Taking Stock

If you are like me I'm sure you often wonder where the day goes.  More often than not, I ask myself, "what did I accomplish today?"  I sometimes need to reflect on this question so that I can feel I didn't waste my day. This is a little hold over from my working days. Though I am now retired, I still like to make progress on tasks, especially since I'd like to get organized for my bright future, and I have a list of goals for 2010.

Today was a day for taking stock and assessing what I did. I started my day with coffee and a sandwich on healthy ancient grain bread (no breakfast today). I also had several glasses of water and a few cookies from yesterday's baking batch. I spent some time responding to blog comments and visiting other blogs. This was great since I haven't had enough time for visiting blogs and leaving comments for several weeks.

I then filled and started the dishwasher and put in a load of whites for the laundry while I watched some television and turned the hose on to water the garden. I also filled some buckets of water to water where the hose doesn't always reach and to water the containers.  Later, I had a shower and collected my mail box keys and cloth shopping bags and headed to the grocery store and post office. I also took in my recyclable bottles to the bottle depot where I made $1.15 for the Snowflake Jar (see the column to the right).

My container garden.

After returning home I began making dinner (grilled pork kebabs and mushrooms, a vegetable salad and home made dressing as well as some boiled red potatoes). I took my medicine and cleaned the refrigerator of rotting produce (this is food that was wasted when I went out of town) after eating. I washed the vegetable crispers and lined them with clean paper towels before putting in all my fresh fruits and vegetables.

Next, I vacuumed the kitchen and the master bathroom. White ceramic tiles show everything! I then folded my load of laundry though the towels and night clothes are sitting in the front room waiting to be put away.

I am making my second crochet doily right now. I wanted to make it in navy blue for a friend but the thread is too thick so I am making it in aqua instead. It looks lovely so far.

I spent some time on-line researching the differences in crochet thread and looking for free crochet patterns. My research confirmed what I've learned from the experience of using a particular brand of cotton thread. I'm thinking of ordering cotton thread on line in future and perhaps that way I can get more selection in colours and quality.  I also learned there are so many free patterns on line so I quickly downloaded some patterns I may want to make in future.  I hope I an find them when I need them.

Late in the evening I gently hand washed my first Pineapple Blossom doily and laid it to dry overnight on a towel and gently stretching it into shape. The instruction book said this was blocking but other crochet booklets I've read call for blocking with commercial starch (and even a sugar and water solution) and pinning the doily into shape using rust proof pins. If I find the doily needs more body I will get some starch and re-do the blocking.

After reflecting on my day, my only issue is not enough hours in the day to do so many projects as I'd like in crochet, knitting, quilting, photography, web design, etc. I like this problem though. It is a much better problem to have than not having enough  enjoyable things to do. I'm thankful I have a long list of things to do.  More than that, I'm thankful that I am making progress on the things on my list.

How did your day go?

(Graphic credit: Mike Paul's blog )

Before and After Doily ~ My World Tuesday, June 22, 2010

My World today is not an outdoor view but an indoor view of a quiet indoor activity. I've been working on a crocheted doily this week and I finished it in the wee hours of this morning. I should have finished it earlier in the day but wasn't up to much crochet until I had a nap. I picked it up around midnight and played with it off and on.

This is a photo taken about half way through the doily pattern.

I am not 100% sure if I followed the pattern correctly as it seems I had to do a little improvising on the last row but it looks fine to me with the minor changes. You might be able to see there are 6 large and 6 small pineapple motifs in this Pineapple Blossom pattern.  I chose to make this pattern out of the printed patterns I have because it is a larger than normal doily. Here is the book I got the pattern from if you'd like to make it yourself.  If you would like an easier Pineapple Blossom pattern, I found a free one here.

These photos taken after completion.

Now I will wash and block the doily and hopefully that process will flatten out the ruffles. I will update this blog post by adding a photo of the blocked doily when it is ready.

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Update:

Here is a photo of the blocked doily drying on a towel.  The colour looks different from the doily in the photos above but this latest shot is the true colour. I'm happy to report that after washing and gently stretching the doily into shape, the ruffles in the doily are largely gone and the doily measures exactly 18 inches in diameter. That means my tension was perfect as indicated in the pattern.  My second doily in the same pattern is going much smoother now that I am somewhat familiar with the design.