A Great Day

Today started out at 4 am with Eric.  The bad pat about that is that I did not have time for breakfast until after 9 am.  That lead to me over buying breakfast items.  I did not over eat them though.  On the great side before noon I managed to get the van fixed, a case of formula delivered to the  Tucson Community food bank and 2 blankets delivered to the Tucson V.A.. By 11:30 I was ready for a nap.   

On the fiber front I knit 1 scarf, spun 3 skeins of art yarn and wound 4 skeins of yarn. Washed  5 skeins of yarn. Pictures tomorrow. Then finished weaving a rag rug.  The rag rug will come off the loom tomorrow. John fixed the Louet spinning wheel with the help of Lisa's dad.  This means that I have to figure out how much I want to sell the Lendrum ST for.  I spent a lot of time restoring it. It spins very well, but I like my Lendrum DT better.  It is time to thin the heard a bit. 

I also made a baby step in de cluttering the kitchen.  The Mr. Coffee and all its filters left the house.  It is finally in the home of someone who loves coffee.  

It was a very busy and productive day.  I hope for the same tomorrow. 

Busy as a Bee

I think that I have too much on my plate right now. I feel that I am burning the candle in too many places at once.  I think that this had made it difficult for me to get a really good nights sleep.  Which in turn has made progress fall behind schedule. 

We are also looking at redoing the kitchen. Just the wood choices are enough to drive me crazy.  At one place alder wood is the lowest cost wood and at another it is the highest priced wood.  Most offer fiber board cabinets with wood exteriors. Some offer solid wood cabinets and doors.  The pricing makes no sense to me.  At least I have the oven and dishwasher picked out. Picking out wood is like picking a new fridge, there were less choices 21 years ago when I picked out the last fridge.  

Well I will try to sleep tonight.  

Feeling Better

Today was my first productive day in a while. I finished 2 loads of laundry before I took Eric to his day program. I was on the go until 2 pm, when I finally got time for lunch. I managed an hour of housework before everything stopped for percussion.  We were a bit short handed this evening so I did part of Eric's nightly routine. Not very surprising to me was that I hit my brick wall at 5:45 tonight. I was even to tired to finish the fingerless mittens I had been knitting. 

Tonight Eric was in a laundry making mode. So I started 1 load before bed and I will deal with the rest of it tomorrow. I think it is time to call it a day. 

Meet Judith Knight in Person

My good friend Judith Knight has published a cookbook. For those of you who do not have the pleasure of knowing Judith in person, here is a chance to meet her and sample some of her baking. I always look forward to my monthly Old Pueblo Knitting Guild meetings because I know Judith has baked or cooked up some special treats for us. I would put Judith's skill sets as a baker right up there with an early mentor of mine Frances Kuyper - The Cake Lady. 

Did I mention that you can get a signed cookbook if you ask nicely. This would make a great gift for the baker, college grad or newlywed in your life. So here are the details. Please call the store for the time. 

Judith Knight,

 author of The Knights at the Round Table 

Life’s Funny Moments and Eclectic Recipes to Match!

Saturday, June 27 

11:00am to 3:00pm

For a Book Signing,

 Treat Tasting & Chat at Barnes and Noble Bookstore

Barnes and Noble Foothills Mall 

7325 N La Cholla Blvd., Suite100 

Tucson, AZ 85714 

(520) 742-6402

Judith Knight simplifies home cooking and entertaining with her delectable, easy to prepare recipes. Laced with humorous tales; recipes of all kinds, from appetizers through desserts; and helpful tips—this book is guaranteed to fill your home with love, laughter, and satisfied appetites.

If you are not able to attend the event but want a copy of Judith's book there is a link to Amazon.com on the side of my blog. 

Found Yarn in Progress

Last year I thought I could manage the house, Eric and an on line class called The Journey to the Golden Fleece. I was very wrong. Eric got sick and I just put everything aside.  Yesterday when I was doing some cleaning I found some of the yarn that I had spun on drop spindles and was going to ply.  I spent yesterday and part of today plying what I had already spun and trying to finish spinning and plying the rest of the basket of rovings and batts.  I have some great art yarn that is way out of my comfort zone.  

I know even though I missed the deadline for the class, I need to finish the project for me.  I also need to finish the weaving portion of the class.  So this yarn will help with that.  I still have to wash the yarn too.  Here is a pre washed picture of the yarn. 

Happy Summer Solstice

I just love summer. This summer is no exception. I am keeping way to busy with too many projects going at the same time. Spinning, weaving,sewing and knitting projects are getting finished at a good rate.  I am really enjoying my creative streak. 

We have hit a real cool down in the summer heat.  I think our wonderful days of 110f are gone for a while now.  There might even be rain in the forecast. 

My next deep cleaning project is going to be the kitchen.  It is going to be a real treasure hunt.  Who knows what will land up at Goodwill.  I think I will start off simple and just demagnetized the fridge, I bet I can fill a large Tupperware container with just the magnets on the fridge. 

I think that I will either spin or clean house to unwind right now. 

Lace Weight Yarn

I don't know about you but as a newer knitter I got caught up in the lace weight yarn, anyone can knit lace craze.  After all it looked so pretty. Did I mention how soft the yarn was. How the colors looked so pretty.  All you have to do is yarn overs and knit 2 or 3 stitches together. Just follow the chart, yes I did learn to read charts. So I got something out of the craze.  But and this is a big but, nobody told me it could take hours to knit a row without interruption.  If I did get interrupted I would need to rip out part or all of a row, or worse yet have to go back to the life line. Whom ever came up with lace knitting oh so long ago never had a child with the needs of Eric. 

Fast forward to 2015. I have a solution to all my lace weight yarn that I can not seem to resell.  Hats, yes hats.  I found by accident that if I wind the yarn into cakes and pull yarn from both the inside and outside of the cake and knit with U.S. Size 6 knitting needles.  It is a perfect light weight winter hat for climates such as Tucson.  

Here is the first hat in progress.