Mrs. Collins Makes Stuff

That was rude. I swear February isn’t worth the cost of admission with how fast it goes, but at the same time, it is always packed full. I had set goals of Finish It February. I made a very clear list of the three projects that I was going to complete in the month. And yet, none were completed in February. I didn’t lose my knojo, I simply hit road blocks. Since nothing got finished in February, do we try for Make it in March?

New cast-ons:

Calliope Sweater

Coffee Sweaters

Works in progress:

Kaleyn Mesh Shawl

Reknit socks for Feebs

Gingerbraid Cardigan

Highlights Tunic Dress

Shatar Vest

Goals for next month:

Cast on some Dream Knitting projects

Fix/ finish Feebs’s socks

Home remodel project

Yes, I did knit, thank you. No, I didn’t finish. I must say I am rather bumbed out by that. I had grand plans, really I did. I knit a whole bunch on Feebs’s socks. I got to mid-calf and had her try them on to assess how much yarn was going to be left over. Now, I factored in an additional 1.5 inches for the foot when I cast on because her feet grow like weeds. Why, then did the socks just barely fit her feet? This child grew an extra 1.5 inches in a month and now the socks fit very snug. That means I need to hack off both toes and give her an additional 2 inches in a contrast color. Even doing that, she will likely outgrow them by Summer. That was very discouraging. Needless to say, they are in a timeout until I am ready to deal with them. The the shawl isn’t to blame for its state of unfinish. Honestly, the knitting isn’t even bad. I know me and I know that the main reason I don’t want to finish knitting it is that then I have to string fringe and tie on a bazillion beads. It is fiddley and sounds like a lot of not fun. But I need to get it done. This is past the point of ridiculous, and I can no longer blame my broken brain on the fact that it’s not finished and gifted. I need to buckle down and just get on with it. Oh, I did get one of my dream knits (before I wrote the post about it) on the needles. I cast on a Calliope sweater. I have one in teal already, and I think it is one of my most worn sweaters that I have ever knit. I love the drape and shape of it. So far, I have knit the collar. I need to move on with the short row shaping and then it is just a basic raglan sweater. I picked the yarn up a local hospice thrift shop, it’s a gorgeous Lana Grossa merino in dark orange. I will love wearing this. I also got onto a kick of knitting Coffee Sweaters. I love those things and they take about an hour to knit. I am thinking it will be a great thing to do to use up some of the scrap basket. Another thing I accomplished was clearing out my Ravelry projects page. I eliminated the Vinca hat and a couple of other projects that were going nowhere.

February, my fleeting love, you kill me each year. Aside from the fact that there are a metric ton of birthdays in this month, mine included, the month is just full of people and always busy. The first week was unfortunately spent still recovering from the weird that happened in January and with my uncle’s funeral. It is incredibly odd that there has now been a death within my parent’s generation. He was the Father’s brother in law. We got together with that side of the family, which was bittersweet. We haven’t seen them in a long time, and it’s unfortunate that weddings and funerals are what bring people together. I have vowed to see my cousins though, and not lose the connection. The next weekend was spent trying to help the Mother get her house ready to list, along with more medical crazy (this time it was hers not mine.) The house prep took up the following weekend, too. My birthday happened in their, but it was no big deal. Each year is taking a larger toll, and 44 is no different. The week after that was a bit more chill. The Father came so we could celebrate our birthdays together. We took him to a new Filipino restaurant by our house. Holy crap, it was an experience. They had a live band and put on quite a show. We even got up and danced together. That weekend the Husband took me to a Fluffy show in San Jose. The weekend started with him picking me up from work with no hair. He had gone and cut all of his long hair off. I spent a solid minute just giggling. I absolutely LOVE him with his short hair! It is weird how much younger he looks. And he once again looks like that guy I met. I loved the surprise. We went to the show and had a great time. Fluffy always does a great show and we were really close to the stage. We stayed a hotel for the night, which was awesome. It was so nice to not have to rush home. We went to the San Jose Flea Market the next morning. We hadn’t been there since before Covid, so it was a lot of fun to go back and see what had changed. On the way home, we stopped at Cicero’s and made my whole day better. The next day, Feebs had a birthday party to go to. It was at the place that she wants to have her party too. It was a good trial run of what to expect. The last week was a bit crazy. I was having health issues which required steroid treatment. Steroids do NOT like my brain. They always make me very manic, and boy howdy, did they. I had to have a 3 day course, so life was very exciting for the last week. We ended it up at the O’s house, which was probably a big mistake. I was not in a good head space for chaos. We did have a good time though, all things considered.

The month was very busy and emotional. I got some answers and I got some setbacks. I aged a year and got a younger looking husband. There was a lot of good with the bad over the shortest month of the year. I continue to be eternally grateful for my tribe. I don’t know what I would do without the people in my life. I am not trying to sound dramatic, but I honestly don’t know how or if I would have survived this last 8 months without them. March will be it’s own beast with its own issues and chaos, but February finally felt like a turning point. I felt less hopeless and more like I could get on top of my medical issues. They aren’t going away, but I am less scare of them. I am also beginning to be less scared of my own body. I am ready to stat on this track and start to develop my new normal.

Loves,

M