YOP LIST 2023-2024

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Week 43 of Year 5 YoP



Hello all my dear blogging friends.  I hope today finds all of you happy and healthy.  It is a beautiful day here in the desert of Arizona.  Blue skies, slight breeze, birds singing their morning songs and I am ready for the day to begin. 

I was dismayed the other day when I read that blogging was becoming passe.  How can that be?  I even read this in a blog!  The blog said, twitter was taking over blogging as no on wants to 'sit and read' something that is longer than so many characters.  OH MY!  Does this mean that people are no longer reading things like books, magazines, or newspapers? I realize that all of those things can be obtained in electronic form, but........a person still needs to 'sit and read' them.

So, for those of you that still find enjoyment out of sitting and reading, let us advance into my world of blogging.

I have a lot of things to show you today.  So..................sit back, put up your feet and relax for the next 5 minutes.

As you all know, Hubby and I are doing our decluttering.  So far, we have done the laundry room and kitchen.  This week was the dining room and entry area.  That was done in about 3 minutes.  It required me cleaning the dining room table and removing a reusable grocery bag from the front entryway.  BUT.....................we went to Ikea this week and picked out two new pieces of furniture for our home.  And entertainment center for our living room and a double dresser for our bedroom that we can put our TV on as well as some much needed storage space.

I have not started cleaning out the old entertainment center from the living room yet.  That will commence on Monday as that also the week for decluttering the living room anyway.  But I did clean out the entertainment thingy that we have been using for our TV in the bedroom and I found treasures!


A journal.................this was given to me a few Christmas' ago and I must have been in a hurry to stash is somewhere.


It has never even had one entry put into it.  I am so excited about this.  I have been looking into doing a life planner but just didn't think I had the discipline to do that weekly.  This is perfect for me.  I love to journal and if I decide I want to get more detailed, I can do that right here in these lovely pages.  I love the fact it is spiral bound and lays flat.


Another Christmas gift was found.  This time it was for my hubby from a dear friend.  This one was a bit sad to find.  The friend passed away just about a year ago.  We had been friends for over 30 years.  This was the last ornament we received from him.  It was several years ago, as we kind of lost touch.  Hubby had all of the Star Wars Hallmark ornaments up until this point.  We gave them all to our son who is a HUGE SW fan.  This one, too will go to him.


Hubby is also a large Star Trek fan.  This was also a gift from our dear friend the same year as the ornament.  Hubby says he remembers Sunday nights in college, the TV in the common area of his dorm, would have the channel tuned to Star Trek.  It was the only time everyone agreed on the same show.


This is the best treasure I found!!!!  My Debbie Macomber Blossom Street Books!  I use to have all of them, but somewhere along the line, I have loaned out the first 3 and never got them back.  So off to Amazon I go and ordered all of the ones I do not have.  I was going to get them all in electronic form, but since there are knitting patterns in them, I wanted to be able to have it in paper.  I am not a fan of knitting pattern on electronic form.  I have a few that way, but still prefer paper.  (Old school works best for some of us moldy oldies)


This is my little boy dog, Enrique.  I was busy in my craft room and he came in to take a little rest and keep me company.  Yes, those are my blocking boards he is laying on.  This is the reason I keep blankets on top of them.  I really don't want dog hair on my fine knits.

Hubby was sweet and got my carpet roses planted for me.  I don't think my dogs will bother these jewels.  There are some might nasty thorns on them.  These should eventually take over the entire garden area.  You know, the 6 foot by 3 foot area.  They are in full bloom and have tons more of blossoms on them.  I am hoping they will continue to bloom for several months yet.

BUT WAIT............................This is suppose to be my day to blog about my crafting.  OK, OK...............I do have a little bit of knitting news.

Wee Sherlock Jacket is coming along........slowly.  I have been so busy with my other things in life, I have really not had a lot of knitting time this week.  I did manage to complete the body since last week and got part of one sleeve done.  I have found a hat pattern to tell me how many stitches to cast on for a baby 3-6 months of age.  So I was not totally idle, just not as far along as I wanted to be.  Hopefully, by next weekend, the jacket will be finished and the hat will be started.  My calendar this week, is pretty full already, but hopefully I can pay attention to this little gem in the evenings without much interruption.

Until next time...........................Happy Crafting!

Friday, April 22, 2016

Friday Goodness

I am still plugging along on Wee Sherlock Jacket.  I am on the first sleeve.  While I am doing it magic loop,  it is still slow going because it is boring.  I am half way thru the first sleeve though.  Which means, I have done 20 rows and have 20 more to go.  A pattern for a hat was found, sort of.  It gives me how many to cast on and how long to make it.  I will put my own design to it so it somewhat matches the jacket.

The past few days I have been battling, what I thought was allergies.  Nope, it's a head cold. It is 95 degrees out and I catch a bloomin cold.  So very uncool.  But when you have an autoimmune disease, such as RA, getting sick is par for the course.  I really shouldn't complain.   This is my first illness in over a year.  I managed to escape the flu everyone around me got (no, I can not take the flu shot because of meds I take).  

As for our declutter challenge. .........this is dining room and entry way week.  That took 5 minutes lol.  We will be mixing up some of the rooms this next week.   We have an entertainment center and a double dresser being delivered next Friday.  We Need to clean out the old stuff so we can clutter the new stuff lol. We had seen the entertainment center 6 months ago and decided to think about it.  We don't like to make quick decisions.  The dresser was a spur of the moment idea.  I will take before and after photos so you can see the difference.

I'm out if here.  I have a long to do list today, starting with an appointment to get my blood pressure checked.

Leftycrafter




Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Weirdness

I have been working on baby Kaidence's sweater for almost a week now.  The style of the sweater is adorable and I really like the cables.  It has been way too long since I have done cables. Love doing them and love the look they give to the sweater.

The title of todays blog is the real reason I  am writing today.  The pattern calls for the sweatwr to be knit for 7 inches below the arm pit.  That would make the sweater nearly 12 inches long.  Mind you, this is for a 3-6 month baby.  It just so happens I have a baby doll that is the size of a 3 month baby ( on average).  If made per instructions, it would come below the babies knees.   Needless to say, I will be making this sweater length much shorter.  Probably 5" will be perfect, especially when tryi g to buckle a car seat around it.

That being said, this sweater will be done before the weekend now.  Hopefully, I can also get a good start, if not complete, a hat to go with it.  I will have to "design" it, as there is no matching hat pattern attached to sweater pattern.  This shouldbe interesting.  I am a very visual person, designing is not my forte at all.

So on that note.......off to try and finish this sweater. ........

Leftycrafter

Sunday, April 17, 2016

YoP 42






Only 10 weeks left in our year 5 YOP.  I have learned quite a bit and pushed myself to learn things I had been putting off for years.  It has been so wonderful again.

This past week I  finished the Babbity sweater and hat.


Isn't it adorable?  I am sure Olivia Adeline will love it too.  Her mommy was so thrilled.  She showed to everyone.  The mommy works where my mother is living.  She just couldn't believe anyone would do something like that for her.  She is a wonderful caregiver and we will truly miss her when she goes on maternity leave.

Since Olivia is due in June.........I was looking for rose buttons.  Most of the ones I found that looked like a rose where shank buttons.  I am not fond of those for babies.  They have to hurt a bit when buckled into a car seat.  So these are what I ended up with.


Flowers but not roses.  Oh well, I don't think Olivia will notice.

That baby combo was so fun, I started another one right away.  This one is for my niece who is due in August.  She is having a girl also.  This baby will be named Kaidence.  I am loving all these cool names. This sweater is Wee Sherlock Jacket.  I will make a hat to go with it too.



I thought this one would go quicker since it is made with worsted weight. Seems to be taking longer because of the cables and increasing continually.  I am enjoying it though. I do like the yarn I am using on this.


It has been in my stash for a couple of years.  I bought enough to make myself a sweater and have yet to get to that.  I normally would not make a sweater this dark for a baby, but I am planning on some stunning buttons to brighten up the entire piece.

I have not done cables in quite a while and love how they add so much to a pattern.  They really aren't hard to do, just a bit time consuming.  Well worth the effort though.  I am hoping to have this done in the next week or two.  We are going to Nevada again the end of May and I want to have this ready to give to the expectant mom and dad when we go.

We are still working on our 13 week declutter plan.  This week we decluttered the kitchen and all our pantries.  We have 3 of them and they are all cleaned out.  It is so self gratifying to actually throw or donate items and the house already feels lighter to me.  We have 8 33 gallon bags full of items for charity.  The charity is coming by tomorrow to pick them up.  All that after just 2 rooms.  Kind of scary isn't it?

This past week must have been my medical week.  Ended up in urgent care last weekend with a weird rash.  Went to a dermatologist on Monday to find out it is Discoid Eczema.  Really?  I have never had any issues with my skin before.  Wednesday I had a routine dental appointment and that afternoon I went to my primary care Dr as the urgent care said my blood pressure was pretty high.  Seems I am borderline hypertensive at this point.  So back to the gym I go to do lots of treadmill and some weight training.  Counting calories is back on the plate too.  I have been advised to loose weight and increase my activity or I will be going on medicine soon.  UGH!  Old age is not for sissies LOL.  

I assume, this means knitting is not a cardiovascular sport?  Come on.....haven't they ever seen us knitters when we make a mistake 7 rows back and have to rip it out to fix it?  There is quite a bit of movement that goes into that.  First, you throw the project across the room, then you have to go and pick it up, then the ripping begins, then you have to wind all the loose yarn back around your ball.  Yup, lots of movement if you ask me.

(sigh)  Alright, I will be good and follow doctor's orders.  One thing I have started doing and it is helping so much............I got the Nutribullet and make myself a smoothie each morning with fruit, greens, proteins and greek yogurt.  It is so yummy and keeps me very full until lunch time.  I have already noticed a difference in my clothes since I have started.  No, I have not weighed myself.  Scales are not the best determinator of getting into shape.  My son in Texas is a personal trainer.  He said, when he starts working with his clients, especially females, he tells  them not to step on a scale for 4 weeks.  I can understand why. So I am not stepping on the scale and have not been on the scale for 2 weeks as it is.  When I went to the Doctor on Wednesday, I had already lost almost 10 pounds in 2 weeks. I must be doing something right, huh.

Ok, I need to get back to my chores for the day.  I have a very long to do list and blogging is not getting it done.  I will probably write more this week but for sure, next weekend.

Happy Crafting

PS:  do any of you use bloglovin' to keep track of you blogs you love to read?  I have used it for about 5 years now and love that I can follow so many of my fellow crafters. 

Sunday, April 10, 2016

YoP Week 41




Don't have a lot of crafting news this week.  As I sat and read everyone's blogs last weekend and throughout the week, I realized something.........................I had lost my crafting mojo.  I didn't want to work on any WIP.  Didn't want to start a new pair of socks. Could have cared less if I had dishcloths or not.  Just didn't care about anything in the fiber department.  

This has only happened to me one other time in the past 41 years.  It scared me.  This is not like me at all.  I LOVE my yarn.  I LOVE working with my hands to create something useful and beautiful.  I LOVE hearing the clicking of my needles.  I LOVE all things related to knitting or crocheting.  What was wrong with me?  

So, I filled my days with going to the gym, visiting my mom, watching TV, decluttering my laundry room (that took 2 days is all), and looking at blogs of other crafters to see if I could get inspired to do SOMETHING!

Wednesday afternoon it hit me...................I had to have fiber in my hands again.  You see, if I do not knit or crochet daily, my arthritis really flares up in my hands and I hurt so bad that I can hardly drive a car.  It had been 4 days since I last picked up my needles or hook.  I HAD to do something.  I got on Ravelry and searched my library hoping it would inspire me to go stash searching.  Nothing...............I went back and looked at my fellow crafters blogs again....still nothing.............then my mom called.  LIGHT BULB!!!!  One of her care givers is pregnant with her 6th child.  A girl..................It had been many years since her last girl had been born and at least 8 or 9 years since her last period!  She is going to need lots of baby things for this one as she has gotten rid of all her baby items.

Back to Ravelry I went to look for baby items to knit or crochet.  I scratched the idea of a blanket right away.  I am far too slow to knit one.  Crocheted blankets are great and fast but I just could not find a pattern that spoke to me.  I went in search of sweaters for babies.  But I needed one that was going to be 6 -9 months as the baby is due in June and I just don't see the baby wearing a sweater when it is 115 outside.

I found the pattern...............Babitty Baby Jacket.  It was perfect.  I had not made any baby items since my first son was born 42 years ago.  I was excited.  I ran off to go through my stash.  Found the perfect yarn for the project.  Cast on Wednesday afternoon and by this morning this is what I have:


This actually would have been done by now, but I still do have laundry, visiting my mom, shopping, going to the gym and social activities that take me away from my knitting.  So, I am working on the first sleeve and should have both sleeves done by tonight.  Then, I am going to look for rose shaped buttons, since the flower for June is a rose.  There is also a pattern for a matching hat on the pattern's website.  So yes, I am going to make the hat too and put a rose ribbon flower on the hat.

After this is done...................I have no idea what I will pick up.  I still am not liking the idea of my WIP's but that could change in the next couple of days.  I actually am liking the idea of socks or fingerless gloves.  My newest grand daughter asked me to make her a pair of fingerless gloves that go to her elbow......................I have the yarn for them so they might be next...............as well as a pair of socks...............or two pair of socks.  Yup, my mojo is coming back.  Phew

It is a nice rainy day here.  Perfect for the hubby to watch the Master's golf tourney and for me to finish a wee sweater for Olivia Adeline.  I just love the name.  And there is another baby being born in August that just might need a sweater for this winter too.  I am really liking how fast baby clothing goes.  This just might be my new thing to go to.  Our church supports an unwed mother's home and they are always in need of clothing for the babies.  Might have to do some charity work for them too.

Until next time........................Happy Crafting.


Sunday, April 3, 2016

YoP week 40




I have been MIA for about 2-3 weeks.  Of course, I knew where I was all along.  I was in the great state of Texas.  My son went to the East Coast to pick up his wife, who had been on active duty in the middle east for the past year.  Someone needed to take care of the children while he was gone.  Enter Mimi/Grandmom.  I love being able to just pick up and go when I am needed somewhere.  Retirement has managed to give me that freedom.  Hubby stayed home to take care of the critters and make sure my mom was visited weekly.  (What a wonderful man I have)

I took loads of yarn with me on my trip.  I don't know what I was thinking.  I guess I thought I would have a lot of down time to knit.  HA!  I knit on the plane ride there and I knit 3 evenings after the youngest went to bed and this some of what I accomplished:

I finished the other fingerless mitt for my mom.  I also made 3 more dishcloths in the DW pattern.  Those were left in Texas for the newly weds.  They only had one dish cloth and that just didn't work for me.  That is the extent of my knitting for 3 weeks.  Pitiful, huh.

I did knit on my plan ride back yesterday.  But it was just to add some more rows on my sweater.....................you know......................the one that seems to never finish.  I figured I have 5 more pattern sets to do and then I can start on the back.  I might have it finished by the end of the year......................not the YOP year, but the 2016 year.

I have not started any other projects, even though I had sock yarn with me on the trip and I was greatly tempted to cast on for another pair of sock.  Nope, I decided I wanted to wait until I was back home to do that.  So maybe this week, I will cast on a new project.

This coming week is going to see a large change in my schedule of activities.  I am joining in on the 13 week declutter your home project. ( https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/mary-organizes-declutter-challenge-14821413 ) I was suppose to start it on January 4th but life was not allowing that to happen.  So, tomorrow is the first day of my 91 day organizing challenge.  I am very excited to get into this.  

While I was gone to Texas, my family and friends got together and enclosed my Arizona room to help cut down on the heat that comes into the house.  I had ordered the french door and window for it before I left town.  I love it.  It doesn't even look like my house from the backyard.

This is the beginning of the project.  The open area used to be all glass.  We had 3 sliding glass doors that were 16 feet wide by 8 feet high.


The framing was a must as the previous owner had actually removed most of the supporting header beam when they enclosed the patio to make it a glass room.  We are lucky the roof never fell in.


The siding is up and window installed.

French door and doggie door installed.  What a difference it has made in the temperature in my house.  We normally would have had the air conditioner on by now, but the house is still cool enough without it.  There is still some trim work to be done and we need to paint the siding and window and door frame.  The inside still needs the texture applied to the drywall and have that painted too.

So, while all this work was going on................I was enjoying life with my grand kids in TX.

This is my youngest Grandson.  It is still winter in Texas................well at least in the house it was.  They like to keep the house very cool so we all walked around with sweaters and jackets on.  Once the parental units left, I turned up the thermostat about 5 degrees and everyone loved me best. LOL

This is my youngest two grand kids.  I was gifted with the grand daughter (Adelle) about 4 months ago when my son married her mom.  She is truly a gift to us and I am already head over heels in love with her.  The young man is Bryson, the youngest grandson.

These are two other of my grandsons.  The one on the left is Skyler the oldest of all the grands.  The young man on the right is Jadin.  He falls right in the middle of all of the grands. The young lady in the photo is Jadin's girlfriend.  A very lovely young lady and so much fun to be around.  I was honored that she liked being around me too.

Adelle and I went to the botanical gardens on Good Friday.  She had the day off school and the other boys where with their mom for the weekend.  This is a snowball tree.  My grandma had one in her yard in Iowa, but it was more like a bush than a tree.  I loved that thing.

This redbud tree had one of the garden workers and myself scratching our heads as to why it was blooming on the base of the tree.  It was very lovely though.

Our favorite part of the gardens was the butterfly conservatory.  This is Adelle with 2 butterflies on her arm.  I wish they had opened their wings.  They were a gorgeous bright blue color.

We also took a little time in the Japanese gardens.  We saw this pagoda and kind of thought it reminded us of a McDonald's sign.

Upon returning home we were greeted at the garage by this fellow.  No, I am not fond of snakes.  But I watched him for a little bit and decided he was harmless.  I took a looooong stick and picked him up and moved him away from the garage so I could close the door with him on the outside.  Found out, this is a gulf coast ribbon snake.  Part of the garden snake family.  He must have been young as he was only about 2 feet long and they get up to 3 feet long.

So that is what has been happening in my life lately.  I am home and glad to be back to all things familiar.  I think I will close now and go and see what project I would like to cast on next.  Maybe another dishcloth for my kitchen.  

Until next week.......Happy Crafting