WEEK 39

 

Hello and welcome.  It has been a very trying and busy week so let's get right to the fun stuff.

Not a lot of knitting was done as my right wrist is still in flare mode.  Here is what I did manage to work on.

Only a few rows on the socks got completed.  I did try them on and they were a little on the loose side so I decreased each sock by 8 stitches.  With less stitches that means they should knit a bit faster, right?

I did cast on another preemie baby hat for my niece's NICU.  It got the most attention.  I need another half inch and then start the decreasing.  Hopefully I can get it done this week if my wrist will cooperate.

Since my wrist was malfunctioning, I decided to work on some diamond art.

This was an impulse purchase last week and I did finish it in 2 days.  It is meant to be hung and I have all the supplies to hang it with.  Trying to find a spot where the beading will shine the best is going to be the challenge.  I will figure it out eventually.

Hubby and I decided it would be fun to work with Legos again.  He bought a large item for us to work on together and it came with a bonus kit.  Since it has been well over 40 years since I have really worked with Legos, I decided to try my hand at the bonus kit to see if I remembered how the instructions worked and if I had the dexterity to accomplish it.

The answer is yes and yes.  This only took a couple of hours to accomplish and I did enjoy doing it.  I am ready to move on to a bigger project now.

Spring has sprung here.  We had a week of VERY warm (90's) temps.  Our newly landscaped front yard is loving it.  I will take some photos to show next week.  I was a bit busy this past week to do it.  The next paragraph will explain that.

As I said in my opening statement, this was a trying week.  Josh ended up being admitted to the hospital last Sunday, with extremely painful headache.  They could not get it under control with his medicines he had at home.  The hospital kept trying to send him home after they relieved the headache with morphine.  Stacie told them he could not return home until he had pain relief with meds that would be sent home with him.  After 2 days, they did an MRI and found out he was retaining cerebral spinal fluid and it was causing great pressure which in turn was causing the extreme pain in his head.   The Drs are going to be placing a shunt in his head to drain the fluid.  Unfortunately, they could not get him into surgery for another week.  Therefore, they had to figure out what combination of drugs would work at home to keep him pain free.  Everything finally got worked out by Friday morning and he got to come home.  Since getting home, he has shown signs of degradation.  Walking is becoming an issue for him and he is now using a walker.  His balance is way off and his short term memory is shot.  His wife, Stacie, is now working from home so she can care for him and the family is stepping up to help out as much as needed.  Watching my first born going downhill is gut wrenching.  It breaks my momma's heart.  We are hoping after the shunt is placed, some things will improve.  We do know it will stop the horrible headaches.  The Oncologist said it will not help with the memory issues though.  As for the other issues............those only started after he got home so she does not know he is having them, yet. 

Today, I am catching up on our laundry,  Dinner is in the crockpot. I will head over to Josh's a little later to spend time with him and Stacie.  (She gets quite lonely since he is sleeping most of the time)  But.................I do have a chuckle for you this week.

 

Until Next Time........................Happy Crafting!!!!!!!!!!

WEEK 38

 

Another week gone for 2025.  I hope yours was a happy and productive week.  Here is a look at what my week looked like.

There were 2 finished items this past week.  First up is the baby hat.

It is such a quick knit.  I made the preemie size.  There will be another one of these cast on as soon as I finish my blog today.

I also finished up the lapghan for the prayer shawl ministry at our church.

This was made from the leftovers of my daughter's turtle blanket.  I still have enough leftovers to do another lapghan of some sort.  Not sure I will do another ripple.  Although, this is a pretty mindless crochet pattern.  But, while I decide what to do with the rest of those leftovers, I will be starting another To The Point Shawl this week.

My RCR socks are progressing.

Heels are done and the long slow process of the foot is underway.  I am still trying to do at least 5 rows each day on each sock.  These will need to be tried on soon.  Since they are made with cotton yarn, I do not think they are going to be a snug fit once put on.  Therefore, I may need to decrease a few stitches to give the snug fit I like.  Stay tuned!

That is all for yarn crafting this week.  I have been working on diamond art this week too.  My original piece is now halfway completed.  I started another one this week and it is halfway done too.  Variety is the name of the game for me.

Nothing much else of interest this week.  Physical Therapy is still ongoing.  I have a feeling I am just about done there.  I will be re-evaluated the end of this month.  If I do get discharged, I have purchased several items so I can continue with all the exercises at home.  I do not want to loose the muscles I have gained!

Here is your chuckle for the week..................Enrique liked it.

Until Next Time.........................Happy Crafting!!!!!!!!!

WEEK 37 PHOTO HEAVY!

 

Hey guys!  I have lots of things to share with you today.  Photos were even taken during the week to document this weeks happenings.  Let's start with what is happening in my crafting life.

I finished the RCR (rose city roller) sock I have been working on forever!

I tried this on and do not like it.  It is just not comfortable.  Now, I need to decide whether to go ahead and make the second one and give it away or unravel this one and repurpose the yarn for something else.  

Once that was off my needles, I immediately started a new project.

A ripple Lapghan for our prayer shawl ministry.  These are all the leftovers from the turtle blanket I made for my daughter.  I am about halfway completed with it.  The prayer shawl ministry asked for the lap throws to be no bigger than 36" X 48" for mailing purposes.  This is a joy to do.  Ripple blankets have always been one of my favorite patterns to do.  This is the project I pick up when I know I am going to be stationary for any length of time.  (TV movie)

But wait....................there's more!!!!!!!  I am normally a monogamous knitter/crocheter.  Not today!  I really felt like I wanted options and since I have so much yarn now..............

On the left are a pair of RCR socks.  I am doing them concurrently so I do not have second sock syndrome.  The yarn for those is Cascade Cotton Sox yarn.  The more I work with it the softer it seems to be getting.  On the right is a quick and easy baby hat.  It is being done in a preemie size.  The yarn for that is Sweet Baby Delight from Hobby Lobby.  I am trying to do at least 5 rows a day on the socks and hat. 

That sums up what I do when I have time on my hands. We had some fun this past week.  We got rain this past week.  In 48 hours we got 1.25" of rain.  That is a lot of rain for us here in the desert.  I love a good gray rainy day.  They are few and far between here.  The gray day inspired me to play with my sourdough.

One of the most perfect loaves I have ever made.  Must have been due to the lovely humidity we had that day.

We also got to spend time with our oldest Granddaughter this last week.  She lives in Seattle so we seldom have a chance to get together in person.  On Friday, we spent the entire day with her.  We picked her up for lunch and went to a little diner in downtown Phoenix.  After that we headed to the Heard Museum.  Hubby and I have been wanting to go there for many years.  I am so glad we went.  Even after spending 2 hours there we had not seen more than half of the museum.  What an interesting place to go.  It is mostly about the indigenous people of the Americas. There are many artifacts (baskets, jewelry, clothing etc) from many different tribes from all over the Americas.  The one fact that stuck with me is.........there are 365 plants in our state that can be used for food.  Unfortunately, this is the only place I did not get a photo.

One we left the museum, we decided to go and take in an aquarium.  We got there 5 minutes after they closed the entrance.  So disappointed.  But, the aquarium is in a mall, so, off we went to visit hubby's favorite store.

Hubby and our granddaughter, Brittani, at the Lego store!  We had so much fun looking at all the different kits they had there.  As we walked around the mall we found a fantastic Lego display.

Over 45,000 pieces of Legos were used to make this display!  The detail was awesome. By this time we were hungry and thirsty.

We stopped in at the Rainforest Cafe.  It was nice to sit and relax for a little while.  And that ended our day on Friday.  Saturday we met up again with our granddaughter as well as other members of the family and went to a spring training baseball game.

It was a gorgeous day at the baseball field.  We have quite a few baseball teams in our state for spring training.  This game was between the Seattle Mariners and the San Diego Padres.  Unfortunately the Mariners lost the game.  We left around the 7th inning as this ball park is about 50 miles from our home and traffic is not my friend.  It was so nice to be sitting outside for several hours and enjoying the company of family we don't get to see often.

Quick update on everyone.  Jaxon is doing great.  She has a job at a skilled nursing home as a receptionist and will be looking to get her CNA license and then on to her RN.  Enrique continues to defy all odds.  He is still eating well and just as active as a 14 year old dog normally is.  Josh is showing signs of digression.  He is needing a bit more help each day.  His memory is getting worse and he is having other symptoms related to his brain cancer.  His MRI, from last week, showed the radiation necrosis is growing.  Not a good thing.  We live one day at a time now.  The rest of the family is doing well.  

Here is your chuckle for the week..........................................

Until Next Time.....................Happy Crafting!!!!!!!!!!!

WEEK 36

 

Hey there!  I missed posting last week as I really didn't have anything new to talk about or show.  This week I am loaded for bear.  So sit back, grab your favorite beverage with a snack and enjoy.

I have finishes!  Did you notice that was a pural?  Yup.  I have 2 FO's to show.  First up..........

The Mehujaa Shawl is finally off my needles.  This is my all time favorite shawl to make and wear.  It is large enough to actually cover your back to your waist and maybe a bit lower depending on your height.  The lace back is very decorative but still offers some warmth.  The sides are stockinette stitch that keeps your arms nice and warm too.  It is big enough to actually wrap around you too.  The yarn I used for this one is discontinued.  I picked it up when my LYS was going out of business.  I have another colorway in this same yarn that will also be make into one of these shawls.  

Once that was off the needles, I felt I needed a cleansing project.  So.......................................

My forty-third To The Point shawl for our church's prayer shawl ministry.  This is made from Caron Simply Soft in the colorway Plum Perfect.  If you haven't heard, JoAnn's is going out of business.  This meant I needed to go and load up on Caron Simply soft yarn for my prayer shawls.  You will be seeing many of the above shawls over the next several months as well as some lapghans.  I cleaned out one of our JoAnn's stores of all their simply soft yarn.  I also went on line and ordered many more skeins in colorways that I knew I would be happy to use.  Believe it or not, I was almost out of worsted weight yarn for my prayer shawls!  I do believe I am set for quite a while now. LOL

After the TTP shawl was completed, I did not feel like casting on anything new.  WHAT????  Shocking!!!  So I picked up my RCR sock that has been hanging around for quite a while.

The progress keeper is where I was yesterday when I picked it up.  The yarn is On Your Toes and is a just a tish thicker than the fingering weight yarn I normally use.  but, being a bamboo/nylon blend, it will be perfect for the days I am doing my PT.  They are a bit cushy which is nice too.  I will probably just work on this for now.  I really want to get it done and move on to the second sock.

The only other thing I worked on in the past couple of weeks is my diamond art.

I am having so much fun working on this.  The squares with numbers or letters are still in need of being filled in with 'beads'.  I have been trying to complete one color at a time.  This picture has 25 different colors.  Not too bad.  AND.........since JoAnn's is going out of business, I picked up 3 more diamond art pictures to do after this is completed.    I have plenty of crafts to keep be occupied once our weather gets so hot I do not want to venture outside of my home.

Since I am working on the diamond art now, I decided to get some better tools than what is included with the kits.

Ergonomical tools.  So much easier on my hands and wrists.  

I did not stop here by last week as we had a family day to say goodbye to Samantha.  She has been living with our TX family for the past 5 years.  She even moved to Arizona with them.  We adopted her as one of our grandkids.  She decided she wanted to move back to Texas.  So we had a lovely afternoon with the family to bid her adieu.  

Our son, Jay, loves to cook for people and his food did not disappoint for the party.  (The loaf of bread is from me)  We had steaks and baked potatoes with southern green beans.  Our daughter brought home made ice cream for desert.  YUM!  Samantha is now safely in Texas, all unpacked and ready to start her best life.

Hubby had a Drs appointment a couple of weeks ago.  His blood sugars are slowly starting to creep up.  The Dr asked him to limit his carbs (breads and pastas).  We have had this scenario before............about 10 years ago.  We got his numbers down by just doing a few simple adjustments to our daily meals.  One of the things we did was make smoothies every morning for breakfast.  We started doing that again this past week.  Luckily, I had written down the ingredients we used the last time we did this and was able to assemble everything needed in just one shopping trip.  We use fruits and veggies in the smoothies.  Yes, they are combined all together.  Take a look.............

This has greens, cucumber, lemon, strawberry, mango, pineapple, ginger, beets, tumeric, almond milk, agave nectar and protein powder.  What do I taste?  The fruit!  I have also started making wheat bread instead of pure white bread.  Sourdough is back on the menu too.  I kind of fell off the wagon for a couple of months but pulled out my starter last night and gave it a good feeding and will be making a loaf today.

And that, my friends, completes my last couple of week.  I am still doing physical therapy and enjoying the strength I am getting back in my lower extremities.  Josh is still doing ok.  He goes for another MRI this week and will have the results the same day as the MRI!  Enrique continues to amaze us with how well he is doing.  I finally convinced my hubby to hire a pool service as well as a yard service.  That will take a load off of him.  He continues to dust and clean the floors of the house and I do all the countertops and appliances.  I do the laundry and we grocery shop together.  It all works out.

Here is your chuckle for the week......................

Until Next Time...................Happy Crafting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

WEEK 34 of YOP 14

 

Hey there.  Thanks for stopping by.  I have something to show you.............

The second baby hat and sweater set is completed.  I finished it on Thursday.  There has not been any news of more babies on the horizon, so I think I am done with baby knits for a while.

Since I completed this, I pulled out my shawl I have been working on since forever.

Remember this?  I was only able to get 3 rows on it.  It is so big and with the 'furry' type yarn, I really try not to make mistakes where I need to tink back.  I did need to do that once this time.  This yarn sticks to itself because of its halo, making it a challenge to tink back.  

The only other thing I did craft wise was work a bit on my diamond art.  I can only work on it for about an hour at a time.  It is a bit hard on the eyes.  Yet, I am loving it.  Stacie finished hers and brought it over to our family gathering to show it off.  Darn, I did not think to get a photo of it.  

That covers my crafting.  In real life news.................

Hubby's sister came to town this week so we had a family gathering at our home yesterday.  I set up a taco bar and everyone pitched in something to add to it.  We had such a great time.  It was really great to catch up with everyone.  Here is a little photo of the group.

The only one missing is Josie.  She is working the Renaissance Festival so could not be with us.  Hubby's sister is the one on the left front.  She lives in Colorado so was enjoying our warm weather.

Enrique gave me a bit of a scare this week.  I was getting ready to go to bed, Friday night, so went to get him and when I touched the side of his face, he cried out and snapped at me.  He has NEVER snapped at me (hubby, yes but not me)  We went to the vet the next morning.  I was worried his cancer was worse but it turns out it is just an abscessed gum.  He is on antibiotics for the next 10 day.  The vet checked him out really well and said she could not feel anymore growth in his cancer and he was very stable for now.  Phew!  He seems better this morning too.  He is acting more like himself and eating with gusto. 

 This was him last night after everyone had left.  He was so tired.   Our daughter had brought her little dog (Enrique's girlfriend) with them so he was busy following her around for the day. Yes, he is sound asleep in that photo. 

That, my friends is all for today.  Let me leave you with this piece of advice.

Until Next Time..................Happy Crafting!!!!!!!!!!

WEEK 33

 Another week gone.  Can you believe February is already over half gone?  Dang, that was quick.

I do not have anything new to show you this week.  The baby sweater is still on the needles.  I am almost ready to bind off the main part and then start in on the sleeves.  My knitting came to a halt 3 days ago when I had a major flare up in my right wrist.  Not sure when I will be holding needles again.  *sad face*

Baby #1 was born on the 11th so that sweater and hat will be going into the mail tomorrow.  Hopefully she will get some use out of it.  I made a 3-9 month size but her birth weight was 11.7!  That is one big little girl!  She is already almost the size of a 3 month old.

Luckily, baby #2 isn't due until June so I have time for the wrist to calm down and finish the sweater for her.

It has made me a little nuts not being able to pick up my yarn crafts.  Lucky for me, I was introduced to a new craft last night that only requires one hand.  Diamond painting!  We had a girls night at Stacie's house (daughter in law).  There were 5 of us there and we had a blast.  We diamond painted for almost 8 hours and never got tired.  We decided to stop when we no longer could see the symbols on the canvas.  There might have been a little wine involved in that issue too.  LOL  I have my canvas and supplies home and will work on that until I am able to knit or crochet again. *sigh*

In other news, I am still attending PT twice a week.  That is where the wrist got 'injured' causing the flare.  How long I will continue with PT is anyone's guess.  There is a new gym that opened up about 1/4 mile from my house.  My thought is, once PT is over, I will join the gym to continue on my strengthening journey.  

Hubby and I spent most of our time this week over at Josh's house.  They were having their pool drained, cleaned and refilled.  Josh is still working so he really couldn't be outside the whole time with the 'pool dude' so hubby took that job.  I had the job of keeping their dog, Thor, out of everyone's way. I will say, their pool looks really nice now.  Hubby and I are scheduled for our pool draining next month and then our pool will be awesome too.  This needs to be done every 3-5 years because of our extremely hard water.

That is all for this week.  I do have a little chuckle for y'all.

Until Next Time................Happy Crafting!!!!!!!!!!!

 

WEEK 32

 

Hello again!  I hope your week went smoothly.  Mine was rather pleasant and productive.  Here is a recap of my week.

Sunday (after blogging) - I had mentioned, last week, I was going to wash all my sheets.  Well, I did.  Folding the fitted sheet is my least favorite part of sheet wash day.  I also did 2 other loads of laundry as well as making a loaf of bread (via the bread machine) and making potato salad from my mom's recipe.  It was so yummy and brought back such sweet memories.  

I was going to cast on the next Simnia cardigan but changed my mind and decided to cast on the Quick and Easy Baby Hat.  Even though this says quick and easy, it was not this time.  First off, I tried to do it magic loop and for some reason, I was getting serious ladders on it.  So, I ripped it out and went in search of double points.  All I had were bamboo DPNs in the size I needed.  Not a fan of the bamboo needles and I seem to have a plethora of them!  I went ahead and cast on the hat.

Monday - Pt again for Josh and myself.  I worked with a new therapist this time and she was really good and very informative.  Once PT was over, I dropped Josh off and got our water jugs (for our water cooler) filled.  The laundry I did yesterday finally got folded and put away today.  

Tuesday - Hubby taught a class in the morning while I did a few little household chores.  Ya know, like empty the dishwasher.  We had a lunch date with two of my cousins.  We ate at Famous Dave's BBQ.  Hubby and I never go there unless it is with a group.  The food is so good.  Hubby and I both ordered enough so we would have leftovers for dinner.  After we got back, Tiffany and Jay and a one of their friends came over for a bit.  Seems, the poncho I made Tiffany looked like it was coming apart on the neck and a button had popped off.  After looking it over, I saw it was the woven in ends that were popping out and one of the stitches attaching the neck to the body was looser than those around it.  When she had first called, I had visions of the whole neck unraveling.  What a relief!  It is all repaired and ready for her to pick back up.

Wednesday - Another lovely day of Physical Therapy.  I was back to my original therapist today.  Josh did not make it all the way through with his therapy.  He was not feeling his best so he sat and waited for me to finish.  Our daughter, Jenn, came by and took Hubby and myself to lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant.  It was nice to get to spend some time with her.  But the best part of the day was....................................

I finished the baby hat!  And, yes, I immediately cast on the Simnia baby cardigan.

Thursday - I actually had a fairly quiet day.  Menus for the coming week were made as well a grocery list of needed items for the coming week.  Then I gathered my air fryers and scrubbed them up.  I used to hate cleaning them, but with the Dawn Power Wash, they clean up pretty easily.  Hubby and I had Adoration this evening and I took my RCR sock to work on it during that hour.

WOOHOO!  Another 7 rows added.  At this rate, I should have one sock done by Easter LOL!  Actually, once, the baby stuff is done, this and my other WIP will be my main focus.....I hope.

Friday - grocery shopping day!  I only had about 4 items on my list but by the time we checked out I had a cart full.  This was the best deal of the day..............

Hubby and I are not vegetarians by any means!  These steaks are normally $14.99/lb but were on sale for $5.97/lb.  One steak will feed the both of us quite nicely.  I froze one of them and the other is marinating in my fridge for tomorrow nights dinner.  I try and limit our red meat consumption to once a week.  Neither of us have cholesterol problems and we don't want them either.  I also try to do one meatless meal a week.  Variety is the name of the game in my house.

Before we hit the grocery store, hubby and I visited my LYS. (local yarn store)  Those bamboo needles were not doing me any favors.  I completed my DPN selection!  I went with the Chiagoo stainless steel needles.

I normally use Signature Needles.  Both circular and DPN.  But they decided to close their business last year.  And me, not being smart enough to look and see what was missing from my stock, missed out on getting the needles I was lacking when they discounted them.  Hopefully, I will enjoy the Chiagoo needles. I was good at the LYS.  The needles were the only thing I purchased.  I didn't even look at yarn!  Hubby was quite impressed.

Saturday - Woke up super early (5:30) to go and pick up the food for our food bank.  It was a sad amount this week.  Only 2 little bags of carrots and a few things from the deli.  Each week we have been getting less and less from the store we go to.  Yet, the need is getting greater and greater for the food bank.  

There was a marathon being run in our town this day so getting to and from the store was a challenge since we live smack dab in the middle of the marathon route.  Luckily, it was over by the time we left to go to Mass in the afternoon.

I did do another load of laundry and made another loaf of bread today too.  The little baby sweater saw lots of love also.  Maybe not the kind most people imagine.  I had worked 9 rows of the skirt of the sweater when I noticed one of the bobbles had dropped.  That is a five stitch bobble that dropped all the way to the beginning of the skirt!  No way could I pick that up and weave it all the way up 8 more rows.  So, I got to frog and re-knit those 9 rows. 

As of this morning (Sunday), that is where I left off on the sweater.

I plan on working on this most of the day.  Not sure if I will finish it or not, but I will do my best.  

Today - It is Superbowl Sunday here in the US.  We choose not to do a gathering today for the game.  Each of our son's has a team in the Superbowl and they are not the same team. LOL  So, hubby and I decided it might be best if we all stayed at our respective homes to watch the game.  I am sure there will be a lot of texts flying back and forth though.  

We decided to make life very easy on us today too.  I will be smoking up some wings and chicken thighs.  Hubby has pizza on order from our local family owned Italian restaurant.  That should keep up fed and happy for the day.  This will give me plenty of time to knit and finish up laundry.  I might even sneak in some reading time too.

Speaking of reading.............I started the Carly Moore mystery series a few weeks ago.  The author is Denise Grover Swank.  It is very good!  I have made it through book 4 and just started book 5.  I was able to get them for free through my Libby App.  The last two in the series will need to be purchased through kindle.  Such a good mystery series.  

Yes, I have a little chuckle for you for this week.  If you have ever had a dog, I am sure you can relate.

 Until Next Time..............Happy Crafting!!!!!!!!!!!!