2 Inches -The Shorter Side of Life

 My legs are just 2 inches too short to reach the floor when I am sitting on the couch. I finally figured it out tonight. I don’t remember when we bought them. I found the couch was unusually comfortable. Then I looked down at my shoes. Yes they had 2 inch heels. 

I wonder why you can’t order on half the couch built for the taller person and a shorter couch built for the shorter person.  Of course it would have to have the same fabric. I can not be the only wife with a husband who is 12 inches taller.

Our house is a mishmash of shorter and taller counters.  Kitchen countertop lower.  Bathrooms one short, on regular height and one taller.  Rocking chair is on the taller side, the short on wore out long ago.

Cars are an issue too. It’s hard to find a car that fits someone that’s 5’3” tall and some one well over 6’ tall.  The car that’s good for the short person can be really awkward for a taller person.  My 1969 VW Bug was a perfect example of this and so was my Toyota Corolla. When John drove those cars his knees were wrapped around the steering wheel. Yet they fit me to a T.   In the Astro, John almost always drove because there was more leg room in the driver’s seat  in the Nissan, I hated driving John’s car, because I was too short to get comfortable  

Designers are falling short on this issue. Pun intended.   

24 Percent

 With the last blanket being finished it means that I have 24 out of 100 projects finished for 2021. At this point I really wish that I had made a sizable dent in my yarn stash, but alas the answer is a solid no, not yet.  So the 3 blankets used about 27 balls of yarn.  With about another 10 blankets to go that another 90 skeins. So with 13 blankets it will only use about 127 skeins.  With another 14 skeins of yarn for the hats that brings it to 141 and I think it was 10 for the shawl 151 skeins used this year.  I was really hoping for a much bigger dent in volume of yarn around the house.  I thought I would have at least one empty yarn tub by now.  Sigh..

Have you noticed that the estimate of blankets left to knit keeps going up to?  With all that said here is blanket number 3.  By the way with the 1st box of blankets almost full, with a lot more to knit, John graciously agreed to help deliver them. I added a prayer shawl that I knit and a couple of blankets someone gave for me to donate to a good cause.   

In case you were wondering the pattern is one of mine called Modular Baby Blanket.  You can get the pattern at you local yarn store, www.ravelry.com and www.love crafts.com.  It will be under Sheri Karobonik Designs.  It’s a great stash buster project because each square can be a different color.  So far I have only knit this in cotton, although other worsted weight yarn will work also.  Just remember if you start with cotton all the yarn must be cotton. If you knit with wool all the yarn must be wool.  This would also apply to man made fibers too. 

Finally Finished

 Well finally finished applies to 2 projects. First is the remodel of the craft room. We just moved a whole lot of stuff around. I also got rid of some stuff. From where my rocking chair sits, I can not even see the store room supplies.  I also reorganized the supply shelf’s and found room for some craft supplies.  

The next blanket is finished. However, by the time it dried there was not enough light for a good picture.  So that will happen tomorrow.  I am also going stash diving tomorrow to see if I have a few skeins of a certain shade of blue for the current blanket. If I don’t have any more, I will just mix up the colors some more.  

Spring Cleaning and more...

 I spent part of the last 2 days doing spring cleaning. I decided to tackle the storage room.  I started by emptying the big storage shelf. Then I had John help me move it to a different place. That involved unscrewing one bookcase from the wall and moving it 1 inch to the left. Thank goodness I did not have to empty the bookcase too.  

Today I started out cleaning and organizing the kitchen pantry. I do this every spring. I toss the expired food.  Put the still good but what was I thinking to a box to rehome when I am finally finished.  Then I started loading the shelf in the soon to be partially recovered craft room.  

This afternoon I listened to Hillybilly Eldgy by J.D. Vance while I finished the 3 rd charity blanket of the year.  I will photograph the blanket after it is washed tomorrow.  I got the center square done on the next blanket.  I am on a slow roll here.  

Blankets and More

 I have 6 more blankets to knit unless I have too much yarn left over and then it will be anyone guess.  I basically have 2 large tote bags full of yarn for blankets with 4 partially completed blankets inside. Plus 2 more that I had inherited, one with no additional yarn and 1 with about half the yarn I need to finish it up. I am of course stash diving. 

I really want to buy more yarn. I just can’t until I have completed a whole lot of projects.  So every project finished and every skein of yarn used up, I am closer to being able to go out and buy new yarn.  

As for the craft room that was turned into a storage room, John think he can rearrange the room so I don’t have to look at all the storage stuff. This happened after he heard me dragging my rocking chair to another room.  The chair is just to big and bulky for me to lift.  

I also started listening to a new book today. Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance. I have finished 9% of the book and I don’t want to put it down.  Mr.Vance is an excellent story teller.  I can’t wait to listen to more as I knit tomorrow.  

A Sad Anniversary

 Today March 10, is the one year anniversary of the last time we ate out.  I have not been in a grocery store for a few days longer.  My much anticipated craft room has turn into storage and a quarantine area.  It is not comfortable to sit in my favorite rocker and knit. I no longer spin in there either. 

All I seem to do is figure out where to order in our supplies from. Clean house. Do laundry. Cook. Knit hats and now blankets.  Yes, I did have a yarn stash built for the proverbial pandemic. I am making small dents in it. Every 2 hats is about 2 skeins gone, I have knit 20 hats so far this year. Now blankets use a lot more yarn between 5 and 10 skeins per blanket.  I am trying to use up bits and pieces so hopefully a bit more yarn is gone.  The shawl I made used about 15 skeins. So I have used about 45 skeins so far this year. It is all going to be delivered to charity sometime this year. My goal is lots of empty boxes and bags of yarn and more boxes and bags of finished knitted items.  

I still feel very useless. As if life said I am making you redundant.  The sense of isolation is getting worse. Even when fully vaccinated I fear we will still be quiet limited in what we can really do. This is not how I planned to spend my retirement. I have not felt this alone and isolated since Eric died.  

So I try to get dressed nicely every day. Although this to is getting harder since I have dropped about 3 dress sizes this year. I am really tired of wearing shifts and skirts that have ties so I can take them in without sewing. My Goodwill box is getting fuller again. I am also slowing down in the speed at which I get things done.  Chores seem to be done in spurts.  

To plan John’s special dinner tonight, it involved shopping at 3 different stores and planning out delivery times. I also had to pray that between the 3 stores I could get everything I needed.  2 stores were out of bananas and tomatoes. I play grocery roulette every week.  Some weeks I am lucky, some weeks not so much. 

I guess this is a very long winded way of saying that I am tired and stressed out by COVID19.  I am tired of seeing people acting dumb.  I need to be around more creative people. I need to chat with friends.  

I know a lot of this sounds positive, but I don’t feel positive about it.  I am not really doing anything worth while. I really need my old life back.  

Finished

 Need I say more about the 100% cotton charity blanket?  Yes, I am working on the next 2. I am not sure what will be finished first.