WEEK 38 of YOP 12

 Welcome!  So glad you stopped by today to give my little blog a read.  Monogamous knitting is still going on here at my Casa.

Another stripe is completed.  The little dark progress keeper is where I was last Sunday.  I am hoping this yellow stripe will be the last one needed.  If the lapghan is still not long enough, I do have another skein of the orange to add to it.  

Last night I found a boo-boo!

A dropped stitch!  It is in the row BELOW where I was last Sunday.  No way am I going to take out that much knitting for one little dropped stitch.  I will sew it in once I complete the entire blanket.

Friday was St Patrick's day but hubby and I decided to have our traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner on Saturday.  This worked out so much better for us.  Since I cook ours in the crockpot, it was ready and waiting for us when we got home from Mass!  I also made a loaf of Irish Soda Bread from a recipe I got from Maureen.  (AKA Knitting is so Fun blog).

It was so yummy!  Even though it is called Irish Soda Bread, it does not have any baking soda in it.  But, the flavor..............of my goodness.  I cut a lovely slice of it for breakfast today.  I toasted it and slathered it with real butter.  OH MY!  Best breakfast ever.

I cooked this in my bread bowl from King Arthur.

This was the first time I had ever used it even though I have had it for several months.  I used parchment paper in it so the dough would not stick to the pan.  Not to mention the pan stays clean and I did not need to use anything to 'grease' the pan.  Parchment paper is my best friend.  I use it all the time when cooking and baking.  The bread came out so lovely from this pan.  Now, I am making a list of other breads I will be making in this bowl.  I do not know why I waited so long to try out this bowl. 

This past week was pretty busy for me.  First off, we were down to one car.  We loaned our other car to Josie's family as they were down to one car and three drivers.  So, hubby and I planned out our week so neither of us needed to be somewhere at the same time.  It worked out perfectly!

Monday was a quick grocery store run.  A nice quite day otherwise.  

Tuesday we went to my cousins for 'taco in a bag' party.  I made caprese skewers to take for an appetizer.  While tasting food from what others brought, I discovered a new dessert that I knew I needed to make for our next family get together.  Churro Cheesecake Bars!  A light and yummy dessert.

Wednesday I spent the day with my daughter on her side of town.  (About 45 minutes from my house) It was a gray and rainy day here.  So spending the day with my daughter really brightened the day.   We went to, As You Wish, to paint pottery.  I painted two items.  Hopefully I will be able to show you what they are next weekend.  After painting we went out for a nice leisurely lunch at a lovely Mexican restaurant (Barrio Queen)

 

Thursday I got an early morning phone call asking me to take Jaxon to her post operative appointment.  Guess where the appointment was............Same place as where I was yesterday!  Her mom ended up going to the ER as she had gotten acetone in her eye!  She is fine and her eye is fine but it was scary.  After the Dr appt, Jaxon and I went to see her Grandma who is in a nursing facility.  After that we went to have a yummy BBQ lunch at a Texas BBQ place.  (Rudy's BBQ) She was thrilled as she was missing her Texas BBQ.

Friday I finally got a chance to catch up on my household chores.  Menus were made out, groceries were bought, ran to WalMart and Sam's club to grab a few supplies.  Managed to get a load of laundry completed before my energy finally ran out.

Saturday hubby and I did our early morning food bank pick up and delivery run.  Afterwards we picked up a breakfast burrito to share.  I was able to get the rest of our laundry completed and put away.  I hate not doing laundry throughout the week, but this past week did not allow for that to happen.  Hubby and I went to Mass in the evening while the corn beef and cabbage was simmering away in the crockpot.  (it was super yummy too) When we got home we got a phone call from our youngest son (the one who moved here from TX).  His wife's mom had just passed away!  I had just visited her on Thursday and she looked great.  I was in total shock.  So is the whole family.  Totally unexpected.

This past week was also a week of getting used to having only 1 dog.  It seems strange not to fix two meals each feeding time.  In the kitchen I am no longer having to look down to see where our deaf dog is so I don't trip over her or walk on her feet.  Enrique is adjusting slowly too.  We got rid of the automatic water bowl they both used and I bought a smaller one for him.  I also bought him a new food bowl.  This way only his smells will be on these things.  The only thing I have not gotten rid of is her bed.  He seems to get comfort from seeing it next to his. He is eating and drinking fine and is enjoying being next to us without having to fight for attention.

Here he is on the couch sitting between myself and hubby.  He has even started playing with his squeak toys again!  It just takes time.

This coming week looks to be a bit more quiet and normal.  I have baking planned as well as actually cooking meals this week.  Last week was a hit or miss in that department.  

That's all from me this week.  I have high hopes of finishing the lapghan this week.  How was your week?  

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

WEEK 37

 

Hi again!  I have made some progress on the lap blanket.  

Can you see the little progress keeper?  That is where I was last Sunday.  It is coming along.  After this orange stripe, I will add another yellow and then measure it.  There is the possibility I will add a third orange stripe if it is not long enough.  

The progress keeper in the above photo is new.  I just got it last week and was so happy to find it.  Here is a close up of it.

Isn't she cute?  This is Saint Rebecca the patroness of knitters!  Did any of you know knitters had a patron saint?  That Mr Google is just full of information like that LOL.

The lap blanket is the only project I am currently working on.  Although, I need to make another slipper for Jaxon.  She sent me this photo this week.

The yellow sock fits!  She said it is super comfy in her walking boot and really cushions her incisions.  So, I will probably cast that on in the next day or two.  Once the lap blanket and sock are done, I have decided to get back to making more gnomes.

I joined Imagine Landscapes Grimblewoods Collection Knitalong.  Although I am not actually knitting a long, I have purchased the patterns and will work on them at my leisure.  Hopefully they will help to use up some of those bits and bobs of fingering weight yarn I have hanging around.

GOOD NEWS!  I went to the ENT this week.  She did not need to put a tube in my ear as the fluid is leaving slowly but surely.  She figured it will be another 3 months for it to clear out all the way.  She also told me to go ahead and start back on my Enbrel as there was no more infection in my sinuses.  WOOHOO!  I went home and started my injections immediately!  The reason I had to discontinue my Enbrel is because it is an immunosuppressant.  If an infection starts Enbrel will make it harder for you body to fight it.  Most of the time it is not necessary to stop but because I had ruptured the eardrum and my sinuses were totally inflamed and impacted, I needed to quit so my body could fight.  

SAD NEWS!  We had to say goodbye to one of our the best friends ever.

Our sweet baby girl, Luna crossed the rainbow bridge early Friday morning.

She suffered an injury that would have required surgery.  Because of her health issues she had been suffering from for the past year, it was decided that the surgery was not going to be wise.  We knew the end was near for the past few months but I kept babying her so she could stay with us.  She had been with us for 12 years and was one of the best dogs we have had.  This decision is one of the hardest every.  This is the fourth time I have had to do it and it never gets easier.

So, now, Enrique is an only dog and will remain that way.  He has been showered with so much extra love the past few days.  All of our kids have come over to love on him and make sure mom and dad are handling the loss ok.  Enrique misses her and looks for her several times a day.  This morning is the first time he came out for breakfast and did not look to see if I was putting her bowl down for her.  It will take time for all of us to adjust.

And that, my friends, is all from me this week.

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

WEEK 36 OF YEAR 12

 

Happy Sunday.  We finally have sunshine here after a wild week of rain and snow.  Although I didn't personally get snow at my house, there was snowfall about 20 minutes away from me.  That is quite unusual for us desert rats.  But, we got quite a bit of rain in the past week.  Flowers are blooming and trees are budding.  Spring is in the air here.  I know, you didn't come here to hear about Arizona weather.  Here is what happened with my needles and yarn this past week.

I got a text from my Granddaughter, Jaxon.  She had foot surgery about 2 weeks ago and was getting ready to go into a walking boot.  She asked if I could make her a comfy sock to wear in the boot.  I asked what color and she asked for yellow or green.  I find yellow to be such a happy color, I decided to go with it.

This sock is super thick and cushy.  I used Sweet Delight chunky from Hobby Lobby.  Of course I made an RCR sock as they are so easy to do and everyone seems to love them.  I made it in 3 days and delivered it to her on Friday.  Unfortunately, her foot is still too sore to put it on so we do not know if it will fit or not.  I told her I would not make the other one until I knew this one fit ok.  

Other than the slipper, I just worked on the lap blanket.

I am still enjoying working on this.  A lovely mindless project.  The small progress keeper in the orange row is where I was last Sunday.  Hopefully I will be able to get the yellow section completed this week and move onto the next orange one.  I am using Brava worsted from Knit Picks.  They had a sale on this yarn last year and I bought several colors to use for the prayer shawl ministry. This is the only knitting project I have going.  

That covers my week.  How is your week going?  Got anything new happening?

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

WEEK 35 of YOP 12

 

Hey there!  It is that time again to update you on my weekly crafting progress. 

Here is my progress:

Finished the skein of yellow (canary) and started the orange on the lap blanket.  I am loving how squishy the garter rows are.  Seems I forget that little detail when this stitch is not used often.  The orange is almost done and then I will do yellow again and then orange etc.  Each skein nets me about 7 inches.  This means I will need to use 6 skeins total to make it the size I want.  Lucky for me I have 3 skeins of each color!

And that, my friends, is all for my crafting this week.  Pretty pathetic, huh!

There has been quite a bit going on here this week other than that.  If you don't want to read on, that is fine.  But, I need to put this out there so I can move on from this past week.

I had another ENT appointment on Tuesday,  The infection is gone but there is still fluid in my ear.  Good news is, I have gone from being deaf in that ear to being hard of hearing.  I have been given another two weeks.  If the fluid is still there after that, they are going to slice a small hole in my ear drum to drain it!  Well golly gee!  I just healed the hole in my ear and now they want to put another one in it?  Doesn't seem right to me.

On Wednesday, Josie invited us to attend Mass at her school for Ash Wednesday.  We were thrilled that she asked us to attend so of course we went.  Then we did a quick Costco run.  Trust me, there is nothing quick about going to a big box store!  But we did find some yummy spinach ravioli that I am anxious to make some evening.

Thursday I made out a weeks worth of menus as well as the grocery list.  Hubby cleaned the floors in the house.  There was also laundry to do as well as me cleaning all the household counter tops.  I love it when we finish and just sit back and look at our shiny clean home.

Friday we got some good news.  Hubby had gone to his urologist a week ago and they did a biopsy of his bladder.  This is the day we got the results.  Everything was negative.  PHEW!  Even though we waited an hour past his appointment time, it was worth the wait to get that news.  After that we did the last of our errands.  That evening we went to see Josie in her final High School Play.  She played Doris (the mom) in Bye Bye Birdie.  It was so good!  We laughed so hard.  Those kids did such a fantastic job.  One of the best they had done.

Saturday I finally got into the freezer and pulled everything out and rearranged it.  We have so much meat in there, we should be good for almost a year!  Since we vacuum seal everything, there was very little I needed to dispose of.  I did find a few things from 2017 stuck in the back that went into the trash bin.  Now that I know what we have, I can make better menu plans.

I have not touched my knitting needles for the past 3 days.  Hopefully today will see me getting more rows on the lap blanket done.  I do have just a couple of errands to run (picking up medicine for hubs and grabbing a few mushrooms for tonight's soup)  I am going to do that as soon as I post this. 

How was your week?

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

WEEK 34 OF YOP 12

 

Hello again.  Here is what happened this week.

The Rose City Roller bulky socks are completed.

These were a quick knit.  The yarn is Romantique from Hobby Lobby, in colorways Frosted Vanilla and Blush Pink.  I used a size 6 needle and knit them via magic loop.  If I had used DPNs I would have gone to a size 7 needle (US sizing).  I cast on 32 stitches and did a FLK heel.  The toe was decreased over 9 rows before doing the Kitchener stitch to close it.  I started the pink ones on the 10th and finished them on the 12th.  I cast on the grey pair immediately but it took me until the 17th to finish them.  (Stupid arthritis got in the way)

They were delivered to their recipients on the 17th and yesterday I received this photo:

The boy loves his!  Makes me happy to see they are being used.

After those were completed I knew I needed to work on something easy.  I also wanted to be able to us Portuguese style knitting 100% on what ever I choose.  My right wrist is super sore and swollen due to the fact I am not able to take my RA drugs until further notice!  Portuguese knitting (purling) is super easy on the hands and wrists and is pretty quick too.   I found the perfect pattern.  Purl Soho Super Easy Lap Blanket!  It is 100% garter stitch which means I can Portuguese purl the entire thing! The only modification I made to this is to only cast on 120 stitches.  Here is the start of it.

I will be using several different colors of yarn for this and it will go to the ministry at our church when completed.  It is the perfect no brainer knit and so nice on my joints.

I go back to the ENT this coming week.  Hopefully I will be given the green light to start back on my RA meds again.  I still am having hearing issues with the ear that was damaged.   After 21 days of antibiotics and 10 days of steroids, I do not think anything can still be 'growing' in there.  

Today will be my normal lazy Sunday.  I have a pork loin roast in the crock pot that will be shredded and turned into red chili.  There will be pinto beans cooked in the insta-pot to go with the chili.  Sour dough tortillas will be made this afternoon to go with the chili and beans.  There is still half a bowl of snickerdoodle dough left that will also be baked today.  Not a lot of heavy kitchen work other than making the tortillas.  Everything else is more or less easy peasy.

So, the above photo of my knitting is what I see when I look to my right.  When I look to my left I see this:

My little loves.

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

WEEK 33 OF YOP 12

 

Hey there.  How is it going at your place?  It was busy here this week, especially in my crafting.

Here is my FO for the week.

Hubby's RCR socks are done and in his drawer.  I had a lot of down time this week so spent it all on his socks.  The last sock was completed last night.  So nice to have them completed.

As I was working on them, last week, I kept wondering what I would work on next.  I did not have anything really in mind.  Nothing was calling my name to make.  Then I got a text from my TX DIL asking if I would make 2 pair of fuzzy socks for some of the kids in their home.  Really?  How exciting to have a project thrown at me like that.  I contacted my knitting kindred spirit in Las Vegas to ask her if she had done anything like this and what yarn would she suggest.  She gave me some thoughts which helped.

I was out and about yesterday so dropped into my local Hobby Lobby to look at yarn.  I knew I did not want to knit socks with fake fur type yarn.  Too hard to do a heel turn with that.  But I wanted it to be soft with a bit of a halo.  I also wanted it to be a bulky yarn to be knit with a smaller than normal needle for warmth.

Ta Da:

One person wanted pink and the other wanted black or red.  Well, there was not any red soft fuzzy type yarn and this was the only 'black' fuzzy I could find.

I think it is going to be fun once it is knit up into a short sock.  Oh, ya, they both want the short RCR type sock.

So I cast on last night for the pink sock.

Surprise.....I am doing it magic loop this time.  I am loosely doing this pattern.  I went down to a size 6 needle as I knit looser in magic loop than on DPNs.  These are going to be super quick to knit.  They are half the number of stitches I normally cast on and grow quickly.  These will go with me today when I go to our TX family house for Superbowl.

Once these are completed, I have no clue what I will work on.  I figure I have a week or two to figure it out though.  Any thoughts?  Prayer shawl?  Cross Stitch?  Dishcloth?  Scrubbies?

Also, it is that time of year here in Arizona where our daytime temps are perfect and night time is chilly.  Perfect for the wild flowers in the neighborhood yarns to flourish.

These always give me so much pleasure to see.  They only last for a few weeks.  Yet, those weeks tell me spring is in the air.

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

PS:  My ear is still hard of hearing.  I have a massive sinus infection on the right side of my head.  Will know more in a couple of weeks when I go back to the ENT.  On medications to try and get this cleared up at the moment.

WEEK 32

 

Greetings!  Here is a look into my past week.

The 'To The Point' prayer shawl is completed.

It took much longer than my normal time to complete this thanks to my 'cold'.  I kept falling asleep while working on it.  Then, when I woke up I would need to rip back a bit to fix my 'sleep' crochet mistakes.  It still needs it medal and tag sewn on for the church ministry.  I will do that after I complete a couple more shawls for them.  Then I just make an assembly line and do them all at the same time.

The only other project to be worked on were hubby's RCR socks.

The heel has been turned and I am a third of the way done with the foot.  I was mistaken, last week, when I said this was DK yarn.  It actually is fingering weight in superwash merino.  I finally found the info on the project I had made with this before it was completely frogged and turned into socks.  It is not a very soft merino though.  But that probably is for the best as it should wear well then.  I am not noticing much of a gauge difference between my 2.5mm and 2.25mm needles.  I was really hoping for a denser material but it looks almost exactly the same.  If that is the case, then that means, I have four sets of DPN's to knit socks on!  So I can do a pair for him and a pair for me at the same time.  WOOHOO!

I was pretty much down and out most of the week.  I finally felt like I was going to live Friday.  That worked out well because hubby came down with it that day!  He is feeling exactly the way I did.  I told him if his ear started to ache we were going to the Dr right away!

Speaking of ears.................Many of you said you had never heard of a cold affecting an ear.  Well, since it started in my head and moved to my chest, the infection was still in my head and sinuses.  But because I was coughing so much and so hard, I really didn't realize it was in both places.  So, the sinuses got inflamed and moved that lovely inflammation into my right ear and BAM!  There goes the rupturing of an ear drum.

I am still unable to hear out of that ear.  The drainage from the ear finally stopped yesterday.  My equilibrium is a bit off so I need to be careful and mindful when walking.  I have an appointment with an ENT on Tuesday this week.  Hopefully there will be some good news there.  Although, I have found one advantage to loosing hearing in one ear........If I sleep on my good ear I am unable to hear my hubby or dogs snore!  

Even with being under the weather, I still managed to do all the laundry chores, bake bread, cook nightly meals, get a haircut, make menus, make a grocery list and go to the grocery store as well as both big box stores.  Granted, all the out of the house activity was done Friday or Saturday.  I refused to go out and pass this on to others until I had no more symptoms.

I am so thankful for my knitting/crocheting projects.  They helped keep me from going stir crazy.  I was fortunate too that hubby made sure I had everything I needed/wanted while I was in the worse part of my illness.  So, now I am returning the favor to him.

Let me just brag a bit.  Our weather here is gorgeous!  We are in the low 70's with tons of sunshine.  It felt so good to be outdoors yesterday soaking up the lovely sun and gentle breeze.  Today should be more of the same.  I think this calls for me to wipe down my front porch rocking chairs and sit and knit or read outdoors for a while today while hubby naps. 

I will leave you with this........................................

 Enrique curled up in my lap last night.  This is not a normal occurrence.  He usually sits next to me, never really on me.  It was so cute.

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