WEEK 52 OF YOP 11 WRAP UP

 

So, this is the final post for YOP year 11, for those of us who start on July 1.  Before I show you my 'accomplishments' from the past year, let me show you what I completed this week.

First up...........................

The Rose City Roller socks are completed and in my sock drawer.  Thank goodness.  They had been on my needles for 3 months and I was super tired of looking at them.

Once those were done, I decided to do a quick project.......................

I did another "To the Point" prayer shawl.  This is such a quick crochet project.  I started this Thursday evening and completed it Saturday afternoon.

YOP ACCOMPLISHMENTS

This past year, I tried to keep my 'list' pretty vague.  I wanted to feel free to work on what gave me joy.  It worked for me.  I tried not to put any pressure on myself to complete items.  Well, other than a sweater I wanted to wear for a trip we took.  Here is a look at my list of accomplishments.

WIP'S

Boxy Sweater -11/7/15  FROGGED 7-19-21

Summer Lace Stole - 6/13/21 FROGGED 7-28-21

Sock Scraps Granny Stripe (fingering weight) - 7/8/20

Madonna & Child - 8/7/20

SOCKS

Rose City Rollers - 9/16/21 - 10/18/21

Rose City Roller Bed Socks 11/18/21 - 11/21/21

Rose City Roller Socks 11/11/21 - 1/18/22

Rose City Roller Socks 1/23/22 -1/31/22

Rose City Roller Socks 1/31/22 - 2/16/22

TAAT Car Socks - 5/6/21 - 9/5/21

Half Socks 7 made 3/22 - 6/22

Rose City Roller TAAT 3/3/22 6/21/22

Try at least one new to me pattern this year (didn't happen)

Clothing

Roe Cardigan - 8/24/21  FROGGED 12/19/21

Wee Sherlock 7/18/21 - 7/25/21 (gift)

Little Boy Blue Hat 7/25/21 - 7/26/21 (gift)

Vixynn 11/23/21 - 1/1/22

Chemo Hat 11/8/21 - 11/14/21 (gift)

Ponytail - Poofy Hat 12/5/21 - 12/8/21 (gift)

ReWork Vixynn 3/1/22 - 6/10/22

Dishcloths

Try to use up cotton yarn

 Cloths made so far..............5 (gift)

Shawls

To the Point for the prayer shawl ministry

Completed...........................6 (gift)

Dying in the Light 7/29/21 - 8/23/21 (gift)

Mehjuaa 4/1/22 - 4/28/22

Blankets

Giant Granny Square blanket to use up stash DK yarn - 9/9/21

Cross Stitch

Everything is Possible with God - 3/23/21 - 11/5/21 (gift)

Happy Camper - 2/24/22

Misc

Little Duck/Chicken 12/23/21 - 12/23/21 (gift)

Scrubbies made............3 (gift)

There were 38 completed items over 52 weeks, 21 of which were gifts.  Not too bad.  I have 4 projects that are not completed and will carry over to next year's list.  I wish I could say I used up more yarn than I brought in but, I am pretty sure it is about even at this point. My favorite project was the Vixynn sweater once I reworked it.

It is so comfortable.  Now,  if the weather would just cool off a bit so I could wear it.  I will probably make another one in the future.

In other news.

I had fun yesterday working in the kitchen.  First up:

I made hamburger buns for our dinner last night.  We had New England fish sandwiches.  They were so yummy.  The buns were delicious.  No need to buy buns with this easy to make recipe.  I cut the recipe in half.

Then I made this:

This is our favorite bread I make in the bread machine.  It uses beer in it and is so tasty with just a hint of sweetness.  My house smelled so good with all this bread being made.  I want to make a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread next.  It is my all time favorite breakfast bread.  YUM!  Toast it and slather butter on it.  Oh my!

I want to leave you with a smile on your face.  Thor has a little brother.  Say hello to:

Loki!!!!!!!!!!!  I mean, come on.  What else would they have named their new kitty.  The two critters seem to be getting along ok.  Thor wants to lick Loki constantly.  Loki lets Thor know when he has had enough by swiping his nose with his sharp kitty claws.  Loki is about 4-5 weeks old and was found in a park all alone.  He was taken to the emergency vet (it was late at night) and given a clean bill of health.  He is still being bottle fed and being introduced to pate mixed with his formula.  Josie is over the moon in love with him.  She has wanted another kitty since her Howie passed away a couple of years ago.

Another YOP comes to an end.  I have so enjoyed being part of this group for the past 11 years.  I look forward to year 12.  If you are interested in joining us, use this link.  It is not just for knitters or crocheters.  We also have spinners, weavers, cross stitchers, card makers, painters, gardeners etc.  We are all friendly and really enjoy meeting others from all around the world.

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

Monsoons 2022 Have Begun

 

This is what it looked like in my area last might about 8pm.  We got our first major dust storm of the 2022 monsoon season.  While I do not embrace the summers here, because of the excessive heat, I do enjoy an active monsoon (providing no one is injured during it).  Last year we got a lot of rain during the monsoon season.  The prediction is, we will get a lot of moisture again during this years monsoon.  Fingers crossed as we just went into phase 1 of water conservation because of our drought.

I have been busy this week with setting up my blog in preparations for the end of this years YOP.  There has been designing of graphics for the coming year and designing of a new page listing my wish lists for next years projects.  I was hoping to switch over to Wordpress this year but, I just do not understand it well enough to flip.  So, I will muddle along with Blogger for another year.  I have been using this platform for 15 years and while it doesn't always do what I want, it has served me well for what I normally need it for.  

There has also been time spent looking for patterns I would like to make in the coming year.  Mostly, I am looking for adorable gnome patterns.  I was hoping to find a pattern book with different gnomes in it.  So far, I have only seen one pattern book dedicated solely to gnomes.  If any of you know of any place I can obtain (either paid for or free) multiple gnome patterns, please let me know.  Ravelry has a LOT of patterns for gnomes as does Etsy.  Yet, I am still holding out hope of being able to get multiple patterns from one place and not need to purchase/download several individual patterns.  Does this make sense? 

Other than that, it has been a fairly normal week for us.  Because of the dust storm last night, we will be dusting the house today.  No matter how tight your doors and windows are, that dust still gets in and creates a lovely layer of silt over everything. YUCK!

I am off to do my morning routines.

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

Holy Cow! WEEK 51 of YOP 11

 

Good Grief!  This is the next to last week of YOP 11 for those of us who follow the July schedule.  I was so hoping to have an FO this week but that did not happen.  I did get pretty darn close though.

The RCR socks got some loving this past week.  The single DPN is where I was on each of them last Sunday.  They are now on the same row.  Will they be completed by next weeks round-up?  Maybe.  Not going to hold my breath though.

The first few days of the week I was not able to hold knitting needles so decided to give my crochet hooks a whirl.  

I was able to add 3 more rows to the Giant Granny Square blanket.  I am so happy I am able to switch between these two crafts when my hands and wrists are having some issues.

I received some treasures in the mail this week and also a couple of weeks ago.  I am horrible about remembering to post about my treasures.

Signature Needles had a sale on some of their Malabrigo yarn.  I could not resist and hubby was more than happy to help pick out the colors for his socks.

This Teal Feather color was the first one to catch hubby's eye.  I think I can combine the two of these to make some fun socks with contrasting toes and heels.  What do you think?

Leading Men Fibers is an online shop I found a couple of years ago.  They have some of the most fun colorways.  They offered this 'short sock' kit a few weeks ago.  Since this is mainly what I make for the hubby, I just had to order it.  Now you know why I am trying to get 'my' socks off the needles.  There is some yummy yarn calling out to me.

This past week was full of activities.  Which is another reason I did not get those socks completed.  Take a look!

Monday - There was bread made, a load of laundry done, mailed a large box of things left behind by our Texas family, and cleaned the bathroom and kitchen counter tops (hubby cleaned everything else.)

Tuesday - I had a Dr appointment via telemed (I love not having to go to the office for follow ups), got all my indoor plants watered and trimmed, went for a swim, made a carrot cake bread and some very yummy guacamole.

Wednesday - Both dogs had a Vet Tech appointment, another load of laundry and dinner out with our daughter to celebrate hubby's 73rd birthday.

Enrique watching the doors where they took Luna through for her turn with the Vet Tech.  He worries about her.  Yes, the floor in the vet office is made to look like water and shoreline.  The name of the vet office is Noe's Ark.  Get it?

Thursday - This is the day I did most of my knitting and crocheting.  We had Adoration at church that night.

Friday - I finally felt like me again so decided to make menus and a grocery list.  Then I headed out to get the groceries and went to Costco, Sam's Club, Food City, Kroger, and Albertsons.  That was a 4 hour excursion.  Made an awesome dinner using my stuffed waffle maker.

Monte Cristo stuffed waffle.  The top and bottom are made from my homemade bread.  It was so yummy.  Yes it is very much like a panini.

Saturday - Cleaned out the fridge, did a load of laundry, vacuum sealed grocery items to freeze, and went to Mass.

Today we are kicking back and watching the US Open. (It's a Father's Day tradition at our house)  I have green chili in the crockpot.  I will be making flour tortillas to go with it.  I am also taking care of my BFF's dogs while they take a weekend away for her birthday.  But the best news is.....................WE GOT RAIN LAST NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!  Hey, if you lived in the desert you would get excited too!

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

WEEK 50 OF YOP 11

 

Only 2 more weeks of this YOP year.  I haven't even started thinking about next years list of projects.  My main focus has been on trying to finish up some WIP's that are hanging around.

I do have a finish this week!

I completed the reknit of Vixynn.  It fits so much better now.  I raised the empire waist to where it is supposed to be and went down one needle size to make the bottom a bit smaller.  Would I make it again?  You betcha.

This is what it looked like before the rework.  See how low that empire waist is.  I am so much happier with it now.  It will get lots of use once it gets a bit cooler than the 113 it is today!

Once the sweater was off the needles, I grabbed a WIP that has been staring at me since March.

My RCR socks.  I started these in March as two at a time on magic loop.  When I picked them back up this week, I immediately transferred them to DPN's.  TAAT kind of makes me twitch because the yarn gets twisted and it seems like all I do is slide socks from one side to the other.  Very annoying to me.  My hope is to have these completed before this YOP wraps up in 2 weeks.  

Last weekend we had our family over for a day of fun, food, swimming and laughs.  We had a blast.  Unfortunately, I did not take any photos of the fun.  We had 14 people in total here.  Hubby smoked a brisket and it was fork tender.  Our daughter made a lovely pasta salad and I made 2 loaves of scrumptious bread.  We had just a bit of brisket left, 4 slices of bread and 1/2 of the pasta salad.  I call that a win.

The TX kids left Monday morning.  We have spent the past week enjoying a quiet house again.  

Yesterday, I spent the evening making Luna's dog food.  In the process I messed up my right hand/wrist as well as my right knee and ankle.  So, today, I am just taking it easy.  No knitting until the wrist gets better............drat!  Thankfully I am lefthanded so I am still able to do normal daily activities.  

What are you up to?

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

WEEK 49 OF YOP 11

 

Hey there.  This is not going to be much of a YOP update.  I put another 7 rows on the sweater and did not see a need to put another photo of it on here.  I did pick up my half sock and put a few rows on it.

That is all the crafting I did.  Oh, I did do a bit of coloring in my "adult" coloring books.  

So, what the heck did I do all week?  

Monday - Made a loaf of sourdough bread, did a deep clean of the kitchen counters and cabinets, power washed the pool area and cut Enrique's nails.

Tuesday -  Had blood work done, went to Sam's club and Costco and called Motor Vehicle Department.

Wednesday -  I turned 69!!!!  Helped hubby go through EVERYTHING as we put the backroom back together from the remodel that he finished up on Tuesday.  Did a GoodWill run and a hazardous waste run.  Did a load of laundry and got the pool table ready for use.  Happy Birthday to me!

Thursday - Went to the bank, dusted the entire house (lots of dust from remodel), did a load of laundry, went to Sam's club AGAIN, and had adoration at church which is when I worked on the sock.

Friday - Made a loaf of bread, got water bottles filled, went to WalMart, cleaned the bathroom counter tops (hubby cleaned the rest of the bathroom), went with my bff to urgent care (she has a pulled ham string) and even got in a little swim time.

Saturday - The Texas son and his wife arrived early in the morning.  Made another loaf of bread, made onion dip, got the brisket rubbed and wrapped to marinate, went to Mass and then went out to eat.  Spent a lot of time talking with the Texas 'kids' since it has been 14 months since I had seen them and over 3 years since hubby had seen them.

Today, we are having a family get together.  There will be 13 people at our home with plenty of food and beverage.  Hubby purchased some games for the pool so I think there will be lots of laughter too.

So, now you know why there was a very small amount of crafting done this week.  But, it was all worth it just to be able to completely relax and enjoy the 2 days we have with our Texas family before they continue on with their vacation.

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