A Replacement

I did the unthinkable a few weeks back and destroyed my favorite Le Creuset pan I know I voided the life time warranty when I burnt dinner so badly that a small fire started in the bottom of my favorite pan. I managed to burn off some of the enamel. So this week I bought a replacement pan, it arrived today. The old pan will probably be turned into a very expensive dye pot because I can't use it for cooking anymore.

The new new pan has a slightly different shape and different style of lid. I am sure that it will become a new standard pan for my kitchen and cooking dinner.

A Contest

I was out grocery shopping today and ran across a new product. It claimed to be "Homemade" yet the second ingredient was high fructose corn syrup. Because this is such a bad labeling offense, I really should share the name of the company, but I also don't have deep pockets. I will tell you that it is a new summertime treat in the frozen food aisle. Read the labels before you buy. This leads me to the question of who really buys and stocks high fructose corn syrup for your kitchen at home? If this is something that you keep in your kitchen at home, I really want to know why and what you use I for.

Food labeling and mass marketing are so full of hyperbole, it is just as bad as it was in the 1960's. When sun tans were healthy. If you were pale like me, you were considered sickly. We now know that fabulous tan came with a high price, skin cancer and premature aging. When smoking was cool, yet ever spokesman for the product died of lung cancer. When sweet treats replaced fruit in school lunches. Is it even a wonder why, my generation and our kids and grand kids have weight issues. Even the European sewing machine company who's salespeople and management claim that everything they make is made in Europe, but has a label on the bottom of my sewing machine that says it is made in Thailand. I was under the impression that Thailand was an independent nation in southeast Asia and not a European city. Do the marketing firms believe that we are so under educated that all of this is fine?

What are some of the bad labeling offenses that you have seen? There will be a prize of my choice for the funniest one or two. Please feel free to comment.

A Slow Saturday

The reorganization of the yarn last weekend has has a positive effect. I have found a lot of UFO's that are now back in progress. Some of the projects are so old that I no longer have the outfit that I was making the hand knit item for. For these I will finish them and put them in the box to be sold for the Taglit fundraiser later this year.

I also finished 2 more hand knit hats today and cast on 2 more hats. One hat is in cotton and the other is wool. Below is a picture of the pile of hats, 19 hats and still standing. The hemming of the 5 skirts also got started today. No deep cleaning was done, I took a nap instead.

My Spinning Chair

I have found only one downside to losing weight. You have to promise not to laugh though. It involves spinning more specifically my spinning chair. As the weight has come off I have lost a lot of my padding and this makes it hard to sit for more than an hour or two.  The spinning chair will need a pad to make it more comfortable. Time to get out the sewing machine.

It's Done

The big yarn sort was finished this afternoon. 100 gallons of yarn has left the house. No, I did not count the skeins of yarn leaving. I need you to use your imagination to think how many skins of yarn that is. Everything has been rearranged by weight. Some empty project bags will also be leaving tomorrow. The project shelf space is full of things that I will knit. My closet has a lot more space so I am very pleased with the results.

My next project is to knit up a pattern that a friend has had to tink several times now. I started the pattern tonight and am keeping copious notes as I go. I am pretty sure that there is a problem with the pattern and will make corrections to give to my friend and the pattern designer.

After that I might do a small project or 2 before I tackle the next big deep cleaning project. I might even try to come up with a better system for my circular knitting needles. Any suggestions for circular knitting needle storage would be welcome.

Progress, Maybe?

I am hoping that it is a sign of progress that the items in the picture are no longer going to be needed for yarn storage. The cracked plastic items will be recycled tomorrow. I will offer the good roll away bin to one of Eric's aides, it is not a good container for yarn, if I can not see the yarn in the drawers with out opening them. I will also give some of the excess bags to the advocates in Eric's day program. I am sure that they will come in handy. I also filled another 13 gallon bag of yarn for Amber, it is leaving tomorrow.

I still ill have a few things to put away, but I am waiting for the glue to dry on 2 containers before I make my finial storage choices. I expect to be done by tomorrow night so that I can move on to my next project, which is hemming 5 skirts. The more inches I lose the longer the skirts have gotten.

John also got into the spirit of the de cluttering of the garage today by helping me get to the final yarn boxes. He also found a lot of boxes to cut down for recycling. Who knows by the end of the summer I might even have the garage finished. I am not as hopeful for the spare room, it I will give it a shot.

More Gone

I sent a 13 gallon bag of yarn home with a friend this afternoon. I also found a sweater that I want to knit that has been missing for a while. I am now a few sizes smaller than when I bought the kit, so it will be a little less knitting to do. A win win afternoon for both of us. So that I can do more de stashing today, John is bring home dinner. A win win for me. Deep cleaning has some great rewards.

I am also revising my storage system so that all the yarn and fiber will be in clear containers from now on. The better to see what I have. I am not quite ready to set up the inventory system that John has suggested. Maybe when I have the hard part done, if I am very, very brave I will let John set it up. Does anyone know of a good inventory control program?