Crafters, October 29 through November 4

Ruth, no doubt in my mind that this afghan will be the perfect length for Ds with the yarn you have on hand.

Sue, hope you find your yarn. Dishcloths are wonderful- a great way to play with colors and textures, without needing a ton of yarn. Pretty and useful too!!

G

Good evening!!
Of course, you all know that if you are missing some yarn of fabric its in the very bottom of the very bottom bin and covered by something that completely obscures it from view!!! (Had that happen with some fabric last week). Anyway, Sue I hope you located it and have enough for whatever project you want to make with it!

Ruth, that is one great deal you got on that yarn! Good thing that you did get such a great deal, based upon how much yarn you have used already. Bet this afghan will be stunning!! When is your sister hoping to visit, in the fall of 2018 or 2019?

Busy day with the grandkids, and I did not sleep well at all. So it was a tough long day....although they are so much fun and I am glad I got to see them. Did a few minutes of ornament making with DGD. The beaded ornaments are pretty easy to make, which is good
G

We had rain last night. There was snow on the mountains and on the foothills just to the south. The snow line was about 150' higher than my house. That was very convenient this morning! I felt like I was moving about as well as cold molasses!

Ruth, the yarn for your afghan sounds like a real bargain. I just read about it and it sounds like it's easy to work with as well as warm and cuddly.

This morning I solved my immediate need for something warmer while sitting in the living room. I had a bolt on bright yellow fleece that I cut into four pieces. I buy fleece on sale for dog beds/blankets. My woofers are very hard on dog beds and think they're chew toys, that the goal is to pull out the stuffing or foam. They leave fleece alone if there's nothing inside and carefully rearrange pieces into their choice of shape! Easily washed and dried and much more hygienic than beds. So now three of the dogs are on my lap holding down one of their new beds! Nice and warm.

I have justexactlytoomanydogs! Two wire haired dachshunds, one long haired dachshund, one dachshund/cocker cross, and two bichon frises. hb has one smooth dachshund who is under his new blanket on hb's lap. There was supposed to be more sharing of dogs, but he has alienated several of them. We used to have several Samoyeds. Great hair for spinning, dyeing, knitting, weaving, mixing with other fiber. Very warm! The main problem is that items made from the yarn smell like wet dog!

My sister and I were very close for roughly the first half of our lives. She died from COPD, cirrhosis of the liver and kidney failure and had created a tangled web of half truths that kept friends and relatives at a distance. I am trying to remember the beautiful, intelligent charming person that she had been. She didn't tell me that she couldn't get out of bed and was sitting in a wheelchair or that she hadn't seen a doctor in two years, and we had talked several times. It was difficult for her to talk on the phone because of COPD. For the past two years,I was texting her several times a week, sending lots of photos. Sometimes she responded. Most of the time, she didn't. I wasn't told that she had been in the hospital for two weeks or that she had signed a domestic partnership with her platonic boyfriend just few days after admission. It was a serendipitous alignment of events that allowed me to go see her for a day and a half. If I had waited to make arrangements for hb to go to a senior facility, it would have been too late. She was still in denial about what had happened but had declined all medical treatment so she was sent from ICU to a hospice facility.

I knew she was an alcoholic, but I didn't know she was in a downward spiral. Looking back, I can see little clues. I can't change what happened, but I wish there had been an opportunity to try to do an intervention and for her to have had a chance at the freedom and gift. of sobriety.

We spent most of the day I was there talking Some of the conversation made sense, some of it didn't. She seemed puzzled about what had happened and why. I just listened. Her SO was a codependent and contributor to the situation which makes it difficult for me to have to continue to talk to him during probate.

It's snowing and the wind is blowing now. There are just a few leaves left. White out conditions. I don't think it's the beginning of a permanent winter cover though.

S

Good morning!!

Sue, again, please accept my heartfelt condolences on the loss of your sister. She did indeed face multiple issues, any one of which is life threatening! I agree with you- remember the woman of her youth, the sister you were closer to and was healthy and strong. My dad was an alcoholic- died of alcoholic cardiomyopathy- here today, gone tomorrow. He was also in a downward spiral (he has been gone almost 35 years)- had several DUI’s and would never have accepted any treatment. It surely sounds as though your sister was in denial and just wanted to go her own way. Of course that makes it no easier on you! Will pray for you that you can find some peace through this and accept that, most likely, your sister would have never accepted any help or guideance from you.

Wow you have a lot of dogs!! ( I have 3 cats). Fleece sure does sound like a happy solution to their bedding problem and they do have great fleece sales.

Ruth, I try, when possible, with something heavy to smash it into one of their priority boxes or bags, then I at least know what the financial damage will be. Seemed as though years ago, you could send something super slow.....and it did not cost too much. Now everything gets there in 2 days, but we pay for that!!! Hope that you can figure out a good way to have everyone visit, so that you are not overwhelmed with guests. Nice to have the time to enjoy each loved ones company separately!!

Cold and windy here. Busy day here...babysitting takes up so much time and i am trying to get caught up on housework.

Hope to work on the ornaments later on... Have a great day
Ginny

Ginny, you are right. My sister would never have accepted any help, guidance or interference! I know that. That's what all the secrecy was about. She was afraid that others, particularly me, might have interfered.

What kind of ornaments are you making?

At last week's quilting group, I picked up an old (2003) book on paint transfer to fabric. There are always takers for others' discards or attempts at downsizing!! Much to my amazement, this I something I may try! It's definitely not something I would do for a large project, but I can see possibilities for some unique smaller projects that I would even consider hand piecing and quilting. (Maybe bookmark size! hehehehe).

The sun is shining, and the little bit of snow is gone. It's not very warm. There should be a nice sunset tonight.

Tomorrow I get to go to the dentist for a partial exam. When I had my teeth cleaned, I had a few problems. The dentist used to come into talk after the cleaning, but now that has to be scheduled separately. The appointment had to be postponed, and then I put it off, so I finally called today. There was a major cancellation, so there is a possibility the work can be done tomorrow. I'll find out when I get there. Not my favorite thing to do!

Ruth, rain should be headed your way in a few days!

Yesterday there was a bald eagle on a telephone pole on the way into town. That was a surprise. Not the bald eagle ... the fact that it was on a telephone pole. There was another large group of Canada geese in a field. They will probably hang around until the weather shifts. Last night there was a buck in the front yard. This morning a group of deer hanging around a fence down the street. White tailed deer here. Mule and wt deer about forty miles away.

Hello to Sue and Phyl and also to Ginny, CJ and Meg.

It snowed during the night but none stuck down here just on the mountain. Then early this afternoon it snowed a lot but none of that stuck down here either and now the sun has come out in time to set.

I've worked on my afgan for dgs today and am now taking a break because I'm deciding whether I should do another repeat of the sequence or just start on an edging and make it as large as needed to use up this yarn. I'm afraid if I keep going with another sequence I'll run out of yarn for the edging. So I'm not sure what I'll do. Each sequence 32 rows. Each skein of my yarn makes about 8 rows. So since I have  a little over six skeins left I think I'll have enough to do one more but the multi skein is shorter so may not make that many rows but I don't know if two is enough for the edging.I hate to do all that work and then have to rip it out. I want both ends to match.

I hope all of you are having a great day. Sue how nice to find something you can put to use in your quilting.

PHyl, well you may or may not have gained the pound back but pot lucks are so much fun. The varieties of foods people bring are usually interesting.

I'm working on my afgan and am close to starting the edging. I'll see if I can crochet over the yarn ends at the edges. If not I'll have a lot of ends to weave in because it wasn't possible to crochet over the ends where the new skeins joined in the body of the afgan..they would show. 

It's a nice sunny day today and warmer...up to 57 possible. Today is Halloween but no kids stop in this neighborhood because the houses are too far apart for them and not many children live here anyway.

I saw a pattern for some nice hats yesterday so may make a few of those. I do have the headbands to do and also the Bible cover and whatever else I think of to make for the Feb 3rd birthday grandaughter.I might get a head start of the ones for March too...another dgd and ddil.

I hope you are all having a good day and will be able to do some things you enjoy doing. See you all later