Mrs. Collins Makes Stuff

Why is February so short? Why does she only get 28 days? It seems so unfair. February is always a chaotic month. February and October. They are both crazy busy birthday months and always seem to book out months in advance. This one was no exception. But, in fairness, it was a pretty great month. Sadly, there was little knitting due to my asshole elbow. In fact, there are no finished objects or new cast-ons, so we will skip right over those parts and go straight to WIPs

* Works in Progress:

Heartbeat top

Harris

Blue Mountain Cowl

Shatar vest

NYE cast-on

Knitting my memories blanket

White denim skirt

8 pairs of pajama pants/ shorts

* Goals for next month:

School stuff

Sew something, anything

Cast on more things

Finish Harris

So the elbow is still an issue, hence nothing was completed. I have been chipping away, slowly at Heartbeat, Blue Mountain Cowl (it’s my travel knitting), and Harris. You would think this would allow me all kinds of time to break out some sewing. Yeah, no. That hasn’t happened. I am starting to mentally plan some stuff but still haven’t grown enough spine to actually do it. I did assess the white denim skirt with the intention of sewing a seam or two, but I am afraid I really messed up. I pulled out the pattern pieces and the directions. I laid everything out and really reviewed what was needed. I found that not only are the directions still not clicking, but apparently, I never marked my notches and dart markings. Yeah, so… That was cool. Ultimately, I threw it back in the basket and walked away. I am not going to lie, my first instinct was to chuck the whole thing into the garbage and call it a loss. I changed my mind at the last minute, though, and just packed it back up. I am in a place with it where I think I will just let it sit, and hopefully, I can work on something else that will give me the knowledge on how to salvage it. As my grandpa would have said, “it doesn’t eat or drink,” so it can sit there for as long as I need it to. In the meantime, I really do want to start sewing on something. There may be a Fabric Pairing post in the near future. TBD.

February was a really good month. It started with a trip to Chico with LouHoo. It was a really fun weekend that was much needed by both of us. We went and had girl time and went (thrift) shopping and just chilled and reconnected. The Chico thrift store game is on point! We hit 5 or 6 really good shops. I needed that girl time and time away from home. It was nice to miss my loves for a couple of days. The next weekend was the Father’s birthday, so he came down for the day. We played games and went to the Native American food place, Wahpepah’s Kitchen, in Oakland. That place is AMAZING. Dad absolutely loved it. The following week was really busy at work. That Wednesday, I took my new title and moved into the office. It was very bittersweet to leave my old office and my old role. For now, I will be doing double duty and still getting through this double conversion. Once that is complete, I will be doing a hard shift toward my new job. After 10 years in my office, it was hard to give it up. My new office is evolving, but I am sure it will be fine. Two days later, my birthday arrived. I am now 42. That seems like a rather weighty number. I don’t feel old, but I do feel like the years are starting to get heavier. I spent the morning with Feebs and the Mother. We had a sleepover the night before, which was nice. Feebs spent the weekend with Mom. The weekend was very good. It was a kid-free to do with the O’s. We had my annual lasagna, and the Husband outdid himself. The next night, the menfolk went to a concert, and the Female O and I had a delectable snack dinner. We also went and checked out the new craft store downtown. It was small and didn’t have a ton of stuff, but it was cute. It had some nice sock yarn. Then Sunday we went to Napa. It is always weird for to me go back there. We went to Zuzu for cocktails and snacks. Then we went to the Brazilian Steakhouse. For the first time, I got the full meal. It was good, but I think I will stick with my sidebar when we go to those places. I just don’t eat enough to justify the cost. Monday, was a holiday and I went and picked up the girl. It was a really good weekend. The last weekend of the month was pretty chill. I weeded the front planter boxes. Which, really, only emphasized how much we need to clean up the rest of the yard… But at least our lavender, sage, and rosemary are a little happier. And Oh My God, Becky! Guess what the Husband got me for my birthday! Leopard print roller skates! I am so freaking happy about this, I can’t even begin to tell you! I love everything about them. I ordered a helmet, and every kind of protective pad I could find. I am so excited to get them and skate my little heart out! Also, somewhere in this month, the Husband booked our Spring Break trip. We are going to Hawaii on April 1. It wasn’t the trip I had envisioned, but I will take it. I know Feebs is going to love it.

So the month wasn’t terribly craft-happy, but it was still really good. March is going to be exciting because of Stitches West and gearing up for our upcoming vacation. I hope that the year continues with good things and happy memories. I also hope that my elbow figures out its life so that I can get on with my knitting. We shall see what is to come!

Loves,

M