Fiberaddict's Fiber Fumblings

June Recap and Photo catch-up

Mon, 05 Jul 2021 00:53:30 GMT

Because I've been a busy little Fiberaddict. :lol: I can't remember when I actually sewed up some of these, so I'll just post them. I do remember the order, so.....:rofl:

Anyway. Barn destruction still on-going. We have the office/tack room almost finished - 6 more floorboards to go. The plan is to then move to the roof...we'll see....

Because the husband got a job! Praise God! With Amazon...in the warehouse. He claims to not know/not believe the reports of worker treatment.....and he thinks this will give him an "in" if an IT position opens up. I've tried to tell him that the job market is MUCH different than he realizes....but he told me I'm stupid and don't know what I'm talking about. :sigh: Oh, well - he can't say he wasn't warned........(the kids and I have a betting pool going. Herself thinks he'll last 2 weeks, Himself gives him 6. Me? He'll last a few months, at least, just to show me how wrong I was. :bangs head:)

Moving on to more...pleasant things:

Knitting! I FINALLY finished my....April? socks! May I present the Lotus socks, by Kulabra Designs:

Yarn is Franklin Natural from Webs that I dyed up in Avocado and Lilac. I LOVE this pattern - it has haunted me ever since I first saw it; I just didn't get around to knitting it until now. The pattern is (what I assume to be) typical of Russian designs - it's the charts, only. The knitter needs to know the basics, and be able to plug the chart into the item.

I have started another pair - this one a basic Monkey - but have only made it halfway down the foot of sock #1. I've been sewing instead of knitting...

Sewing! LOTS going on here. We started last month with StyleArc's Clementine blouse. I made the first one for Mom:

Once I knew it fit both her AND me (our measurements are pretty close!), I grabbed my white linen and embroidered 2 more, 1 for me:

and 1 for her:

then I grabbed some Rayon and did another for me:

(for some reason the back of this one didn't show up....hmmmm. Oh, well - you get the gist! Same flowers, only in pairs - 1 at each corner)

Still in an embroidery mood, I dug thru the stash and found some blue voile....it became a StyleArc Melody:

While digging, I found some handkerchief-weight linen, so I decided I needed another Melody, but this time Celtic:

At this point, I figured I had plenty of tops, so I started to fill in the hole in my pants drawer. I didn't get photos of all of them, but...oh, well. I started with the much-needed StyleArc Emma shorts. I have 5 pair: blue, green/white plaid, natural, denim and pink, but only got a photo of the pink pair:

I then made up 3 pairs of StyleArc's Ethel Designer pants: Denim, Brown, and Green (the green is green/black iridescent, which is very hard to photograph)

The next items....well. Last year, since I was sitting a home so much, I spent a lot of time evaluating my wardrobe. I decided that I need to totally revamp it - graphic t-shirts just weren't "me" any more (I kept all of them......some day I'll turn them into a quilt.) Menopause has done a number on my body.....my weight is almost the same, but the distribution.....knit tops aren't flattering. At All. :sigh: So.....even though I am not a dresses-girl, I realized I really NEEDED a few in my wardrobe, for the hot, hot Summer days (this year, it's been a HOT Spring....:sigh:) It's been hot enough that I don't want ANYTHING around my waist....and it's only going to get hotter. Loose dresses that only touch at the shoulders/bust sound SO nice.....

I started with the Clementine dress. Since the pattern is set up for a VERY dropped waist (the waist sits at the fullest part of my hips - NOT a good look!) I chopped 4 inches off the hem of the top before adding the skirt. The fabric is Rayon I got with the Cashmerette Harrison Shirtdress kit I ordered on launch (before realizing that the payoff (the finished dress) wasn't - to me - worth all those princess seams. Live and Learn!

I like the dress....but. It feels too '80s for me, so for the next one I did a StyleArc Nova dress in a cotton I got from Supreme Fabrics before it got hit by a tornado (in 2017....I tend to let fabric age a bit. :lol:)

I sewed it up as designed, except I made a much deeper hem - 2" instead of 5/8" (I'm 5'4" if I stretch. StyleArc designs for 5'6". I didn't want an ankle-length dress.)

I.....like it, but.......the bodice is a bit......boxy. I thought I was done...but Herself needed to go to Hobby Lobby. While she was browsing, I hit the 50% off fabric...and this lovely cotton fabric jumped into my cart. It feels a lot like lawn.......

This time, I used the Clementine bodice (but hacked 6" off the hem to bring it to the Nova's length) with the Nova's tiered skirts. We won't discuss the screw-ups (i ended up piecing 2 of the tiers because I can't read, apparently), but I LOVE the finished dress:

I have 2 more lengths of fabric that I think need to become maxi/midi dresses - one is lawn, one is poplin shirting. I just need to get over the fact that *I* want to wear dresses first. :lol: StyleArc seems to design a lot of......loose fitting dresses, which works for me, even though they feel a bit.....um......how to put this.....frumpy? I mean.....I don't *feel* frumpy/stodgy/old-ladyish when I wear them, so that's a plus, but they *look*.....:sigh: I think I'm going to make some clips for the backs, to pull in the waist just a titch to give them a little more shaping. (2 alligator-type clips, connected by self-fabric covered elastic. 1 clip on each side seam, and voila! Shaping!)

I have the StyleArc Bob pants to sew up (similar to the Ethel, but longer) - and yes, StyleArc is my new favorite pattern company. Their patterns fit right out of the box, and right now that's what I need. The directions are sparse - but honestly? I prefer that. I HATE patterns that want to hold my hand the whole way - maybe I have my own preferred way of doing sleeves, so don't tell me I have to do it your way. And please, let's stop with the 20 pages of pictorial directions, with photographs of EVERY. SINGLE. STEP. Really, I know how to press a seam - you don't have to show me. Every seam. Really!

Herself has made 2 lolita dresses, but I'll save those for later. This post is long enough. :lol:

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March Madness....and a little April, as well

Mon, 05 Apr 2021 13:20:59 GMT

:whew!: It's been a bit busy around here.......LOTS going on. Let's dive in, shall we?

We started March the usual way - by picking up a load of chicks. We started with 20; lost 2 the first few days. That's normal....actually, it's better than usual. Day-old chicks spend their time looking for ways to die. :sigh: Any way, we have 9 Sapphire Queens, 4 Silver-laced Wyandottes, and 5 Cinnamon..something or other. They've grown quickly, and we are planning on moving them out today/tomorrow.

As well as the......geese. Um, yeah - the feed store got in 16 goslings, and...um.......we ended up with 6.

They're cute, but BOY HOWDY are they MESSY. And huge, comparatively speaking. So far, they are sweet...we'll see how long that lasts. :lol:

This explains last weekend's project - I built (with a little help from the husband) a fledgling hut. We'd been using dog crates, but.....they were not going to hold 24 birds. One of the mobile homes down the street has been sold to a flipper; the rehabbers told me I could rummage thru their trash pile if I wanted. I scored some skirting (tin!) and 2x4s.....after a quick trip to pick up some used pallets, I was set. It took all day Saturday, and a couple of hours Sunday, but we now have a fledgling hut (or, as we call it, the "Fluffly Butt Hut". :lol:)
Total out-of-pocket expense: $60.

I have more than enough pallets left to build a goose hut - I need to get more skirting first. For now the goslings will live with the chicks.

Last week, Zoe lost her kids......5 weeks early. I've been trying to bring in her milk, but it's just not working. :sigh: Hopefully the other does will carry to term - we need the milk!

It hasn't all been work, though - I've been knitting as well. I already showed you the Birds of Paradise mitts, now I give you: Dreidle Socks! The yarn is Blue Moon Fiber Arts BFL in the color way "Dreidle"; the pattern is Cookie A's Cubist Socks.

I then knit up a pair of mitts for Herself - another pattern by Kulabra, this one called "Frozen Songs". I dyed the yarn to Herself's specifications - Soot and Fire, and........here are her Firebird Mitts:

I was over the pattern halfway thru the first one.....:lol:

I've started a pair of socks, but you'll have to wait for photos. Since I actually started them in April, I'll save it for the April posting. :lol:

One more photo - this one is the resident Dragon King, Iroh. Herself made him a hat......he is NOT amused:

Today is grocery day, then we have to fix the run so the chicks/goslings will be safely contained. I'll try to get photos of them outside.......

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February Round-Up

Wed, 10 Mar 2021 20:56:44 GMT

So...I've been on a knitting kick lately. And a Dyeing one, but I have no photos of the newly dyed yarn. :lol: (What? I spent all of Snowvid dyeing up yarn for socks....and a pair of mittens. It was quite productive - I think I ended up with 9 sock kits and the mittens!)

Anyway. After I finished my Windmill Socks, I pulled out a skein of self-striping yarn from Brazen Stitchery. The name is "Captain Tight Pants", which is a Firefly reference. I decided to just knit a plain vanilla pair of socks - no pattern, no thinking. :lol: The only thing I did was try to match the stripes - normally I don't, but I wanted to up my game. I think I did OK:

I then grabbed a set of yarn I had just dyed. The purple was exactly what I had in the mind...the "green" was supposed to be "wheat". It was....off....but when held up to the purple put me in mind of grapevines. So....it was a match!

This is Piccolo Mondo Antico. The pattern was relatively easy, but non-repetitive. I was pretty much over it before I finished sock #1; sock #2 was a bit of a slog.

The closeup shows the colors really well, I think.

I finished these on March 1, so not quite within my February goal. Oh, well! :lol:

Then I grabbed the mitten kit - 3 colors of Cash-Merino yarn. In less than a week, I had these:

They're my first attempt at Norwegian/Latvian mittens. The pattern was pretty easy - the charts were a bit much to keep up with, but not too bad. The pattern is "Birds of Paradise" by Kulabra Designs - I have a LOT of her patterns, and now I REALLY need to knit them up! :lol:(Some of the yarn I dyed is for more of her designs). I started them on 1.5s, but when I hit 75% o the first mitten I admitted it was a bit snug...so off to the frog pond I went. :shrug: I should have listened to my gut - it kept telling me it wasn't right, but I wanted to KNIT, dammit! :rofl:

Herself saw these and ordered 3 pairs. :sigh: I'll be dyeing up the yarn for them this weekend. :lol:

I'm currently working on a "plain" pair of socks - 1 yarn, but in a textured pattern. I started Monday; last night I frogged it because, while it fit, I wasn't happy with how stretched out the pattern was. I'm now back on size 1.5 dpns (I started on 1s, because 1.5s are a little loose. Oh, well. Socks are small, so it's no big deal!)

Anyway, back to it. I want to get this pair done, and get at least 1 color work sock done before the end of the month. Or maybe mittens.......:shrug: We have a bobcat problem again, though, so....we'll see. :Sigh: Sometimes I HATE country living!

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Um....guys?

Mon, 08 Feb 2021 18:08:36 GMT

I finished a pair of socks...which is normal, and normally I'd wait and have a few to upload all at once, but this pair...well....

Pattern is "La Mancha's Giants", I've had it in the queue since at LEAST 2015 (that's when I dyed the yarn for it), and, well - I am very very very pleased with them. Herself picked out the colors, I dyed the yarn, and then it sat until I was ready to knit them. :lol:

Pattern was relatively easy. LOVE how they knit up!

I just had to share.....off to work on my current pair (Plain vanilla, no pattern - just knitting.)

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It's Photo catch-up time!

Tue, 02 Feb 2021 19:48:35 GMT

Mainly because, while it's beautiful outside, it's also nippy. I...don't do nippy very well any more - my wrist and ankle don't like nippy. :sigh: Oh, well - at least I've been productive!

This is going to be very picture-heavy - I've been busy! I'll put them under a cut to save my (non-existent) friend's pages. :lol:

( Cut to save space! )

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Yarn Review and Laughs....

Mon, 25 Jan 2021 19:47:41 GMT

Hoo boy. Last year, woke knitters heads exploded when Hobby Lobby (that evil corporation whose owner has the audacity to impose his personal beliefs into his company, how dare he???? Oh, wait.....) introduced their take on hand dyed yarn with their house brand, Yarn Bee (in 100% super wash Merino fingering/sock and chunky weights. They also have a 75% super wash Merino/25% Lyocell fingering/sock, but I haven't used it yet.) Immediately, there were wails of "how dare they price hand dyed yarn under $20/skein!" and "they aren't paying a living wage!!" and "100% wool won't last!" and - my personal favorite, "they stole my colorway!"

:sigh: Let's discuss this, shall we? (I waited until now, because I wanted to actually knit up some of the yarn in question, and see how it held up to my use. Actual review at the end!)

1. The price/living wage thing. This yarn is sourced in Turkey. I don't have a clue about the cost of living in Turkey, but I'm *pretty* sure it's less than it is here in the good ol' USA. It's priced at $14.99/skein, but you can either use a 40% off coupon OR catch it on one of their bi-weekly 30% off sales (pricing it at $10.59/skein or thereabouts). The full price is good for hand dyed sock yarn (not sure about the chunky) Previously, I thought $18.99/skein for commercially dyed sock yarn was good - $14.99 for hand dyed? Sign me up!

1b. Some knitters immediately exclaimed that the *sniff* knitters *sniff* that purchased this were NOT the market that would buy from exclusive indie dyers. Um...most of the indie yarn I've purchased over the years has started at $20/skein, and gone up from there. (My most expensive skein is a cashmere blend that starts at $35/skein.) This price is a bit steep for most of the people I know. I won't say it's overpriced...but I DO dye my own, and.........let's just say the profit margin is pretty nice at that price point. In this day and age, most people don't have the disposable income that they used to have; if it comes down to buying yarn at Hobby Lobby for $11 vs no yarn, well..........

2. The durability. This one.......:sigh: Wool has been the go-to fiber for centuries. Nylon didn't come around until 1927, and wasn't commercially available until after that (1935?). Before that.....it was wool all the way. Some spinners might have blended it with cotton or linen, but from what I can tell, it was mostly used by itself. Yes, Merino *is* a less strong breed, but it still holds up. AND....this yarn is marketed as fingering weight, not sock weight. Yes, sock weight IS fingering (for the most part), but.....you can knit other things out of it. Hats, mittens, and gloves (or sweaters, even!) don't get the abuse that socks do, so....this argument is really a non-starter. (The main difference is that sock yarn is usually spun tighter, to make it more durable. Not always, but.....and modern sock yarn usually has that nylon component, while fingering doesn't. You can either one in any situation where you gauge matches the pattern. :shrug:)

3. "Stealing color ways". Ha. HA! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Um.....this one is too stupid. There are only so many colors, and only so many ways to combine them. Yes, that number is high, but.......the indie screaming the loudest didn't invent the color way to begin with. The yarn in question is dyed......OK. I don't have a photo, but I have what I think is the original tutorial from 2013. (Yeah, so the shop in question claims to have been in business from 2011. IF this was her invention, she would have shut down the poster of this tutorial way back in 2013, right? I mean.........and she'd be screaming about JoAnn's, too.)

The color way is known as "unicorn farts"....basically, you have half the skein in a solid color (usually black/gray), and the other half is dyed in a rainbow. When you knit it up, you get flashes of color against the solid background (in the Hobby Lobby yarn, you get a rainbow spiral around the sock. It's fun!) LOTS of indie dyers have this color way in some form or another - it's not unique by a long shot.

Speckled yarn - the other "contested" color way - has been around even longer. I have books in my library from the early 2000's - when the indie hand dye scene was in it's infancy - that tell you how to do this. None of this is rocket science! (I, personally, don't like hand dying my own yarn. I prefer techniques that involve plunking the yarn in the dyepot and pouring the dye solution over it. These other techniques, while giving really cool effects, are - for ME - too labor intensive. Long time readers might remember my Yaakov sock dyeing experiments. I LOVE the resulting yarns, but the procedures to get there....aren't my cup of tea. I'll do it as a one-off, for particular projects, but I don't like the mess and multiple steps to get to the fun part - knitting the yarn. :shrug: Different strokes, right? Also, these techniques used to be called hand PAINTED, which makes more sense to me. Again, whatever. :lol:)

To be so conceited that you think that a corporation "stole" a dye technique from you.....I can't even. :shakes head: I guess I should be upset that Hobby Lobby has tonal skeins, huh, since that's what I usually dye up myself. :rolls eyes: A LOT of indie dyers have the same types of color ways - heck, JOANN'S has hand dyed yarns now - but you don't see anyone throwing a fit over *that*, do you??

Anyway. I have.....a few skeins of the Hobby Lobby yarn. I've knit up 3.5 (the .5 is currently on the needles) - 2 in the chunky weight, and 1.5 in the fingering. I'll get photos up later - I don't feel like messing with uploads right now. Let's do a proper review, shall we?

Yarn Name: Yarn Bee Hand Dyed, by Hobby Lobby

Colorway: Multiple

How Knit: Hand

When Knit: 2020/21

Specs: All the skeins I have are 100% super wash Merino, in both Chunky weight and Fingering.

Hand: All the skeins are soft and bouncy, which you'd expect from Merino. Very slight elasticity.

Care: Not sure what the tag says, I machine wash, hang dry. It's super wash, which means it's been chemically treated to not shrink or felt.

Longevity: My finished pair of socks is currently 1 month old, and has been in constant rotation since it came off the needles. There is NO pilling, and no visible wear. (At this point, they've been worn 4 times. No, it's not a lot, but I've had some socks pill and start to fall apart after the first wear. I'm *hard* on socks - I go around sock-footed all the time, even running outside in them.) They were knit on size 1.5s, and the resulting fabric is nice and sturdy. You can't see thru it very easily (socks should be knit tightly; if you can see thru it like you can a screen door, it's too loose and you need to go down a needle size or 2.)

The chunky has been knit into arm warmers. Both pair have been worn for 3 weeks, alternating pairs each day. It's pilling a bit - which is to be expected from Merino. Merino is short-stapled wool, and should be spun into a fine yarn, and tightly plied. This looks like it's a 2-ply; both plies are rather loose. It's a VERY squishy yarn, and warm when knit on both size 8s and 9s. (The 8s made a slightly dense fabric, the 9s is nice and fluid.)

Notes: I am quite impressed with this yarn. All 4 skeins that I've used have been dye fast - no crocking. (Not even the lovely blue chunky yarn!) There's been no splitting while knitting, and it feels good in the hands - not too stiff, or rough. The colors are clear.

The sock currently on the needles...the "unicorn farts" color way (Techno Tribe is the actual name)....it started off spiraling nicely, but when I got halfway down the leg it sort of......exploded into a pool of rainbow. I don't mind.....but I would prefer that it continue in the neat spiral. I don't expect perfectly consistent patterning in hand dyed yarns, but this is a bit.....different. I'm not far enough into the 2nd sock to know if it'll repeat - but I'm used to fraternal socks, so it's all good. (Oh, and it turns out I'm not knitting these socks for me. I finished the first one last night, tried it on, as one does, and realized it wasn't "right". I handed it to Herself, who grabbed it and immediately tried it on, and...yep. It's hers. I should have realized it sooner - ever since I started the leg I had this niggling thought that it wasn't me. :lol: She doesn't get the orange-based version, though - that one's MINE. :rofl:)

At this price point, it's a good way to knit up some of the more common types of hand dyed yarn. If you don't like the resulting fabric, you haven't lost a lot of money. Also, if you can't afford the more pricey indie dyed yarn, this is a great way to get in on the trend without having to decide between yarn and more important (*gasp*! How dare I!) purchases.

I need to get back to it - I have thrown out 4 pairs of socks in the past 2 weeks. It's not a problem - all 4 were over 10 years old (yes, you read that right - *10* years old!), so it's about time I start refilling the sock drawer. My plan for this year is to try and NOT repeat a pattern. I do have plans to knit at least 1 pair of Monkeys (even though I have 3 older pair), because that pattern works with all types of color ways. I've got so many patterns - it's time to test knit them!

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It's Picture Time!

Tue, 03 Nov 2020 12:27:34 GMT

Again. Because......well, I've been busy. TOO busy, but that's all on me. :sigh: I.....fell back into the addiction. Yarn fumes are dangerous. :nods:

Why do I say that? Because.....well, here:

I started these the minute I finished the hat, and finished them last Friday. Photos were taken Sunday, when the socks were nice and dry.......um. I immediately cast on another pair (this one is textured, so 1 yarn only. Easy-peasy.).....but had to set them down shortly after. I, um.....well, I'm halfway down the leg of #1, and can *feel* it, so......

I started a new hat yesterday, to take the edge off. It's on larger needles.......but.....I need an intervention. :lol:

Anyway. These are the Cherry Dream socks. I've had the pattern for years, even dyed up the yarn and "kitted" it 3 or 4 years ago. I just didn't need cherry socks - but Herself, now - Herself wants to sew up a cherry-themed Lolita dress. So.....she now has socks to go with. :lol:

Pattern was easy. But! I have apparently become a much looser knitter - my normal is to use size 2s.....this pair? Size 2s were HUGE. I went down to size 1.5 - which for color work has NEVER worked for me. Now? They are a wee bit loose - on ME - but work. The plain sock I started? I stuck with the size 1.5s, but reduced the stitch count from 72 (my "normal" for years and years!) to 64.

AND THEY FIT. :gulp:

This opens up more patterns for me, but...it boggles my mind. ALL the other socks in my drawer are size 2s, on 72 stitches for color work, and size 1.5s on 72 stitches for plain/textured. This.....is an interesting departure, but I'll roll with it.

I think I'm going to put the socks in time-out, and knock out a few hats. Hats are on larger needles, with fatter yarn........but I don't need a lot of hats. The current one goes in the present box, but.........

Anyone need a hand-knit hat? :seriously: Wool only (but willing to dye up some of my special base yarn - Cashmere/Merino blend - if you need scratch-free. Seriously - there is BUTTER out there that is scratchier than this yarn!), prefer color work (to keep me intrigued)........I am willing. Otherwise I might drown in hats.....:lol:

Yes, this is a serious offer. I have....well. A bit of yarn in the stash. In.....a few colors. And I have......a few patterns. :lol: It'll keep me amused, out of trouble, and help rehabilitate my hand/wrist. I will TRY to knock them out before the holidays, but please remember I'm dealing with recovery here. :smile:

So. Hat, anyone???

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I seem to be on a roll....

Fri, 16 Oct 2020 20:13:34 GMT

because I just finished something I started on Sunday evening - well, finished it yesterday. Photos today - I had to wait for it to dry from it's bath and block. :lol:

This isn't for me; it goes into the "present box" that is woefully empty this year. Normally, I stockpile things for gift-giving.....this year, since I couldn't knit, I couldn't think of anything to gift. I'm trying to make up for lost time......I just started a pair of socks for Herself. Again. I started yesterday, but that little voice told me "too big! Abort!"....I measured it against a pair of my socks, and yeah - it was about 2" to big. :blink: I haven't been that far off in...well, years! I went down a needle size (from 2 to 1.5....:eek!:); this time the cuff looks a bit more reasonable. I'll be restarting the color work in 6 rounds, so we'll see then.

I did bugger up my wrist this AM......I mowed the back yard. I don't use the self-propelled part of the mower, because I figure mowing is the best form of full-body cardio I can get. Normally, it hasn't been a problem. This AM however, I ended up with a weird.......tingly feeling, almost like how you feel when you bounce your hand on a trampoline. The kinda......"sproing-y" feeling, with a bit of pins-and-needles thrown in. Really weird and off-putting. It's still kinda..weird feeling now, almost 8 hours later, so I don't know what's going on there, but I'll watch it. :Sigh: I just got my knitting back, too!!!! :pout:

I need to get dinner going - tonight is spaghetti night. The challah is done and cooling, now to start the sauce.

Have a great one!

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It's Photo time!!

Mon, 12 Oct 2020 14:50:07 GMT

I know, I know - this is the lazy way out. But....I finished Himself's scarf last night!!! And - AND! Herself actually sewed an entire outfit!!! 95% by Herself!!!!!!

:deep breath:

Let's start with Herself, OK? I'm SO proud! (OK, so it's not a style or fabric *I* would have chosen, but that's OK. She did a pretty good job!) ETA: the blouse is bought; we haven't found a good pattern yet.

Dress pattern is the infamous Simplicity 8444 ("infamous" because a bunch of Lolita's got their petticoats in a twist; seems that a large company can't put out a Lolita dress pattern without "stealing" it. Um. Yeah. Whatever. :lol:). The pattern is OK, the instructions....are a little bit obtuse. Herself didn't want to "wing it" - she wanted to follow the instructions. She ended up winging part of it, because neither of us understood what the instructions said. I knew what we were supposed to end up with, so I talked her through, and I serged all the edges (my serger intimidates her.) We added the waist ties; she cloned a pair from one of her purchased dresses.

The major difference in ours and the pattern, though, is that I did a rolled edge on the underskirt ruffles. The pattern wanted a 1/8" hem.......right. MUCH easier to simply let the serger roll it. Also, the pattern doesn't have you finish the raw edges of the TOPS of the ruffles......:shrug: I did a fast serger edge and we went from there.

The hat is from Choly Knight; it gave her a bit of trouble, but she did ALL of it herself.

Why yes, I AM a bit chuffed! :lol:

Now, for my turn: a closeup of Himself's finished scarf!

Pattern is the by now ubiquitous among knitters "Irish Hiking Scarf". Yarn is something-something Shepherd's Wool I got at Tuesday Morning a.....few......years ago. It's nice; not super soft, but bouncy. The marbling kinda hides the cables, but it looks really, really nice.

All 7' of it. :blink: When I picked it back up, I was at 24", maybe. I think.....I think I got back into the rhythm of it pretty quickly. :lol

Oh, and one more photo of what I had to put up with this morning while heading out to my Studio:

ALL the dogs had the "zoomies" this morning. I was able to capture the Dunnelstan in full zoom. :lol: I spared you the joy of having him AND Chloe running into me......THAT was fun. At least I didn't fall!

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You Guys!!!!!!

Wed, 30 Sep 2020 15:10:14 GMT

I know this probably doesn't mean a lot to most of y'all, but....You Guys. YOU GUYS!!!!!

I can KNIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

See, I am a Knitter - knitting isn't a hobby, it's a lifestyle. Sounds weird, right? But.....for the past....20+ years, up until the Incident, I had a knitting project on me at all times (except sleeping and bathing, because that would be weird. :lol:) 20 minute wait at the restaurant? No problem - let me turn the heel of my sock. 3+ hour wait at the IRS (ugh) - Cool! I can get the leg finished! Hours upon hours upon HOURS at the Social Security office? Let me work on my never-ending sweater! (an aside - I don't see how there can be a lot of Disability scams - they were VERY thorough on Herself. Multiple meetings, plus 2 hours-long evaluations with their own doctors...it was tedious. And thorough. And something I never want to do again!)

The past year has been very difficult for me - my coping mechanism has been unavailable. I don't know how "normal" people cope with lines and long waits. Reading helped, but....I devour books. (3 250 page novels per DAY. Yes, it's a habit. Yes, I comprehend what I'm reading. I just...read very very fast. Always have.)

Yesterday, I ran out of books. :gasp: Herself has taken over the Studio so sewing is out for now.......and I couldn't play any video games because it was Family Battlefront 2 night. I looked at my knitting...and thought "what the heck - if it hurts, I stop."

It. Didn't. Hurt.

I knit for a solid 40 minutes before I got ouchy. 4 pattern repeats on the scarf that was supposed to be last year's present for Himself. I'm SLOW, but......knitting.

I am SO thankful, y'all. Slow is fine - I don't have to rehome my stash! (Seriously. I have......yarn. Enough that I probably don't have to buy any more for....almost the rest of my life (as long as I only knit socks or scarves. Sweaters...I'll have to buy, because I don't have any sweater amounts in my stash. :lol:)

Just wanted to share.....I can knit again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Slight update

Thu, 19 Dec 2019 13:59:13 GMT

so. the kids and i talked earlier this week - they are my chore buddies, and i value their opinions - and we have decided to *not* breed any does this year. no kids, therefore, no milking.

this means, of course, no fresh milk for us. it also means, of course, i don't have to try and hand-milk 4 does. machine-milking is out, for now, because i can't hook up 2 inflations at once right now. we've done 1 at a time in the past...it's not fun, because the does tend to get antsy when only 1 side is being milked, and dance when you try to attach the other inflation. honestly - it's faster to hand-milk 4 or fewer goats than it is to machine-milk them. the actual milking goes faster on the machine, yes - but then you have to haul water to *clean* the machine. that's not an option for me, right now, so - i take a year off, try to strengthen my hand and wrist, and try to regain some range-of-motion.

soap-making *will* happen, but i'll buy the milk. :shrug:

i'm also seriously thinking about down-sizing my loom. i'm not ready to give up weaving, not yet, and i'm not using the full width of my current loom anyway. honestly - i haven't woven much this past year or so, anyway; i've been more focused on sewing. i just.....i'm not ready to *not* call myself a weaver. i need to sit down and see how painful/difficult weaving is before i make any solid decision - but at the moment i think down-sizing is the right thing to do. maybe. i love this loom.........we'll see.

i'm currently in full declutter mode, for some reason. the kitchen was done yesterday - got rid of 2 trash bags of stuff that, while usable, isn't donate-able (i'll use broken/faded/not fully-functionable things, but i won't give them to people.) today is an ikea run to get a few organizers to finish the drawers, then i'll start on the cookbooks. i have SO many cookbooks! i need to weed them, then go thru the other bookshelves and make a run to the used book shop. they'll give me credit - yes, more books, but less than half of what i brought it, so it's still a win. then i'll start on the family room.....

herself is doing a major overhaul of her studio space. 10 trash bags so far, and she's just started. the goal is to get her space clean and set up so i can get my dining room back. himself is working on his room - guess my mood is infectious! hope there's no vaccine for it - this really needs to be done. :lol:

i've got herself's Hanukkah present started - a scorbunny hoodie. pattern is by choly knight - she's awesome. her patterns are well-written, go together pretty easily, and she has "hacking" packs for some of them to customize them. the hoodie pattern was already traced off (herself made her Bakugo hoodie from it), so all i had to do was print 2 copies of the scorbunny add-ons and cut them out. i have all the small parts cut out of the fabric, just need to cut the back, front and sleeves then i can start assembling it. i'm working on a scarf for himself - it's not the one i started back in june; this one is a simple 3-cable one. it's taking me ages - i started this back in october. i can only knit 2 or 3 rows at a time...but it'll get done eventually. then hopefully i can go back to his "real" scarf........:sigh: (he saw fox paws and got intrigued. i got him to give me the 5 colors, i ordered yarn, and cast on. i got almost to the end of the first repeat when the dog nation attacked :lol:.....i can't do the 5 stitch-decrease or the multiple increases right now. hopefully soon.....

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Updatey-thing

Sun, 13 Jan 2019 21:49:24 GMT

So. How've you been? I've been busy - as usual. :lol: Himself asked me to replace his shirts with me-made ones, :gulp!: so I've been in the Studio working on a muslin for him to abuse. Funny thing - about the same time he asked me, Fabric Mart sent me an email with all shirtings on SALE. DEEP sale. (Gotta love Divine intervention, no? :rofl:) He now has 5 pieces of designer (seriously - Ralph Lauren, a "famous Hawaiian designer", and someone else I can't remember) cotton waiting to be turned into lovely button-down shirts. The muslin just needs buttonholes and buttons, then he gets to abuse it for a couple of weeks before I start on the "real" fabric.

In the meantime, I'm going to be sewing him a body double - Bootstrap Fashion has done it again. They offer custom drafted dress form patterns now....$24 for most sizes ($35-ish for the standard, multi-size patterns). I have his pattern, and we went out Friday and picked up the fabric for it (plain, gray, mid-weight cotton. He didn't want a pattern - even though it's in MY Studio. I don't mind - as long as it's in the color scheme I have going, it's good.) Soon as I get the buttonholes in, I'll start on it. :excited:

I'm not doing goals/resolutions/aspirations this year. Too much stress. :lol: Instead, I'm going to look back at 2018, then forward to 2019 to see what I plan on doing.

Knitting: Last year was pretty much a bust once FIL died. My knitting mojo left, and still hasn't really returned. I think it's because I had just finished a pair of stained glass socks (he LOVED them), and started another pair when he died. I finally finished the 2nd pair in....August, I think (he died in MAY). I started a scarf for Himself in December, and I'm finally 2/3's done.

This year, I'd like to knit more. I need to finish his scarf, knock out a hat for Herself, and start on this year's scarf for Himself. And finish a few pairs of socks for me. We'll see.....

Sewing: Last year wasn't too bad. I spent at least half focused on bags/purses, but I did get a few clothing items done. This year, I want to do Himself's shirts, then focus on undergarments for Herself and me. And a few purses, here and there, for the shop. Oh, and a few laptop cases - Cyn needs one DESPERATELY, and I want to see if maybe there's a market for geeky ones. (Hers will be the tester. :lol:)

Spinning/Weaving: I honestly haven't done much of either. I NEED to get back to the loom - I need the quiet contemplation weaving brings me. Spinning......well, can't do that in the house right now, as Duncan would eat the wheel. Teething wolfhounds are...well....a MESS. But cute!

Exercise: By December, I had a decent routine worked out. Sun/Tues/Thurs I do the weight machine. Mon/Wed/Fri I do a Pilates tape - 20 minutes right now. I want to keep that up - I've lost an inch in my waist so far! :huzzah!: Soon as my ankle gets better (don't ask) I'd like to hit the treadmill.......:sigh:

The contract job has sorta started back up. We'll see how it goes - I don't mind it. The money is nice, and the work is easy. I'm supposed to help Cyn with tax returns, so that'll also help.

Himself has gotten me to play some video games with him - it's fun. It's also a good way to bond...so this Mama is going to try to become a gamer. :gulp: So far, he's got me into Subnautica (creative only - I don't DO scary sea monster jump scares! I like building underwater bases and exploring.), Medieval Engineers, and he wants me to start playing Space Engineers, too. Oh, and Kerbal Space Program. :lol: He's offered to buy me the older Star Wars games, too.....but that's going to involve getting a MS :hiss: machine to properly run them - Macs aren't great for gaming. (I think I'll be getting one, anyway, for the contract stuff. All the programs client uses are MS based.....:sigh: I HATE MS machines! I'm an Apple fan......) Ah, well - it's fun. The kids are currently playing Borderlands 2........it's too violent for *me*. I'm a wuss.....

Let's see....oh. Monday last Tigger had a seizure. NSDH immediately ran her to the ER Vet - she's now on anti-seizure meds. (Don't mind me. We can't afford for me to go get my ankle checked out, but we can go into debt for a dog. Sure. Why not?) She's doing fine now - we have no idea what caused it. Our vet said they don't diagnose epilepsy after the dog is 5.....she's going on 11 now. So....who knows? She'll be on pills the rest of her life (at $75/month. Really, don't mind me - I'll get over it eventually.)

Anyway, I think that gets me up to date. Tomorrow is back to Cyn's, then Tuesday is finish the bloody shirt and start the body double day. Should be fun!

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So. Tired!

Mon, 09 Apr 2018 19:49:09 GMT

But it's a good tired! Let's see if I can get y'all caught up.

1. Studio: Have recovered the couch in the Studio (this was a while back, but still - need to update!). It was a really....out there 60's brown/yellow/orange/brown plaid; now it's plain canvas. I also made a quilt and 4 or 5 throw pillows for it. MUCH nicer in there, now!

1a. We also got rid of "Big Ugly" - the old entertainment center I had in there. Now I have a double Billy and a single, in white. They....well. Big Ugly was 3' deep; the Billys are 15". So all the fleece is hanging out next to the loom. But! The Billy's have glass doors, and my yarn looks VERY NICE now. I can actually SEE what I have....which...well. I don't need any yarn for a while. I have enough in most weights to make almost anything. (Only 1 sweater's worth set aside; if I decide I NEED another sweater, we'll have to go shopping. But for hats/gloves/socks/scarves, I'm set.

2. Knitting: Have banged out 3 hats and a few pairs of socks. I've slowed down recently - I messed up my right elbow last month and can't do a lot without pain. :sigh: I have 2 pairs of socks on the needles, but they are stalled. No biggie - I'm sewing, instead!

3. Sewing: I joined Sew Over It's PDF club, and have taken advantage of it. I jumped on the new "Ultimate Culottes" - I have 3 pair, so far. Have plans for a few more - the goal is to get rid of my default sweat pants, and replace them with something a little more feminine. These fit the bill, at least for Spring/Summer/Fall. Have some Jeans patterns I need to work on, but right now I'm focused on Summery stuff. (It's been in the 80's...in MARCH and early APRIL. How hot is August gonna be????) Fabric Mart had a huge sale, and I scored some really nice Cotton Lawn. Already knocked out 1 SOI Vintage Shirt Dress; I have SOI's Nancy Dress (a Swing Dress) that I think will make a lovely tunic that I will tackle next. (SOI FITS me. I have to do very very little modification to their patterns, which is very very rare for me. SO NICE!)

4. Life, in general: Himself is.....better. He has developed an interest in modding Nerf blasters, thanks to the YouTube channel "Battle Universe". We've been having Family Nerf battles every Saturday evening....I am bruised, but it's fun. He still can't deal with crowds, so he stayed home yesterday while the rest of us went to Dallas Fan Expo.

FYI: IF you should decide you'd like to take your family to a Con (and have never been), might I suggest Sunday as your first visit? It's generally less crowded and a little bit cheaper. Most vendors (but not all!) are willing to slash prices so they don't have to move the stock back home. BUT.

If, say, there are more than 2 autographs you want to get, and they are BIG names, I highly recommend you spring for at least 1 Premium ticket (or VIP, but those prices are.....well. $$$$) We learned this with Mark Hamill - Sunday tickets, long lines, almost didn't get the autograph after HOURS of standing in line. For David Tennent, I did the Premium - we got 5 line jumps, so there was very little waiting.

This time......well. It was HUGE. Just some of the stars: Princess Bride Vizini, Wesley, and Humperdink; 2001 (the 2 main male characters); Back to the Future Biff, Doc Brown (Michael J. Fox and the girl had to cancel last minute, but STILL); Val Kilmer; Chuck Norris; Richard Dean Anderson; Inara from Firefly, Anthony Daniels (C3P0), Billy Dee Williams (LANDO CALRISSIAN, Oh My Goodness!!!!)...and the list honestly GOES ON (oh, Ben Afflack was there....he's a bit full of himself.). There were 9 autographs SG wanted, so -after a lot of waffling, to the point he missed the VIP pass - he went for a Premium. He decided on 4, total...and got the 3 "big" ones on Saturday. (He would have gotten some on Friday, but the guys he wanted didn't make it before he had to leave.) Sunday he got Inara's while Herself and I waited in line for the 2 SHE wanted - the English voice actors for a Japanese anime called "My Hero Acadamia". If you haven't discovered it yet....go. Go NOW. It's just started Season 3, and it's WONDERFUL. (Basically humans have evolved super hero powers, called "quirks". There are a few quirkless folks around - the main protagonist is a 14 year old quirkless boy named Midoriya. (Called "Deku"). The Number 1 Hero is All Might - and Herself LOVES them. Here, let me show you:

When she found out Justin (Deku) and Chris (All Might) were going to be here, she pulled out the Sculpy and went to work. :lol: We took them with us yesterday so she could give them to the actors....who are both simply LOVELY people. Very, very, very nice and personable, and both of them were SO NICE to my out-of-her-element Aspie. :hugs: So nice, in fact, that she willingly got selfies with both:

That, my friends, is Chris Sabat, voice of All Might (and Vagita from Dragonball Z). He is.....well, you can see. :lol: (She is bounding as Bonnie from FNAF. She crocheted the guitar. Yes, it's awesome. :lol:)

This is Justin Briner, voice of Deku. VERY nice guy!

She is thrilled - SG bought her a print with the whole ensemble (Class 1A from the school), and both Chris and Justin signed it. If any of the other actors come thru, she'll get them to sign it, too. (Yes, *I* also have their autographs...because I really like the show, too.)

We came home with 2 new plushies for her (Oh My - 40" tall Bonnie and Chicka from FNAF. They barely fit in the car!!!), a Gjallorhorn prop from Destiny (it was a flash sale....for 75% off! Himself is looking into modding it to actually fire Nerf missiles. :lol:), a bunch of art work, and some custom-painted Nerf blasters. Oh! We also had a photo op with the Princess Bride trio - it was a hoot! It was a good day! But exhausting - today has been very laid-back.

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We're still here!

Sun, 22 Oct 2017 13:38:44 GMT

Wow, it's been a month....let me fill you in on our doings:

No, wait - it's too much. Let me sum up:

1. Himself is.....well, Himself. He's started social skills training, and has had 1 meeting with the therapist assigned to him. That.....didn't go to well; he doesn't like her. She - get this! - has NEVER SEEN STAR WARS. This is an issue........:sigh: He starts with the medical side on it Tuesday.

2. Herself is OK. Stressed over her brother, of course. I'm trying to get her into the same program.

3. Me. Hanging in there. Over-booked, but it's for the kids, so I'm OK. I've made 10 batches of soap - so far. I finished my "Skywalker" socks (Mark Hamill breathed on them! :squee!: /fangirl ), started and finished a pair of Firefly-themed socks, and am halfway thru a pair of Shakespeare-themed ones. Why Shakespeare? Because....

3a. This weekend is Dallas Fan Days. Matt Smith (the 11th Doctor) was supposed to headline; Yawn. I was going, but not to see him - he and the Ponds RUINED Dr. Who for me. :shrug: However, he cancelled, and they brought in 10. David Tennant. Oh My GOSH! David-freaking-Tennant! Mr. Scottish Shakespearean actor!!!!!!!

3b. I ponied up extra $$$ to get a "Gold" pass for this con - after the Mark Hamill fiasco (HOURS in line!), I swore never-again. The Gold pass gets you in all 3 days (we only went 1x, so that was a waste), PLUS 5 line jumps. Meaning - NO long waits!

We got there yesterday at 9:30; the doors opened at 10. *I* could have gone on in, but wanted to wait with SG and Herself (we could honestly only afford 1 gold pass.) We went straight to the autograph floor, and found Tennant's line. Since we had a gold pass, we went straight to the front (along with about 50 of our newest best friends. :lol:) He was supposed to start signing at 10:30; at 10:20 he arrived to a loud, long, cheer and started signing.

By 10:40, we were done. He is a VERY lovely person - he was friendly, actually *looked* at each person in front of him, and made small talk with ALL of us. Herself made a "Tiny 10" for him - he was gobsmacked. Asked if it was Fimo (well, yes/no - it's actually Sculpey, but that's basically the same thing), then asked if it was really FOR him, to actually TAKE home (yup!), then said his kid(s) would LOVE it. :squee!: It was great! (and, honestly - worth every penny we paid!)

We spent a few more hours there, shopping and talking with folks. Himself stayed home (he was pre-alpha testing a game), but he had tentatively requested a light saber - IF I could find either Kylo Ren's or Vader's, and ONLY IF it wasn't "too expensive". "It's just going to, you know, sit on my shelf, so I don't want you to spend too much. I really don't want you to spend...anything...but.....I.....I wouldkindaliketohaveacoollightsaber. If that's OK....."

My baby (who never asks for anything, and refuses to let me spend money on him) actually ASKING for something? You KNOW Mama's going to do whatever she can to fulfill THAT wish, right? Right. He now has an Ultra Saber "Chosen One". :snerk: In a nickel-plated finish (because SG insisted, and paid for half of the saber, so....Sure!) He was totally thrilled when we got home - he actually LEFT his game to admire his new saber! (That's BIG. Really, really BIG.)

4. Slowly working on getting the house in order. The kitchen is DONE, the family room is almost done, the dining room is...well, done, but I need to get the donate pile out of there and to the donation center. The Game Room is a DISASTER, but that's not my problem - that is SG's room. He said HE was in charge of it....so *I* am leaving it alone.

5. I need to find a new calendar/schedule app. Preferably one I can have color-code appointments so I know at a glance WHO I am hauling someplace. Bonus points if it lets me also schedule chores. DOUBLE bonus points if it is "cross platform" - meaning I only need to buy it once, but can run it on my iPad, iPhone and, maybe, my MacBook. Off to the App Store I go!

Sorry it took a month.....but seriously, life is packed right now.

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Happy Sunday!

Sun, 29 Jan 2017 13:49:29 GMT

Went to the Stock Show on Friday - SG bought me some lovely, lovely work gloves. Thinsulate-lined deerskin gloves; very warm, very sturdy. LOVE them!

FIL is....well, he's been moved to a regular room. I talked to him last night; he was slightly confused and very, very wheezy. :sigh: I....don't like it. At all.

Piano! It's going well. The teacher has both of us in book 1 for "Recreational Music Makers". It fits - I don't want to perform anywhere, I just want to be able to play piano. And harp. :lol: Problem......this book is, so far, too basic for *me*. He assigned both of us Module 1 for this week. I am....well, I'm into Module 4 already. :lol: To be fair, he warned me I'd move pretty quickly at first. The problem? I have to hide it from SG, who doesn't read music, doesn't have much music background, and is struggling with Module 1. :sigh: NOT fun at all.....(Every practice I start with Module 1. IF I play it perfectly, I move on to 2, then 3 etc. I have to play it perfect before I move on, though - I want my left hand to get with the program. Module 5 is where we are introduced to the Grand Staff (both clefs!)...I'm waiting on that. For now. :lol:)

Still knitting. Finished the fingerless gloves and started (yet) another hat. This one has Sheepies on it! :lol:

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It's Picture Time!

Sun, 22 Jan 2017 14:21:50 GMT

Because I have a LOT of photos, I made a college. Kinda sucks, but hey - it's photos! :lol:

This is all the stuff I've knit and finished in January. The socks were started....in late September, but all the rest was started and finished in January. What can I say? Stress knitting at it's finest! Also, all the January stuff is knit in worsted weight yarn - which is thicker than my beloved sock weight, and knits up faster.

I am in the midst of another set of fingerless mitts......my kitchen can't be finished soon enough! I'd like to knit something...smaller. Like socks. Right now, though, I can't get to my ball winder, so I have to knit with yarn that comes in ready-to-knit packages. :shrug: I can always use another hat or two or three....:rofl: Especially "fashion" hats like the cloches - they're warm, and cute, and give me options. As do the 2 new geeky hats.....Star Wars and Dr. Who for the win!

Back to the knitting.......beats painting. Which I did yesterday - the kitchen has been redone AGAIN. I....liked the aqua-isa blue, but I didn't love it. It's now a nice Federal/French blue...and I LOVE it. It's a bit dark right now, but once the white cabinets go in it'll pop.

Have a great one!

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I see the light!

Sun, 15 Jan 2017 21:03:18 GMT

Floors are DONE. Finished. Beautiful. The kids' bathroom is virtually done - the grout needs to finish curing (tomorrow evening!) and we need to hang the towel rack and rehang the door, but I can mark it off the list.

And the kitchen cabinets have been ordered and will be delivered Jan. 30. Let me repeat that: My Kitchen will be Delivered 1/30/17. !

I need to talk about that - because my experience wasn't what the internet said it would be. It was better. Remember, I paid $249 to get Ikea's partner Traemand to come out, measure, and plan my kitchen for me - and I think that's why the actual ordering process went so quickly.

The Internet told me to a) get there right as the doors opened (we...didn't. :sigh:) and be prepared for a 2 or 3 hour ordeal - because the salespeople had to place the order line item by line item. :shudder: So, I was prepared for a long, drawn-out ordeal.

I brought ALL the paperwork Traemand sent me (VERY important!), plus the receipt from when I set up the measurement/planning (also VERY important! Take ALL the paperwork Ikea has ever given you - it'll make life so much easier!)

We got there at 11 (because SG decided to pay off the piano first, instead of 2nd. :sigh:), and had a 30 minute or so wait. To say they were packed would be an understatement - and it looked like almost everyone wanted to PLAN their kitchen right then. (I don't know why they weren't set up on the planner and left...that's what happened the first time we went in, but I digress.) When my name was called, the guy asked me what I needed; I said, "I'm here to order my kitchen." He went pale. "Traemand sent me all the paperwork - and I have it - what else do you need from me? Do I need to sign in the planner?"

He took a deep breath, said "You went thru Traemand? This'll be easy, then! Let me see the papers...." He found the plan #, typed it in, told it to convert to a sales order, removed the appliances (because the guy at Traemand didn't.....he was hoping we'd order the Ikea appliances, too. HA! Not even....), double-checked the number of items, and hit "final". He then got his supervisor over (he's been with Ikea for 12 years, but just started in kitchens) to make sure it was done correctly; she "fixed" a few things, told him how to get me the "free" gift card (the refund from the planning fee), then watched him check me out.

We were done within 30 minutes of his calling my name.

I am expecting 124 packages, weighing 599.9 Kg. :gulp!: We have 48 hours to do an inventory after they drop the stuff off; after that it's on us to pay for anything missing. Damaged items will be replaced free of charge - they just want to make sure we actually received everything we ordered.

Now, because everyone asks: Total cost for the kitchen, upper cabinets, lower cabinets, countertop, bar countertop, sink and range hood, WITH tax and delivery: $5,392.49. Let me repeat: This is for the ENTIRE kitchen, less installation. (Delivery was $199; tax was $316.64 - meaning the actual cost of the kitchen was $4,876.85. Go compare that to Home Depot or Lowe's, just for fun. :lol:)

Install will be another $2,250.00. We *could* DIY; I've offered. However......both of us kinda don't feel like it. Yes, Himself could - and would happily! - assemble all the cabinets by himself.....but......y'know what? Life's too short. We've agreed it's worth $2300 to NOT do it ourselves. (Unlike the bathroom - it was NOT worth $1,500 to pay someone else to do it.)

Insurance had allocated about $4,000 for the lower cabinets and countertop ONLY.....so I think we did pretty well. The contractor we consulted quoted $5,000 for lower cabinets and countertop; that did include installation, but no uppers and no bar. I think we came out ahead, actually - and I LOVE how the kitchen looks in the planning tool.

I am in a faint freak-out phase right now; we have NO kitchen at all (the sink was torn out for the floors, and can NOT be reinstalled.) We DO have a microwave....but it'll be coming out a day or 2 before the install. I am SO ready for all this to be over!

In good news, I have another new hat, and I've started yet another one. We ran out to Tuesday Morning today; they have a bunch of Clover wooden needles (both circular AND straights) for $2.99 (yes, Mom - I left some! :lol: RC's is Right There if you wanna go shop!).....I filled in the blanks in my collection, and added a few more balls of yarn. Today is work-day; Cyn needs it by this weekend, so I need to get cracking!

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It's a Star Wars weekend!

Sun, 18 Dec 2016 18:00:42 GMT

We've been busy, but let me get this out of the way: Rogue 1 is a good movie. It is a Star Wars......made-for-TV-movie. It doesn't FEEL like a true Star Wars movie...it feels like a one-off (which, it is.) IF you've seen the 1977 Star Wars (aka "A New Hope"), then you already know what HAS to happen here - and it does.

This is a WAR movie. It's not......over-blown violent, but people die. On screen. (Again, if you are at all familiar with Star Wars, then you KNOW what is going to happen.) It does fill in the details about what happened just before Ep. IV opens - literally, Rogue 1 ends moments before the screen crawl of IV begins. it was a satisfying show, but.......it feels like a - dare I say this? - Holiday Special :snerk: :rolls on floor laughing uproariously: :have you SEEN the Holiday Special from the '70's?????: :lol: Only, Better. This has story, and plot and it's a good show.

Ah :wipes eyes: - it was good, but I won't be going back to the theatre to see it again. I'll buy the DVD, because Star Wars, but.....:shrug: They did a good job with the Senators that started the rebellion (Mon Mothma, Bail Organa) - they aged them from the prequels beautifully. The CGI Tarkin (that actor died years and years ago!) works, IF you don't scrutinize it too much. There was only 1 plot.....pothole; it doesn't matter, it doesn't make you question the movie, it just......doesn't explain WHY the Tantive IV was docked with the ship it was docked with, during the battle (again - if you've seen IV, you KNOW there was a battle. I'm trying my best to NOT spoil it!) - there isn't a logical reason for it, but - eh, it works. The motivation for most of the characters makes sense, the acting is really, really GOOD, the dialogue is snappy (a bit too much, honestly, but.....eh. I could do with less smart-alecky-ness, but it wasn't enough to make me quit caring.) The action is intense, and everything *works* - you care about the characters, you care about the mission (even though you already know that they succeed - we've seen the future!). AND Vader gets to Vader around - SHOWING why people feared him.

Anyway - that was Friday. :lol:

Yesterday was Ikea. I HATE Ikea, I really do - it's a soul-sucking bastion of the Underworld - but they have affordable cabinets. That I actually like. :Sigh: I got an appointment for Wednesday for a kitchen planner to come out and spend up to 4 hours with me, actually planning my kitchen. Yes, I have set it up in the official planning program......but. It's buggy, it doesn't have everything *I* want, and I don't want to buy a lot of stuff only to find out it doesn't work the way I thought it would. Plus, we get that fee back when we order the cabinets, so....it's free piece of mind. We also bought the vanity, sink, faucet, and storage cabinet for the kids' bathroom. We then hit Home Depot and bought paint and the tub fixture, then priced a new tub and toilet (the Jeep was FULL, and it'll take the truck to get the tub. I want porcelain over steel, NOT fiberglass, so....yeah. Truck.)

This week, I have to go order the floors. I have to wait until the bank releases the rest of the funds, but.......:huzzah!: Things are starting to move along rather nicely.

I finished scarf #6 today - I am back to socks, now. :lol: Cyn gave me some $$ for my birthday; I bought some worsted weight yarn. Smiley's Yarn has the BEST prices I've found for economical yarns - it's kind of hit-or-miss on fiber content, but they had a decent selection of 100% wool worsted and DK weight yarns. I bought....well, I bought enough that I should be set for a while. I have a large selection of sock-weight yarn; it was time I branched out. (Yes, I can use sock yarn for other things...but it takes longer. Smaller yarn = more stitches. I want hats NOW, not 2 weeks from now, y'know? :lol:)

It's almost lunch-time; better skitter! It's currently 22*; need to toss another log on the fire!

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Houston, we are go for Remodeling!

Wed, 14 Dec 2016 14:18:07 GMT

The insurance check came back on Monday, and we dropped everything to run it to the bank. They, of course, put a hold on most of the funds, but enough has been released that we can go get the kids' bathroom vanity today (if we wanted - we're planning an Ikea run Saturday). We're also going to replace their tub and toilet while we're at it (why not? They could use replacement - might as well do it now, before replacing the floors.) Next week, when the bulk is released, I'll order the floors and the kitchen cabinets. :happy dance:

I'll soon have my house back! Can't wait!!!!

We are going to arrange a professional to come out and measure the kitchen - we've done it, I've played with Ikea's kitchen designer program....but I am planning some changes and want to make sure I don't screw up. The current plan has 2 small countertops on either side of the stove......and, in MY kitchen, they are useless. They simply collect stuff. I really want to ditch them - run the wall cabinets down to the countertop, leaving just a "lip" of counter. Regular cabinets on top, drawers on bottom, with a built-in microwave (Ikea has a cabinet designed just for that, but it's the same depth all the way. I want - I THINK I want - shallower cabinets on top.....according to the program, it looks like it'll work, but I want the confidence that'll come from an Ikea professional looking and advising. (The other side of the kitchen is a long run of countertop that curves around the sink and ends in a small clear space. IF I have enough storage space, that'll be enough counter space. If not.....we'll be hacking an island to match - right now I have a portable island from Big Lots, but it doesn't match, it won't match, and Herself can use it for lamp working.)

I think this knitting jag is almost over - I'm on the last (for now) scarf.....and have slowed down a bit. I'm still planning on stocking up on "larger" yarn - I am a SOCK knitter. I use tiny yarn/tiny needles - anything larger than a size 2 feels like I'm trying to knit with pencils or something. I am good on sock yarn......not so much on hat/sweater/bulky yarn. :lol:

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Well...THAT was interesting...

Mon, 12 Dec 2016 15:04:29 GMT

Seems I got bit by a knitting jag Friday afternoon. My knitting mojo has been mostly gone for a while - understood, but still. I guess spending a lot of time the past year in hospital rooms knitting kinda ruined my mojo......but I was still plugging along on a sock. If by "plugging along" you mean knitting 1 needle's worth of stitches (18) every day or so......

Anyway. Friday I was upset with myself, so I decided to go find some BIG, fun yarn and try to knit something mindless. Unfortunately, I am predominately a sock knitter - which means SMALL yarn. I did have 1 ball of Bulky yarn that SG bought me last year (yes, HE bought me a ball of yarn, un-asked for. It's not "my" type - it's 75/25 Poly/Wool - but HE bought it.).....so I went to Ravelry and looked up projects using it. There are...a LOT of projects using bulky wool! Who Knew???

I settled on a nice cowl, CO enough stitches to wrap around 2x, and went at it.

3 hours later, I was DONE. Finished. So I cast on 60 stitches with the leftovers, and......1.5 hours later I had a nice, snuggly cowl.

SG took me to the yarn store in Ft. Worth (we went to pick up Herself).....they were having a 30% off EVERYTHING sale. I, um....fell down. Not hard....but 6 balls of yarn, 4 of which were bulky (2 are worsted for a hat for me). Of the 4, I am on ball #3. Since Saturday afternoon. :blink:

I still don't want to work on the sock, but I think my mojo is coming back. I also think I am slightly addicted to super-quick knits......:lol:

I think I am going to stock up on bulky yarn, and knit it up during the year. That way, I'll have some presents ready to go - and some new warm things for me/mine. Win/Win - just because they are quick doesn't mean that they aren't worthy presents. :lol:

I have the 4 finished cowls drying now; the 5th one needs washing and the 6th one is on the needles now. the last one is for Herself.......I put it off because she chose the most eye-blinding skein she could find. :lol:

Oh! Himself talked me into playing Subnautica......it's pretty, it's neat, and it's TERRIFYING. The killer fish are...well.......scary. He's going to set me up in Creative mode so that I won't be bothered by them - I'm not so much into the story as I am into exploring the pretty, pretty world. He's also playing - I'll get the story from him. :lol:

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Quick guide to Probate...

Wed, 11 May 2016 20:39:38 GMT

for those of you, who, like me, have NO idea of what, exactly, being named an Executor entails. It's interesting!

First, someone has to die and name you executor in their will. You need to cobble together some money (in our example, $1800-ish), and contact a Probate Attorney. Bonus points if he's "local" to you. Find the will, and make an appointment.

Go to the appointment. Discuss the basics of the "estate" with same; be sure to verify you will get back any funds spent by you on estate business (in Texas, yes - you will get back the funds. Otherwise, you'll come out *less* than the other heirs, and that's not fair.) Agree to the attorney's fees, and write a retainer check.

Go home, freak out slightly on the amount of money you will be out until you can liquidate assets.

Wait approx. 2 weeks. Get a letter from the attorney spelling out the date and time you are to go to Court to be officially appointed as Executor. Notice that he wants you to meet with him 15 minutes before the court time, so you can go over your "testimony". Mark date on calendar so that you are SURE you won't forget.

Court day! Make sure you are dressed appropriate to the dignity of the court - NOT in cut-off shorts and flip-flops, or the dirty wife-beater, stained and torn jeans, and tatts that the folks after us showed up in. :shakes head: Because you are paranoid about being late to official things, make sure you leave the house with PLENTY of time to spare. (In our case? Um.....4 hours. For a 1 hour drive. In my defense, SG offered to take me to lunch at a sit-down place that notoriously runs slow. We ended up at Chick-fil-a......and the yarn store. :lol: More on THAT later...suffice to say I *needed* a new project, right then.)

Wait for your attorney, who is LATE. Later than my brother, in fact, who is almost always late. (In our family, I got all the "Must get there on Time" genes, and my brother got all the "don't worry, it's fine, I'll get there when I get there" genes.) Then, remind your attorney of who, exactly, you are (he tried to give me someone else's paperwork. TWICE.)

Go over the "testimony" - basically, you answer yes or no to various easy questions. If you're not totally brain-dead, you've got this. :lol: Oh - be sure you're not a felon, or been declared legally incompetent. :snicker:

Take a deep breath, and go into the Court. The Judge will swear you in, get your attorney to hand him the papers, and then he'll tell your attorney to question you. Pay attention - he might try to trick you by asking "And you swear you are not a felon" and "Have you ever been declared mentally incompetent"...which if you are not listening you might mis-interpret. (No, I didn't. I did sign one page on the wrong line, though....)

The Judge will declare you Executor. You and your attorney will then go to the clerk's office to get the paperwork (he didn't tell me that.....:sigh:) and then you are done and can sell all the things.

Re: Yarn. I had started a new sock last Friday. By Friday evening, I was OVER it. The yarn - which was NOT cheap ($28/skein!) - is riddled with weak spots that break if you look at it funny. Or try to pull a bit out to knit with. I tried to keep going - by Tuesday AM I was at 4", but had 8 grafts. I told the yarn store owner about it - she was horrified and wanted to try and help me; I told her no, the yarn was a couple of years old, it was a highly-spun yarn and it looked like in some spots it was just too highly-spun. Seems that the company is now out of business, so......Anyway. I bought 3 new skeins and a set of needles. She wound 1 into a ball for me, and I sat down and CO a new sock. (SG was at Lowe's, which is in the same shopping center.) I happily knit while I waited for him - AND I had a sock to work while waiting for the attorney. And 2 more skeins to play with, later. :lol: I don't get to the yarn store often, so it was a nice treat. (Photos later......)

Tomorrow at 11 we go to the Title Company. This is almost done.......:whew!:

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This week...

Fri, 06 May 2016 19:36:22 GMT

has been....interesting, shall we say. I guess somebody invoked the old Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times" because, folks, it has been Interesting.

Especially Wednesday. It was Herself's braces OFF! day. SG was home, so I invited him out to lunch with us after. Himself decided last minute that he didn't want to go - it was Star Wars day, after all, and he had just bought some "new" SW games that he HAD to play. I pointed out no lunch; he pointed to the freezer. :lol:

So. The 3 of us went. While they were trying to get the impressions for her retainer (2x on the bottom, *4* on the top!), my phone rang. It was Himself......

Seems that right after we left, Chloe started barking. And barking. And barking. He went outside - she was "playing" with a turtle. He, being a soft-hearted kid, pushed her away and tried to get the turtle to remove it. Chloe lunged at it; he shoved her away again. She lunged again, and Bree - who had been standing there watching - decided Chloe needed a lesson in minding and lunged for her.

Only, Himself was in the way. Of 2 very large dogs. :sigh: Bree got him on the hand, and immediately backed off. He got knocked down and trampled a bit, but managed to get into the house and on the phone with me before starting to panic. *I* started panicking, but managed to hide it, thank God.

I went out to the waiting room and sent SG to the house. He picked up Himself, came back and got us, and off we went to the ER. :sigh: 4 hours later, Himself was OK - no stitches, just 2 bad puncture wounds on his left hand, 1 on his elbow, and 1 on his right arm, plus a lot of scratches from Chloe's claws.

We got home (finally!), and I went to look for the turtle. Which was on the back porch (Chloe had brought it there) with 2 punctures in it's shell....turns out, it wasn't a cute l'il turtle that needed saving. It was a demon-spawn SNAPPING turtle that deserved everything it got (sorry, y'all, but I have been chased by a snapper before. They are EVIL - and if IT had gotten hold of Himself's hand, things would have turned very bad, very quickly.

Anyway. Good news is that (besides the world having 1 less snapping turtle) I had drug my Pax Eire socks to the Ortho with me (I have been studiously IGNORING them lately. I went off them, and couldn't drum up any knitting mojo.).....the time in the ER? Was prime knitting time - see here:

They are nice socks - Cashmere/Merino yarn! - but....I just lost interest in them mid-way down the foot of #1. Sometimes that happens.....:shrug: I have started another pair (What???? I Knit. Except when I lose mojo - but it's back for now.) in a nice, over-spun Merino in a lovely turquoise color way. We'll see how long it takes me to work them...:lol:

I had started another apron.....today I put the binding foot on, cut the bias strips (but not very....um...accurately. :sigh:) and took it for a test-sew. That foot is da Bomb! But you have to pay a lot of attention to it, and the resulting bias binding is only 1/4" wide. I have discovered that I prefer 1/2" wide binding.....and that if I don't pay close enough attention the binding gets screwed. :sigh: That apron was a fail, and is now in the trash. (No, seriously - I didn't feel like trying to seam rip 2 yards of binding; I tried and the edges of the apron started seriously fraying. :sigh:) I'll reattempt that apron later.....lesson learned. :lol:

Gotta do some knitting - Shabbat Shalom!

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I give you photos!

Wed, 09 Mar 2016 14:41:43 GMT

Because I don't have much else to share right now. It's wet, it's chilly...we need the rain, but we're at a point we almost need an Ark, too. The creek is about 25' outside it's banks right now....we're going to evolve webbed feet soon!

Anyway, photos! First up, the Yaakov V.3.0 socks:

These are "better" than V.2.0, but there's still a bit of muddiness. However, they'll do! (for now :lol:) I have 3 more double sock blanks, so there *may* be at least 1 more pair in the works, but...not any time soon. I have too many other patterns I want to knit up, first.

I managed to finish these Thursday AM, and I wore them to NTIF on Friday. Thursday PM I started these:

The yarn is a Cash/Merino base from Wool2Dye4, and it's SCRUMPTOUS! Lovely, lovely yarn - SOOOOooooo soft and cushy, and it takes the dye really, really well. The colors are...well, this pair was inspired by a Celtic song, "The Orange and the Green". It's about a boy from a mixed family (Irish Protestant (Orange) and Irish Catholic (Green)), and how difficult his life was, having to make both sides happy. (It's a comedic song, BTW. :lol:) I wanted to show that the 2 COULD get along.....so, here we go. If I could count to 3, I'd be past the heel now, but I had to rip back 20 rows because....yeah, I can't count. :lol:

Anyway. That's what I've been up to lately. I need to fix Herself's jeans pattern, and give it another try, and I need to retrace my bombachas pattern and change the tucks to darts. And get rid of some length.

Hope y'all are staying dry!

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It is alive!

Thu, 25 Feb 2016 22:55:21 GMT

Just a quickie:

I sewed up a pair of Bootstrap jeans for Herself....major FAIL. When I ordered the pattern, my iPad didn't pick up all the numbers, and the ankle had a circumference of 5". :sigh: Yuliya was great and re-did it at the correct 15". I reprinted the pattern, cut out the denim...and the waist is about 2" too small. Oh, and the fly? Is a separate piece and the instructions are very lacking. :sigh: So. I am debating on whether I need to buy a new jeans pattern (and redraft the fly so it's integrated like on my Bombacha pattern) or if I should just buy a block pattern and use it to redraft the jeans pattern I already have.

So. To prove to myself I could, in fact, sew - I sewed up a bag. Specifically, a carry bag for my Scottish wheel. I've needed one for...oh, 15 years now, and just never got around to it. Well...now I have. Only.....I erred the OTHER way on it - it's a wee bit big. :shrug: Still, it protects the wheel, it looks pretty good (if I do say so myself!), and I used all stash (except the zip - I didn't have any long zips. So...a total cost of $3.14 for a 36" zipper. :lol:) Pics will be forthcoming - I'm trying to decide if I need to make covers for the legs, or if I want to just dump them in there with the wheel itself.

The size isn't really an issue - I just overestimated how much would be taken up by the padded inner liner. I figure, I can dump all my other stuff in there with the wheel, and only have to tote 1 thing. It was kinda hard to get good measurements - the base is approx. 18" x 15", the wheel is 22" in diameter, but the axle adds 1.5" to the width of the base, the "body" is approx. 35" tall, and the legs are about 24" long. Plus, the footman (the piece that connects the wheel to the treadle) is 36" of hand-forged iron.....so I fudged on the dimensions.

My machine almost gave up when I tried to attach the bottom to the inner liner - I had 1 layer of polar fleece (to protect the wheel),and a layer of heavy muslin/poly quilt batting/heavy muslin that I quilted (using the decorative stitches; I decided to see what the machine could actually DO). I think the quilted layer was about at the limit of how thick my machine will sew....but it finally did it. Attaching the zip to the outer layer (plaid and denim) was....well, problematical - the entire bag was assembled at this point, and the zip goes all around the top in the gusset. It looks OK...but I could do better. Maybe next time - I have 2 more wheels that could use covers. Someday. :lol:

On the knitting front, Sock #1 is DONE and #2 is halfway down the leg. Again, photos will be forthcoming.

The IRS is still holding Himself's refund hostage - the left hand has no clue what the right hand is doing. :bangs head: I have spent more time on hold than any human needs to......ah well. We'll get it when we get it. :shrug:

I'm working on a project for a friend of mine, hence the radio silence. Hope y'all are doing well!

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It's Photo Time!

Thu, 11 Feb 2016 17:12:02 GMT

I, um...wasn't going to post today, but...well, it was a good mail day. :wink: Anyway, I have photos! Let's see...

First up, the UGLY socks:

The yarn is nice, and the colors - in the skein! - obviously looked good, or I wouldn't have bought it (I don't get affected by wool fumes to the point of purposefully buying ugly yarn, and I KNOW I didn't dye this batch. I...don't have dyes in that lichen green, for one thing!). The pattern is Old Shale/Feather and Fan, which usually works great with variegated skeins. This skein, though......

Here's my currently active sock - I give you Yaacov V.3.0:

The muddiness I had yesterday in the pattern portion is now in the bottom of the ribbing. :shrug: It works there, and the pattern is showing up pretty clearly. Can't wait to see how it works up next!

And now....I give you my new serger:

It came in a lovely protective case! The box...was HUGE. The serger was in the case (wrapped in bubble wrap!), then the case was wrapped in bubble wrap, with an old yoga mat wrapped around *that*. The foot pedal and accessories were in bubble wrap inside a shoe box that was *also* wrapped in bubble wrap.

There she is, in all her glory! I am.....intimidated. VERY intimidated! She currently has 3 needles in - she can take 5. :gulp!:

This thing is SPOTLESS. I mean - except for a few scuffs on the outside, it looks like it's never been used! I am.....:gulp!:

I will play with it probably tomorrow....or maybe Sunday. I am.....honestly? I am a little scared of this thing! :giggle: At least it's good timing - I have a pair of jeans to make up for Herself....guess I can practice on them.

I need to rustle up lunch and get back to knitting...the serger can...can wait a bit. :lol: I need to read the manual and hunt up some videos to get my courage up.

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