXL bag with a pair of socks and these 2 scarfs.  

Now it’s time to make some dog pillows.  My yarn scrap bin is overflowing.  So it is off to the sewing machine for me.  I think I will make a few extra cases this time.  

A surreal kind of day

 Sometimes people say the darndest things. Take today for instants, an acquaintance asked how Eric was doing because she hadn’t seen him lately. I just did not know what to say. It floored me because this is the week he died four years ago. So not wanting to make an awkward situation more awkward, I just told her he’s been very busy, and I haven’t seen him much myself lately. That seem to satisfy her and she wandered off. 

I won a raffle basket of knitting goodies at the Old Pueblo Knitting Guild meeting this morning.  When I got home I went through the basket to decide what I wanted and needed. To tell the truth it was more about want than need.  I the put the yarn that I was going to share back in the basket to take to my next meeting.  I shared the yarn with another group of fiber lovers. I managed to take an empty basket home.  Score one for me.  

This and That

 I have been on a finishing spree today.  I finished 2 more projects today. One hat and 1 scarf. Of course I cast on another scarf because I don’t want my knitting needles to get lonely. That leaves me a total of 6 more projects to photograph.  Also I  have been pulling out Unfinished Projects.  Finishing them to add to the pile.

I also took the time to take not one but two naps today.  With the family stress going on I am finding it hard to sleep through the night. When I am both tired and stressed it is a really bad thing for my body.  Hopefully we can get this family stuff done by the end of the year so we can start with a clean slate for 2024. In my humble opinion that would be perfectly delightful.  

Most of the time I can keep a running to do list in my head. Lately I have found it necessary to  write a hard copy of my daily to do lists. This gives me the satisfaction of actually crossing things off the list rather than just deleting them from my phone.  It will also pair down some of my extensive pile of scratch pads.  Scratch pads seem to multiply like bunnies around here. 

Yesterday I also started filling a box for Goodwill with the clothes that keep getting bigger in the closet. The good news is that I only needed to add a few pairs of pants to my wardrobe. We picked the pants up yesterday.  

I will hopefully get some sleep tonight and have a busy day tomorrow.  Wish me luck. 

My Personal Roller Coaster

 Today had a lot of highs and lows.  I will skip over most of the lows like not having enough energy to do stress cleaning.  I wove 20+ random ends in, on a scrappy scarf. That was a chore and a half.  It looks great.  Pictures will come later.  

The highlight of the day was a doctor telling me his services were no longer needed because I lost so much weight and am too healthy to need his services anymore.  Yeah me. 

I am lining up a few projects that will be just for me. I am going to make a few one of a kind items just for me after I finish the holiday gifts for the kids clothing bank.  I have yarns piled up around my knitting table.  

Leaving the House

 The next batch of 6 dog pillows stuffed with yarn scraps are going to the dog shelter.  The dog pillows are a great way to keep yarn scraps out of the land fill and benefit my community too.  

I got my stress cleaning out of the way early today. I have only done a couple of hours today. But it’s not even 11 a.m. yet, do the day is still early.  

Now if I could just distress and relax.

Stress Cleaning

 Today I was so stressed out that I simply ignored my to do list that I made with the 2:30 AM, during a migraine.  We spent the weekend dealing with family issues.  They have not fully resolved. Before you ask my taller half and wonderful daughter and son-in-law are doing well.  My brother and his wonderful wife invited us over for dinner, long story short.  I called my brother and asked him to join us for dinner at a restaurant. He was smoking a leg of lamb so we drove to their house.  My brother is an awesome cook.  I really have to get a smoker.  I really adore my sister-in-law. They make an awesome couple and have great kids too. They are the perfect people to hang out with when I need to recenter..

You might recall that when I hit a certain stress level the only thing that calms me down is cleaning.  I spent most of the day cleaning. I put a lot of things away.  My efforts were clearly visible.  3 bags of recycling and 2 bags of trash later, I was still stressed out, but much more calm.  So I plyed 2 skeins of art yarn.  Then I started spinning some more merino wool to do more plying.  I still have 5 skeins of Little Flower Novelty yarn in red to ply.  I am thinking that they would make a nicely woven scarf for kids.  I was too stressed to knit or weave. 

I will try to sleep tonight. Wish me luck.  If not I have more cleaning to do.  

1 inch

 I found it amazing that just trimming off 1 inch from my bangs this morning totally eliminated the getting hair in my eyes issue.  I did not trim anything else because I want my hair to grow a little longer.  

Knitting Needles

 If you use bamboo knitting needles please be aware that they will only last for about 200 knitting projects before you start to hear a cracking or wood splitting sound.  Other knitting needles tend to do this but take many years to reach this point.  Do not try to finish your project.  There is nothing worse than having a knitting needle crack mid row while knitting.  It can be a disaster and damage your yarn or an awful lot of stitches can drop.  Go to your local yarn store and get a really good pair of knitting needles.  Then transfer your knitting to the new knitting needles immediately.

Don’t worry, the soon to break knitting needles can still be used in your garden to hold seed signs or prop up a plant.  I am not sure that they can be composted because they typically have a finish of varnish.

If you like wooden knitting needles and do a lot of knitting there are plenty of work arounds for this.   You will have to pay more but the price difference is well worth it.  I would recommend a hard wood knitting needle like Brittney or Lantern Moon.  Lantern Moon uses ebony which is one of the hardest commercially used woods.  

This is my personal experience over 24 years of knitting.  All knitting needles were purchased by me.  Theses are my personal preferences and opinions.  All brands may not be available at all local yarn stores.  

A Do Over

 I have found that the yarn I recommend for My Doodling Shawl is literally just disintegrating. When I picked it up to wear last night it just started falling apart.   So I am re writing the pattern with yarn I picked up at the last Flagstaff Wool and Fiber Festival.  It is by an independent dyer and the yarn can be ordered from her website.  You may also use any yarn of the same weight.  

Details will follow, because I am literately knitting it up right now. I have also not told the dyer that I am using her yarn in the pattern  yet. I wound the yarn and started knitting it after dinner.  So give me a week or so to finish the sample and the pattern changes. 

I will leave the pattern up on Raverly and you will get an update with the new information.  

Something New

 I finally finished a stash buster project for me.  A 100% cotton blanket.  It is just big enough for my lap.  It’s finished just in time for winter.  

What to Expect

 People need a reality check when dealing with nonprofits.  Not all nonprofits are the same.  This is based solely on my years of experience and disappointment with some and gratitude for others.  

Letting a nonprofit display your artwork in their gallery is an iffy situation at best.  At worst you will never see your artwork or share of the sale price.  If you are lucky a volunteer decided they did not like you art work and picks it apart so that it cannot be made salable or usable again, but you get the pieces back in a bag.  I have had friends art work stolen.  I suspect that art work on display that is not returned or paid for is stolen and there is nothing that can be done.  Sometimes volunteers feel entitled to “free” things for the time spent volunteering. Maybe an employee needs a quick gift and your piece is just what they need, no big deal they can get the key it’s just on display and nobody will notice. My art work most likely disappeared this way.  There is the blame game and it was always someone else’s responsibility.  

You won a raffle prize but did not stay to the end to collect it.  They tell you what prizes you won on the phone and you can pick it up next week.  When you arrive they bring a hodgepodge of things leftover from various raffle baskets, but not what you won.  They explain that there was a feeding frenzy by the volunteers around the raffle table, but that they were not in charge of that area.  They try to explain that this is what you won.  Those that know me know that I don’t do big baskets of carbs.  Yes, I was told I bid on a big basket of carbs.  The volunteers feel that since you were not there and only contributed to the fundraiser that they were working, that they deserved what you won.  On this I call bull pucky.  I will make a note never to go to a fundraiser for that non profit organization again. They allowed the volunteers to screw both the donors and the patrons. I know you can’t control every aspect of the fundraiser, but really scraping together odds and ends when someone was told that they won a print and a nice ceramic bowl is really tacky.  I really wish that if that is what they let their volunteers do, don’t bother calling me to let me know.  Then there is a local charity that pushed non members to buy raffle tickets and then people were told no refunds and if you do not join our organization right now, if your name is drawn you will not get the prize.  All together now, can we say fraud. 

I do like the organizations that say thank you. You made a difference.  A simple thank you says volumes.

Just be careful with your work products.  If you spend money on raffle tickets don’t expect to get anything at all even if you were told you won.  Remember that helping the community is what you are doing, but you don’t need to repeat the same mistake.  There are plenty of good causes out there. 

I volunteer and make donations to make my community better. If you think you are entitled to more than a thank you, then maybe volunteer work is not for you. 

I Finished Two Projects

I fell short of my finishing my UFO goals today.  All I finished was 1 scarf and 1 hat.  I did however, tink 1 scarf and cast it on again.  I won’t put anything on someone else’s child that I would not put on my own child or wear myself. 

                    There is always tomorrow to get more done.

UFO Day and Wishful Thinking

 I am declaring tomorrow, Wednesday to be UFO Day.  I have at least 10 projects that need 30 minutes or less to finish up.  Six dog pillows that just need a 6 inch seam closed.  Then 4 knitting projects that are almost done.  The scarf on the loom has at least 4 hours to finish, so it may not get done.

 Of course there will be laundry too, but let’s face it the washing machine and dryer do most of that work.  Now what I need is some very cleaver engineer to make a system where I put the sorted load in one end. Out will come the clean wet clothes that need to be hung up on hangers. Then put the wet clothes on the clothes line. The rest of the clothes sent to the dryer to be hung up or folded depending upon the article of clothing.  The folded clothes will go neatly into a basket and the clothes on hangers will go directly to the clothes line to be put away later. Of course all the socks will be matching and folded too. Now how hard could that be with all those and/ or variables? Easy peasy right. We just have not asked for it yet. 

Then I can going with my last minute holiday gift projects.  

Petroleum Based Fibers

 As you are well aware of the fact that I do not use petroleum based yarns that have acrylic or polyester in them.  Today I made an exception because I had donated yarn for dog pillows.  Normally I dislike them because they bother my skin.  They are bad for the environment. They are messy when cut up. Today I will add another reason why they should be avoided.  I was cutting a lot of larger pieces made from very thick yarn, into suitable pieces to put into dog pillows.  I do believe that I have absolutely ruined a good pair of Fiskars Sewing scissors.  I will try to clean them up and sharpen them.  I sharpen them several times during the day with diminishing results. I don’t hold much hope for their recovery from the awful yarn.  

When I get larger and thicker pieces made for cheap and crappy yarn I will not waste my daily useful Hand time. I will not ruin another pair of scissors.  

I am hoping that either Amazon or Joann’s will have a sale to replace them.  I am not sure I want to put in hand time to repair them.  

Please do yourself and the environment a favor and buy yarn and fiber that will last for years. Yes, I still have a 100% cotton baby blanket that both kids used. Also blankets that are not quite as old that are still in good shape. I am sure some of you have family heirlooms that are even older.  Also no scissors were ever harmed using natural fibers.  

*The Fiskars Scissors were bought buy me so last century from a now defunct fabric store in California.  Before todays debacle, I cut heavyweight cotton fiber for the dog pillows with no problems. 

No Pictures Today

 I spent the day working on holiday gifts and finishing resting up after  the RSV vaccine.  It did take a couple of days to make a complete recovery from the side effects. 

Tomorrow will be another busy day.  There is so little time left in the year.  So much left to do. I am not sure where the year went.  

My Latest Charity Project

 This scarf is my latest charity project off my loom. It is made up entirely from my own hand spun yarn. I used bits and pieces which by themselves were much too small to make anything.  I really like how the colors blended so well.  I think it was a great stash busting project. 

This scarf is destined for the Flowing Wells School District Clothing Bank.  It is my hope that the child that receives this scarf will enjoy wearing it as much as I enjoyed creating this bespoke scarf. 

The RSV Vaccine

 If you are eligible for the RSV vaccine I strongly recommend that you talk to your doctor to see if it is right for you.  I also recommend making an appointment to get the vaccine or any other vaccines you plan on getting this fall.  The pharmacies only order enough for the appointments. 

My personal recommendation is to save things like folding laundry for after the vaccine to keep your arm moving.  It really helps keep the arm from hurting.  By the way I also found that winding shuttles and weaving also help.  So it must be a great time to take up weaving, am I right?

Stay healthy and safe.  

More weaving

 The second color stripe was finished tonight.  The play on textures and colors are just fascinating to me.  As you can see from the picture the next shuttle is loaded and ready to go.  This will be one of the bigger stripes.

 I am really having fun with this one.  I just love how the yarn is creating optical illusions on its own.  It is very visible in the green section. 

The Loom is Warped

 This evening I finally got the loom warped for the next scarf.  It’s the first time in a long time that I used a multi colored warp.  I chose a medium blue and white cotton I am using hand spun yarn for most of this scarf.  

The first color of light green looks really good against the darker blue.  

It’s nice to be weaving again.  

Visible Progress

 The floor of the knitting room is now cleared of all but one basket.  The baskets all have shelve space.  The one basket that does not has my Navajo spindle in it.  I currently do not have any shelve space in the entire house that could possibly accommodate it.  There are also No project bags on the floor. All the project bags are either empty and placed in storage, hanging on a hanger, or last but not least on a shelf.  

Rumor has it that a certain robot is willing to vacuum the entire knitting room floor for me tomorrow.  

Don’t get me wrong there is still work to do in the knitting room.  While cleaning I opened various project bags.  For each bag I went through the matrix below. 

1. Keep the yarn and pattern together. Then try to find time to finish it.  

2. Keep the yarn for another project.  Give the pattern away.  

3. Prepping the yarn for woven or knit charity scarves (non Superwash wool). Prepare the yarn for knitting charity hats ( Superwash wool or cotton). Some of my hand spun yarn is going into both sets of projects. 

4. Put the yarn into the Goodwill box.  

I have not gone through all my project bags yet so there is still more work to do.  I have enough yarn for almost a dozen hand knit scarves prepared.  Also enough for at least a dozen shades of blue and green woven scarfs.  Yes while I was organizing things I put the yarn in color palettes for weaving.  

Did I mention that I have a huge pile of circular knitting needles to put away too.  That should take a couple of hours at a later date. Most likely when I need a certain circular knitting needle and can not find the right size. 

I even found time to work on a new knitting design and a few rows of weaving. I was not cleaning all day because I am recovering from the latest sinus infection and the beginning of the….wait for it….post getting sick arthritis flare up.  

TTFN. It’s time to call it a day.  

One Less Bag of Yarn

I have done enough charity scarfs, both knit and woven that this huge tote bag is now empty.  All the yarn has been used. It holds the equivalent of a 30 quart tub. You might recognize the tote bag as one of Eric’s. The one were we carried extra medical supplies for road trips. By the way I did find a few expired pump filters and a spare connector in the pocket.  Apparently the pocket was too small to hold yarn.

This is one more small victory on my road to the great yarn destash. 

Cleaning Out The Spice Rack

 It’s no surprise to anyone who knows me well is that I got really sick after Eric died.  Had a lot of different surgeries and have had a very bumpy ride on the road to recovery.  Because of that I have not been doing as much cooking as I would like.  My kitchen and pots have become lonely. 

Today I was experimenting with a sugar free, grain free zucchini breakfast bar.  Both my cinnamon and baking powder were expired.  I went ahead and tried my experiment anyway. Yes, it does need both cinnamon and baking powder.  Those are now on my shopping list. 

That is not where I was going with this blog post.  I decided to look at all the spices in jars and bottles in my spice rack.  Any thing from a store no longer in business is leaving.  Any store that I have not shopped at for 2 years is going. Anything past its expiration date is going.  So all totaled I have 49 jars and bottles leaving the kitchen this morning.  

The liquids have to be emptied and the bottles rinsed out, then sorted between recycling and trash.  The jars have to opened and emptied, the jars being sorted between recycling and trash.  I figured it will take me an hour to do all of this. I will only add more spices as needed.  Not everything will be replaced. For instance, take spices that are used for beef, since I no longer eat beef, except for the occasional bite, the spices will not be replaced. Since we are not using the barbecue anymore, those spices will not be replaced. Yes, the barbecue died while I was sick and since we don’t grill steaks anymore, it is not high on the shopping list. 

My challenge to you my readers is to check your spice racks before the holidays. Check for all those expiration dates. Spices don’t last forever.  Fresh spices mean a better quality product. 

The bonus is that I have 1/2 of an empty shelf in the highly prized prime kitchen area open.  I am sure that if will be filled up in no time.  

These are all the jars and bottles leaving the house today.  

The Poncho That Was Not Meant To Be

 About a decade ago I had decided to start an open work summer poncho.  I bought the required number of Juniper Moon Farms Zooey, a linen and cotton blend yarn.  I even bought a few extras just in case.  I was making it a little larger than the pattern. The calculations for making it a bit bigger worked out perfectly to the point other knitters used them and their ponchos came out perfect.  

I am not the best at knitting open weave knitting under the best of circumstances.  Theses were not the best of times for me.  Eric was in and out of the club which was code word in our house for the hospital.  He was also home sick an awful lot too.  This was not a sick room project like my pattern Count 1-2-3-4 was.  Count 1-2-3-4 was mainly knit in Eric’s sick room, the emergency room and Eric’s hospital room.  It was a simple one row pattern.  This was a pattern knit over many rows with many weird repeats. I was distracted and sometimes forgot to write what row I was on.  It was ripped out more times than I can remember.  

Then there was a nursing student from the University of Arizona School of Nursing that was stressed out over her finial exams.  Commented how pretty the yarn was.  I told her where to buy it. She said it did not fit in her budget as a student. When I left my knitting at the table to hold my seat she helped herself to a couple of skeins of the yarn.  She and the yarn were gone when I returned. That left me scrambling to find a couple skeins in the same dye lot and color.  

I restarted it after Eric died. I ripped out the whole thing.  Then started over. I lost my place yet again.  Then put it into the closet.   Last night I had an epiphany and decided that this needed to be a woven shawl. So today I am empty in the bag. Ripping out the shawl yet again.  Finding the odd balls of linen yarn and putting it in the queue to be woven.  

I have no regrets on giving up on this pattern.  In fact I feel very relieved. The yarn will be put to good use.  I will no longer torture myself with open weave knitting.  If I don’t like how it turns out I can either gift it or sell it.  I am free of the weight of trying to knit that darn poncho.  

A Rare Double

 Today a rare double was completed.  Yes, in that I mean 2 finished yarn projects were finished within 2 hours of each other.  They are both scarfs for a children’s clothing bank.  The red one is for a younger child. The 2 tone blue one is for a high school student.  Please note, not one knit 2 together stitch was used on either scarf.  The 2 streak had to stop somewhere.   

In case you were wondering, new projects have been cast on both sets of knitting needles so that they would not get lonely.  Now I am off to knit 2 more scarfs.  

Overheard

 I recently overheard this comment by someone who should have known better.  At an open house a presenter said that they were not getting the new fiber animals with the 1 to 2 micron fiber.  Yes, he did say 1 to 2 micron fiber.  Wait for it….because the hair was too fine and brittle. 

First off to put this all in perspective the average human hair is approximately 70 microns, plus or minus 20 microns.  

I have never seen wool fibers smaller than 15 to 25 microns sell in a retail store, which is considered a finer and softer wool.  In fiber a micron is used to measure the diameter of wool.  Lambs and kids first cuts might be finer but the trade off is a shorter staple length and a slightly harder spin.  The finished yarn will not be as durable either from my personal experience.  So that is why if I get any first cuts I blend it with other fibers from the same breed. 

A micron is a way to measure the size of a particle.  A micron is 1 - 1,000,000 of a meter or 0.001 millimeter  or 1 - 25,000 of an inch, or .0003937 inch. It is also said that the human eye can see objects that are approximately 0.1 millimeters in size.  

So now that you have seen all the geeky math you know why it gave me a laugh when we left the area. 

If you find an error in my math, please know that I relied on a search engine for the hardcore numbers.  Math is also not my forte.  Although I am getting better at math with the amount of knitting that I do.  

Lastly if you are a presenter please know your subject matter a lot better than this.  Also feel free to use note cards for the hard to remember things.  

Early Morning Clarity

 This morning in one of those brief moments of super clarity the thought occurred to me.

Why not weave in the ends of the scarf before I took the scarf off the loom? While the scarf was still under tension.  

So I gave it a try using the technique my friends grandmother taught her. You know, the one I thought of on my own. The one that goes against how they teach weaving in the ends in Tucson.  

Well to make a long story short. It worked. It was easier. I am sharing pictures of both ends woven in.  On my next scarf I will show off the technique.  In the meantime just marvel at how clean the woven in threads look.  I will trim the ends after the hot bath.  

By the way I also wound the yarn on the shuttle from the inside of the skein so that the colors would look very similar to the way I spun the yarn.  Otherwise you would have seen a stark green line next to the purple.  I am breaking rules right and left this morning.  

My New Scarf

 This morning I finally finished a new scarf for me.  I bet you are all surprised.  The scarf is very colorful to say the least.  I designed the scarf with leftover yarn from other projects, my hand spun thread and yarn plus various samples that I have gotten over the years.  I trimmed all the extra yarn after weaving in the ends and washing it.  All I can say is that it is very soft and comfortable.  An added bonus is that John likes it, so I will not have to find a new home for it.  

On the less exciting news of the day. A wasp found its way on to the front drivers seat of my car.so I sat on it by accident   Who ever thinks there will be a wasp on the drivers seat of a locked up car.  Not me.  To say it hurt was an understatement.  John captured the wasp while I went into the house to wash it with warm soapy water. Then rinse it off and towel dry it.  Next came the ice.  Only then did I even google how to treat a wasp sting.  The good news was that without even knowing what I was doing, I got the first steps through icing it done in the correct order.  John did not find the stinger.  Thank goodness I did not have an allergic reaction to it.  It is still sore hours later with a small bump.  Hopefully it will feel better by morning.  

This meant that I did not get my shopping at Target done.  I guess it will be tomorrow.  We also did not get to see the Blue Super Moon because it was raining and hailing at our house.  Never trust the weather forecast. It was supposed to be clear skies tonight, however, I will take the rain any day it chooses to make an appearance.  

From My Work Table

 Sometimes it is necessary to use more than one yarn butler for a project.  Take the picture below. Notice how the black yarn is wound into a cake and the Anne from Circulo is wrapped in a shape as best described as coming off the commercial winder that they use.  They unwind at different rates. That makes it hard to put both yarns on the same yarn butler.  

My simple solution is to have two yarn butlers in use at the same time.  

The colorful scarf is destined for a boarding school on the Navajo Reservation in Northern Arizona.  It has one strand of Anne which is a fingering weight yarn. And one strand of worsted weight cotton yarn in black. They are knit together in double stranded knitting.  It is being knit in the round and will be around 6 feet 2 inches long and 6 inches wide.  If you look very closely you will notice that I am using 2 different colors of Anne, but from 5 feet away you will not notice.  

Behind the yarn busters is my OttLite with a random assortment of stitch markers and a random pen for notes.  

Now is the time to add that extra Yarn Butler to your holiday wish list. Some local yarn stores will keep a list so you get exactly what you want for the holidays. 

Spinning My Wheels

 It was a migraine type of day. So needless to say it was a green tea type of day too.  To relax I decide to do some spinning. I had a 4 ounce package of red Merino and fire star which I spun on my Lendrum DT. Next I plied it with some white Merino for a Barber Pole effect on my Louet Victoria.  I will skein the yarn tomorrow and then do the hot bath.  

It’s time to call it an early night. So TTFN.  

5.04 Miles

 I walked 12,063 steps or 5.04 miles. 130 minutes was in my fat burn zone.  That was on top of a very bad nights sleep last night. No caffeine was consumed today.

One Old Pueblo Knitting Guild meeting where we learned the magic loop knitting trick. I am still not a huge fan, but it works well for a lot of knitters   So watch a YouTube tutorial and give it a try. Then decide for yourself   

Then lunch with John. 

The off to a new to me club called the Pomegranate Guild.  I don’t do stitchery with floss. So I worked on a pounder charity scarf. 

Then a walk around Tucson mall, because it is still to hot for me to walk outside except just after sunrise and right before sunset. 

I was too tired to eat dinner so I had mixed vegetables, goat milk yogurt with raspberries and lots of water.  

I am hoping for a good nights sleep.  

TTFN

Can we forget about today?

 Today was not my best day ever.  Cried while I worked my way through the upheaval.  By the end of the day I had a working plan.  That is all that matters.  

Tomorrow will be a better day.  

Weaving Thread

 Just for the heck of it, I spun some linen thread. On an uninformed whim I decided to weave it into the one of a kind scarf that I am weaving for myself.  It has taken over a week to weave that little portion at my current energy and Sjogren’s flare up level. What was I thinking?

Well I started weaving the linen thread before the flare up started.  Also it looks very nice. It is the portion between the blue and burnt orange.  Yes, the very colorful section. However, you have to look at the sock yarn that is woven in on both sides. The sock yarn looks huge by comparison.  Yes the sock yarn looks really big.

Did I mention that when weaving with thread that I had to be very careful. That there were a lot of short rows too. That meant that the up and down heddle frequently changed sides and that is really fun to keep track of  too.

The good news is that I can see the end of the warp.  I also swear that the next scarf will be woven on a 5 dent heddle. I really need a weaving project that will not take a few months for a scarf. Did I mention that it will use up some hand spun yarn too? This scarf does not have a lot of hand spun yarn. I am really looking forward to taking this off the loom.

The 5 Minute Rule

 I used the 5 minute rule in my knitting room today. I can say that I went for an extra 10 minutes and organized my roving basket. Put a few things away too. John even opened the sticky note package for me. I even managed to get on full bag of hand spun yarn off the floor  the stool cleared of everything but shawls   That is another 5 minute project.  

I also managed to wash and air dry my 2 pairs of sleeping mittens. John moved them to a sunny spot outside to dry faster   They were dry by dinner time.  

I think I need some knitting time too. I have a few patterns in progress that really need to be finished.  

 Tomorrow I will try to spend 5 minutes on another shelf.  

Send more energy please.  

Hat Number 2

 Another hat bites the dust, and another ones done. It used up 7 partial skeins of yarn.  A very colorful stash buster project.Yes, I cast on another hat so the needles and stitch markers would not be lonely.