WEEK 18 OF YOP 12

 I am running behind today.  My day started very early with church, then a lovely breakfast out with my hubby.  We got home and I took a little 2 hour nap.  This weekend has been full of activity and my body finally said 'enough'.  But, you didn't come here for all this.  Let me show you what I have done.

I have added 4 inches to my Nuuk sweater.  And that is all I have done craftwise this week.

Well, I did go and paint some pottery on Friday with my daughter.  I pick up the finished product this coming week and will show it off next weekend.

I resurrected my sourdough starter this week and made these:

BAGELS!  I even boiled them before they were baked.  Just like a good New York bagel.  They were so yummy.

Last night was Home Coming for Josie.  Here she is with your boyfriend of 8 months.

We really like the young man too.  He is very polite and respectful.  He comes to quite a few of our family functions and we enjoy talking with him.

Yesterday was Josie's last swimming invitational.  How could those 4 years have gone by so fast?  This coming weekend is State Swim championships.  She will probably be going as an alternate for relays.  We will know more on Monday.

And that my friends is all for this week.

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

WEEK 17 OF YOP 12

 This will be one of the shortest posts I have ever done.  Not much going on here other than working on my Nuuk.

After I posted last Sunday, I got to an end of a skein of yarn and decided to try on the sweater.  I put all the bottom stitches on waste yarn and put it on.  WHOA!  I don't know who I thought I was making this sweater for.  It was HUGE!  The shoulder area and upper chest fit fine.  My swatch was spot on and even while I was checking gauge while knitting it was spot on.  What was not spot on was the amount of underarm stitches the instructions told me to add on when I split for sleeves.  I had to rip it all the way back to the underarm cast on.  UGH!  Four inches of stockinette gone!  This time I only added 8 extra stitches to the underarm instead of 26!  I knit again until I ran out of that same skein of yarn.  Tried it on and TA-DA.  It was a wonderful fit.  Just enough positive ease to make me happy.  Then, I decided to go ahead and do the neck ribbing as well as making the sleeves the length I wanted them.  Now all I have to do is knit endless rows of stockinette until it is the length I am comfortable with.  I have already done the a-line increases so it is just mindless knitting for the foreseeable future.

And that, my friends, is all I have done this week.

Tomorrow, hubby and I will be going to get the new Covid booster.  We got our flu shots last week.  That way we are set for the 'winter'.

I will leave you with a photo of Josie as smee in her performance last Sunday.  This was the cast line up at the end of the play.  Pardon all the blacked out faces, but the cast is all minors and I do not have permission to display them on social media. 

The one uncovered face is Josie as Smee.  The play was excellent and the one liners in it were spot on.

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

WEEK 16 OF YOP 12

 

Hey there.  I have some fun stuff to show you today.

My Nuuk is moving along quite well.

Such an easy pattern to knit.  I have already done my own modifications to it so it will be more of an a-line/swing sweater than a straight down from the underarm sweater.  I just finished my second skein of yarn and am going to work on the sleeves next.  I will make them longer than the pattern calls for but they will stop well above the elbow.  Several ladies have made long sleeves on the pattern.  Since we only wear long sleeved sweaters for about 3-4 weeks, I have nixed that idea.  My goal is to have this completed in the next 3 weeks.  We shall see.

And that, my friends, is all for my crafting this week.  Everything is in time out until Nuuk is completed.

Thursday was Josie's senior day at her swim meet.  They honored all the seniors who were swim team members.  we had so much fun with them at the meet.  Here is a photo of part of the ceremony.

That's Josie with her parents who were also honored.  

The swim team seniors.

Yes, there are only 6 seniors on the team.  She goes to a small school and her graduating class is only about 125.  Everyone of the seniors has been on the team for 4 years.  That, my friends is commitment.  They go to practice every morning at 5:30 and then head on to school by 7:45.  They all need to keep their grades up above a certain average or they can not participate in the meets.  They are a great group of kids and have had a lot of fun over the past 4 years.  And, yes, they all have lettered in the sport all 4 years!

It is so hard for me to wrap my head around the fact she is graduating this year.  When I started this blog (2007) she was 19 months old!

Where has the time gone?  

Yesterday, we were blessed with some much needed rain.  It was one heck of a rain storm in mid morning where we got over an inch in 15 minutes!  After that it kind of drizzled most of the rest of the day.  Then at one o'clock this morning I was awakened by the worse noise ever.  I peeked out of my bedroom window to see my backyard was nothing but a layer of marble sized hail!  Could not even see the grass.  When I got up this morning there were still patches of ice on the lawn.

It was a gorgeous 60F outside too.  We ended up with over 2 inches of rain here.  No need for hubby to water the outside plants for a few days now.

This afternoon, hubby and I are going to see Peter and the StarCatcher.  Josie is playing Smee (captain hook's side kick) in it.  It is about how Peter Pan became Peter Pan.  Should be a fun show.

We have been dog sitting for the past 4 days.

Our little granddog, Celeste, came for a stay while her owners took a much needed mini vacation to the grand canyon.  She is such a sweet little thing.  Doesn't bark, doesn't harrass the other dogs.  Just wants a little loving and FOOD!  She is a great eater.  Her 'parents' tell me she is hard to feed.  Not at my house she isn't.  She is going home today.  It has been fun having her around.  Luna doesn't mind her at all.  Enrique gets his nose out of joint when we pet her or have her sitting next to us.  He is such a spoiled one!  I think Celeste likes it here because I only have 2 other dogs and at her house she has 3 and one of them is still in puppy mode. Celeste is NOT in puppy mode.

That is about it for my week.  Time to go and get started on the sleeves of my sweater.

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

WEEK 15 OF YOP 12

 

Hey there!  Glad you dropped by today.  I hope your past week was a good one.  Mine was busy and productive.

Here is my finish!

To The Point shawl is completed.  I do need to sew on the medal and label before it goes to the ministry at church.  I usually like to wait until I have a few shawls done to do that.

I worked on the Rose City Roller socks too.

They both now have the same number of rows completed on them.  These are my go to project in the morning while I am listening to my daily bible readings and prayers.  

There was a new project cast on yesterday.  My plan had been to cast on Ranunculous.  I had the pattern, needles, yarn and had even swatched for it.  I read the instructions............several times.  For some reason, I just could not 'get into' the rhythm of the pattern.  So, I sat for a few days and finally decided to cast on Nuuk.

I will be making some modifications to the body of this sweater.  I plan on making it more of an a-line sweater so as not to 'hug' my hips.  Fingers crossed my calculations and modifications work out.

The rest of the week went by in a blur.  Here is a quick recap.

Monday - The day started off fantastic.  There was a loaf of sourdough bread made, a load of laundry done, plants watered etc....  Then the afternoon hit me.  OUCH!  Stupid RA!  And then that evening we got smacked with a huge dust storm, winds, and rain in certain areas.  OK, so now I know why my RA kicked up.

Tuesday - I did nothing.  It was a day allowing my body to recoup.

Wednesday - Hubby and I had an estate planning meeting.  We already have our trust and will done but it needed to be updated.  That afternoon we went to look at a house with our son.  OH MY!  This house was great on the inside but the outside was horrible!  It would have taken THOUSANDS of dollars to make the pool and surrounding grounds to be usable.

Thursday - More laundry was done.  My RA was quiet and so I was able to get a few more household chores completed.  There were 3 more houses to be toured too.  The first home was super cute but very small.  The pool had some major issues too so that got taken off the list.  The second house had great curb appeal.  Upon walking in we felt like we had been transported back to 1940!  Oh My!  We went no further than the front room before we left.  The third house was great.  The layout was perfect and the pool was gorgeous.  There were a few things needing to be done but nothing that would stop from moving in and living there.

Friday - It was catch up day for me.  There was deep cleaning of a couple of areas.  I am trying to do 15 minutes each day of deep cleaning.  So far I have done the dining room table (the catch all table) and my special daylight lamp with tray.  It was amazing to see how much dust and dirt was on both of those items.  

Saturday - We went with our son to look at a house that was 3 houses down from us.  BIG FAIL!  Nothing was done properly in the home and would have take copious amounts of time and money to make it livable. I went with our son in the afternoon to look at one more home. (Hubby went to Mass) This one was an hour away from our house.  The curb appeal was fantastic.  The pool and grounds were gorgeous.  The interior was very nice too.  There were a few things needing to be done.  The only issue with it was, it was choppy.  Lots of rooms and not really any great 'open' area.  Once we left there our son called his wife and they decided to put an offer in on the last house we saw on Thursday.  So, now we wait for a response from the seller to see if they will accept the offer or give a counter offer.  After all of that, hubby and I went out to dinner with our BFF's.  It was nice to finally be out and away from all the hustle and bustle.

Today - I got up super early to make it to 7AM Mass.  Afterwards I went to the local Taco shop and got breakfast burritos for all of us.  This afternoon the 3 of us are going to go and meet up with our other son and his wife and watch some football together.  Until then, I will be working on my sweater.  I am almost ready to join it in the round!

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

WEEK 14 OF YOP 12

 

Hey there!  Glad you dropped by today.  I wanted to show you what's goin' on around here.

TA-DA!  Introducing my latest FO!

My finished Gnome.  It is the first gnome I have made but will not be my last.  I chose not to put arms on him.  His beard was made with two alpaca lace yarns held together.  I wanted the beard to have more of a 'fur' look.  I found the bell for his hat in my notions box and just had to add it.  The arms did get made but I did not like the looks of them when I placed them on him.  He joins the gnome my daughter made for me last year.

They are only a little over 6 inches tall.  Even my husband said the new gnome was cute.  That, my friends, is high praise.

There was a hope I would have more than one finish this week.  But life got in the way.  Although, I did get close.

To The Point is very close to being completed.  Hopefully it will get all the love and completion it deserves today.  This is my first time using Knit Picks Brava worsted weight yarn.  It is an easy yarn to use.  I am hoping after giving it a wash it will soften up a bit.  I am so used to making this shawl with Caron Simply Soft that any other yarn seems a bit stiff to me.  I do think this yarn will hold up quite well to many washing, though.  That is a big plus for a shawl going to people undergoing all types of medical procedures.

Then there are these:

The RCR socks are still being worked on...........sort of.  See the bright little yellow dot on each one?  That is where I was last Sunday.  The one on the left only got 2-3 rows added.  The one on the right traveled with me to an all day EWTN family conference yesterday.  Sitting and listening to speakers for 6 hours makes for some great knitting time.  There was a lady sitting behind me crocheting what looked like an afghan.  She knew it was going to be a long day too LOL.

My BFF asked me to help her this week with her dog, Lily.  Lily had to have surgery on her back leg for a torn meniscus and CCL.  Poor Lily did not do well with all the medications and stress that went with surgery.  Her tummy was not a happy camper for 3 days after the surgery.  So, I spent a few hours each day helping my BFF clean the little darling up and giving my BFF time to take a shower and eat.  As of last night, Lily sounded like she was doing so much better.

Sweet Lily

This is also the same BFF who asked me to resurrect her Thanksgiving Cactus.  I worked on it quite a bit this week too.  Take a look at it now!

What a difference a nice 'haircut' and proper water and light can make.  I am waiting for some new growth to show up before I send it back 'home'.

I cooked up some steaks for us a few nights ago.  With the sun setting earlier each day, it gets pretty dark in our backyard by about 6:30.  Our son has been such a help while living here.  He installed the strings of lights we have had for a while.  What a difference it makes!

Look how bright it is.  No problem cooking after the sun goes down.  The lights can be set to several different colors too.  Hubby suggested doing that while I cooked.  Told him the white was best while cooking meat so I could see the 'true' color of the food LOL.

That about covers my week.  There was a haircut for me...finally, as well as grocery shopping, laundry, and house cleaning.  I did pull my sourdough starter out of the fridge.  It had been in there for about 5 months.  I started feeding it and within 2 days it was super active again.  So, on Monday I made a loaf of sourdough bread.

It turned out so well.  I use my pullman pan to bake it in.  Once I made this loaf I put the starter back in the fridge to keep me from needing to feed it daily.  I pulled it out this morning and will feed it twice today in hopes I can make another loaf tomorrow morning.

Okay, that really does cover my week.  How was yours?

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