Hard Labor

 Even though I own several mops, this is my favorite way of scrubbing my floor. The Mister has been away taking care of his mother for most of the holiday weekend so I've been home alone-hard at work.

 Spots or not, whenever I'm alone I take advantage of the time for a good house cleaning.

 I even cleaned behind the bird cage. That usually means company is coming but not this time. I did it just for me.

 The sinks got scrubbed and I didn't even put anything yucky in them first.

 The bric a brac and books got a good dusting. I've got way to many books for someone who owns a Kindle and an Audible subscription.

 Tons of laundry got done. The washer and dryer are in the man cave and The Mister hates to hear it run on his time so I made good use of his absence and washed everything I could think of-even all the curtains.

 My favorite cleaning tool is my lint roller. I'm always on the lookout for cooties of the mite, flea and tick variety at this time of year so I used up a whole roll on all the furniture. I even use them on the floor. I buy them by the carton at Ikea.

 Look at my pretty dust mop. It's actually clean. I washed and dried it and then used it to go after kitty fuzz and bird feathers. I hate kitty fuzz and bird feathers.

This is as close to outside as I got on this Labor Day weekend. It's usually filled with outside stuff and family fun. I'm still not completely sure what this rash is all about so I quarantined myself from babies and old folks and spent three days alone with my itch.

No complaints. It wasn't all work, I did manage to finish threading the new loom project.  It was actually a good time-minus the itching all night part.

Sunday Soap: By the Sea

 The itch is still upon me. The nasty rash that is covering most of myself hasn't budged an inch. I'm surviving by treating the symptoms every few hours which means lots of Benadryl and cool soaks in the tub with my extra mild tea tree, kelp and sea salt bars.

 I've also concocted bath bombs from all my soothing soap ingredients. Thank goodness for them.

What's really helping is the sea salt soaks.

 It's given me such relief that I've been using it on the itchy old Maltese who suffers so at this time of year from seasonal allergies. If left on her own, she will chew herself raw in minutes. Poor thing.

I went online and bought her the new spiffy cone of shame and some pricey sea salt meds for her hot spots. I'm tempted to use them on myself-minus the cone. What I need are mittens to stop myself from scratching in my sleep. If this keeps up I just may have to break down and pay the doctor a call after the holiday. Ugh.

Done!

 My Minty Hermoine's are done. Thank you elns for gifting me the yarn. Felici is always fun to work with.

Of course, there was drama at the end thanks to my matching toe obsession. Toe number one got ripped back into the last stripe as did the second toe in order to have them both end in a large section of blue-and it was worth it. Those toes will make me happy every time I put them on.

A Whole Lot of Crazy

 For some insane reason when I cast on my first Undine I didn't take note of exactly where I started. All I had to go on was the yarn I had snipped off from the tail.

It was an easy striped pattern which should have been easy to match in the second sock if I had started in an obvious place. In my haste to cast on, I just started where the skein started. I know better. That's a rookie mistake.

 I spent an entire afternoon casting on one way or another trying to get an exact match on the second sock.

 I was always off by a bit too much. I used math. I used tape. I finally cast on with waste yarn, measured it and used that for a gauge.

 Close enough.

Now to do something about that toe. When I get to the second toe, this one is history.

Taking It Easy

 I was going through my basket of orphan batts quicker than I had planned.

 I wanted to spin a true three ply but I'm not going to have near enough batts to do that.

 I own more fiber than I probably should so it shouldn't be a problem to solve this dilemma.

 I bought the carder for my raw fleeces but it can be used on commercially processed fiber to blend it.

Wow....I could get used to this. No fuss, no mess.

I could do this all day.

Two Heels

 Before all the buggy drama I had both socks in just about the same place.

 Of course, one is actually way out ahead. I'm still too itchy to play with wool but these will be a done deal as soon as I am able.

I've got plans for those needles when that last sock is done-and I'm sure the last mite has met its maker. It's going to be something simple. Very simple.

September

 Ahhhhh...... in the early morning, fall is in the air. I am so ready. Everything with more than four legs needs to go. I think I am winning the bug battle but none of it's been fun. Those itches still itch.

 We've had some decent weather in the past week or so but I am still glad to see summer and all it's muggy buggy days history.

I want a hot cup of tea and socks on my feet. When I go outside I want everything covered. I'm not looking forward to winter but a little frost would be a good thing.