Sunday Sundries

 Well, we knew the no overtime thing wouldn't last.  What was it?  A week?  Yep, that's right.  We're back to going in at 5:00 AM in the morning.  I'm still going to stay up tonight and watch one of the new cheesy Hallmark movies, though.  Countdown to Christmas started Friday, and I've been glutting on cheese -- so to speak.  

Except for the time I took to watch Texas win, Navy lose, and LSU win decisively over South Carolina, that is...

While I was watching football interspersed with Hallmark movies, I took a moment to play with my new stamps.  Or my new stamp pads, rather.  I've had the stamps for ages.  

This is just one of the cards I did.  I don't know that I'm going to do all of them this way, but some of you will definitely get some fancy stamped cards.   

Somewhere in the midst of all that, I decided I needed to finally get all my yarn organized.  When I'd moved into this house, I just kind of stuffed it everywhere, but what with all the new yarn I've been getting here lately, I felt the need to reorganized things.  

First thing, I picked out a few skeins I knew I'd probably never use and gave them away in one of the local FB groups.  

Wonder of wonders, the person who contacted me actually showed up and got it.  

The next thing I did was to drag out all my yarn and pile it into the middle of the snake room floor.   I was able to fit most of my worsted weight acrylic into this cabinet in the living room.  

Most of this is slated for charity hats, but I'm thinking some of it might go into a blanket.  Once all that was put away, this is what was left.  And yes, that box is full of yarn, too. 

I got it sorted into worsted weight, sock weight, DK/Sport weight,  novelty yarns, 

and lace weight piles.  

I'll still need to sort the yarn in the box.  Most of it is sock weight, but there is some worsted and some that appears to be hand spun.  I'll be putting it away over the next few days, and I'll probably try to de-stash a little more, as well.  If I do destash, I'll be posting it on my FB page before offering it up to the general public, so if you're friends with me over there, keep an eye out for it.  

What I really need to do is to spend less time on my computer/phone/Kindle, and more time knitting.  So, with that, I'll bid you adieu and get to knitting. 

Well, Poop

Yesterday, I was at work, just a working away, when the dispatcher came into the brazing department and gestured me over.  He tossed a piece of paper in my general direction and took off the other way as fast as he could.  Once I saw what was on that paper, I understood.  It said Tubing department is scheduled to work Saturday.  

Immediate outcry ensued.  "What??? We gotta work Saturday???  I can't believe they're making us work Saturday!!!"  And I'm just over here thinking, "Why are you acting like you've never worked here before?"  Buuuut.....Just before we got off today, Group Leader Shark came and said brazers would be off.  

They're putting in a new system, and it's going to take a bit to get it all up and running and organized.  However, until they do, we've had precious few orders to braze up.  I can't recall a time when I've been so bored at work.  Wait, yes I can.  Back when I was on second shift, I spent a bit of time as a quality auditor -- which involved mostly standing and looking all night.  I'd get so bored, I'd put my auditing tools down and work on the lines.  I hated that job.  

Anyway, today, I only brazed 90 parts.  Normal is 250-300.  I'll be glad when they get this all figured out.  I know some of those people can stand around all day talking, but me, I've got to have me some work to do.  

Well, we've had our first positive COVID diagnosis in the plant.  It's a girl on second shift.  He called her name in the meeting, but I'd never heard of her, and didn't know who she is.  They sent her home, and everyone in her department has been quarantined.  I'm wondering how she made it into the plant to begin with, since they're taking everyone's temperature at the door.  Obviously, that doesn't work, so they can stop anytime.  But they won't.  It makes them feel better.  Unearned Moral Superiority, is why Bill Whittle calls it. 

The Big Man Up Front -- and New Boss will heretofore be known on this blog -- has decided to make wearing masks mandatory.  He's just waiting on corporate headquarters to approve it.  He's been trying to do it for weeks, but hasn't gotten approval.  But now, he probably will.  Sigh...It won't stop the virus from spreading, but it will make him feel better.  And only him...

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate my job?  

Let's talk about something more pleasant, shall we?  Small businesses are hurting right now.  Lots of them have gone under.  I said I was going to use my stimulus to help some of them out, since I'm still working.  I can't help much, but I can place an order every now and again.  This time, it was my friend Leann.  You've met her before. Several times.  

This is her newest yarn set, dyed strictly for the pandemic.  It's called We The People.  

Here's a better picture of the mini skeins.  Aren't they pretty?  I love the red, white and blue ones.   

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this yarn yet, but I wanted to help her out.  I can't afford to buy all of her stuff that I want, but I couldn't pass this one up.  Here is a link to her shop:  Forbidden Fiber.  Do go and check her out.  She's got some truly gorgeous stuff there. 

Oh, and here's how the Zoom Loom squares are going.  

My, Becky, you certainly wove a lot in the last two days!  No, I didn't.  I cheated.  I found the strip I'd already started sewing together weeks ago, and simply joined it to the new squares.  I'm not sure how big I'm going to make this thing.  I'll figure it out as I go.  

Finally, I received this beautiful card from Cyndye.  

Her cousin is painting them to earn a little extra cash.  I might just have to put in an order, mighten I?  

Yarn Crawl

Remember how I mentioned once (or maybe I didn't, so I'm mentioning it now) that the closest yarn shop was 100 miles away? I recently discovered that a new one has opened, which is located in Hernando, MS, and it is only 80 miles away!!! Only a true knitter could get that excited about that...

I only found out about That Yarn Shop a few days ago (thanks Brenda). Since I have a free day coming to me for finishing my June KAL within a KAL, I decided we would go check it out.

I found it fairly easily, except that Hernando doesn't have regular street signs. All they have is little hand-painted cement posts on each corner, which are really hard to read. But we did eventually find the place. As we pulled into the parking lot, Cody said, "Now I have to put on my 'I'm bored and don't want to be here' face."

Once we got there, we found a really nice little yarn shop. She is just getting started, and doesn't have much inventory yet. Still, there were some very nice yarns there. She has a small selection of needles, as well. She had Addis, which I personally don't like enough to justify paying all that money for them--though she had them cheaper than I've seen them anywhere else, and some bamboo DPNs. She also had longer straight needles, but I didn't pay all that much attention to them. They also have spinning supplies, but as a wheel is currently way out of my budget, I didn't look to hard at them.

I arrived just as the Saturday morning sock class was going on. Note the people in the far right of the above picture. There was one teacher, the shop owner, and two students. I don't know who the teacher was, but she was an avid sock knitter. She did Sock Madness this year, and made it to the Elite Eight before being beaten out by the one who eventually won the whole thing. They were all (except the teacher) duly impressed by my 7 1/2" black ("BLACK!?!?!", they said. "It's BLACKKKK!!!") soldier sock leg. One of the ladies commented that she didn't know how I could even see it to knit it. "I can't," I replied. "I mostly knit it by feel."

"I'm just a beginner, I can't do that," she protested. That's ok, you will. We were all beginners at one time.

They had big, comfortable looking places to sit and knit, and the shop had a real homey, inviting feel to it. I wish I could have stayed longer.

Notice the blue and brown painted walls. The owner of the shop had some sock yarn that was dyed to match her walls! No, she didn't have any available for sale, but boy if she had, I'd have gotten it! It was gorgeous. I did pick up some very nice sock yarn. I got some panda cotton, and some Steinbach Wolle Aktiv Effekt. I'd never heard of that yarn, but it is very soft.

This is a place I will definitely visit again.

Once we left there, we went on into Southaven, and stopped at several stores there. Cody finally was able to complete his A Series Of Unfortunate Events in hardback collection, and I got another Yarn Harlot book. And I got myself a summer sausage made from Buffalo meat. If you've never tried buffalo, I recommend it. It is delicious.

We left there and went on to the Yarn Studio, and finally Yarns To Go--both in Memphis. Both were nice shops, and both had people sitting around knitting. I lamented to the lady in Yarns to Go that I wished we had a yarn shop where I live. She very kindly informed me that I could buy yarns online and I said, "Yeah, but you can't hang around with other knitters online." Nor can you feel the yarns, or sniff them, or truly see the colors online.


My final haul for the day: Top left--Steinbach Wolle Aktiv Effekt color 05, Sockotta color 363, Tofutsies color # 733, The Secret Life of a Knitter by The Yarn Harlot; Middle row--JaWoll Jacquard color # 0151, JaWoll Jacquard color#0154; Bottom row: Panda cotton, color # 0436 chocolate almonds, Panda cotton color # 2035 Faded Jeans. Some of these socks will probably go to soldiers. That's kind of why I picked guy colors. Except the pink. That's mine.

Todays Pic: Decorated overpass in Memphis, TN. June 2007

And I mustn't forget:

Slightly overcast all day. Just enough to make the pictures turn out dull.
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We're Saved!

We're Saved! UFOs will save us from global warming!


There wasn't much warm about this

Don't let the blueness and sunshine fool you. It stayed pretty chilly all day, and is supposed to get even colder before morning.

Yesterday, Cody brought home a note from his art teacher. It was one of those "If you have any of this stuff laying around the house and would like to donate it" kind of things. Guess what was on the list...

Yarn--any kind, any color

Have I got yarn to donate??? I bagged up all my baby/fingering weight yarn, about half of my sport weight, and a few odds and ends of worsted weight to take up there. The small sack is some crochet cotton. That's that stuff that is about the thickness of sewing thread.

This is what is left of my stash, including the new stuff I just got.

It's still a lot of yarn, but I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Speaking of light, as I sit here in front of my computer desperately trying to think of something interesting and clever to say, I realize my brain is lost in total darkness. There's only one thing left to do in a situation like that...fix a big mug of hot chocolate and curl up with some Jane Austin. I'm reading Emma now. It's not as captivating as Pride and Prejudice, but a good read nonetheless.

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