YOP 5, Week 52

This is the week we do our round up of past 52 weeks of projects.  I pulled all the photos I could find and was a bit upset that I did not take photos of everything I completed.  Yet there were things I completed that are not on the following list too.

2015-2016 YoP list

Socks

Once again I can not tell you how many I will do.  But these are my favorite items to do during the hot summer months here in the desert.  I do know that I need to have 2 pair completed before Christmas as they are gifts.  I already have 1/2 of one pair done and have started on the other pair this week, just to get them on the needles for the road trip.

LOVED DOING SOCKS AND COMPLETED AT LEAST ONE MORE PAIR THAN I PHOTOGRAPHED. OH WELL, GUESS I NEED TO ADD PICTURE TAKING AGAIN TO MY LIST FOR NEXT YEAR

Shawls

Diving In  (this is already cast on, also for the road trip)

Clapo-ktus

WELL, THIS DID NOT WORK OUT SO WELL.  MUST HAVE BEEN BECAUSE I WAS SO FOCUSED ON SOCKS.

SWEATER

Cancun Boxy Lace Top

After I frog the sweater I started, this is what it is going to turn into.  It even asks for the fiber that I already have in my stash.  But I will be making this longer, as at my age, no one wants to see my tummy.

STILL IN MY WIP BOX.  MAYBE SOMEDAY IT WILL BE COMPLETED.

Sewing items

Tea Bag Holder

Another gift for Christmas this year

COMPLETED BUT SEEMS I DIDN'T PHOTOGRAPH IT.  OOPS

Crochet

Mermaid Tail Afghan

I have had a request for at least 2 of these for Christmas.  Now that I am not on yarn restriction, I can purchase the fiber for this and get going on them.

YUCK.................I ACTUALLY COMPLETED ONE OF THESE AND REFUSE TO DO ANOTHER ONE.  IT WAS NOT A FUN PROJECT AT ALL.

Wood Work

Staining and decorating treasure box for Wedding in October

COMPLETED AND THE BRIDE AND GROOM LOVED IT.

Ok, lets have a look at all the things I did complete and photograph this past year.

Snowqualmie socks 

 Car socks

 Wedding box

 another Car Socks

 2nd pair of Snowqualmie socks

 Wee Sherlock Jacket and hat

 Clovis shawl

 Baby jacket

 Mermaid Tale

 Car socks #3

USA flag afghan

Of course, these are not in the order they were completed.  I am hoping, next year, to be able to have one file for all my completed projects and I am going to try and learn how to do either a slide show or a collage.  It will be so much neater and easier on you, my dear readers.

I am still working on the socks for my hubby.  I did finally get to the heel and did the fish kiss heel.  LOVE IT!!!!  Once I figured out the rythmn of the pattern, I just flew through it.  I am now on the leg and I let him pick out the pattern he wants.  This may take a while to complete them.  It is a complicated (for me) pattern with lots of cross overs.  I have dropped more stitches than I have knit these past few days.  It is a parallelogram pattern I found in one of my knitting stitches books.  I have done 9 rows of the pattern and it is a 49 row pattern.  Nine rows in 2 days....................very slow going.

I am putting the finishing touches on my YOP 6 list.  I have all the knitting/crocheting things figured out. ( I think)  Now, I just need to put in the rest of my goals for the next year.  I feel like Santa Claus, making my list and checking twice LOL.

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

Week 51

The last week of Year 5 for a 'normal' update.  Next week we will be going through our year 5 lists to see how we did.  I have only looked at my list a few times this year.  I made it pretty generic so I did not have to update it all the time.  Each year I try a different tactic.  Each year I like how I did it.  Next years list is in the refining stages right now but I am excited about that list too.

Anyone who knits, crochets, sews etc, is welcomed to join us.  We are an extremely friendly group and I actually consider the people there my friends.  We come from all walks of life and life all over the world.  Yet, we all have one thing in common......we love to craft.  So if you are interested you need to do 2 things................
1. Join Ravelry
2. Join our YOP group

Ok, so now that the commercial is over..............................let's talk crafts.

Up first............................................

The socks...........still not up to the heel but only need 3/4 of an inch and I will be there.  I have really been slow going on these lately.  We have been having some issues with the city codes where we live and that has taken up TONS of my time trying to get everything solved so we can live out lives peacefully.  Solution is just a few days away, so I will be back to a more normal routine again.

While, I like TAAT socks, they seem to really slow me down.  I get tired of untwisting the yarn, seems like I am always having to move them around on the needles,  have to make sure I have the right skein of yarn in my hand for each sock.......etc.  Yes, it is nice to have them both done at the same time and be identical...................yet, when I do them on DPN's I keep track of my rows, so they are identical anyway.  That being said, I decided to order the Knitters Pride Nova Platina Cubic double point needles in the sizes I use for my socks. They arrived this week and I am in love.................well almost in love.  There was a bit of a problem with one set of them.

Even my hubby said "I don't think those are going to work very well, huh."  I called WEBS right away and reported the issue and they are so sweet..............they already have sent out the replacement.  I did inform her that our temps were near 120 degrees right now and she might want to make sure the post office is not able to bend the package at all.  She laughed and said, that might be a good idea.  WEBS is one of the best places I have ever ordered from and I have ordered from them MANY times.

Remember, I told you about a friend that is moving and reducing her stash?  She put up the last items on her site this past week and I scored again.

Superwash sock yarn called Ballard.  It is so lovely and soft.............wish I could wear wool as this one I think would feel so nice on my feet.

 Sockotta.............can not buy it anymore and I was so thrilled with she had one skein of it left.  It is a wool blend and I am going to try and see if I can wear this one since it is not 100% wool. If not..................I have daughter in laws that love socks too. (we all wear the same size shoe!)

Regia..................another  wool sock yarn but I love the colors and that fact it self stripes.  This will be made as a gift for someone.  Don't know who yet, but I am sure whoever will love it.

A nice DK cotlin yarn from Knit picks.  This yarn is so nice to work with.  Have no clue as to what it will become, but I am sure it will be something snuggly.

As a bonus, she threw all of her purple cotton yarn in my bag of goodies.  I see some fun dish cloths coming out of this.

Her family is loading up their UHaul this weekend and starting the first leg of their move.  Next weekend will see them leaving for their new home for good.  I am going to miss her as she has really opened my eyes to some wonderful yarny things.  God's speed Mindy!

Ok, so in my 'real' life................we have been having issues with the city as I said before.  Looks like we are going to have to move our dog door and put a fence up between our swimming pool and the dog door.  Since we modified our enclosed porch, we are now subject to the updated rulings by the city.  The dog door is going to be located in our bedroom (not something we are looking forward too) and the back half of our 'grassy' yard will be fenced off.  A pain in our rears, but a necessity to be legal.

Other than that..................we celebrated my BFF's 50th birthday this weekend.  She had invited over 80 people to her party.  Of which, about 60 did show up.  Her hubby and I hosted it and I was in charge of the cake.  She is a BIG fan of cupcakes so this is what I came up with:

Yup, a cupcake cake.  It contained 48 cupcakes and I had 3 dozen individual cupcakes on the side too.  It was a great party and I got to meet so many of her friends and co-workers that I hear her talk about.  It was great.







So that is all I have for this week.  Our Grand Daughter is going to her other Grand Parents on Monday and will be gone for a month.  We have more travel plans this summer coming up.  Going to meet our daughters new dog today and pool proof him.  Lots of fun stuff happening.

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

YoP 50

Two weeks, people.  That is all that is left in this YoP 5.  After Christmas passes, I always think, it is going to be FOREVER before the YoP is over.  Then, BAM!!!!!  Here we are at week 50 and I still have no clue what I am going to do for a list for next year.  I have lots of ideas of what I want to do and how I want to approach the next year.  I have tried different styles each year.  Some have been great and others were pretty yucky.

For those of you that read my blog last week and commented, thank you.  Your words of encouragement meant a lot to me and actually helped me in the long run.  Did I get my mojo back..................pretty much.

It was Wednesday morning when I decided I was declaring a ME day.  Yup, I was going to be totally selfish and do only what I wanted to.  Not because I needed to, but because I wanted to.  First thing I did was rearrange all the 'stuff' in our guest room.  This remodeling has played havoc with where things have gone.  I could hardly walk into that room and that is the room I needed to use for storage of items to complete our remodel.  After that room was arranged, I moved all the remodeling items from my craft room into that room.  BOOM! (drop the mic)  All of a sudden, I was able to see ALL of my stash. Yarn, material, beading supplies...............all of it!  I started getting everything put into it's proper place, since I could get to those places now.  My life was getting back to being organized in the one area that needs to be that way for me to be able to craft!

It dawned on me, I had acquired some yarn and never took the time to show it to you.  I have a friend that is moving in the next 3 weeks and she is cleaning out her stash and has been having a stash sell for the past couple of month.  I have picked up some lovely fiber and am excited to figure out what I am going to do with it.  

Let's take a peek at what I got:

Here is some Amaizing yarn.  It is no longer made and I am having a bit of a problem finding just the right pattern for it.  It is 100% corn fiber and I have worked with corn before and love it.  This is kind of a puffy super skinny ribbon yarn.  I don't know if it would work for a shawl or maybe a baby blanket or what.  There is 800 yards of this, so I have plenty to work with.

You can not go wrong with Cascade 220 wool.  These two colors really complement each other and I am thinking of doing a nice warm shawl for my mom with them.  She seems to be cold all the time and wants something over her shoulders quite often to ward off the chill she feels.

Classic Cotton is one of my other favorites to work with.  I have not decided what to do with this yet.  I need to peruse patterns a bit more before I make a final decision.

The color on this did not show up as well as I was hoping.  This is Cascade Ultra Pima cotton in the colorway, Shamrock.  I so love this fiber.  I have made many sweaters out of it and it washes and wears great.  I have other colors in this fiber and may make another sweater using the color blocks that are so much fun.

Here we have Cau Cau.  I have never worked or heard of this fiber but it felt wonderful as I was winding it up.  I think it will make a nice top for a certain young lady that is also allergic to wool.

Last, but not least..............these were a couple of skeins she just threw into my bag.  She know I love to work with Cotton and I will probably make dishclothes out of these.

As of last posting from her, there is supposed to be more fiber posted this weekend and that will be the end of her sale.  The rest she will pack and put into storage as they are down sizing quite a bit.  I have had my eye on a few more skeins (mostly sock yarn) but am waiting for the rest to be posted and then will make a final decision as to what I really want/need.

I have been working on hubby's socks this week.  I added about 2 more inches on them and need another 2 before I start the fish kiss heels.  I am so excited to try this.

I also ordered some more double point needles in the Knitters Pride Nova Platina Cubics.  I think I truly do like doing socks one at a time from the cuff down.  For some reason the TAAT toe up have not made me happy like they used to.  Since the Cubics are so much easier on my arthritic hands, I decided to grab the 3 different sizes that I use most of the time.

In other news...........................I have acquired a life planner.  Lucy at Attic 24 got me interested in the idea.  I have been journaling now for quite a while and love it.  So.....the other day I was at Hobby Lobby and saw they had life planners and decided to go with it.  I have purchased the planner along with some sticker, extra note pages and extender rings.  It begins July 1 and goes through December of next year.  I am very excited to get started on it.  Not sure what all I will use it for.  I do imagine I will still use my journal each day, but this will be great to keep track of my crafting and fitness journey.  I will post photos of it as I begin to use it and decide how it will be used.

My date book is chock full for the next few weeks. My next day that I do not have anything planned is June 29th!  Shhhhhhh, don't tell anyone.  I will need a day off by then.

As for reading, I completed book 5 in the Blossom Street series by Debbie Macomber.  I started book 6 on Friday evening.  I love the way she makes her characters come to life.  

Other than this..................not much else to talk about.......this is long enough, don't you think?  Time for me to go and start working on that YoP 6 list.  

Until next time................happy crafting!

YoP 49

I am actually writing this on Saturday afternoon.  I have much more time to get to the desk top on that day then I do on Sunday.  Trust me, there is not going to be much of a change in the next 12 hours.

Actually, there isn't much change from last weeks post.  I am still working on socks and the C2C baby blanket.  I worked on at least one of them each day.  Here is the issue......I am kind of in a crafting funk.  I don't know why, I just don't feel much like crafting for long periods of time.  You don't think it has anything to do with our weather, do you.  The high today is to be close to 117 F and this whole week has been over 100 F.  Let's face it.....that is just blasted hot.  Our only saving factor is.......our humidity is only at 4%, so far.  Next month will see the temps drop back to the low 100's but the humidity will start to climb as we prepare for our monsoon season.

In most areas of the world, monsoons mean lots of rain........here in the deserts of Arizona it usually means a huge dust storm followed by a brief light rain to mess everything up. I will say it is my favorite 'season' here.  I am not fond of the heat and humidity, but the storms are glorious to watch.  Lots of lightening, thunder, dust and gorgeous sunsets because of all that dust.  My dogs do not agree with me though.  They hunker down and burrow under my arms and shiver like little chihuahuas.  Oh ya, they are half chihuahua.

So anyway........with all this heat, the last thing I have wanted to do is, play with yarn.  Normally socks would be appealing to me, but not right now.  I might have to cast on a dishcloth and do a quick knit to get inspired again.  But even that doesn't hold any appeal to me.  WOW, I am really a humbug right now.  I have even been perusing Ravelry for interesting patterns for fiber I have lingering in my stash......nothing jumps out at me.

I am still journaling daily and making daily to do lists in that journal.  I do include knit/crochet daily as well as reading.  I feel, if I did not write it, it wouldn't happen.

Could it be because I had a birthday this week and I am older by a year?  I mean, the only other time my birthday bothered me was when I turned 40.  I am well past that and thought I had gotten over the age thing.

Could it be because I looked in the mirror and saw an 'old' lady staring back at me?  Or is it because since stopping smoking I have gained about 10 pounds and need to get it off along with another 35?  Maybe it is because I feel I really don't have any real down time anymore. Seems I am going and doing from the time I get up until well after dinner.  I know I had more 'me' time when I worked.  What happened?

Oh well, surely this mood will pass and I will get back to being the me I know and love.  So I will sit down and read other people's blogs and watch their productive lives.  Maybe that will inspire me to grab my needles and hooks and get to making.

I am off to get ready for Mass and then probably will have a nice evening out with family and friends.  So until next time......

Happy Crafting  (I hope)