WEEK 13 OF MY 11TH YEAR

 

Hello lovelies.  I hope this day is wonderful for you.  We are having some lovely rain showers today.  That means our temps have dropped significantly.  Hopefully we will not be seeing anymore triple digit temperatures for the next 6 months.  But, the weather report from Arizona is not the reason you have come here, right?  So let's take a look at my week of crafting.

First up:

I have started on the right hand side of my Roe Cardigan.  The green progress keeper is where I was last week.  I was asked what color this was.  It is called White Peach.  So, if you noticed it had a peachy tone to it, you have great eyes.  This is my morning project when I am fresh and really alert.

Next is:

My RCR sock.  This has been my traveling project.  Since I spent most of the week with my grand dog, Thor.  It was much easier to work on than my cardigan.  Not to mention much easier to just stick in my purse and go.  Last week I was working on the heel flap.  I am well past that now.  Such fun colors in this.

Lastly is:

The Giant Granny Square blanket.  The big black blob is where I was last week.  This is my favorite project to work on while watching TV in the evenings.  It does not take any real concentration.  It is eating up my DK yarn and that is making me so happy.

I was going to start on a new cross stitch pattern this week but had an issue.  The graph for it was a it hard to read.

The top photo is the graph that came with the kit.  That is a standard size sheet of paper.  The bottom photo is after I enlarged it 160%.  NOW I can see the symbols.  Thank goodness for my lovely printer that does all sorts of nice things for me.

As for life in general.....................................

We have had a handyman working on various projects around our house.  So far we have had 2 exterior doors installed and 7 interior doors replaced.  He will need at least one more day here and possibly 2.  We had a lot of little jobs that needed done.  (We have come to the age we are not as 'handy' as we used to be.)   He comes on Saturdays and works for about 8-9 hours.  It is nice to finally have things getting fixed up.  Hubby and I now need to start painting doors.

Remember my metal pantry?  Well, the bottom of it arrived via FedEx today.  Not sure if we will be able to complete it before hubby leaves Tuesday, but we will give it a try.  For those of you who have never heard of a metal pantry................It is actually supposed to be used to store tools.  I wanted something sturdy to hold canned goods as well as several pounds of different flours I use in my bread baking.  The shelves on my Rubbermaid one bowed and finally cracked.  Not thinking the metal will have this issue.  It says it will hold up to 150 pounds per shelf.  That should handle whatever I can throw at it.

Today is bread making day.  I will make that after I pick up the hubby from the airport.  Our dinner has been prepped and in the fridge waiting for later today.  We are having Shrimp Eggrolls.  I made the stuffing for the eggroll wrappers and will fill them at dinner time and then cook them in the air fryer.  So nice and simple.  There will be laundry done today too....after hubby unpacks his suitcase.  Gotta make sure he has all his clothes clean before his next trip on Tuesday.

This coming week is another week of dog watching.  Since our temperatures have dropped into the 80's, there may be some walks in store for Thor and myself.  He will like that.

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

Did someone say 'walk'?

Midweek

 

Half way through the work week............for those who work a typical M - F job.  Me, I work 24/7 at being retired LOL.  Actually, I have been kind of busy this week.  Here is what is happening around mi casa.

Sunday, I needed to run to the store to get 1 tomato.  Seeing we were having BLTA's for dinner and I was out of T.  So off I went.  As I pulled out of our driveway, I thought I saw a dog across the street.  It was just wandering around.  So, being the dog lover I am and wanting to make sure it was not lost I decided to watch to see if I recognized it so I could get it to it's owner.  It finally came out from behind our neighbors car and SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is not a dog but a javelina!  They are supposedly herbivores but I still called home to make sure our little dogs were safe in the house.  These animals are not normally in civilization but pretty much stay in the wilds.  I followed it for a block or so and it was not doing any harm so I went on my merry way.  I could have called animal control, but by the time they arrived it would have been long gone.  It was moving at a pretty good clip.  Hopefully, it made it back to the hill country.

For our BLTAs I wanted a fresh loaf of sourdough bread.  

Not sure what the issue with my sourdough is, but this is the second loaf that is only about 2.5 inches high.  It tastes great but is not big enough to even put a slice of tomato on without it hanging over the sides.  

Fine then................I will make my honey wheat beer bread.  It never fails me.

And, once again I have a perfect loaf of sandwich bread for our BLTA's.  I am using the sourdough for toast in the mornings.

I started Thor duty yesterday afternoon.  He is such a good boy when someone is at the house.  

See how sweet he is all curled up next to me and my knitting.  But this is what it looked like when I first arrived.

bad bad doggo

The white strip is part of the stuffing from the couch.  If you look closely, you can see a white area behind the pillows.  That is the hole he has dug into the couch.  Luckily, they paid for a special warranty that will cover this type of damage to their furniture.  He has never torn anything up like this before.  We are not sure why all of a sudden he is having separation anxiety.  They have covered the hole with sheets, pillows, blankets etc....and he will pull everything away from the hole and dig stuffing out.  Sometimes it looks like it has snowed when we go inside.  Crazy dog.  They are trying hemp treats today to see if that will calm him down a bit.  I will know in a couple of hours when I go to sit with him for the day.

Lastly,  I finished the puzzle I have been working on for the past 3 weeks.

You wouldn't think this would be that hard to do.  Unfortunately, where the glare is was one of the hardest areas.  It is all foliage with no real color change.  I am glad it is done, back in the box and ready to donate.  I have another puzzle laid out but it will be another one that is going to take time as it is a 3D hologram.  Luckily it is only 500 pieces but there are only 2 shapes of the pieces so that is even more of challenge.

That is all for me today.  I am heading back over to visit Thor and work on my knitting.

Until next time..................................................................

WEEK 12

 

As September rolls along, so do my fiber arts.

The back to my Roe Cardigan is completed.

I forgot how quickly worsted knits up.  I also forgot how quickly my attention moves from one item to another.

Case in point:

Here is all I have done on the right side of the cardigan.  Seeing I finished the back on Wednesday, you would think I would have more of this side done.  Nope.  I only started this section late last night.  And, the only reason I started this late last night is because my conscious was screaming at me to complete a project within a decent time frame. The last cardigan took me over a year to complete!

I did not work on the giant granny square blanket at all this week.  But, I did work on this:

A new pair of Rose City Roller socks.  This time they are for ME!  I am on the heel flap of the first sock.  I started them late Thursday night and am only doing a little bit a day on them.  Seeing it is still around 100F here, socks are really not called for yet.

I am still working on a puzzle and will post a photo of it when it is completed.  It has been a work in progress for almost 3 weeks now.  I try and limit myself to 1 hour a day on it.  Otherwise, I would be working on it for HOURS at a time.

In other news.............................................

My new metal pantry came in on Wednesday.  We waited to start putting it together until Friday.  We got going pretty good when this happened:

This is supposed to be the bottom panel for the pantry.  

There is no way this is going to attach to the rest of the pantry.  So for now.....................

The parts that have been assembled are laying on our pool table until the new piece comes in.  According to the manufacturer, that will be in 7-10 business days.  It is just a little frustrating.  Good thing I had not emptied out the old pantry yet.

Today I need to make a loaf of bread, do 1 load of laundry, and watch copious amounts of NFL football.  Actually, hubby is the big football watcher.  I listen and work on my knitting, crocheting, puzzle and read during the 12 hours it is on.

This coming week, I have dog duty again.  In fact, I have dog duty for the next 2 weeks.  It works our well as hubby is going to a conference the end of this week and next week he and his brother are heading to Las Vegas to visit their mom.  

So, what are your plans for the coming week?  Anything fun and different?  Any new craftiness happening?

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

WEEK 11

 

Remember those socks I said I would finish after I posted last week?  Well, I did that.  They are now in hubby's drawer ready to be worn.  Don't be alarmed but, there are not any socks on my needles at the moment.  It happens!  Not sure if I will be casting any on soon.  I have been concentrating on my Roe Cardigan.

This is the back.  I am in the middle of the armhole.  Once that is completed, there are only 4 rows before binding off.  This is going so much quicker than expected.  I did shorten the length by 2 inches.  I already have a tunic length cardigan and wanted this one to hit me mid hip.

In case you have a hard time seeing my progress keeper..................

I gave you a little help.  This is being knit with Cascade Anthem yarn in worsted weight.  I had never used this yarn before.  My friend in Las Vegas suggested it as she has used it for garments before.  It is quite easy to work with and has a lovely feel to it as it slides through my fingers.  It is an acrylic but does not have a plastic feel at all.  Well, at least to me it doesn't.

There was a new start this week also.

This is a Giant Granny Square blanket in the makings.  Our YOP member Sam, has made these in the past and I have always loved the looks of them.  It is a great stash buster too.  This one is being made with my DK yarn.  I may run out of some of the colors and that will be a very good thing.  As the colors run out I will just move on to the next color in the color cycle I have chosen. I have over 7000 yards of DK yarn that has been sitting in my stash for YEARS!  Since I want this to be large enough to cover my king sized bed, my hope is it will use up almost all of that stash yarn.

The only other 'crafting' item is a jigsaw puzzle I started over a week ago.  No photo as it is really slow going this time.

That is all for crafting this week.  In other news................................

We got two new exterior doors installed yesterday.  What a difference solid steel clad doors make.  It has cut down on road noise as well as the amount of heat that was coming through.  They are not 100% complete but our handyman will be back in a couple of weeks to complete them.  It is mostly some trim work.  He will also be installing new interior doors as well as doing a few other jobs to get this home in shape for our golden years.

Last Monday, hubby and I went to Home Depot and got our 2 main bathroom vanity areas designed.  It will be the end of the year or even the first of next year before the installation will be taking place.  I am so excited.  This is something I have wanted redone for years.  

This coming week, hubby and I will be doing some major clean out of our back room.  That is one of the rooms our handyman is going to be working on and we need it accessible for him to move around in freely.  This is also something I have wanted to do for several years.  It has kind of been a catch all room as well as our work room.  All of hubby's tools are in there.  They used to be in our outside shed but after the third time of the shed being broken into and things walking off, we made our backroom our tool/work room.  Haven't lost a tool since.

That is all for this week.  Today is bread making day as well as the first day of the NFL season.  That will keep both hubby and I busy for several hours.

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

Really?

 

Has it really only been 2 days since I posted?  So much has happened in that time.

Monday hubby grabbed me and we headed to Home Depot along with about 1000 other people.  Ya, it seemed to be that full.  We are trying to finish up some home remodeling on our 50 year old home.  We decided to finish up the vanity areas of our 2 main bathrooms.  We got very lucky as the room designer was not busy so, we were able to sit down with him and plan out how we wanted things to be.  It only took 2.5 hours to complete.  At the end, we were informed it will be 16 - 20 weeks before the cabinetry will be ready.  And that is after the professional measurements get done.  So, we are looking around Christmas or the first of next year.  No big issue for us.  Not like we are going anywhere.

After we finished with the designer, we went to look at door hardware as we have a handyman coming this weekend to install and replace 6 doors.  Two are exterior doors and the rest are interior.  We started looking and realized neither of us had eaten since early morning and it was now mid afternoon and we were both starting to get hangry.  Skip looking for hardware and go to lunch/dinner.  Once we were fed, we were done for the day and just came home.

Today we had every intention of going to get the door hardware but................best laid plans and all that.  Hubby  was trying to get some info on our solar panels and ran into all sorts of issues.  I was doing laundry and working in the kitchen.  I went into our rubbermaid pantry when I notice one of the shelves supports was broken in half.  Peachy!  That is where I keep all of my baking supplies as well as canned goods.  By the time hubby got done with the solar people it was mid afternoon again.  Neither of us felt like heading out to look for a new pantry or door hardware.  So.....................I did online shopping.  I found a pantry that will hold up to 150 pounds per shelf!  Perfect!  I no longer need to worry about shelves bowing.  The best part, it is being delivered free of charge!  But wait, there is more!  This pantry is metal and only $10 more than the plastic one.  Only bummer is it will be over a week before it arrives.

I promise to be patient.  Maybe LOL.

Tomorrow we will head out to get door hardware.  Well, at least that is the plan so far.  I know what I want, it is just a matter of finding them.  We also need to get paint for the doors and the wall in the backroom that is going to be completed by the end of this month.  Finally!  Things are coming together.  It will be so nice to have all of this renovation stuff behind us.   Once this is done, there will only be one room left to redo and that is the master bedroom.  I dread pulling the furniture out of there to be able to paint it and for new carpeting to be laid.  That might be why we have been putting it off for quite a while.  Not sure how much longer we can continue to put it off.  Time will tell.

OK, it is time for me to grab my knitting and let it work it's magic on me.

Until next time........................................

WEEK 10

 

I have quite a bit to 'talk' about today so lets get busy.

First up are a couple of finished items.

The Chinese Waves dishcloth was completed Thursday.  Once that was off the needles, I decided to cast on another one.

Grandma's Favorite Dishcloth is a quick and easy knit.  I finished this one in about 1.5 hours Thursday evening.

I was on a roll.  So, I decided to pick up hubby's socks and take them to Adoration with me to see how far I could get on them in an hour.  Once I started working on them, I could not quit.

Sock #1 got completed Saturday afternoon.

Sock #2 will be completed after I post this.  There are only 8 rows left of ribbing and then the bind off.  The white progress keeper shows where I was on both socks when I picked them up on Thursday evening.  I will be happy when these are in the hub's sock drawer.  The injury I have sustained while knitting these is quite painful

That red spot is a puncture wound from my stiletto pointed needles I use for socks.  Seems I have a habit of 'helping' the needle slide through the stitch.  OUCH!

Once the socks are done, I will pick up my Roe Cardigan again to work on it.  Luckily the needles are much bigger and don't stab me like my 2.50mm ones do.  

The Roe did get some love this week though.  The progress keeper shows where I was last Sunday.  I am still enjoying it but, it is starting to get to the point it is a bit warm on my lap.  I put a little fan next to my knitting station and that helps keep me from melting as much.

That is all for knitting this week.  There has been so much going on in our regular lives, I want to share a bit of it with you.

I got my new bread maker and tried to out.  It completely ruined what I was making and then the paddle got stuck into the pan and the instructions were absolutely horrible as far as figuring out where all the issues lay.  So................whoosh............I shipped that bad boy back to Amazon.  I will continue to use my old, noisy bread maker until the thing completely quits working.  At least I know how it works and any little quirks it may have.

Hubby has a new coffee station!

When we stay with our friends in Las Vegas, the casita we stay at has a keurig coffee maker.  Hubby fell in love with how nice and neat and clean it was.  So, he found this keurig at Costco on sale and grabbed it.  I found the storage tray for it to sit on and now he has his own little coffee bar.  I love it because I do not have the coffee pot mess to deal with every day.  (Can you tell I am not a coffee drinker?)

I made sourdough garlic knots one evening for dinner.  In order to make them you must roast a head of garlic.

This made that chore very easy.  And yes, the garlic knots were delicious and no, there is not a photo of them as they were gone before I could take a picture.

The last treasure I got this week was this:

My newest orchid.  I now have 4 of them sitting on the window sill over my sink.  Hopefully they will all bloom again.  One of them has bloomed since I got it but the others have not.  I love the color of this one and was so excited when I saw it.  The color is called lilac moonstone.  

This morning I treated hubby and myself to some warm blueberry bread.

I bought the mix last year and decided it was not going to bake itself.  Oh my, it is so good.  I baked it in my Nordic Ware Jubilee loaf pan.  It makes it look so pretty.

I will leave you with a photo of the two joys that live with me.

While hubby was running the vacuum, I went into my craft room to wind up some yarn for my Roe Cardi.  These two are not fans of the vacuum so they came in with me.  Enrique (on the left) is hiding under my big craft table and Luna (on the right) is laying on my blocking mats that are covered with blankets just for the doggos.  Once hubs was done vacuuming, Luna left the room but Enrique stayed until I was done winding the yarn.  He is pretty much glued to me 24/7 anyway.

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