Summer hours

We started “summer hours” at our office last week (though I started it this week.)  We work four 10-hour days with either Monday or Friday off.  I chose Mondays.  Mr. Aitch works either Fridays or Saturdays and is choir directors at church so Mondays seemed to be the best day for us.  Makes for nice long weekends.  The kicker is getting to work an hour earlier and staying an hour later.  So did I set my alarm to get up an hour earlier?  No.  Just a half hour earlier.  I won’t eat breakfast at home until we switch back to our regular hours after Labor Day.

So my plan for this past weekend was to continue my cleaning.  Didn’t happen as planned.  Friday night my daughter-in-law called asking if she and their two kids could spend the weekend with us.  My son works nights and is off Monday and Tuesday nights.  They only have one car so he brought them Saturday and picked them up last evening.  My grandson is four and wants constant interaction.  Play with me, Nona.  Not a lot of cleaning done over the weekend.

I got up to the armhole openings on the second eyelet sweater and started the first sleeve four times.  I dropped a stitch and had to start over.  I had an extra stitch and had to start over.  I don’t know what I did and had a huge gap and started over.  I’m well into the sleeve and should finish it tonight and possible finish the second sleeve so I can start to join everything.  Goal is to have the sweater finished Friday night.

I did get a couple of loads of laundry done.  I even cleaned out one cabinet in the kitchen yesterday morning.  Spices.  What is the shelf life of spices and flavorings?  We moved into this house 16 years ago.  I threw out some spices that I brought from my other house.  Granted I hadn’t used them in the past 16 years so it was safe to say I didn’t need them.  This was long overdue.

Treasures I found were an apple baker and a garlic baker.  Both in their original packaging and both brand spanking new.  One was a gift and one I had purchased.

I had paper plates and plastic spoons and forks taking up most of a shelf.  We don’t really use paper plates very much unless it’s a BIG party.  Same with plastic ware.  So those things went into a box to be put in the basement with the other picnic-type things.

Our community yard sale is this weekend.  I doubt I will be ready for it but will continue to clean out drawers, cabinets, closets and rooms.  Maybe I will have my own yard sale later in the summer.

Only the buttons

I finished the eyelet sweater last night except for the buttons.  I still don’t know the best way to sew on buttons on a knitted item.  I wove in all the ends and grafted the underarm seam of four stitches.  I used the kitchener stitch but still have holes on either side.  I try to weave/darn those holes but I’m not satisfied with the result.  It’s going to have to work for now but I do need help with finishing seams.

The sweater is blocked and I will updated this post tonight with pictures.

My camera and computer are fighting.  Sometimes I can upload pictures easily ans sometimes I can’t.  Not sure what the problem is.  I put the digital card from the camera into the card reader and I either get errors or it works without a hitch.  I will try again tonight.

I adapted this sweater pattern so I didn’t have to sew seams.  I like to sew fabric but not knitted items.  I’m working on writing out the pattern so I can refer to it when I knit the second sweater…which I started last night.

Eyelet sweater size 1-2 yrs

Sausage toes

Yesterday Mr. Aitch and I were reviewing the leftovers in the fridge and decided to cook and eat the last two hot dogs and two hamburgers for dinner.  To make the meal healthier we also had baby carrots and white zin.  Yes, wine is a health food in my book.

By the end of the evening, my toes were like little sausages.  I try not to consume much sodium but could not pass up the hot dog.  As I was knitting on the button band on the eyelet sweater, my feet felt funny.  They were swollen and my toes looked like little sausages.

Today I’m drinking a lot of water to help flush out the sodium and will be eating a bit healthier, too.

Progress on the eyelet sweater:  It’s almost finished!  I have the button band finished on the right side and have the left side yet to do.  Graft the underarm stitches, weave in the ends,  sew on the yet-to-find buttons and block.  Yay!  Then I can start on the second one hoping it won’t take near as long since I made all the corrections on this one.

As soon as I type out the chicken scratch pattern, I will post it.

Honeysuckle and helmets

I rode the motorcycle to work this morning and I need a “CAUTION: Helmet hair” sign.  I realize traffic problems in my area doesn’t even come close to what a lot of people experience but I couldn’t get out of my development this morning for at least five minutes.  School buses and the cars backed up from the various stops made for a very long line of traffic.

Once I got moving, I could smell the sweet perfume of honeysuckles.  They grow along the roadside on steep banks.  I would love to have honeysuckle around my house but I think it’s rather invasive so I’ll appreciate it while I ride.

Courtesy of:  http://nyis.info/images/0001065_Japanese_honeysuckle_flower.gif