Tag Archives: old eyes

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.

Snow Day!

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We awoke to snow this morning. Yay! I’ve been waiting and wanting some, what we call here in Maine, “measurable snow” and today we are getting it! Since it’s January 20th, let’s say that it’s about time!

When the local schools in Waterville are closed, our classes at the Yardgoods Center are canceled. We have a mostly older customer base and none of us should be out and about in this weather unless we absolutely have to … today is a snow day. The store is closed and classes were canceled. I’m putting my snow day to good use and after I had coffee and a muffin with my dear hubby, I went upstairs into my atelier.

On Wednesday I decided to make microwaveable (corn) heating pads. I’ve had the supplies on the floor of my studio for a year. When the kids came last winter to go skiing, they were a bit achey after their skiing and they used all of the warming things in our house. One in particular, they all liked best. So … I measured the one made by my friend Judy and bought the muslin, flannel and corn to make one for each of the kids. Wednesday I ironed and cut the fabrics and then sewed two of the sides and was ready to fill them and finish them up when I realized that the corn was either moldy or dirty.

Off to the kitchen I took all eight pounds of bagged corn and I cleaned it in bleach water to kill any surviving whatever might have been on it. It was powdery but dry and I am not sure what it was but I am sure, now, that the corn I’m putting into the bags is clean and won’t send something gross out into the air that they breathe when they microwave the bags to warm them up.

Today I brought the washed, dried and baked corn back up into my studio and filled the three bags and sewed up the final side. Ta done! Three microwavable corn-filled heating pads. I have more fabric to make three more but I didn’t buy enough corn. Each of the kids will get one this time and I’ll get three more made for the summer when we go to the beach.

Task number two was to make a heart pillow for daughter number 2 who lost her beloved pup Willow just after Thanksgiving. When we were in NY for Christmas, she asked if I could make a heart pillow out of Willow’s jacket. I am touched that she trusted me to do that for her.

Earlier this week, I cut out a heart shape to use as much of the fleece jacket that I could and pinned the sides together (right sides facing) in preparation to sew them up and stuff it.

At this point in the day I went downstairs to probably clean the corn and while the corn was soaking in bleach water, I decided to make some cranberry water that I’d seen a recipe for online. The cranberries were in my freezer for a year and it was time to do something with them. I had thawed them and just has to blend them with water and strain them. While blending them, the blender (it was overfull, I admit) leaked cranberry water all over the counter. I strained the water and when I was cleaning up I inadvertently switched the blender on and metal piece on the base was too close to my thumb … what a bloody mess I made. Some days … !

I cleaned up my thumb, cleaned up the mess and retreated to my studio for a few minutes of stupid TV and to hold my thumb up over my heart so it would stop bleeding.

Today I finished the pillow and I hope my daughter loves it as much as I love her. It’s far from perfect, I’m not a professional sewer by any imagination but it’s stitched with lots of love. I unstitched the tag from the jacket and put it into the seam so it sticks out as a reminder of what it was. I also preserved the spot where my daughter sewed a tear in the jacket by hand to remind her of how much she loved her pup and the memory of the hole, maybe, too. I’ll deliver it when I go to NY next.

I have been knitting and since this is technically a knitting blog, I should report on my progress. I have been making slow progress with my Emsworth. I’ve picked up the front shoulder stitches, and am working my way down the front. I’ve reached where the increases under the arms are and pretty soon I think I’ll be knitting all the way around the body. I’m enjoying the lace pattern and I love the charcoal gray colorway of the Patagonia yarn. It’s a bit tricky for my “old eyes” to see the dark yarn in the evening but I’m still working away at it.

I’ve finished black sock #1 and have reached the heel of black sock #2. Today will be a good day for me to turn the heel and pick up the gusset stitches. Black yarn really does challenge the eyes. It’s best attacked when the lighting is good and bright. Hahaha!

I also started a new project, the Stashbuster Shawl by Heather Haynes. One of my former co-workers came in in hers and I knew I had the same yarn. Since everything else I’m working on was dark colors, I cast on for this shawl so I have something to knit at the end of the day. I’m enjoying the simple, meditative knitting on this one. Mostly Garter stitch, it doesn’t take a lot of brain power (of which I have precious little at the end of the day.)

My plan for the rest of the day is to do some knitting (as my “blended” thumb will allow.) I am so left-handed that it’s tricky to do anything without my left thumb! I’ve managed to write this post and I’ll probably do some baking today or tomorrow. I found a recipe for sugar cookie bars (they’re frosted and sprinkled, yum!) and I haven’t made any granola since the batch that I took to NY at Christmas time. I might need to vacuum again, too. Don’t let anybody tell you that Labs don’t shed a LOT!

Gone knitting.