WEEK 31

 

Hello and welcome.  I hope everyone is staying warm and well.  We are having spring like weather at the moment and my plants can't decide if they should be putting on blossoms or shedding their leaves.  For the next week we are going to be in the 80's!  It is waaay to early for this to happen.   But, most of you are not here to hear about my weather.  Let's see what happened this week.

There was progress on a couple of projects.

DD's socks got a heel this week.  Only 89 more rows and I can do the toe.  I am so glad she is not in a hurry for these.

One skein of yarn has been completed on the lap throw.  I did decide to add a brighter color in the center of this to help break up all that BROWN!.

I thought this was a tan base until I started working with it last night and realized it has a lavender cast to it.  I still like it and am going to continue on with it.  There are brown specks in it so it goes quite well with the main color.  This throw takes 3 skeins of yarn to make it the length needed.  The person I got the pattern from (Josie's Grammie) said it is a quick and easy pattern.  NOPE!  I disagree.  This has been on my needles since November.  I need to be very careful at the start of each row to make sure I am doing the correct stitch to create this pattern.  Yes, it is good for TV watching once I start each right side row, but..........still not a quick project.  At least, not for me.

There was a little bit of shopping this week.  I just happened to stumble into my LYS on Thursday.  They had totally rearranged the entire set up of the store.  I went in to find out if they had any open knit/crochet sessions to just sit and knit/crochet.  Yes, they do!  They have open sessions from open to close 3 days a week.  I am so happy to hear that.  The deserts of Arizona are not exactly hot spots for people working with yarn all the time.  I really wanted to meet people, like me, who wake each morning looking forward to picking up their projects and giving them some love.

Excuse me, I digress.  I was going to tell you about my shopping.  I walked around the store, touching and caressing many skeins of yarn.  There was some nonwool yarn there that was so soft and lofty, I was dreaming of projects for it.  But, no, I did not purchase any of it.  I have way too much yarn in my stash now.  Once it gets down to a respectable size I will grab some of that lush and plush yarn.  So, I continued walking around the shop, admiring all the accessories they had.  I was about to walk out of the store, empty handed, when I spied this gem.............

OH MY STARS!!!!!!!  A gnome project bag from Twice Sheared Sheep!  I had seen this on her website but told myself there were plenty of project bags in my craft area now.  Yet, when I saw this in person, I knew I needed to buy it.  This is the medium size bag and is now the home of the brown lap throw.  This would easily hold a sweater project. I wish she had a gnome bag in her new mini size.  It is sock project size and if she had one I would grab it in a heart beat.  Hmmm, maybe I need to send her a little love note!

BTW, Can anyone tell me what a respectable size for a yarn stash is?  Asking for a friend.

I did finish one item this past week.

The Japanese Maple Bonsai Lego tree.  The colors on this make me smile.  I did start another Lego after this but have run into some difficulty with it holding together.  I have built it twice now and it still falls apart half way through. I got so disgusted with it, I actually tossed it across my craft table and there is sits now..........pieces strewn all over the table and I am not the least bit interested in picking them up and trying again............at this time.

There were 2 presents for me in the mail this week.

The 5th book in the series I have been reading.  I have had this on hold in my Libby account for several months and it was going to be several more months before I would receive it.  So, I went to my Thriftbooks account and found it for a really nice price.  After this one, there are 8 more in the series.  I will get them through my Kindle app when the time comes.

The other present I received was my new passport!  Good for another 10 years.  Hubby is still waiting for his to arrive.  There are no plans, at the moment to go someplace where I will need it.  It is just nice to have in case the opportunity would show up.

Hubby and I had a little fun night out on Friday.

We took Stacie to Bingo that night, to celebrate her big 5 0 birthday!  She and hubby both won a game.  I was just there to add humor to the night.

That covers all the excitement here.  I do have a little humor for you to carry you through the week.

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

WEEK 30

 

Hello there.  I was going to post yesterday, but the day got away from me.  So, here I am on Monday morning, waiting for my first load of laundry to finish washing so I can commence with drying it and getting the other 3 loads completed before dinner time.

My yarn projects remain the same.  The Lego blanket is now up to row 101.  Someone has asked me several time in my comments where to find the pattern.  Since it is from an anonymous sender, I have no idea who is asking for it.  I did put the link for it on last weeks update.  Here is the link again, in case this person is not a weekly reader of blogs.

There are just a few more rows on DD RCR socks before I do the heel.  This is my morning knit now while I am listening to my morning devotions.  Makes for a lovely serene start to my day and sets the mood for the remainder of my day.

The big brown lap blanket is still only getting a few rows each week during adoration.  The first skein of yarn is nearing the end, finally!  I am contemplating using a contrasting color for the second skein, just to break up the dullness of it.  Might make me want to pick it up more often.

There were some other projects that got completed though.................

From left to right, Pixar lamp and ball, lucky bamboo, and orchid.  All Lego builds that were completed on Saturday.  The Pixar ball had been completed several days ago.  I finally decided to get the lamp done so I could clean up my crafting table.  Well, once that was done, I was hooked on Lego building.  So, I grabbed the 2 smallest builds I had in stock and got those completed too.  I am now down to 4 more unopened sets as well as Notre Dame that is begging to be completed.

Yesterday, we had a surprise 50th birthday party for Stacie.  There were several of her closest friends as well as family there to celebrate her 50th rotation around the sun.  Her actual birthday is this Friday.  Hubby and I are going to take her to Bingo and make sure she has an awesome time there too.

An item on my bucket list got marked off this week!

I went to the Barrett Jackson car show and auction!  I have wanted to do this for several years.  Jay and TIff got free tickets from our BMW dealer and invited me and hubby to go with them.  Hubby was unable to make it but really encouraged me to go.  I am so glad I did.  It was a horrendous amount of walking and I paid for it the next day but, oh so worth it.

 I fell in love with this 1951 Jaguar Roadster.  Hubby said no.  Darn it.  But it was so cool looking and I think I would have looked smashing driving it around town.

There were not just cars there either.  This grand piano was so stunning.  I played for YEARS but no longer as able to thanks to the RA in my hands.  I will say it was tempting to go over and embrace this item of beauty though.

 A purchase was made this week to help in my kitchen.

Say hello to my acacia wood noodle board and my magnetic stove top shelf!  I do not use my stove top other than to meal prep on it.  I have induction burners I use as well as an Oster french door oven.  This is so much easier to clean if I have a little spill during prep work.  The stove top shelf is holding all our oils and vinegars.  Yes, we do use all of them.  So many flavors that add to our meals.

And finally, a new adventure for me.  Well, actually for me and my son, Jay.  We decided we wanted to make our own vanilla extract.  We ordered bottles and beans from Amazon.  I was impressed with the quality of the beans we received.  Then, we needed to decide what alcohol we were going to use to make the extract.  After much research, I choose to make three different types to determine which I preferred.

From left to right; Titos Vodka, Buffalo Trace bourbon, Captain Morgan White rum.  All made with Madagascar bourbon vanilla beans. This is going to be a long term project.  They need to 'ferment' for 6 months to a year.  The vodka we can check out in 8 weeks to see if it is where we like it.  We can also top them off as we use them for the next year.  I am excited to see how they turn out.  Now, I just need to remember to shake them once a week to keep everything evened out inside.  Jay wants to try Ugandan beans too.  Once we see how these do, we will venture into more exotic beans.

That my friends is all for this week.  Load 2 of laundry is in the washer!  There are plenty of leftovers for dinner tonight so no need to cook.  Sounds like I will have time to work on one of my many projects today then.

If you were in the path of this weekends horrendous winter storm, I hope you are all safe and warm.  I know many of you live in the Midwest to east coast.  Prayers for you!

Here is your chuckle for the week.

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

WEEK 29

 

Hey there.  Another week has passed and I still do not have a finished yarn project to show.  I did finish this:

The Lego San Francisco skyline.  This was my 50th anniversary gift from our daughter.  She had asked what I wanted for our 50th and I told her a trip to San Francisco.  Since she could 't afford that she got me this instead.  I love it!  It was a fairly easy build.  Completed in one day.

As for yarn projects................it is the same 3.

The lap blanket is so slow going.  The marker was placed there 2 months ago!  I only work on this on Thursday nights during Adoration hour.  That gives it about 4 rows a week.  This is the reason I do not knit bigger projects.  Especially when I need to keep track of a patterned stitch.  I get bored way to easily with them.

Daughter's second sock has been started and the cuff is almost done.  This is my project for when my wrists hurt from crocheting on the Lego blanket.

And, here is the Lego blanket, tucked into a basket with the skeins on top.  I had to hide it this week as the intended receiver kept stopping over for little visits.  Otherwise, it is normally out, right beside my chair so I can easily pick it up and work on it.  I am on row 95 of 218 (not including the border).  I have been asked where the pattern can be found.  It is on Ravelry at this site.    It is not a free pattern but worth the price.  It is so well written and the color chart is all I needed to print out.

That is all for this week's update.  I spent quite a bit of my week transporting people around to appointments. 

Josie's car had to go to the shop so I was her chauffer for a couple of days.  

Our daughter had to have some oral surgery done so I chauffeured her to and from plus I had her at our house for a couple of days to recoup.  

I did my groceries online for pick up this week.  I did not have the gumption to go to the store and deal with everything.  

I spent a day with Stacie helping her declutter her craftroom.  I even brought her sewing machine to my house to see why she said it was broken.  Worked fine when I used it.  Maybe operator error?  

I renewed our passports online.  How nice that you can get your passport photo taken at the local CVS store.  And, it can be done digitally which makes it super easy to do your renewal online.  

So, it was another busy week for me and, of course, the crafting comes second to my family.

I am very excited...............tomorrow I am going to the Barrett Jackson car show with my son, his wife and their future son in law.  This has been on my bucket list for years.  My son, Jay, got free tickets from our car dealership for being a good customer!  The weather will be perfect with a high of 75F and partly cloudy.

Today, I will be kicking back and enjoying the day.  I have a pot roast in the crockpot.  There is another Lego build I started and would like to finish.  All my yarn projects would like to receive a bit of love.  There are NFL playoff games to watch too.  A perfect Sunday!

Let me leave you with a chuckle today.............

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

Just a Little Update

 

Hey guys.  I am still around.  Blogging has not been my #1 priority lately.  Life has been a bit crazy around here over the past 3 weeks.

Hubby caught the creeping crud and was pretty well down and out for 10 days.

  

I got a lovely sinus infection which is now cleared up. 

 

We had one of our kids end up in the hospital for 5 days

.

We finally got Christmas taken down last week and have gotten it all put away as of yesterday.

There was a day where hubby and I made tamales.

Knitting has been almost nonexistent on the second RCR sock

Crocheting is slow but steady on the lego blanket

The lapghan only gets about 4 rows a week while I am at adoration

I have read one book and am 50% through a second one

My house looks like a tornado hit it

I am working on deep cleaning individual rooms (again)  Craftroom is first.

Lego building is back

Diamond art is on pause

I am helping Stacie with her decluttering so she can sell her house and downsize

Hubby is teaching Bible class every week which requires many hours of prep so Sh-h-h-h-h

Other than all that, life is pretty routine and boring!

How are y'all doing?  I have been keeping up with everyone's blogs.  Just have not been commenting much.  Please forgive me for that.  I kept thinking, once 2026 began, things would become more settled.  Evidently, that is not going to happen for a little while yet.  We finally got some winter temperatures (for a week) and are now going back into the high 70's.  My outdoor plant's don't know whether to go dormant or to start blooming again.  It is about the time of year when I will be heading to my front porch to sit in my rocking chair and work on one of my yarn projects.  It needs to be around 80F for that to happen.  My front porch faces north and gets very little sunlight so it stays bit chilly until mid summer.

Hopefully I will be back to regular blogging in the next week or so.

Until Next Time..................happy crafting!!!!!!!!!