Getting out the Crock Pot

Today I decided that since it is too hot for me to stand in front of the stove, I would break out the crock pot.  We are having pot roast tonight via the crock pot.  I spiked it with whole garlic cloves.  I know it is going to be fabulous.  I also used the Mural of Flavor spice mix from Penzey's.  Love that place. 

I am working on a shrug but, it is no longer for me since I realized my arm is way bigger than what I am knitting at right now.  No worries, I have the perfect person in mind for the item.  My niece, Meagan.  She will look great in it with her coloring. 

I was going to go bike riding but, decided not to, since we are under an ozone warning again.  I might hit the pool later on and do some laps.  I can bet that water is going to feel damn good about now. 

I did take care of some DAR chapter business today.  I hope I get answers back soon on some of it.  I want to be done with it so, our chapter can move forward. 

I have a luncheon this Saturday to go to and a birthday party in the evening.  We are going to be some serious movers and shakers this weekend.  I heard rain was in the forecast for Friday which means yard mowing will be moved to tomorrow night.  We have to mow the front yard, and Gary will be doing the weed whacking and clean up.  I will be mowing.  I don't mind mowing so much since I know how to do it very well.  My Daddy believed in the equality of the sexes and made sure his daughters knew how to get their hands dirty.  I know my way around a lawn mower. 

I am about to start another heart strings neck scarf for my best friend.  She loves pink and can't get near wool but, I have a cotton/corn blend yarn that I know will be great for her.  I think I found it at Elann once upon a time.  I love Elann for their money saving yarns.  I have noticed that Knit Picks is getting pricey on their yarns. 

I was out in the garden picking more broccoli when I noticed something big and green out of the corner of my eye.  A freaking 8 inch fence lizard was staring at me.  I jumped back and he stayed where he was.  I didn't want to have to run shucking clothes if he had jumped on me.  No thank you. 

I have officer presents to wrap for my luncheon on Saturday.  I am so thankful for the ladies who served as my chapter officers these 3 years.  I appreciate each and every one of them for their talents and their opinions. 

Ah, I found the yarn, I am going to use for the neck scarf, it is called Elann, Maize Organica, in color 5, pink.  It wants a US 6 needle.  There is 98 yards on a ball.  I need 150 yards for my project.  So, 2 skeins will do the trick for this one.  It feels kinda smooshy and cool.  I hope it will work out for my friend.

Now, if I can get rid of the mosquitoes around here, life would be absolutely beyond terrific.

My health is getting better.  I am on an antibiotic for bronchitis right now with some prednisone to stop the mucus...loads of mucus from this crap.  Everyone here is sick, it starts out with the sore throat from hell and then moves on to losing your voice, then it moves to the chest.  It is known as the crud and it is very contagious.  Pink eye is going around as well but, I am lucky with not getting that crap.  I don't want it.

I find that my knitting is coming along and I really am starting to enjoy working with lace.  It took me some time to get my fingers to work with me.  I love how beautiful and airy the projects are.  It is like everything else we try, it takes practice to get it to work out. 

I purchased a new crochet book, by Kristin Omdahl, it is called Seamless Crochet.  I can't wait to tear into it and start some of the cool patterns.  :)  I love her designs so, this should work out nicely. 

Raise Your Hand if You Have Knitting ADD...Me, Me!

I am in a quandry over here.  I started a shawl with that sock yarn, I frogged that sucker today since I could not see the pattern at all.  What is the point of continuing if you can't make it out?  Then I cast on for another project and immediately ripped it apart, the yarn wasn't what I wanted.  So, I went ahead and cast on again but, this time I chose Lana Grossa Toccata, I believe it is discontinued.  I bought it cheap many moons ago and the purpose of my new exercise in knitting is to use stash yarn.  Not sure if I am happy with how it is working out right now.  I might go digging around in the stash in the guest bedroom to see if I can find a different yarn and cast on again.  I might even change patterns.  I am working on the porcupine stitch, it is really cool looking.  Pictures later when I can find the time to drag my camera down stairs. 

I might even have to make a trip to the craft store to buy a needle with a seriously sharp point, I am using Addi turbos and the tip isn't sharp enough for me and this project.  Trying to do a P3tog with these needles is about to make me insane.  Several choice words were said and I persevered.  I didn't throw it across the room.  I decided to work the item in question out of cotton since it can be worn over the summer over a tank top.  If it works out right, I will be making one for me.  I am knitting a shrug.  So easy and simple, if you can knit, you too can make one.  It is amazing how simple they are. 
 
I am surrounded by sick people and me being me, I think I caught something, again.  Totally worn out, sore throat, cough, nausea, and one killer ear ache.  If I feel worse in the morning, I am packing my butt off to the doctor. 

The lady who requested the custom yarn said that she loves it.  She was asking for a good sock pattern for the yarn, I let her know the one that would most definitely work for it.  I hope she makes that pattern and sends me a pic.  I would love to see how beautiful the yarn is in that pattern.  :) 

Sock Yarn into Lace

Right now I am currently working with the middle picture and the last picture yarn.  The top one is finished, I just have to take the time to block it.  My blocking board is massive and so, I figure, I will get a bunch of items and do one blocking session.  I even have blocking wires that I found on sale some place. 
  All of the yarn being used came out of my yarn stash.  I am going cold turkey on buying yarn for the moment since I have so much of it.  I have plastic bins of yarn in every room in my home.  It is time to use it. 
  Sock yarn is my passion so, I have some serious yarn in these bins.  These two yarns were painted by me.  The top yarn is pea hen in merino/silk sock.  The bottom yarn is also a merino/silk sock yarn but, for the life of me, I can't remember what I named it and the ball band is gone.  No telling what it is called, I just know it is unusual and should make an outstand piece of lace work. 
  I am working on a pattern called One Ball Shawl by Red Heart and it was free.  If you check out their website you will see they have free patterns.  I never knew this until I was reading a ball band yesterday while digging through my sock yarn stash.  I have some RH sock yarn.  It is okay to work with and I do not use acrylic since it makes my fingers peel. 
  Now for this particular pattern, it is screwy.  I had to read it through 3 times and I am still having issues with it.  It is poorly written and no chart was included.  Usually if you can't figure out the directions, you can look at the chart and figure out what is going on.  Not this time.  I am looking at the picture they provided and it looks like their picture so far.  I guess I will figure it out as I get more into the pattern.  Let's hope it keeps looking like their picture. 
  I am using a size 4 needle by Susan Bates, it is a silvalume, and let me rate this needle for you...fabulous.  It has the best point on it, perfect for those intricate lace stitches and those K3tog where some needles just do not get under that middle stitch and everything drops off of the needle and you end up scrambling to get that stitch back on the needles.  It is cheap as well for those of you who need to watch your budget, this will work for you.  I have expensive knitting needles that work well for a knitter like me, I am constantly working on something and I do knit professionally at times so, I have to have needles that will hold up to it all.  This needle has some scratching on the barrel from all of the work I have used it for.  That is the down side and it catches the yarn at that point.  But, you have to realize it is an inexpensive needle that will work for any budget. 
  I have other projects that I want to work on before I do them, I really want to get my lace game on.  I have some gorgeous lace weight yarns that I would love to use to make really fantastic shawls with.  I just need more practice with lace weight yarn.  If you are used to working with worsted and trying to knit with sock yarn for the first time, I remember that incursion, it was difficult trying to get my fingers to cooperate with me with that smaller yarn.  Now, I am a sock knitting fiend and I love the sock yarns.  I have paid dearly in price for some of the yarns I now own.  I took up painting yarns when I couldn't find the color combos I thought would be fantastic.  So, now you know why I paint.    Now it has become an obsession in finding the right color combination and I get my inspirations from my garden. 
  Nature is so amazing with the colors that are used.  Some are truly garish and others are amazing.  Look around you, there is an incredible palette in our world. 
  Now, I get to go outside and fill up my car tires.  I found out that I have a low pressure tire light.  It is on constantly since I apparently am an idiot when it comes to tires.  Who knew?  I have to take care of it, again.  My luck, I will be getting tires for my birthday like another knitter I know.  Poor Kathy. 
  I want a Janome sewing machine for my birthday.  I am the owner of a Singer and it sucks.  I have mastered it and need to move to a better machine.  It won't do what I want it to do and besides that fact, it squeaks like a MOFO.  I oil it and it still squeaks and that hammering it does as it sews...makes me crazy!  I have put this on my wish list for my darling hubby.  We have discussed it. 
 

Mourning

I am knitting all day every day right now, it is working to help me cope with the unexpected loss of my friend, Glynda.  She passed away suddenly on Sunday.  It has been a terrible shocker for me and for everyone who knew her.  I find myself knitting on things I normally wouldn't even try.  I have been knitting lace, I even went and found more lace items to work on.  I have two finished pieces and I am working on a third. 

I have been digging in my sock yarn stash to find what I can and use it.  I am happy that I haven't bought any yarn for my projects.

I realized today what is happening and this constant need to knit, it is for the loss of my friend, knitting is my solace, it helps me work through hard times, it provides me with patience and it also comforts me in times of need. 

A Little Unconventional Medicine Works

Right now, I am dealing with a dog, an old dog, and a very well loved old dog who has acral lick granulomas.  Major headache if you have never had to deal with this mess.  He has been in an E-collar for weeks now because we had tried everything we could think of to help him.  Then I thought about it for a while and decided it worked on my foot and it works on baby's butts so, why won't it work on this dog?  You are probably thinking I have lost my mind, nearly but, I am still sane. 

What I decided to do was to take matters into my own hands since what I have read about this particular skin disorder is not helpful at all.  So, I decided to use Hibiclens for the wounds.  Then I would protect his wounds with Dr. Smith's diaper rash ointment.  This stuff kills fungus.  Most people don't realize that diaper rash is a fungus.  Yep, and it works wonders on this dog with this acral lick granuloma.  It is healing it quite nicely.  He feels so much better that he even crawled into the bathtub on his own steam.  I didn't have to yell the house down.  This tells me that he is better.  I looked at his skin and it is healing nicely. 

With the hibiclens, I wet down him legs and then apply it.  I let it sit for a bit, to sterilize the areas and I rinse it off with warm water.  Next we get him out of the tub and dry him off.  Be very careful that you don't rub the spots with the towel, dab them.  When the dog is dry, slather on the Dr. Smith's and put it on liberally.  You will have to get that E-collar back on the dog.  It is helping and I didn't have to spend an arm and leg on special leg covers.  I had both items in my home.  I will be replenishing both items after this week.  I am hoping that when I take him in for his annual visit with the vet, the legs will be healed completely with hair growth returning. 

Bashful Stellina Lace

 

This is my current project.  I am knitting a Heart Strings Pattern, called V-Start Neck Kerchief Scarf.  I saw it, fell in love with it and bought it.  I am using one of my new hand painted stellina lace yarns for this project.  I chose to use bashful since it was totally unique. 

I am using a size US 3 knitting needle for the project, my US 4's were busy with another project so, I decided going down one needle size wouldn't hurt.  So far, no problems at all.  I do like how well the yarn is working.  It is a very nice lace weight yarn. 
I am on chart C right now on row 9.  It is moving along quite nicely.  I figure if this one turns out well, it might make a great present or two for family members.  The best part of this project, it only takes 150 yards of lace weight yarn.  I might dig out some of my sock yarns and see how well they will knit up with this pattern. 

Learning Again

Yesterday I learned how to silk screen.  I had originally bought the Yudu machine a couple of years ago, big mistake since the directions are beyond vague, they are worse than stereo instructions.  So, I decided the time was right for me to try again.  It just down right vexxed me when I read anyone can do it.  Not with the Yudu directions. 

So, I ordered in the Jacquard screen printing kit with the book that has the right directions.  Yay!  Yesterday was my first attempt and it turned out pretty good, just not great but, I know what I did wrong and I have plans to fix it this week.  :) 

Right now, I am dealing with a cold.  A lousy cold that I happened to catch at the Downs Syndrome Buddy Walk.  I have been suffering for 2 long weeks and last night, I was able to sleep the night through.  I have had high sugar readings since I had to put myself back onto the corticosteroid inhaler to help me get this crap out of my chest.  I do not want another bout of pneumonia.  I hate that stuff, it is beyond miserable. 

Today I am going to go check my blood sugar, and then see how I feel after lunch.  I would love to go hit the fabric store.  I am wanting a new sewing maching since my machine has severe issues and I think it did well for a beginner but, now that I am advancing by leaps and bounds, I want a new one, something with decorative stitches on it.  I have my eye on two machines and I can't decide which one I want.  Gary will be the final decision maker since he will be the purchaser. 

It sounds like Gary has the crappy cold I have.  We share everything around here.  sigh. 

Now off to the races...