Whale of a Week!

It's been a whale of a week!  It started off with a trip to my LYS to see if they could figure out what was wrong with my whale sweater.  Why was I missing 120 stitches on my 'perfectly knit' whale sweater.

Well, apparently I had some kind of mental breakdown and simply X'd out two whole increase row paragraphs of the pattern.  Why would I do that? Why?  Good grief!  But those two paragraphs make up the missing stitches exactly.  

The next day was Helene and thankfully we just got a nice rainy day here.  The wind didn't even barely blow so of course I spent the day sitting on the covered deck knitting another glow in the dark hat.  I realize this one looks just like the first one, but this time I'm using self striping yarn for the background color.  I was worried the white wouldn't stand out or the design would be way too busy but I love the result.

Thankfully our roads weren't flooding or blocked with downed trees and the mail lady was able to bring me my new Hocus Pocus project bag from Twisted Yarn & Fiber.  Wanda, who runs Twisted Yarn & Fiber is local and I have several of her bags.  I love them all but this one is my favorite because, well, Hocus Pocus!

The next day, the mail lady brought me my LindeHobby order.  Have you heard of LindeHobby?  I hadn't until a few days prior to receiving my order.  I was watching random Youtube videos at 3 a.m. while I 'finished one last row' before bed and some lady was talking about how great the site was.  Cheap yarn, fast shipping even though the company is in Denmark and she was in the US....  So of course I had to check them out and of course, I loaded up my cart with stuff and placed my order. 

So yeah, in four or five days, my order of six skeins of yarn plus the 15 sizes set of dpns arrived.  I was, and still am, amazed!  First of all, the set of 15 sizes of dpns cost about what one set costs at Knit Picks.  Not that I'm bashing Knit Picks.  I love Knit Picks but....  And then the yarn.... Two of the skeins were under $10, or maybe they were $12 - I can't remember now, but they are normally $22 - $26 here in the US, or at least at my LYS's.  The other 4 skeins, I wasn't familiar with so I have no idea about their savings.  And then the shipping - they shipped the six skeins plus the needles from Denmark to the US for $4.98.  Again, less than Knit Pick's shipping rates.  And the package arrived quicker than Knit Picks packages do.  Plus, my order was in a super cute package.  I wish I'd taken a photo before I tossed the packaging.  I also wish I'd photo'd the yarn before putting it all into the stash pile.  Oh well.  

The point is, if you're looking for a bargain, check out LindeHobby.  They have all kinds of artsy stuff besides yarn too.

Moving on....

So they announced the east coast ports were shutting down due to the strike and less than three hours later...

I was at work and expecting a nice quiet Tuesday.  Tuesdays are always slow and the poison ivy on my foot was driving me crazy and I was not in the proper headspace for Tuesday night's craziness.  The toilet paper hoarders attacked.  Everyone was buying huge carts full of nothing but toilet paper, paper towels and cans of Chef Boyardee products.  It was insane!

And then I came home, took my shoes off, and promptly caught my non-poison ivy foot on a table leg and broke my toe.  So now both feet are swollen and sore and I'm having a bit of an on-going pity party.  I feel HORRIBLE complaining about my toes when so many don't even have houses after Helene came through but... One foot is itching me to death and the other is throbbing and yet numb at the same time.  It's a very weird sensation.

So I spent today sitting and winding yarn.  I'm supposed to be using all that yarn to knit things for my next craft show but I'm kinda sick of craft show knitting and feeling sorry for myself and want to start a new project.  I just don't know what that project will be.  I should start that whale sweater all over again, but I feel less like doing that than craft show knitting. Ugh! Oh well.  Maybe inspiration will strike me on Saturday.  The Montpelier Fiber Festival is this weekend and I will cram my poor swollen feet into my shoes and limp my way to some new yarn.  And hopefully some inspiration.

Meanwhile, prayers go out to everyone in Helene's path.  I believe everyone I know in her path is safe and well.  A little wet maybe, but safe and okay.  I'm so overwhelmed by the photos and videos of the destruction I can't really comprehend it.  I have sent off some stuff for donation and I'm trying to decide what I can do in my Etsy shop to raise money to send to them.  I just can't fathom what they are going through.  After Gaston, we had 10 feet of water in the house and we lost a lot of stuff and it cost a small fortune to repair everything, but we still had a house to repair.  Structurally, the house was still fine.  I remember how much it hurt my heart to loose my stuff.  I can't imagine loosing Everything, including loved ones' lives.  My prayers go out to those folks.

Meanwhile, happy knitting and maybe I'll see you at Montpelier.

Maiden Voyage

 I had my maiden voyage with the craft show tent this past weekend.

I was a vendor at Buckland Flowers and Produce's Fall Family Jam and got to use the tent for the very first time.  I was weirdly calm leading up to it.  I wasn't the least bit stressed or concerned about having enough inventory or if the weather would cooperate, or if I could fit all the stuff into the car, or if I'd make enough sales to make it worth while.....  I had none of the pre-show jitters that I normally get. It was weird.  Don't get me wrong, it was nice not going into panic mode.  Nice, but weird.

Of course I ended up forgetting to take several things with me but it all worked out in the end.  The guests were none the wiser, it was a beautiful day and sales were good.  

The event was really nice and I hope to get invited back in the future.  There was a band, well, really just a guy singing I think.  I couldn't see the stage from my booth but I could hear him singing.  It was the perfect level of background music.  Loud enough that I could whisper-sing along with him, but not so loud as to make it hard to have conversations with the shoppers.  There was a dunk tank where you could dunk the sheriff or a firefighter, there was, of course food and other vendors, and somebody must have pulled some strings because a medevac helicopter flew in and landed in the adjacent field for the kids (and grown-ups) to tour.  Pretty cool!

All in all, it was a really nice day and my tent went up and then down with no problems, my sandbag weights worked just fine (I was worried about them being heavy enough) and the tent never attempted to blow away, even with the helicopter wind.  Success!! I feel like a 'real' vendor now.  😊

I did have a little trouble the day before the show though.  The whale sweater I was knitting for Sarah for Christmas.... Well, something went horribly, horribly wrong.  And I don't even know what happened or where the problem is.  I have looked and relooked at the pattern a zillion times.  I started with the correct number of stitches.  I had the correct number of stitches before I started the yoke's colorwork.  The colorwork worked perfectly so I know I didn't have mistakes in my increases there.  But after the colorwork, when I went to put the sleeves on the holders, I discovered I'm missing more than 115 stitches.  For the life of me, I can't see where I went wrong so I plan to take it to the knitting shop and see if they can figure it out.  I don't want to frog it and start over if it's a pattern issue.  I was unbelievably mad and frustrated at first but the more I think about being 115+ stitches off, it's just sort of funny.  Frustrating, but funny.

Another frustrating thing is, I've got a nice case of poison ivy.  It's driving me INSANE.  Rather than itching, it feels more like someone is jabbing a lit cigarette into my skin.  It's mainly across the top of my foot, and on, between and under a few of my toes.  I'm not handling it well and I'm pretty dang cranky.  The good side of it is, they sent me home from work for having 'open sores' (a big no-no at the grocery store) so I've had two extra days to spend knitting and preparing for the next show this week.

It's also been raining almost constantly for the last several days.  I'm not complaining about that.  We needed the rain and it just makes me want to stay home and knit.  No complaints about that!

Happy knitting!

When Hats Scare Me

First, thank you all for the well wishes.  I'm still coughing like crazy but I've returned to work and am feeling much better.  

So, about the knitting...

Do you believe in ghosts?  Honestly, I'm not 100% sure how I feel about it/them but I do believe that our spirit leaves our body when we pass and that sometimes that spirit is strong enough to come back and visit occasionally.

Anyway, our house is over 100 years old.  It sits on land well-traveled by both sides during the Civil War.  American Revolution too, for that matter.  There's no record of anyone dying in the house but...  We joke that the house is haunted.  Doors slam shut or fly open by themselves.  Someone in one room will hear loud, angry banging on their bedroom door while the person in the next room hears nothing.  Dark shadowed and bright light human-ish shapes have been recorded on Hayden's baby monitor.  Megan, Hayden's mom, even once told the light shape that it was scaring her and asked it to leave.  The shape turned it's head toward the monitor/speaker, then walked through the door and to my knowledge, hasn't been seen again.  I've stepped out of the shower to find all the bathroom drawers standing open.  I've also seen shadow shapes flying around in my room at night. So yeah, we feel the house is haunted.  But Hayden is the only one who's felt real fear, or at least felt threatened.  (There was a month or two where she refused to go into the dining room because the 'spit monster' was in there.)

So, what does this have to do with knitting?

I'm knitting a hat using glow in the dark yarn.  That's a photo of it glowing in my dark closet, with no flash or any other light source, just the glowing yarn.  Pretty cool, right??

I left the hat on my desk near the window yesterday while I was at work and the yarn must have "charged" because I woke up in the middle of the night to find it glowing at me.  Scared me half to death for a minute until I realized what it was.

Anyway, I'm amazed at this yarn's ability to glow.  It's Lion Brand's DIY Glow.  My idea is to knit hats (and maybe dog sweaters in the future) that glow in the dark to help nighttime runners and dog walkers stay more visible in the dark.  In the sunlight, it just looks like a design knit with white yarn.

So, if you want to scare yourself silly in the middle of the night, get some DIY Glow and start knitting!

Bronchitis

I don't have much to report.  I've been busy knitting but since I'm craft show knitting, which means knitting the same thing over and over and over again.... There isn't much to talk about.

I knit a bunch of baby hats.  For some reason, my computer isn't allowing me to make any adjustments to the photo so...

Apa (it was supposed to be Grandpa but it came out Apa so...) and I took Hayden to Wendy's for lunch last week.  Hayden had the sniffles and it was THE dirtiest, nastiest Wendy's I've ever seen and between the two, I'm assuming, I caught a mean case of bronchitis.  If I ever stop coughing, I expect to have six twelve-pack abs.

I spent most of this week sitting napping on the deck.  I didn't test but I wonder if I had a touch of covid as well as the bronchitis.  I had the covid-like narcolepsy and there was one day where I really thought I should go to the ER because I just could not catch my breath.  Anyway, I spent most the week lounging on the deck watching the train go by.  Y'all thought I was making it up about living on the the edge of the tracks, didn't you?

To help me feel better, Sarah made me homemade tomato soup made with fresh veggies from the garden.  I was a little leery.  How could it be better than Campbell's?  I don't know, but it was!  It was Delicious! Her grilled cheeses are better than mine too. I'm a little jealous.

The soup must have worked because I'm starting to feel better and even began craft show knitting again. Thank goodness for September's cooler temperatures and lower humidity.  I was even able to sit outside and knit faux fur headbands today.  

Actually, over the last 2 days, I've also started three new, non craft show projects.  First, I started a Christmas tree skirt, because naturally that's what you do when you are sick to death of knitting craft show stuff and you have Fall Fever.  About an hour later, I started a Halloween granny square tote bag because, well, you know, Christmas is a long way off.  And then and hour after that, the mailman stopped by and brought the yarn that wasn't supposed to arrive until next week so of course I had to immediately cast on a secret sweater for Sarah.  I'm pretty sure Sarah doesn't read the blog so I'm not too worried about mentioning it here.  Besides, as excited as I am with my progress, I haven't taken any photos.

Hope you are staying healthy and happy knitting!

Happy Labor Day!

To all my American friends, Happy Labor Day!  I hope everyone has a fun but safe weekend. 

Knit Picks is celebrating the weekend with a 25% off sitewide sale.  Just use coupon code SAVEBIG.

Enjoy and happy knitting!

Fall Fever

I'm suffering from a serious case of fall fever.

While unpacking my booth setup stuff after the county fair last weekend, I set the cup of fake leaves down in a random corner of the room for a lack of a better place to store them.  They looked so lonely, I added a pumpkin.  And now I officially have fall fever.  I want candy corn, bonfires, jeans, boots, flannel shirts, and did I mention, candy corn?  I love candy corn.

The fair was a success, despite it incredibly hot and humid.  From my booth alone, I saw three different people get loaded into ambulances, presumably from heat related issues.  It was hot!  Naturally, no one was in the mood to buy wool hats but I did sell tons of pumpkins.  Despite the heat, it was a successful day.  My booth neighbor, Winnie from Sweet Threads, was a lifesaver.  There wasn't room in my booth for the fan I'd brought but Winnie had a spare and aimed it at me for the entire event.  Thank you Winnie!

I've been pretty lazy since getting home from the fair.

All I've managed to accomplish craft-wise is to bind off a scrap shawl I was knitting and I started a granny rectangle blanket.

I'm loving the granny rectangle, although I can't crochet for more than about 30 minutes a day or my hand feels like it's going to fall off. Crochet bothers my carpal tunnel.  Anyway....  

I've never crocheted an official granny rectangle before.  I've always just made two (or more) squares, sewn them together then granny stitched around them to create a rectangle.  This time, I watched a you tube video to learn how to do it correctly and I love the results.  I'm already afraid I'm going to run out of yarn though.  I may have grossly miscalculated how much I'd need.  The blanket may end up being a weirdly large table runner.  We'll see.

As for the scarf, it's another simple scrap Palette garter stitched scarf.  Every row is a different color and I leave a little extra yarn hanging off the ends to become fringe.  Super simple to knit and a great way to use up little bits of mis-matched left over yarns.  I've made a zillion of them and will most likely make a zillion more.

And that has pretty much been my week.  I hope your week has been as relaxing and frivolous as mine has been.

Happy knitting!

Deby

I hope that all of you in Deby's path made it through safely.  I love LOVE a good storm and well, Deby was a bit of a let down here.  I didn't even break out a single bottle of hurricane booze, nor did I eat all my hurricane snacks.

I spent Thursday, day one of Deby here in Virginia, knitting outside.  I am SO thankful for our covered porch. I absolutely love sitting outside when it's raining.  Thursday's rain was straight down rain with no wind so it was perfect for deck sitting. 

While I knit and watched it rain, I also read The Last One by Will Dean.  O. M. G.!  If you like psychological horror, it's a must read. A MUST read! There's nothing jumping out at you, there are no ghosts or bogeymen, but it is absolutely terrifying and I couldn't put it down.  Best book I've read in a long time. (And no, I'm not an affiliate, I just really, really liked the book.)

We did end up loosing one small, dead tree in the storm.  Other than being dead, I have no idea why it fell.  We never had any wind.  And oddly, the big, giant dead tree that leans a little more each day is still standing.  Other than putting a dent in our yard, the big one is located in a spot where it won't cause any property damage when it falls so we keep waiting for a storm to take it out instead of having to pay a fortune to have it cut down.  Maybe in the next storm....

I finished the hat I was knitting and added two pompoms.  And now, we just wait for the last tendrils of Deby to pass by tonight and pray that all of the flooding to the west of us stays to the west of us and doesn't flow downstream and flood us tomorrow.  That's what happened during Gaston, a storm that passed through in August twenty years ago and caused major flooding the next day due to the runoff.  Fingers crossed.

Happy knitting!

Market Prepping

I'm still market prepping and haven't done any personal knitting in what feels like a very long time.  Sadly, it doesn't make for very interesting blog fodder.  The severe thunderstorm we are in the midst of isn't helping any with the photos either.  At least we still have power.  It was off for a bit during last night's storm.

Today I have been finishing various things I've made.  Stuffing things, weaving in ends, that kind of thing.

Have any of you ever needed the 5 lb box of poly-fil?  I kept going through the large bags of it so I finally broke down and bought the more economical giant box.  It scared me when I opened it because as soon as I cut a hole in the bag inside the box, the poly-fil just started growing and growing and growing.  It was spewing out like a volcano.  I've used about a foot worth in height and there's still no pushing it back into the box.  I just have to keep using it up before I can reseal the box.  Shouldn't be a problem though.  I still have Lots of items to stuff.

I also have lots of hats and gloves to tag.  I bought these tags back in the winter, just after Christmas I think, but I've never attached them to anything.  Yes, I'm a bad shop owner and haven't listed anything new in ages.  I really like these tags though and was super excited to find that they sent me an extra 50 tags!  I ordered the rectangles and they sent me the rectangles I ordered plus 50 of the ovals, or at least what I'm calling ovals. If you are in the market for tags, I bought mine from RiseTailor Studio on Etsy.  (No affiliate, just happy with my tags.)  Shipping took a while, I can't remember how long exactly, but I do remember they arrived several weeks earlier than expected.

And just because I'm excited that I'm all legal now...

I have a business license, a banner and a tent to hang it from.  At least I hope I have a tent.  I have a very heavy tent bag.  I just haven't tried to take the tent out of the bag and set it up yet.  It's been back in the upper 90's and 4 gazillion percent humidity so the tent has remained in it's bag in the middle of the living room.  I'm going to have to start calling it an art sculpture if I don't do something about it soon.

Okay, time for me to get back to stuffing and weaving in ends.

Happy knitting!

Pumpkins

We finally got rain!

And the pumpkin patch began to grow.

I recently found out I'd been accepted as a vendor at the county fair and I've been frantically knitting for it.  I applied so long ago and didn't hear back so I thought I didn't get in but, Surprise!  So, yeah.  Frantic knitting has been happening.  The pumpkin patch is growing, and yes, I know they still need stems.  

I've made about 1,000 things and they all still need something done to them. Ends woven in, seams sewn, eyes attached, stems attached, tags attached..... There's going to be a lot of attaching happening over the next two weeks.

I hope and pray I do well at the fair.  July has been an expensive month!  There has been, obviously, some yarn shopping.  Then our dryer bit the dust and had to be replaced.  My laptop also bit the dust and had to be replaced. I bought the new laptop, a vacuum and a 10 x 10 tent for craft sales during Amazon's prime days. I saved between $75 and $150 on each item so it made sense to get them but still....  I bought a Jeannie Gray Knits banner for the tent. Something went wrong with the mower's clutch and every time you'd engage the mower blades and start to go, the mower would cut off.  The a/c compressor in the car went out on a 98 degree day and we discovered that same day that the window control was also broken and the windows wouldn't go down.  That was one HOT ride home!  Sarah's prescription sunglasses broke. And hopefully last on the list of July expenses, my husband found out he needs a double hip replacement sooner rather than later.  Oh, and there may have been some additional, 'I'm having a nervous breakdown' yarn shopping. Yikes!  I'm going to need to sell a LOT of pumpkins!  At least I know I have enough yarn to make them.

And now, since the tent and banner both arrived a week early (when does that ever happen???) I just may take a day off from knitting and go see just how easy it is to assemble the tent by myself.  The write-up promised ease, but I have my doubts.   Honestly, I'm not even sure I can get it out of the shipping box by myself.  That thing is heavy!

Happy knitting!

ZZZZZZ

No, I'm not sleeping, I have a new computer with a functioning Z key!  It's very exciting.  You don't realize how many times you need to type a 'z' until you can't.  I also have a new vacuum which may actually be even more exciting than the new computer.  Thank you Amazon Prime Days!  The new computer is a little frustrating at the moment because I can't find my files and things are just slightly different.  I'll adjust soon.  I hope.

Meanwhile, this is going to be very brief because I'm about to loose my internet.  We are currently working with a borrowed-from-the-library internet pack because of stupid Verizon.  I can NOT express how much I despise Verizon and their nonexistent customer service.  For years, the only way we can pay for our internet service is to wait until they cut if off then pay through the link they provide in their nasty-gram late notice.  And that is because when the account was set up, they made a typo on my husband's social security number (the account is in his name) and so now, when we have to provide the social security number to pay the bill, they don't match and they won't allow us to pay it.  We have contacted them over and over and over and spoken to managers and supervisors and sent letters.... and if we can get anyone to help, they say it's fixed but then the next month rolls around and .... same problem all over again.  So, for over a year, we've just waited for the late notice link and paid it that way.  Except this month, it says our zip code doesn't match.  Nothing has changed on our part.  WTF?  It is beyond frustrating and my husband has declared, "Oh well.  Screw 'em.  I guess they won't get paid."  Except that also means we have no  internet.   ARGH!

All that to say, I'm typing quickly because now that I finally have a working computer (there were other problems besides the Z key) it's time to return the library's internet thing.  Argh!

I'm not really prepared with photos or anything to talk about, but I did want to get a post in before our internet disappears for who knows how long.  So....

I've been busy knitting furry headbands for winter.  I'm a little panicked.  I had applied to be a vendor at the county fair months ago and never heard anything so I assumed I didn't get in but....  I finally heard from them and now I have 4 weeks to prepare.  Worse case scenario, I'll sell those DAV hats I've been knitting, but I hope that doesn't happen.

Remember the hat Hayden stole from me that I mentioned in last week's post?  I had already started knitting fingerless gloves to go with it.  Very simple, plain ribbed fingerless gloves.  They are finished and now I have to knit another hat to match.  ... To sell at the fair, of course.

And I'm injured and traumatized.  I got a splinter.  That's not even the whole splinter.  The ends broke off while trying to pull it out.  It was all the way through the pad of my big toe, all the way, sticking out of both sides of my toe.  Sarah ended up having to use a razor blade to cut it out.  Thank goodness for her EMT training because (1) I couldn't bend enough to get a good enough look at it to remove it, (2) I would never have been able to use that razor blade on myself and (3) Patient First was closed and I wasn't going to the real ER for a splinter.  She's either a good surgical candidate or she has no qualms about slicing up her mom.

And on that note, I'm off to vacuum again, just because I can, and then do some more panic knitting.  Hopefully we'll get the internet situation straightened out soon and I'll be back to ramble on some more.  Have I mentioned how much I dislike Verizon?

Happy knitting!

Not bored yet

People keep telling me I'll get bored in my retirement but so far I find it's pretty exhausing!  A nice relaxed exhaustion, but exhausting all the same.

Mostly, I've been busy either knititng or floating in the pool.

My I'm Still Stranding scarf is coming along.  It's very addictive, but I do have to pay attention so I haven't had the opportunity to knit on it as much as I'd like.  It's definitely not a 'knit in the pool' project.

Actually, none of my projects are being knit in the pool.  I can't quite get the nerve up to try it.  I'm too scared of ruining good wool.  Maybe I should break out some cheap dish cloth cotton and some old plastic needles and give it a try.

I knit a hat with the intention of selling it, but Someone begged and pleaded for it.  Nana can't say no to Someone.

I've also been knitting several pairs of fingerless gloves and mittens to sell but I haven't taken photos.  I signed up to be a vendor for several fall craft fairs so I'm sort of in panic-knitting mode.

I found these removable pompom buttons on Amazon and they'll help the hat making go Much faster.  I despise sewing pompoms on.  But these are great.  You just pull the pom's elastic loop through the top of the hat and wrap it around the slots in the button.  When you're ready to remove the pom, just unhook the elastic loop.  Easy peasy!  I'm super happy I found these but I'm not linking to their sales page because I can't say much for the supplier.  The Amazon listing states 50 buttons plus an attaching "tool" (a crochet hook) but the first time I ordered them, they only sent 24 buttons and no hook. I was too lazy to drive all the way to the place to drop off a return so I decided to keep them despite not getting what I ordered.  I did leave a bad review though.  And then I decided to order them again to see what I got.  I used to "Order Again" button so I know I ordered the same thing and this time around, I received 50 buttons that are half the thickness of the first ones and they were in an unsealed ziplock bag and still no tool.  I could care less about the tool but after this experience, I'm not recommending the supplier.  The buttons themselves are great though so if you find yourself needing tons of pompom buttons....

Hayden is a blast to play with in the pool this year.  She's much more independent than last year and enjoys splashing and getting splashed, even in the face.  There have been a few brutal water gun battles already.

And of course we celebrated the 4th of July. The whole family spent the day in the pool while dinner cooked on the smoker.  Not long after we got out of the pool, a huge thunderstorm whipped through and then the sun popped back out in time for fireworks.  I was Very glad for the rain.  We're currently in drought conditions and I was more than a little worried about burning the county down with sparks from our fireworks.

And tomorrow.... I'm super excited for tomorrow.  A friend moved out of state during covid times and we didn't get to hug goodbye.  But now, she's moved back and we are getting together for the first time tomorrow. I can't wait!

Meanwhile, Happy Knitting!

Addictive

Have you seen Sarah Jordan's  I'm Still Stranding cowl pattern?  Be careful if you purchase the it.  It's addictive.! I planned to simply get the cast on stitches on the needle then go to bed but all of a sudden....

I'm absolutely in love with the pattern!  I'm already thinking about using the charted design with worsted weight to make regular, long scarves.  Or a sweater body.  Or just use it as written and make 1,000 more color combinations.  The charted pattern is so simple yet the color changes keep you engaged.  I can only imagine how much fun it would be if I was using self striping yarn for my constrasting color like the pattern recommended.  Anyway, if you haven't seen the pattern, go take a look, but be warned.  It is addictive!

I was worried when I started winding the yarn for my I'm Still Stranding.  It started off looking perfect on the swift then suddenly.... It got bad.  Really, really bad.  I ended up having to cut the yarn a few times.  I have no idea how it was so tangled in the skein.  Oh well.  I got it caked eventually.

While I had the swift and ball winder out, I went ahead and caked a few more skeins.  The extras are intended for the Insanity blanket which has basically been put away for the summer.  It's just too hot to knit on it right now.  Although.... I've been too lazy to put the giant tub of scrap yarn away so it just sits beside my desk and acts as an extra table.  I have pulled the blanket out of it a few times and knit on it when I wasn't feeling the love from whatever project I was currently working on.  It will probably remain beside my desk for the rest of the summer so it may see a little more action despite the heat.

Okay, this one is more so I have a record of my progress than for your entertainment but....  Have I mentioned my DAV project?  I promised to deliver 75 knit hats to the DAV (Disabled American Veterans) by early November.  What was I thinking??  Currently, I have 41 knit, 34 more to go. As long as I keep up the pace, it should be doable.  I haven't paused the knitting long enough to take photos but soon....

Happy Knitting!

Is it Fall yet?

We just got water in the pool last weekend and I'm already ready for fall.  It's just way too hot. 98 degrees today and tomorrow.  Ugh!

I don't have much to talk about other than complaining about the weather.  I've finished 35 out of the 75 promised hats for the DAV.  Well, the knitting part is finished.  They all still have long pieces of yarn hanging off them in case I want to attach pom poms.  I'm not going to make/order the pom poms until I know I have the hats done. 

I finished that one yesterday.  That hat was actually hand knit, not made with the Sentro.  I used Lion Brand's Fisherman's Wool which I love.  I had to order it from Lion Brand's website because none of the big-box yarn stores around here carry it anymore.  Makes me very sad.  I also don't know why I didn't order a whole lot more of it when it was on sale.  I only got a few skeins in various colors.  I should have bought sweater quantities in all the colors, plus more for hats and gloves.  Oh well.  I probably would have had to buy a new house store it all in anyway.

I finally got to my LYS the other day and of course I bought a bunch of stuff. I hadn't visited the store in a very long time, probably close to a year!  Shameful!  Anyway... a friend, Martha from Dyeing For Art, was having a trunk show so of course I bought a skein of her  yarn.  It doesn't look that special in the photo, but it's a beautiful pale gray tonal with silver sparkle added in.  I plan to use it with that purple Malabrigo to knit Sarah Jordan's I'm Still Stranding.  The pattern suggests self striping yarn for the constrasting color but I love that gray and purple together and while the purple is tonal, I think it has enough variance in its shading to make it work.  Finger's crossed.

Other than the fact that I've had that song stuck in my head ever since I bought the pattern a few days ago, the pattern looks to be excellent.  A fun, easy yet not mindless, project.  Based on all the color combinations I came up with while searching the stash for a skein to use with the silver sparkle, I may be knitting this cowl/scarf about 50 times.  

Oh, it just dawned on me.... In my last post, I was talking about starting the second Christmas sock.  I finished it a few days later.  How does it take 4 1/2 years to knit the first sock and 3 days to knit the second?  And it's always like that for me!  I'd say I drag my feet on the first one because I know I have to knit a second one exactly like it, but I don't have that problem with mittens so....  Who knows.  Just one of life's little mysteries.

Happy Knitting!

Is it Christmas yet?

Is it Christmas yet?  And exactly how lazy am I?

Christmas socks, West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 ply wool

Apparently, I'm so lazy, I'm okay with photoing these socks on my unmade bed.  Hey - it's laundry day and the sheets and quilt are out hanging on the clothesline.  I'm so lazy, I didn't even bother moving the stack of books and papers I've been shuffling from my desk to my bed in the morning and back to my desk at night  for, well, for weeks now.  Good grief!

But the exciting part of that photo ...  I finished the first Christmas sock!  What is it about socks?  It takes me FOREVER to knit the first one, then the second one practically knits itself.  I started these socks in November of 2019 and just finished the first one 48, no, actually about 56 hours ago.  As soon as I finished the first, I started the second and am already working on the heel gusset! 

And during those 56 hours, I've done a lot of other stuff too!  I've made three hats on the Sentro machine, I knit a chicken, I've cleaned the house, done many, many loads of laundry, meal planned, gone grocery shopping, cooked, eaten and cleaned up afer a few meals and I've even gotten some yard work done.

Can you tell I'm enjoying retirement?  I really am.  It is so incredibly nice to feel like I have time to clean the house and do the yardwork and all the other adulty/housewifey stuff, and,that time spent doing those things is not taking away precious crafting time.  I actually feel like I have time to do everything I want to.  It's awesome!

I've even sarted an exercise program, if you can call it that.  I'm making sure I go for a walk every single day.  Even when it's 1,000 degrees outside and I don't want to go for a walk, I make myself go.  And, I bought myself a weighted hula hoop.  No affiliate and that's not even the one I bought.  The one I got doesn't even seem  to be listed anymore.  If I get the nerve up, I'll video myself trying to use it.  It is HILARIOUS!  I have not been able to hula hoop since I was about 8 years old, I'm ridiculously uncoordinated, and now as an overweight 62 year old....  It's pretty damned funny!  I think I probably burn more calories laughing at my patheticness than I do from hula hooping but at least I'm having fun.  I do feel sorry for the poor Amazon guy who showed up while I was on the porch trying to hula hoop though.  I think he may be scared for life.  

And now, I'm going to wind this up and go finish that sock so I can get busy working on craft fair items.  I've applied for quite a few fairs, mostly in the fall.  I'm not sure I'll be accepted to any of them though since I had pretty much abandoned my knitting business and social media for the past few years.  If you look me up online, things aren't looking too impressive.   Thankfully, retirement has given me the time and motivation to get it going again.  Wish me luck.

Happy knitting!

It's been a while!

When I said I was retiring, I didn't mean I was retiring from blogging but apparently....

Life suddenly got busy and the I'll do it tomorrow's started flying past and suddenly, here I am, over a month later.  Oops.  I'm only working two days a week now so hopefully I'll have time to blog on a more regular basis.  Or, if I'm being honest, hopefully I'll have the motivation to blog more frequently.  My retirement plans include spending much more time on my Etsy shop and doing in-person markets in the fall.  Those plans should help the motivation.

Anyway...

What have I been up to over the last month?

A close friend of ours passed away in late April and he was involved in the DAV (Disabled American Veterans.)  I got a little emotional at his memorial and told his commander I would knit and donate 75 hats by mid November to be given to the disabled vets for Christmas.   Like I said, I got a little emotional.  Have you ever been to a military funeral?  I think I'm still dehydrated from all the tears.  

Anyway.... I've since bought myself a Sentro knitting machine which is helping tremendously with the hat situation.  Fifteen down, sixty more to go.

Oh, and while I've been cranking out hats, I'm also trying to get the shop restocked and items made in preparation for the fall market season.  Oh, and let's not forget the personal projects.  The Insanity blanket is growing but at a much slower pace now.  Currently, I have knit 102 blocks.  Only 184 more to go.

I'm also crocheting a Frozen blanket for Hayden.  I think I've previously mentioned how obsessed she is with Frozen.  The blanket is just a giant granny square, well, granny rectangle, knit with Ice Cream Big Scoop yarn from Lion Brand.  I chose this yarn simply because it was blue & white, has 1117 yards per skein, and it was relatively inexpensive.

And yes, it was the yarn that broke my No Yarn Purchases For A Year streak.  I didn't make it a year, but I did make it to seven months and a few days without buying yarn.  Oh well, the purchase was for a good cause.  I only wish that was the only yarn I'd purchased.  Once that streak was broken, I went a little crazy.  It didn't help that Hobby Lobby was in the middle of one of their yarn sales at the time.  But hey, I do need yarn for those 75 DAV hats so...

Let's see, what else have I been working on?

I pulled the Christmas sock out of the UFO pile and knit on it a little bit. I just can't get excited about these socks for some reason. Although... I'll admit, every December I kick myself for not having finished them. 

Speaking of socks, I've beaded eleven pairs since my last blog post.  They are a popular item in my shop and it's hard to maintain the current inventory while creating new color choices.  Well, of course it wouldn't be so difficult if it wasn't for all the other knitting projects, but you know what I mean.

Oooh! And see that basket in the above photo?  I absolutely LOVE my Bolga basket.  I'd ordered it from Amazon and wondered why in the world I was spending my hard earned money on it but I am SO glad I did.  I absolutely love it!  I'm actually thinking of buying another.

I started another Musselburgh hat.  I'm not focusing on it much right now.  It's the 'I'm knitting outside, I've already made the day's quota of beaded socks and it's too hot to work on the Frozen blanket' project.  In other words, it doesn't see much action.  The  yarn is Maditosh Hand Dyed in Sycamore.  It's been in my stash for ages.  Sarah had chosen it for a scarf years ago but the color was Awful with her skin tone.  And yes, that's a capital A for awful.  For someone who can wear yellow, it will be a beautiful hat.  It's just not for Sarah.

I've also been knitting pumpkins and chickens for the shop/fall markets but I don't have any photos. Have you seen the Emotional Support Chickens?  They are adorable!  I'm not following that pattern, but it's where I got the idea and I still think my chickens are cute.

I've been doing lots of gardening.  Well, okay, some gardening.  I'm not exactly skilled so it takes me forever to accomplish anything in the yard.  It's also been really hot.   

Sadly, my hydrangea is already close to death.  Apparently when Google tells you hydrangeas like daily watering, they mean it.  Oops.  I'm trying to be better.  But hey!  Most of my tomato plants have tomatoes and some are even turing red!  Oh, and my pepper plants are getting teeny tiny peppers and the other 1,000 plants I bought are still alive.  

It's official!  We are now the most redneck household in the county.  My husband bought this old, abandoned and broken down race truck and plans to fix it up and sell it.  He's buddies with the guy he got it from so he knows it's history.  My daughter tells me that under all the dirt, the flag paint job is actually very pretty and has a metalic shimmer.  Not sure if that helps or hurts the redneck factor but hey... My husband bought a broken down race truck.  I have nothing to feel guilty about over spending a fortune on yarn and plants that will probably not survive the summer.

Oh, and speaking of spending a fortune, we Finally closed on the house.  What a friggin process that was!  It took a full year from application to closing.  Good grief!  But the brick pile is officially ours now.  You'll probably be hearing me moan about all the things that go wrong with a 100+ year old house while celebrating the little improvements we plan to make.

And, no photos but, Hayden has graduated from Headstart and has qualified for some kind of advanced preschool for next school year.  I honestly don't know much about it but I'm very proud of her. 

On another note about Hayden, she's officially over pretending to knit.  She wants to learn to actually knit (or crochet) so if anyone has suggestions for a no patience having grandma who doesn't like to teach that needs to teach a four year old how to knit, please send those suggestions my way.  I'm hoping there's a magical Youtube video out there that she can watch over and over while I sit nearby in case she needs hands on assistance.  Got any suggestions???

Well, I think that's about it so, until next time,

Happy knitting!