Merry Christmas 2009

Some updates -- the Glenn Beck afghan was sent off. We have not received an acknowledgment that he received the box. I'm really disappointed. I would have expected at least a form letter thanking us. I won't participate in another afghan of that type. I donated squares to the Sarah Palin afghan and we didn't receive an acknowledgment on that one either.

In September I had thumb joint replacement surgery so it was really, really hard to do any type of crafting. I'm just now getting back to doing a little knitting. I'm working on the Sock Blankie until the Winter Term of the Harry Potter House Cup begins.

The pain of the carpal tunnel finally went away after 4-5 months. However, because of the carpal tunnel, I'm finding that I can only knit a few rows at a time and then I have to stop for the evening. Crocheting is only one or two rows before I have to stop. I can't just sit down and knit or crochet for the evening while I "watch" TV. I can't even spend time on the computer because my hand can't stay on the mouse for very long. This is all really frustrating. Hopefully the next time I post, I'll have better news that I can knit or crochet for longer periods of time.

Glenn Beck Afghan

The Glenn Beck afghan is almost done. The squares are finally crocheted together and now I'm crocheting the border in blue. After that there's the million tales to be woven in. Each block is 8" square. The afghan is 8 blocks across by 10 blocks down. The squares were donated by members of the Glenn Beck group on Ravelry.

It's been a while ...

I haven't been able to do much these last few months. In April, I sawed down 5 small trees and injured both hands. A nerve conductivity test was done and my right hand has severe carpal tunnel and my left hand has minimum carpal tunnel. I've tried chiropractic to no avail. Currently I'm doing acupuncture and stretching. Unfortunately, they don't seem to be working either. I've made an appointment with the orthopedist to discuss my options.

Vintage Sewing Machines

My hand crank sewing machine finally got some needed adjustments and is working great. It's a 1928 Singer. When the power went out Monday night, I was able to sew by candle light. It was kind of neat.

I am now the proud owner of 2 other vintage machines: a January 1941 Singer Featherweight and a Montgomery Ward Damascus manufactured by National Sewing Machine Company (NSMC) If a company ordered a large quantity of sewing machines, NSMC would put whatever name (aka badge) on the machine that the company wanted. Montgomery Ward chose Damascus.

I need to get some more bobbins that will fit the treadle and the hand crank. The bobbins aren't easy to find. My bobbins cannot have an internal length shorter than 1 1/8" and no longer than 1 1/4".