ART-Knitting and walking.

Weather being what it is here, seems like my morning walk of 40 minutes only happens from June until November.So I pace inside with the radio on a rock/pop station for 50 minutes after my exercyle 30 minutes and 20 minutes of chi gung.If you think after all of this I am physically fit- think again. Disgusting body condition, but hey I am happy.Drinking green tea through all of this. LOL Then I stuff my face with oatmeal.

So this routine was getting too monotonous to me. I decided to try and knit and walk. Only simple stuff- garter stitch and circular needles. It is all very primitive and nothing I could ever give away or sell, but hey it works for me! I needed wool hats to sleep in that were loose fitting- I now have a few. Scarves and turtle necks and cowls for keeping my neck warm. I am working on two afghans. One is this off pink wool that Mom bought and didn't like- I am knitting small squares that will be sewn together. and a purple wool one that is larger squares to be sewn together. The latest most fun piece is a multi colored yarn that has a wavy texture. I cast on 40 stitches onto size 11 needles and knit in the round- connecting it after the first row. After that is done I will see if the circumference is right for legwarmers. Those I need- they just do not sell them long or loose enough to my liking. I wish I could knit myself underwear and drawstring pants. 2 items that are a royal pain in the ass to shop for.

so to explain simply how I knit and walk I have a bag that is lightweight and I plunk he ball of yarn into it and knit from that slung over my elbow. 50 minutes flies by!

July 2014
afghan squares to be sewn
Completed some pieces.

two cowls





two shawls and a back scrubber :D

RANT-Cell Towers

This is so annoying that I have held off posting anything about it.

I have lived next to a cell tower for over 5 years. Aside from the usual noises in this industrial park area it also border the waste water management site where they process shit & piss basically.

Noise to the extreme all the time.

But the cell tower is another story. Noisy priming of their generator used to be during lunch every Thursday. I think it is 11:30am now . Improvement.

But they are forever leaving the gates open- so they blow open and shut with a bang all the time.

Most dangerous and annoying is the "skin" of the cell tower.It has never been completed after they added height to it. so you see a naked cell tower. One bad storm a few months ago I heard a loud bang. Went out to explore and here a 5 foot piece of the skin fell. It could have killed someone. I called the police. They put up crime scene tape and people showed up and looked at it. It is still not fixed.

Absolutely nothing I can do about it

but it frosts my ass.

ART-Re Batch soap

Well ventured into re batch soap, not a total failure but not what I expected.I will try one more time with a different brand.
Shea butter & castile.

Both same method
double boiler bring water to boil in lower pan.Place grated soap in top pan with lid.
melt slowly over very low heat add 2 tablespoons of water (should have used less) after it is the consistency of mashed potatoes add fragrance. Took 25-30 minutes to melt. 5 minutes of stirring off & on. and then plopping it into silicone soap moulds.
Took at least a week to cure.

so they turned out too rustic and lather great but when you get to the end of the bar of soap it turns very soft.

All in all I like melt & pour better- it is easier & milder but not that great of a lather.