My Husband The Tailor

I've been wanting to duplicate one of my favorite dresses for some time now. It is very simple. No sleeves, buttons or zippers. Just a sleeveless, calf-length dress that came with a sweater, similar to the one my friend here recently knitted. I decided that the time had come and picked out some material yesterday. It cost $4.97/yard. I bought one yard too much. At first I thought I only needed two yards, but I really needed three. But I thought I needed to double it, so I bought four. The lady cutting the material has worked there 20 years and she told me I needed three, but I thought she meant if I cut the material. But I wanted whole strips.

So yesterday, I'm sitting there trying to trace the pattern around the form of the dress turned inside out. I didn't want to gut the dress because it still fits and it is one of my favorites. I sat there puzzling and dh asked me what was wrong. I explained the problems I was having. I also mentioned that I was sure *he* could figure it out. We've talked about this before, the fact that sewing is very similar to sheet metal mechanics. We had to stop to do chores so we put it aside for awhile. Dh milked Little Screamer for me so chore time took about 15 minutes less than it usually does. (Usually about 45 minutes each afternoon). We came back in and I had to begin cutting up the meat for dinner, I was trying Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich again, this time leaving the onions off of hubby's portion. Ds2 trimmed the meat and tenderized it while we were out milking. We really have a helpful family. So dh starts looking at the pattern again, and I came over to show him about the "darts" the piece that is altered in the bustline. We looked over it carefully and thankfully my old dress had lines in the material which showed really clearly how some of the material was removed. Anyway, it was enough to indicate to dh how to measure to figure out the dart.

And he proceeded to figure out the rest of the pattern by measuring and figuring just as if he were working on creating something from sheet metal. His training was for custom sheet metal design, for example making sign cabinets that have fluorescent lighting (like you see at many businesses) but he also can do standard sheet metal and in a hot state like ours, lots of air conditioning related sheet metal. For example, elbows (shown at left). A complex design if you can imagine making something like that. I have seen him do it, and it always amazes me. He told me yesterday that copying this dress was easy, since he had a pattern to actually follow. He says usually when making a piece out of sheet metal, he would be given measurements, sometimes over the phone from the person out in the field.

I am trying to be brief, but as you can see it's not working. Dh and I have to go into town to buy a drinking fountain for his job from someone who offered it on Craigslist and we have to leave in about an hour. I had hoped to get the kitchen clean this morning so I could work on putting the dress together in the afternoon.

So I'll post a few more pictures, then hopefully back later with the dress.






Ds1 also helped by cutting some of the paper.

Until next time.

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Radiator Cap

UPDATE: July 2, 2007. The radiator fluid has stayed steady since we replaced the radiator cap. I am so grateful when small things like that take care of potential problems. It is not uncommon to see one or two cars every day on the side of the road with steam spewing from under the hood due to radiator problems.

Just a quickie. Dh is faithful at regularly checking the fluid levels in our primary vehicle. I am so thankful that he takes on this responsibility because without much concentration on my part I tend to forget all about it. He noticed a few days ago that we were needing just a little bit of water every day. Not much - just about one cup - but enough to indicate we were losing water somewhere. Not really any dripping or visible leaks that we could see, except alongside the top of the radiator near the cap. But dh had just put in another cup of antifreeze, so he thought maybe he spilled some. He also noticed the radiator cap didn't seem "right". The little flip up thing was pretty loose, instead of having a firm feeling to it.

Yesterday after I dropped him off at work I stopped by an auto parts store and picked up a new cap. I waited until after lunch to be sure everything was cool and went out and replaced the old cap with the new one.

So far no more water loss.

About two years ago our vehicle was running hot. The temperature indicator kept creeping up. I went by an auto repair shop and had them check it out. They changed out some part... some type of fan. And then they tried to persuade me that it was NORMAL for the temperature to run hot. I had been driving this vehicle for two or three years by this time and the temperature gauge always stayed steadily at just a hair under the half mark. Now it was creeping up closer and closer to the HOT indicator. Finally, if I remember correctly, we were hauling a refrigerator home, using our trailer. And the poor radiator blew. About 15 miles from home. We called the automotive service and had to leave the trailer parked with the fridge, have our vehicle hauled home and come back with the big truck to pull the trailer home.

We took the radiator in to a shop in the town nearby where we live. As it turns out, the radiator was almost totally clogged and THAT is the reason why the temperature indicator was showing the engine was so hot.

I have never gone back to that auto repair shop since. I think that is faulty service on their part. It makes you wonder if they were trying to persuade me to just ignore it and hope something worse would happen since the engine was being run at such an extreme temperature. Of course this was during the hottest part of the summer.

Until next time.

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Gotta Love That Alton Brown

UPDATE: July 1, 2007. The lasagna was good. Both ds2 and I thought the pasta was lacking; when we try it again, we'll be adding more noodles. Even dh, who doesn't care much for lasagna liked this recipe but voluntarily admitted it could have used a few more noodles. So maybe one more layer next time. I also brought some in for my boss to try. She says she never likes lasagna because it's too dry. She gave this recipe the thumbs up.

I was regrinding some hamburger this morning, in preparation to put together The Best Lasagna. Ever. The hamburger was clogging up in the KitchenAid grinder. Big time. I had some round steak trimmings from the other night (ds2 trimmed the meat of the fat when we made the steak sandwichs) which were perfect for making into hamburger so I was putting some hamburger, some steak scraps, then some hamburger. Then I ran out of round steak and was having to push hard (too hard!) and then I remembered ds2 told me Alton says to put bread in to clean out the grinder. Well, I thought I may as well see if it would help with the clog. It did! I ended up grinding just over 1 piece of bread into about 2 pounds of meat. Maybe I'll form these into patties. I wonder if Pioneer Woman has a good meatloaf. So far we haven't found one we all like.

Now, back to the kitchen. I have to start getting ready for church at 9, so I have 2.5 more hours to get the lasagna put together and get the kitchen cleaned up for the weekend.

Until next time.

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Thank You, Margaret Edwards

So far every time I use my sewing machine there's something new to learn. I don't know if I've ever sewn a zipper into anything in my life, so there's that, then the fact that this machine is still new to me. I opened my little orange accessory box to take out the zipper foot. I found lots of feet, and began matching them to the Instruction Manual's images of the various feet. But alas, I could not find the zipper foot. I went through all three drawers, searching for the zipper foot. Thinking there HAS to be a zipper foot. The previous owner of this machine, one Margaret Edwards, bought all the extras and so the zipper foot HAD to be included, didn't it?

Finally, I came across a small bottle with some plastic pieces. I wondered what this could be?

And thank you Mrs. Edwards, for the little note! If you click on the photo you will see a larger image. The beige piece near the top to the right looks as if it has been used frequently. I don't know why a metal zipper foot is not included in my little accessories box... could Mrs. Edwards have lost the real zipper foot? This one says "Unique" on it and apparently there is some type of special zipper foot for sewing invisible zippers. Here's a neat article on zippers.

BTW, I managed to get the zipper into ds2's pants and he tried them on and pronounced them wearable. Oh, there were some theatrics about some missing stitching but eventually he managed to get over the horror of it all.

The chicken, bacon and cheese sandwiches (Marlboro Man's Second Favorite Sandwiches) were a hit.

I worked a bit more on the hooded baby sweater. I've sewn all the seams together, except for the hood. After I sew on the hood I still have to sew the blanket stitch all around, sew on the buttons and make the button loops. I hope to have it completed by the end of next weekend. Then I can finally begin a new knitting project! Maybe some socks!

I am still planning to start a sourdough starter this weekend. Perhaps tomorrow. I'm going to use the procedure shown on this webpage, using rye flour and kefir whey to get things started.

Until next time.

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Washing Machine

Yesterday, while ds2 and I went to Walmart to pick up his glasses, dh sat and read our Major Appliances by Time Life Books book to see if he could figure out, once more, what was wrong with our washing machine. Well, come to find out the lid switch was broken. It's that little piece that is connected to the lid, and it sticks down into the washing machine and pushes a little button that tells the machine the lid is closed so the washer will spin. Which is a really good thing since we stopped at a yard sale over the weekend and bought almost $100 worth of tools. A handyman was going out of business and dh got a compound mitre saw for $50, a pipe threader kit and vice for $30, a pair of metal snips and a huge drill bit for $5. I got an Upwards game for $1 and a Glenn Doman "Teach Your Baby to Read" set for $5.

I was really happy that dh figured out what was wrong because now we don't need to buy a new (used) machine, and again since we spent half of the money I thought we'd have to spend on a used one.

I am replacing a zipper in ds2's cargo pants. I don't know if I've ever put a zipper into anything before. I removed the broken zipper last night, and basted the new zipper in place.

Dh and I went into work today to make up hours we lost from Wednesday and stopped at JoAnn's afterwards. I could spend ten hours in that store. I needed thread to work on ds2's pant's zipper. I got a color that is a close match, and nylon thread, in case I have to go invisible.

I looked at yarn. I am supposed to put that blanket stitch around the hooded baby sweater, but now that the buttons are the same color as the sweater, I wanted to make the blanket stitch a color other than white. I wish the buttons had been white. I was thinking a pastel varigated yarn, but couldn't find any colors that would match to my satisfaction. Then I remembered the button loops are in the "contrasting" color, so maybe it will work out okay after all.

I cooked dinner last night, I made this sandwich: Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich. Dh did not like it. Ds2 said it was the best sandwich he's had in his life. I thought the meat came out good, considering the round steak wasn't professionally tenderized. I did use our Deni 48 blade meat tenderizer, which worked very nicely. I also made this poisonous crap which I dearly love but try to make only once in a great while. Banana Pudding. But I don't really follow the recipe exactly. I just make some instant vanilla pudding, slice some bananas and layer in some Nilla wafer cookies. I love pudding. I especially love warm homemade vanilla pudding.

Tonight ds2 and I are going to try this recipe: Marlboro Man's Second Favorite Sandwich. He's already cut up and pounded the chicken breast. I couldn't find peppered bacon, so we'll have to manage without.

I also made a batch of copycat Lawry's Seasoning Salt. I modified this recipe: Seasoned Salt. I left out the chicken bouillon because it almost always contains MSG. Also, I didn't see the point of using onion salt and garlic salt. I just added a bit more salt than this recipe called for. I have not purchased Lawry's Seasoning Salt over the years because I thought it contained MSG, but I'm reading on their website that it does not. However, it does contain the mystery ingredient "natural flavoring" which is often some form of MSG.

At any rate, I'm sure it's less expensive to make my own mixture.
2 tablespoons pepper
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon dry marjoram leaves
1 tablespoon minced parsley
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 cup salt

Two things to say about our beef. Both may be gross out things. One I love, one I detest. Let's see, how about my favorite thing first, which may be considered gross by some. I love raw beef. I stopped eating it in my childhood due to e.coli scares. (My mom used to get a roast freshly ground and we'd eat raw bites of hamburger). But eating one's home grown beef, especially after having been frozen for two weeks is said to be safe. It is so delicious. The other thing... I have found too much gristle in the hamburger, of which we have several thousand pounds. Okay, actually it's only 145 pounds. It is coarsely ground and I found one hunk of gristle the size of a pea. GROSS. I have got to call the processor and complain. Not that anything can be done, but he should know there is a problem. And next time we'll have to say something and hope it doesn't happen again.

So before I use any more hamburger, I'm going to be regrinding it. Thankfully we have the grinder piece that goes with our KitchenAid. Next I'm going to try this recipe: The Best Lasagna. I haven't decided whether we should just have it for dinner on Sunday night, or whether I should freeze it for a meal during the week. I mentioned this idea to ds2 and he didn't seem to care one way or the other.

Now I must go work on that zipper. Ds2 plans to wear those pants to church tomorrow.

Until next time.

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Allergy Shots

Dh and I traded work days - today for Saturday. We left home at 6:30am and got home right around 3:30pm. I had an appointment with my allergy/asthma specialist at 7:30am. He wants to see me every six months or so. Usually I go to my appointment then head into work, but dh had to take care of some business so it took much longer than it normally does.

Actually my appointment took longer than normal to begin with, I didn't leave the office until 9am. The last couple times I've seen this doctor, he arrives shortly before 7:30 along with his office people. They carpool in from another city. So like dodobrains we sat waiting from 7:22 to see if they would arrive. Finally at 7:31, dh asked if I shouldn't go in and see if they were already there. Duh. Yes, they were there, with an office full of patients already.

My dr. listened to my lungs and asked me how I've been doing. I told him I'd started taking Flovent again (November 2006) due to having a cold that lasted weeks and weeks. He asked that I please see him the next time I'm sick like that. He then brought up the subject of allergy shots.

When I first saw him in 2003, I remember very clearly him saying something very close to, "You're allergic to so many things it wouldn't be worth taking shots because you'd be on them for the rest of your life." Dh also remembers me saying the dr. told me this. I reminded my dr. he'd said this to me to which he promptly responded that I must have misunderstood him (that's actually possible since he is from India and has a heavy accent but I really don't think I heard him wrong) because he would never have said anything like that. He went on to explain that I can take medication for the rest of my life, or I could begin allergy shots which will last four years and would enable me to stop taking medication. He said 95% of people who take allergy shots find they are able to stop taking all medications and no longer have symptoms of asthma. He also told me I was probably exhausted all the time because of my allergies. He said I'd have to come in weekly for 10 months and then the shots would taper to every 2 weeks, then every 3 weeks, then monthly.

He told me in many cases insurance companies won't charge for the shots, because the dr. doesn't charge for an office visit. I guess they charge for the serum to be made initially. I explained to him that my job security is somewhat in question right now and he said if I thought I'd have the same insurance for 3-4 months then the monthly cost for the shots would drop to about $25/month. But it's expensive the first 3-4 months, I understood him to say.

I'm not sure what to do. It sounds great, but I will definitely be researching the whole process. And I never really considered my allergies to affect my energy level. When I was allergy tested four years ago, I wasn't allergic to cats. I mentioned that and he wanted to retest me, to see if I'd developed an allergy to cats. I got three pokes. One was "positive response" two was "cat dander" and three was "negative response". I thought 2 and 3 looked the same, but he thought 2 was a "5x5". The "positive response" was "20x30". Whatever that all means. The positive response was quite a good sized bump and itchy and red all around about the size of a nickel. So I guess it has to do with the size of the area reacting to the allergen. He also had me do a breathing treatment, measuring my lung function before and after the breathing treatment. When he saw me in his office to write me a new prescription for Allegra (which I only use 2-3 pills a month, if that - he gave me a prescription for 180 tablets, yikes), I asked him about my lung function and he told me it was better than his. I asked with or without the medication (breathing treatment), he said, "Better than mine, with OR without." I took that to mean my lung function is pretty good. But thinking more about it, how does that tell me anything really? What if his lung function is like, on a level of 1 to 100, an eleven? And mine's a ten? I'm going to assume my lung function is quite good and stop at that.

Dh and I went out to lunch today at a little Mexican food restaurant which was actually very nice. I am so often disappointed with restaurant food. This little place has been in business since 1950 so I guess they must be doing something right. I had a beef tamale and a cheese and green onion enchilada. Dh had a green chili burrito and an iced tea. They served us with a small bowl of tortilla chips as is the custom at most Mexican food restaurants, but they were stale-tasting. I told our waitress and she took them away and brought back some crispy, fresh ones. The meal cost us less than twelve dollars.

Progress on the hooded baby sweater... first, the lamb buttons arrived today. They are simply adorable. Click on the image to see a bigger shot of them.

I finished the hood last night and began tucking in the loose ends and marking the "right side". Today I finished tucking in loose ends, and began sewing seams. I got as far as the shoulders. The lamb buttons will match so perfectly. This pattern has been difficult at some points, but mostly because I didn't know what the pattern was asking me to do. Once the hooded baby sweater is sewed together, I'm supposed to trim the edges with the blanket stitch. I wasn't quite sure what that was, but just now googling it I discovered I have used that stitch often while hand sewing. I just never knew what it was called, nor did I know it was a popular stitch. I was reading about the stitches that can be used for sewing the pieces together earlier today in my Dummies book. I thought it was going to be another learning curve, some brand new funky stitching, but I've used the stitches before to put crocheted pieces together. And I never had a pattern or instruction. So this won't be as difficult as I'd anticipated. I can't wait to see it all together in one piece.

It's getting close to being time to milk. Dh put beef roast in the oven this morning and I guess I'll volunteer to clean the meat so we can have shredded beef burritos for dinner.

Until next time.

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Happy Father's Day 2007

Pretty calm day today. The washer is may be unfixable. Dh didn't have his voltage meters with him but it might be the timer. I'm very disappointed. This is a Maytag washer but apparently the only "quality" Maytag washers to be had costs hundreds of dollars. This apparently is a cheap version made of plastic. So I guess a "new" washing machine is in order. Although I refuse to buy a brand new one. I would rather get a twenty year old washer than to get one made of plastic that will fall apart in a year.

Ds2 and I went to church. Ds2 enjoyed the service and meeting fellow believers. Next Sunday hopefully we will all attend, including ds1. On the way to church, ds2 and I noticed a man walking along the side of the road. He wasn't hitchhiking and he was clearly leaving a car behind. So we decided to stop and give him a ride. The nearest phone was about 8 miles away. He was very greatfulgrateful. We mentioned we were on our way to church, so we started talking a bit about religion. We decided to give him one of our Questions and Answers from the Bible by Les Feldick books.

I don't often pick up strangers and don't often feel that I should. But sometimes I feel I'm supposed to, and so I do. If memory serves, I've given six rides in the past six years. One was a young couple carrying a newborn baby in one of those baby carriers. The baby was sleeping but in full sun as they walked in the heat of the summer morning. One was a young woman with a bunch of groceries. Two were pregnant women, with broken down vehicles in the middle of the summer, in the heat of the afternoon. Both were crying and red faced from the heat (separate incidents). The other was a young man needing to get about twenty miles east of where he was. It was late at night, it was on my way and I took a chance on that one. It was okay though. I actually asked him if I could pat him down and made sure he wasn't carrying a knife or gun. As it turned out, he was a Christian, carrying a book he'd been reading. A Christian book for men. He and his wife were estranged and he'd spent the night at her home to visit their children. I told him we'd pray for his family and told him the story of our family's reconciliation. Then the man today. I know it's unsafe to give people rides, but sometimes I feel that I'm supposed to. I feel a strong feeling, which I believe is God urging me to help this person for whatever reason. Otherwise, I see people walking or broke down on a regular basis and never have a thought to help them.

I managed to get some work done in the house. I worked on the kitchen again this morning after milking and then it was time to get ready for church. Sunday service starts at 10:45 but they don't get started until 11; service lasts until noon. It's an hour drive there. Once we got home from church I had two loads of laundry left to do. But I was tired, so I laid down to take a short nap at 1:30. I woke up near 5pm. I can't believe I slept so long. Guess I needed the rest.

My comforter needed to be rewashed since it sat in dirty water, then on the porch in a basket and was smelling sour and mildewy all at the same time. So I decided to "borrow" the neighbor's washer (the people we housesit for). They have never had a problem with us using their place, for example when our water pump went out, they said we could take showers there or wash clothes, whatever, until we got the water pump fixed. Thanks, guys!

Am I the only one that still has trouble with Internet Explorer opening Blogger blogs? It takes a long time, used to be I couldn't log in using IE. Haven't tried in a while.

Their washing machine is a pain. It's a GE and one of those that you can't just set it to spin if you want. No way to tell where that setting is. So I chose the wrong setting, the one that rinsed my blanket twice or was it three times? I guess it's good and clean. I was so pertubed because it took about 45 minutes to get that far and I still had one load to go. I put that load in and drove back home because I needed to milk. But when I got here and started to get the milking pail, dh told me he'd milked. Whew. I did water the trees at the neighbor's house while there and I also got in a few rows on the hood for the baby sweater. I can't wait to see the buttons. I hope the color will match. I would have preferred to have white, but they only had pink, blue, green and yellow.

I stuck around at home waiting for the clothes to finish, washed a load of dishes, wiped off counters again, swept and mopped the floor and folded and put away two loads of laundry (done yesterday). Ds2 tidied up the living room and vacuumed. And I got into ds1's bedroom today to clean. I missed two Sundays. It wasn't too bad, but it did need my attention or of course it would have been that much worse.

I'm so glad that I decided to buy everyone a second set of sheets for their beds since the washing machine was broken.

I have a doctor's appointment on Wednesday at 7:30am and dh has an appointment that day also, so it's looking like we're going to take the day off. We'll trade that day for Saturday. So next week will be extra busy. I'm still trying to find the time to visit with one of my dear friends. I know she thinks I've forgotten about her, but I haven't. I just don't know when or how I'm going to make the time. If I had any comp time at work I'd just take a Thursday off, but the problem with that is I am about 8 hours in the hole for comp time. Meaning I owe my company an entire day! Since I still work part time, I don't get sick leave, holiday pay, personal days or anything like that.

Dh seems to like his new table saw. He has been experiencing a lack of energy which is so unusual for him. I told him "Welcome to my world". I'm always pushing myself, even though I'm tired and don't feel like doing anything. I almost gave up last week on trying to keep up with the house but I felt like God said to me that He'd given me the strength and don't let Him down now just because no one else seems to care or appreciate. Then when ds2 cleaned up on Thursday that was such a big help. If dh hadn't had his class on Saturday I like to think I would have been able to get a bit of progress on my bedroom or bathroom.

I'm preparing in my mind the story of My Faith and the journey I've gone through over my life, and how God brought me back to Him. I plan to write it in several parts as I have time.

I guess that's it for now and I'm tired again.

Until next time.

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Tire Rotation

Another auto maintenance post, of little to no interest to anyone but moi.

Today I made an unwise decision. Okay, I did something stupid. I paid an entirely ridiculously expensive amount to get four tires rotated and spin balanced. When I got the two new front tires a week or two ago, I asked my tire guy to move the two from the front onto the back. Instead he put on two new tires and tossed those into the back. He was supposed to put those newish tires onto the back and throw the old ones in the back. But that didn't get done and I forgot to check before I left.

It's been on my mental "to do" list, and I wanted to get it off. There is another tire place we go to regularly, out near where we live, but they sometimes do things for free, like repair a tire with a slow leak, or rotate our tires, and besides I was pulling the trailer so we could get hay later. I didn't buy my tires from them, so I feel guilty about them doing things for free to get my business when I can't do business with them since they are inconvenient unless we happen to need tires/repair on the weekend. Usually I have a problem during the week, so it's easier to go to the tire guy near my job. And if I pulled in their place with the trailer, I wouldn't be able to get out without having to back up and I am not that good at backing up a trailer. I CAN do it, but I get nervous, especially when people are watching and waiting. Actually, I would have had to back up next door into a Sonic restaurant and around and around to their exit. So it would have been difficult if not downright impossible to get in and out of there with a trailer.

I went to one place first, but I decided against it because what I needed to have done would be a bit complicated, so communication would be necessary and it seemed this place might not have English speaking persons available. I ended up going to a different place. They charged me $15 PER TIRE, so $60 total. Agh.

What I needed them to do was to move the 6 month old passenger side tire onto my vehicle's back rim on the passenger side. Move the 6 month old driver's side tire onto my vehicle's back rim on the driver's side. Take the older tires and change them onto the two rims that had old blown tires for the trailer on them. I had to make sure I got the right tires on the back, in the right direction. Something about tires coming apart if you run them backwards to how they've always been run. Or something like that.

Boring, boring, boring.

The oil change was done last weekend (6-10-07) at 214,613 miles. The previous oil change was done on 4-15-07. So not even 8 weeks and we put on 5,364 miles. Crazy, huh?

Now, I could either begin a new and interesting post, or I could knit. I think I'm going to knit. I ordered the most adorable buttons for the sweater. The baby's initials are LAMB, so can you guess what the buttons are shaped like? I'm several inches into the hood. Dh had a class to attend today, so I had about three hours to run errands and I managed to get some knitting in while waiting for the tires to be rotated and spin balanced, and I sat in a mexican food restaurant for about half an hour and got some knitting done there.

OH. I found another Samsonite overnight case for $3 and a circular knitting needle for $1.00. I really like the Samsonite case for my knitting/crocheting supplies and I am going to use this new one for sewing supplies as my sewing cabinet drawers are getting might full. I also found an old Kirby vacuum cleaner at a yard sale for $3. I haven't had a chance to see if it actually works. The girl running the yard sale said it did and she said if I wanted it, I could just take it. But I didn't want to do that, and I made her take the $3 she was asking for. I hope it works at least.

Speaking of things not working, my washing machine is agitating, but it won't remove the water or spin. Dh is going to look at it tomorrow. I sure hope he can fix it. Ds2 and I are planning to go to church. We haven't decided whether we'll give the Father's Day presents before or after church.

Until next time.

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Hooded Baby Sweater Update 6/15/07

I've made some good progress in the past couple of weeks. I'm on the last piece that needs to be knitted, the hood. I've cast on 95 and have completed five rows so far.

Ds2 did a House Blessing on Thursday, wow, the house looked great when we got home last night. The kitchen was clean, including the counters wiped, the stove wiped, dishes done and the floor swept and mopped. He also tidied up the living room, cleaned the little chicks cage and vacuumed the livingroom floor. It was really a blessing to me as I already feel the pressure is off for this weekend. I got up this morning, milked in my new milking parlor, came in processed the milk and still managed to spend an hour in the kitchen. It was already pretty clean, but last night's dishes needed to be done, and I had to put a gallon of milk in the freezer and change out my kefir grain's milk. I spent about an hour and then I was able to sit down and relax for a while and knit on the hooded baby sweater.

Ds2 and I are going to his eye appointment at 2:15pm today. It is also the PERFECT RUSE to do Father's Day shopping. Dh wants a table saw and some coveralls. We are going to come home the back way and leave the presents at our neighbor's house (the neighbor lives in another state and we watch their home throughout the year). Tomorrow when dh and I go into town to do errands and dh goes to his appointment, ds2 will go over to the neighbor's house and bring the presents home and hide them.

I'm going to have to post some pictures of my new milking parlor. It is actually what we used to call the milking shed, since it had boxes stored in it. It was so dusty though and there was almost no room for milking so I hadn't been using it in the past few months. But now that the flies are back I can't milk right out in the open because they are just too obnoxious. I actually have an air conditioning unit in my milking parlor now. It is not completely finished yet. I still need to paint the floor and we have to install the counter and hook up the water to the sink.

I think I'm going to take a short nap.

Until next time.

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Auto Maintenance Oil Change 6-10-07 214,613

Dh changed the oil in the Pathfinder today. Previous oil change 4-15-07 at 209,249.

5,364 miles this time.

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New Tires

Welcome the auto maintenance tag. Yeah, I know you probably don't care what kind of auto maintenance is going on around here but I realized the other day it would be a great way to keep track of it.

On Wednesday I noticed the truck was pulling to the right side and also the front right tire was wearing funny. It looked like it had little fins popping up on the inner part of the tire. So I took it to my favorite front end alignment place just down the street from my job. They took it for a test drive, then pulled it over the bays and took a look. The guy came back to tell me my alignment was right on, but he thought rotating the tires would "square up" the tire. However, the back tires, he said, were different brands, different tread and looked to be 2-3 years old. So he said I could drive another 5,000 miles (six weeks for us) and then get new tires on the front.

I opted to get new tires on the front. They don't sell tires, so I went to my tire guy, who is also near my job. I explained the situation... kind of asking his opinion and then saying I was willing to buy two new tires, but if I didn't really have to... and ended up with two new tires on the front. Not until dh pointed it out, did I realize that the tire guy neglected to have his guys rotate the fronts onto the back. Drat!

The nice thing about the tires we use, they fit perfectly on our trailer, and they fit on dh's sister's trailer. We needed a good used tire for each trailer, and now we have two available, since I took both tires with me. Since I forgot to make sure the tires were rotates, we'll have to bring a slew of tires (about four) with us to a tire shop, have them change out the old front tires onto the back rims, then put those tires onto the two spare rims for the trailers.

The tires cost $62 each, with $10 for mounting and balancing. $156.73 total. 214,233 on the odometer.

Also, the truck needs an oil change, badly. I usually try to remind dh to do it around 4,000 miles. I was once told by a mechanic that since I put on so many highway miles, there was no reason to do it every 3,000 miles. Since we put on a minimum of 500 miles per week, oil changes come quickly. Dh is going to change it this weekend, this time it is over 5000 miles!!! With so many miles on the engine, this is no time to forget oil changes. But it completely slipped my mind and it's only been since April 19th that the last one was done.

We are also debating using a synthetic oil, which would mean the oil changes would happen less often. Like every 15,000 miles instead of every 4,000. We almost bought synthetic oil yesterday, but were having such a hard time deciding that we didn't, buying regular oil to give ourselves a few more weeks to think it over.

Until next time.

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Hoof Trims in the Summer with a Side of Flies

It's that glorious time of year when the farmer across the street has ripening melons in the field. The time when flies multiply by the hundreds, thousands and finally millions, making time spent outside miserable beyond words.

I had decided today was the day I needed to get the hoof trims done, as the last time was April 15th. I've actually known it was "time" for the past couple of weeks. As I milk the does, I observe the condition of their hooves and of course if they need trimmed, the rest of the herd does.

I got a late start; gave dh a haircut first, and then went out to milk. About 6:30am. That's already too late this time of year. Milked Miss L. first, she's been dropping her milk production for several weeks now. She dropped to under a pound on May 12th, 409 days into her (third) lactation. She gives from 6/10ths to 9/10ths, but hasn't cleared a pound since May 12th. I spoke with my favorite goat mentor and she suggested I just keep milking Miss L., even if she gets down to an "eggcupful" which I'm assuming is as much as would fit into half an egg?

I've actually been experimenting since yesterday's milking - I'm milking her and milking her and milking her, to see if I can increase her production. It should work, as that is how the baby increases the milk supply for a human mother. Sometimes a new mother will think her supply is low because the baby wants to nurse often and her breasts feel empty. But it is normal, and the best thing to do is nurse the baby frequently even if the breasts feel empty. The time spent nursing increases production. So usually I milk our does until they feel empty and the stream of milk has dwindled to nearly nothing. I bump them at least a dozen times, to get all the milk they have available. But I'm trying to continue milking Miss L. for about fifty squeezes past completely empty. The interesting thing is, even though I thought she was already empty, I'm getting a very, very thin stream of milk as I continue to milk her. So far she has brought up her production by a tenth of a pound. I'm just curious to see if I can get her up over a pound since it's been almost a month since she's given a pound. If that works, I'll keep trying to milk her 50 squirts past empty and see what she can do.

The main reason Miss L. is drying herself up is because her first and second lactations were typical "long". Miss L.'s was bred for the first time on October 17, 2003. She kidded, beginning her first lactation on March 15, 2004. We pulled her kids and she was giving as much as 8 pounds with 2x/day milking with a daily average 5.8#. She was bred for the second time October 19, 2004. We did not force dry her; she dried herself off at 121 days into her pregnancy. (Gestation length 145 to 155 days.) She was giving 3/10ths of a pound. Her first lactation was 339 days.

Her second lactation began on March 17, 2005 when she kidded twin doelings. She nursed them both until they were six months old. She was bred for the third time on November 26, 2005. She dried herself off this time about six weeks prior to kidding. Her second lactation lasted 367 days.

So she's 409 days into her third lactation, and I want her to continue on for another 223 days. Hee. Ain't gonna happen. But we'll see how long I can coax her to continue lactating.

They say that the doe's body remembers how long she lactated the first time and tries to dry up at that time period for each lactation. I should be able to lengthen her lactation this time by continuing to milk her, even though she's dropped so low. 1 pound of milk is actually about 2 cups of milk, and she's still giving me close to one pound.

My goal for our milkers is a longer than normal lactation. Most breeders striving for a "long" lactation expect their does to produce for 10 months (300 days) out of each year. They breed the does while they are in milk and continue to milk three months into the pregnancy. Then the doe is forcibly dried off, some books recommend to just stop milking, period. This can and often does cause the doe to contract mastitis. It is also uncomfortable to the doe, as her udder is tight and full until her body gets the message to stop producing milk. Some breeders do a combination slowing down on milking, usually they milk twice daily so they'll go to once daily milking, at the same time limiting grain and water consumption to help the doe dry off more easily. Then milk every other day. Some breeders also routinely use a drying off teat infusion antibiotic, which I think is very wrong. They inject antibiotics into the udder via the teat orifice! I have never been able to persuade myself to use teat infusions on our does, and I would never use antibiotics prophylactically. First off, the udder is not this big empty bag that you can squirt antibiotics into via the teat. The milk comes down into the udder through passageways and those are so complex and there are so many, you would be hard pressed to get the antibiotic worked into the entire udder. But people use them all the time. One breeder who is against teat infusisions basically says you've now ruined the udder.

Drying off is quite a big topic of conversation, and my methods are in the minority. I like the methods used by breeders in other countries. They often breed the does every other year, instead of breeding the does every single year (as is common in the U.S.). They continue to milk through the year that the doe is having her rest. My goat mentor says often you end up with more or at least the same amount of milk in the "milking through" year because the doe gives milk continually instead of the eight week dry period, plus the milk she gives to her kids once they are born. Technically, you lose a minimum of 4 months worth of milk since the doe is force dried off eight weeks prior to kidding and most people allow the kids to nurse until eight weeks of age. Now we also wean our buckling kids at eight weeks, because ours are not worthy of becoming sires. However, our doeling kids are allowed to stay with their dams nursing until they are six months of age. We do separate the does from the kids at night and milk in the morning, leaving the kids with their dams for the entire day so they can nurse all day and be with the herd and learn how to be goats.

We find that our Nubians are not screamers when the dams are allowed to raise their own kids and the kids don't look to people and think "that's my mother" and scream bloodly murder either.

We bottle raised Miss L. and she used to be a screamer. We took her first kids at birth and bottle fed them. She continued to be a screamer, as did her kids. Her kids went to their new home when they were three weeks old. But we had her tested for CAE (the biggest reason people want to bottle feed the kids, as CAE is passed from the dam's colostrum and milk) and she was negative, so we let her raise her own kids the next year. She stopped that screaming and has never done it again.

Now how did I get off on a tangent about lactation? Where was I? Oh yes, I was saying I milked Miss L. After I finished milking her, I trimmed her hooves. Next on the milking line is Little Screamer. We are hoping Little Screamer stops that screaming once she has her own kids and gets to raise them. She was bottle raised and so she thinks humans are her mother. But confusingly enough, she also thinks we are her kids, since we milk her. Poor thing. [Little Screamer is 492 days into her first lactation and today gave me 3.6#. Miss Z. is 433 days into her first lactation and gave me 2.6#. Miss M. is 380 days into her first lactation and gave me 3.1#. This is typical for each doe. So... so far, so good with longer than normal lactations.]

So I milked and trimmed all the milkers. Then the herd queen. And then it was time to start on the yearlings. Four doelings and three wethers. As I let the herd queen back into the pen, three of the yearlings shoved their way out, so I decided what the heck, may as well get them all out here. The wethers are all skittish and none have collars on, so it's hard to catch them in the big yard. I decided to leave the one wether, because he inherited his father's hooves which need trimming about once every six months. Oh to have more of that in our herd, but he is half Nigerian Dwarf. My dh about came unglued because it was just too overwhelming for him. I grabbed onto the doeling who is most skittish and hauled her onto the stand. I gave her some grain. MISTAKE. The other five crowded around and shoved and jostled, trying to get their heads into the grain tub that is connected to the milking stand. Finally I had to remove the grain tub so they would leave, so the poor girl getting hoof trims wouldn't be forever terrorized by the experience. She's the one I've been working with every weekend, taking her out of the pen for her time on the milking stand to have some grain. I got her done, then struggled one of the wethers onto the stand. Got him done, then the remaining wether. The other three doelings are quite tame so they weren't too hard.

I was worn out by the experience. It was hot and dusty. Even though we moved the milking stand into the milking parlor where we at least had protection from the direct sun, the flies were out in droves, lighting all over my sweaty face. My nose even started bleeding at one point and I couldn't stop the spasmotic sneezing from the dust.

I came in, processed the milk, took a shower and decided to take a nap. I stayed in bed until noon. I don't know how much work I'll get done in the house this weekend. I have to at the very least wash and fold my clothes for next week.

We think we found a church we can go to and feel comfortable with. It's 41 miles away. But it will be worth it.

I ordered a few books by Maurice S. Rawlings. The one called Life Wish arrived today.

Until next time.

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Tiger Helps Me Knit

Yesterday before we took off for grocery shopping and errands, I snuck in a few rows on the baby sleeve. When I got to the last row in the pattern, it said to continue on until the length was 5 1/4". It was already at 5 1/2" and had ended on the Right Side, so I just stopped there and casted off. (Cast off?)

Tiger was very clingy and had to be right up on me, arms stretched up to my neck. He appeared to be sleeping, but his tail kept flicking back and forth, irritatedly. It was obvious he expected that I should put down the string and pet him instead.

Until next time.

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Yarn Rescue

Last Saturday I blogged about some 85% wool yarn I'd found at one of the local thrift stores. I had planned to go back today and see if the other sack of yarn was still available, buy the bag for $4, pull out the wool yarn and donate the bag back to them. Upon closer examination I noticed there were some balls of cotton in the bag as well. So I decided to take the whole bag home. I went to the thrift store first, and then had to run errands and shop for groceries and it was kind of fun anticipating what I'd find in the bag once I got home. You can see in the photo to the left that I found four more balls of the Patons, making a grand total of eleven balls.

Dh found some things he wanted and we both wandered around a bit longer, and then I discovered that there was one more side to the "craft" area. And discovered these:


A passel of knitting needles! Sizes 4, 6, 8, 9, 10 and 11. All 14" long. The 10's are the tiniest bit bent but it won't bother me any. The lady charged me $5.00 for the six sets. That makes each set ~$0.83! The sock needles are size 8 and she charged me a dollar for those. So now my collection of knitting needles looks like this:

I have size 3 and 8 in short needles, and sizes 3 (the hooded baby sweater on currently), 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10.5, 11. This is so exciting to me! I checked the prices of needles at Walmart today and they range from $1.74 up to $2.88 depending on size.

In that same area, I found another bag of yarn to rescue. This bag had 8 balls (50 grams) of Pineapple Frost Bernat Cott'n Silk, 75% cotton, 15% nylon and 10% silk. $5.00 for the bag.




Here's the cotton. The two intact balls are different lot numbers and the colors are noticeably different. I think the unwound ball is the same as one of the others, and there was a partial ball of yellow.

The remainder of the bag of yarn. Mostly acrylic. Yes, those are DOLL HEADS. I didn't really notice they were in the bag when I was looking at the yarn.


This is where I'm storing my knitting needles. I found an old Samsonite overnight case at a yard sale for $3.00. I thought it would be perfect for storing my knitting and crochet needles and it seems to be working out great. It's definitely helping to have one specific place to put all my knitting/crocheting supplies.

Okay. I think it might be time for an intervention. I seriously have so much yarn that I could never use it (at least at the current rate of usage) in the next 60 years. I only started looking at thrift stores to see if I could find some "good" yarn, which I can't bring myself to buy brand new since it's so darned expensive. Well, now that I have some "good" yarn, I need to stop looking. I have much more yarn than I've inventoried here on my blog... mostly acrylic, but some cotton. And I'm running out of places to hidestore it. The most important thing is, if it takes me 3 months to knit one small baby sweater, how can I ever use it all? Speaking of baby sweaters... I have completed one sleeve on the hooded baby sweater! Making progress! That leaves one more sleeve and the hood, assembly, and buttons. Then I can start something else. Something quick. Maybe the hat I want to make for ds1 out of the brown Lion chenille I found at Saver's. I still would like to make a kitty pi. But you know, these cats of ours wouldn't be fussy and insist on a felted wool kitty pi. They'd probably be just as excited about an acrylic kitty pi. I am sure I could figure out how to crochet one. I sure have learned a lot with making the hooded baby sweater. I had to visit knittinghelp.com to watch how to do increases. I learned how to do the bar increase.

Until next time.

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Liver and Onions and Red Bell Peppers and Mushrooms and and and

We got back a LOT of liver from our steer. Even though dh and I took vows that we'd NEVER have the stuff in our home, not buy it, nor cook it or EVER, EVER eat it... since I've been trying to do Nourishing Traditions I keep thinking I should learn to like it. I told dh a few weeks back, "What if we had more energy the next day after eating it?" Because we notice how we feel the next day after eating a pile of pasta (spaghetti is a real killer of energy the day after) or other similar negative nutrient foods.

So yesterday he started some thawing, and after it was thawed I squeezed some lemons (four small ones) and put the liver into the lemon juice which Sally Fallon says will draw out toxins and firm up the texture of the liver. You're only supposed to soak it for a few hours, but we ended up letting it go (refrigerated) until today.

Then I made a big mess of fried onions, red bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, and mushrooms. Dh took the first bite and promptly spit it out, aiming for the garbage but missed. Hee. I've been trying to eat liver for the past year or two so I was able to keep my bite in my mouth and actually swallow it. Gulp. Ds2 took a bite of the liver all by itself and he too spit his out.

However, with a bit of the fried veggies, it wasn't too bad! I think I ate about four ounces of liver. My stomach's been messing with me today. I feel bloated, which usually means I've been eating too much junk. White flour and sugar, namely. Earlier today I drank some apple cider vinegar in water to help my digestion.

I actually cleaned my desk off and I am getting more things in my filing cabinet. I'm proud of myself! I got done early today with washing and folding the clothes and putting them away. It was hard to get going on the housework, but I turned on tobyMac and that helped a lot.

Until next time.

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The Cluttery Area Is Neat

Here's the area behind my chair, all neat and tidy now. I need to get the fax machine set up. I rarely send or receive faxes, but it's nice to have it available, just in case.

I made some brownies from a mix. Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Brownie Mix. I added pecans and used all the leftover bits of cream cheese to make the cream cheese brownies version. I didn't buy this mix, it was given to me with a few other healthy type canned goods. They are very good brownies, although I had to bake them for 45 minutes rather than the 25 called for on the package.

I also started some pinto beans. I wanted to take advantage of the ham bone that's been in the fridge since last week.

I still need to tidy up the living room and vacuum. I've got one load of clothes ready for folding and will have two more shortly.

Soon I'll have pictures of my new milking parlor. Dh cleared out the shed completely, washed it down and painted it with the light green OOPS paint I got from Home Depot many months ago. We have a several cabinets that will fit in there and I want to get a sink set up so I'll having running water aside from using the hose. I also would like to splurge and buy a window air conditioning unit. It will make milking much more enjoyable in the afternoons.

I wonder how this knit hat would work with the Lion chenille... it's called Odessa by Grumperina. I'd like to make a fitted hat for ds1 which would look hair-like. He has alopecia areata, which means he is completely bald. He's been bald for several years. Actually, he thinks I cut his hair off and that's why he's bald. He's really convinced of it and sometimes yells at me for his loss of hair. Poor guy.

Until next time.

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My New Cubbyholes

In my ongoing quest to become organized, (haha)I'm realizing one thing that helps is to have a place for everything and everything in its place. Dh took these cubbyhole/shelves down from an office he's remodeling at his job and I could see lots of organizational uses for them immediately. Tiger saw another good purpose. A new place to sleep. Click on each photo to see a larger version (plus you will be able to read the caption better).


It is hard to get organized when you don't spend much time at home. When I was a stay at home parent, I had lots of time to get things organized. Some things were organized. For example, I had a place to keep my new checks, but I have never established a place here. That is one of the things I love about my sewing machine because it has a cabinet upon which it sits and three drawers for organizing my sewing items.

So in the cubbyholes so far there are new checks, blank envelopes, stamps, and address labels. Finally a place for tape and the stapler. And backup CDs.

Back to cleaning the kitchen. I've always wiped down all the counters, cleaned the stovetop and drip pans, washed some dishes and wiped down the table. Now I need to get some laundry started, sweep and mop the kitchen floor, straighten the living room and vacuum. One day I hope to make a dent on the mess behind my desk. Ds2 would love me dearly if I would clean up this cluttered pile.

Oh. Naptime's over for a few minutes. How will Tiger get himself out of this dilemma?











He did it! Yay, Tiger! That was quite a feat for Tiger. I have suspected that he is visually impaired since he was very young because he is very clumsy and uncat-like.

Until next time.

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Why I Quit Crocheting in 1987

I was 22 years old and pregnant with my first child. I'd made a few items, the first was a blanket. It was a bit larger than I'd anticipated since 1) I didn't use baby yarn 2) I didn't do a gauge swatch. I also used cheap acrylic yarn, which was the only thing I knew existed all those years ago. I used a pattern of squares interlocked with hearts. I used the blanket for both boys over the years, it was great for laying on the carpet when they were tiny infants and then laying them on their bellies. Little heads lifted up high, looking all around the room. I still have the blanket, it is 22 years old! It's in nearly perfect condition, (I guess acrylic lasts just fine!) with only one piece of yarn which has been snagged and needs repair.

After the blanket, I made a tiny pullover sweater in yellow and green stripes (I still have it, but don't know exactly where it's at for photographing). I moved on to a cream colored sachet and bonnet. I bought a big bag of tangled yarn at the local yarn store, which was nothing like today's Local Yarn Stores. It was more like a super selection of acrylic yarns. I think this particular shop was called The Yarn Barn.

It took a long time and much patience to untangle that huge bag of yarn but I finally got it wound into balls. I began the sachet, which was fancy and pretty. I completed it, and started on the bonnet. The bonnet was also fancy and frilly. It was a very complicated pattern so much so that I had to go to the LYS and ask the professionals for help. I was close to finishing the bonnet. I was working the frilly top part.

I carried my crocheting in a Kmart bag. They had these heavier duty bags back then and there was a carrying handle on it.

Dh was helping his mother and stepfather build onto their home. We arrived at their house and they were scurrying around in a hurry gathering up any bags of garbage, on their way to the dump which was closing in about fifteen minutes. I tagged along for the ride.

We got back to their house. I went to the entryway to retrieve my crocheting but couldn't find it... I looked around, getting a bit nervous. I asked my mother-in-law and she started to help me look for it. I asked my father-in-law and he asked if I was sure I brought it with me. I knew I had, and he then suggested I was on drugs and had been hallucinating. I was very taken aback by this as I was 8 months pregnant with a huge belly for heaven's sake. I don't drink or do drugs so I was quite insulted. I then spoke with my dh about my lost crocheting, and he suggested we take a trip to the dump to see if we could locate it. But you see, the dump closed right after we left. There was no way to get into it.

I was devastated. It was so upsetting that I stopped crocheting for years and years. I mean like decades!

Of course, having a new baby probably took up a fair amount of my time and I remember not reading anything but parenting books for the next 3 or 4 years. We were also quite poor and I didn't really have the money to spend on yarn. But if I had not lost that sachet (all those hours!) and bonnet, I probably would have found a way to buy a dollar or two worth of yarn every couple of months.

I began crocheting again in 2003 when a friend of mine crocheted a very beautiful sweater for her daughter-in-law -- who promptly hung the sweater in the closet and never even tried it on! I began to long to feel the yarn between my fingers and soon I started crocheting again. I started out by making a huge blanket for ds2. I had never managed to complete an item as big as this before. I made a few more items, but by 2004 the knitting bug was beginning to gnaw at me. A bunch of my online friends were knitting up a storm.

I had tried to learn to knit every once in awhile, but I couldn't get my hand to hold the yarn properly so I didn't think I could ever learn to knit. After all, when you've been crocheting for almost FORTY years, holding the yarn a specific way... difficult to get the fingers to cooperate. But then I discovered CONTINENTAL knitting. One of my friends told me to try it, so I did. Soon I was knitting scarves and more scarves. All knit, knit, knit, knit, knit. I learned the knit stitch very well.

I crocheted another baby sweater for my sister who is 9 years younger than me, for her first baby. The type of yarn I used for that sweater prompted me to try knitting the next one, instead of crocheting.

I am getting better at knitting. I finally have learned how to tell where I am with this pattern. It uses the seed stitch.

I feel like I had a big day today. I didn't get much housework done. Doggone it. That means tomorrow will be full of housecleaning. I'm tired already.

[Correction to title made on June 9th. I had previously said I quit crocheting in 1986, but actually it was in 1987.]

Until next time.

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Hooded Baby Sweater Update

I've been jonesing for my daily dose of Crazy Aunt Purl -- she's at a book signing event in New York. So I've started reading her blog from the start. I'm up to April 14th, 2005. Anyhoo... it appears she names each item she knits. At least that's how she started out. She sure did a lot of knitting when she first got needledhooked. So I decided to name this item Hooded Baby Sweater.

I haven't had a chance to knit for at least two weeks - where does the time go? But today dh had to do some Home Depot shopping for his job. Sometimes I wander round the store with him. I always bring my knitting in case I find time to knit. Today I told him I'd like to find someplace to sit and knit. This particular HD has a couple of benches but they are right outside the sliding doors. So I sat there knitting, getting a cool whoosh of air every few seconds. Not often enough to stay cool consistently and I didn't even realize I was getting overheated. I get rather cranky when I'm overheated.

However, I did finish the front left side of the sweater! It took me awhile to figure out what I'd done last, but I finally did. Once I completed it, I cast on and started the first sleeve.

Dh was also looking for a stainless steel bowl to make into a sink for the mechanics at his job. They need a handwashing sink and he figures a SS bowl will work great, rather than having to go and buy a whole new sinkbowl. And he thinks stainless steel will work best since they will be able to scrub it clean with an SOS pad.

We stopped at the two thrift stores looking for one. Salvation Army had nothing of interest, so we went over to the other thrift store. Dh found a stainless steel cake pan lid that he thinks will work, for a mere two dollars. If I remember, and it works, I'll take pictures and show them here.

I also found some more yarn to add to my stash. I'm seriously considering making a kitty pi. Or maybe socks. This yarn is 85% Wool, 15% Acrylic. Patons' Totem. It says, "Patonised for maximum resistence to shrinkage and piling". Hmmm... guess no kitty pi for this batch of yarn. That little blurb probably means no felting? I'm quite strict with myself regarding knitting, as you might notice, I'm only allowed to have one project going at a time. I am overly prone to starting something and never finishing, so I could easily fall into the trap of having many projects on many needles... uh, it just occurred to me that I started crocheting a baby blanket some time ago, maybe a year or more and have never picked it up again. See that is what I want to avoid, so I'm only allowed to work on the Hooded Baby Sweater. But apparently it's okay to buy inexpensive wool yarn when I happen upon it.

So I'm still bothered by one small thing. The thrift store had another bag, a bigger bag, filled with lots of small balls of acrylic yarn; however, within the bag, there were at least 3 to 4 more balls of this yarn. The bigger bag was $4.00. I should have asked, but figured they wouldn't go for my getting the other wool out of the bag.

The knitting needles are size 8 and size 10 1/2. The shelf said crochet hooks $0.50 each and knitting needles $0.50. But when I got to the register to pay, the lady said they were a quarter each. So two new sizes of knitting needles for $1.00. Whoo! Luckily I don't mind working with aluminum needles.

The smaller bag of yarn that I got was $3.00. 9 complete balls. Each ball weighs 50 grams and is 370 yards long. Seven of the balls are cream colored, well, more like white with bits of light brown. The other balls are white with bits of light blue. Two of the balls are complete, and the other one weighs 25 grams, so 2 1/2 balls of the blue yarn. You can click on the image at left for a closeup of the yarn. I don't think it's beautiful, but I think it would make some nice socks.

If I remember next week to go by that thrift store and they still have that bag of yarn, I am going to buy it, open it up, take out the wool and donate the rest of the yarn back to them. Maybe right after I pay for the yarn, right at the counter. I think those balls are worth even $1 each.

They had a lot of knitting needles, but the two pairs I found were the only matching ones. The others didn't match, some were dented and one was bent.

For years and years I didn't crochet or knit. I don't think I've told the story here. Hold on. I have to run out and throw hay and collect the eggs. Dh is cooking dinner, ds2 is making chocolate chip coconut cookies (and I wonder why I'm so fat?) so I pulled chore duty. Back soon with my story. No wait, I'll just make it a post of its own.

Until next time.

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Sleep Mask

Kind of looks like a bikini top, eh? It's not, it's a sleep mask I made for myself. See, dh loves to sleep with the television on. Sometimes he'll mute the thing, but the light still flickers. I used to have a remote control on my side of the bed but someone removed the batteries and I've never gotten it set up again to turn the television off. So usually I have to get up, walk around the bed and turn the thing off. I bought the material several weeks ago, and over the weekend I finally had the opportunity to spend some time with my wonderful sewing machine (which I have never blogged about, but hope to someday soon). I found a pattern on the Internet, but I modified it and made it bigger and wider. I bought one foot worth of this cute kitty material, and one foot of dark blue flannel, which is the inside panel. I measured the material for the strap, but forgot to include more material so that it would bunch slightly, so the elastic could be stretched. But it fits my head perfectly.
I had a chance to try it a couple nights in a row. It works pretty good to keep out the flickering lights!

Until next time.

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