I Completed My Yearly Knitting Goal

 This has been a very rough year health wise for me.  There are still some days when I don’t have the energy to move let alone knit or even just listen to an audiobook book without falling asleep.  Yet today I managed to log my last 4 knitting projects for the year, charity hats 6-9 which brought me up to 24 completed projects for 2025.  Mostly charity projects.

In January this goal was a stretch for me.  I was dealing with my second bout of Pericarditis in less than a year.  I am on a new medication that seems to be helping.  However, this being said I never heal as fast as I want. The older I get, it also seems to take longer.  This go-go girl is not used to living life in the slow lane at all.  Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy to be alive and to be able to create things for kids whose families normally could not afford the prices for my work.  This beats customers who say that they can get a bespoke hat, scarf or shawl for less money than I pay for my yarn.  Then try to get the item for a loss for me. No way in he double toothpicks. From feed back I get from the Flowing Wells School District staff, all the kids and staff are very happy to get my mostly one of a kind hats and scarfs.  That makes me so happy.  That amount of happiness that I create is better than money.  

So without further ado, here are charity hats #6-9-2025.  

The Gloves WereTo Big

 When I wore my new gloves this week I was quite dismayed that they were about an inch too wide and let in a lot of cold air. The pattern said that they were meant for an adult hand. Apparently my hands are too small.  I do wish pattern designers would put the across the palm measurement for sizing.  So as you can see in the picture below I soaked them in hot water with a hot water rinse.  Careful not to agitate them.  I did not want them to felt.  Then I put them in a very hot garage to dry.  

If the easy method does not work, I will then have to steek them. I will put them on and put several marks where the seam will go.  Then I will baste them on the sewing machine, making sure I have a very secure seam.  Then it will be time for the surger.  I think the first run through will be without the blade.  I will cut them by hand. Wish me luck in this endeavor.  

Lost Gloves

 The only thing to do when I lose my hand knit fingerless gloves after 2 weeks of searching for them is to make a new pair.  To that end as of tonight I am 1 1/2 way through knitting a replacement pair. I know for a fact that the only way that they will come out of hiding is to have competition from a new pair of fingerless gloves.  

How is your weekend going?

Trying Something New

 I am trying something new and different.  In the past 25 years of knitting I have always had multiple projects going at the same time.  Currently I have at least 5 scarves, 2 hats, various shawls and mittens on the knitting needles. It can be so overwhelming at times I just start a new project for a change up.  

Today, I started to try something new.  For me it’s revolutionary.  I have never done this before, well really after my first scarf.  I really wanted to start a new shawl today.  I currently have 4 different shawls on knitting needles.  I decided to try to finish all the shawls on my knitting needles / crochet hooks before I wind yarn to start another shawl.  Most of my friends only have a couple of projects going at once.  Some even only buy more yarn when they finish a project, this will not happen for me for so many reasons.  

So instead of winding more yarn to start another project, I put the project bag back on the shelf.  I pulled out a shawl in progress.  With plans to finish it and several other shawl projects before I wind yarn into cakes for the next shawl.  

It’s probably not conducive to a neat house having 10 or more UFO’s on the fireplace waiting for my attention.  Not to mention a few baskets worth in the knitting room. This does include weaving projects that have not been completed.  

So wish me luck. I will try my best to finish most of the projects, before I start new a new one.  I am trying to see if it’s more efficient to only have one of anything going at once.  I might not make it. I will at least give it a trial run before I can pass judgment on the plan.  By August I should have enough data for a conclusion.  

The Sewing Room

 My sewing room has been dubbed the black hole for small mending jobs.  Today I started to remedy that situation.  It did require me to rethread the sewing machine for each repair job. This being said, I repaired 2 pairs of pants, 1 shirt. I decided to giveaway 1 shirt rather than trying to modify the neckline. I could have done it given enough time.  Did I want to spend the time? Definitely not.  

I was in the middle of modifying 1 of 2 skirts when I noticed that I had bought the wrong size elastic for the waistband.  I had 1 inch elastic instead of 1 1/2 inch elastic.  Since Joann’s closed it has been a different store for each item needed for the repair work.  Cathy’s Sewing and Vacuum for thread.  Believe it or not Walmart had the right size elastic that I needed for the 2 skirts.  Also the poly fill for the dog pillow that I have to finish.

While going to find the right colors of thread, I noticed that some polyester thread had made its way into my thread.  It took about 30 minutes to clear out the polyester thread.  John and I decided that it will be going with my friend when she visits her family in Northern Arizona.  As her family lives off the beaten path, it will be a nice surprise to get a whole lot of thread in a lot of colors.  Craft supplies are meant to be shared.  

Given a few weeks maybe the sewing room will no longer be a black hole.  I even cleared off the ironing board. I even know where the iron is stored. I also know where the distilled water is.  

Playing Catch Up

 I spent the day doing little things that have piled up around the house while I have not been feeling well.  I spent 10 minutes organizing the knitting room. Then 20 minutes knitting and listening to a book.  I also spent 20 minutes looking for the sewing machine brush so I could clean out the bobbin area so I could do a 20 minute repair on a pair of pants.

  I think that I should probably get a spare sewing machine brush too. Just in case it happens again.  An often overlooked chore is washing the sewing machine brush with a little Dawn and water. They work so much better when they are clean   

My taller half got into cleaning out too.  He decided he as not going to be wearing a bunch of pants any time soon. So I bagged them up to go to a new home.  He also tried to fix the broken kitchen sink faucet. Alas it was installed wrong, parts were broken. We might have to get a new kitchen faucet.  Sometimes the little annoying things in life just build up.  

They Are Gone

 These 6 scarfs have left the house.  In late October they will be delivered.  These are the final pictures of them.  In the top photo all 6 are laid out side by side on a California King Bed. In the bottom photo they are rolled up, which is how I store them.  Each scarf is knit in the round with multiple strands of yarn.  All are 6 feet 2 inches long plus or minus a few inches.  No two are ever alike.  They are fun to knit. They use up a lot of odd skeins of yarn.  As a bonus for me, I know that they will keep kids warm.