After organizing my yarn and taking inventory, I entered my stash into my Vogue Knitting app.
The app is simple to use and well-organized with sections for Projects, Needles, Hooks, and Yarn. I often refer to the needle listing to avoid buying duplicates.
The yarn listing is helpful to determine if I have the right gauge and quantity of yarn for projects. I also like that I can track progress on my WIPs using the electronic row counters in the Projects section.
My one concern is that this app is not very stable. It often shuts down in the middle of searching my inventory or entering new items. The app goes for $3.99 which is not a lot but then most apps are either free or sell for only 99¢. I submitted a review for the app with these concerns and read that others are experiencing the same problem. I hope they fix it soon.
Or the equivalent of 14,733 meters or 14.7 kilometers for my metric friends.
That’s the size of my yarn stash.
83 skeins or balls of yarn.
This does not include batts, rovings, locks or any other unspun fiber in my possession.
This past Christmas, I told my husband I wanted pretty baskets in which to keep my yarn. I had yarn stashed away in mis-matched baskets scattered around the house in closets, the guest bedroom, and in the living room. He selected these three baskets with lids from Pottery Barn. They’re perfect for hiding, I mean organizing my yarn.
I use this hand-woven basket we brought back from Oaxaca, Mexico for corralling knitting-related items.
I still have some random baskets. This small round one is from Morocco and is probably meant to hold bread but I keep pretty fiber in it.
I wonder if yarn is covered under my homeowner’s policy?
Summer is coming to an end. The back-to-school sales are in full swing and soon my daily commute will take longer when the school zones reactivate.
We didn’t venture far from home this summer. Earlier this year, we knew we would have to install a new air conditioning system in our home before the sweltering heat of summer arrived. That pretty much ate up any travel plans we might have had, but it made for a much more bearable summer.
Then there was Mom’s surgery in June. I took her to her 6 week follow-up appointment and the doctor gave her a seal of approval. Mom is doing splendidly and is back home. She just hit a milestone birthday – 70. My brothers and their kids took her to dinner and we surprised her afterward with a mariachi band that serenaded her in her front yard. She danced with my brother under the stars surrounded by her grandchildren.
The boys are ready to go back to school and see their friends every day and show off their driving permits. They’ve had their fill of hot, lazy days full of video games, Batman, days at the beach, swimming in the neighborhood pool, and outdoor grilling.
Our boys are growing up. They will be Sophomores in high school next year. Only three more years before they are marching across the stage in their caps and gowns and then driving off to start their independent lives. Have we prepared them? What is left to be done in only three years in the midst of homework, exams, work and sleep?
I tell my husband, “In only three years, it will be just you and me.” He looks at me guardedly from the corner of his eye and asks, “Why do you say that like it’s a threat?” That cracks a big smile on my face. I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather be with than him.
Here are some glimpses of our summer.
The waters of the Gulf of Mexico off Galveston Island.Flowering plant from my aunt’s home in Southwest Texas.It’s Texas – there are cacti everywhere.Driving past on our way to visit Mom. I used to swim in the cold waters of the Nueces River as a little girl.Pink roses “just because” from the husband.The ever-present knitting project.
Te dejo Madrid
con tus avenidas amplias
tus edificios y palacios resplandecientes
Te dejo Madrid
con tus mil sabores
patatas bravas y albóndigas
queso manchego y aceite de oliva arbequina
escaparates luciendo la pata negra
cenando a media noche
las calles repletas de gente
Te dejo Madrid
con tus tesoros nacionales
el Prado con "Las Meninas" de Velázquez
las imágenes de la guerra en el "Guernica" de Picasso
"Muchacha en la Ventana" de Dalí
la poesía de Lorca
Te dejo Madrid
por las calles sinuosas del Rastro
las antigüedades del mercado de sellas y monedas
la pasión del flamenco
y con un brindis a Don Ernesto bajo la sombra
de los árboles que rodean la Plaza Santa Ana
Te dejo Madrid
pero tu no me dejas a mi
(Título prestado de la canción “Te Dejo Madrid” de Shakira).
Click on any image to view on a larger screen.
Edificio Metrópolis: The beaux-arts style Metropolis office building.
Plaza Mayor: Beautiful public square that has hosted bullfights, executions and trials during the Inquisition. The statue in the middle is of King Philip III.
Random window.
Congreso de los Diputados: Spanish Parliament.
Don’t forget to look up! Random beautiful buildings.
Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales: Doors to a monastery for widowed royalty. The plain exterior walls hide the many riches that the royals brought with them.
Apartments near the Royal Palace.
Doors at the Catedral de le Almudena: Madrid’s cathedral.
Muralla Árabe: Remains of Moorish and medieval city walls.
Outside the Palacio Real. The palace has 135,000 square meters of floorspace and 2800 rooms.
Catedral de la Almudena: Exterior is neo-classical; interior is neo-gothic.
Close up of relief at the Catedral de la Almudena.
Ceiling inside the Catedral de la Almudena.
Courtyard of the Palacio Real.
Exterior hallway at the Palacio Real.
I leave you Madrid
with your wide boulevards
and your resplendent buildings and palaces
I leave you Madrid
with your thousand flavors
spicy fried potates and meatballs
manchego cheese and olive oil
black hoofs on display in shop windows
dining at midnite
the streets bursting with people
I leave you Madrid
with your national treasures
“Las Meninas” by Velázquez at the Prado
the images of war in Picasso’s “Guernica”
Dalí's “Woman at the Window”
Lorca’s poetry
I leave you Madrid
through the circuitous streets of the Rastro
the antiquities at the stamp and coin market
the passion of flamenco
and a toast to Hemingway beneath the shade
of the trees that surround Plaza Santa Ana
I leave you Madrid
but you do not leave me
(Title borrowed from the song “Te Dejo Madrid” by Shakira).
When I travel, I always try to bring back something that will remind me of the place I visited. Something a little more meaningful than a key chain but not too excessive (and that will fit in my luggage).
I brought back this mantón bordado (embroidered shawl) from Madrid. They told me it was hand embroidered (although I have some doubts). Nonetheless, the vibrant flowers and flirtatious tassels remind me of Spain.
I also picked up this set of toallas bordadas (embroidered towels) with a crocheted border. I like their simplicity and elegance.
Here are a few other images captured on the streets of Madrid.
This 20 ton bronze statue of a bear under a strawberry tree (el oso y el madroño) is located at the Puerta del Sol. The symbol of the bear (which apparently used to roam in the forests outside the city) and the strawberry tree are emblematic of Madrid.
A shop window with traditional flamenco dresses.
I couldn’t help but snap a photo of this storefront. Why can’t we all just get along?!
Los Petrificados (the petrified ones), one of many street performers in Madrid. At first glance, I thought it was a statue until someone dropped a coin in a box in front of them. The woman’s eyes moved and the man looked up while he poured the water.
I have other pictures to share. Hasta la próxima. (Until next time).
Agujas 