Yup, another update

I have no clue as to what week we are in.  I do know it always seems the YoP goes faster after Christmas is over and all those hand made gifts are done and out the door.

This week was wild.  I worked on my sweater a bit.  Not enough that you could really tell I did much.  I actually completed 3 repeats of the 4 patterns but it is still not ready to bind off. Still need to do another 4 repeats and then I still have the back to do.

The flu has hit my son's family.  The Grand daughter has been down and out since Saturday morning,  Daddy got it today and mommy was smart and got a flu shot so all she has is a sinus infection.  I am not allowed to take the flu shot because of meds I take so I am not allowed to be anywhere near them for at least a week.  Hubby did go by there and drop off homework for the girl but he said he was out of there in about 30 seconds and came home and washed his hands real good.  No, we really are not germaphobes but I have a very important trip coming up on 2 weeks and do not have time to get sick.  Much less with the flu that is going around here in Arizona.  We have already had 1 death from it and many hospitalized.  Arizona has been hit the worse of any other state.  How nice is that.....NOT!

Ok, enough about ickiness.  

You know, back in the day, I use to make all my clothes and even my kids clothes and shirts for my hubby.  It was so much cheaper back then.  Then the cost of material became so high that sewing was no longer saving money.  Walmart, KMart, Target and some other discount stores made clothing very affordable and there was not need to sew them.

This past week, I spent several days trying on blouses.  I knew what I wanted and the type of blouse I love.  I found ONE.  That's right, only one blouse and the color was so horrible, I looked dead in it.  Then the price tag was staggering too.  That did it.  Off to JoAnn's I went.  McCalls patterns were on sale for $1.99 each.  (better that he $17.95 they normally are)  I found two patterns that would make the perfect type of blouse that I love.

This one has so many choices.  I really like the loose and flowing fit of it.  I do not like anything that clings or hugs me in any way.  I feel confined in clingy clothes.  And yes, I am claustrophobic.  I like the fact this also has pant patterns in it too.

 This pattern is exactly like the blouse I tried on that I fell in love with.  I am going to make the sleeves short as it is way too hot here for long sleeves in the summer.  Once again, nice and flowing.

After finding the 2 patterns I was off to find material to make them with.  I had a horrible time finding just the right material.  I was ready to leave the store and go to another JoAnn's when I saw the clearance aisle.  Well, blow me over!  I found 4 different materials (2 for each blouse) and for $5 a yard!  Each blouse takes about 2 years so I made a great deal.  Try and find a blouse for $10 these days.  So, I am back into the sewing mode.  That is what I will be working on for the next couple of weeks.  I want them available to take on my trip. 

 

Here is a crummy shot of the material.  The two on the left are for the bottom pattern and the 2 on the right for the top pattern.  And since you asked..............yes, purple is my favorite color.  I have to admit, most of my closet is full of black and white clothes.  I am making a real effort to have more color in my wardrobe.

The other lovely thing that I got this week is this...............................

It is a Janetbasket Eco Bag.  I knew I needed something to travel with and so I went to Amazon and just typed in Knitting Project bags and these came up.  I am in love.  It has two ways for it to zip closed.  It can be 'flat' topped or close like a carpet bag.  The inside is wonderful too.,

Lots of pockets to hold all the accessories needed as well as a large pocket for patterns or tablet.  It also stays open so you can leave your yarn in there and just work away.  It has a metal frame in the outer edges so it is not going to collapse on you.    But when it is empty, you can make it go flat.  It is way cool.  I also ordered the strap that goes with it but that won't be here until the end of this week.  And yes..............it is purple too.

So that is all for this week.  I hope you all had a fabulous week and used your extra 24 hours this year to do something fun.

Happy Crafting!

YoP update

Happy Sunday friends and family.  I finally have something to post about this week.  I was quiet last week, as it was not much of a crafting week.  Not that I didn't knit or crochet, but nothing showed any real progress.  

So let's see what has been going on these past two weeks.  Remember, I was going to start back on my Dive In shawl.  I did......................I just could not do it.  I know I have to finish it sometime, but I just was not feeling the love for it so I put it away.  I pulled out my Cancun Lacy Boxy Top.  It has been languishing for many months and with the weather getting really warm in our part of the world......................just made sense to make progress on this.

I love working with this yarn, Blue Heron metallic. It has a nice sheen to it and the metallic thread going through it is subtle but really catches the light.  The amount I have done is the first repeat of the pattern.  The pattern rearranges itself after this part but, I think I am going to do it the way I want to.  I love all the stitches and I need at least 5 repeats for this to even begin to cover the waistband of my pants/skirts.  I have plenty of fiber as I have 2 skeins of this and they are well over 500 yards per skein.

I also was shopping the other day at WalMart and just happened to go through their craft area and came upon a cone of cotton yarn that matches my new kitchen 100%.  Since my dishcloths are all a bit ragged, I decided to buy it and make a few.

This is my favorite pattern for dishcloths.  It is DW Darrell Waltrip DIshcloth.  It makes up so nice and fast and I love the fact, it really breaks up a variegated yarn so well.  I have introduced several people to this pattern, and they all have made it their go to pattern.

And now for a bit of an AHHHHH moment.

This is our youngest dog, Enrique.  He is very attached to me and follows me everywhere. Our female dog is in love with my hubby.  In this photo, Enrique is very concerned because, I have just laid my sweater on the floor to take a picture of it.  He knows that when I pull out my needles and yarn, he jumps up onto the arm of my chair and falls asleep to the rhythmic sound of the needles.  I don't think he was happy with the idea of sleeping on the floor.  Yes, he is spoiled and so it the female.  And before you ask........................he is a chi-weenie.  Half Dachshund and half Chihuahua.  His "sister" is half Dachshund and have Miniature Pincher.  She is much sweeter than this little boy.  He does not take to strangers well and can not tolerate large dogs.  He has been through doggie training twice and it has helped but I still do not trust him 100%.

So that is about all there is this week.  I did have 2 days that my arthritis flared up so bad, I could not even hold a needle in my hands.  It was a sad day for me.  I knit everyday.  It keeps me happy and sane.

Also....................I am 3 months smoke free!  Knitting/crocheting helps out there too.  Keeps my hands and mind busy.

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

Monday

It's amazing how Monday morning comes so quickly even for us retired folk.  I think the retreat on Saturday and then facilitating an RCIA session Sunday morning made the weekend disappear.  Then, of course there was the superbowl game last night.  We have to watch that if nothing else, for the commercials.   The commercials were a bit of a disappointment this year.  The Doritos commercial with the ultrasound was probably the best one.  I miss the Clydesdales and the dogs and the frogs.  

So today is a laundry day and a visiting my mom day.  I was going to hit the gym, but chores have to be done.  Where we live,  we have certain times of day where it is cheaper to use electricity.  So chores have to be done between 9am and 5pm.  This changes on May 1st, but I cannot remember to those times right now.  I do know I like those times better.  Tomorrow looks to be a better gym day.  Laundry will be done and probably the grocery shopping and menu planning for 2 weeks.  

Wednesday is the start of Lent.  I have been trying to decide what to do this year to become closer the Christ.  I don't really "give up " anything, but rather add something to my daily life that enhances my spiritual growth.  And yes, that usually means I "give up" some of my spare time.  Once i figure it out, I will let you know.  As of right now, I am leaning towards picking up my Catholic One Year Bible.  Hubby got it for me several years ago and I have yet to get all the way through it. The readings are only about 20 minutes so it's not like an all day thing.  I looked yesterday to see if it was on an e-book, but no. Better yet would be an audio book of it.  I could knit on a prayer shawl while listening to it.

Hubby has just finished our taxes for the year.  I stay far away while he does those.  I make sure there is plenty of coffee and food for him.  Actually, it didn't take him long this year.  Us both being retired makes things a bit simpler.

I think I will go deep clean the laundry room while waiting on the laundry to finish.  There will be lots if stretching and bending and lifting.  Kind of like being at the gym.  I also have some planting I need to do.  Lots of moving of rocks and dirt involved there. I was gifted a small amount of hens and chicks, from Seattle.  I have been nurturing them in the house,until they rooted.  Mission accomplished!  I have a small patch of dirt and rocks that I want to put them in.  The rocks need to be removed, or at least most of them do.  There will also need to be a short little cute fence put around it so my dogs don't think the plants are snacks. I swear, I don't have dogs, but little goats.

So much to do, so I guess I should close for now and get busy.

Have a blessed day, my friends.

YoP Update

 Another week has passed and I have managed to actually finish up a project.  Yup, Hubby's socks got completed this past week and I am very happy with them.

 This yarn is Berroco comfort sock yarn and I can not tell you the colorway of it as I do not have the ball band anymore.  I do love how the yarn patterns itself into an intarsia type pattern.  I have used their colorway, french garden, and it does the same thing. Other colors in this yarn are subtle stripes.  I think what I like best about this yarn is the fact it is non wool and the price is right.  Around $9 for one skein which is 100gm and plenty to make a pair of socks.  It is a little heavier than other sock yarns but makes for a nice cushion for the footbed.

So...................now what do I work on.  I have many WIP's sitting in my craftroom just waiting to have me pay some attention to them.  I have been pretty good about being an monogamous knitter the past few months.  This is a good thing too.  It seems that I was not that way so much for several years.  Hence the reason I have so many WIP's sitting in my room waiting for me.  How do I pick which one to work on for the next little while.  It was a bit of a difficult choice.  But here is how I came up with my pick.  I looked at my calendar over the next few months to see what I was doing.  I am taking a long 'vacation' in March, and really wanted something that would be easy to take along on that trip and would last through the trip.  

GOT IT!!!!  My Dive In prayer shawl.  It is made with sock yarn and will take a few whiles to complete this.  I am not really following that pattern other than the row count/pattern.  I wanted this to show the self striping yarn and the actual pattern breaks it up too often for my liking.  It is an asymmetrical pattern.  I have done another shawl in the asymmetrical and it was loved by the people at our church's prayer shawl ministry.  So.......once again I will do one asymmetrically and give it to the prayer shawl ministry at our church.  This yarn is very soft and totally washable.  It is a non wool yarn that I have had in my stash for several years.  I made myself a slouch hat and fingerless mitts out of it and had so much left over.  I really didn't want socks out of it, as it doesn't feel like something that would wear well on the feet.   

I really need to stop throwing ball bands away when I wind up my yarn.  I am getting better at it now.  But a few years back, I didn't think it mattered so, whoosh..................off they went to the trash bin.  Since being on Ravelry and in the Year of Projects group, I now know that everyone really wants to know "what yarn is that and where did you get it".  Yup, lesson learned.

Today is Super Bowl Sunday, here in the States.  It is a time for friends and family to get together and have non healthy food all day and enjoy watching 2 football teams strive to be the best.  Hopefully, this years game is better than last years was.  I like a good close CLEAN game.  No ugliness, no cheating, no whining, no getting all upset about calls.  Just play the game the way it is meant to be played and have fun.  After all................IT IS A GAME!.  Winning or loosing will not stop world hunger, cause peace to happen across the world or keep natural disasters from happening.

Excuse me while I get off my soap box.  HEEHEE  So, hubby and I will be heading to my son's house this afternoon to enjoy some family time and football.

This next week looks pretty good for me.  I am hoping to get some deep cleaning done in my home.  I have been wanting to do that since retirement hit 7 months ago.  So far, I have only gotten to one room to deep clean.  Also, Hubby and I joined a gym 3 weeks ago and have yet to step foot in it.  That stops this week also.  I asked hubby if he would mind if I just went without him.  He said to go ahead and go.  So I will be heading out to the gym this week to get back into that routine. I have been before and actually loved going.  It gives me time to listen to MY music and reflect on my day and things I want to do.  It is a win win situation for me.

I am off to go and facilitate a class at my church today.  Yesterday, we facilitated a retreat all day at church and it was amazing.  I can not wait to find out how, the people that went, liked it.  

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