An Editorial

 Let’s face it. This has been a very rough election cycle.  A whole lot of us did not get what we were hoping for.  While the inflation numbers are down that does not mean prices are going down.  Unhinged craziness still abounds.  I know that I feel very unsettled.  A lot of people on social media and in my community are feeling the same way. That is why we must go back to some of our countries founding values.  

This country was not founded on 10 multi billionaires or hedge fund’s who own most of the world’s wealth.  It was founded by people like my dad. An immigrant to this country who ran a small family business.  It covered our families expenses and an employee or two. He paid taxes. He gave back to the community.  In essence he was living the American dream.  Don’t get me wrong the hours were very long at times. Money was tight at times and he bartered for his services.  Yes, he paid taxes on those bartered services.  We were like a lot of families in my youth.  Fellow community members supporting each other.  

During this time of uncertainty we must go back to those values.  We must support each other.  I am personally recommending that this holiday season we cut back on creating more personal debt.  That we avoid the crowded malls. We instead go to all our neighbors who run family businesses.  We support them and their families so they can pass the business to their children.  This Black Friday let’s make it about putting small businesses in the black.  Followed by Small Business Saturday where we continue the buying spree so that they have a lot less inventory to count at the end of the year.

  This will also give them more money to add some fresh inventory.  Right now a lot of small businesses are picking and choosing which items to restock. They can’t afford to order everything that they need all at once. This is causing all kinds of stress. 

If all of us that can afford to shop just spend $50.00 a month at our favorite family owned businesses this year and into next year it would go a long way in helping our country right itself.  

You can double your impact in other ways too.  Say for instance that you love to knit, but don’t have anyone to knit for.  Just go to your local family owned yarn store and buy some washable yarn.  Make your favorite hats, scarfs or sweaters. Bring them back to the yarn store next month. They have people and charities that they work with in your community.  Then buy more yarn and repeat this process monthly.  This will help keep this small business afloat.  This will also give much needed warm clothing to people in your community who can’t afford to buy warm clothing.  This will bring you the joy and relaxation of knitting. This is a win on so many levels.  

We are in this together.  We have two choices.  The first choice is to whine and stick our heads in the sand hoping everything will fix itself.  I really don’t recommend this approach. 

 The second is supporting each other. Making life better in our communities.  Doing small things that will add up to bigger things.  Become as active in your communities as you feel comfortable with. No more.  No less. Educated your neighbors on the issues you care about.  Be there for each other. Support the under served and those at high risk in a way you feel comfortable.  Most importantly be kind to each other.  Open doors for moms with strollers.  Say hi to each other.  Be kind to service workers.  As long as we have each other’s backs, we have got this.  

New pattern coming

 I have crocheted the new pattern enough times to feel very comfortable with it.  Now I am moving to the new expensive yarn and will keep copious amounts of notes and pictures.  

Number 10

 I have finally finished my 10th charity scarf for the year.  The picture is below.  

In other news, I think I have accidentally designed my next pattern.  I will make it a couple of more times in different weight yarns and different fibers.  Also in different color schemes.  I know it sounds really weird to accidentally design a pattern. I find it no less weird than waking up and scribbling down a new design.  

TTFN.  It has been a very long day.  I am extremely tired.  

Cleaning Out the Closet for Winter

 I took a break from reorganizing the knitting room to try on winter clothes. Twice a year I tend to see what fits or is too worn out to last another season.  Today 9 shirts were too big. The body length of the shirts were not the problem. The shirts had gotten so big that the sleeves were 2 to 4 inches too long. Apparently folding my sleeves up to mid forearm or elbow is not a fashion thing. So the rule of thumb was if my hands can’t be seen the shirt must go. The were all nice shirts so they will be going to Goodwill on our next charity run.  The funny thing about this was most of the shirts were black.  Usually it’s the lighter colors that have gone in the past.  

Before we headed out to lunch we stopped by J.Jills for their sale.  I replaced a few of the shirts and some of my pants.  The funny thing about it was that except for some pants, nothing was black.  Did I mention that everything I got was on sale. Also everything was smaller. I noticed that an extra large petite is equivalent to a large in the regular size clothing, just shorter. This is just in case you were curious.  

I might not have lost as much weight this year as last year, but the inches seem to be catching up with the weight loss. It seems that in the moment of the weight loss inches do not come off. In the moment of inches lost does not mean that the scale is moving.  I will take the inches lost as part of the process. 

At lunch I found that I really hated the jalapeño pepper hummus.  It was a definite not ever going to eat that awful stuff again.  I am usually a big hummus fan and will try different add ins.  But this being Tucson and snowbird season weird stuff like the jalapeño pepper hummus land on the menu for the snowbirds. You will not find odd combinations on the menu in the middle of summer.  

In the knitting room I matched patterns with bags of yarn to set up more projects that need to be completed.  I also realized that I need to take everything out of the rolling cart and reorganize the entire cart.  That will wait until next week.  

It’s getting late do TTFN.  

Did Anyone Say Playtime With Yarn?

 Another day of preparing the yarn for projects and organizing the yarn by colors.  Since I was hungry and had breakfast at 5 am., I  managed to get 3 hours of organizing done while the house was still quiet.  I got to play with a lots of colors.  I also found a very large basket with kits already made for charity scarfs. 

I am pulling all my shelf yarn out and organizing it. So the shelves are looking pretty empty and my floors are covered with baskets of yarn.  

After lunch out and a walk in the park I managed to do another hour before my body decided it was nap time.  

After dinner which I managed to cook 2 days in a row. I got to test a new prototype.  I can’t say what it is yet.  I can say that I absolutely love it.  It is one of the best designs that John has come up with.  I was not gentle with my testing.  I used yarn that required a U.S. size 6 knitting needle and it did not disappoint me.  I might just request an extra one just for Tunisian crochet.  

Prep Work

 Today was all about winding yarn into cakes to be used for my favorite 6 foot 2 inch scarfs for charity.  I combined colors and textures to make a 2 strand cake to be combined with a one strand single.  The resulting 3 strand yarn is just shy of bulky.  When knit in the round it provides excellent warmth for the young person who will receive it.  

Today I managed to cake enough yarn to fill a 2 gallon Ziplock bag.  I still have more yarn to wind.  I was also thinking that in order to make the knitting bags and baskets more portable, I would find a place to stack the full 2 gallon Ziplock bags. Then I would only need to carry a 1 gallon Ziplock bag with an assortment of yarn cakes to make it easier to transport.  Of course this would only work with the blue / green and  red/ purple and pink bag.  The black bag would never need this.  Yes, I do have more than one charity scarf going at a time.  Currently it is 3 different color ways of the 6 foot 2 inch scarfs, 2 other knit scarfs for warmer climates and 2 Tunisian crochet scarfs.  I also have at least 1 hat and 2 blankets in progress.  I really do finish projects, however some like long scarfs and blankets can take weeks to finish.  Sometimes I just need a quickie project to make me feel more productive.  Did a mention that I have 2 shawls in progress too?

As I tear the knitting room down, it’s looking messier than ever. I have Yarn scattered all over the place, but I am organizing it and when I’m finished, it will look wonderful. Also the bags that I like for the project have been discontinued so I have ordered at least six more so I have enough to complete the task. I initially thought it was a supply chain issue until I went to the companies website to see where I could locate some. They no longer show the bags I’m using on their website. I wish it was reflected on Google Search. Based on the search results I went to 2 different Walmarts and various other stores.  That took time and energy away from my project. I guess I will make a useful feedback comment.  

I feel like winding more yarn now, but will call it a day instead.  

Binge Organizing

 Today I meant to spend 30 minutes working on organizing the knitting room.  Somehow, 3 hours later I only stopped working when I ran out of the Ziplock XL Flexible Totes*. I checked out Target, Walmart and Ace Hardware to buy a couple more tote bags.  Even places where Google shopping said they were in stock there were none.  I am not sure if it is a supply chain issue or that they just don’t carry as many sku’s in the stores.  So I ordered them on line and they will be here Wednesday.  

I did manage to empty one basket and 2 canvas tote bags today.  Tomorrow I will work on winding yarn and putting odd skeins away.  The knitting room now looks worse than this morning, but I swear parts of the room are more organized.  Like skeins are gathered together.  I had more of some yarn than I thought I had.  John was not surprised like I was.  

I will have to prune a few more knitting books to get the books I found tucked in odd places put away. That will wait until I can get back to my knitting / spinning table.  

All the organizing and waking to find the Ziplock XL Flexible Totes gave me over 10,000 steps today. So all in all it was a good day.

*I like storing some of my yarn in the flexible totes.  I purchased them myself.  I am not receiving any compensation from the makers of the Ziplock XL Totes.