Tag Archives: grateful

Monday. Again!?

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Monday, August 17, 2026

It’s Monday again! The weeks seem to be zipping by at breakneck speed. I don’t know what happened to the summer but here we are nearly at back to school season! My hubby went off to Colorado himself on Thursday so I came home from work to an empty house – a new experience since we lost our dog in early July. It was a bizarre thought more than anything and in practice, I was fine with it and have had a good weekend alone … but it certainly went by quickly and hubby’s in the air as we speak, jetting back to Maine. He’ll be here before I know it.

I thought I’d spend hours and hours knitting in my studio but I surprised myself and busied myself most of the days. I worked Thursday and Friday, of course, and then Saturday I went on an adventure to Christianson’s Farm Stand in Readfield (sorry, I should probably have taken at least one photo) where I bought some veggies and fresh corn on the cob! I made Ratatouille for dinner and added it to leftovers from Thursday night. My husband’s the cook in our house and I’d rather not be – I made enough one night to last for two nights at least! Anyway, the veggies were beautiful and delicious, too. I also treated myself to a lobster roll for lunch. We have a new place in Oakland that I wanted to try and they were sold out on Friday night when I went by. It was by far the freshest lobster roll I”ve had in maybe forever and the roll was perfectly buttered and grilled. Yum. (And no shredded bagged lettuce! IYKYK! I also made some of my “world famous” oatmeal cranberry scones. That will make my hubby happy!

Yesterday I attended a celebration of life after picking up and unpacking some groceries which meant two trips to Augusta which is out of the ordinary for me/us. It was a lovely tribute to our book club friend, Kathi and I was thoroughly impressed when her grandson stood up to remember his grandmother at the very end. He said he simply knew her as his grandmother and thanked those who told stories about her for teaching him that she was so many different things to so many people. I hope one day that my grandchild remembers me as “just” their grandmother. If that’s the case then I will consider mine a well-lived life.

I have been knitting! I started a new project after putting my daughter’s sweater on hold until I can try it on her in early September. I cast on the Make Mine a Double sweater by Millie at Tribe Yarn. I saw it in a social media post and couldn’t get it out of my head (a lot like the green linen Broadgate Tabard. I waited for a few weeks before buying the yarn because it was a serious financial investment especially since I couldn’t see the yarn in person or feel it so you know it was a really strong draw. Anyway, I cast on and started knitting – this sweater/jumper is knitted top down in the round with US10 needles and the pattern says that I can make my size with 2 hanks. I have gone back and forth on what size to make because I don’t love a ton of ease on me. The suggested ease is 10+ inches which would tell me to knit the large but I think I’m going to knit the medium which will give me more like 6 inches of positive ease. Enough for me.

The yarn is exquisite! It’s the softest silk mohair and the color changes are fascinating and they keep me knitting and knitting because I want to see how the colors ease from one into the next. My hank started with a deep chocolate brown and has eased into a blue … it’s stunning. I am loving it.

I’ve finished the knititng on my second felted bowl. I cast on and practically finished knitting this on Friday during my knitting classes. It’s a super bulky wool knitted on huge needles (I knit mine on US15 and US17a which i had) and then felted. I have a front-loader and very hot water. I’ve done the first felting and today I’ll felt it once more. I’m going to write up the pattern because I started with a Plymouth pattern that called for two strands of worsted held double and did an ombre0type color change. I used a super bulky variegated wool. I hope it’ll sell some yarn in the shop.

And today was a good mail day! I got my kit to knit up It is Magic by Isabell Kraemer in Myak yarn’s Fior di Cashmere in the original colors as the sample was knitted. This was another social media response – do you think I should stay off social media? – to a new design that I really liked and I really liked the original colorway. Myak had a sale on the kits and I jumped. The yarn arrived today and it’s gorgeous! I have a feeling that this will have to wait to jump onto the needles until I finish my Make Mine a Double and my daughter’s Levitate Wrap. I really don’t need any more yarn for any more sweaters. I will not have any room in my closet soon enough. (Maybe I have to give away a few sweaters to make room for the new ones?)

Anyway, it’s been a good time for knitting and reading. I’ve read a couple of good books that I really enjoyed. I am a slow reader (it’s not a race, right?) and I really only read at night before I go to sleep so I read maybe a book a month. I really liked Braiding Sweetgrass that we read for my first July Book Club and this time we’re reading Ann Patchett’s Whistler. I am loving it! I also bought the bonus book – we had a third meeting in the middle of our two regular meetings with the author, Susan Koen, and the book is titled Dancing in the Face of Death. It’s a memoir about her experience as a caregiver to her partner who is diagnosed with dementia. Susan was a delightful bookclub guest and there’s nothing like discussing a book with the author in the room. Hearing the stories first-hand is very powerful.

We’ve got a lot going on in the yard and on the water, passers-by both feathered and human (and too close) and the hummingbirds seem to be fueling up for their long trip home. This morning the wind was blowing and they were hanging on to the feeders for dear life! LOL. We have been enjoying our veggie garden and have a few tomatoes and squash and we are getting our first peas! (Beans are growing but no fruit yet.) And my Clivia in my atelier is blooming again! This time it has three flowers. I love the color of the flowers and it’s been fun to see it thrive … although there is a sticky bug on it that I can’t seem to get rid of that’s why it’s up in my atelier. I’ll keep plugging.

Gone knitting.

This is 68!

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Sunday, July 26, 2026

Well, I’m not sure I believe that I’ve had another birthday! I was talking to my aunt today and she said that she’s 83 and I’m 68? How the heck did that happen? Neither one of us should be that old. And we sure don’t feel this old! Regardless, I had a most remarkable, memorable birthday! My daughter asked me to do an errand for her and pick up something she had made by an artist in Freedom, Maine. When I was thinking about going to pick it up (we’d agreed on Sunday morning) it occurred to me that we’d be close to the Lost Kitchen and had heard they were serving lunch on a “first come first served” basis. BUT they were closed on Sunday so we reached out to the artist and switched it to Saturday morning and figured we’d head to TLK after that. And we did.

The bridge to The Lost Kitchen, Freedom, Maine

We were 15th in line waiting for their 11am opening. Unsure about whether the dogs would be ok (they are) and what to expect about waiting because we read it could be a wait of up to 3 hours, we took our spot in line at 10:15-ish and forty-five minutes later, we were crossing the bridge.

They managed the line, which was longer behind us than ahead of us by 11am, efficiently and with care. Once across, we headed into the Little Lost Kitchen to order our food. We ordered one of each item on the list and tried their house-made drinks – unsweet iced tea, a fruit shrub and a lemonade. Everything was presented beautifully and everything was delicious. We seem to have neglected taking a photo of the vanilla custard dessert which was all of our favorite. We all shared all the dishes and we all had our favorites: the fried chicken was one as was the roasted vegetable focacia. The caesar salad (also un-photographed) was gorgeous and delicious. Overall it was an extraordinary experience. 10 out of 10. Highly recommend!

The Birthday Adventure Team

We went on to Liberty to visit Liberty Tool and Liberty Graphics, got iced cream at Johns and then headed home. Everything fell into place on my special day and I was so grateful that my son and his girlfriend and their dogs came all the way up to celebrate witThe h me. We had a Dairy Queen cake after the kids made “ramen” for dinner with all sorts of leftovers from the fridge. We are well-fed with full hearts, too.

I haven’t been knitting much! I’ve worked a few rounds on my Lochside socks and have taken several rounds back to correct mistakes that I made. Ha! Ha! The pattern is so simple but when I get involved in conversations … oops! I’ve got a few more inches on the foot and then I’ll knit the second sock. I’m not a huge fan of the yarn as it seems “fuzzy” and my needles are so pointy that it’s splitting a lot, too. So, it’s slow going but it’s moving along. Progress is being made.

I’ve gotten some time this afternoon to work on the Easy Folded Poncho, too. I’m getting close to the 50 inches of fabric and then it’ll be blocked and seamed and ready to wear when the weather starts to cool off. We’ve had some lovely cool nights that are perfect for sleeping! My body has been healing from my pneumonia “adventure” and I find I am sleeping more and even napping. I seldom nap.

Tomorrow I’m going to try to finish the front of my tabard and get the pieces blocked before they’re seamed. I will have to make the ties that hold the sides together, too, but that’s not big deal. Once that’s finished (I have only one side of the front shoulder to finish) I am going to cast on my Sabai Top. I have some black linen for my Sabai and I am planning to knit the ribbed neckline. I think it’ll be a great top to make and wear. In early September, I’ll measure my daughter and pick up her Levitate Wrap. I don’t want to knit further before I am sure it’s going to fit – frogging anything with mohair is a monster!

August is going to be a busy month for work, volunteering at school and my knitting life, too. So, for now I’m going to sign off … gone knitting!

WIP Wednesday … another FO with a few mistakes

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Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Today’s been a really pretty day and I’ve had only one meeting which means lots of time to knit and to do a bit more planning for the workshop I’m having in April at the (yarn) shop where I work. It’s been almost a year since I’ve done one … life is so wonderfully busy and I count my blessings every day.

Before my meeting I worked on my second sock for a little bit. I’ve put them aside for several days and it’s time to get them off my needles. I’ll be focusing on them and the sweater I’m knitting for my college roommate for the next few days. I’ve neglected the sweater for a couple of days while I finished Noah the Horse (click for the magic link). Anywhooooo …

Two-Color Brioche is a different colorwork stitch. Two colors of yarn are used to make a super squishy thick fabric that almost looks like it’s got horizontal stripes. And it’s reversible (if done right.) Brioche is two rounds combining to make a double fabric. A pattern of slipped stitches with a yarn over “shawl” and then a knitted or purled stitch, knitting the former round’s shawl stitch and it’s slipped partner as one. The main color (white in my sample) is the more prominent colorway. The first brioche round is made by knitting the slipped stitch and it’s shawl and then with the yarn forward, slipping the next stitch and making a yarn over “shawl”. The following round is worked with the the contrast color and slipping the stitch with the yarn over and to the front and then purling the paired slipped/shawl stitches as one. The stitches and their shawls are always counted as one stitch. The pattern that I’m going to recommend to my students is Easy Brioche Hat for Beginners … two colors of worsted weight yarn and the pattern I followed for my sample OR Beginner Brioche Slouch hat with two DK weight yarns.

I finished the hat for my workshop sample … and to help me remember how to knit 2-color brioche. I don’t knit a lot of it and I needed a refresher. I have made a couple of “mistakes” or mis-stitches but over all, I’m happy with it – the pattern and the knitter. I am choosing to present the sample to the class with the reminder that even as the teacher, I still make mistakes and mis-stitches. I have no idea how I missed them, but I did. It’s all good – it just isn’t reversible. And it may be the medium size but it fits on my giant noggin. (You can see the two mistake stitches … likely that I missed a “shawl” (yarn over) somewhere, somehow. Can you see me shrugging my shoulders. It’s all good. And I will re-do it in good time. Luckily there is enough yarn left over for a second hat (I think. I need to weigh it to be sure.)

I’ve used my ChiaoGoo shorties two days in a row to finish both this hat and Noah the Horse. I’ve not used them a lot because I didn’t think I liked the super short needle tips, in particular. However, I have discovered that I like them when a sixteen inch needle is too long. I was happy to have them both times and I’m now thinking that the next pair of socks that I knit will be made on shorties! Why not try something new?

This evening I’ll be pulling out the Vanilla Sweater for my college roommate and getting going on it. I’m using Rauma Finull Garn which is the same yarn that the sweater was designed with and I love knitting with it – it’s reasonably priced, 100% wool, blooms like crazy when it’s blocked, and comes in a bunch of great colors. She chose a really lovely heathered lavender colorway.

The snow is melting in the sunshine. This morning I took my photograph a little bit late and it is starting to feel like coffee on the porch season. I can hardly wait.

Gone knitting.

End of Year Knitting Review

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Monday December 29, 2025

With only a few days left of 2025 I thought I could take some time on this miserably wet, cold, damp, icy, dreary Maine day to review my knits for 2025. I got quite a bit done this year and I am really happy with most of the things that I made. And I made some great knits for very knit-worthy people in my life.

I finished Dolores and made two of her outfits for her. She had been hanging around in my WIPs since 2018! She is now finished and I love her. I really need to create a space for her now … perhaps in my IKEA storage piece in my sewing room. She’ll need a whole cube to herself.

I knitted a couple of Love and Light hearts and they’re such fun to give away! My grandchildren both have one in their rooms and there’s one in Sylvie’s “special” room here at Yaya and Poppy’s house. I made a linen Anker’s Summer Shirt that I really love and have worn already several times. It’s a great color – especially with white jeans! I knitted a bunch of hats but my favorite by far was the Alpine Bloom hat I made for myself. It fits my big Rockwell head and I just loved knitting it. I knit a fun Musselburgh for Sylvie that she seems to love (she bragged about it at school) and another adorable hat for Mac.

I finally finished the mitts for my daughter to replace her old ones. She’s really happy with them and her boyfriend is a knitter and he’s also intrigued with them. I bought my first sweater kit from the Wooly Thistle and knitted up a Vanilla Sweater in Rauma Finull Garn and I love, love, love the color! My college roommate has asked me to make one for her. And I made a bunch of little sweaters for Sylvie, Mac, a new client from Louisiana and a few for myself.

I participated in the “bang out a sweater” with MDK twice this year and made my Cardoon sweater that I love, and my Bolin sweater, too. I also love my orange poncho and I can’t wait to wear my new Stockholm Slipover. One of my favorite knits was the Little Tern baby blanket that I made for our little Denver nugget, our grandson. This was the second time I’ve knit the blanket and I loved it just as much this time!

My records say that I have finished 65 things so far this year. I hope I can finish one more Musselburgh and hubby’s Christmas socks but I won’t fret if I don’t. I am satisfied with my 2025 number. 10 pairs of socks (some little ones), 17 hats and four headbands, 5 adult sweaters and one vest, 7 children’s/baby’s sweaters. And then add in a few baby blankets, mitts and mittens and a few other miscellaneous things. It’s been a good knitting year. I have exceeded my 2024 number by two! I guess I’m pretty consistent year-to-year.

I bought a pair of new Bullet Journals this year (one for this year and one for next year) and I’ve moved over all my important information into the new lavender book. 2025 has been a busy, full year and my gratitude practice has improved. I’ve taken good care of my body, seen my doctor for an annual check-up, made some changes in diet and lost some weight, volunteered in my community, spent quality time with almost all of our kids, and we really appreciate my kids for helping to get our guest cottage painted and hubby got the bathroom renovated. We spent a week at the beach with my kids, almost a week in Denver with hubby’s youngest and a long weekend with his eldest. We hope for more time together with our kids in 2026.

2026 goals: be kind. Listen more. Give myself more time to “do nothing” and I am going to take the first step to becoming a Master Knitter and enroll in the TKGA Master Knitter (part1) program. It could take me a year to finish the requirements and it’s a commitment for sure! I’m saving my pennies this year for a trip to Scotland in 2027 and we are going to attempt to rent our guest cabin here on the lake. How blessed we are to have such a full, creative life.

Gone knitting. (Actually, I’m heading to the kitchen to bake banana bread. We had some really ripe bananas.)

Thankful

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Monday, December 1, 2025

Rabbit! Rabbit! We are home after such a wonderful Thanksgiving that I didn’t even take one photograph! Not one. Babies, toddlers, my nephews and their parents, friends and family and I just enjoyed being together. We feel so lucky to have family members who we like and enjoy just riding along to the airport and a walk around Logan’s 9/11 memorial or lunch after they visited my s-i-l’s cousin in the hospital. We enjoy each other’s company and love our time together.

We had a traditional Thanksgiving meal this year at my middle nephew’s request and it was delicious! I was very happy with the pumpkin dinner rolls that I brought, they had just enough pumpkin spice to be yummy and not overpowering. The apple pie (no photo of that either) was really yummy as was the cheesecake. I also brought two quiches with hash brown potato crust and they were really yummy, too. I’ll be repeating the quiches at Christmas time. Maybe the pumpkin rolls, too. We will be cooking a turkey breast at our house on Friday because I didn’t have a turkey sandwich yet. I’ll be needing to make cranberry sauce and stuffing for that event. Yum. Why don’t we all make a turkey more than once a year?

While I was away, I believe I’ve finished the fifty inches of stockinette stitch for the Easy Folded Poncho. If so, I’ll be finishing it up tomorrow. I also finished my Alpine Bloom Hat and I absolutely love it. I don’t love it ON me but I love the hat. I also have enough of the yarn left to make something else. I wish there were Alpine Bloom Mittens/Fingerless Mitts. I’m going to have to look because there may be. I cast on the fingerless mitts kit that I bought when “the girls” I work with went to visit a new to Maine yarn shop in Gorham – Olde School Fiber and Craft. Not sure how I feel about this yarn and fabric. Thank goodness they’re mitts and not a sweater. I just think it should have a softer hand than it does. They’ll be fine but not a favorite.

Oops! Just realized I have a committee meeting and the chair didn’t send out an email with an agenda … and the chair is me!

Gone knitting.

Saturday Before Thanksgiving

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Saturday, November 22, 2025

It’s cloudy today but the sun is still shining on the south side of the house. Enough so that it’s warm enough to venture outside for a late morning photograph. The loons are still on the lake in their winter feathers but soon enough they’ll be gone again to their winter home on the coast.

This weekend is all about getting ready for the Thanksgiving holiday coming up next week. We have plans with our Massachusetts family for the day and we are looking forward to being together after what seems like “forever”. I am tasked with making a couple of desserts chosen by my nephew who will be with us after several years away at veterinary school – cheesecake and an apple pie are the requests. I have also found a recipe for pumpkin dinner rolls that I think I’ll try. I just have to get a grocery order together so I can pick it all up tomorrow or Monday. That’ll be next on my list.

This morning I’ve been catching up and trying to finish some of my crafty projects so that I can wash my favorite hand knit vest to wear around the holiday. I’ve worn it a lot and yesterday I dripped on it at lunchtime. Oops. So, today before I could block it out, I had to finish this unicorn hair clip hanger for my granddaughter. Her mother saw one on Pinterest or somewhere and made the request so Sylvie’s hair clips and headbands can be corralled and she can see them, too. I am pretty pleased with the end result. I hope they will be, too.

And I’ve been knitting a lot trying to get Christmas knitting done. I don’t have a lot left to do but I always make my hubby a pair of socks and this year I’ve decided to go with a second pair using a pattern that I’ve used before. I have some balls of Raggi yarn left that I bought when we were losing the distributor in the US at the shop and I loved knitting the first pair (despite a pattern reading mistake). I’ll knit them the right way this time. LOL. I first saw the pattern for the Thompson River Socks in Interweave Knits back in 2016 and it’s available to purchase on their website but I saved my pattern so I started knitting last week. I have to be careful to knit them when he won’t catch me so they’ll be a surprise. I hope I’ll have them both done for him in time.

Thompson River Socks

I’ve finished the knitting part of the Jamberry Cardigan for Sylvie’s Christmas gift and I have begun the duplicate stitch yoke decorations. Why, I wonder, didn’t I just knit the yoke in colorwork? It would have had some long floats but the duplicate stitch floats are equally long and the process isn’t nearly as enjoyable. Regardless, I made the decision to follow the pattern and I’m duplicate stitching. It’s really a cute sweater and I hope she loves it. It does look huge! I made the 4-year size so she can grow into it and she can always roll up the sleeves if it’s too big now. I’m excited for her to see it.

Jamberry Cardigan

I have finished the Wee Liam pullover sweater and the little Billie pants for our nugget, the grandson out in Colorado. My hubby picked the buttons and I am quite happy with these two little garments. Hopefully he hasn’t grown too much and will be able to wear them. (All the size details and yarn, etc. are on my Ravelry project page.) The buttons are solid wood and I like the way they pop off the sweater. And I love the color. It’s showing as more gray here in the photo, it’s really more of a dark sage green.

Wee Liam

I am spending the later evenings when my eyes and brain are tired working on the endless stockinette stitch of the Easy Folded Poncho in orange (Zinnia colorway) Rowan Felted Tweed. I really like the color and it’s going to be fun to wear. I am around the 30-36″ mark, I think. I haven’t got the guts to really measure it because it seems to take forever to get any significant progress made on it. But I am making some progress.

East Folded Poncho

AND I have cast on two more projects. I couldn’t wait to cast on the Alpine Bloom Hat by Caitlin Hunter. I’ve had the Patagonia Organic Merino in charcoal and light gray in my stash for a while waiting to cast this one and I need a hat that I love. I don’t like myself in hats and I’m praying that I do like this one because it makes me so happy knitting it! I’m about half-way through the chart and I made the ribbing extra long so I can fold it over. This is what I WANT to work on but I “make” myself work on the things I need to get done first and knit this as a reward.

My sister-in-love asked me to make a blanket for her brother’s partner whose daughter is about to have the first grandchild. I have also cast this on hoping that I can get it finished before Thanksgiving and hand deliver it to her. I chose Berroco Vintage Chunky in a sage green colorway and am knitting the Three Cable Baby Blanket which is a free pattern we have in the store. I’m not sure where it came from but it’s my go-to pattern for baby gifts and I’ve made several of them. I am loving the green yarn. Green is my brother’s favorite color and this is a lovely soft yarn. I got almost one hank of yarn knitted yesterday afternoon … if I stick to it, I should be able to finish it by the end of the week. Crossing my fingers. I’ll have to resist knitting everything else.

Three Cable Baby Blanket

I have pulled out the beautiful green linen yarn that I bought to make the Broadgate Tabbard and I really want to start knitting that. I have a new white blouse that will be perfect under this “vest” and I can’t wait to see the color! Another new green project and I have very little that’s green. It’s never been a favorite color but when I saw it in a photograph on social media, I had to have that exact color. I think I will be able to wear the tabbard (it’s like a vest but not closed up on the sides) in the summer, too. Over a tank or a tee. We’ll see. But the color green that I bought is stunning. It will wait until I have finished my Christmas knitting.

And with that, I will sign off and get to knitting the baby blanket. If I can get it nearly to the half-way marker today, that would be a huge win … first, though, I have got to put a grocery order together. So until the next time … gone knitting!

Very Little Knitting Going On!

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Wednesday, October 15, 2025

This photo is from yesterday. We had an excellent adventure (again!) We took the little one to school in the morning and when we picked her up in the afternoon we jumped onto the subway downtown to head to The Shed (at Hudson Yards.) My younger daughter, the middle child, works there and she played with Sylvie while my hubby and I saw the show there through the middle of November. The Show is called, Viola’s Room and it’s an immersive theater experience. Six people in a small group enter a dark space, take off their shoes and socks and phones, etc. in a basket (they’re fully supervised) and with headset on, walk through the maze-like show, following the light. It was an experience like I’d never seen before and I was enthralled. The story is narrated by Helena Bonham Carter and you listen as you walk through for about 45 minutes. Highly recommend!

While the granddaughter was in school yesterday, I cleaned up the house a bit and baked an apple pie because her mommy only got one piece of the first pie I made. The Vessel is also at Hudson Yards where we were and it’s a sad thing. Now only open on the first two floors, it has been the site of several suicides. Not what the city or architects expected and now a rather “useless” space.

Over the weekend we visited the Bronx Zoo and I went to see my daughter’s show, Heathers, at New World Stages. Heathers was a big deal in the 90s apparently and even without knowing anything about it, I thoroughly enjoyed the performances. It’s a young cast with many very talented performers and my daughter is one of them. Sylvie rode the carousel at the Zoo three times! I’m guessing that was her favorite thing on that day. LOL

Obviously, wrangling an almost-3-year-old doesn’t allow me to do as much knitting as I normally do. AND I’m ok with that. I’m here to play and care for the kiddo while her parents are working. So we’ve spent a lot of time at the playground, doing craft projects, coloring and watching halloween movies.

I’ve frogged and reknit the mitts for my daughter. It seems that whenever I “know” what I’m doing, I make mistakes. But, I am making progress on the colorwork and have made it up to the second pattern of the mitts so I’m feeling pretty good about these actually getting finished before the winter really arrives in NYC. My daughter chose the black and blue colorway and I think the colors are magnificent. Perfect for NYC wear. The pattern is not intuitive, though, and I struggle to keep the count straight. Especially with the bottom “wave” pattern that I just finished. But I am making progress … slowly.

I have also worked on the Billie pants for my grandson. I have just begun the ribbing on the first leg and will (soon enough) get to the second leg. My plan is to have them done with a sweater to match for Christmas time. Or sooner. We don’t really believe in filling our grandchildren’s lives with stuff so we find books and little things throughout the year and we will invest in 529 educational savings accounts for them both. Being together and not having a relationship based on “what did you buy me?” is more important to us. Of course, if the kids need anything for the grandchildren, we will happily oblige. I’d rather buy ice cream or rainbow bagels on the way to the playground than give a toy that may or may not be played with and just adds to the landfill.

Today we’re picking up from school at 3pm and will head to the playground for an hour since the sun is out and it’s a pretty day. A stop at the pharmacy and grocery store will be on the way home. Everything is on foot here. We are walking so much more than at home and it’s so good for us! Yesterday we did more than 11,000 steps before dinnertime.

Gone knitting.

Making Progress

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Sunday, December 8, 2024

We woke to snow and a thin span of ice next to the shore around (at least out part of) the lake. The first sight of ice this year. It’s been really cold lately. But by 9:00am or so, the ice was gone and the snow had stopped. My DH ran the snowblower for the first time and cleaned up so we could get out … later this week it’s supposed to be warming to 50 and rain is in the forecast. It’ll either make the snow all go away again or it’ll turn everything to ice.

I have finished the colorwork on the Arne & Carlos 2024 MKAL. Today I completed the ribbing as well and picked up the stitches so that I can finish the heel. I’m going to rewatch how Arne does the heel decreases before I attempt it. The afterthought heels are not something I’m terribly familiar with as I prefer a heel flap and gusset on my socks … but I”ll do it their way this time and, since it’s a Christmas stocking, it’ll be quick and easy. I hope. I am excited to get the knitting done so I can steam block it and see it in all its splendor. Blocking colorwork, especially when it’s made with 100% wool, is such a miracle. Once the heel is done, I only need to make an icord loop to hang it with.

I’ve been busy ticking items off my ever lengthening list. Between Christmas and knitting this is a busy time of the year. I finished my last two Christmas knits and one is blocked, dry and labeled. The second one is nearly dry and the label is written. This may be the earliest I’ve ever been done knitting for Christmas. OR I’ve forgotten something. Ha! Ha!

I’ve got a pair of shorty socks on the needles for my daughter. They’ll match our granddaughter’s Advent socks. Should be fun for a few laughs at Christmas time. The first sock is finished and the second one is started, I’m about half-way through the heel flap so it won’t take too long to finish. Friday I seamed the shoulders of my pink Lane’s Island and the plan is to pick up stitches around the neck this evening and get the neck done. All I will have left is to sew in the sleeves and seam the sides. I am excited to wear it!

Our Christmas card list gets shorter each year but they’re all addressed and stamped and ready to go to the post office tomorrow. I’ve also done our laundry for the week … and then some and have been washing/re-blocking DH’s hats and fingerless mitts. Whew! They needed it. Changed a bed, bought some holiday-ish plants, and I think I’ve ordered all the Christmas gifts I need. Even my DH’s gift is ordered and I sure hope it arrives before Christmas. I’m crossing my fingers and toes.

We both got into the dermatologist last week after five years. I checked out and he had some pre-cancerous bits removed from his head. Bald heads are prey for the sunshine and my DH’s bald head seldom sees sunblock. He’s been lucky so far. And I’ve had the little red bump removed from my eyelid after decades of living with it. It was large enough to require two tiny sutures and they’ve caused some bruising but it feels good, no pain at all, and I hope the little bit of swelling and the redness will go away soon. The sutures will dissolve. So, we’re good to head into the holidays having done all we can to make sure we remain healthy and praying that the New Year is gentle with us all.

Gone knitting.

Grand-Parenting in the Big City

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Thursday, October 31, 2024

We have been in New York babysitting for our granddaughter while her parents take a little anniversary holiday in Costa Rica. It was all planned out so that we would have a bit of a break when Sylvie went to school on weekday mornings … but you know about the saying, “when you plan, God laughs”, right?

On Monday morning we were so proud of ourselves, we got the little miss up and dressed, fed and out the door … delivered to school at 8:00am. We got to the grocery store and back home and I pulled out my knitting after I cleaned up the kitchen, vacuumed up the dog hair and put a load of wash in … and the phone rang. School was asking for us to pick her up; she had bumps on her hand and face and they suspected HFMD. So we packed up the stroller for the second trip to school to pick her up and on the way called the pediatrician to make an appointment for a sick child visit … and she was sick! Hand, foot and mouth it is and she’s out of school for at least this week. So, no more breaks for Yaya and Poppi, but I’m proud to say that we’ve fared very well partly because we go to bed early and partly because she takes a good nap in the afternoon. BUT we are re-learning what a challenge a 2-year old can be! Ha! Ha! Yaya has a lot more patience for toddler antics than Poppi does but we are tag-teaming it and we are winning!

With HFMD she’s not allowed in proximity to other children or people so we are trying to keep her busy without the playground and we’ve been pretty successful. Yesterday we went out to the courtyard in her building to carve our little pumpkin and the day before we made cookies. Today we went back into the courtyard with sidewalk chalk and bubbles.

We had a pizza party with her aunts and uncle on Sunday and she’s eaten left-over pizza a couple of times. Yesterday may have been a three-cookie day … she ate mine! And playing in the leaves is still fun when you’re two! She loves coloring inside and out, and she can put her own shoes on! She’s brilliant. We’ve been singing SO many songs and she loves Miss Rachel – when Yaya and Poppi need a breather we will turn her on for a few minutes.

AND while all of this is going on, they’re fixing the facade of the building right outside of the apartment … jackhammers on the walls, brick bits falling onto the windows. As if New York wasn’t loud enough for these Mainers! What an experience! Thank goodness they’re gone by four o’clock or so in the evening. But the New York City kiddo is SLEEPING through it all! What a trooper.

I fixed the neck of an anchor sweater that I made as a sample for a workshop that I taught that just happens to be the right size for Sylvie right now. It didn’t go over her head the way I’d made it so I pulled the neck ribbing out and re-knit it and used a stretchy bind off and now she can wear it.

I have finished the front and back of my pink Lane’s Island sweater and I’ve started the sleeves. I’m knitting both sleeves at the same time and had mostly completed the four inches of ribbing for the sleeves and I’ve managed to knit eight rows of stockinette stitch. Not much knitting going on here! But I’ll have plenty of knitting time “soon soon” when her parents get home. I’m going to hate to leave.

Making memories. Call me Yaya! Gone knitting.