Happy Sunday from sunny Texas.
Hubby and I left home last Tuesday and began our 17 hour trip to see our grandsons. We arrived safe and sound Wednesday afternoon. We did encounter some blinding rain during our journey, though. Thankfully, we did not get caught in any of the flooding that occurred.
As for fibery updates.......I was so thrilled with the scenery we met while driving, I didn't pick up my needles until a few days ago. I have been working exclusively on the sock. It is the easiest to put away when we decide to do an activity with the boys.
Once i return home, there will be pictures to share of our trip as well as my progress.
Until next week......happy crafting.
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Sunday, July 5, 2015
YoP Year 5 and going strong again.
I missed blogging my wrap up last week. I don't know where the time goes. This retirement thing is so busy. It doesn't help, either, that hubby and I are getting ready to take another road trip this week. We are heading to Texas to visit our Grandsons. We haven't seen them for 2 years! Last year, my mom was so sick and we thought we were going to loose her......................so we stayed home just in case. Needless to say, she is doing quite well now. The wonders of modern medicine is fantastic.
But I will give a quick wrap up of last years list.
Sweater for me
This didn't get completed and infact, I am going to frog what I have done so far, as I have found a pattern I love much better than what I was trying to do.
WIP's to complete
Log Cabin Blanket
Once again, the poor Log Cabin is still lingering in the WIP pile. I really like working on it but...I just seem to get sidetracked with all the other really fun things to make
Things to increase my skills
JOIN A CAL OR KAL
This was a total fail for me
Personal Goal
Use only the yarn from my stash for all the above projects.
I did not purchase any yarn for over a year. This was one of the hardest things for me to do this year. BUT......I did not use anything other than stash yarn for all projects last year.
Take photos of ALL items when done.
I only missed taking a photo of one item this year. Not too bad
COMPLETED ITEMS
Lapghan for my mom
2-3 Doll Clothes
1 fingerless mitt
Be Loving
8 Slippers
12 dishcloths
5 RUFFLED SCARVES
3 PAIR OF BOOT CUFFS FOR DIL
NEW PRAYER SHAWL FOR MOM
1 test knits/crochet
4.5 PAIRS OF SOCKS
Now, to think about this years list. I have been racking my brain as to what I want to put on the list this year. I already have a few things on my needles that I want to do (actually, I have to do them for presents) I guess I can start with that.
2015-2016 YoP list
Socks
Once again I can not tell you how many I will do. But these are my favorite items to do during the hot summer months here in the desert. I do know that I need to have 2 pair completed before Christmas as they are gifts. I already have 1/2 of one pair done and have started on the other pair this week, just to get them on the needles for the road trip.
Shawls
Diving In (this is already cast on, also for the road trip)
SWEATER
After I frog the sweater I started, this is what it is going to turn into. It even asks for the fiber that I already have in my stash. But I will be making this longer, as at my age, no one wants to see my tummy.
Sewing items
Another gift for Christmas this year
Crochet
I have had a request for at least 2 of these for Christmas. Now that I am not on yarn restriction, I can purchase the fiber for this and get going on them.
Wood Work
Staining and decorating treasure box for Wedding in October
This is a pretty short list this year and I will tell you why...............every year I make a HUGE list and then about January, I realize, there is no way I am going to complete everything. I would actually like to complete a list just one year. I have also included non-fiber items, as I am not just a knitter/crocheter. I enjoy all crafts and look forward to learning new ones all the time. Although my first love is fiber arts and that is what you will see me traveling with everywhere I go. (kind of hard to travel with a sewing machine LOL)
Also, I am joining the prayer shawl group at my church this year. So there will be many more shawls made there to be given to those that need them. Of course, when I complete those items, I will add them to my YoP list.
Here are some of the photos of the things completed in YoP4. I sure wish I knew how to make a slide show instead of having to put the photos on individually. If any of you use BlogSpot and know how to do that, please feel free to email the instructions at menoce at cox dot net. I would greatly appreciate it.
Until next week.....................Happy Crafting!
Until next week.....................Happy Crafting!
Sunday, June 21, 2015
YoP week 51
It seems like I have been away from my blog for longer than 2 weeks. Life has been so crazy busy that I could have sworn it had been a month since I last posted. I knew this would be the last week of regular posting for year 4, so I truly wanted to make sure I got to post today.
I loved my trip to Seattle area. The weather was so nice (for me). Never got above 83 and the nights were so nice and cool. I had to wear a sweater almost the whole time I was up there. My DIL's father is doing much better. He has had 4 surgeries and hopefully the last one will be to take all the hardware out of his foot and leg. He came home the 15th of this month and is pretty much confined to one room of the house. My Grand Daughter is taking good care of him and making sure he follows Doctor's orders. Being 9 years old, she is quite bossy too.
I have to admit, that while in Seattle (Burien actually), I had to find a LYS. Thank goodness for Google and smart phones. I found one in downtown Burien called Town Square Fabric and Yarn and my DIL was gracious enough to take me to it. I know I said I was not going to buy any yarn until the end or year 4. But remember, I had not purchased any yarn since April of last year! I also have a thing, that, when I travel, I always bring home some yarn from the place I am at. Kind of like having a charm bracelet only in yarn.
So here is what I bought while away from home:
Some lovely Saucon Sock yarn. The best part, it was on sale at the shop I went too. It was a lovely little shop with both yarn and fabric. The ladies in there could not have been nicer too. And if you love Cascade yarn.....................you need to go to the Seattle area. Since that is where the plant is where they make it. I about fainted when I saw that 90% of their shop was Cascade. They even had some in there I had never heard of and I am BIG fan of that brand.
As promised, I did start my snoqualmie socks while in Seattle. We were going to take a trip to the falls there, but time was not on our side. DIL's father had 2 surgeries while I was there and I was only there 4.5 days! So knitting was my best friend. Here is how the new socks look as of today.
The color is really a lovely sea blue. I am not taking photos outside right now as it is already well over 100 degrees and it is not even noon yet. (that's over 37C for all my non USA friends) So trying to capture color indoors is not always great. Anyway, I love working on these sock and they will be a gift for someone this Christmas.
And the other socks I was working on when I left?
They finally are completed. I actually finished this on Thursday of this week. These are also a gift for Christmas.
Remember, we are doing an all handmade Christmas this year. So I am getting a head start on some of my gifts so I am not up until the wee hours of Christmas Day trying to bust a move to get everything done.
So what else am I planning on????
So, another gift I am going to make for Christmas this year is this tea bag holder. Here is the material for it.
Speaking of fat quarters......................
Here is a project that has to be done by Halloween. It has nothing to do with fiber but it is a craft that I am excited to do.
Do you know how hard it is to take a photo of your arm? Well, I tried. See the pretty bracelet with the purple stone in it? This was my retirement present from the owner of my company. It is a Tiffany bracelet! Yup, that's right..............Tiffany. I even have the robins egg blue box to prove it. It is called Amethyst with Olive branch. I love it. Purple is my favorite color and the Olive Branch has a lot of meaning for me and my faith. I was totally blown away when I received it. How very thoughtful and nice of him to do this for me.
Retirement is a very busy thing to do. I have not had a real day off since I retired. There is something I need to get done everyday. I am not complaining, just wondering when it slows down a bit. I was warned by all that had retired before me that, there is no way you will be sitting at home all day crafting. DARN................they were right!
Today is Father's day here in the USA. We will be having our family, that is in town, coming over for swimming and food. Hubby is going to watch the final round of the US open while the rest of us leave him alone and spend time soaking up the sunshine (and heat).
My son leaves tomorrow for Seattle and will be bringing home our Grand Daughter next Saturday. She is excited to be coming home as I have tickets to our Elevate Music Festival for Sunday. One of the Doctors I worked for has a suite there and I was able to get 4 tickets. So my BFF, her hubby, my Grand and myself will all be heading up to the mountains next Sunday for some lovely Christian music. You can read about it here. This will be her first concert and what better than to let her rock out to Christian music.
I am working on my YoP 5 list at the moment and have so many things I want to make.....I just don't know how much of them I will be able to finish in a years time. I may not get the list up next Sunday, but it will be up before the end of next week. I also may put items on the list that are not knitting/crochet related. I have some sewing I need to do in the coming year as well as some beading. So those things will probably be on the list too.
Here is how my list looks as of today:
YoP 4 List
New items to do
Sweater for me
Started 12/21/14
DIDN'T TOUCH IT
WIP's to complete
Log Cabin Blanket
(This has been in my WIP pile for about 3 years now. It needs to leave it)
DIDN'T TOUCH IT
Yearly projects I do anyway
Socks
( I love doing them and can not say how many pairs I will complete but need to do some)
STARTED A NEW PAIR
6/9/15
Things to increase my skills
JOIN A CAL OR KAL
STARTED 1/8/15 TO BE COMPLETED BY DECEMBER 2015
3 SQUARES DONE 6/21/15
I HAVE TOTALLY FALLEN BEHIND ON THIS
Personal Goal
Use only the yarn from my stash for all the above projects.
( I am truly going to try NOT to purchase any more yarn this year. I have already gone 4 months without buying any yarn and I figure I can continue that trend for at least another 12 months.)
NO YARN BOUGHT AS OF 06/10/15
It is fair to say that I have not started any new projects with the recently acquired yarn purchases though.
Take photos of ALL items when done.
(I have a habit of gifting items and never photographing them for my blog)
YUP, SO FAR AS OF 06/21/15
OOPS, DIDN'T TAKE PHOTOS OF THE SCARVES I MADE AND SOLD 12-19-14
COMPLETED ITEMS
Sunday, June 7, 2015
YoP Week ???
Once again, I have fallen behind in my blogging. Life has a way of doing that to a person, especially this time of year.
I have no new pictures for you today. But I am working on another pair of socks. I have one completed and am about 3/4 done with the next one. Once they are both completed, I will take a photo and post it on here. I have been faithful to these socks only these past few weeks.
So you want to know why I have been so absent from here?
Thanks for asking!
Last time we talked, was around Mother's day. Since then I have retired, had a birthday, had to plan an emergency trip to Seattle (yes Kim, I am coming up there for a VERY short visit), and am knee deep in trying to get all my financials taken care of before our trip to Texas next month.
Retirement.........................HA! There is no such thing. I have been retired for one week and have been working so hard on the house with my hubby, I wish I was still in an office job. We totally tore apart our 'Arizona" room. It was the room that everything got shoved into when we had no clue where to put it. We have been doing that since 1988. So you now have an idea of what that must have been like. It took us 5 days, but we finished it today. It looks wonderful. It is a HUGE room. About 20 ft by 40 ft. It sure did hold a lot of crap. LOL Not anymore. We have filled our garbage bin twice and our recycling bin twice. Yup, it is a very clean room now. Our dogs love it too. They now go out there and chase each other.
Birthday..................It was pretty quiet................well almost. We actually were celebrating it a day early when my DIL got a phone call from her sister informing her, dad had fallen off the roof and was at the trauma center and she needed to get up there now. Remember, this is pool season in Arizona, so DIL was at my house in her swim suit (pair of men's basketball shorts and a tank top) and flip flops. She could only find one more flight out for the day that would get her to Seattle. So, off she went to the airport with the clothes on her back and that was it. Lucky for her, she and her sister wear the same size. I am taking clothes up with me tomorrow when I go to deliver our Granddaughter to the other Grandparents. DIL's dad is pretty messed up. Broken bones in his foot, ankle, heel, leg and face. He is having surgery #2 on Tuesday this week. Hopefully he will be able to get home in a few days until his next surgery and he will have to have another and probably 2-3 more surgeries before everything is fixed as best as it can be.
So, I am going to Seattle tomorrow until Friday, when I will leave there (with my DIL) and fly into Las Vegas, where my hubby and son will be picking us up from the airport. It is all very confusing and this is why I do not have sock #2 done yet. I have been so busy cleaning, packing, helping etc......The knitting has taken a back seat.
BUT....................I am taking knitting with me to Seattle. Grammie (the other grandma) is a knitter and we love to sit around at night and stitch and bitch. Keeps us sane. I have also taken extra sock yarn with me. I am hoping to finish the second sock either tomorrow or the next day and then I am going to start on snoqualmie socks. I thought, if I was in the Seattle area, then what would be more appropriate than to make a pair of socks that say WASHINGTON all over them.
So here is my list for this year..................I don't know if I will be able to blog again before the last week.
YoP 4 List
New items to do
Sweater for me
Started 12/21/14
DIDN'T TOUCH IT
WIP's to complete
Log Cabin Blanket
(This has been in my WIP pile for about 3 years now. It needs to leave it)
DIDN'T TOUCH IT
Yearly projects I do anyway
Socks
( I love doing them and can not say how many pairs I will complete but need to do some)
STARTED A NEW PAIR
5/3/15
Things to increase my skills
JOIN A CAL OR KAL
STARTED 1/8/15 TO BE COMPLETED BY DECEMBER 2015
3 SQUARES DONE 6/07/15
I HAVE TOTALLY FALLEN BEHIND ON THIS
Personal Goal
Use only the yarn from my stash for all the above projects.
( I am truly going to try NOT to purchase any more yarn this year. I have already gone 4 months without buying any yarn and I figure I can continue that trend for at least another 12 months.)
NO YARN BOUGHT AS OF 06/07/15
Take photos of ALL items when done.
(I have a habit of gifting items and never photographing them for my blog)
YUP, SO FAR AS OF 06/07/15
OOPS, DIDN'T TAKE PHOTOS OF THE SCARVES I MADE AND SOLD 12-19-14
COMPLETED ITEMS
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