WEEK 7 OF YOP 13

 

I'm back with some things for you to see and read.

First off, I have a FO (finished object)

Hubby's RCR (rose city roller) socks got completed Last Sunday evening.  And yes, he has already worn them.  

As for his second Car Sock:

I put a few rows on it.  Thirty more rows and I can put the heel in.  Probably won't be making another pair of long socks for a while.  They kind of seem to drag on forever.  Even in the winter here, we wear short socks 99% of the time.  Long socks are only worn when Mr wears pants to church.

Hubby's sister reminded me I had promised her, over a year ago, some socks.  Well then;

Let's get crackin' on doing those ASAP!  I have had this yarn in my stash for many years.  It is not a very soft yarn but will wear like iron.  She asked for short socks and since she lives in Colorado, I chose wool to help keep her toes a bit warm and dry during her cooler seasons.  I am not sure I will get to the part that has the multi-colors in it.  She has a small foot so may only get through the lighter blue segment.

The baby blanket is still in time out for a few more weeks.  I will need to get back to it though by the beginning of September.  The baby is due the first part of October.  I still want to make the baby sweater and hat too.  Guess I need to get those socks done and get busy on baby stuff.

I did work on my cross stitch again this week.  

Hopefully you can see the gold metallic accents on the white portion.  I did that as well as putting on the beads.  I know the beads do not make sense to you right now, but they will once I get to stitching down further on the pattern.

I managed to put in just about two hours total on this piece.  It is time consuming with all the color changes that happens all the time.

This weeks view:

Versus last weeks view:

Let me just tell you, white on white is tough.  There is a lot more of it to be done.  Luckily, with the way I have planned the progress out, it will be done in bits and pieces so as not to make me loony!

That covers all the crafting done for this week.  Hubby and I will be thankful when this coming week is over and done with.  This is the week we get our new roof put on!

Yesterday morning we were greeted at 6am by the gentleman with the roll-away trash bin.  We had to move our cars to the street so he could put the monster in our driveway.  This is where all the old roofing materials will be going on Monday.  Tuesday, the new felt and tiles will be laid and nailed down.  Wednesday, the solar panels will be replaced on the roof.  Hopefully we will not need to do this again in our lifetime.  It is kind of stressful trying to get everything coordinated plus working with an insurance company for payment...........well, it has been very hard especially on hubby since he has done most of the work.

After this, we will be getting our kitchen faucet replaced.  The old one has kind of worn out and all we get from the tap is hot water.  Luckily, we have a faucet that has a lifetime warranty so the replacement was FREE!  I was disappointed to see the faucet only lasted 8 years.  Not a great record.  The last one was over 20 years old!

I took my wedding rings into a jeweler this week.  I wanted them separated.  My left hand has severe arthritic changes in it and with the rings, when attached, were very wide and were rubbing and causing severe pain in-between my ring finger and pinky finger.  They were also way too big thanks to another jeweler who though he should oversize them incase my fingers swelled up with my RA.  He had them at a size 9 and I wear a 7.5!  They hardly ever stayed on without a ring guard infront of them.  I fought with those rings for over 3 years!  So, I looked for a jeweler in my area that was a privately owned place.  I believe in supporting local mom & pop type businesses when possible.  The jeweler I found is about 4 miles from my house.  When I walked in I immediately felt welcomed and comfortable.  The jeweler is about 3 years younger than my youngest child.  He also went to the same high school and took the same silver smith class my youngest did!  What a coincidence.  His prices are very good plus he custom designs jewelry.  I went in on Friday to pick up the pieces.  I was impressed as he had managed to etch my wedding band to match the etching that was already on it.  My diamond band was all polished and clean and VERY shiny.  Unfortunately, he made the wedding band a 7 instead of a 7.5.  I could get it on but it was a bit snugger than I thought was a good idea.  Because, my hands do swell at times and I like to be able to get my rings off if I see/feel that happening.  Hopefully, I will be getting the wedding band back sometime this week yet.

It took me 5 tries to get a photo without the light causing the stones to 'burn out'.  I am very happy to be able to wear my wedding jewelry again.  

I will leave you with a photo of what our life is like in the evenings while watching TV.

This is the dog who would not let my husband near him for almost a month after we adopted him!  Now they are best buds.

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

WEEK 6

 

Hello again.  I have lots to talk about today so let me get right to it.

I was so hoping to finish the RCR sock this week and got fairly close.

If all goes well this week, it should get completed.  I need to make another pair ASAP too.  A reminder was given to me this week that I had promised a pair to my SIL over a year ago.  OOPS!  Luckily, she has very small feet so they should go quickly.

The 'Car Sock' is moving along.................slowly.

The progress keeper tells me I added many rows to this.  My mind tells me there are many, many more rows to go even before the heel.  Now I know why I dread making hubby long socks.

I do have one finish though

The requested item to hang in Josie's car.  I actually made the strawberries twice.  The first ones were a much darker pink.  After re-looking at the photo she gave me, I decided to go ahead and remake them in the paler pink color.  For reference, here is the photo I had to go on.

Pretty darn close, right?  They were a fun and quick crochet project.  I made them in DK weight yarn even though the pattern called for worsted.  I am glad I did as they are plenty big for that mini cooper she has.  This was the first time I had ever done an i-cord in crochet too.  After 50 years, I am still learning new things in that art form!

Do any of you remember this cross stitch?

This has been one of those languishing WIP's.  It has been on my list since 2020.  The last time I posted about it, I had barely done anything on it.  Well, I pulled it out this week and decided I need to try and work on it at least 30 minutes each week.

It is very slow going though.  There are 30 colors in the item and because of copious amounts of shading it takes quite a bit of patience and a lot of color changes.  Just in the small section I have completed, there are 18 different colors used.  It will be gorgeous when completed.  I still need to add some of the accent items to this section before I move on to the next section.  (French knots, beads and gold metallic stars)  

Now, for the story behind the above cross stitch.  Back in early 2000's I was asked to make a shawl for one of my daughter's friends and in exchange she would do a cross stitch for me.  At the time I was unable to work on cross stitch because of some severe hand issues.  I jumped at the chance as I had already purchased a cross stitch kit and was sad because I was not able to work on it.  I made the shawl for her and she decided she could/would not do the cross stitch for me so she sent it to my daughter to work on.

I love my daughter but she has ADHD and can not stay focused on a project for any great amount of time.  She did work on it for a bit and then put it away until she felt she could give it more attention.  Well........................guess what.  During that time, she got married, moved and put lots of her things in boxes until she and her hubby could take the time to go through them.  

About 5 years ago, I asked about the cross stitch kit as now I was able to once again work on cross stitch without difficulty.  She told me she would find it and get it to me.  I realized it was probably buried deep within the recesses of her home and it might never be found again.  So, I purchased the above kit to make instead.  All I could remember about the 'lost' kit was Mary was wearing red and held the baby Jesus.  (hence the reason the above kits was purchased)

This past Thursday I got a phone call from my daughter to inform me she had found the cross stitch kit!  I was ecstatic and asked her to get it to me as soon as she could so I could work on it.  Here is a photo of the item I have been waiting for.

This is titled "Madonna and Child" and is a painting by Marianne Stokes.  All I could remember about it was, Mary was wearing red which is so unusual.  Mostly you see her either in all white or in blue and white.  

There has been a little bit done on the piece.

It shouldn't be to hard to figure out where it is at on the pattern.  (I hope)  I have been talking about doing a full coverage cross stitch and this will be my chance.  I may decide to go buy new aida cloth and start the whole thing over.  Depends on if the DMC colors are given on the color sheet or not.  I did look to see if this kit was still available only to discover it has been discontinued. I was able to find 1 kit but it was $213!  For that price it should be completed, framed and hung on my wall!  I think I only paid about $35 for the kit.

Since these are both going to be long process WIP's, I will only update them periodically so as not to bore you.

The only other thing I did this week, which I have not done in a while, is make an actual loaf of sourdough bread.

I found a recipe on King Arthur's website for 'Easy Everyday Sourdough Bread' and thought I would give it a try.  I have not had the best of luck with making actual bread so was quite pleased when this turned out so well.  It was VERY easy to make and I will be doing it again when this loaf is gone.  It also has a very strong sourdough flavor to it, which makes me even happier.  It is a mixture of white and pumpernickel flour.  Next time I am going to do all white to see if it will be a bit less dense.

Today, I am going to go to "As You Wish" self painting pottery place.  This is what Josie wanted to do for her 'friend' birthday party.  She had one spot left and wanted to know if I would go with them.  Well, of course I will!  Her friends are so much fun to be around and I love to paint pottery.  I feel honored to still be included in her 'fun' activities.

That's it for today.

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

YOP WEEK 5

 

Another Sunday, another day to update you on all the happenings going on at Casa de Noce.

I completed a couple of things this week.

Yup, both of the socks I had on the needles managed to get completed this week.  I was not sure I was going to like the contrast color on the RCR but once completed it kind of grew on me.  The car sock took forever because of the length of the leg.  But hubby is happy that I made it long enough for him.  BTW, I was asked what a car sock is...........here is the hyperlink to the pattern titled CAR SOCKS.  It is the first sock pattern I ever did and have loved it ever since.  I have since changed the heel up to do the FLK heel.  However, if I ever do a heel flap, the one in this pattern is the only one I will ever do.  Super cushy and wears wonderfully.

So as not to have SSS (second sock syndrome):

I cast on both socks right away.  Needless to say the RCR will be finished first.

Those will be on hold for a couple of days, though.  I have been commissioned to make something for a very special person.

I have found a pattern for this (thanks ravelry) and have the yarn picked out:

I know the pink is much brighter than in the photo but I think it will stand out better than the paler one.  Plus, I didn't have the pale pink LOL.

Why am I doing this?  Because this happened.

Yup, Josie has her very first car.  It is a gift for her..............hang on to your seats for this..........18th birthday which is August 1!  This is a used mini cooper and she is in love with it.  She got the surprise yesterday morning when she got up to help her Dad with some chores.  Guess I better get busy and get those strawberries completed so she can hang them from her mirror.  This also means she won't be borrowing my car anymore!  Wonder if I can borrow hers LOL.

In other news...........We had a heck of wind/dust/rain/hail/thunder/ lightning storm on Wednesday night.  It tore off roof tiles and wrinkle other roof tiles.  Good thing we are getting a new roof in 2 weeks!  More storms are predicted over the next 3 days.  We do need the rain but would rather not have the damaging winds.  So now we have hot and humid weather here.  It has been 30 days of temps over 110F.  Arizona is not a place for sissies to live.  I feel sorry for people in the mountains who do not have A/C as their temps have been in the 90s and that is really hot for them.  Our night time temps finally went below 90 a couple of days ago.  Liz, I am looking at Scotland for my summer home LOL.

That is all for today.  I hope your all doing well.

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

WEEK 4 OF YOP 13

 

Hello from one of the hottest places on earth,  So far we have had 24 days of over 110F temps.  This is a record we are NOT proud of breaking.  It is even too hot to go swimming unless the sun has gone down.  So, I stay inside and knit.

I did finish the RCR socks.

I am impressed as I did not try and make them matchy matchy.  I wanted to make sure the neck of the socks matched and that was all.  I am shocked they match this well.  I had only had them off the needles for about 30 minutes and then I see this.

 He is so knit worthy!

I had some empty needles so just had to cast on another RCR sock.

The heel is some leftover yarn from another pair of RCR socks.  Just wanted to see what happens when two speckled yarns are mixed together.  It's interesting.  Good thing it won't show LOL.

I also worked on the car Socks.  I am trying to do 10 rows a day on them.

 

I fell a little short of that goal as you can see from the progress keeper.  If I do 10 rows a day this week, this sock will be done and I will be able to cast on sock #2.

Since it is below 100F outside, (it's 94F) I am going to head out and get our groceries for the next week.

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

BETTER CHOICE

 

Do you see that?  Not even 2pm and already 115F!  Downtown Phoenix has hit 117F.  We are about 20 miles from there.  

Today, I made a better choice of activities.  I have tortillas left from yesterday so no need to make more for tonight's dinner.  There are also leftover Pinto Beans so the only thing I need to do for dinner is throw the boneless country ribs in the instant pot and cook them up.  The only 'strenuous' thing I did was a load of towels.  Otherwise here is what is going on at our house.

Watching Stargate SG-1..............again.  It has been a while since binging the series.  Besides, who doesn't like a little Richard Dean Anderson action adventure.

Time to work on socks again.  *sigh*  Will they ever get done?  Maybe.

Until next time.................happy crafting!

Great Day

 

Finally!  We got our first dust storm last night and it was a doozy.  It started around 6:30P and lasted until after 8:30P.  Yes, the above photo was taken by one of our news channels.  Now, if it would come with some rain behind it I would be ecstatic.

Today was laundry day.  I got 2 loads done and will finish up tomorrow.  It is just too warm out to do to much.  I did go out and brush down the pool steps this morning.  Our A/C drain pipe was also displaced from the high winds last night so fixed that too.  I thought about jumping in the pool but the weather is so humid and hot it is not even refreshing at this time of year.

So, what did I do?

Well, I made flour tortillas, of course.  Can you see the temp on my Alexa?  It is 113F at 5:30P!  We are now at 19 days in a row of over 110F.  It is a record.  One, none of us really wanted to break.  The tortillas are going with the carne asada and seasoned pinto beans (all from scratch).  I do like to cook and am lucky that hubby does the clean up after we eat. BTW, the tortillas are made with sourdough starter and are so yummy.

Time to finish up the kitchen.  (Hubby puts everything away but does not load the dishwasher)  Then I can kick back and do some knitting while watching baseball.

Unitl next time..............happy crafting!

WHY NOT?

 

Do you see the temperature on the above photo?  Yup, 108F and that was after the high of the day.  So what do you do when it is this brutally hot?

Why not bake cookies!  Molasses cookies to be exact.  I am very thankful I have this lovely contraption.

It bakes perfectly.  It is also an air fryer and broiler.  I have not turned on my oven in over 2 years.  This counter top oven does not heat up the kitchen like the oven does and it cools off quickly too.  LOVE IT!

I also got some sad news this past week.

Signature Needles Art is going out of business.  They are the only needles I have used in over 2 years.  They are made in Wisconsin and have the best points of any needles I have used.  I ordered another set of DPNs in the 2 sizes I use for socks.  I have a habit of loosing a needle now and then.  There are many items in their store on sale (not needles).  If you are in need of yarn or accessories, give them a look.  All sales are final and once items are gone there will be no more stock.  Here is the link Signature Needle Arts.

Oh, hubby got the faucet parts ordered today while I did our errand runs.  Man, it is hot out there.  118F when I sat down to type this up.  Time to kick back and work on some socks.

Until next time.............happy crafting!