A Little Yarn On The Side

Not that it's normal by any stretch of the imagination, but we've had two days over 80 in the past week, and it's awfully hard to stay inside on days like that--even when I'm tired.  Theo still manages to find crafting time, though he seems a bit disgusted by my lack of dedication:   I have managed to finish the pajama pants, and  the top is getting sleeves today.  It's been a busy week.  I've been exercising a lot, we went to a party Saturday and hosted the New Recipe Dinner club on Sunday, and by yesterday my hip was worn out.  Part of the day was spent drugged and sleeping, but I did manage a little work on the pillowcase: which feels like it's moving along quickly as long as I don't think about the fact that there are TWO pillowcases in a set.  The big WIP-winner is:  the Lace Dream shawl.  There are 19 32-row pattern repeats for this shawl, and yesterday I completed one entire set, leaving me with only 6 left to finis...

As of today, I haven't bought yarn in 18 months!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I wish I could say there was a noticeable difference, but during those 18 months I've only used up 41 balls of yarn, but at least they didn't get replaced.  That's the big thing.  All that progress could have easily been wiped out with only one rather moderate purchase.  Scary! April finished sort of weakly, but I still ended with: 17 yards of fabric used 637 yards of yarn used 2 balls of yarn used 7 projects finished And........(drum roll please)..........yesterday I tried the breast stroke at the gym and I am not sore today!!!!!  Several months ago, I was told I probably wouldn't be able to do it, but I talked with the physical therapist last week and she gave me permission to try this month--no more than two laps--to see how I did.  I waited until this week because we went to see "Wicked" with my mother on Sunday and I wanted to be mobile for that, so yesterday was the big day....

Here it is, the last day of April, and I haven't finished anything else.  I have, however, done a lot of gardening, been to see "Wicked" with my mother and Andy, been for my longest walk yet, and entered Middle Age: I actually wear contact lenses, but because mine are gas-permeable (rigid) rather than soft, I need time without them every day, and last week the ophthalmologist told me I would need to switch to bifocals by next year and my glasses were really in need of upgrading THIS year because they were 7 years old and the coating was peeling off and the lenses were in sad shape and no longer the right prescription, so I did it this year.  EEEEEK! Since I wear them so little, my frames were still in great shape, so I just left them there to have the lenses changed, and have spent the week with blurry mornings and evenings.  Unfortunately, when I'm really busy, the blurry times and time available for crafting coincided, which explains why this is still not fi...

I am getting closer! Meet Finished Project #25: and Finished Project #26:   which will actually be a lovely lace scarf once it has been blocked.  I've already been to the gym today, but will spend the afternoon with pajamas!  It's cold and rainy and will be for the rest of the weekend, so there isn't anything I even could be doing out in the garden, so there will be some weekend crafting as well.  YAY! Especially since the next ornament kit has arrived, and I haven't yet finished even one ornament from the first kit.  Oops.  This is fun, but I think they need a quarterly plan, or maybe I need to step up the pace.  There are 5 in this kit, and I'm quite excited about that cupcake, so maybe I'll get the sequined cross finished today as well so I can start on the cupcake....while wearing new snowflake pajamas, right?

Last night I ironed the red flannel to be ready for a morning of sewing.  As forecast, it is raining, which is a perfect time to make flannel pajamas.  It is also, however, the perfect time for a snooze on flannel.  Undeterred, I decided to start the day with some icicle ornaments. Though I've decided to not count any more of them for my 100 projects goal because the main goal this year is to clear up space and thread doesn't really take up any, I do love the icicles and love how they look on the tree.  Then it seemed a good idea to put away the ones I have just washed and dried, which Theo thought was a terrific idea as well--3 seconds after this picture was taken, he was chewing on the black one.  I did save the ornament, and after some armpit scritches, Theo had recovered from the shock of a screaming woman lunging at him. Some days it is awfully difficult to be a kitty. While he was safely snoozing, I washed more lace ornaments, including,...

Funnily enough, I had thought of the 6 gold/6 silver idea because I was more confident of my gold thread than of the silver, but after seeing the first one, I really like the silver, and thank to everyone's unanimous input, I went with all in silver and finished the last one just a few minutes ago, making Finished Project number 24.  YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Which leaves me..............behind.  Am I ever anything else?  To reach 100 projects, I should be at 33-34 at the end of April.  I am, by nature, completely delusional an optimist, but finishing 9 projects in 9 days sounds a wee bit daunting, even to me.  Tomorrow it's supposed to rain, so I won't be gardening and can spend the morning sewing, but in the afternoon I have an eye appointment, and after the dilate my eyes, I'm guessing all crafting will be over for the day because I'm never able to focus on anything after they do that.  You know, I really loathe the "women's annual wellness exam," b...

Meet Finished Project #23: Underneath the stabilizer is a towel for some friends of ours who host a Kentucky Derby party every year.  It's a terrific party, and after last year's party, I laid this all out in the embroidery software so I'd be sure to have it ready for this year's party.  This morning I did a bit of gardening--including my latest experiment: strawberry plants in the holes of cinder blocks.  I saw the idea on Pinterest , but there is only one cinder block because, as most of us have found out the hard way, people post a lot of things on Pinterest that don't actually work.  So, we got one block and two strawberry plants.  Wish them luck.  Guessing that shoveling probably counts as "a thing one should rest after doing," I thought it was the perfect time to embroider the towel as the party is in two weeks.  Double-checking the spelling of their last name, I hooped the towel, picked out the colors, and had gotten to the letteri...