Decluttering in August

Only one of the Declutter 365 tasks for August fitted with my needs (declutter guest room). Therefore, I headed back to the start, and began tackling the kitchen once again. It's been really good to see how many areas are working well, and bring me joy. And of course, it's good to revisit what's been done previously and give it a little more love.

The tasks completed in August are:
1. Declutter your kitchen sink and organize the sink area
2. Clear off kitchen counters
3. Declutter and organise freezer 

4. Declutter and organise fridge

5. Declutter or exchange excess coins from change jars

6. Declutter and organise herbs and spices

7. Declutter and organise cutlery drawer

8. Declutter and organize ziplock bags, foil, and plastic wrap

9. Declutter small kitchen appliances

10. Declutter and organise potholders and kitchen towels

11. Declutter shelf above radiator

12. Declutter food storage containers

13. Declutter and organize bakeware

14. Declutter and organise canned food
15. Declutter other shelf-stable food

16. Declutter front and top of refrigerator and freezer

Kitty Socks

Whilst on Pinterest I saw some fabulous socks, YinYang Kitty Ankle Socks by Inorgaknit. The decision to knit them was made then and there, and I promptly bought the yarn. I was however very good and didn't cast on until I had finished the project I was working on.

It was at that point I realised the socks were made toe up, with a short row heel, and intarsia for the details. That isn't going to happen. Instead, I shall keep the look of the socks, but they will be longer in the leg, have heel flaps, and Swiss darning will be used rather than intarsia.

New Watch

Telling the time at work has been difficult. When I worked in an Administrator I placed a clock on the wall of my office. As I was using a computer most of the time, my eyes could scoot down to the bottom right of the screen to see the time. At home, I'm normally in the sitting room, with a nice large wall clock, or near my computer or phone.

At work, it's different. There's a clock in the office, but I don't like popping the office just to see the time. I tried carrying my phone with me, but it is quite heavy, and women's clothing does not have many pockets of a suitable size for carrying phones. I'm going to be making some new clothes and will address the pocket situation, but for now, I have a new watch.

It's probably about 20 years since I last wore a watch. The leather is stiff and creaky, and it feels weird.

Walnut Cake Traybake

Notes

The last few times I've been making cakes they have been baked in aluminium foil tray. These are really useful as the cakes can be easily transported in the tray, and also served from them. If the person cutting/serving the cakes is careful the foil trays can be used multiple times. IF they are not so careful, the trays can be placed in the recycling box. 

However, each time I have used the trays I haven't taken note of the quantities to use. Today was an experiment, and I've come to the conclusion that a 4 egg sponge is about spot on. 

Ingredients

200g sugar

200g butter

200g gluten-free SR flour

4 medium eggs

200g walnut halves

50g butter

50g cream cheese

200g icing sugar

Method 

Pre-heat oven to 180C. Set aside 15 of the prettiest walnuts and reserve for decoration. Beat 200g of butter, and 200g of sugar until light and fluffy. Whilst the mixer is attending to this, break the remaining walnuts into pieces. Add then to the butter and sugar. Then add the flour and eggs. Mix well.  Spread the cake mixture into the aluminium tray. Bake for 25 mins, or until the top is golden and the cake cooked. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before decorating.

Cream 50g of butter, 50g of cream cheese and the icing sugar, until well mixed and glossy. Spread the icing onto the cooled cake. Add 15 walnut halves in a regular grid pattern. This will facilitate cutting the cake into nice regular portions.

Simply A Hoot

Yarn: King Cole Dollymix 

Composition: 100% Acrylic 

Colour: Taupe Pattern: Simply A Hoot

Needles: 4mm 

Amount used: 100g 

Started: 25 Aug 2019 

Finished: 25 Aug 2019 

This owl was designed to be suitable for a brand new knitter. The ability to cast on, knit and cast off are all the knitting skills required. 

Using 4mm needles, cast on 25sts.

Knit 100 rows.

Cast off, and cut the yarn, leaving a tail of around 20cm.

Notes: I would recommend using a smooth, lighter coloured yarn. This will allow the new knitter to see their work clearly. Once the knitter is feeling more confident, darker yarn, or self-patterning ones can be used.

Poor Pooch

Da Hound is feeling a little sorry for herself.  There were some GI problems yesterday, and she decided the only thing she would eat was ice cream. She didn't even want yogurt, or scrambled eggs.

Today, she has had some chicken, but required a little coaxing. I'm currently thinking about recipes that will tempt a dog's palate.

A Mindful Person?

“Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally.” Kabat-Zinn. 

It appears I'm actually quite a mindful person. Who have thunk it?! Whilst cycling this morning, I was captivated by the sky, and clouds. It claimed my attention for almost 5 minutes. It was a lovely, calm time, well until the music I was listening started speeding up. At that point I closed my eyes and allowed the music to take me where it willed. This involved some rather fast pedaling, and ended with a calm, yet energised. That's a good start to a day!

Mindfulness

Last night, I was looking through Amazon's reading recommendations, and spotted this little one. It was on sale for 99p, and I decided to take the plunge.

The first exercise is "In this exercise, the invitation is to pick as a focus of awareness a new aspect of life. You may really look at a particular leaf on a tree, or a stone, a flower, or a plant."

I tried, I really did. My focus was the parlour palm beside my chair in the sitting room. However, Madam Ava had other ideas. The chief amongst them was she should be the focus of my awareness, and strokes. This duly happened, and I pounded how our lives had changes since this beautiful dog joined us. I also thought about the family that felt compelled to give her up, and the love and attention shown to Ava at the MSPCA by staff and volunteers. 

It was indeed a calming five minutes, and one filled with gratitude.

Cycling Every Day (Or Not!)

One of my goals this month was to cycle every day. The aim was to start off with 1 minute on the first, 2 on the second etc. It was all going well until the 10th, and circumstances happened. I tried to do 21 minutes on the 11th, but managed about 15. On the 12th, I tried to reclaim the lost minutes, but failed. On the 13th, I wasn't feeling great, and no cycling was perpetrated, and well, it all came crashing down.

Part of me though, "This is not a problem, I can start over next month." But, another part of  me thought "Why the delay? The existing plan isn't working, so adapt. Change the plan. It doesn't have to be perfect, just a bit better than the current one. You can tweak it again and again, until it is serving your purpose."  "Oooooh!" thought a third part of me.

And so a new plan was created. This is a good plan, I like it. It allows for days when life is crazy, or when I am ill. It has the benefit of being simple.  Wanna hear the plan?

Each month, I am going to select an album, and then each day I will cycle for one song/track. The following day I'll use the next song, and then the next. If I miss a day due to business or illness I'll just skip it and not worry. If on any given day I want to cycle for longer, then that's great.

Christmas Has Been Saved!

Glory of glories! Isobel asked her friend where she had the information. It turns out it isn't the WI who are making a knitted Christmas tree, but she met a woman the Tynwald Fayre. THAT'S ME!  I am that woman!

When I heard Isobel had misunderstood and the WI hasn't hijacked my project I was ecstatic, I was dancing around at work!  Wheeeeeeeeeee!

Christmas Hijacked?!

At Yarnies this afternoon, I was asked what I was knitting, and explained a bit of the Christmas Tree for Refugee project. Isobel asked if I was doing it the Women's Institute. She told me they were making a Christmas tree for the airport, and the tree is made from green knitted squares.

My mind started racing. I had spoken to people in the WI a couple of years ago about this project. Maybe they thought I wasn't going to pursue the idea and decided to take it up. There's so many conflicting thoughts and emotions. I'm feeling bereft.

However, I don't feel there's anything I can do about it just now. I'll start making inquiries on Tuesday afternoon. All I can do it take this maelstrom, put it in a box and then revisit it later.

Free Audiobook

I have won a free audiobook!  It's The Lonely Heart Attack Wrinkly Olympics by JC Williams. I've read the book, and am now looking forward to listening to it too.

When reading it the first time, I had to go back and read the same paragraph three times as I could no longer see the text because some idiot was laughing too much that the Kindle was shaking!

Winnie Pooh

I'm practicing my Italian comprehension by listening to Winnie the Pooh in Italian. It's proving to be rather tricky to understand Pooh when he has his head stuck in a honey pot! 

The three most important things I have learned are: 'O rabbia' (oh bother), 'pensa, pensa, pensa' (think, think, think) ,and eating hunney cause people to get stuck in rabbit holes - don't eat hunney!

Sigma 19 Progress Report

At the start of the year, I signed up for a series of 19 self-set challenges. This is a little progress report. 

19 hat: 19 

18 hats: 18 

17 hats:  17

16 mittens: 15 made

15 fabric gift bags: 10 made 

14 finish or frog WIPs/UFOs: 10 frogged or finished 

13 hats: 10

12 new recipes: 10

Crispy Parmesan Chicken, Somerset Chicken, Parsnip and Apple Soup, Creamy Garlic and Parmesan Chicken, Salmon Florentine, Bacon and Cheese Puffs, Aromatic Chicken, Bakewell Cupcakes, Gluten-free pizza base

11 new places to visit: 6

10 areas to declutter: 6

Cupboard under the stairs, shower room, bathroom, back vestibule, Offspring’s wardrobe, sitting room 

9 read new books, rather than re-reading old ones: 9

Frank and Stan’s Bucket List, Frank and Stan’s Bucket List #2, Coming Home for Christmas, Spark Joy, The Joy of Less, Goodbye, Things (Would not recommend. It is incredibly self-obsessed, and the content is very shallow.), The Clocks, The Unexpected Guest, Resurrection: Skulduggery Pleasant 

8 quilts: 1 made 

7 techniques to learn or practise: 6 

Brioche stitch, Fair Isle, free motion quilting, flowers in a row, bubble pattern, fisherman’s rib in the round

6 gloves: 

5 new items of clothing to make for me:

4 stones lost (56lb): 20lb 

3 cardigans/sweaters knitted: 3 knitted 

2 hooded blankets: 

1 new language to start learning (British Sign Language)

Gluten-Free Pizza Dough

Ingredients

2 cups of gluten-free SR flour

1 cup of natural yogurt

Method

Mix the yogurt and flour in a bowl. Bring it to a dough. Spread the dough onto an oiled baking sheet, and make it into a pizza shape. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes at 200C. Add the tomato sauce and toppings. Then bake for a further 20 minutes.

Notes

I was rather sceptical of this dough, but it has proved to make the best gluten-free pizza I've ever had! It really was fantastic. It will be made again, and again.

Drifter Ohio Cardi

Yarn: King Cole Drifter DK
Composition: 69% Premium Acrylic, 25% Cotton and 6% Wool
Colour: Ohio
Pattern: Top Down Garter Stitch Baby Jacket
Size: newborn
Needles: 4mm
Amount used: 100g
Started: Jul 2019
Finished: Jul 2019

A single little ball of yarn, sitting all alone in the 'reduced' bin, was transformed into a warm snuggly cardigan.

The pattern was adapted to include more buttons.

Cinder Toffee Hat and Cardi

Yarn: King Cole Cherished
Composition: 100% acrylic
Colour: White
Yarn: King Cole Cherish Dash
Composition: 100% acrylic
Colour: Toffee Latte
Pattern: Top Down Garter Stitch Baby Jacket
Size: newborn
Needles: 4mm
Amount used: 110g
Started:   1st Jul 2019
Finished: 5th Jul 2019

Yarn: King Cole Cherished
Composition: 100% acrylic
Colour: White
Yarn: King Cole Cherish Dash
Composition: 100% acrylic
Colour: Toffee Latte
Pattern: Newborn Garter Stitch Hat
Size: newborn
Needles: 4mm
Amount used: 25g
Started:   17th Jul 2019
Finished: 1st Aug 2019 

This set started out a while back. A customer was trying to return yarn, but one of my colleagues had given them the wrong information. We accept yarn back, as long as we are still selling yarn of that dyelot. I felt so sorry for the woman I bought the yarn she was trying to return. 

I wasn't sure how far the yarn would go in the baby cardi, so I added white as an accent colour. When the Toffee Latte ran out I finished the cardi in white. Instead of just the one button, I added buttons every 20th row.

A little later, I was given a tiny ball of the Toffee Latte, and I thought "That would be enough to make a nice little hat to go with the cardi." I took it along to the Mabon concert on the 17th of July. Whilst there, I made two hats, one plain white, and the other Toffee Latte and white. 

By the end of the concert my joints were rather sore and stiff. I concentrated on getting and moving; the Beloved picked up the hats, yarn, needles and my jacket. Except a little hat got left behind. When we got home, I texted my Italian teacher (her boyfriend plays in the band), and asked if he might be able to have a look. It wasn't found immediately, and I only received it back on the 1st, but it is now finished, and looking rather cute.

Newborn Garter Stitch Hat

Yarn: King Cole Cherished
Composition: 100% acrylic
Colour: White
Pattern: Newborn Garter Stitch Hat
Size: newborn
Needles: 4mm
Amount used: 25g
Started:   17th Jul 2019
Finished: 17th Jul 2019

Cast on 64sts. Join. Work 20 rounds of garter stitch. Then switch to stocking stitch for 12 rounds.

Decreases for crown

1. (K6, k2tog) repeat to end.

2. K

3. (K5, k2tog) repeat to end.

4. K

5. (K4, k2tog) repeat to end.

6. K

7. (K3, k2tog) repeat to end.

8. K

9. (K2, k2tog) repeat to end.

10. K

11. (K1, k2tog) repeat to end

12. K

13 (K2tog) repeat to end.

Break off yarn, leaving a tail, and draw the tail through the remaining 8sts. 

Weave in ends.

Umbilical Variation

Instead of breaking off the yarn after the 13rd round, knit a further 30 round in stocking stitch, then follow the rest of the instruction. Tie a knot in the umbilical cord.

Mitten-tastic!

Yarn: King Cole Big Value Baby Alpaca
Composition: 100% alpaca
Colour: Wedgewood
Pattern: improvised
Size: older child
Needles: 4mm
Amount used: 45g
Started: 29th Jul 2019
Finished: 1st Aug 2019

As well as the hundreds of green squares I'm making, mittens, gloves and wrist warmers are also being made. Yesterday evening, I finished the first pair of mittens for August.

It feels good to have another ball of yarn leave my stash and morph into a finished item. A new goal has been set, to finish 150 balls this year.

Missing In-Action?

Well! That was a whole load of nothingness from last month. I had no intention of ditching out on this blog, but it happened. Let's see if things can be improved ever so slightly.

We start off with some goals for August.

Goals:
1. Knit "Stitch in Green"

2. Knit 30 green squares

3. Knit 4 pairs of mittens, gloves or wrist warmers

5. Cycle every day

6. Finish 30 declutter missions

The Declutter 365 missions for August aren't really ticking my fancy. I'm heading back to January; this should be an easy set of missions as I've done these ones quite a few times already. Today it's time to declutter my kitchen sink and organised the area around it.