Green Clothes Dryer

I finally made time to look around for a sturdy umbrella clothes dryer to put up in my back yard.  I had been thinking about it for a long time.  I noticed when I visited relatives in Sweden that people didn't have electric clothes dryers.  They all used lines or umbrella dryers in the back yard.  Even the well-to-do families didn't have electric dryers (or huge houses or multiple cars).  It made me stop and think about how much we all take for granted here in the US.  What we consider a modest standard of living regarding living space and technology would be quite luxurious in many European countries.  We really could do a lot better with our conservation of water and electricity, as well as recycling and use of gas-guzzling cars.  OK.  off the soapbox.

Well, it is certainly better for the environment to dry clothes outside rather than using the electric dryer. It should also save us some money on our electric bills, since the electric dryer uses more electricity than any other appliance in the house! (Perhaps this will help offset our use of window air conditioners in this recent heat wave!)  There are so many good reasons to dry clothes outside; I don't know what took me so long, but I do tend to overthink things and get bogged down with details, and then never move forward.  Time for a change.  So I forged ahead.

Our local hardware store only offered two options and they didn't look like they'd last more than a few seasons.  I wanted one I didn't have to think about for another 5 or 10 years.  I searched online at home improvement places as well as just searching for umbrella clothes dryers.  I looked at a lot of customer reviews too.  I ended up choosing the Sunshine Clothes Dryer, made in the USA (no affiliation, yadda yadda), ordered it online, and it arrived this week!  My husband is a good soul, and while I suspect he has his doubts about how much I'll actually use this new clothes dryer instead of our electric dryer, he humored me and went out this morning with shovel and pickaxe to help me dig the hole for the pole.  The other aspect of this clothes dryer that I particularly like is that we didn't have to set a sleeve into the ground with cement.  This has metal flanges that bolt around the in-ground sleeve, and all we had to do was put it in the hole and fill in with dirt.  It feels quite sturdy.

Here it is in all it's brand new glory.

It spins nicely, and doesn't wobble.  The whole top section will pull out of the in-ground sleeve to leave nothing but a little plastic cap to make lawn mowing easy.

It is overcast and they are predicting more rain and possibly a thunderstorm this afternoon but I couldn't resist and just had to put out a load of laundry.

There's still more room, so I may put out another load and pray that it doesn't rain before the clothes dry.  I've also discovered that I really need to buy more clothespins.  I didn't have many of my own, but I have a whole bag of clothespins from my mother-in-law (that she no longer needs as she has moved to a nursing home), so I'm making good use of them.  Next I need to make myself a little apron with a big pocket for the clothespins.  I'm using an apron I have but the pocket isn't big enough.  Good incentive to get back to the sewing machine.  Maybe when I clear up the sewing table enough to sew I'll also get to that baby quilt for my nephew who is already 1-1/2 years old!

OK, the washing machine beeped, so it's time to put out that second load.  Looks like the sun is coming out a bit as well.  We'll see how well I do this year using my new old-fashioned dryer.


Shelley in CT

Travel Knitting

I got lucky and found some affordable tickets to fly out to Oregon with my youngest son and visit my parents!  Yay!!!  I was searching online on Friday, and found the tickets for Monday (yes, this coming Monday, July 4th!) and grabbed them.  They were half the price of the least expensive tickets I had seen recently (yes, I had waited too long to make my travel arrangements and the prices had all gone up and up and up!) so I had to take them before the fare disappeared.

Now I'm starting to pack, and, of course, the most important choice I have to make in my packing is what knitting project I want to bring. I'm currently working on a sweater for ME(!!!) that is small enough to bring along on the plane.  It's a top-down raglan cardigan in a cotton blend yarn. I've been trying to knit down the stash and this project uses yarn that I bought over 10 years ago - yay!

This is called the Weekend Retreat Cardi and it's a free pattern that I downloaded from Lion Brand Yarn's website.  Here's the url if you're interested---it's a quick and easy knit--- http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/81016AD.html?noImages=  and you'll probably have to create an account and log in to get the pattern. I'll try to put it up on my ravelry page too.

This pattern has short sleeves but I'm thinking that I'll knit them to 3/4 length if I have enough yarn.  I'm also thinking that I should have put in some short rows in the back neck.  I've already knitted down to several inches below the underarms, and I can probably put some short rows in here, before I knit the bottom ribbing. Hopefully that will be enough. I really hate it when my sweaters ride up in the back.

Of course, the decision to bring this project along is a no-brainer, but I'm close enough to finishing, and I'll be away for a week, so I'm thinking that I need a second project (which just about guarantees that I won't get to it).  I'm debating between the second of a pair of socks, or starting a new vest pattern.  I would have to wind the yarn into balls if I bring the vest, but starting a new project is so much more exciting than working on a pair of socks that I'm tired of.  I really should bring the socks, but I'll probably be bad and take the vest.