Wild Eyrps and Other Things

Day umpteenth and 1 of Eric being sick. He has also shared his latest cold with me. He gave me one of his huge smiles when I thanked him for the cold.

It was a very busy but productive day. Eric had not 1 but 2 doctors office visits. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. Yes he did manage to eyrp at both offices. I have to say Dr. Williams and his staff handled the eyrping better than UPH. Luckily for me he did not eyrp at my doctors appointment. Other than a sinus infection Eric seems to be doing OK for Eric. My Arthritis seems to be OK and the meds seem to be working. By the way did you know your whole hand can act like a trigger finger? Its just something I thought I would pass along to you. Just in case you needed a random oddity to discuss.

I did bring a drop spindle and knitting with me today. I finished knitting one cap and started knitting another one. I also got a little spinning done. My to do list is a mess having only accomplished the doctors appointments and nothing else.

Well I think I will go get Eric's medicine and leave him with the nurse for a few minutes.  Then either collapse or work on Mondays to do list. That is yet to be decided. I always have to end a a bright note and today that note is dinner is cooked for tonight already. So have a good evening and enjoy your families.

Happy November

I hope every ones November is off to a great start. Mine has not started off well but will get better. I am home with a sick kiddo for it seems like the umpteenth day in a row. Yes I know it has not been that long.  It just seems like it. I hope to have time to post some new things in my etsy shop soon. I also need to go to the post office, do paper work, make phone calls and some serious straighting of the house.  Yes I will even try to get a nurse for tomorrow.

After I get Eric better, I will post a new contest. So be on the look out for it.

Well I am off to knit and hang with Eric. 

Spinning Outside the House

Yesterday I took my spinning outside. It was the first time I took my wheel outside to spin. It was such a nice day. I had my ice tea and i-pod for music. Yes I did play the song Spinning Wheels in the second set of music.  I had a great time. And learned a lot.

Some of the things that I learned included the most important lesson of spinning so far. If the fluff I am working with has a lot of left over farm matter, (read that as left over hay) I only have to dust the wheel afterwards. No vacuuming needed. After all who really cares if I leave dirt on the garage floor or the patio.

It is even more relaxing to spin outside. Listening to the birds chirp. Watching the bunnies stop and try to figure out if everything is OK with the new sound.

Watching the neighbors either walk by or drive by without stopping or saying hi.  Is it just me or do most people not like face to face any more.

I need to put a pad on the chair if I am going to be spinning for that long. It turns out I was having such a good time I did not notice that 2 hours had passed. The sore bottom did not hit until I stood up.

Even though spinning in the house is relaxing it helps to change things up a bit.

The things I need to figure out about the wheel. On the outside bobbin placement the wheel seems to work fine. If I put the drive belt on the middle on the whole wheel seems to go wobbly on me. I probably need a new belt or learn some adjustments. I think these things will come with time. But If you have the answers please leave a comment for me. Thanks.

Now it is time to finish processing the yarn I spun yesterday.

Destashing Progress

Well this morning was spent cleaning the garage and condensing my yarn stash. I am happy to report that I have 4 fewer containers of yarn than last time. 2 -  under bed boxes, 1 -36 quart and 1 - 96 quart box are all empty. There are also no laundry baskets, boxes or bags of yarn in the storage room. That is about 25% less yarn than last time I went through my stash. The big secret that I don't want anyone to tell John about is that there is no more yarn in the storage room. By the way I have the storage room on his honey do list, but I already finished most of it with Kayla's help.

Since that did not take as much time as I had planned in the garage, we went on to the sewing room and organized that. I see running a vacuum cleaner through that room when my body stops yelling at me for doing so much cleaning in one fail swoop.

I also found enough yarn for about a dozen more scrappy hats. I also found 3 baby blankets in progress. I must have been meant to do this today because someone tweeted me about some baby blankets half way through the cleaning and 2 wip's are suitable for the project.

Well I think it is time for me to kick up my feet and rest before the boy gets home from school. So enjoy your families.

Another Day in the Life of...

Well more of the same old same old going on around here today. Eric is home sick. Piles of laundry and yes some will be left for tomorrow. Although I did manage to fold or hang every load of laundry done today. No applause necessary just throw fluff my way.  13 more inches done on an Operation Gratitude scarf.

I don't feel like cooking so John is stuck with a roast, sweet potatoes and steamed vegetables. You can commiserate with him when you see him next time. Yes there is enough for roast beef sandwiches tomorrow.

Well since I have some help here right now I am going to try to finish one of Kathy Withers wonderful batts. If you would like to see some of Kathy's batts here is a link to her etsy store Unique Designs by Kathy . Right now she has a lot of art yarn. One skein will make a fabulous one of a kind scarf. Also check out her pattern and one of a kind creations.

Enjoy your families .

Just Another Sunday

The weekend was too short, I could have used another couple of days. This time of year I could really use a 48 hour day or a clone or 2. Will someone let me know when either of those options become available.

We had a relaxing slow day today. After a very slow start we went to Beyond Bread for lunch. I had the Gazpacho soup and John had the tuna salad. We decided that Eric needed some down time so it was back home again. While Eric rested we rent the movie Paul, about the space alien. It was the perfect movie for today. I also finished another Operation Gratitude scarf and am 3/4 done with the next one. My goal is to knit 3 more scarfs for this project before I mail them off on Friday.

Just in case you would like to make an Operation Gratitude Scarf this is the pattern that I like the best. Using US size 7 or 8 needles with a worsted weight yarn. I prefer to send them in natural fibers. Cast on 27 to 30 stitches depending on how tight you knit.  Knit 1 Purl 2* repeat this pattern for the entire scarf.  Cast off in the stitch pattern. It should be between 48 and 50 inches long and 5 to 7 inches wide when done. For more information on Operation Gratitude just click the link. You can also send your left over Halloween candy to them for the care packages.

I ran out for some supplies to make home made pizza and freshly steamed green beans for dinner.  After dinner we caught up on some TV viewing. I actually sat still and did not have knitting needles or a spindle in my hand. I just sat and relaxed. It is a really odd experience as I always have to keep something moving.

Well I think I will call it a night and if I owe you a phone call it will happen tomorrow.

A Perfect Day

What a wonderful day I had. I spent the day at the Tucson Wool Festival. The people were great, the vendors were awesome and a few sheep and goats got their hair cut. I would like to publicly thank Kathy and Mark Withers for putting on such an awesome event.

Some of the highlights included:

Demonstrations of spinning on wheels and spindles.

Farm tours.

Knitting and crochet demonstrations.

Carding demonstrations.

Mini lessons. I got to teach a wonderful 5th grader named Georgia how to knit. She had a good inch knit by the time the show was over.

There was a very quick visit by John and Eric. They were so wonderful and brought me a sandwich and of Venti cup of iced green tea from Starbucks. It was a little on the hot side for Eric so I sent John to look around and sent them packing after about 15 minutes. I did not think I have it in me to do an all nighter tonight.

Oh yes and I did not take home as much as I came with. I would also like to say what took me 4 days to assemble for the show was unpacked and put away in less than and hour. Go figure. Well it is almost 6 pm so I am headed out to Mayco's to pick up dinner. Have a wonderful evening.