WEEK 36 YEAR 7

Happy Sunday to all of you. Hopefully, none of you are being caught in that horrible winter storm that attacked the Eastern part of the US.  Those of you on the Western coast, I am hoping your weather has improved since the middle of the week.  We are experiencing some lovely weather here.  A little rain, some breezes, a bit of clouds and plenty of sunshine.  Not too hot or cold.  Wish it would stay this way.

I have had a very productive week.  There are lots of photos too.  Let's get started!

First up.....................the progress I made on my shawl.

I completed section 4 this week and will be increasing this to 388 stitches on the next row.  Looking forward to getting this off the needles before the end of the month.  It is not a hard knit and can be done while watching TV.  The next section will just need me to keep track of what row pattern I am on, so not too hard to manage.

The socks didn't get as much love this week as you can see from the progress keeper.  I am nearing the start of the heels though.  I am comptemplating doing my next pair toe up two at a time.  Not 100% sure I want to do that though.  They just seem so fiddly that way.  I would like to try toe up on DPN's though.  I have not done that yet.  Hmmmmm, decisions, decisions, decisions.

I dusted off my sewing machine this week and decided to try my hand at making my own knitting project bags and accessories.

I found a pattern that had many tote bags on it.  I customized it so there are no top handles or outside pockets.  I also lined it (which it didn't call for).  Instead of a zipper I decided to do KAM snaps.  Your yarn can not get tangled in these type snaps as it can in a zipper or velcro.

I found an accessory to go with the bag on Pinterest.  (very dangerous place to visit)

 I found a tutorial and pattern on DPN keepers.  They were super easy to make with the remnants of the bag material.  These keepers are for 6-7 inch DPN's.  The tutorial also explained on how to do ones for longer needles.  My sock DPN's are 6 inches.  I love the shorter ones for socks and sleeves on children/baby sweaters.

This material was just hanging around in one of my sewing cabinet drawers.  It is nice to have a use for some of that material that has been here for several years.

That went so well, I figured I would make a tea bag holder for my dear friend in Las Vegas.  She is an avid decaf tea drinker and carries her tea bags in pockets or in a baggie.

Of course, I just happened to have some decaf tea to put into it for her enjoyment.  Again, this material was left over from another tea bag holder I made 2 years ago.  This was another Pinterest tutorial I found.

Look how small it gets when all folded up.  I think she will really like it as well as this:

She is also a huge fan of knitting.  She always has a pair of socks going on magic loop. This time I put a handle on it.  See the thing sticking out on the left......that is a wrist strap.  

Here is a close up of the saying on the bag.  (This material was not in my stash.  I went to JoAnn's and shopped their clearance section and found a lot of nice material for 70% off.)

She is the proud Grandma of twin boys and their little sister.  They are so cute and one of the boys is into yarn crafts!

I have never seen her carry a project bag.  She carries a large tote and has several projects in it and they get a bit tangled.  If she likes it, I will make more for her.  I love helping people get organized.  

I really enjoyed making the bags and needle holders. I have started making more of them.

This one is ready to go into my Christmas Gifting area.  

This is the lining being used at the moment.  Once this is gone, I will hit the clearance rack again for more neutral colored fabric for lining the bags.

I am going to make another one or two of the Grandmother bags.  I want to give one to my local Grand Daughter's other Grandma.  She has become such a good friend to me and we enjoy sitting and knitting together.  The other bag will either go to me or into the Christmas Gift box.

My Prayer Shawl Ministry group has a Christmas Party each year and we exchange gifts.  I think these bags will be perfect for this. (Hence the Christmas Gift Box.)  Some are crocheters and some are knitters.  Either way, these bags will be perfect to carry their shawls in.  I will continue to make them with wrist straps too.  Makes it easy to grab and go that way.

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

I DID IT!

I said I wanted to have all of my mom's affairs done before the 1st of March and I did it with 2 days to spare.  I got the Bio/Obit sent to the Pastor and got straightened out a mix up with the flowers on the 26th.  Phew.........I can sit back and relax now and get busy with some sewing crafting I have been putting off.

Yesterday was one super busy day.  But, it was probably one of the most exciting days for me.  While hubby cleaned bathrooms and the kitchen I was able to get sooooo many bitty chores done that have been eating at me for months.  We received crosses for Christmas and I finally got them hung up.  I did some mending, organized some areas of the living room, cleaned off some cluttered surfaces etc.......  It felt so good to get those things completed.

Yet, the big thing yesterday was....................................we finally got our security screen door on our front entry.  I have wanted one for MANY years.

I am so in love with it.  We have looked at them several times.  I just finally found a company I was comfortable with.

Look at what else happened yesterday.....

See that wet stuff?  We got quite a bit of rain last night.  I absolutely love it when it rains.  

Today I ran out and did a little shopping at JoAnn's.  I am going to do some sewing in the next 2 days and needed some supplies for it.  Afterwards, I went to Costco and picked up the rest of my new glasses.  I got three pair this year.  I got my 'normal' everyday glasses, work station glasses, and prescription  sunglasses.  I have never done the sunglasses before and am so glad I finally did them.  What a difference they make when driving.

Time to go into my sewing/craft room and have some creative fun.

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

WEEK 35

Good morning.  It is actually cold (cold for me) at our house.  The Arizona desert has finally gotten winter the past 2 weeks.  Right now it is 39 F.  Most of you will think, 'big deal".  But........it is all relative.  You see, we spend over half of our year between 95 and 115.  So to us, anything below 70 is a bit chilly and anything below 50 is COLD.  Our 'winters' only last for a couple of weeks and then we will be back the 80's in short order.  I will enjoy our winter as long as I can!

Needless to say, with the weather chilly like this, all I want to do is drink some hot tea or coffee and knit away.  I did get quite a bit of time to knit this week.  In fact, I made sure I got to knit each night while watching the Olympics.  (Curling has become a real favorite of mine now)

I made good progress on the "Midnight Sunset" shawl.

At the moment, it is 198 stitches across.  Once the pink/silver section is completed, it will be going to over 300 stitches.  That is when the rows don't get completed as fast.  But, the pattern at that point is really interesting and fun to do so I won't mind being there for a while.  

I am debating on whether to keep this shawl or to give it to the prayer shawl ministry.  It is not really in colors I would wear often.  I would hate for it to just hang around in my drawer and never receive any love.  My thought is....................give this one to charity and make another one, only do it in a solid color this time.  I would love to do this in either an oatmeal color or white.  It would be a perfect spring time wrap.

I also continued to work on the 'Car Socks' this week.

I made quite a bit of progress on these. (Can you see the progress keeper on the right sock?)  They went with me everywhere I went.  That is the joy of socks.  They fit in purses so nicely.  This is Diversity yarn in the colorway Pizzazz.  It is a non-wool yarn but wears like iron.  I made another pair out of this yarn and they are my favorites.  It is very stretchy yet holds it shape nicely AND machine washing and drying does not cause any pilling nor does it affect their wear or shape. It is not an expensive yarn either.  Jimmy Beans carries it for $8/skein which is 100 gr.  I will be able to make a nice 8 inch leg on this and still have plenty left for the foot after the Fish Lip Kiss Heel turn. 

I now have 2 sock yarns that are my favorites.  Diversity and Naked Sock.  I had another one but it has been discontinued.  Hopefully, neither of these will go away too soon.

I found another pattern for socks that is now in my library to make.  Tadpoles

I have a lovely wool that will be perfect for these.  Even though the pattern calls for sport weight yarn, it still uses the same number of stitches I use with my fingering weight.  So I will cast them on and see if they look too small.  If so, I will up my stitch count and do it again.  Of course, the wool socks will go to hubby.  He has no issue with wool.  (Lucky guy)

Today will be pretty busy for me.  My Daughter is having a "Tea Party" at her home.  I don't know how many of you have heard of "Steeped Tea".  It has lovely lines of teas and accessories.  I am looking forward to exploring some new flavors of herbal teas.   

As soon as I leave there, I head back to my side of town for a 'couples' baby shower.  My God Daughter is expecting her first baby in May.  It seems like yesterday she was having sleep overs at my house.  How those years fly by!

Menus for the next two weeks have been made.  The grocery list is completed.  Laundry is all done.  Dinner for tonight is in the crockpot.  Green Chili burritos!!!!  It is one of our all time favorites.  I don't make it too often as it makes a lot.  I figured, what we don't eat today will be for leftovers on Wednesday and then I will freeze the rest of it for later use. 

I am really trying hard to stay organized with our daily living.  My bullet journal is my best friend these days.  If I did not have my journal, there would be little scraps of paper all over with 'to do' lists on them.  LOL  

One thing that has finally been deleted from my daily 'to do' list is.......writing my mom's obituary/bio.  I had told myself I wanted that bio to be completed by the end of last week and I made it with one day to spare LOL.    I will send it to my brother for approval and once he says go for it, I will send it to the Pastor along with the Bible verses and songs she asked to be used at her memorial service.  

We have made our travel arrangements for the memorial service.  We found out AirBNB's are a much better deal than getting a hotel room somewhere.  We will be sharing with our son and his family which really cuts down on the cost.  It is cheaper than a hotel and we get an entire 3 bedroom house in the deal!  The only arrangement we have not completed yet, is the reservation for the return trip home.  Since we are only 6 hours from our son in Texas, we are going to go there or a few days before coming back home.  I have looked up places where we want to stay and am excited about what I have found.  Now I just need a date as to when we will be returning so I can book one of them.  So, when I said I wanted everything completed by the first of March, I was really serious about it.  I feel like a huge weight has been lifted now.

This is about all I can think of right now.  I need to go and shred the beef and chop the green chili up and throw it all back in the crockpot to simmer and let the flavors marinate until dinner time.

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

ALMOST DONE

First off, last nights dinner was really good.  At least I thought it was, hubby was not as impressed.  He said he would eat it again but not as a favorite.  

Today has been filled with nothing but phone calls.  I have made or had 12 phone calls in the past 8 hours.  The shortest being 15 minutes.  Most of it has been about either my mom's memorial or hubby's mom's 'stuff'.  This I can say.............I am almost done with all the arrangements for my mom's memorial.  My goal is to have everything set by March 1 so I can sit back and actually have time to breath and grieve as needed.

Here is one thing I accomplished today.

This is the flower arrangement I choose for mom's memorial.  We are replacing the carnations with roses per mom's request.  I think it will be stunning with her urn.

The butterflies were part of her signature.  Those and rabbits were the 2 things we all know she loved.

I have contacted the cemetery today and gotten the open/close arranged and paid for.   The last of her finances have been completed and  got a check sent off to my brother for his portion of the estate.  I am so glad to be getting these things done and out of the way.  All I have left is the obituary/biography to write up for the Pastor at her church.  I still have hopes of completing that yet this week.

Tomorrow night, hubby and I are meeting with our son to discuss renting and airbnb during our stay for the memorial.  We want to get that booked and paid for ASAP so that will be one more thing off our plate.  We will rent a house together and it ends up being cheaper than getting a hotel room.  I am all for that!

It is about time for me to go and make dinner.  Tonight's dinner is:

Chicken and broccoli noodle casserole from Skinnytaste.  Hubby chose this one.

Until next time........Happy Crafting!

Schedules, Food and Book and a Question

This how I feel today.  Since getting home Saturday night, hubby and I have had quite the 'to do' list going on.

Sunday - two loads of laundry done, grocery list made and groceries bought, cars filled with gas, a bit of shawl knitting while watching the Olympics, our dinner I cooked:

Chicken and mushrooms in white wine sauce by Skinnytaste, and a lovely fresh salad.

Monday - made 2 Dr appointments, cleaned my craft room, two more loads of laundry, got package with sock needles ready to mail to a friend who only has 1 size of needles (I have several sets of socks needles that I no longer use), filled out accident insurance papers from my mom's death, copied medical records for said insurance papers, Shawl knitting during the Olympics, our dinner that night:

Korean beef rice bowl by Skinnytaste.  Super yummy and very spicy.

Tuesday - went to post office to mail out packages, went to mortuary to pick up final items for my mom's funeral, Sam's club shopping, eye appointment for hubs and I, Costco shopping, dogs nail appointment, vacuum sealed meat, Sock knitting during the Olympics, dinner that night:

Time got away from me so we had some left over bacon and made ourselves some yummy BLTA (bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado).  Super yummy

Wednesday - Another trip to the post office to mail another package, Got nails done, went to bank to close mom's account, nutritionist appointment, will work on shawl tonight during the Olympics, our dinner tonight will be:

Slow cooker Moroccan Chicken & Olive Tagine by Skinnytaste.  A new recipe for us.  Hopefully it will be good.

The only thing I have left to do for my mom is to complete a biography of her and get it sent to the Pastor doing the memorial service.  I plan on completing that yet this week.

I did finish a book this week.

Another blogging buddy had read this and loved it.  I decided to try it.  It is not my 'normal' type of book I read.......I was not disappointed though.  I gave it a 4.5 out of 5 stars.  A big thank you to Stefanie from Crafts with Wool Paper Fabric blog.  Your recommendation was spot on.

You probably noticed I use a lot of Skinnytaste recipes.  I love her website and her foods are so natural and uses fresh ingredients most of the time.  In the 5 years I have been cooking her recipes, we have only found 2 recipes we will not repeat.  She also is great about giving all the nutrition facts of each recipe.  That sure helps me out since I need to watch certain facts for hubby's health.

Do any of you use an instant pot?  I have one and have seldom used it.  My goal in the next couple weeks is to learn more about it and actually use it.  If you have one ad have and recommendations for recipes, I would love it.

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