Date Night

I just love date night when John and I can get out for more than 90 minutes at a time together. Tonight John and I were able to go out to dinner, take a walk around University Avenue and see Trevor Noah's comedy show at Centennial Hall down at the U of A. We really enjoyed the show and John got seats in the 3rd row from the stage. They were really great seats.

They almost did not let my hat knitting in Centennial Hall. The rent a cop thought that the knitting was dangerous. I explained that I would only knit while waiting for the show and put it away once the show started. Also that I was allowed to bring it in last weekend. What the heck is so dangerous about 16 inch circular knitting needles? Or hand knit hats for kids?

When we got home around 9 pm, Eric was still awake. He had a good night, but needed to see mom and dad before bedtime.  Of course he needed suctioning, and a gunk clean out, a diaper change and positioning. Then of course it was time to clean the suction machine, I lost the race so it was my turn, not the most fun I have ever had, but it has to be done.

It is 11:30 pm and I just changed and positioned Eric again. I am still waiting for him to go to sleep. I really hope that he is asleep before tomorrow. I really need to get my sweater done. Both sleeves are almost to the elbow. I also need to add the front placket. It has to be finished by Thursday morning. It is my first me size sweater that I have knit. All the other hand knit sweaters have been for Elmo.  I can not follow and alter a pattern when I am too tired to keep my eyes open, that's what hats are for. 

Here is hoping beyond hope that Eric is asleep and sleeps until at least 6 am.

Seven

All knitting was stymied for want of two U.S. size 7 x 16’s at knitting today. I found just what I needed when I got home and checked the table next to where I knit. It was just one of those days.

I Have Been Busy

I have big news. I have spun, knit and woven through my entire stash of yarn. All my sewing projects are caught up too. Now I can go play with some jewelry making.

It Is Going Around

Eric shared his cold. I have slept for most of the day. The worst part of the cold besides loosing my voice is that my arthritis is flaring up. The best part is John is taking care of both Eric and myself.

I am sad that I missed a chance to teach people about spinning today. I choose to stay home when sick and not spread germs. I like to think about germs like glitter, once germs and glitter are out of the jar there is no way to contain them.

Weaving

Todays weaving. Each ball of yarn weaves about 1 foot of fabric. I am almost 2 feet into a 6 foot project. My arms are sore from warping this loom. I am sure it is because of the width. Each color stripe is 1 inch wide or 10 dents per inch. For the matching fabric for the skirt I will need a helper to warp the loom.

John made an adjustment to the loom which made it easier to weave. I had been thinking about the problem for 6 hours. He said that I was on the right track and had the adjustment done in less than 15 minutes. The loom is nowset up for a short person.

Eric is also feeling better and back on formula.

Home Today

With Eric sick, I was home today. My day consisted of finishing the eyrpy laundry, taking care of Eric. Finishing the scarf on the small loom,. All I have left to do on the scarf is tie the ends and wash it.  Starting a direct warp, that is 7 feet long and 22 inches wide on the big loom. The next time I do a warp so big, I think it would be prudent to have some help. It is a very hard solo project. Yes, it is on a rigid heddle loom. You can see part of the small loom in the back round. Here is where I am leaving off for tonight.

The Dismal Trifecta

Dinner at our usual Monday night place was dismal at best and the restaurant shall remain nameless for this blog post. Although I will tell you if you ask me in person. Because of spring break we sat in the bar area, not optimal seating for dinner, but it was not the worst part of dinner. 

We ordered our complete meal when the server came to take our drink order. This is usually done in order to speed up the process and get home in our time frame.  It did not work tonight, sigh. John’s iced tea with lemon came without the lemon, not good, but not the first strike yet.

Thirty minutes later our food came out. John’s had the wrong meat and potatoes, which took about 15 minutes to correct. Strike One. My avocado toast came out so burnt that John could hear me take a bite across the table. Mine was sent back to be remade. Twenty minutes later they offered me a complementary dinner salad and an apology for the time it was taking the toast to be remade. Ten minutes after that my dinner came out correctly. Strike Two.

Strike Three was after dinner in the ladies restroom there was only 1/2 of a roll of toilet paper for 4 toilet stalls. Really!!!! Where is Chef Ramsey when you need him. 

Maybe it is time to find a new Monday night dinner spot. 

Busy and Productive

I am zenning the house on a smaller level now. Today I found a box of business cards that use to go in a Rolodex, now I am inputting them into my contact list on my phone. At this point 5 cards at a time are enough for one day. So this will be a multi week project. I am also spending a few minutes a day going through other things too. I have 4 bags that will go to charity tomorrow. 

I have also found a really good use for all the cotton crochet thread that I received. I am weaving scarfs with the crochet thread as the warp and using up small bits of sport or fingering weight yarn for the weft. The plus side of this, is that I can weave a scarf faster than I can knit one. It will also give my hand more time to heal while I speed through a lot of fiber. I hope that the kids who get them will like them as much as the hats that I knit. Below is the scarf that I started weaving tonight. I am on the 4th color change. Every color change on the weft is a partial ball of crochet thread. 

We also have a new lamp for one of the bedrooms do to a failed science experiment. I had John pick out what he liked and he came back with the same type of lamp that I would have picked out.

The Laundry Room Won

The score is 6 for the laundry room, 0 for me. So I started a load of laundry after dinner. I really hate doing laundry after dinner when Eric is not sick.

I also scored a copy of Mitch Albom’s book The First Phone Call From Heaven. I can’t wait to start it. There is a big however to this. I don’t get my new glasses for 2 weeks. With these glasses I. can only read clearly with my left eye, because my right reading lens needs a new script. The only other solution is to read the book upside down and backwards. What choices.

I am finally feeling better following the hand surgery earlier this year. I am starting to get more things done around the house. This week I finished knitting hat then started a another hat. I finished weaving a child's scarf and will start another one when I warp the loom again.

Trust

People can be so disappointing at times. I know it is an age old problem because it is even one of the Big Ten in the Bible, "Thou shalt not steal". What is so hard about "Thou shalt not steal" if you have ethics? I guess the big thing there is if you have ethics.

I had gotten a special bracelet for my friend Lisa. When we went to her cup this morning where leave things for her, it was gone. This is just so wrong, stealing a gift meant for another person. If they had wanted one I could have told them where to buy it. By the way if you absolutely need the measuring tape bracelet that I wear just contact Grandmas Spinning Wheel and they can get one for you.

I guess that goes along with stealing coupons for free packages of diapers. That was $300 stolen from Eric. I wonder if they will return them now that I put it in my blog. One can only hope. Talking about screwing up someones budget.

I guess as long as we need help in the house everything will have to be under lock and key. Know I understand why the estate and larger households that had help, had one person that inventoried and kept track everything and everyone.

Now I am off to start laundry and put everything under lock and key.

Cotton Thread

I think that I have an idea for all the cotton crochet thread that I was given. It does involve a loom. The loom is warped for the sample.

P.S. I am using one of John’s creations in the process.

Fun, fun,fun. Until the the loom runs away.

A New Thing

I learned to spin cotton this weekend. I think my spinning will get better when my thumb and pinky heal from the surgery in 6 months or so. But you guys know that I love to push my limits as much as possible.

I also managed to sell the 3rd spinning wheel in the house and am now down to an art wheel and a regular wheel. Everyone is happy.

Life

Still on hold.

Alrhough I can highly reccomend sleeping through a dental cleaning. No drugs involved, just sheer exhaustion.

Ethics

I am wondering if it is ethical to bribe a child that was up until 4 am to take a nap at 7:30 am? My breakfast of oatmeal , tea and chocolate only made me more tired and I need a nap fairly soon. Maybe I should just turn on HBO kids for Eric and just pull his wheelchair up to the couch so that he is in reach and have a nap.

So Done With This

Apparently vacuuming up dust bunnies is very funny according to Eric. It had him laughing for 5 minutes. I honestly don't know how they build up under his bed so fast. His room was vacuumed and mopped on Saturday.  He is starting to feel better, but because of the medicine's side effects and a staffing in service he will be home until Tuesday.

I am at the point where getting out of the house would be super nice. Just some place nice and warm would be nice too. Only 6 more days to go.

Going into Week Three

Eric and I will be ushering out February and bringing in March together at home. Yes, another week at home. So if you need me, I won't be hard to find. At least I had time to get to Trader Joe's today for a few things. I am happy now that I left the cookies at the store, let's see how I feel about that mid week. Tomorrow I will try to get to Fry's to round off my shopping list. 

I will be completing knitting projects for me next week. Hopefully I can finish a few new hand knit items for me. Once those are finished I will randomly pull a new project off the shelf to finish it. I wonder how soon I can clear the shelf's in the craft room? Optimistically it will take a year or three.  It is time to go knit.

E = UW

I am so tired all I want to do is cry. Eric is still sick and started another round of another medicine. At least I can knit again for short periods of time. Some where over the rainbow there is life again.

More 3-D Printing

John’s latest 3-D printing project is designed to make my life easier. John designed and built a custom suctioning station. John the mounted it over Eric’s bed so that I could reach it. So no more running to the other side of Eric’s bed, then pulling Eric into suction machine range. Eric has already tried it out and likes it. If you think that this is cool, please let John know. Now to find some 18 ounce Hefty clear plastic cups so that I can see the water level in the rinse station.

I do expect Eric to be home for the rest of the week and maybe into next week. I do have plenty of knitting, weaving and spinning projects to complete, if I can find the time and energy. Mostly I have been trying to keep up with laundry and dishes, the operative word here is trying. Bits and pieces of house work are getting done in 2 to 3 minute spurts. Since I am not zenning the house it is OK that they are not 5 minute spurts.

Smiles

Eric gave us smiles today. It was the first time in over a week. I hope that this means that he is over the worst of the flu and all we have to deal with is the asthma. John and I are both exhausted. I tried to do to much with my hand tonight, I hope that I don’t pay for it tomorrow. I am behind in laundry again, so there is always tommrow to play catch up.

I Am Happy

Today I actually got some knitting done on U.S size 19 knitting needles. I still have to weave in the ends. I even have the perfect outfit for it. Things ended well today.

Eric is feeling better, but his asthma kicked in with vengence. That is manageable.

John even got the roof fixed and finished a new prototype for me to try. I just have to warp the loom.

Rain

With all that was going on with Eric this week I forgot to mention a big event in Tucson this week. We measured 1 1/4 inches of rain over 2 days at our house. The rain was gentle enough that the washes that I drove past today looked dry. This is a very good thing. It’s better for the plants and water table.

On the Eric front, he is not as cranky. I am hoping that this is a good sign. Only time will tell. I am even hoping for a good nights sleep tonight. Wish us luck.

Bored, Nothiing to Do

I honestly can not say what I did for all those years before I leaned to knit, spin yarn and weave. My hand is still  too sore to knit. Spinning takes no more than 30 minutes a day. Is it any wonder that I have had tension headaches since Eric got sick. To make matters worse they start any time after 3:30 am. I think that I am in a whiny phase.

An important note to myself is not to schedule and hand surgery 8 weeks before a holiday. Why? You may ask. Have you ever noticed that Eric gets sick around every holiday. The question is how do we break this habit of his and when can I start knitting again?

On the Eric front, he is doing a little better. His eyes are not glassy with fever any more and he is getting more responsive. Don't tell Eric, but he is also making a lot less laundry. I did not have to wash any of his laundry today. Just don't go and tell him. However, the post viral asthma has kicked in. Life with Eric is never boring.

Gone Buggy

We welcomed an unwelcome visitor at the house last night. Even with Eric getting the flu shot, he got the flu. He is miserable. We are wearing procedure masks when we are around Eric. We are washing our hands after each contact with Eric in hopes that we do not get the flu. To the point that the skin around the scar tissue on my right hand is sore. This evening I started using lotion after each hand washing to keep my skin from drying out too much. Yes, I am washing my hands that much.

This is not surprising to anyone who knows Eric, but he is making more laundry than usual. So we are going to the phase of “Laundry is like fine wine. No laundry shall be folded before it’s time.” As long as the laundry gets washed is all that matters now.

So as not to spread this yucky flu bug and the fact that my hand is not up to par yet, John and I are working in tandem to get Eric back on his feet. I am cancelling every outside activity on my schedule until Monday. This may be a little over kill, but we do not like to share some things. Also at the moment Eric is a 2 person job.

This week will be a real challenge for me as I am not up to knitting yet.
Spinning for any length of time is still iffy. I might get some weaving done if only to test a new design from John’s new 3-D printer. John is trying to come up with a modern twist on the rigid heddle for my loom to make it easier to warp. If all that fails I will put ruts in the tile by walking around the house to relieve stress. Wish us all luck.

Inches

As long as I do nothing but  rest, hand exercises and rub lotion into the scar tissue my hand feels better. It's when I try to do stuff that I regret my actions. So it is still one day at a time. It is also a long way off until mid March when things are suppose to be healed.

Today was my first mostly pain free day since the hand surgery. So I got caught up on shopping. My day went like this. Eat a meal. Go on one shopping trip. Put everything away. Then take a nap. Repeat after lunch. I think we are now stocked up on everything but tissues. It's the only thing I forgot to buy.

No knitting, weaving, sewing or spinning were done today. Your fiber animals are safe for one more day.

I Am Bored

This has been a bumpy road to recovery after this round of hand surgery. The less I do the better my hand feels. So there was a lack of spinning and knitting today which lead to extreme boredom. I am not the person who is happy doing nothing.

A Crazy Lady

It is the beginning of February, you would think that I could leave something like a drop spindle in my car. Not today, it was in the mid 70's so the closed car would be in the mid 90's, much to hot to leave my spinning equipment in the car. Wood tends to warp in the heat, and it does not take much heat to wreck a spindle or a spinning wheel.

So when I went into the stores to do my errands my drop spindle bag went with me. I always tell someone on staff what the bag is full of and offer it up for inspection if they want. At Target I ran into a fellow spinner who like my roving. At the office supply store the cashier thought I was a little on the harmless crazy side to care so much about a "silly" piece of wood.

In other news the band aide's came off my hand today. My right hand is still stiff and swollen. I am trying to move my hand a little more each day. I also think it is time to start rubbing lotion into the scars and break up any scar tissue that is forming. This is a months long endeavor as I recall.

As my hand is healing I am getting a little more energy. So hopefully I can get the things done that I put on hold before the hand surgery. I think I will start with the dinning room table. Then move to the kitchen counter.

A Wild Night

Eric got the wild eyrps tonight. That resulted in 3 loads of laundry tonight. The last load is in the dryer as we speak. I was too tired for all the excitment of the night.

Today I finished spinning and plying yesterdays yarn. I also skeined up some already finished alpaca. I also started a new color called tree. I will show you that tomorrow.

In the mean time I hope hat Eric has a quiet night.

Knitting Withdrawal

The stitches are out as of yesterday. I slept last night until freshing time, when I woke up John to change Eric. No freshing duty until the wounds heal. Knitting is a no go until mid March. So spinning it is.

Today I started a spinning some merino blended with silk on one of my Forrester drop spindles. The color ranged from dark green to yellow. It spun like a dream. The color looks awesome. I will finsh spinning it and ply it tomorrow. Then it will sit in the fiber sink until my hand heals enough to finish processing the yarn.

I’m Impatient Right Now

I am having a hard time with not knitting and sleeping. I can’t wait for the stitches to come out Wednesday. I want full use of both hands. I have so much that I want to do.

Post Surgery Progress

This is my frist real knitting project that has been started after my right hand surgery on Tuesday. I have 2 new outfits that require skinny scarf’s. The first one is 15.5 yards of hand spun wool.

The pattern is simple. Cast on 5 stitches on US size 17 knitting needles. Knit every row until I have just enough yarn for the cast off. The yarn is just shy of worsted weight.

Color

The funny thing about the color in clothing is there either seems to be not enough or too much for most people. Take this morning for instance. In the supermarket parking lot there was a woman who commented that my clothes were a bit on the colorful side, in the not very nice way. Let's face it, my tie dye skirts are comfortable and maybe just a bit on the colorful side. This morning was not going very well. I needed something cheery to wear. I had run out of the right size bandages to cover my stitches. So that is how I landed up in the supermarket parking lot at 9 a.m. to begin with. So I really did not see the irony in her statement until later in the day.

When I found the time to get to a get sale and bought 2 monochromatic outfits, one in gray and one in black. My thought was they were a bit on the drab side, but I could weave some new scarfs to go with the outfits. Maybe even knit a shrug or two. Which made me think of the lady in the parking lot and what she was wearing. It was 50 degrees in the sun if we were lucky and she was wearing shorts that matched her skin tone and a shirt that matched her hair, a totally washed out look in my humble opinion. The shorts in 50 degree weather said snowbird all the way. It was then I realized how outrages I must have seemed to her.

All I have to say on the subject is that the color in my wardrobe is here to stay. As the song goes “there are so many colors in the rainbow...” and I will wear every one. Maybe at the same time.

When I told John the story, he just smiled.

A Long and Hilly Day

Today started out at 5 am with Eric wanting attention, T.V. and to have the covers put back on. Then I put last night's wash in the dryer and started the laundry for the day. I think it was about 5 loads, but don't quote me on that.

Eric supervised and napped while I worked on his new bibs. I only got 4 finished today. I have 6 more bibs to make. If you would like to make some of the bibs I make for Eric you can find the pattern here. Please remember that this pattern is for personal use. You may not use this pattern to sell these bibs. With that said, if you are in love with the pattern and want to make some to donate to a local special needs program or school please feel free to make as many as you like. Just send or post a picture or two before you send them off.

There was also a final goodbye to my friend Faye today. We need more people like Faye in this world. Faye was always kind and generous in spirit. A wonderful student who also brought a great question  or thought to the Torah Study group. Always had a kind word to say. Was always a lady in the classiest sense of the word.  I wish that everyone could have known Faye. She will always have a place in my heart.

Some Assembly Require

Today I started working on a birthday present that required some assembly. OK, I have to knit the entire project. I have cast it on and knit 1 inch of the pattern. The pattern is called Andean by Mary Gavan. The yarn is Mojave hand dyed by Mary Gavin. You can find Mary’s work here www.marygavanyarns.com

Monochromatic

I have decided that I do not like knitting momnchromatic hats. The serries of red hats that I am currently knitting for a local charity are driving me nuts. The first 8 went well enough, but at hat number 9. Well that is a diffrent story. I think that I will stop at hat number 12 and go back to colorful hats. I will also work on some other knitting, spinning and weaving. May even something for me.