Long time no see!

It's been like an eternity since I've posted on the blog. I have lots to tell but not in the way of any weaving news

I've been seeing doctors and getting all kinds of pre-screening for the polyp surgery (2nd time around should be a charm no?) I've been clear and surgery is scheduled for December 23, after that hopefully I can breath again without any issues. According to my ENT the polyps that I get in my nasal cavity have nothing to do with allergies and more to do with my own body, ain't that fun.

I turned 45 on the 10th and got the news that my mom will need to undergo chemo after the radiation treatment which is now over. She will get a port before the end of the month and start 2011 with her first treatment the second week of January. She is in good spirits and has decided that she will beat it and stay strong through the process.

On a happier note, my DD graduated yesterday and we attended the commencement ceremony. I must say the speeches were dismal, all they stressed was becoming part of the alumni contribution list and how bad the job market is, but hey you got a diploma. Really it was so disappointing. But I was very happy my mom could attend and we had a good time even though we were also freezing with temps in the low 30's .

From left to right; my mom, me, dd and Mr. Deepend all bundled up!

And because all post must have some fiber, I'm still working on that scarf took a pic of it from the side as it shows the back in the alternate color I thought that was kind of cool. I'm planning on lots of weaving the last week of December since I will be off from work and on recovery/vacation.

Q & A

You all are so great with the comments I thought I give you some feedback, since of course there is no fiber content to be seen on here for a bit... but I'm knitting in the evenings to calm down the chaos that this my house at the moment.

Acorn to Oak said...
Wow! You're really down sizing! Sounds challenging. But, there's always that great feeling that comes with getting rid of extra and simplifying. I would imagine you could move your loom with the warp on it without any problems. I have and I've never had any trouble with it. Good luck with your move.
Thanks - yep the challenge is in what to keep, toss, garage sale or donate. I didn't realized how much "stuff" was just hanging around. My new motto is to simplify as much as I can, pare down the house and just live with what we truly love, if we don't love it, it's going, going, gone.

Delighted Hands said...
Well, a move is not an easy endeavor no matter how you look at it. It will be worth it when you are in the new and can have the fun of arranging it. The cleaning out is exhausting but what a great feeling to shed the stuff we accumulate! Give yourself time to say goodbye to this house, too.
I'm starting to feeling as if it's a spiritual cleansing and am getting a feeling of liberation, as I chug along although I do have moments of grief with the house and the memories that we created there, but change is good and I'm working towards the bigger goal, that keeps the emotions at bay!

Cindie Kitchin eweniquely ewe said...
Oh I feel for you having to figure out what to keep - tough job. On moving the loom - it should be ok, the Macomber beams fold in so it fits through a door without having to take anything off. But I would tie the back and front beam because once that brake band lets loose the warp will let go and go all wonky. Tie everything up really good and you should be ok.

I thought - I could just fold it up shrink wrap it nice and tight and move. I just needed some reassurance from other weavers that I wasn't crazy and I actually knew what I was doing. (more like a good swift kick in the butt LOL).

Theresa said...
Oh, I feel for you, I really do. Will the condo digs be perm, or just temporary while you look for something else? As to tossing and yard sale, I start with if I haven't used it in a year, then go to if it's not that valuable and collects dust, then, I get myself into the zen of austerity and believe me, I can pare down if I need to. I've gone from a house to a studio apartment. If I'm super attached to something, storage was an option.About the loom, what Cindie said. It should be fine!

The condo digs will be for the next 4 to 5 years, then the upheaval will start once more as we move out of state, for pre-retirement, life changing, midlife crisis at 50!! We have been planning to move to NC or GA for the past 7 to 8 years and in 5 we will have accomplished that goal, God willing. I'm also really excited to start seriously looking for a place within a year or so.


Judy said...
This is a tough time for you-getting ready for a move is hard. I'm with Theresa, if I haven't used it in a year, I try to give it away and that worked for countless military moves that our family made. One of the moves we made we went from a 4 bd house to a 2 bd apartment! We rented a garage near the apartment to store extra stuff until we could find a house and that worked out okay for us. Just remember to take care of yourself during this whole process because moving is so stressful for everyone-grab a cappuchino and put your feet up once a day!
I really don't do coffee, but a treat at the end of a long day idea and the feet up is heaven, I do a nice white wine and some knitting and it relaxes me to puts me in a calm state, very necessary to continue with the work the next nite.
I'm nixing the idea of a storage unit because - if it's in there then is it really necessary to keep? I'm struggling with that very question on a lot of the item we own. Then of course there's the rent on a storage unit at $109.00/mth I would be saving towards the next big move. (if I add that up for 5 years it's $ 6,500.00 which is a nice chunk of change and sound like a nice weaving stash builder, haha music to my ears)

Spinning Out of Control said...
Ah, moving. What a big fat pain in the butt it is. I feel for you.
Thanks and yes it's a pain the collective rear, but has to get done so we work, laugh, remember, shed a tear or two and work some more.

Anonymous said...
Just went through the same thing myself- 4 story house to a 2 BR condo. We got rid of almost everything and started over except for a bed and my office furniture. But getting rid of all my quilting fabrics and a BOATLOAD of fiber was hard- I ended up donating the fiber to my guild's weaving classes. But heavens am I glad we did it. 18 years of stuff. I dont feel as overwhelmed by it any more.Kimmen

Overwhelmed is a great word to describe what I'm feeling with all the "stuff", you don't realize just how much junk you really have until you start weeding through it all. I can't get rid of any of my yarn or weaving supplies, that is where I have drawn the line and part of my agreement with the hubby on the move. I'm getting a hobby room out of this deal or better ordeal and that is the only room that is planned out to the very last nail. At least your stash went to inspire others to learn a new craft and that was a generous donation, which I'm sure was greatly appreciated.

I'm Tired

I'm so tired today, really, it's only Monday and I'm exhausted. We had the appraisers come by the house on Saturday. My DD moved out Friday, I cleaned up the last of the contents of her room, have lots of knick knacks for the moving sale (move to clear out soon) and spent Sunday with friends. My weekend was non-stop and not helping matters I'm stuffed up again. A few years back, for those of you that are fresh to the blog, I had polyups in my nasal cavity, after surgery and removal of 10 I was good to go. Well did you know they have a tendency to come back? How annoying is that? Well I need to schedule with the ENT undoubtedly will need surgery again for now I'm on Zyrtec, Astilin and Nasonex and still can't breathe. My hubby says that why I'm tired because I'm not breathing correctly, I on the other hand know that it's a combination of that and too much activity. I need a weekend to just not do anything and be really lazy. I need to spend some time with my loom, I'm having separation anxiety LOL..

It's HOT!

It's been brutally hot, humid and all around miserable, yuck! Just a few months ago I remember everyone around here complaining "oh I want to cold to go away, it's too cold, it's been too much this winter". PHEWY, to that crap, I'll take cold winter weather any day of the week instead of this sweating your butt off just to put on a t-shirt climate we're having. I guess the only good thing is that I haven't heard the dreaded words "HUNKER DOWN" from the new media, so no hurricanes yet.

I'm still counting and cleaning this I wish could go faster but with the heat I can only work in the garage for two hours a nite before I need to drink a gallon of water and shower off, so progress has been slow.

I have my list of item to order and am getting ready to do that before the end of the week, YES! Once I get the order place, I'm putting the loom inside the house YES! Then I plan on warping the board and getting some practice on the loom. I've downloaded some drafts from Handweaving.net an am getting itchy to start weaving something, it's been too long without any weaving in the house and it just ain't right LOL.., plus there is a posting that shall go un-named (Benita) about some holiday that is coming up really fast, so I guess if I'm going to get some gifts done it's got to be soon.

Cardweaving and other tidbits

There is this ad on Craigslist, which I almost fainted over, I mean wow the price is insane, I emailed and got an error or undeliverable message. REALLY are the weaving gods just not in my celestial house?? I was just drooling over the whole mess of looms planned projects and everything in a matter of nano seconds, oh well, tomorrow is another day.. or so I've been told.

These are my pitiful card woven strips, Oye!!! The edges are very scary and I made some errors here and there but the exercise was good for the mind and creative mojo, I will have to make the bookmarks for my son on the inkle since that is one project that I'd like to finish. All the looms in the house are once again nekkid, but that will be resolved this weekend. I'm planning something for each one.

The RH needs to get warped for some kitchen towels, the troops are complaining that everyone has gotten great kitchen towel gifts, but in the weaver's house the kitchen is bare not so, since Meg at Megweaves sent me a great towel that is in constant use, but since they are by default Cuban they exaggerate with grand hand gestures and extreme expressions (it really does look like Ricky Ricardo when he gets annoyed at Lucy). That reminds me of an old Spanish quote "En casa del herrero, cuchillo de palo". Literally, in the house of the blacksmith there are wooden knives (that would really be annoying).

The Structo is going to be getting some warp for Baja Bags, I've finally decided that I will need to create these on something more than my poor inkle speaking of which, needs to get warped for the straps for the bags, I need a hat band, and my son's bookmarks maybe not in that order but you get the idea.

A bit of Everything Friday

Good God it's hot down here! No not in hell people, but in South Florida. LOL.. This is the time of year I wish Adam and Eve had not screwed up and clothes were optional. Well of course if you go to South Beach, it actually is optional. What I saw last weekend on the beach is scorched into the memory bank, I need a Clorox wipe to remove, but anyway here is what the beach was like with out the various degrees of lady bits. (this btw is a family, public beach but I guess visitors are not aware, oh and ladies over 55 should not, really not go topless there is nothing sexy about gravity trust me I know).

We had a great time and it was relaxing, I always come back from the ocean feeling calm, if we ever move to the mountains this is what I will miss the most, being able to get to the ocean in 20 mins or less. Mr. Deepend says, I'll appreciate it more because it won't be as available as it is now, we'll see about that.

I also attended WWKIP day at the Broward Library, our small group joined a larger one and we sat, talked and had some good fun. There was one lady with a Schacht Spinning Wheel, with this wonderful yarn she was working on, I was amazed actually stood there with my mouth open like a numb nut, in my defense, I've never actually witness really spinning so I was allowed the stupid expression and idiotic questions. I talked to her about her spinning and told her my spinning is still in it's art yarn stages, she agreed (as everyone has told me) that it takes some time to get good enough to produce anything worth knitting or weaving with, but eventually you get there. I need to practice more.

I made a bag with some extra woven warp and purse hardware I had stashed for my spindle and roving. I need to start carry my spinning to knit club and to work for lunch time spinning (part of the practicing agreement I made to myself). This bag is deep and has lots of pockets, I can also carry some knitting in there if I have to, or as my DD so graciously put it "daaaaamnnnnn woman, you can carry a small tribe of babies in that bag", yeah, she's proof that the apple doesn't fall far from the ol' tree in the odd humor department. I was also thinking I may take my spinning with me for my wait at the hospital with my mom. I wonder if anyone would care if I spun yarn in a waiting room??

And finally some warp on the RH loom. I'm going to make the bible cover for my son. It will be loosely based on the Folio Cover from pg. 64 of Woven Treasures by Sara Lamb. I don't have the double heddle and know I'm not going to get the sett she's getting in the project specified, but did double up on the yarn to create a stiff fabric. I also plan on doing the twining and maybe a pick up technique for some texture. I have copper brown linen, 3ply cotton in teal, red and light green that will be the accents. After the weaving of the fabric, I will be doing some card weaving to add page markers to the cover before assembling the whole project. I'm really excited to start weaving on this one.

Stuff

Life is full of stuff; material stuff, mind numbing stuff, annoying stuff, paper stuff, clutter stuff... just plain stuff. Well I've been dealing with a lot of stuff and I thought I might share with you all and put it down somewhere to think about.
My youngest son turns 21 today, he's the baby of the family and although I didn't give birth to this one or his brother, I love them dearly, I'm a bit touched by how I feel about this today. This is a pic of my three kids the one on the left is the youngest.

My mother will have a lumpectomy on June 29, I'm planning to stay with her that week and sleep in my old childhood bedroom, which is her now sewing room and very close to the magic closet. I'm a bit worried about this for many reasons, but have prayed upon it and am leaving it in God's capable hands. With this, I'm also thinking about if something happens to my mom, what happens to my incapacitated g-ma that she cares for 24/7, a ton of emotional stuff. Me and mom she's only 68 to my 44.

My looms are nekkid, I haven't the motivation to warp any of them and that's scary stuff. I've been reading my book on card weaving and the guys at work made me some really great 1/16" acrylic cards that were done on a router, they are great looking now I need to put them to some use. I'm planning on making a dog leash as a thank you for one of the guys, the other one is the knitted hat guy.

I guess I need to get myself out of this funk and get going. I'm going to a local WWKIP tomorrow and I hope I snap into myself at one point or another.

Mother's day is only three weeks away!! Why is this alarming, because I took my new summer purse to my mom's on Sunday and the response was seriously overwhelming nice ohhs and ahhs and I'm so talented (these are my mom and aunt's words I always think my work is never clever or talented, because as we all know we are our own worst critics I'm working on that).

Both my mom and aunt would like a purse "just" like mine. Really? I don't have anymore of the woven material, purse hardware, beads or liner. Not a problem I can buy the latter and really welcome a trip to the craft store to accomplish that bit, but weave that much material and construct two bags, and knit my cardi for my strappy dress, geez a bit daunting no?

To which my husband's fantastic solution is "Honey I think you need some stock". Ya think babe, that would be nice, he's a great person but not on that type of issue, as if I can crank the stuff out at a snap of my fingers, which by now he should have grasped that concept, but he hasn't he secretly thinks I'm Wondergirl. The only thing I planned for Mother's day was my SIL very short table runner, because it was going to be, well... easy.

Whine much lately? yeah I am whining, I need to develop a selfish weaver mantra, much like my selfish knitter's, but I love my ma and aunt and they deserve a great (see I can compliment me) handwoven bag, because without those two women I wouldn't be half the woman I am today, so suck it up and make it work. Was that Tim Gunn I just heard? Get back to torturing the Project Runway designers Tim, I don't need you in my head, go,go,go!







In other news I lost another 2 pounds - down 12 and 30 to go!! I need something chocolaty!