More newness!

I finished listing all my micromitts; at least, all that
are completed. I've got several more in various stages of completion, waiting for my next day off. Here's what I listed today and tonight.

This morning I listed the mitts
in my last post as well as two more:
Golden Leaves and Happy Hanukkah.

Then tonight I added three more sets. First, the Turkey Harvest mitts. I know, I know, Thanksgiving's over, but you could always get a head start for next year! :o)



Next, the Happy Holly Holiday mitts.
Believe me, they're not nearly as eye-poppingly bright in person.




Finally, the Autumn Winds mitts.
I love this fabric, and if they don't sell quickly I might just have to confiscate these for my own use. :o)


Update Saturday: the Golden Leaves just sold!!!! Yay!!! That makes 2 pairs sold in 2 days!!!!!

Quickest Sale Ever!!!!!

Last week my sister took some of my stuff to a show she did. Unfortunately, neither of us sold anything. :o( Yesterday she returned my stock, and this morning I photographed and listed several items.

I went and caught up on several threads, and decided to show my newest listings to my friends. Imagine my surprise when one of them had already sold, half an hour after it was listed!!

Here it is : Autumn Leaves Marvelous MicroMitts.

Marvelous Mitts for a Delightful Duckie

Today I finished a special order for a friend on Etsy. Duckie (of Circleinthesand) ordered two matching pairs of marvelous microwave mitts for herself and a friend, and here they are.

Duckie picked the fabric from several I have posted here in my Flickr. If you're interested, there are lots more fabrics there to choose from, and several pairs already made in my shop.

Freezing down here in Texas

The weather update on my computer says it's 44, but both of our outdoor thermometers say it's in the mid-30s. All I really know is, I'm about to freeze!

Early last month we had our window frames painted, and to do it the guys had to take off the storm windows. The weather was decent, so it wasn't a real problem. Then my dad decided he wanted to get new film on the windows (what!! the film's only about 30 years old, it's good for years yet ;p), so he didn't put them back on. The place he used originally doesn't do that anymore, and so far he hasn't found anyone else.

It's been a bit cool, but the house stayed warm enough. BUT this week we've been having a real cold snap and the lack of that second pane of glass has made itself known. The only way to get warm is to stand over the air vent, but a) you can't stay there all day and b) even if you could, the heater doesn't stay on all day. (Okay, I could stay in bed, but then I wouldn't get any sewing done. No sewing, no money.)

Right now I'm sitting here in my nightgown and flannel robe, with a crocheted shrug over that, and fuzzy socks, and an afghan over my lap, and I'M STILL COLD!!!!!!!!!! When my hands get cold I can put them under my arms, but neither the robe nor the shrug nor the afghan do anything to keep my nose warm.

I need to crochet myself a nose-warmer. Maybe if I wore that around the house, my dad would put the storm windows back up. :o)

My nose is froze. And my toes is froze. And my feet is froze. And my tail --- um, no, I don't have a tail to freeze.

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

Today I planned to cut out mitts, zigzag them, mark 3 fabrics for bias tape and possibly start cutting the tape out. All I got done was cutting out the mitts. :o(

I woke up not feeling too wonderful. After breakfast all I really wanted to do was go back to bed, but I sat down and cut out the mitts. Then I pulled a blanket over me and dozed for at least an hour. Then came lunch, a little time on the computer, and another nap before work. It's a good thing I had those naps -- it was after 10:30 when we left and there's still stuff left to put away.

I don't work tomorrow (yay! I hate working on Sunday), so I should be able to work on the bias tape. I have to get these mitts made up by Wednesday. I want to send them off with my nephew to a craft show my sister's attending next weekend. Hope I feel better tomorrow.

Oh, I forgot to mention yesterday that besides the tendonitis in my shoulder, the doc said the occasional pain in my elbow is tennis elbow. I've never played tennis, but I have to have my arm in an odd position to use my mouse on this laptop. Guess you could say I have "mouse elbow". ;p

Not enough hours in the day

So far today (November 14), I have done the following, post-breakfast: visited the orthopedist and get another shot, this time in the front of my shoulder; dropped by the library to pick up a requested book (and have nearly finished it!); made 6 more fabric and insulbright sandwiches to quilt for mitts (to go with the 2 already made); eaten lunch; gone to JoAnn's and spent a pile of money on fabric and notions, but saved a lot since it was the last employee double discount day of the year; run two loads of fabric through the laundry; opened a birthday goodie bag from Jaymie of WhiteStoneStitchery; quilted 4 of the aforementioned fabric sandwiches; ate dinner; ironed 5 yards of various fabrics for bias tape; had another piece of my birthday cake from Tuesday (can't let it go stale, can I? ;p) and outlined 4 sets of mitts, ready to cut out tomorrow, at which point I said enough was enough and quit for the day. Whew!

Tomorrow, I have to cut out the mitts and mark fabric for bias tape, at which point it will be almost time to go to work.

I might actually get these done for my nephew to take home with him on Thursday so my sister can try to sell them at the show next weekend.

"Unfinished" should be my middle name

Tonight I picked up a shrug I started crocheting last winter. I had one side almost finished when I stopped. Don't really remember why I stopped, I just did. This got me thinking about projects that I've "abandoned" midway through. There are more than I like to think about. ;p

There was the dresser scarf I ignored for several years. I finally finished it, but only after having to scrub off the cork stain from the metal hoop I used originally.

In college I started a quilt, possibly for my parents. I haven't worked on it in 13 years, since I started working. It's nicely folded away in large plastic bags in a box in my overstuffed closet. Someday soon I plan on getting it out and finishing it for me, since the quilt I made for myself 20 years ago is about ready for the cedar chest (or the rubbish bin!).

About 4 years ago I put down an extremely involved counted cross-stitch project because my eyes were bothering me. It's still sitting where I left it, still in its hoop, on the shelf of the table between the recliners.

My first knitted project, a baby hoodie, is sitting in a box in my room, waiting for me to block and seam it and add the finishing touches --- three years after I last worked on it.

More recently, I started crocheting a helmetliner for the troops last winter (after I abandoned the shrug). So far I've gotten the top of it done, and that's all --- not even down to the eyeholes. :o(

And I've got a ziploc bag in my room with what will someday, some century, be a sweater vest. It's about 3" high after too many years to count.

I'm not even counting the half dozen baby blankets I haven't put tape on. I pull threads on them when I'm bored so they make up quicker when we need to restock.

I do eventually finish things, like the dresser scarf I mentioned. There's a baby blanket that took me several years to crochet, since I only worked on it at craft shows, but it is finished.

Better get back to this shrug. If I work at it, I can have it done in time for next winter . . . . . . or maybe the winter after that. :o)

Aren't these cute?

When my eldest sister was here last month she ordered two sets of micromitts. I just finished them yesterday. The purple set is for her daughter-in-law, and the yellow set is for her own kitchen (she loves red and yellow).

Wouldn't you love a set for your very own?

"I'm Sorry, You've Got A Bad Case of Faucet-Nose"

This has just not been my week. On top of the persistent tendonitis, over the last few days my nose has decided that it would rather be a faucet than a working body part. :o( I can't begin to count the number of tissues I've gone through since Wednesday. It's so bad I took a plastic bag to work to collect my used tissues and keep them out of the general trash. I even took a box of kleenex with me! That's the only high point, since I discovered they were the ultra soft kind. At least my nose isn't as sore as it could be.

Back to my shoulder woes. Monday was not a good day in shoulder city, nor was Friday. My shoulder joint hurts when I cough, when I sneeze, when I breathe deeply. And my thumb is still kind of numb. When I squeeze the thumb joint I can feel it in my shoulder, so I'm pretty sure I have a pinched nerve. Unfortunately, my chiropractor died a few months ago, so to get this taken care of I have to find a new practioner. :o( That'll be a lot of fun, I don't think.

drip. . . drip. . . drip. . . I think I need a plumber for my nose.

My arm! My arm! I can move my arm!

After a week and a half of assorted anti-inflammatory drugs, including one that I can only take once a day (it must be really good; I didn't take it this morning and I'm regretting it just a bit), I can now move my arm without wanting to either scream or cry for a large part of the day. That's not to say it doesn't still hurt, but I don't feel like curling into a ball and sobbing in pain. :o)

Anyway, I've been working up a list of things I can now do if I'm careful (in no particular order):

1. Wash my hair. I've got a lot of it and the job requires a working shoulder.

2. Change my sheets. My bed is in a corner so it's a bear of a job on a good day; with a bad shoulder it was out of the question.

3. Get stuff out of the washer and dryer. We have a stacking set, and getting stuff out has always been a stretch for little old me. It's either past my reach (washer) or over my head (dryer).

4. Get out and put away the cereal. We keep it on a high shelf, and even though it slides out it's hard to get to when it hurts to move your hand past your shoulder, let alone over your head. I could just barely get the box out from the bottom, but putting it away was impossible.

5. Pick up a glass with one hand while sitting at the table. The action involved awkward, painful movements, so for several days I reverted to childhood and used both hands. ;P

6. Cutting my own meat. The back-and-forth motion put too much stress on my shoulder, so I've mainly been eating fairly soft foods, or at least ones that didn't take any cutting.

7. Taking off my bra. There were a couple nights I just couldn't get my hand back there and had to get help.

8. Taking off my sweater. I usually meet my hands behind my back and pull the cuffs off, but that was not possible this past week or so. And you don't remember how painful it was last time until you do it again. (ow! ow!)

9. Sleep! I've had to sleep sitting as straight up as possible to ease the pressure on the shoulder, but last night I slept in something approaching my normal posture. :o)

If I think of any more, I'll let you know. :o)