It’s been a busy and full week with some adjustments to our “normal” as my schedule changed a bit to help my co-workers. I started off by working Monday instead of Thursday which made the whole week feel funny. My days were mixed up but we managed to muddle through by checking the calendar each day and checking my phone and watch often. I had my normal teaching day on Friday and it was my Saturday to work (yesterday).
On Tuesday I drove down to Costco to pick up my new glasses. Because they’re so affordable and because I have an annual eyeglass insurance “stipend”, I decided to get a pair of sunglasses and a spare pair. I’m so happy to be able to see and have choices! This is me at 66 and almost 8 months. I already wrote about my adventure in yarn at Grace Robinson here.
Since the boss is away, I’ve been asked to do the banking for the store and went into town on Wednesday to do the first wave of collections. On Thursday I went to the bank to make deposits and ran my errands. I decided to stop at Marden’s to look for fabric for my granddaughter’s quilt for her bed a Yaya and Poppy’s house and, while I bought no fabric, I did find a treasure trove of J. Jill clothes on the racks and bought myself several shirts and slacks. I got the house straightened up, plants taken care of, laundry done, bed changed and sheets and towels washed … and there was, of course, lots of time to knit.
I have jumped headlong into my “Bang Out a Sweater” project after buying my new yarn at Grace Robinson. I’ve split the body and started up the front on one side. The cardigan, Bolin, is cropped (we’ll see how I like that) so it was only 9 inches on the body before it was split and I have another (almost) 9 to go. But I love the fabric and the color. I may not make the end of February deadline but I will not be far behind.
I bound off my Winter’s Finery shawl and stitched on the ornaments at the middle of the week. On Friday I wove in all the ends into the teeny tiny ornaments and today I will give it a good soak and block it. I’m excited to see how it will look when it’s all stretched out. I’ll post photos when I get it blocked.
I’ve got a lot to do today so that I can get to work tomorrow so I’ll end here and move on to the next thing but I also got into the kitchen and made some cinnamon rolls. I love the NY Times Food recipe. No yeast, no proofing time. Delicious! We’ve started to hold off on the frosting until we warm the rolls up … fresh frosting on warm cinnamon rolls is yumm-o!
We had a beautiful sunrise this morning and it’s been a sunny day. I saw the first couple of snowmobiles on the lake today and the number of ice fishermen was the highest yet. Lots of people out on the ice fishing – and they’re using the portable “ice fishing shacks”.
This morning I watered all of our plants and then headed to my studio. Down the rabbit hole I went … deleting old emails from my gmail accounts, responding to some newer ones and getting my calendar for the next week up to date. I called all of my kids (and spoke to one), my brothers and my sister-in-love in LA. I also called a cousin who I haven’t heard from in a long time. It feels good to delete a couple of years worth of emails.
Yesterday I drove a friend to Portland, ME to visit her husband who is in the hospital. She was happy to visit with her husband and I went off to the new Costco in Scarborough. What was I thinking? It was Saturday, for heaven’s sake. Costco was PACKED! But I got my photo taken, got my membership card and did a little bit of shopping. We’ve been living here in Maine since 2015 and I have missed their lamb chops, in particular. Yesterday we remedied that - I bought lamb chops (they’re huge, an inch or more high, the best anywhere!) and some fresh raspberries, some cheese and cookies for my sweet hubby. Just a few things and thank goodness because I forgot they don’t take all credit cards … but I had just enough cash! I did have to leave Costco for gas because I had to use a credit card. Ha! Ha! It was fun and I am looking forward to going back during the week.
I reunited with my friend at the hospital and got her back home and headed home myself. It was a nice day. And we had lamb chops for dinner!
Sophie’s Scarf#29 Classic SocksRagtop Mitts
I’ve got a few New Year’s FOs. I finished my Sophie Scarf and I wore it for the first time yesterday. It’s a very soft cashmere yarn so it was warm and soft to wear next to the skin. My yarn is a little heavier than they had written the pattern for but it seems to have worked.
My first pair of socks is complete. I knit these in a Patons Kroy yarn. They’re a man’s size 11 1/2 and I needed to add the third ball of yarn just a short way before I was finished. I’ll use the left-overs to make baby mittens for my daughter’s baby for next year. He’ll be ready for them then.
I also finished (the ends are now woven in, I promise) the Ragtop Mitts. They’re fingerless mitts that I knitted up in a random cake of Malabrigo Rios yarn that has been sitting in my stash for ages. I saw the pattern, that can be folded over or left long to keep your fingers warm. I like wearing fingerless mitts but when the steering wheel is cold in the winter, I like to have cold hands! I’ll be wearing mine long in the morning on the way to work.
I finished my Nancy’s Vest!
Nancy’s Vest (before buttons) FO
I will head into town tomorrow morning to see if the buttons for my vest have come in. Once attached, it’ll be done and done. I almost wore it on Friday but decided to wait until the buttons are sewn on. I will be wearing it to the store for my classes on Friday and hopefully my friend and co-worker, Glenda, will have hers done, too. We’ll be twins!
And what’s ON my needles?
I’m working on the sleeves of my Woman’s Favorite Genser. I had finished the majority of the knitting on the first sleeve but had too many stitches to work with the chart and was unsure how to knit a chart with the wrong number of stitches. So, I’ve frogged that sleeve and am knitting it again but with fewer rounds between decreases which will hopefully make the stitch count line up earlier. So far, so good. I love the color and I am looking forward to wearing it. It’s a DK weight which is a good weight for me to wear.
I started a new project, also with stashed yarn. I had two hanks of Juniper Moon Farms Herriot Fine; one is a blue color and the other is an oatmeal-y gray color and I caked them both up to make a double hat. The pattern is called Double Thick Hat. Basically, I’ll knit one hat that’s started with a provisional cast on and then start again with the second colorway and knit the second hat. This will be the project that I can work on and not think about … at least up to the decreases.
I’ve also started, or put back in the active projects bag, a pair of socks with a Maine yarn that I bought ages ago at the Maine Fiber Frolic. It’s a colorway called “Maine Lobstah”. I believe I bought it prior to moving up here year-round. I have learned about a new heel technique called the Strong Heel and I really want to try it. Since I think I’ll be keeping these, I’ll try it. A new customer at the store on Friday told me about the heel and it’s the one she uses all the time. She said it’s easy to remember. We shall see.
I keep pretty good records of all of my knitting projects, yarn, needles, etc. on my Ravelry projects page. I’m LindaR on Ravelry.
My “baby” orchid
My baby orchid has sprouted a new flower stalk. I’m so excited to see it bloom again. This was a gift from my sweetie and it was in bloom when I got it … it’s been about a year since it’s bloomed. I guess it likes it here. I do, too.
Queen Bee Knits 