Empty Project Bags

Instead of finding places to stash UFO's it is time to get some projects finished. Today I managed to empty 2 project bags, 1 large one and 1 small one. I finished 2 blankets that are already spoken for and 1 kerchief.  It is now time to clean out the big bag and reload it with projects. 

I know that this is not exactly stash busting, but when most of the projects are done it will be time to start more. After all I will have lots of empty bags and knitting needles. 

Eric is having a bit of a rough night so it is time to turn my attention to him.  Have a great day.  

95 Year Rain

Today we had the proverbial 100 year rain here in Tucson. It is my humble opioion a 95 year rain since we just broke the record of 1919.  We got 2.75 inches here at the house.  I am hoping that this might put a little dent in our long term drought.  

I am finishing the scarf on the loom with green and red stripes. I am making progress on the baby blanket too.  I have also taken the blanket off the circular needles and am now back to straight needles.  

I also hit the 10,000 step mark for the first time since I hurt my foot.  So hopefully I can hit that mark at least once a week for a while. Then build up to more days. 

Tomorrow is going to be super busy so I think I will call it a night. 

Conundrums

I will be starting a new picture feed about the conundrums in my life. Check it out on my Instagram, Twitter or Facebook feeds. Then you can add your feed back as to what you would do. Enjoy the journey with me. 

Saturday.

The day started out really well today. By 10:30 am I had the second load of laundry started. I had started organizing my gift and carrier bags   I then went on to organize the gift wrap, it is all in the warping paper box.  I then condensed 5 boxes and large bags into 3/4 of 1 box.  I also found a lot of things that I did not relize that I had.  I even found a cassette gift box from so last century. It found its way into the recycling bin, along with a lot of other unneeded stuff. 

Then the curds that are going around hit. I spent most of the rest of the day in bed.  Later in the evening I had enough energy to get some knitting done.  

I am hoping that Eric has not gotten the curds too.  He has spent the night coughing up a storm. 

Even though I spent most of the day resting, I think I will call it an early night.  

And So it Goes

Last night Eric had a rough night. I guess he had the beginning of the cold that he now has. In retrospect I am so happy that I picked up a pre-cooked fresh chicken for dinner this morning because the smell was wonderful. So the main course for dinner is cooked for the next 3 nights. I am also glad that I got an almost 3 hour nap to make up for the sleep that I lost last night. It might be a long night tonight. I hear that this is a bad one.

Now that he is a the back of the house for the night I will get a cake for tomorrow in the oven and then continue to clean. I am not sure if it will be plain or decorated yet. It all depends on how the night goes. Progress is being made. Sadly all it takes for the house to get messy is Eric getting sick, followed by a flare up for me. So essentially I am trying not to get behind.  I am hoping for some knitting time tonight. Wait revise that last statement. I wonder if I will get close to finishing the blanket tonight.

It is time to turn off PBS kids and get back to work.

Getting My Grove Back

I am getting into the grove of John flunking retirement. As per John he did not flunk retirement, he just picked up another hobby which is called work for 2 days a week. The first 3 months or so I felt like I did when he first retired, a little out of sorts and my rhythm was gone. I am starting to get my rhythm back.

I spent the day at the computer and got 50% of what has piled up cleared away. Tomorrow I think I will try to get a head start on taxes. Yes, it is already September and I want to hand my portion off as soon as possible. Try to finish a baby blanket for a baby shower in a few weeks. There is nothing like just in time knitting. I think I will use some of the quite time for some more deep cleaning and organizing which I just can't get done with the guys home.

Once things are more settled, I am hoping to work on my fiber art projects and knitting for a few hours a day. I also want to add walking and maybe some yoga back into the mix. Well Eric is done with his percussion, so I can turn off Sesame Street and serve dinner.

The Hat Lady

Today it was in the mid 90's when I went to the Flowing Well School District office. I was really hoping that they would take the 11 scarves and 63 hats that almost filled an XXL Ziplock Bag. John really wanted them out of the house. 

I was greeted by it's the hat lady. They were more than happy to take everything that I brought, even though it was still hot outside.   Even better they said that the kids loved the hats. 

Yes, you know me well. The next batch of hats and scarves are already in the works. I cast on 2 more hats today. I also finished the 1st hat of the next batch. I am also past the halfway point in the next baby blanket. 

So I think I really came to the right decision yesterday. I am back to creating and making.  The invisible pressure is off. 

Letting Go

Some dreams are hard to let go of. Take my Etsy shop for example. I am just not selling anything. It is way more money out then money in. So I have spent the last month or so deciding weather I should continue it or not. Then G'd puts someone in the right place at the right time.

I was standing in line outside the opening of the new Whole Foods Market on Oracle this morning. I was knitting as usual. I was working on a wool hat. Then the unexpected happened. A woman behind me asked why I was knitting a wool hat in the middle of the summer heat. I told her that this was a charity hat for local kids in need. Now this is where the conversation gets even stranger. She said that she had just retired from the Flowing Wells School District where I had donated bags full of hats and scarfs last winter. "Last year some one donated a whole lot of hats just like the one I was knitting. All homemade. The kids just loved them. Sometimes even wearing them in the classroom to show that they had a new hat."

She then asked where these hats were going? I told here that I just drop them off at the superintendent's office of the Flowing Wells School district and then they take care of the rest. That brought a smile to her face. In that moment my mind was finally made up. Everything that I have earmarked for sale that does not involve silk or other fussy yarn will go to the kids.

This does not mean that I won't take on commissions. It just means that I will put more energy into designing patterns, charity knitting, weaving and other fiber arts. I will not be knitting in hopes that I can sell something. I know a few of you who are very close to me will say thank goodness and at last.

It also means that more knitting will leave the house. I know someone that will be very happy with this decision. It also means that I won't get depressed over my lack of sales, or waste hours of thinking how I can fix this.  Now it is time to spring sloppy joe's on John.

Scorpions and more

Today was just one of those odd days all around. Eric picked up the tummy bug going around. So it was a long night. Thank goodness I had caught up on laundry yesterday, so that I only had 2 loads to do last night. So I was very tired going into the the day. As I was gathering all the stuff and medicine to hook Eric up to his pedilyte this morning, I ran into a scorpion. I was not moving very fast, but it was moving slower than I was.  I was able to walk to the kitchen and get a long handled fry pan. This is my favorite tool for killing scorpions. By the time I got back it had not moved much.  This one was a tough one though, it took 3 smacks to kill it. After it was disposed of, I went back to getting Eric his medicine and pedilyte. Eric's aide was so happy that he did not have to go after the scorpion he even cleaned the bottom of the fry pan for me.

After I had slowly given Eric his medicine, I took advantage of having an aide in the house for Eric and took a nap. The rest of the day was spent knitting and sitting with Eric. I think the most odd part of the knitting today is that the hat I started last night is now 2/3 done, is exactly where I picked up the one I was working on and finished yesterday. So I essentially got 1 hat for charity finished today. I also stumbled upon a bag set up for hat knitting that had gone missing in the UFO pile. I figure I have 5 to 6 hats worth of wool before I need to restock the bag.

 Eric is now feeling better and is handling pedilyte well. He is not back on formula so he will be home again tomorrow. Maybe I can get another hat  or 2 finished tomorrow.

My First Hand Knit Sweater

This is my very first hand knit sweater that was knit on Wednesday. One of Eric's Elmo's is wearing it. I would like everyone to know it only took me 10 years to get one made. If you need a sweater for a beanie size friend I think I can now handle that with some ease.  Thursday  I also completed a second sweater for one of Eric's friends.  I think that I am on a roll here. 

I have got to go now. I hear the laundry calling my name. Hopefully I can get more than 10 loads of laundry and cleaning done this weekend. I need to get my 35 grams of fiber today.

Life is Stranger than Fiction

Some things that I have taken for granted with Eric might not be things that should have been taken for granted. Take to day for instance. I was picking Eric up after his day program. Yes, I know that this happens quite a lot, if we are lucky 5 days in any given week. Well today went way out of the normal pick up for us.

As I was putting Eric's bag and my purse in the car a driver from a transport company walked straight over from his transport van to my car to take Eric from me. The conversation went something like this:

Driver - I am here to take Eric home.
Me - This is my son Eric, he is going home with me. At this point I grab a hold of Eric's chair. Then get between Eric and the transport driver.
Driver - I am here to pick up Eric. He is going with me.
Me - This is my son he is going home with me.
Driver - This is the Eric I am suppose to take home. I have it on my call sheet. This is his chair.
Me - This is my sons chair you must mean the other Eric. Go into the building and get him.
Driver - No, I am taking this Eric home.
Me - The other Eric's chair is blue. This chair is clearly green and my son is going with me.

This conversation went on like this for a few more minutes.

After jotting down my licence plate number he finally goes into to the building and emerges with the Eric he was suppose to be driving.

Well I have to say that this is the first time in his life that someone has tried to walk off with Eric on purpose. In the past when Eric was self propelled and he wheeled off someone would always return him. Now that he is not self propelled most people would not walk away with 100 pounds of chair and 95 pounds of boy on purpose.

The lesson learned today was: Never say never and don't be afraid to call 911 no matter how odd the call is going to sound.

If It's Lost

If things are lost where do we look? For socks it has to be the washer or dryer. I never look behind the baskets or under beds. There fore I keep a basket of random odd socks that I match up every so often.   For coupons it has to be somewhere on the table. 

But for everything else it it has to be my purse which rivals Hermoney Grangers bag of necessity.  Or worse yet one of my  knitting bags.  Take today for instance I found a lost discount card that I lost in mid June, while on vacation. Everything gets tossed into the one I am carrying at the time. I wonder if I should just go to my knitting bags first if I loose something?

Procrastination

In some respects I am a lot like my dad. I get things done promptly no matter how long it takes.  I started this on a drop spindle the day it came in the door, over 2 years ago.  Tonight I finished plying it. This is a wonderful silk and merino blend dyed by Cloudlover.  I see something for me in its future. 

The Bug Hit

I should be more precise. The cleaning bug hit. Since Eric started the day and spent most of the day sleeping, I had plenty of time. I even shared some of the work. John and I work great in tandem. I stripped the bed and put out clean sheets for later, he made the bed. I started emptying the dishwasher and he finished  unloading and reloaded it. I tried to clean John style where I worked on one area at a time. Those areas look great. I still have a way to go. For a job well started John even brought in a salad for dinner.

After I got tired of cleaning I found some time for spinning some new yarn and working on the next baby blanket. I think its time to go do some more knitting. I am almost ready to start the second skein on a 2 skein blanket.

Something Diffrent

This week when Eric got sick, I tried something different. I tried it without as much caffeine as normal. This was something I have never ever tried before. I'm not sure if it worked or not. Today I landed up taking a couple of naps instead of grabbing a couple of sodas or highly caffeinated tea. I guess that this was better for my body but, the house did not get as clean as I had wanted. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

I did the very basics of housework. Then spent some time relaxing by weaving part of a scarf, spinning some new yarn, and working on a new baby blanket. I am much more relaxed but much more tired.

It will take a few more days for me to figure out if this experiment really worked or not. Yes, Eric is feeling better and with any luck he will be out the door Monday morning to his program. I am looking forward to a real day off.

Busy

Last week Eric had a 5 day vacation from his day program. All he wanted to do was rest in bed and watch tv. My plans included going to a movie and a haircut for Eric. Guess who won? Did you really need to think about that?

So I spent my days spinning, weaving and knitting. I think I should have spent a little more time cleaning.  Well there is always what is left from this week to clean. 

This week I also started the initial shopping for a kitchen re-do. There are so many decision to be made.  I think the hardest part will be is finding a glass top cooking surface that is compatable with my LeCresut cast iron cookware.  Other than that I seem to be drawn to the less expensive appliances.  

It seems my eyrpy boy has settled down for the night. So I think it is time to call it a day. 

Not as Planned

Today did not go as planned.  Eric has a 5 day vacation from his program.  I wanted to go to the mall and take a walk and do a bit of shopping.  Instead we stayed home.  We watched PBS kids most of the day.  

So I caught up on washing the rest of the yarn from the Tour de Fleece. I caught on laundry the started washing a fleece. This was the dirtiest fleece that I have ever washed. It is still washing now. 

I fixed the the error made in assembling the loom, warped it and started weaving. I have found out that I can not use a 20" shuttle when weaving in Eric's room.  There is just not enough room. Almost 3" are already woven.  

I think my foot was not quite up to as much double treadle spinning as I did last week.  My foot is a little unhappy.  So I will give the Ashford a break for a little longer.  

Baby Blanket

RI finished this baby blanket today.  All 378 rows of it.  I thought it would take a week, but it took a little over 2 weeks. 

The back story on the blanket is that I was suppose to teach the mom to be how to knit so that she could knit a blanket for her baby.  We had a hard time finding a good time.  In my humble opinion we ran out of time. So I went into my stash to pick out some yarn.  I thought it would only take me a week. The most important thing is that it is finished before the baby decided to come.  So here is the blanket. 

Tune Up

The Ashford Travler needed a tune up. It was squeaky and sounded like it was going over railroad tracks. So one by one I tightened up all the loose screws. I oiled all the areas I could think of.  I got all but a few rattles are gone. I think I might get John to trouble shoot the last squeaks. 

I am almost finished with the baby blanket and I should be able to give it to her Monday.  Actually Eric wants to give this present.  

I took a map instead of warping the loom, so I guess that will get done tomorrow. 

Progress

I have hit a new stage in my zenning. Instead of finding more bags or boxes to get things put away. This week I started condensing things. Getting rid of extra bags and boxes.  I have 2 less bags of projects that need to be started. I am down 1 box on weaving supplies. All my circular needles that are not in current projects are now put away.  I have also filled the recycle barrel for the 3 rd week in a row.  

I also had a lot of help from John in setting up my new loom. He did a great job. Although I did not have time to warp the loom.  Maybe tommrow. 

The up side of all of this is that I have more time to knit, spin and now weave. Who would of thought that this would have happened.  The answer is John ,Teri and Lisa. 

Fiber Friday and More

I am almost at the halfway point in the baby blanket I started last Friday.  In spinning I almost finished a single that I am going to try to Navajo ply tommrow.  The picture is below.  

I got to see Eric at his talent show.  He did a great job playing the bells. They were very clever and put them on his afo's so when he got excited the bells went crazy. 

I am exhausted and am hoping for a good nights sleep tonight.  

Monsoon Friendly Roving.

Today I had great success with an alpaca silk roving. I started this roving a few months ago and it was almost impossible to spin.  The fiber flew every which way. I spent most of the time fighting with the fiber. I even tried using a blend of oil and water to try to tame it. That just made the roving feel yucky. 

Fast forward to monsoon season 2014. With the humidity around 40% instead of the usual 5 to 10%, the roving spun like a dream.  So my conclusion is some fiber just spins better in higher humidity. So this is my Tour de Fleece spin of the day. 

You Don't Look Old Enough

I was offered a senior discount for the first time today. Then the cashier said I did not look old enough to get the discount, so I had to pull out my id to get the 20% discount. I felt like I was 30 all over again trying to prove that I was over 21 and entitled to buy a glass of wine.

Age is a funny thing. It not only takes genetics, but a whole host of factors such as how much time did you spend in the sun before 20. How many sun burns did you get? Did you wear sun screen or baby oil while you were out in the sun? Did you wear wide brimmed hats or did you insist on the perfect hair all the time? Do you use moisturizer and sun screen daily on your face and hands even in the winter? Did you try to eat healthy or eat nothing but junk food? What type of life style did/do you lead?

I can say that I have been wearing wide brimmed hats for a long time. I have been using a moisturizer with sun screen since my early 20's. But is that really it. I can remember at 16 when I took my brother and his friend to Magic Mountain for the day. I had to pull out my drivers license to prove that I was 16 and old enough to supervise the 2 boys. The cashier still charged me the 12 and under rate because she said I did not look 16 and was sure that the license was a fake, but she still let us in with me as the supervising adult.  The heck with what the drivers license said.

On the other hand I know people who can pass for 5 or more years older than they are and no one gives that a second thought. Some are taller and some are shorter, so it can't all be the height thing. All I know is that it starts to happen at about 6 months of age. So if you look younger than your age have that id ready and get those senior discounts.

Day 3 of Tour de Fleece

I did not spend the day spinning so I do not have any finished skeins.  So here are pictures of the work in progress.  

Tour de Fleece Day 2

2 skeins spun today. The top skein is from Cloudlover.com.  The bottom skein is from Into The Whirled .com.  Both wee fun to spin.  Yes I got all 5 loads of laundry done too. 

Tour de Fleece 2014

Day 1.  The second picture is a single ply mohair in red and blue.  The first one is a Cloudlover super wash BFL in Neptune's Wrath.  

S to Z or Z to S

In spinning there are 2 ways to spin and ply the yarn.  I was taught S to Z and find it very easy.  I decided to try Z to S. After spinning and plying 5 skeins, just about a pound of roving, of Z to S, I think I will go back to S to Z.  I just find it easier to spin. My hands and fingers just want to work that way.  My yarn is just a little smoother. So here are the pictures as they were washing.  

 

Progress

I started the first of 2 baby blankets this morning.  As of right now I am 25% done with the first blanket.  Eric was a big help. He held on to the yarn while I was knitting.  Here is my progress so far.

I also managed to spin a little and get the laundry finished today. Eric is feeling better, but still not 100%. 

Laundry Overload

I know I have hit laundry overload when I start dreaming about laundry. Last night I hit overload. I was up with the eyrpy boy until 3:30 a.m.. I was trying to keep up with the eyrpy laundry, but I had to finish the laundry I put in the washer and dryer before bed. The dryer was my sore spot last night, it took forever in my very humble and tired opinion to dry anything.

Well I finally got to get a nap around 3:30 a.m. I dreamt that I was pulling an old fashion 2 wheel shopping cart, the kind women of my grandmothers generation used to use when they went shopping and had to walk or take the bus home with their groceries. The cart was pretty empty when I started out. As the dream progressed it kept getting fuller and fuller. The more I walked the fuller it got.  I could not find any place to wash the pile of laundry no matter how much it grew and was stuffed down in the basket.

When I woke up at 5:30 a.m. I went right back to doing laundry. With great hope on my part, I have what I think is the last load of laundry for the day in the dryer as I write this. Wish me luck. Eric is still a little eyrpy.  Now of course this does not include the yarn that I am plying right now on the spinning wheel.

Hand Tired

I had a pretty busy day today.  Overall it was pretty good, but tiring. By 5:30 pm my hands were to tired to move.  So the knitting and spinning I wanted to get done are still UFO's.  Also this is a very short blog so my hands can rest.  

I Step Back

I landed up having to rewash all of the white roving. I did not get enough lanlion off the fiber.  It looks much better now.  The wool will spend tomorrow drying.  Then I will go to the next fleece on Thursday afternoon or Friday morning.  Hopefully that will be the last fleece that I find in the storage room.  

Next on the line up are a few dog pillows for my spinning groups dogs. There are a few new puppy's.  I also want to start my next design this week.  There is just so much to do. I will get more accomplished if Eric does a good job of sleeping. 

Play Time

Eric was home sick today. Since he spent much of he day sleeping I took the time to play. I managed to wash about 2 pounds of wool and 9 ounces of alpaca.  I found time to spin and knit 2 hats with a total of 63 rows toward the 1 million row challenge. When John got home I even managed a 3 hour nap.  Also on the plus side Eric is feeling better. 

A Busy Sunday

I managed to get all 5 loads of laundry done today despite my very late start. I did not get the first load in until 7:30 a.m. which is quite late for summer.  I usually stop the washing machine when it hits 100 out side and then wait until it cools down to 100 again. if I am very lucky I can keep things running until 11:00 a.m. or so and then restart everything back up after dinner. This is what I mean by giving the appliances the afternoon off.

The great part about living in Tucson in the summer is that the grocery stores tend to be pretty empty when it is over 100. So today I went in the middle of the day. I got everything I needed without getting bumped by a bunch of carts. This was a good thing today. My Safeway has gone through another upgrade. I am not sure if this is do to the merger with Albertson's or that a brand new Whole Foods will open up across the street in a few months. This meant that I had to go up and down all the aisles. Everything was in a new place, this makes it hard to do a quick trip in and out.  I noticed that quite a few things were gone and a lot of upgraded stuff was brought in. They have also added a lot of "organics" gluten free and "health food" along with bins full for all kinds of things including teas, pasta, grains and specialty items.

I managed to do a bunch of odds and ends but no big projects got finished. Yesterday I tried to cut back on caffeine and today I got the headache in return. I guess I will try that at a later date. I am waiting for Eric to settle down for the night, but it might be a while.

Morning Glory

The second pattern that was released on Thursday is called Morning Glory. John came up with the name. This shawl and pattern can be found at Kiwi Knitting Company here in Tucson. By a remarkable coincidence You can get this pattern and yarn exclusively at Kiwi Knitting Company here in Tucson. You will find the yarn in the sock section of the store along with the shawl. Stop buy to get the pattern and yarn. Join the group at the knitting table and start your project.

The Kiwi Knitting Company
2540 E. 6th Street
Tucson AZ
(520) 881-1319

On line the The Kiwi Knitting Company can be found here.  The normal store hours are Monday through Saturday 10:00 am to 6:00 pm.  If Tucson is part of your summer travels please keep in mind that The Kiwi Knitting Company will be closed from June 30th to July 11, 2014.

The pattern is a beginning one skein wonder. The yarn is Regina Fluormania Color by Schachenmayr. Perfect for the slight chill in the air on summer evenings, with a very nice drape.  It is done in garter stitch. The only skills needed to knit this shawl are the ability to do yarn overs, and knit2together.

Grandmas Summer Shawl

This is the first of 2  of my brand new patterns that were released yesterday. The name was chosen by Vicky the owner of Grandmas Spinning Wheel here in Tucson. By a remarkable coincidence You can get this pattern and yarn exclusively at Grandmas Spinning Wheel here in Tucson. Stop buy to get the pattern and yarn. Join the group at the knitting table and start your project. Depending on when you stop by you just might find me knitting or spinning.

Grandmas Spinning Wheel
6455 East Tanque Verde
Tucson AZ 85715
(520) 290-3738

You can also find Grandmas Spinning Wheel on line.

The pattern is an advanced beginner one skein wonder. The yarn is Calbuco by Araucania.  Perfect for the slight chill in the air on summer evenings, with a very nice drape.  It is done in garter stitch. The only skills needed to knit this shawl are the ability to do yarn overs, knit into the front and back of the same stitch, and purl.

A Great Day

Today was a busy day. It started out with therapy for Eric. Followed by errands. Followed by a luncheon where my 2 new patterns were released. Followed by knitting. Followed by more errands. Followed by finishing one hat. I am a little tired. 

Tomorrow I will post the pictures and how to get a hold of each of the patterns. 

Food and Moms

Like all good moms, I left Teri with a little home cooking. Tonight after dinner I made Teri a turkey breast with home made stuffing.  This means that she will have 5 home cooked meals for the comming weeks. I also made sure she ate well for the entire weekend.  

Today we made it to the beach which was really fun. We also had a very unsecceusfull shopping trip.  No matter how much we looked we could not add any money to the California economy.  The weekend ended much to soon. As I set off for the drive home Teri will head back to work. TTFN

Teri Time

I had a great day with Teri. I also finished another UFO which makes 2 finished objects in 2 days. 

Monday

Today did not start off great, so I ingnored  my body and went through my to do list.  I think I need to remember  to use the to do list in the future.  All I had to do was 1 item at a time. With this method I got a lot done.  I managed to get through have the list today. I might even try it on good body days. 

On the craft front all I can show you is the spinning that got done today. I just have to spin the white so I can ply the yarn. 

The Designs Are Done

After spending all afternoon knitting. Yes it was well over 100 rows. I finished the second project. I also finished off the rest of the Drop Dead Diva episodes on the DVR for this season.  As of 5 pm today both designs are done. As of 5:30 pm both are photographed. Now all I need to do is type up the patterns. This is not as simple as it sounds if you have had a look at my notes. So I now have until the 19th of June to type them up and set the pictures in place.

Then I have to decide if I am going to the printers or printing them at home. I guess it depends on how many copies I need to print. I think it is time to take a few hours off of knitting and do a little spinning.  

Human Nature an Money

 This is just my random thoughts about people and money.  Sometimes people and money can totally deify logic. Sometimes be transparent can back fire big time.  Let me explain.

I have planned a luncheon. In the past I have taken the cost of the meal, tax and added the 18% tip plus 5 or 10 dollars rounded up to the nearest 5 or 10 dollar mark for the fund raiser portion and people did not blink.  No one complained.  

In a group I belong to money has been an issue all year. Plus the place we are having the luncheon has a nice discount for those over 65, which is most of the membership. If I had paid for all the meals at once, I would have had to pay the under 65 price plus a drink which is higher. So I naively thought that everyone would like to save a little money, since a lot of people I know drink water with meals they would also save the cost of a drink. So I asked for a 5 dollar reservation fee to cover miscellaneous costs of the luncheon with the balance going into the nonprofits bank account, and everyone could choose their own options when they arrived. In this case trying to save people money, a fundraiser and being transparent has turned into a big mess. A lot of hurt feelings and talk about unjust fees. That I am being greedy, please note that the $5.00 will be going into the non-profits bank account. That I don't know the value of money and so on. The funny thing here is that if they take the over 65 price with no drink that would cover most of the $5.00 reservation fee.

My take away on this whole fiasco is too skip the options and being nice. In the future all planned luncheons will be a single price even if it cost people more money. All luncheons will include the cost of the meal, drink, 18% tip and the fund raiser portion rolled into one price. No options on cost. Only main course options from a very limited menu.

Slowly Healing

My hand is slowly healing. The swelling is almost all gone.  Over the last 3 days I have been able to add 120 rows to the new design. I can now knit for about an hour a day. I am not up to my usual speed, but I hope that it will get better. 

Tonight I managed to cook dinner almost solo. John had to open the chicken package.  I managed the green beans and squash on my own.  

It's time to call it a day. 

Hop, Skip and Jump

The tendonitis has moved to my left wrist.  I feel like I am up a creek without a paddle. I will try the Dragon software to dictate the first pattern. I will also adjust the second pattern to larger knitting needles and a less intricate pattern if possible.  

I suspect that 4 hours a day for a week was just a tad too much knitting during a flare up.  I have my hand in a brace and I want an instant cure. I don't really have time for this. 

I think that this will also delay painting the new loom.  Hopefully I can get that done soon.  I am hoping that weaving will lessen the strain on my joints or at least change things up a bit. 

Out and About on Sunday

Today was a very productive day. I got the first pattern finished, now I just need to type it up and photograph it. Out of consideration for my model I will wait until I get the next pattern finished.  I have already started looking at stitch patterns and might have narrowed it down. The sketching will start tomorrow. 

We also got to Phoenix to go shoe shopping.  John got 2 pairs at a great price.  We were ahead even after we filled the van.  The Mills mall seemed empty compared to past trips. Although we could hardly walk without bumping into the kiosks.  I also like the fact that there are 3 lanes most of the way from Tucson. This took about 30 minutes off our drive. It also seemed to me that a lot of people got flat tires at the place where I blew 2 out last time. The shoulder was just littered with parts of shredded tires.  This was the only place that look that way on the whole drive. 

Busy is Good

Today has been a very busy day around here. I did three loads of laundry. Picked up my new loom,but I can't use it yet, we have to put a coat up or three of varnish on it. I got to Costco and they finally have mushrooms back in stock I know it doesn't sound like a big deal but it's a big deal to me. 

Eric borrowed a copy of the movie Frost and he is totally in love with it. It is the third time that he watched it today and he does not want me to turn it off so he can go to sleep. I guess I'm going to have to be the mean mom go turn off the movie so he can watch it again tomorrow. Now you know who has to go buy a copy of it. 

I stopped at row 87 of the new design tonight. I guess I will try to finish it tommrow even if I have to leave the house.  

B & B Salad

This is a favorite summer salad for John and I. 

B & B Salad

4 medium size Golden Beets

1 pound English Flat Green Beans

1 cup yellow tomatoes

3/4 cup of lightly chopped Pecans

Optional

4 ounces of Cheese diced

Vingerette Salad Dressing

Wash the beets and trim the ends.  Bring to a boil.  Turn down the heat and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until tender. Drain and rinse in cold water.  Peel and dice.  Be careful the beets will still be hot.  

Rinse the English Flat Green Beans. Trim the ends.  Slice into thirds. Steam for 7 minutes.  Cool. 

Rinse the tomatoes. Dice the cheese if desired. Chop the pecans. 

Place all the ingredients in a large bowl. Toss and serve.  We usually eat this without the dressing.  

If you would like to keep this vegan do not add the cheese.  

Small Feet

The sad part about the kids getting older is that I got shorter.  I have only lost 1/2 of an inch since Teri has been born, but they both take after John. Now it appears that I also have the smallest feet in the house. If you sort the socks mine are the smallest. Oh well life goes on small feet and all. 

Guess Who is Sick Again?

7 loads of laundry later Eric is starting to feel better. No the last 2 loads of laundry are not folded yet, would you expect anything more from me.  On the bright side I also managed to write and knit 16 rows of one of the 2 patterns that need to be ready to go by mid June. 

I am 62 rows in and only 9.5 inches deep. I am still hoping that I can make this a one skein quick project. Only more knitting will tell.  It still might need a second skein.  

I am really hoping that Eric sleeps tonight. It feels like it has been a very long day already.  I also hope that everyone has a good and productive week.  

My First Hand Woven Scarf

This is what I have been busy doing this week. I have been having too much fun to blog or much else. This picture was taken before I washed it. By the way if you are in Tucson and have a chance to take a class with Donna  at Grandma's Spinning Wheel you just have to. I did not get to come home with a loom today. So sad. So I caught up on the house work which I have be ignoring all week. I am sure that John knew if I came home with a rigid heddle loom nothing would have gotten done today.

And that pattern I am designing. I have to tink back 6 rows not because of a design flaw, but because I dropped 1 stitch.

A Lack of Foresight

Last year I showed a tremendous lack of foresight when I made the doctors appointment for today. I had no idea the practice would be installing a new computer system on Mothers Day weekend.  It's like who does that sort of thing?

I should have know we were in trouble when we checked in at the front desk. More than the normal amount of information needed to be verified.  The clerk said there were a few glitches with the new computer system. So I thought a little GIGO went on with the data transfer. 

We were called back fairly quickly. It was about 10 minutes.  So I thought Eric might get to the program in time to swim. Wrong.  We corrected more information on the back computer.   The assistant said the doctor would be right in.  The problem is he forgot to tell the doctor that we were In the room. 

I started knitting. Did a little pt with Eric. Then started a new color in the self striping yarn. After 45 minutes Eric randomly started saying hello to attract attention.  Fifteen minutes later the doctor came in. He said it was the new computer system. There is no way to tell the doctor which patient is in which room. Also his assistant told him we had left 15 minutes before without seeing him, so the assistant checked us out and made next years appointment.  It did not sound right to him.  He was going to see a different patient whom he thought was in our room. 

So long story made short. Eric is doing ok. The doctors office computer needs some work. I got Eric to his program 3 1/2 hours late and he missed swimming. 

I am going to work on a new knitting design and hope that my day goes smoother.  TTFN