Back into knitting machine mode

This is going to be a long and boring post so that I have things written down for future reference. 

In my last post I said I didn't know why I had not been doing much of making things.  When I thought about the last couple of years, I realised why.  Spring 2019 we put the house up for sale, I packed my knitting machines up so the room looked neater and they would be ready for when we moved. House didn't sell until September 2019, when it did I did even more packing away of things,  House sale fell through in October and we were kind of in limbo so I left everything packed up.

Christmas 2019 came and went, I did manage a fair bit of hand knitting up until Christmas. (Nativity scene).

2020 and the pain in my knee became unbearable and my movement was very limited.  Finally decided to get the total knee replacement surgery in May 2020.  Covid had by this time reared it's ugly head and we decided we were probably better staying where we were as we are very isolated.  Several months of recovery and a really hot summer prevented me doing much so I left things packed up.

Then when I was feeling better and it cooled down a bit, later last year, I sprang into action with the sewing room and re-organised it and bought a couple of old sewing machines to fix up.

Now 2021 is here, I am done with restoring sewing machines and I started thinking about getting the knitting machines out again. I bought some cheap plastic drawers from Walmart and got some stuff out of totes into them.  This made my room even more organised.

My husband spotted a ribber on ebay that we thought would fit my chunky knitting machine, affectionately known as 'the big guy.' We put in a bid, it was accepted then promptly had to cancel because it was not the correct one.  BUT! it got me going again with knitting machines.

I set up, 'the big guy'. (Long story about it. Bought it on ebay in 2015, it got badly damaged in transit. Claimed on the insurance and got a full refund and kept the machine.  Managed to get it so it knits OK but he does look a little beat up and the cover is broken and badly dented. It is a chunky 9mm knitting machine and it would be nice to get a ribber to go with it).

Found a ribber on another auction site but it was going for too much.  However, it also had a ribber for my standard machine listed.  I already have two ribbers for it, one that works great and one that I just couldn't get adjusted quite right for my machine. (User error, the ribber is actually in excellent condition).

Any way, the one on the auction site was a later model and looks almost brand new and has all the bits and pieces and I got it for a steal.

Now I can sell one of my other ones and will set aside the money for when a ribber for 'the big guy' shows up.

Now for the really exciting news!!!!! I am going to be a great grandma.  Yay me!

So while 'the big guy' is out I will knit a baby blanket on it, that doesn't require a ribber.

I will set set up the standard machine with the new ribber and make baby cardigans and sweaters. Oh joy. 

I have to make some adjustments in my room so I can have both knitting machines set up.  I have to move my husband's computer (which  I did agree he could have in my room) over to where the organ is sitting.  Then my desk will be free to set up the 'big guy' on and I can put the standard machine and ribber on the white work table.

Now where to put the organ?????

I hand knitted some bootees this past week. First time using the pattern, not sure about how practical they will be but they sure look cute.

Also, I have 80 woven squares that I did on a pin loom some time ago.  There are 40 in a pink variegated baby yarn and 40 in a blue variegated baby yarn. I am slowly sewing them together to make another baby blanket.  I loved making the squares, it was something I could sit and do at night watching TV but not so keen on the sewing them together, I will persevere though as I don't want them to go to waste.

My husband is a VA patient and has many different health issues.  He is eligible for the Covid vaccine so tomorrow we travel for him to get it.  It is a day long deal as it is over three hours travelling each way. I have not been contacted yet but hopefully soon I will be.

That's all for now folks!

Will post updates on the re-organisation and photos in a few days.