WEEK 29 OF YOP 12

 

Hello from 'cold' and rainy Arizona.  Our mountains are getting slammed with snow today and we are getting some liquid snow here in the valley of the sun.  I do enjoy a good gloomy and rainy day.  It is the perfect day to stay inside and either read or work on some yarny goodness.  *sigh*  I will not be staying inside today, though.  I have a date with my daughter to do some charity pottery painting today as well as visiting a dear friend in the hospital.  But, you didn't drop by for our local weather report.  I do have an almost FO to show.

The Giant Granny Square blanket's main body is complete.  Even the ends are woven in!  This is laying on a 6 foot long table.  It is just about 6 feet long and once I complete the border it should be right at that measurement.  This was a great mindless crochet project.  Yet, it was a long time getting to where it is.  Sixteen months to be exact!  It was impossible to work on in the summer time so it only came out once our heater was turned on in the house.  That means it only got about 2-3 months of love each winter.  

I have only done 2 rows of border on it so far.  This is not the border that was recommended to me.  I tried it and actually disliked it quite a bit.  It was all single crochet (US terms) and took me over an hour to do 1 row!  I switched to doing a plain half double crochet (US terms) in each stitch and space with 3 stitches in each corner and love it.  It goes much quicker and adds inches quicker too.  Sometimes I think half double crochet is the least used stitch in crochet projects.  I like the look of it.  It is not as 'airy' as the double crochet and not as tight as the single crochet.  A nice happy median.

As for how much DK yarn I still have left.................................

Too much!  These are stacked 3 deep in this container.  I probably have enough to do another granny square but am not planning on doing that again with DK.  I am thinking of doing small granny squares or victorian lace squares and making lapghans for our prayer shawl ministry. I can work on those year round without melting. 

The only other things I worked on were hubby's RCR socks.

Just a few more rows for the one on the right and then it will be time to do the toe.  The one on the left only got about 3 rows added to it this week.  Once the blanket's border is completed I will concentrate on these so I can get them off the needles and move on to something else.  By now, y'all have got to be getting tired of seeing the same two projects on my blog page, week after week.  I know I am!

This past week I have done some more bread baking and muffin making from my sourdough.  You can read all about that here.  

There have been a few people asking about my new medicine that has been so wonderful for me and my RA.  It is Enbrel which is an injectable biologic.  My RA Doctor had wanted to start me on this several years ago and I refused.  All those TV commercials about the product with all the 'warnings' and side effects had done a real good job into scaring the bejeebins out of me.  Yet, after spending 24 hours unable to walk and being pushed around in a wheelchair, I realized, that could be my future shortly and decided it was time to listen to my Doctor.  She was wonderful in explaining everything to me and calming most of my fears.  Also, I have a dear dear friend who is a pharmacist and she had a wonderful heart to heart with me.  I am so glad I started on the medication.  I am now able to actually enjoy each day to the fullest.  I still have a ways to go to get all my stamina back.  There have been too many days (weeks, months, years) of sitting and doing nothing because of pain. I have set daily goals of movement to get some strength and stamina back.  It is helping as hubby and I went out and about for over 5 hours the other day and I did not 'collapse' when we returned home.  Not everyone has the same experience with this drug as I have.  Therefore, I am thankful.  It has been a God-send for me.  And yes, I give myself the injections.  No, it is not that scary.  But then, I have never had an issue with needles.  I also have 2 daughter in laws who are trained to give injections so I can also have them do it if I need.

All of our Christmas decorations are down and put away.  I rearranged our year round décor a bit this year and am loving it.  Also, when I was putting the year round décor away for the Christmas décor to come out, I decluttered several items and gave them away to some people at our church.  Just by doing that, my home looks so much less cluttered with knick knacks. We are also proud of the fact our Christmas decorations now fit into just 4 plastic storage bins!  We remember a time when we had over a dozen bins and would use everything in those bins to decorate with.  It would take us DAYS to put up and WEEKS to take down.  What were we thinking?

This coming week will be my 'after Christmas' attack on my craftroom.  It becomes the dumping ground during the holidays.  It doesn't bother me until all the holidays have passed and I go in there to water plants.  When I have to move 'stuff' to even get to my two plants, I know it is time to get the cleaning done.  It will also be a good time to re-evaluate my stash and make plans for using it.  I have plans for my DK and worsted weight yarn.  I need plans for my fingering weight and not just socks.  Good golly, if I just made socks with it I could supply an entire battalion of soldiers with enough socks to wear for an entire week! Suggestions are welcomed.

And....................that sums up my thoughts for today.

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