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  • All the makes August- November 2024

    Well darling, I did warn you that things went way off the rails. I am sad to report that nothing has really improved. In fact things have gone more off track along the way. Making in all forms has derailed. So has my attention span, my enjoyment of all things, my memory, my ability to word in written or verbal form, and pretty much anything that makes sense in my head. On the good side of things, I am starting to get answers and will hopefully be switching treatment to match my new diagnosis (really weird switch, after almost 8 years). Once that switch has been made and all other weird ailments have been addressed, hopefully I will be on my way to the old regular Mrs. Collins insanity.

    Finished Objects:

    Rota Top by Irene Lin. I knit this Rowan Summerlite DK. This top looks so fancy and complicated, but it honestly wasn’t. Well, fancy yes, but not complicated. There may be a separate post.

    I knit an Everyday Slouchy Beanie by Dragon Hoard Designs for a teacher’s Christmas gift, but totally forgot to take pictures of it before we gifted it. It was knit in To the Mack’s yarn held double with a cream silk mohair. It turned out gorgeous. It would have been fantastic if my ridiculous self would have remembered to take a picture…

    New Cast Ons:

    Kaylen Mesh Scarf

    Barebones Mitts

    Works in Progress:

    Highlights tunic dress

    Thelma top

    Vinca hat

    Goals for next month:

    Find a groove with making

    Find a decadent cast on

    NY Cast on

    2025 making goals

    That is all I have made in four months (I think). I even cast on the Kaylen Mesh Shawl for Sister #3’s 50th birthday, in October, and have yet to complete it. My mojo has gone on an extended vacation. For a while, knitting was the only thing that I was able to do, then almost over night any urge I had to do anything completely fled. I have been trying desperately to find something to knit that sparks my fancy. I have scoured Ravelry a few times looking for some kind of inspiration to strike and make my soul want to cast on and knit my heart out. It hasn’t worked so far, but I will keep hope. Thank goodness at the last second I was able to find the umph to knock out the teacher hat for Feebs’s teacher and complete 98% of her 25th day of Advent gift. Those will show up in December’s post because I have the tiniest bit of finishing work to do that I need her hand size to complete. I am frustrated and a bit sad at my lack of knitting joy, but I am hopeful that big change is on the horizon and that my long time love affair with knitting with be back on shortly.

    Everything since July has been a giant blur, so I will have to suffice with the highlights and skip the small fun details. In August we had our big family bbq. Unfortunately I was still in a peak health crisis and had to take Dramamine in order to make the 2-hour car ride to Sister #2’s house. To say I was not quite with it is the understatement of the decade. My nephews kept checking on me to be sure I was okay. The week after that, Feebs started 5th grade. I can’t believed my baby is in her last year of elementary school. Good God, time has flown by! We also had a weekend with the O’s, which was nice. Ms. Jan had a major health crisis and scared the hell out of all of us, so we went up to see them instead of them coming to us. We didn’t mind the switch and enjoyed our time. September started with Sister #2’s 50th and Mimi’s 10th birthdays. We had a wonderful time celebrating them. October was complete and total insanity. We went on our annual trek to Mendocino and had an amazing time. It was full of naps and chill. It wasn’t a reset, but it was a relax that I desperately needed. Right after that came Sister #3’s 50th birthday party and it was a fabulous time. We had so much fun and it was exactly what she wanted it to be. I saw friends of my sisters that I hadn’t seen since they got married, who have known me since I was 9. It was so much fun. The following weekend was the Husband’s 50th birthday party. We rented a house in West Lake Tahoe and had the O’s, the Mark, and the NH peeps, but only he came. We spent three days up there and had so much fun. The Husband had the best time. He said it was exactly what he wanted and it turned out how he had envisioned. I can’t tell you how happy that made me. November started with the Mother and I going on our trip to Reno for her late birthday. We spent 5 days there and we had the best time. I had to go nasty awful shopping, but it was necessary and now it is done for another 6 years. We had a horrible drive home in the snow, but we survived and all is well. For Thanksgiving the Mother joined us for a dinner out at a local Italian restaurant. I loved this arrangement. No one had to stress or cook or make a fuss. We went to a lovely restaurant and had delicious food. Then we went home and were in our jammies by 7:30 pm. I think this may be a tradition.

    So this is the Cliff’s notes of 4 months. I am sure I am missing a ton of highlights and amazing lowlights, but that is all that my memory can recall. I am still very frustrated with the lack of interest in doing things, knitting especially, but I am trying to be kind to myself. I am being patient and not allowing myself to be critical, mostly because I have absolutely no decision in the matter. I will keep scrolling on Ravelry and continue to look for inspiration and motivation. I will periodically creep my yarn stash and caress pretty yarn to try to make myself crave the feel of it in my hands. I will even review some of my sweaters and see if there is anything in my collection that I simply must have in other colors or textures (I’m looking at you, Calliope). My mojo will come back as will my health and my brain, if there is a kind universe.

    So that wraps it up. December should be a bit more detailed and clear. So far I hope to have separate posts for Bliss Shorts and Rota Top by end of year or early New Year. I hope in December I can talk about falling in love with a sexy little new cast on and how I am so in love with her and how happy she is making me. I also hope to talk about my goals for 2025 and how excited I am for it. We’ll see what comes next.

    Loves,

    M

  • All the makes- July 2024

    Can a month be hormonal? I mean can it be super manic and imbalanced? Asking for a friend. July was one crazy up and down month. A metric ton of knitting happened. A metric ton of stress happened. A metric ton of Mrs. Collins done lost her mind happened. Holy wow, it was a weird month. It wasn’t all bad, but it wasn’t all good. And hey, did I say there was a lot of knitting?

    Finished objects:

    Bliss Shorts by Muki Craft. I knit these in Cascade Yarns Venezia Sport. These are amazing, but there is a separate post all about them.

    On the Go Socks- contrast toe, cuff and heel. I knit these as the second half of my on the go socks experiment. They worked out great. I think I will write a brief post about how these worked out, as well, because I have some cool notes on what I did with the toes and heels. More to come.

    Oaken Shawl by Tin Can Knits. I knit this using Urth Yarns that the Father brought me back from England. I have knit this shawl before, but I just checked and there is no blog post, so I guess that will be coming soon. I have some feelings about this pattern.

    New cast-ons:

    Thelma Top

    Rota Top

    Works in progress:

    Highland Tunic

    Vinca

    Shatar Vest

    Stalled out Knitting my memories blanket

    Goals for next month:

    Finish Highlights Tunic

    Cast on something gorgeous and squishy

    Don’t don’t die or lose my mind

    Get answers about my health stuff

    So, a lot of knitting occurred in July. With all the health crap that happened, that we will get to shortly, all that I was able to look at and focus on was knitting. I knit my favorite thing ever, the Bliss Shorts. As I said, there is a separate post for them, but they are SO fun to knit and I love them! The second pair of on-the-go socks were just as successful as the first. I do intend to write a second post so that I can really decide which method I prefer more and weigh out the pros and cons. The Oaken Shawl also needs a post. It will become evident why when I write it. Suffice it to say that the shawl is gorgeous and I love both of the shawls that I have knit, but I do not love knitting the pattern. I have stalled on knitting the Highlights Tunic dress. I hit an annoying part of the pattern, plus the weather has started to cool off so she has been in and out of time out. My hat knitting has lost some interest for now. As the weather cools off more I will get more into the charity and cold weather knitting spirit. Obviously, no sewing, though I am constantly wanting to sew something. Someday I will understand this ever present block I have about it.

    Oh darling, July started out so good. We had 4th of July the first week. We went to the Mayberry parade and hung out with the normal crew, then went for beers at one of the regular spots, which is always fun. After that, we went to hang out next door and swim with the ladies. It was a really nice and chill day. That weekend there was an ArnoCorps show. We got the Nama-sitter and the Husband and I went out for a night on the town. There was a kerfuffle about when the show started and we ended up getting there about 3 hours early. We had some cocktails and were having a delightful time. My darling, your girl decided to test the limits. I fought the laws of my limits and the law won. I got so sick that we had to pull over so that I could evacuate on the side of the highway. That is VERY un-Mrs. Collins like behavior. The next week was Feebs’s 10th birthday! I cannot believe my girlie is 10. I am thrilled and sad at the same time. I took the middle of the week off to spend with her. For her present she got to trade her full size trundle bed for a twin size loft bed. She was incredibly excited and loves her new nest. Fortunately, Sister #1’s daughter wanted the full sized bed, so they came and picked it up and we got hang out for the day. We also did the over night in Santa Cruz, like she always wants to do. She was really funny, this time she didn’t want to go on the rides, she just wanted to play the games. That weekend was her birthday party. Mommy was such a hot mess express that I didn’t get my stuff together in time to actually plan a party. I booked the park in time, but didn’t get invitations out or get anything ordered in time for it to be a party. So at the zero hour I asked what else she wanted to do to make up for not having a party. I checked with our core people and they were all prepared to go where ever she wanted to go. She chose one of the trampoline places near us, then to lunch after. I won’t lie and say that it wasn’t 6 times more expensive than it would have been if I had actually planned the party that was supposed to be planned, but she loved every minute of it and it was so chill. So needless to say, the first half of July was really great. Come Monday the 15th, my world came crashing down. I had noticed the week before that the weird buzzy feeling from 2022 was back, but I didn’t pay much attention to it because it never turned into anything else in 2022, and I figured it would go away in a month or two. Well, July 15 proved me wrong. By the end of the day, my vision was horribly blurry and the gritty pain and pressure (similar to when I had optic neuritis) was back in my left side. The left side of my face and body was numb and I was dizzy and disoriented. I was having sporadic headaches and all kinds of fun stuff. I finally called my mom and asked her to take me to the ER because I was afraid I was having a stroke. That was the entire second part of July. Doctor’s appointments, tests, possible diagnoses, wrong diagnoses, and a whole lot of brush offs and “you’re fines” from specialists. Fortunately, I didn’t have a stroke. My lesions do not show any changes, so my disease does not seem to be progressing. I got some really crappy doctors, but my PCP is heaven sent and advocated for me the entire time. By the end of the month I still had no answers, was missing a ton of work, and felt like hot flaming garbage all the time. My family was trying their hardest to be my cheerleaders and keep me going. I had to stop driving, by my choice, which made me feel like a burden and helpless. Poor Feebs was scared and wasn’t sure what was happening. She was trying to be helpful and understanding, but she kept asking everyone if I was dying and if I would ever get better. We were all scared and frustrated. It was obvious I would get no answers that month, but I was going to keep asking for them. I was working at home a lot, or just missing whole or partial days. I missed a bunch of family stuff, cancelled Feebs stuff and was ever so pleasant to be around at home, I am sure. My mental health tanked. So all in all, the second half of the month was so fun. I could look at any screens, couldn’t read papers, couldn’t look out windshields. The only think I could do was knit. I realized that my knitting muscle memory is so built in that I can look at my knitting without having to focus on it, so that made knitting the only possible thing for me to do. That is the entire reason that I was so productive with knitting in July.

    So, I can’t say that the entire month was terrible. It had so many beautiful parts, and so many terrible parts. I got to celebrate my girl, and see Sister #1’s family, be supported and loved by my family, and feel like I have a tribe of people standing behind me. At the same time I was fearful for my life, my mental health was a dumpster fire, and I was left holding an industrial size basket of questions that still are unanswered. July was really a mix bag. I am choosing to focus on the good though. I will be positive and embrace the fact that I have made it this far. Hopefully there are answers to come and more treatment that will be useful to me.

    Loves,

    M

    P.S. you will notice that the posting date of this is months after July. This couldn’t be helped for a series of reasons. July- October will all be a bit messy and overlapping due to the ongoing health bull-shit that is still unfolding. Good times, darling. Good times.

  • Bliss Shorts

    Hello darling. I knit the Bliss Shorts by Muki Crafts, and they are bliss. Oh my goodness, they are adorable! I honestly think these shorts are in the top 5 of my favorite things I have ever knit. I haven’t even worn them out yet and I still love them to the moon and back. They are knit using Cascade Yarns Venezia Sport. I started a Dream Knitting post (which I haven’t even finished) and wrote about how I wanted to tackle more things on my bingo card and one of them was how I wanted to knit shorts. I started to peruse Ravelry for patterns and one thing led to another and before you know it I was pairing the Venezia with the Bliss shorts and the rest was history. I bought the yarn several years ago when I was still in denial that lavender is not a great color on me.

    What went right: basically everything, honestly. These knit up fairly fast. They are a deceptively a lot of knitting and took me 14 days to complete. There are pockets and a ribbon drawstring. They are all stockinette with a cable bind off, and I was afraid they would roll. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to block them aggressively and they don’t roll at all. The pants are flowy and the legs are heavy enough not to crawl up when walking.

    What went wrong: I can’t say anything went really wrong. I ordered ribbon shoe laces and I ordered the wrong size so I had to splice them together in order to get them to fit around my waist/ hips. The only thing that isn’t completely finished on these shorts is the pockets. I have left a loose end on both of them so I can see how the pocket hangs as I wear them. I need to see if I am going to tack the pockets in place or let them hang loose. I had pockets in a knit sweater, years ago, and the pocket always turned out as I wore the sweater. I want to see if that happens with the shorts. The downside is that when you tack them in place, it pulls the stitches and you see it from the right side. We will see.

    So that is it. I love these things so much, and I can’t wait to wear them! I am hopeful that the yarn will wear well and not be horribly hot. I have faith it won’t pill horribly where the chub rubs. I am also really happy that the lavender yarn can be put to good use away from my face. I think it will be put to great use at another part of my body. Hooray for more semi-deep stash yarn being put to good use! And for another box on the Bingo card being checked off!

    Loves,

    M

  • All the makes- June 2024

    It seems like I was just here. I posted May yesterday, and here I am posting June. June was another good month. Lots happened and a lot of knitting was finished. I didn’t get to some of the mending projects that I had in mind, but it was okay. I still accomplished a lot. I even read a hard-cover book for the first time in many months. I read The International House of Dereliction by Jacqueline Davies. It is a kids book that I pulled off the shelf while waiting for Feebs at the library. It ended up be an amazing book!

    Finished Objects:

    Lakeside Beach Wrap by Knitatude. I knit this in recycled cotton yarn from an L.L. Bean sweater. There is a separate post about this.

    Charity knitting- three wash clothes and a vanilla hat. I went through my scrap basket and retrieved all of the leftover balls of cotton yarn and used up three of them on the clothes. The hat was started probably a year ago and was left in the basket. The hat took about three hours and the clothes about one hour each.

    New cast-ons:

    Oaken Shawl

    Highlights Tunic & Tee

    Works in Progress:

    On the go socks

    Shatar vest

    Vinca hat

    Knit house cardigan

    Goals for next month:

    Read one physical book each month

    Budget and savings

    Sew the York Pinafore

    Move my home workstation and create a space

    Knitting was very good this month. I pulled out the yarn that the Father brought me from England and cast on the Oaken Shawl by Tin Can Knits. I promptly remembered how much I hate knitting that shawl, but I know that it going to be gorgeous and worth it. I messed up a row two rows back, so she is currently in a time out but she is like 60% done. I cast on and knit the super cool and cute Lakeside Beach Wrap, using the recycled cotton sweater yarn and I 100% love it. I have a separate post where I wax philosophical about it, so I won’t gush too much here. Let it be said, I am going to love wearing it. I also cast on the Highlights Tunic & Tee pattern, intending to knit the tunic/ dress version. I think I am going to play some serious yarn chicken, but I think it will be worth it. It will be a beautiful dress once it’s done. I did some charity knitting, finally, and used up some more cotton yarn. I have one more ball of cotton waiting, so that will be next on the list of charity knits. I also did a pretty big de-stash of Corynn’s yarn and was able to donate it. That knocked down my Ravelry stash and let me move yarn that I wasn’t interested in out of my house and onto someone who will love it. I didn’t do any sewing, but I think I have the York Pinafore sizing figured out, so will hopefully tackle that in July. I also think I have a plan to upcycle one of the Father’s old dress shirts. I really hope I do. I think he would get a kick out of seeing his shirt come back to life. Extra points if I can finish it by the family bbq in August. Fortunately/ unfortunately I created a hole in the seam of one my t-shirts when cutting out a tag, so I have to break out the serger anyway. Hopefully this will give me a push to sew something.

    The first weekend in June ended up being pretty chill. I thought that was a great start to the week. Feebs and I have continued our rock climbing adventures and that has been a lot of fun. That week we got to see our east coast friends and have dinner with them. I really miss having them close. That week was the last week of school and the week was pretty packed. Feebs did great with her end of year stuff. We will really miss Ms. Exner. She made 4th grade manageable and really helped Feebs stay on track. I did not get Betty’s sleeves altered before our camping trip, but the camping trip happened anyway. It wasn’t nearly as cold as it was last year, which was a relief. I also go much smarter and bought new cots for Feebs and I and new sleeping bags. We had our -10 degree mummy bags inside of -10 degree full size sleeping bags. We all slept better this year. I got sun burned like what, but it was my own fault for not wearing sun screen. We all had a good time and the girls enjoyed being together. The O’s and I did decide that we wanted to camp somewhere more inland next year. The Husband isn’t thrilled, but each year someone freezes and that is just exhausting. We left camping and jammed home to get to a niece’s college graduation party. We haven’t seen that side of the family in a long time and it was really good to catch up with everyone. I even got to snuggle a brand new little bean. She was scrumptious! That week was really busy and ended up with my 6-month infusion treatment. That is never a fun day. It hit me really hard this time and made me tired and draggy for the next couple of days. The next day, the Husband went to partake in the grand closet opening at this Dad’s house. There were some funny stories that came from it, and a lot of treasures came home with him. The following day was the ash scattering on the ocean in Pacifica. I did much better than I thought I would, probably because I was trying to distract Feebs. Boats really aren’t my thing. I am a total land-dweller. I didn’t get sick and I think my father in law would have been happy that his family did that for him. While I didn’t get seasick on the boat, I was for three days after. It was crazy. I haven’t had that happen before. It was pretty miserable. My heel pain and sciatica increased to a level that I needed to go to the doctor. Being in your mid-40s totally rocks… I now have to wear shoes at all times, even around the house. It has helped a lot, actually. The sciatica pain comes and goes, and I find that sitting on my couch makes it worse. We had a holiday mid-week and Feebs wanted a sleep over with Nama, which was just fine with us. The Husband and I had a nice dinner out, and got to stay up later than usual, since I didn’t have to do drop off in the morning. The Mother and Feebs have been doing one overnight per week, now that school is out. She is supposed to be teaching her to sew a dress, and I am really excited to see how Feebs likes it. On the Friday I did something new and crazy! I went out with a new friend and we went to a concert. It wasn’t a band that I had heard of, but we had a good time. I was really frazzled all night because 1. the Husband wasn’t with me and I had never been to a show alone, and 2. the Husband convinced me to put my cards on my phone and not take them with me. I therefore forgot my ID and couldn’t pay for anything that didn’t have a tap function. I think I messed up the vibe of the evening, and I am not sure that she will want to go out with me again. That sucks, because she is really cool and we got along even with the 11 year age gap. Oh well, I know that I am not for everyone. That weekend we went to see the Uncle. He took us to Cisero’s and we got to catch up little. He and family will come to dinner in July for chicken marsala, his favorite. That Sunday Feebs got sick. Poor bean was sick all week. She had a low fever and the sniffles. She ended up staying with the Mother all week. I missed her like crazy. It was weird being home without her for that long. I really enjoyed not having to pack a lunch and drop her at the camp each day. I got to stay up late and sleep in. It was a marvelous little break. I was incredibly glad to have her back home, though. That weekend we had a sleepover at the Mother’s house. Feebs and I had a hair appointment early, and then I was finally scheduled for my birthday facial. I got to my facial appointment and nothing. They didn’t have me on the schedule. Icamethisclose to crying right on the spot. I don’t cry, mind you, and I just got mad instead. Oh well, such is life. I am giving the Mother the gift card so she can use it for her next massage appointment. I kind of feel like the universe doesn’t want me to relax right now, so I will just wait till I am in a better place. The last day of the month was the celebration of life for the father in law. It was the usual ball of disorganized chaos that is tied to all of that family’s events, but it still ended up being very nice. I got to meet several of the Husband’s cousins and now I understand where his looks come from. Hilariously, he is the more petite cousin in the group, which I never thought possible. When we got home, we had a talk about some logistics that came up and we have decided that I am going to move my little campout spot in his office into the toy room. He made it clear that he wasn’t evicting me, but that we both agree that office was supposed to be set up for him. I have been craving some space to be etched out for me, so I am all good with it. I may also be acquiring a motorcycle… Standby for more details (July will be interesting).

    So, that was it. It was a lot. Some really busy times are coming up, including my first solo trip in many years. LouHoo and family have moved to Montana, and I have a trip booked to go see her the last week of July. I am really excited. Also, Feebs turns 10 in a couple of weeks. I can’t believe my girl will be double digits. June was really good. Some parts were bittersweet, but as always, memories were made. I am in shock that half the year is over. The temperature is cranking up and the days are longer. Summer is well on her way. This month’s adventures are over, now on to the next.

    Loves,

    M

  • Lakeside Beach Wrap

    Oh my goodness, darling, I knit something fabulous! I don’t quite remember what inspired it, but I now have the cutest beach wrap, mesh pullover-y thing thing and I love it. Let me introduce the Lakeside Beach Wrap, by Knitatude. One of the main reasons that I love this wrap so much is that in addition to it being a super versatile piece, I used some recycled, really deep stash yarn. This yarn was a ripped out LL Bean 100% cotton sweater. I can’t remember if I ripped out the sweater or if it was one of the Ebay purchases that I bought years ago. The yarn is a natural color yarn and was quite spaghetti-esque because I never soaked and straightened it. I am generally nervous about knitting with the kinked yarn, because it can change the gauge when blocked and smoothed. I figured since this is an all-over lace pattern, and size really didn’t matter, that I was safe to knit as it was. Since the sweater was machine knit it is a 4 or 5 strand yarn. Not plied, mind you, but individual strands. This did make things a bit splitty, but not so bad that you noticed. I had about 600 grams of the yarn and it is a dk/ light worsted weight yarn. I believe their were 20 balls of yarn. The wrap used 245 grams, so I still have a ton of yarn left over. I knit the M/L size and I think it is a really good fit. The pattern called for size US 15 needles. I did cast on using those needles, but I wasn’t really happy with how loose and sloppy the lace was, so I ripped out about 3 inches and started over with size US 13 needles. I found that to be the perfect size. The pattern was very simple and potato chip-esque. The yarn worked perfectly in this pattern and the finished fabric is heavy enough to pull out the lace, but light enough to not be hot and bulky.

    The negatives, if you can call them that are 1. the side seams- I need to fix the slit in the bottoms of the seam. I seamed them unevenly and it bugs me. 2. I found it weird that you went in blocks of 12 with either K2tog or SSK. I don’t understand the reasoning for mixing them up. I don’t see what difference it made to not just stick with one or the other. These are very minor issues, though, and I am so happy with my wrap.

    I don’t know what justification I would have to knit another one of these for me, but I can totally see knitting this again! Maybe I will knit it and dye it black… hm… I may be onto something there. I will wear this over a bathing suite, over shorts and a tank, or over a summer dress. The pattern pictures showed every variation, and I can see me wearing them all. I think it will be so cute and I can see getting many compliments on it. I am just so excited to rock this wrap this summer!

    Loves,

    M

  • Flax- adult size (finally!)

    Hello Darling. I did it! Finally, after knitting eight kids versions, I have knit an adult size Flax sweater. I swear by Tin Can Knit patterns. They are my total tried and true, and no pattern more so than Flax. This is the very best beginner pattern for anyone wanting to knit a sweater. I think this pattern was discussed in my “favorite things to knit” post that I wrote a year or two ago. It is just a beautifully simple and easy to follow pattern. I could go on for years about the merits of this pattern. To date, I have knit at least eight kids Flax sweaters. I believe they have ranged from newborn to 7 years old. When I decided that I was going to knit a simple, yet elegant sweater to use some of my Amsterdam yarn, Flax was the one that came to mind. I doubled the Holst Garn Supersoft from Stephen & Penelope’s with the Knitting for Olive mohair that I got in Belgium in very dark charcoal colors. The combination of the yarns is heaven. The Holst Garn is very sturdy, boarding on scratchy. The soft airiness of the Knitting for Olive blended very well with the sturdy, and the resulting fabric is light and lofty. I think it is a very light but warm garment. Unfortunately, it was already too warm by the time it was finished to wear it. I will say that it took me a while to finish because I got caught on sleeve island, which is very rare for me, and I put it in timeout for a bit. I think as I got closer to the end of the month (May) I wanted to have another finished object to post about and that motivated me to get her off the needles. (This blog is really an excellent tool for that. You should be very proud of yourself!) I feel that aside from the brief hiatus that I put her in, everything went right with this sweater. I always omit the garter panel on the sleeve, because it just isn’t my vibe.

    Nothing really went wrong with this sweater. My only possible negative may be the mohair. Jenny of the Future Fibers Podcast was talking, recently, about loving the concept of mohair more than the actual wearing of it. I have a sneaking suspicion that I am going to be in the same boat. I haven’t even tried it on yet, so I am completely guessing at this. I do recall thinking that it was a tiny big pokey as I was knitting it, and also that it sheds like what. Time will tell though.

    Overall, she is magnificent and was just what I had in mind for a simple, yet beautiful luxury-type sweater. She looks liked quiet elegance and subtly expensive. I really love her. I really hope I love wearing her.

    Loves,

    M

  • Paris in Berlin

    Hello darling. I bought the pattern for the Paris in Berlin cowl in October, 2017. I was super gung ho to cast it on at the time, but hit some kind of snag and promptly dropped it. I don’t know what put a bee in my bonnet about casting it on on Mother’s Day, but I did and I am very glad for it. I purchased the yarn at the Royal Bee Yarn Co. in Pacifica. It was the first time I had been to their new location, and it is lovely. I wanted to buy a bunch of stuff there, but only allowed myself to get what I would cast on that day. I purchased their house brand fingering weight yarn in a lovely navy blue. The cowl took me seven days to knit. It was a very quick and easy pattern. Joji Locatelli always writes a lovely and detailed pattern. I don’t have a ton to say about the pattern or the cowl, other than I love them. The cowl is very versatile and lightweight. It will be perfect for the mid-season months where I want the security of a handknit, but not the weight or warmth. The yarn is a joy to knit with, I learned that when I used it to knit my Boxy sweater. It is sturdy and soft. I think it wears very well too. I haven’t worn my Boxy a lot, yet, but the wear it has received has been a good indication of a solid yarn. I can’t say that I would knit the pattern again for myself, but I wouldn’t hesitate to knit it again as a gift. The finished cowl is lovely, and has the luxury of being versatile with different yarn weights. I think you could knit it up a worsted weight yarn and still be happy with the size of it. Overall, I highly recommend everything about this project. It was a great pattern, solid yarn, and excellent finished accessory.

    Loves,

    M

  • All the makes- May 2024

    To say I am running behind is a grand understatement.  It is the last day of June, and I am finally recapping May.  May was so busy that I am going to struggle to remember everything that happened.  I can tell you that a lot of knitting took place.  It seems like I got some making mojo back, which makes me very happy.

    Finished objects:

    Honeypie hat by Tin Can Knits.  I knit this using West Yorkshire Spinners Aire Valley Aran held double.  This is hat #1 in my quest to knit all of my library hat patterns.

    Paris in Berlin by Joji Locatelli.  This was knit with Royal Bee Yarn Company Fingering Weight.  There will be a separate post for this.

    Flax by Tin Can Knits.  This was knit using Holst Garn Supersoft and Knitting for Olive Soft Silk Mohair held together.  There will be a separate post for this.

    New cast-ons:

    Vinca Hat

    Works in Progress:

    On the go socks

    Knit House Cardigan

    Shatar Vest

    Goals for next month:

    Schedule a facial

    Fix Betty’s sleeves before camping

    Figure out sizing for York Pinafore

    So yeah, a lot of knitting happened in May.  I knit the Honeypie hat after being inspired by my urge to knit all the hat patterns in my Ravelry list.  I did cast on another hat, the Bubblegum Crisis, but I just hated the pattern so much that I ripped it out and deleted it from my Ravelry queue. I have cast on the next hat on list, Vinca, but then had a Squirrel! moment and set it aside. I finally finished my Birthday Flax. She is fancy! It was already too hot to wear it by the time it was done, so I have put her away for cooler days. For Mother’s Day, we had a little outing and ended up going to the Royal Bee Yarn Co in Pacifica. I hadn’t planned on getting any yarn, but made a little splurge and bought a skein of fingering weight so that I could cast on a lightweight cowl for the mid-season months. I was really happy with their house brand yarn after I knit the Boxy with it, and knew I couldn’t go wrong with another skein. It only took me seven days to knit the Paris in Berlin cowl, and I am very happy with it. I have started to plot some new cast-ons and am very excited to get started. I am also really considering ripping out the Shatar vest. I love it. There is nothing that I don’t love about this vest, but she has some problems. 1. I think the size I am knitting is too small. It is meant to be fitted, but saran-wrap chic is not my esthetic. 2. it is colorwork in light fingering weight yarn. Harris almost killed my elbows, and that was in worsted weight. 3. I can’t motivate myself to work on it. Even though I have wanted the finished garment. Even though I love the color combination. And even though, I think I would rock the nerdy librarian look with a button down blouse under it. I just can’t make myself work on it. Perhaps by ripping it out, I will cast it right back on in the proper size and set up a schedule to work on it. Because I know that once the weather gets cold, I am going to want to wear that vest. We will see what I decide. Stay tuned.

    The month of May was on and cracking. We had so much to do each week/ weekend. The first weekend started with a Parent’s Night Out and the mother Clay and I went to dinner just the two of us. I don’t think this has happened in the 10 years that we have known each other. After dinner we met up with A’s moms and had a beer. It was a really enjoyable evening. The next day was the mid-nephew’s birthday and we went to Napa to celebrate with him. I got to see Sister #3 and her family, which is always a good time. That night Lenar came to dinner and to hang out. I always enjoy spending time with him. He is a sweet and funny guy and I am so glad that we developed a friendship once I was no longer his boss. The next week, Feebs had an epiphany that she no longer wanted to participate in taekwondo. After almost 2 years she was burned out and ready to try something new. I gave her some options and she selected rock climbing. So, I signed up for the safety course the following weekend and we joined a rock climbing gym close to home. It is funny, it is half the cost for me to sign up at the gym, and she has a free kid’s membership, than is was for her to go to taekwondo by herself. We started climbing, and we are having a blast! She is a little spider monkey, flying up those walls. Unfortunately, I don’t get to climb the high walls because I have no one to belay me. I did get certified to belay her, though, so she is having a lot of fun. I am able to boulder without a safety line, so I have been doing that. Sadly, my end of April dance session seemed to spark my sciatica, so I am keeping a close eye on that and not pushing too hard at climbing. Mother’s Day happened the following weekend and I enjoyed both days. Saturday I got to spend the day with the Mother and we had such a nice time! We went shopping and went to dinner, just the two of us. We went to the Walnut Creek Yacht Club and I haven’t been there since my first attempt at marriage. The food was amazing, and it felt really nice to go back there. Sunday was just the three of us and while everything that I wanted to do sort of fizzled out, I still had a really great day. I got my little trek to a yarn shop, had a nice solo walk, and spent the day with my two favorite people. I went to bed that night feeling like it had been a really fantastic weekend. The following weekend was a little crazy because Mary G was back in town and looking to meet up. We went to a happy hour on Friday with the old crew and we had so much fun. She is crazy and cranky and Jersey, and I realize that I really do miss her. The next day was the little Clay’s birthday, and we went to his party at Dave & Buster’s. I had never been to one of those before. It was a LOT of stimulation. I can’t say it was horrible, but it was a lot. The kids had a good time, though, and I had a good cocktail. The next weekend was the anniversary of the Husband and I meeting, and I had made plans weeks prior to take him to our meeting spot and have a romantic little reminder date. That all went to hell when there was an ArnoCorps show in Oakland. So we ended up going to that instead. My feelings were really, seriously hurt, but I had to get over it. The next day, we headed up to have a sleepover with the O’s. The day was okay, but the evening went to hell. It was so bad that at 10:30 pm I told my peeps to pack their crap and we headed home. I felt like a jerk for pulling the rip cord, but everything had been so tense in our lives that I just couldn’t take more stress that night. We had some discussions and came up with game plans for future sleepovers. Fortunately, the next day was Memorial Day, so we had an extra day to decompress before the work week started. The last day of May was a busy one. I had a hair appointment then ladies night with the two greatest ladies. I am so very grateful for those women and the vibe that we have between the three of us. During the whole month, we also were scattering in yard work and the death admin that is involved with my father-in-law’s passing. There was a lot of garage clearing and logistics around what will be coming to live at our house that was his.

    So, that was May. I feel like I forgot a ton (which is probably true since I am trying to recall everything a full month later). I know it was a good month. I know that happy things came from it. I know that next month will be crazy too, just like they all are. In spite of all the stress and tension from the last couple of months, I am so grateful for my life and the people in it. My life may not be glamourous, but it is full and it is mine.

    Loves,

    M

  • Dresser Rehab

    Hello darling. We have another refinished project, and oooh she’s fancy. This one didn’t take me as long to refinish once I got started, but it took me almost 9 months to start it. Last summer for about a week I would drive or walk up the main street by my house. There was a sad little dresser on the corner that had seen better days. I hymned and hawed about it. I was in the market for a place to put my sewing stuff and making notions, but wasn’t sure I wanted to take on a refinishing project. Then after looking at the poor girl for a week I was struck with motivation and had the Husband come pick it up for me, since I was on my walk. He sweetly drove up, loaded it up and put it in the garage. It sat in the garage for 9 months. I found another solution for the stuff that I needed to store and was pondering getting rid of it. Two weeks ago the Husband asked me to refinish it for his room. So I got to work. I already had everything that I needed after finishing the headboard. The Mother had some cherry stain that she wasn’t using and was happy to get it out of her garage. The original handles did not spark joy, so I decided to get some new ones. The Husband loves his keys, so I ordered some custom 3-D printed key handles on Etsy. Once again I tried using a wood stripper, once again it did nothing. I rough sanded the finish off and smoothed out some of the damaged wood. Then I fine sanded to even everything out. The staining process is always a crap shoot. I don’t feel that I am super great at staining, especially when the furniture is built with a variety of woods. I did okay with the stain this time. It came out even and didn’t get streaky. The varnish didn’t do great. There are definitely spots that have some white residue where I missed some air bubbles. It is only noticeable when I point it out, though. All in all, I am very happy with the end result. I feel like I was able to perform a pretty dramatic makeover on this little curb-gnomed dresser. It only took a couple of weeks and about $20 worth of products. This is also the first furniture rehab that I completed totally on my own in MANY years. Now she’s done, and she’s pretty, and the Husband will (hopefully) be happy with her.

    Loves,

    M

  • Positive Hattitude

    Hello darling. I had a ridiculous idea, and I am excited to start it. I am wanting to 1. up my charity knits game, 2. use up old stash/ patterns, and 3. work on something that will make me smile. So that prompted me to peruse my Ravelry Library to find a hat pattern. I have knit many a hat in my day, so I figured that I had knit most of the ones in my library. I was wrong. I have not knit 16 of the hat patterns in my library. 16 patterns that I have already paid for AND have the yarn for! I decided to queue those babies up and match them with some yarn. I am going from oldest in my queue to newest. Here they are in order with the (more than likely) yarn pairing.

    1. Honey Pie by TKN- Grignasco Tikal.
    2. Bubblegum Crisis by Thread and Circuses- Manos del Uruguay Alegrie
    3. Vinca by Natalie Pelykh- Houndstooth Fiber Arts Nomad
    4. Everyday Slouchy Beanie by Dragon Hoard Yarns- Houndstooth Fiber Arts Nomad
    5. Cablefest hat by Irina Anikeeva- Berroco Ultra Wool
    6. Filigree Hat by Julie Knits in Paris- Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool
    7. Marmarosh Hat by Natalie Pelykh- Cascade Yarns Heritage Sock
    8. Blumengarten by TW Knits- Berroco Vintage DK
    9. A Twisted Reflection by Fran Carle- Cascade 220
    10. Ava Messy Bun Hat by Laura Simonson- Berroco Ultra Wool
    11. The Azalea Beanie by Geneva Vasquez- Misti Alpaca Chunky
    12. Audrey Hat by Lana Jois- Knitpicks Wool of the Andes Bulky
    13. Camaraderie Beanie by Sandra Saraswati- Juniper Moon Farms Moonshine Chunky
    14. Musselburgh Hat by Ysolda Teague- To The Macks Fingering Sock

    I am going slightly out of order for the color work ones since those will use left overs from the first part of the list. The yarns will be determined as we go

    1. Sister’s Hat Collection by Jodi Brown
    2. The Grange Hat by Crystal Hiatt

    I think I will post them in threes, like I normally do with my Knit 3 Items for Charity boxes on my Bingo card. Girl, I am kind of excited to get starting on this!

    Loves,

    M