Another Sunday in Summer

 Apparently it was not hot enough today for my freshly washed and thwacked yarn to dry in the garage.  At 108F or about 42C the yarn that was put out before lunch was not quite dry by bedtime. Maybe a high humidity of 18% is to blame.  It should be dry by morning.  

I almost caught up on my Tour de Fleece spin.  Instead of being 2 days behind, I am only 1/2 a day behind.  That is until tomorrow when I wake up to being 1 1/2 days behind.  Even with the e-spinner I have found that when I am having a difficult body day no matter how hard I try the yarn may just turn out a bit wonky.  Also I must remember to put the breaking cord on each time I change the bobbin.  Otherwise it really wonky things happen and it takes me a few minutes to figure it out.  With all that being said. I have had the e-spinner less than a month and overall it is going very well.   

I would love a change of scenery for some knitting.  However with the high at 109F I really don’t think outdoor knitting is really going to happen. It will be in the low 80’s at sunrise. Sighs.  So it will either be my audio book or watching the last episode of Geek Girl and finding another show to watch.  I really hope that they renew Geek Girl, it is cute and light television watching.   

TTFN

Adjusting for Extreme Heat

 Because of the extreme heat I have been staying at home with the exception of food shopping.  For some reason that I can’t fathom, my body is not tolerant of the heat this year.  Even a short trip to the mail box has me gulping down water and an urgent need to rest.  I am a summer person who up until this year loved the heat.  It made my body feel good.  This year not so much   I really hope that this is temporary.

So I have been getting to know my new e-spinner. I think I am up to some serious spinning now.  The learning curve was pretty flat.  The e-spinner is just starting to sing to me, which is always a good sign.  I thought that it would take about 2 dozen skeins of art yarn to get there.  I am totally floored that it took less than 6 skeins of yarn.  However, I did finish 6 skeins so that I would have another knitting kit.  

So tomorrow I am going to wash a bunch of newly finished skeins of art yarn.  None of the really fancy stuff.  Just the basic learning curve spinning.  It’s supposed to be 110f tomorrow, so if I get them washed early, they might be dry by bed time.  

TTFN

The Boomerang Effect

 Yesterday morning was very successful for me in getting some deep cleaning done.   Getting stuff ready to leave the house. All the while working on less is more.  Leavening the work space cleaner and more organized than I found it. I do strongly believe that in retrospect I used too many units of personal energy.  

All the work was done before breakfast.  After breakfast I took a very long nap, just because I had no energy left to move.  I spent the rest of yesterday dragging.  Not getting anything but resting done.  

Fast forward to today.  I woke up tired.  I had no energy for most of the day. My major accomplishment today was returning a mail order item that was too big.  John drove me across town while I napped.  I also completed stage 2 of the Tour de Fleece. I must say that the color way is working for my plan to keep adding 1 parcel a day until I an either halfway through the parcels or the bobbin is full.  Then start the next bobbin.  

I also started watching a light comedy on Netflix called Geek Girl.  The show is definitely binge worthy.  It is definitely chick lit so the guys might not want to watch it with you.  That is perfectly ok.  It is a very good show.  I really hope that we get another season or 6 more. 

I am enjoying the book Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson.  I am finding the characters interesting.  With just enough twist and turns to make it a page turner.  It is also a very good book to listen to while spinning yarn.  No pun intended.

As usual I paid for the fiber for the Tour de Fleece myself. All opinions are my own. There are no sponsorships for any of my recommendations .  TTFN.

The fiber from this Tour de Fleece spin is from Hilltop Cloud in Wales.  Today’s fiber is Cambrian, a mix of Welsh Mountain crossed with BFL.  It is a very nice spin.  

Twice in One Week

 I got up very early and hit the garage before it got too hot. I had a plan.  I had stuff and yarn that had to go.  So I now have 3 more empty boxes that I will give to John, so he can see what he has stored.  3 more large plastic tubs left the house filled with baskets that I no longer use, more yarn and jewelry display items that I no longer need. I also said goodbye to some more jewelry making supplies.  I am also sending my second drum carder to a new home because it is to big for any of my available space.   I will still keep the small carder that makes very small batts along with my hand carders. 

My end game goal is to have no more yarn or fiber in the garage at all.  In tandem I will be making a lot of new things for me so that I clear space in the house. I would ultimately like to not have fiber and yarn in the sewing / guest room either.  I know that will take some time.  It has taken me a couple of years to get to this point. So I really know it will take time.  

If anyone really wants to know. Today was all directed by me.  My family was not given a say so in what was leaving or done.  I did require some help from John, I am really not up to doing a lot of heavy lifting yet.  John did a very good job. He even got some baskets that were stored in the house out of my reach to go.  I personally suspect that he did not want me climbing to get things he can reach from the floor..

We also found things in the garage that could be recycled. So the recycling bin all 96 gallons is almost filled to the top. Somehow cleaning leads to more cleaning and organizing. 

We were out of the garage before 7:30A.M.. we were so hot we got some water and went straight to the shower before breakfast. The picture below shows what left the house today.  My friend and her daughter picked everything up after dinner.  The boxes were wider than my car.  The cardboard box had the carder in it.  

Filling the Car with DeStashed Yarn

 This morning I got into the garage very early, still in my pajamas to begin the last phase of my current de stash of yarn.  Included are novelty yarn, hand spun yarn and cones of yarn.  I filled 3 large plastic tote boxes to give to a friend to share with her family. Also one of the 3 tote boxes is newly emptied of yarn only to be filled up with yarn to give to my friend. I got to the garage a little after 6 am. By 7 am the garage was already in the 80’s and since it is monsoon season the humidity level is at 65% making the feel like temperature at least 5 degrees warmer.  

I had another small victory this morning  I landed up with an extra empty tote box. I set it to the side for later use.  The boxes in the garage are no longer in piles taller than me.  This takes a burden off me too wondering how I am going to use up all this yarn. It also gives access to fiber artists who have to normally drive miles and hours to get a very limited selection of yarn. This is a lovely win for everyone involved. 

I am normally a summer person who loves the hot weather.  However since I got sick earlier this year I have seemed to lost my tolerance for the heat.  I am hoping that it is just the medicine that I am currently taking.  I am doing my best to stay hydrated.  I am already at the 30 ounce of water mark for the day.  This is normal for summertime in the desert southwest. I don’t do sports drinks, but just plain water. For a treat I will add some fresh squeezed lemon juice.  I digressed a bit here.  

John loaded my car for me this morning.  As you can see from the pictures below my little pyramid of boxes did not all fit into the back of my car. I had to cover the back seat with a towel for the 3 rd box. I did say that they were the large tote boxes. They hold a whole lot of yarn. 

My plan to the rest of the day is to rest. Organize the house a bit.  Maybe do a load of laundry  or 2. Then do some knitting and spinning. 

As the days get shorter, I hope everyone is finishing up their holiday knitting projects. Also be sure to make something for yourself too. 

TTFN.  If you are not sure what TTFN means I would suggest a light summer time read of Winnie The Pooh. There is a 4 book series that were published between 1924 and 1928. They now come in a complete box set too. This would also be a good summer break from activities and just read with your children. 

The Next Round of De Stash

 The next round of fiber de stashing has started.  In just two 15 minute sessions I filled 2 kitchen trash bags 1/2 full.  One bag is filled with commercially made yarn. The other bag has smaller skeins on my hand spun yarn.  They will be filled up shortly.  Especially since every where I turn, I seem to be finding more yarn stashed away in the odd corner or nook.

This has come about because I can spin yarn faster than I can knit or weave it into finished objects. I am also slowing down due to my on going health issues.  I also don’t want to be one of those fiber artists who leave a house literally full of yarn and crafting supplies.  

In this way I can control where the yarn and fiber go.  I also want to make sure that a huge bonfire is not set off with my entire stash of yarn once I am gone.  The more yarn I get rid of the lighter I feel.  I know this does not make sense to many people.  Rehousing yarn that I will not be using takes the burden of having to plan projects for the Yarn I don’t want to use. It also makes many people very happy to receive boxes or bags full of free and new to them yarn. Also not using my limited knitting time on Yarn, I don’t want to use anymore. I have been knitting for slightly over 25 years now.  There is only 2 yarns that I still love that I have used since the beginning.  They are Sugar-n-cream and Bernat 100% cotton Crafters yarn.  

I don’t knit or spin with a lot of novelty yarns anymore.  I just don’t find them very interesting or versatile enough for my current needs.  I am more into the texture and tactical feel of the yarn.  How well it drapes. Ease of knitting with the yarn also matters more to me now.  Can I help save a heritage breed of sheep?

So bit by bit I am finding new homes for my de stashed yarn.  I am also making up kits with some of my hand spun yarn to sell at the Christmas in July Event at our next Old pueblo knitting guild meeting on July 17, 2024 at St. Phillips in the Hills Church at 4440 N Campbell Avenue, in the Murphy Hall. We start at 9:30 am promptly.  Besides having Christmas in July we will be having a knit in so you can bring any project you need help with.  You can even just sit and knit with new knitting friends. Please feel free to join us.  The first meeting is free to try out.  

The picture below is before I found 3 more tubs of yarn and more than several bags of hand spun yarn hiding in the knitting room.  The room you are looking at is the sewing / guest room.  

Just Bragging

 This is a well deserved win for me and my family.  I have been doing the dreaded challenge of finding a new swim suit without any polyester in it.  As a woman I have always found swimsuit shopping very hard.  There are a lot of body image issues involved.  As a child Twiggy was the body ideal.  Even as a child that body ideal was impossible for me to achieve.  Not even Twiggy can safely achieve that image. 

Body image had nothing to do with what my bone structure. I happen to have a larger bone structure. It had everything to do with a families relationship with food. Growing up mine had a lot of starch with moderate amounts of meat and even fewer vegetables and mostly canned fruit and vegetables because it was cheaper.  Mostly classified as a poor Eastern European poor families diet in the 1960’s. An immigrants diet.  

Not to mention that my mom constantly reminded me how fat I was no matter how boney I was.  That nobody liked fat girls.  So a perfect recipe for disaster in my own body image necessary to be comfortable in wearing a swimsuit. 

To my complete surprise today, I found a swimsuit 2 sizes smaller than my last 2 swimsuit purchases. I was totally blown away by the fact.  After going to 2 different stores.  Then trying to find the swimsuits.  I was blown away that they had moved the swimsuits to the clearance section even before summer solstice.  This required 2 walks around the women’s department.  Trying on the swimsuits.  Finally finding one that fit.  I was too tired to even do the happy dance.  I was disappointed that there was not a bench to sit on while waiting to check out.  

I came home and slept solidly for 2 hours.  Waking up too late to make our planned dinner.  We landed up eating scrambled eggs and mixed vegetables with fresh fruit for dessert.  

TTFN

3 Days in a Row

 I have not been doing much cooking since mid February when I got sick.  Tonight I hope marks a turn for the better.  Tonight was the third night in a row that I cooked dinner for us.  I know that they have not been first class dinners gourmet meals that take more than 30 minutes to cook. I feel that I have to start with cooking smaller meals. I am still  not eating much. So here is the weekly menu so far.  

Wednesday was an egg salad made with hard boiled duck eggs, white pepper, mayonnaise and celery.  Served over salad. With fresh fruit for dessert. 

Thursday was tuna salad made with white pepper, mayonnaise and celery.  John had his on bread. I had mine on iceberg lettuce.  Served with fresh avocado and vegetables.  With fruit for dessert.  

Tonight I went all out.  Garbanzo bean pasta with turkey meatballs and a sauce made with 1/2 a jar of Yo Mama’s Basil sauce, 2  four ounce cans of mushrooms and one 6 ounce can of sliced olives.  Served with mixed vegetables and fresh fruit for dessert.

As I said nothing fancy, but it was either homemade or semi homemade.  John did have to wake me up from my second nap of the day so that I could cook dinner tonight.

You might have noticed that I specifically called out for white pepper to be used.  White pepper is easier on the body.  It does not cause the tummy upset or reflux that black pepper causes.   It is also somehow easier to swallow.  I have been using it for years and grind it fresh each and every time I use it.  I get my white pepper corns at Penzey’s Spices.  I usually go to the store to get my spices, but have bought them online too at www.penzeys.com.  They also have all kinds of recipes on their website.  

*** Penzey’s Spices did not pay for being listed here.  If you check out my spice rack about 1/2 my spices are from Penzey’s Spices.  This is a brand that I personally love and use all the time.  I purchased all my own spices.  Also I purchased my Yo Mama’s Basil sauce this morning, we also paid for that.  It is my favorite brand of pasta sauce.  

Plying Yarn

 I took my Hansen mini e-spinner pro on another test drive today.  I set things up to ply yarn.  It took me a few minutes to change the direction of the spin to clockwise.  There were a few bumps that were soon fixed.  The e-spinner is very intuitive.  I finished a skein and 1/2 of art yarn plying.  The only other way that I have gotten my plying so consistent is with a Golding or Forrester drop spindles.  I have not managed that level of consistency with either of my spinning wheels.  

I find it very interesting that I can achieve great results in plying with very old school spinning equipment and very new school equipment.  Just not on the middle ground of equipment.  I will have to ruminate on this for a few days to try to figure this out.  If you have any ideas or opinions, I would be very interested in hearing from you.  

My only regret with my Hansen mini Pro e-spinner is that I did not order 5 bobbins, I only ordered 3 purple ones to match the wood.  I am sure that this is easily fixed when I have time.  

I do need the input from my younger readers.  Today while shopping at Sephora.  I was checking out and the sales person who I did not know called me mom instead of ma’am.  Is that a new thing among younger people to call older women mom or was she just not sure of the etiquette of the situation.  I was really taken a back by this.  Then probably spent too much time overthinking it. If this is a corporate thing, just stop, it’s rude and some people who are older have never had kids so they don’t want to be called mom. Please feel free to weigh in on this.  

TTFN

A First

 This is my first full bobbin for my Hansen mini E-spinner Pro.  It is a combination of Dorset Horn and Charollaise wool.  I started with the 4 ounces of the  Charollaise Wool and had enough room to add 4 ounces of the Dorset Horn Wool. Since this is going to be art yarn, I saw no problem with using 2 different breeds of sheep on the same bobbin. If you are a breed specific yarn spinner this is the point that you slowly walk away and do your own thing.  I am just tasting new to me fibers on my e-spinner. 

Tomorrow I will ply it with nylon novelty yarn.  Finish processing the wool.  Then weave it into scarfs.  They should make lovely holiday gifts.  

We tried a restaurant that we had not gone to in 6 years.  First off they did not have half of what I ordered.  Second, they asked John what I was going to have instead of what I had ordered, because of course they were out of it too. Really asking a man what his wife wants to eat. This is so 1950’s.  So my dinner consisted of 2 dinner salads, charred chicken and vegetables.  I really want to know how in world do you char carrots and leave a badly chard carrot to serve. If this is a new style of cuisine, I strongly object.  What did that carrot ever do to anyone. They also skipped the edamame that I ordered too.  I nibbled on some of John’s extra veggies too. Did I mention that the air conditioner was limping along too.  It went well with the food.  I think I will give it another 6 years before we go back. I will skip the name of the restaurant to protect the hard working wait staff.  

Where did Monday Go?

 Although I am feeling much better. My energy level leaves much to be desired.  After sleeping in and then taking a solo trip to Target for a few things,  it still required a nap after lunch.  I am snailing  my way back to health.  Maybe more like the inch worm  moving very slowly to get to where it is going.  I might now be able to move faster than a snail.

On the spinning front I should be able to get about 8 ounces of spun roving on the bobbin.  That will give me about 2 skeins of art yarn.  The art yarn will then be used to make holiday presents for the kids who use the clothing bank I support. Mostly handwoven scarfs because they go so fast, especially with bulky yarn. Don’t worry I have plenty of roving and novelty yarn to use up.   

TTFN

My Hansen mini Pro e-Spinner

 I am practicing with my new Hansen mini pro e- spinner.  I am slowly getting the hang of it.  I am using up white fiber that I have wanted to taste or for the non spinner to try.  I am practicing a little more each day with an hours limit so I don’t tire my hands out. This is so that I save some hand time for knitting later.

The spinning is getting a little better each time I sit and spin. I should be up to 15 Micron Merino wool by late this year or early next year.  As with anyone I teach, I  am starting out with a higher micron count for easy of learning.  The higher the micron count the less slippery the roving or fiber will be. As with all things spinning if you spin left handed like me you just do the opposite of what the directions in the book say.  Just for your information the left handed spinner draws the roving out with their right hand and use the left hand for control. 

I have finally found the right e-Spinner for me   My advice is to try a lot of different e-spinners before you buy. When you find the right one it will click just like your spinning wheels or drop spindles.  

In the picture below I have about 5 ounces of spun fiber on the bobbin have you noticed that my bobbin matches my e-spinner?  Once it is filled, I will ply this with novelty yarn and turn it into holiday present for kids by weaving one of a kind scarfs.  I really do hope that the kids will like them.  

****Please note that this e-spinner is a birthday present from my husband. The comments and opinions are my own. I am not being paid or compensated to write this blog post by the Hansen Company or any other company. ****

Setting Things Up

 Today I opened my birthday present. I know it was early. But I am having a hard time coping with my current health issues.  So we opened my present after dinner.  It is a Hansen mini e spinner pro.  I started putting it together and immediately ran into the left handed verses right handed spinning issues.  I have sent in my question and as soon as I have an answer I can start spinning.  

Now off to knit.  

Family Time

 We had a lovely visit with our daughter last weekend.  I still do not feel up to traveling.  We had planned to travel to visit her and celebrate our 40th Wedding Anniversary. Then do a little more exploring before heading back home.   

She took morning walks with John. Followed by awesome breakfast conversation.  We did a lot of taking.  Just having the alone time with her was awesome. As usual we were very bad with pictures so none will be posted. 

She did a deep dive into my jewelry making supplies while I napped.  She created a beautiful one of a kind necklace.  I sent her home with both glass beads and pearls. I can’t wait to see what she creates.  The only lesson that she really needed was how to handle the jump rings.  What to me years to perfect took her less than 10 minutes.  She is just so talented and awesome.  

We really appreciated that she took time out of her very busy life to spend time with us.  

40 Years

 What does forty years of marriage feel like?  Well I can tell you that it went by in a blink of the eye.  There are ups and downs. Things don’t always turn out as planned, but somehow we got through it.  There are dreams that had to be put on hold and then tossed aside as no longer realistic.  There were new dreams to be made that tried to fill the void that the old dreams left.  Don’t get me wrong they were good.  However nothing replaces the dreams of youth when everything was possible.  I have a few regrets but many, many more joys in life.  

Would I do it all over again? Yes, with one caveat.  Only with this man at my side. We did not always agree with the mind of an artist versus the mind of science and logic.  Although deep down our core values were the same.  

We were over joyed to have 2 beautiful and thoughtful children.  They are as different as night and day. They loved us and most importantly each other.  They learned to work together as only siblings can.  They did, in my opinion, grow up much too fast. In their opinion not fast enough. They were strong and confident enough to follow their own dreams and path in life.  I am so glad that they allowed us to be part of that life. It is a great privilege to be able to call them our children. They both took us on great adventures.  I think the adventures that they took us on were some of the best adventures in our lives.  

Life as newlyweds was awesome.  Then on to children. Then balancing our core family 4 was very time consuming.  Each child with their own diverse needs.  That was a very hectic period in our lives.  Then caring for some of our elders which made life even more hectic.  It literally took me years to dig myself out of that overwhelmed time of life.  

Now as we contemplate the next forty years together we still have plans and places to go.  Try to keep up with us if you can.  We do know that the best of life is yet to come.  

Good Times

 We have had a special visitor for a few day.  I am trying not to over do it, but of course I am failing miserably.  We are having a great time.  I am sure we will pack as much fun as we can into this time. 

In other news. My feet have made it down to a medium width.  No wonder I was sliding out of some old favorite shoes.  I found a pair I was looking for in an independent shoe store in Massachusetts.  They are a discontinued shoe from the manufacturer. So I was very lucky to get a pair in the color and size I wanted.

I am revisiting my Handspun Sherbet Shawl pattern and knitting it in a lace weight yarn. On US 4 knitting needles.  Yes, I am actually enjoying knitting with this yarn from Queensland.  I am actually very mindful when knitting with this yarn. I picked up the yarn on LYS day at Grandmas Spinning Wheel here in Tucson.  I will release a sister pattern when I am done.  I am so far behind in getting new patterns out of the house.  

Please remember that Monday is a solemn Day for many people in the military and Gold Star families.  This is a day to remember the sacrifices of many good men and women so that we may enjoy our freedom.  Please be extra kind this weekend.  

13.5 Inches

 I have taken in a skirt I wore to my daughter’s wedding by 13.5 inches. The new elastic waist band is 13.5 inches shorter than what I took out.  I can still wear it with flats.  Let me say the altering a 100% silk skirt with a loose weave is harder than it looks.  I would like to thank Vicky at Grandmas Spinning Wheel for the suggestion of using 100% cotton thread in the sewing machine.  It worked out well.  

I do not like the special needle that I needed to use with silk.  The eye was too small for the automatic threader. I had to turn my sewing machine on its side to see the tiny eye of the needle.  This was done 4 times.  The needle did not seem to want to hold the thread in between my short areas of stitches.  

The only decision left is do I hand wash it in Soak Wash or take it to the dry cleaners?  

I will say that I really don’t feel like I have really lost that many inches or that much weight.  I am wondering if that is because my weight loss stalled when I got sick in mid February? I am getting really tired of being sore, out of breath and almost nonexistent energy.  I still am open to borrowing someone’s magic wand.  

Although I am knitting more. I am not getting as much knitting done as I thought I would.  Today’s finish project will be featured in a new knitting pattern.  This will come out as soon as I can possibly get it finished.  

TTFN

Mother’s Day and More

 I had a good Mother’s Day.  John gave 110% compared to my bodies 10%.  The day after our 40th wedding anniversary will mark the 3 month mark in dealing with my current health issues.  I am so over it.  If anyone has a magic wand that they know works and is willing to lend it to me, I would really appreciate it.  Otherwise I will be sitting around waiting for my body to get its act together.  My mind is already starting to go to the I have got to go and do things mode.

I have learned this week why a lot of anniversary jewelry is in multiples of 3.  The answer seems very simple if you give it a quick think. No, the answer is not 49.  It’s yesterday, today and tomorrow.  I just realized tonight that the piece I got for our 20th anniversary also has 3 stones.  It is a very nice sediment.  

Tomorrow’s  plans include finishing up a couple of sewing repairs. Finishing 3 dog pillows.  The folding up the sewing room for a while.  I bet once I have everything off the floor, I can convince Roomba to vacuum it a couple of times to get the light stuff off before we bring in the regular vacuum.  Between making jewelry, winding yarn and sewing the floor hangs on to a lot of lint.  Then a good dusting and vacuuming one more time.  I never know when that floor will be vacuum again so I might as well do it a couple of times.  

In knitting news I will have another pounder scarf done this week.  I think I have my birthday present picked out. I just need to talk to one more friend before I can order it.  

TTFN

After 49 Months

 I know that I don’t do a lot of driving around town.  I do have definite proof now. This was my odometer reading as I was leaving home today.  Yes, the light was red and I was stopped when I took this picture.  I finally hit 12,001 miles after having my car for 4 years and 1 month.  I was being to wonder if this day would ever happen. Considering that this is the average 1 year mileage milestone for a car in the United States is 12,000 miles, just wow. 

Now the real question we are all asking at this point is….Does the legendary driver…you know her by her moniker….The Little Old Lady from Pasadena drive more or less than I do?   

In other news I have picked out a new e-spinner today.  It spins as well as any drop spindle that I have.  I can compare it to a Forrester, Golding or Bosworth.  I did not think that was possible. Now I just have to pick out the wood and accessories for it. Since it has scotch tension I will have to see if John will be able to print me more bobbins or order more with the wheel.   Think that after chores tomorrow we will discuss wood choices. I initially thought that having very hard wood would protect it in falls. Not so much.  Apparently the dynamics of hard wood, it would cause it to split. Where’s a softer wood would just dent a little. John thinks the best choice is not to be klutzy around the e-spinner. I will show pictures once it arrives.  I will think about a battery for travel too. 

Recovery Might Be Possible

 I felt better today than since the middle of February when this whole thing started. I still kept things easy and took a nap.  I am going to bed early too. 

I Over Did It Today

 Today, after a very slow start to my day, I  cleaned out half my closet.  I managed to fill a large box for Goodwill that John will have to take in.  I then hung up the new shirts.  Then proceeded to go through the other half of the closet rack.  I pulled out clothes that I will never wear again and added them to the Goodwill box to make it even heavier.  Pulled some clothing out that I think will now fit. Then sorted the clothes into light and dark wash.  Then I did one,  just one load of laundry by myself.  It is now drying in the garage.

Apparently some of my clothes thought it would be a fun idea to get longer with out telling me   So one of my favorite skirts witless have to have the waist sewn down to make it shorter. Because of the design it, can’t be hemmed.  I did a brief search and could not find it in a petite size  they only come with a 36 inch long skirt which is now too long. Sighs.

Apparently my body thought that I did too much work today and let me know in no uncertain terms that this will not be tolerated right now. So after some rest I made a very light supper of scrambled eggs and mixed vegetables, with fruit for dessert.  

After dinner we watched some television.  I spent most of the night perfecting my left handed knitting skills.  I have to say that I am getting faster and my stitches more even.  I am working on a pounder scarf while we watch television.  I currently have 3 pounder scarfs in progress.  One for television, one for knitting with friends and one by the computer.  Not to be remiss, I also have 3 shawls in progress, one hat and 3 scarfs. I should really work on finishing some of the projects so I can start casting on more projects.  I can’t manage to do one project from start to finish right now. I am just a bit scattered and out of focus.  

TTFN, I am calling it an early night. 

The Last Resort

 Today a decision was made out of necessity.  If you have been reading my blog for any length of time you know that I am not a fan of fast fashion.  I was born into a generation of children who learned to take shoes to the shoe maker until they could no longer be repaired.  Clothing was handed down between siblings.  Sometimes even friends and neighbors.  Buttons were routinely mismatched if like me you were at the end of the hand me down chain.  Holes patched if needed.  However clothing was made to last like my Kitchen Aide K5A which I bought in 1978 from Fedco. I spent a whole paycheck on the mixer.  It is still working and on my kitchen counter.  The store I bought it from is long gone.  They no longer offer parts to repair it.  To get a comparable mixer I will have to go to the top of the line with a larger bowl.  The first washing machine we bought lasted 25 years, you are lucky to get 5 years now.  

I am digressing. All but 4 of my summer T-shirts were bought before COVID19.  They are beginning to show their age.  Most I no longer wear, but keep for emergencies.  I have tried all my usual clothing stores and there were no T-shirts to be found.  So we went to a store that is in my humble opinion the essential fast fashion store.  They did have a lot of 100% cotton T-shirts.  I started looking and got a few to try on.  Most fit and looked ok. The difference between fast fashion and mid range fashion is the fit.  John went through the piles of shirts and even picked some that I had purposely left behind.  Some looked really good.  He does have a better eye for what looks good on me even when I don’t.  I even did the unthinkable for be, I bought shirts with patterns instead of just solids.  With solid shirts , I can rotate them through many different seasons. With patterns there is a tendency to go out of fashion. I also shopped in the regular sized clothing section.  Not a single plus size T-shirt in the mix. Yes, I am bragging, but I worked very hard to get here.  

After a quick stop for lunch I promptly fell asleep for over 3 times the amount of time we spent shopping. That would be about 3 hours of sleep. So tomorrow I will pull out all the old shirts and decide which pile they will go to rags or Goodwill.  Then I will carefully go through today’s purchase and decide if there are any that I really don’t need or want. Hang up the keepers and bag the returns.  

Right now clothes shopping is very stressful on my body. This compromise worked out well even if the shirts don’t make it past summer.  It is taking a long time to heal from the March 1 weekend.  I am inching along in my healing.  

TTFN

It’s Nice to Have Friends

 A friend of mine who just happens to own my favorite soap shop in Tucson, gave me this beautiful saguaro cactus soap for my newly remodeled bathroom.  It looks wonderful in the handmade soap dish that I bought there a while ago.  

This is not a paid advertisement.  This is a personal request that you just might consider supporting a small business owned by a woman.  I have been buying my soap at Tracy’s shop for years. Did I mention that Tracy makes the soap herself? In my humble opinion, supporting small businesses in the community has a positive effect on the entire community.  

Tracy does put together awesome gift baskets and bags.  With Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and graduations coming up this would be your chance to get a great gift and help support the local Tucson economy.  

Artemesia is located at 6538 East Tanque Road, Tucson Arizona, across the street from Trail Dust Town. In the same plaza as my favorite Local Yarn Shop, Grandmas Spinning Wheel, which is also a woman owned shop. 

If you can not make it to the store in person you may use the website Artemesia There is a large selection of soaps, bath salts, lotions and scrubs for both men and women.  If you have dry skin most soaps have moisturizers in them.  

Which Way to Knit

 I went to my knitting group today. I have to admit that the last half hour of knitting, I was getting very tired. I had been working on a right handed knitting project, when for no apparent reason I started knitting left handed. Then back to right handed. Then left.  Then right. Then left. Then something did not look right or was that left.  

I was knitting on 16 inch circular needles with double stranded yarn.  So I tinked a few stitches and thought I had corrected the problem. This happened 4 more times. Then I decided to tink back until everything looked right no matter how many rows had to go.  It turns out that it was exactly 3 rows.  

For those of you that do not knit, tinking which is knit spelled backwards with an “ing” for grammar.  It is not a very difficult task. However when you add one or more extra yarns it becomes a mini nightmare.  I had 180 stitches of nightmare.  

How am I going to solve this problem you might ask.  It is very simple. I have made markers to remind me whether a project is right handed or left-handed.  So I am going around the house to all my works in progress and mark them all. This way I will always stop at no more of one row of tinking. At the very worst I will have to stop assembling dog pillows to make more of these markers.  

Also I think I should stop knitting when I get tired. Just sit back and enjoy the talk.  No tinking involved.  

I would also love to hear how other people have solved this problem.  

Then it might just be nap time.  

Getting More Organized

 The best thing that I have found about getting more organized is that it has been taking me less time to find things.  Right now I am knitting a 2 of 3 Shawl Study.  I remembered that I had an extra 1/2 skein of the gray linen yarn that I can add to the shawl to make it a double. It took less than 5 minutes to find the rest of the ball of yarn and make sure it was the right yarn.  It was. Fantastic   

Following in that direction I sent off a 15 pound box yarn to another knitter.  I know the yarn is going to a good home and will be used and appreciated.  It is the equivalent of sending off a whole tub of yarn.  If you are a knitter with stash beyond your lifetime it is time to occasionally find another knitter who would appreciate the yarn.  I am sure that your spouse, children would love it leaving the house. The other knitter will really like some yarn that would have not been possible any other way.  Also don’t accept payment for it. Just have the other knitter pay it forward by donating a finished scarf or 2 to the charity or their choice.  

TTFN

The Snail is Ahead by a Whole Lap

 I am still in the very long process of healing from the March 1st medical emergency.  It’s has been a slow and bumpy journey. The things I still need to learn is how to sit quietly and rest. By far this is the hardest task I have ever had to accomplish. Also it’s ok if it takes me more than one day to accomplish a chore.  I did not have the energy last month to fold towels so I took my own advice to a new extreme.  In case you have forgotten my favorite laundry quote is “Laundry is like fine wine. No laundry shall be folded before its time.” So I went a month without folding bth towels. Guess what? No one complained about the wrinkles in the towels.  They still work well when hung on the towel rack.  I might just do that again this month. 

I also got new book in the mail that I pre ordered. Advocate by Eddie Ahn.  It is the very first graphic novel that I have ever read.  So far I am 66 pages into the book.  I am impressed by Mr. Ahn’s original art work. His ability to overcome adversity seems to be something I could learn from this book.  I do have an affinity for audio books so I can read while knitting.  I do believe this book needs to be a spiney version.  I am really enjoying it.  The quality of the paper and ink make it very easy to read with my dyslexia. I also tend not to read when exhaustion has set in.  That is why I have not finished the book yet. 

Well it is getting late and I have 1 activity tomorrow.  So I do need my rest.  

The Finished Bathroom

 So sorry it took so long to get the final pictures out. I have been dealing with the aftermath of March 1st.  Yes, it still is hanging around.  I am still tired and tending to over do it. Which results in more naps and down time..

So here is the final finished version of our new bathroom. I just love the new handles too, they don’t catch my clothing.

New Things

 We started getting new things in pretty quickly and the quality was so much better than the big box stores.  The cabinets, mirror frame with mirror and the medicine cabinet were all handcrafted by an artisan in Tucson that our contractor Tony knows.  I like using local when ever I can.  By the way if you live in the Tucson area and want Tony’s number just let me know and I will get it to you.  

The first step in rebuilding was putting in the new vanity.  Some of the other parts are in the wheelchair accessible shower that we put in for Eric.  So this bathroom has had smaller projects to make it more useful for us. Now it’s all about making it pretty for me. 

As you can see we were able to reuse the vanity top which saved us both time and money.  We were able to get the finish on the new vanity to match the tone of the marble.  We also did not charge out the tile because it was still in really good shape and is the expensive anti slip tile.  

More to come tomorrow   

Where Did the 1980’s Go

 Our house was built in the mid 1980’s. As a result our house has a very distinct 1980’s vibe.  We have been slowly chipping away at the 1980’s.  This bathroom is one of the last vestiges of the 1980’s in our house. So let’s see what happened next. 

We have an empty room with walls that are waiting to be patched up.  The light fixture will be the last to go.  The plumbing still needs to be updated.  Although I am the cause of a sight delay in the middle of the job.  

What’s Happening?

What is Tony doing to the sink? Any ideas yet?

 

Can You Solve a Mystery?

 What does me cleaning out my knitting room? Taking out 3 bags of trash. Putting things away. Cleaning up the clutter that is not art related.  Have to do with the picture in this blog? 

 Come back tomorrow for more clues.  

A Mixed Day

 Things got kind of strange this afternoon.  The cup that I stored my first pair of Apple Air Pods showed up this afternoon in the iRobot storage area.  There was a lot of dust in the cup and faded marks where the Air Pods were.  The Air Pods were no where to be found.  

The question remains how did the dish made its way from my knitting table in the den to the robot storage area?  A mystery still surrounds what happened to the Air Pods.  

I am starting to feel better.  I still don’t know my limits. We made a lovely soup today.  It left me tired even though John did all the chopping.  All I did was add things to the pot and stir.  Next time I will bring in a stool to do more sitting.  

I did finish one end of a pounder scarf, because I a changing colors after the next skein of blue. I am 47.5 inch done out of 74 inches. 

A Funny Thing Happened

 Well you all remember the sweater that was borrowed without permission.  That it came back to me smelling like Fabreze and cigarettes. With stretch marks on the seams. 

The story continues with me washing it in a hot water bath of Dawn with a hot water rinse then hanging to dry.  I treated the sweater like it was raw fiber.  No agitation or wringing. Just squeezing the water out. Then letting it drip dry.  Well the cigarette smell was gone.  Thank goodness.  Now it just smelled like Dawn dish soap.  

The next wash was a cold water wash in Soak Wash with some mild agitation.  Followed by cold water rinses. I did 2 rinses just to make sure.  Followed by hanging in the garage to dry.  

Well today I needed a light sweater. So I went to the garage to check the smell of the wool sweater.  It smell perfectly fine and free of order.  So I put it on.  It had shrunk 2 sizes, which was fine because I have lost so much weight since I bought it  for Teri’s wedding weekend.  The seams sealed themselves back to no visible damage. I was very lucky that the sweater did not felt. I do believe that this was do to carefully handling it during the hot water wash phase. The sleeves hit tight at my wrist like when I first bought the sweater.  When John came home he said the sweater looked great.  It now fit perfectly.  

So I guess good things can come back from a complete disaster.  Although I still say the sweater was stolen and not borrowed.  Borrowed implies that they had asked for my permission to borrow my sweater.  It would not have been given since it was my only everyday and dressy sweater.  I don’t find it necessary to keep a lot of sweaters on hand because I don’t use them much.  

So now I have two everyday/ dressy sweaters.  I really hope that this does not make me a clothes horse.  

A Comparison of Knitting

 The only way I can tell if I am knitting a project right handed or left handed is the little stitch markers with the L or R.  So I guess it does not matter that I have 2 different knitting styles. What matters is that I can increase the amount of time that I get to knit every day.  

I know that the scarf is in garter stitch and the pounder scarf is in stockinette. However in my humble opinion the quality is the same in both scarfs.  The quality is the only thing that matters.  

The New Normal

 Today was my new version of a rest day. It was time to recover and rest from a busy week. I had 3 activities outside of the house since Monday.  This did not use to be considered a busy week for me, however since March 1st this is my new and hopefully temporary normal.  Spaced throughout the day I managed to bring the clothes from the clothes line and get them to the right closets.  Fold 2 loads of laundry, 1 load separated by an hours rest and then the second load.  No I did not get all the clothes put away.  

My major accomplishment was finishing the last of Fibber McGee’s closet. Now when the closet door is opened nothing falls out. No need to get out of the way of falling objects.  Although John did remind me that I still have a slew of UFO’s to finish so that when my sewing room becomes the guest room a closet will be available.  The point is well taken. I can’t start anything new until the closet is empty of knitting projects.  No that does not include the cones of yarn on the shelf.  Just the project bags on hangers in the closet.  Thank goodness. 

I had lots of mandatory rest time. My body was pretty much in charge of that.  So I listened to music and tried to relax and not think about what needed to be done or what I wanted to do with my day.  I personally find this really very hard.  I am used to being in motion until I sit down for a minute or 2 and wake up a few hours later.  This is the same but not the same now.  I can’t clean or move for hours at a time. I am literally living my life by the Zenning 5 minutes at a time book.  This is a book I highly encourage everyone to read.  I have found it extremely useful.  

Recovered Sweater - Speechless

 The sweater that went missing at the December Old Pueblo Knitting Guild meeting was returned to me today. The person who took it, turned it back in as a lost sweater. Yes, it was in one of my baskets with a couple of things on top of it when it was taken.  Everything that was on top of it came home fine in December.  

The sweater reeks of Fabreze, which means that the person who borrowed it without permission smoked in it. They were trying to cover their tracks. Like me the non smoker me,  isn’t going to notice.  The sweater was also damaged. She was a bit heavier than me and the seams took a beating. She just needed a sweater for when she was in town. I am so sorry that was my only winter sweater, because you took it without permission I had to go buy a new one. Not to mention going over my day and tearing everything apart looking for it for days. If your finances were tight you could have gone to Goodwill or any to her resale shop. If your finances were that tight, why did you travel hundreds of miles to winter in Tucson? Also since you can afford cigarettes, you can afford to shop at Goodwill. All it would take to buy a sweater at Goodwill is to just give up buying 4 packages of cigarettes.  Hey, you’re a knitter right? So why did you not take yarn from the guild stash and knit yourself one?

If I knew who you were, I would bill you for the new sweater that I had to buy because you took mine.  I don’t know how you were raised. If you went to church that should have been covered under thou shall not steal. If you went to private or public school anywhere in the world, that would have been covered every year you went to school. That is a detention offense in many schools. 

I am absolutely speechless. I know that I have ranted about this incident. What I really need to know is how do you justify your actions? 

Right now I am washing the sweater in dawn soap hoping the nicotine washes out of the sweater. It did not work , the sweater still reeks of nicotine. I will let it dry and then take it to the dry cleaners to see if they can remove the horrendous odor of nicotine. I should bill you for that too. If that does not work I want you to know that you absolutely ruined one of my favorite winter wardrobe choices.  

I will never understand some people.  

Driving Today

 Don’t get me wrong I love driving.  I started driving at 15 1/2 with a learners permit.  Got my 1st drivers license at 16. I did a lot of driving and carpooling before I even left home.  Except for the odd ball driver on the road, I found driving to be very relaxing.  I loved the journey, no matter how short.  The sense of freedom.  

Something changed at the in mid February when my arm started giving me trouble.  It got worse at the beginning of March when driving became tiring even for short drives.  Not that I have done an exceptional amount of driving since Covid19 hit. My now 4 year old car has not even cracked 12,000 m8les yet.  Think about that for a minute.  The average driver drives 12,000 miles a year in the United States.  I am barely driving 3,000 miles a year.  I hope that this means that my car will last longer.  

Take today for instance.  I drove across town to go to the doctor's office.  The drive left me tired enough that I was actually short of breath when walking and talking   Don’t worry, the doctor said it would happen during the recovery period.  That’s what all the resting is supposed to help.  The drive home was uneventful.  I was exhausted by the time I got home.  I was still too exhausted after dinner to even knit or play computer games.  By the way John made an excellent dinner tonight. After dinner I just put my feet up and idly watched television.  I really do hope that I can sleep tonight.  I really need some rest.  I need some activity in my life, even if it is sitting and reading. 

I am really looking forward to my body healing enough so that I don’t get so tired just driving.  

In 5

 My new working criteria is five minutes of working an hour or so of rest or more. This seems to be what my body likes right now. With this in mind, I am slowly tackling the closet. We nicknamed Fibber McGee and Molly‘s closet. I Have already moved the lot of stuff out of there. Some stuff was thrown out some stuff was charity and you might even find some stuff on eBay.

To give my hands a break, I have some projects that I’m knitting left-handed and some projects that I’m knitting right handed. To keep track of the projects, I am marking the projects with special stitch markers with either an R for right handed knitting or an L for left-handed knitting. I made a dozen today six of each, but I think I should’ve made a few more. Hopefully I can catch up with some UFOs while I’m resting And won’t need as many. Below are the little stitch markers before assembly.  

I over did today.

 I learned today that no matter how good I feel, over doing any activity can lead to jaw pain and a very long unscheduled nap.  It also leads to more consequences like not being able to knit at night. My hands were just too tired tonight to do anything. So tomorrow I plan to slow down again.

I have very big aspirations for tomorrow. Doing one load of laundry and having John help me put back a Closet that I tore apart. Doing some paperwork. Just maybe making some stitch markers or knitting. 

For tonight all I want to do is sleep.  Wish me luck.  

The New “Busy Day”

 I had a very productive day. I managed to get 3 things off my to do list.  Found out that a restaurant that we have not been to in a score of years had some really good food and lots of options for me.  We will be going back.  

Yes I am still tired.  I took another nap today.  I seem to have lots of energy right afterwards, but it does not last long.  

I would also like to thank Vicky and Michael from Grandma’s Spinning Wheel for being gracious enough to move me to a weaving class in December. I know that I will not be able to do a full day of weaving at this point in time.  Your kindness is very much appreciated by us right now.  I must have made someone’s day who was on the waiting list.  

The Snail Won the Race Today.

 I am not regaining energy as fast as I thought I would.  After just 1 hour sitting and knitting with friends today I was exhausted.  I spent the entire afternoon binge watching television or sleeping. I normally reserve television watching for the evening.  I am following doctor’s advice not to over tax myself. It is harder than I thought. I thought it would be really, really hard.  

My plans after knitting with friends, I would just sit at the computer to type and edit new patterns. Not to taxing, not an energy drain. I did not work on a single pattern. Oh well, there is always a few weeks from now.  

The Calm After The Storm

 Yesterday after talking to the 3rd doctor in 2 days, I finally have my head wrapped around last weekend.  Partly be cause I finally had a definite answer. Be cause of it I am less anxious and can get on with the very slow recovery process.  We are talking months not days. 

I am designing a new shawl.  I will play catch up on a lot of UFO’s, one project at a time.  I will catch up with getting patterns listed.  I do have one question for you though. If I open an Etsy store for my patterns would you use it if you currently do not use Ravelry?  

I also have another question.  Does anyone else knit both right and left handed. If so do you have a different knitting style for each hand? The knitting nerd in me is curious.  

TTFN.  It’s rest time again.  

A Slow Down

 Right now I am going through a medically mandated slow down.  I am going to rest as much as possible. I am going to be honest, this is not going to be easy for me.  However, the more I rest, hopefully it will allow my body to heal faster.  To that end I started writing a new pattern tonight. It is a light weight summer shawl.  

I have frogged it once.  Made some major changes.  Now I like it much better.  When I have a bit more energy I will work on getting other patterns out the door.  

Slowly Getting Thins Done

 Today I managed to fix a whole lot of broken jewelry. My hands are finally feeling better. I changed out earring wires to something more this century for a few pairs that I bought in the 1970’s and 80’s.  New wires just gave them a slightly more modern look.  I fixed a couple of chains, to fix a couple of necklaces.  I am even good enough now to manage the smallest jump rings.  I also unknotted 2 out of 3 chains.  Unknotting chains is a lot like untangling yarn, who would have guessed that.  

Tomorrow energy permitting I will start on a small pile of stitch markers for me.  I have some earring singles, charms and beads to turn into stitch markers.  Not that I need anymore stitch markers.  If I lose a stitch marker a day it would be at least a year before I would run out of stitch markers.  But I like to try new things and make my knitting pretty.  I think of stitch markers as jewelry for knitting.   

I managed to make 3 out of 4 post hospital doctor’s appointments / calls before breakfast.  The last call was put in after lunch.  I got very tired just sitting at the computer looking things up.  The hospital worker said I should start to have more energy by Wednesday. I also binged watched 3 hours of The Crown on Netflix while adding 2 inches to a pounder scarf.  

Below is a picture of the jewelry repairs that I made today.  

Not as Planned

 This weekend did not go as planned.  We were planning to go to a vegan dinner event on Saturday night. Then off to Phoenix for an art show today.  None of that happened. Instead we spent a very long boring weekend in Tucson without going out anywhere.  

The lesson in this is do not get so attached to your plans.  Things happen. Life happens. You have to roll with the punches.   “Que  Sara Sara. What will be, will be. “, from my favorite Doris Day Song.  

A New Spot

 I think I have found a new favorite reading place.  I have decided not to share the location. I know this is totally selfish on my part.  I just don’t want to arrive and find that I have absolutely no place to sit and read.  

Sad Resignation

 My portable arm rest came today. So did my new c pap machine.  I know it’s going to be a while before I can knit again.  To that end I have cleaned off table space. Gotten my art paper, pencils and paints. I will begin working on a modern art piece tomorrow.  I know using my left hand I will need all the flexibility I can get.  After that it will be reading.  After all I do have a stack of books that want to be read and find new homes.  

I promise to post pictures even if they are only fridge ready.  

Today’s Ganga

Because of the pain in my right shoulder and arm the decision was made to move into s smaller, lighter weight purse.  So I went to my favorite Goodwill store and found 4 new to me purses.  One is for events that require see through purses.  Two others were vintage in very good shape.  The last was a new with tags purse.  Three were made of cotton or other natural materials.  One was a see through vinyl.  For all four purses the grand total was $32.00 plus tax.  By the way the new purse with tags was originally priced at $45.00.  So getting 4 for $32 was my Ganga for the day. 

Ganga is Tucson speak for an amazing deal.  I changed into one of the new purses when I got home. It is a very early SAK purse.   I did not think I needed a new purse until I tried to put my new iPhone into my purse.  My iPhone model 8 used to fit perfectly. My new phone is at least twice the size so it did not fit.  Technology upgrades sometimes have a big effect on purses and other modes of carrying them around.  It’s not like I can stop everything and knit a phone holder right now. 

It was a bit  too much driving for my arm so I came home in pain.  John and I have a funny feeling that more tests are going to be required. I should find out later this week.  As long as I sit and do nothing else, there is absolutely no pain.  The moment I move wrong or too much the pain is back with vengeance.  

On A Fiber Hiatus

 Well it seemed inevitable to everyone else but me.  The arthritis has moved to both shoulders. The right shoulder is worse than the left.  Until the pain goes away on its own or we figure out what the real damage is and repair it, I will not be working with fiber.  

So the game plan is to rest and read.  I know I did child care and reading until my 40th birthday when I went to try something new on a whim and became hook on fiber.  Well in the last almost 25 years there have been a lot of books written.  I have amassed a few and will try to read as many as possible.  I have pulled my reading glasses out.  First on my list is The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride.  

A Bad Sprain

 I feel so incredibly talented. I managed to sprain my right wrist while in bed sleeping.  It’s only 4:00 a.m. but I feel that I should declare that today is over before anything else happens to me.  Right now I am icing my wrist to take down the swelling.  I know it’s not broken because I have the full range of motion in my hand and wrist. Also there is no bruising. It does however hurt like #@&$@#%.

Today is my busy day of the month with one guild meeting in the morning and one after lunch.  It’s my absolute favorite day of the month. All I can think about right now is if I am safe around people. What else is going to happen. Let’s face it, when I sprain my wrist while sleeping what else is going to happen today? 

I think I will sit here on the couch and finish icing my wrist.  Then take a nap. After my nap I will decide whether to couch potato it or leave John at home and go on with my regularly scheduled day.  I will post an update later today when the decision has been made.