Author: mmcollins107

All the makes- April- June 2026

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Well ain’t this some nonsense… Note to self: three months combined in one post is always indicative of some health bullshit gone awry. The last three months have been a combination of pain and an overall sense of not accomplishing a damn thing. That’s not entirely true, I did manage to knit the tiny bit of stuff, but nothing terribly post-worthy. I am still undergoing medical treatment, so I am very hopeful that my (timely) upcoming posts will have more making and less complaining. Sciatica, and aging overall, is complete crap.

Finished objects:

Two charity/ gift/ donate hats, using my ribbed hat pattern and a combo of leftover Queensland Collection Sunshine Coast, from my most recent Weekender, and some KnitPicks Stroll. (Take my word for it, there are two of them)

New cast-ons:

Ladder Tank (April)

Fuzzy Ribbed Hat (May)

Saffron Top (May)

Hexipuff Memories (June)

Goals for next month:

Let’s go crazy and say complete 50 hexipuffs

Get my pain under control so that I can get back to my life

Explore new core exercise options that will strengthen my core AND work with my back issues

Rip out my Knitting My Memories blanket and wind into balls

I am sad to report that I cannot sit comfortably in any chair in my house, so, two hats and a few hexipuffs are what I completed in three months. I did make some good headway on the Saffron Top in June, but I knew I wasn’t going to make my goal and set it aside because and I needed a portable project for our trip to the mid-west. The hexipuff solution was exactly what I needed. They are quick and easy and incredibly portable. I also think they will come together nicely. I won’t join them until I feel like I have enough for a decent sized blanket. This way I can put the colors into a pattern that I like. I also intend to knit half hexis so that I don’t have wobbly edges on the finished blanket. I don’t think I will like the finish otherwise. At this point, I have knit up almost two of my mixed balls of sock yarn. I still need to rip out what I have of the first blanket and wind that yarn back into balls. I want to finish my Saffron top before the next sister’s lunch so that I can show them top I knit with the yarn I bought with them in March. Sadly, that is all I have to say on the making front.

April was pretty good. I started the month with Book Club. I am so very happy our little group has started this. I love them so much and love that we take this time to connect outside of work. It was also Easter that weekend. We did the usual umbrella and boots with a mini egg hunt. Feebs loved it. That week she had Spring break, which she also loved. We went to the Father’s that following weekend and had a great time with him. If memory serves, Feebs and Dad won most of the dollars. The next weekend, the Husband and I had a nice date night. We went to Horatio’s, which always reminds me of Grandpa. It was a lovely dinner and evening out. The following weekend was our work weekend for the Female O’s birthday. Her ask for her birthday was that we help organize the garage. The Male O was not excited. We dug in and it only took a day of hard work and negotiations. The end result was amazing and she was so happy. He even said it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. I call that a success! I finally got some temporary relief on my back in the last week of the month with a steroidal epidural injection. It lasted a blissful three weeks before the pain came back. I believe I have to have 1- 2 more injections before they will look at doing an ablation. I have been doing PT faithfully since March, but it doesn’t really seem to be helping, at least, not with the pain. At this point I want a full back replacement.

May was also good. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to help the Husband with refinishing the porch floor on the first weekend, but he did a really nice job. I got to have a mammogram the following week, which was thankfully clear, followed by Book Club. Good times were had by all. We also took the Mother and I out for a nice dinner for Mother’s Day. Overall Mother’s Day was very nice. We had some adventures and a delicious meal cooked by the Husband. That week was very busy with dinner with Ms. Laura and another night of dinner with Ms. Cheryl. We had a birthday party for the Little Clay, who turned 12. I felt like trash, so the Husband took her to the party. We also started to wrap up the school year with Open House and the mad dash catch up on all of her missing assignments. My infusion appointments were that week, so that is always fun. The following weekend, we had an adult girl’s only trip in Red Bluff. We had the very best time. I am still trying to wrap my head around the financial decisions that some people make, but the girls appreciated my comical meltdowns. We all went home in time to have the Memorial Day holiday as a day to rest and recoup. And guess what we finally did… We bought a new car. We decided to not buy the truck, because we just couldn’t figure out a decent ROI on cost versus savings. We bought the Husband a Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid. Naturally, it is storm cloud gray, but it is what he picked out. The stress over the new car purchase is finally lifted. The Father came for a visit that week, which is always nice. Ironically, he had recently purchased a new small SUV as well. I don’t think he has ever not owned a truck. It is the ending of an era.

And then it was June. And thank God, finally the end of school. I am not sure if Feebs was more excited, or me. We made it and she didn’t fail any of her classes. Blissful Summer break began! That weekend, I had lunch with Sister #2, which is always lovely. The following weekend, the Husband went camping (he actually left us for couple of day!) and Feebs and I had dinner with Kennard. I absolutely love those guys and am so grateful for their friendship. The Husband had a lovely camping trip without “help”. The following weekend we went camping with the O’s. I must say, it wasn’t half bad. We tried a new spot and it was really nice. There were, of course, porta-potties (yuck), but overall the whole campground was great. Three of the four adults agreed that we will go back next summer. The Husband was, of course, the outlier. He was too hot. Honestly, darling, he is always too hot. The Father came that week for a visit and we took him to Feebs’s favorite pupusa place. He loved it. That weekend we had sister lunch in Napa and got to shop through all of Sister #3’s clothes that she was getting rid of. I can’t tell you how happy I am that we have started to so this. It makes my heart happy to have a relationship with all of them again. Then the remainder of the month was just getting ready for our trip. It was a lot or pre-packing and pre-booking (thank you, Husband!). We went to bed early on the last day of the month so that we could begin our adventures at 3 AM on July 1.

I know that this is incredibly abridged, especially since it captures three months, but that is what happens when so much time has passed. I am sure that I forgot many of the highlights and wonderful visits. I hate to be so whiny, but damn this sucks. I am still grateful for my family and friends. I am grateful that I was able to make an appointment to get a second injection (though it is in August). I am grateful to reconnect with all of my sisters. I am grateful for my very patient and understanding boss and the job that I get to call mine. I am grateful that there is forward movement on all of my health issues. Overall, I am just grateful for my life.

Loves,

M

All the makes- March 2026

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Well, Spring has definitely sprung. The weather is warming, the allergies are blooming, and the world is coming back to life. March was a nice easy month, aside from all of our ailments. I had a goal to start Mend it March, but I feel flat on that. Maybe I will take a shot at All Fixed April, or something. After the amazingness of Finish It February, I felt kind of like a failure in March. There was some making though, and Part 1 of a gift knit was completed right under the wire.

Finished objects:

This is Annie Lupton’s Lace Tee. I have knit this before, and will also be creating a separate post for it because I have notes. This is Part 1 of this project because it will be dyed to the giftee’s specifications.

I have leveled up my old lady game and made glasses chains for my work and home glasses. I could have bought one, but I specifically wanted chain.

This is the only mending project that I remembered to take a picture of. The bracelet belonged to Ms. Sam and she asked her mom to see if I could fix it. I have never worked with stretchy cord before, so we will see if it holds together.

Goals for next month:

Complete more mending projects- including fixing the straps on the black dress

Dye the Lace Tee

Find something fun to cast on

Knit some samples for Knitting My Memories- squares or flat blanket

Look through sweaters- determine if there is anything to donate or rip out

Start thinking about holiday knits- charity, teachers, sale items, etc.

I didn’t do as much knitting as I would have liked, but I did complete the body of the Lace Tee for the Mother. It is so funny, Spring/ Summer knits are so much smaller and lighter than Fall/ Winter knits, but it takes me so much longer to knit them. I think it is due to the plant fiber material mixed with the fact that there is usually a lace pattern involved. Lace is not my favorite to knit, but I love to wear it. Plant fibers are also harder on my hands. I was hoping to be able to dye the tee as well, but I need her to pick out her color, so that will wait till next month. I am on the fence about knitting a Lace Tee for me as well. Lord knows I have enough yarn for it. I think I could knit another 4 tops out of the Cottlin yarn that I bought a million years ago. I am just not sure that the shape of that top is flattering on me, even if I knit it longer. I think it is too boxy. So I am flirting with a couple of other tops that are different shapes. We will see. I am really hankering to knit some socks, but those are for sure causing problems with my wrists and elbows. If I wasn’t such a chicken, I would have my CSM out and be cranking tubes. I bought a ridiculous amount of sock yarn at ReCraft when I was at the Father’s last month. I already owned a ridiculous amount of sock yarn. So now I have an obscene amount of sock yarn for someone who isn’t knitting socks. Pitiful. I may just cast on a pair, but not allow myself to go crazy on them. I can just keep them for purse knitting. I think I may need to set a date for myself to pull out my CSM and give it another try. If it is in my calendar, it will be done. I also really need to stop messing around and cast on some new ideas for my memories blanket. I bought the neutral yarn to hold double with the scraps and just need to get on with it. For fundraiser knits, I am thinking of hats, ear warmers, and coffee sleeves. I am going to let Weathers handle the pricing and selling and then she can apply any money to the festivities. Lord knows I have enough scrap yarn to knit 200 coffee sleeves. I think I will stick with those for the Spring fundraiser and do the warmer stuff for the Halloween sale.

The month of March was a mixed bags. The sciatica has really ramped up and plagued me the entire month. I learned to live with it, but it wasn’t always terribly fun. The first week kicked off my starting physical therapy to try to alleviate it (spoiler alert: that didn’t fix it). I had my one year follow-up with my neurologist and everything is looking really good, and we will continue with the treatment schedule for another year (RIP my sick leave accruals). That weekend Feebs went to an OML STEM workshop, which focuses on girls in STEM fields, and I went to have my first adult lunch with all of my sisters. Feebs had a fantastic time and will definitely sign up to go back next year. We will also look for summer camps and workshops through the year. The sisters and I had a wonderful lunch. It seemed a little tense at first, but it softened as we got comfortable. It is crazy to think that this is the first time we have done this. We scheduled our next lunch for June, and are in talks of doing a weekend away in the summer. Stupid Day Light Saving Time started that weekend too, and that made for a fun week. We voted to end that 3 or 4 years ago, and yet we still have it. Dumb. The next weekend Feebs and I went to Ab’s with the O ladies. It was a good weekend, but we definitely saw room for improvement and have scheduled a trip back up there in May without children. The allergies up there were so bad that they ended up triggering pneumonia. I was down and out for a solid week, just in time for treatment. That week sucked hard. The day after treatment, though, I got to go see the Father in his theatrical debut. My aunt, his sister, rode up with us and it was great to see her. My dad did so good. I was so proud of him for getting up on that stage and memorizing his lines. Memorization has never been his strong suit, but he did great. That following weekend was pretty packed. I had dinner with the Ladies on Friday night and that was really fun. We went to the Father-In-Laws 70th birthday party on Saturday. The Steve and his boy rode up with us. I am worried about him, but he seems to be making his own bed. The party was interesting. It was handled in a way that I found really odd and potentially hurtful. The Husband didn’t notice, though, so I let it go. Not my circus, not my monkeys. On Sunday we tried a new Greek food restaurant. It was rather expensive, but it was so good. If we go back, it will be a date night kind of thing, not a greater we event. And then the month was over!

March was good, but had its challenges. As always, I am so grateful for my support people. The Husband, Feebs, and the Mother are always there when I need them and I am so very happy they are mine. I am grateful for all of the good in my life. There is so much more of it than there is bad. This month brought its challenges, but it brought its blessings too.

Loves,

M

The Weekender

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I have made The Weekender by Andrea Mowry before. It was one of the first indie patterns that I knit. I remember that the instructions were good and that I figured at some point, I would knit another one. Fast forward 6 years, and here we are. I was visiting the Father in January, and naturally, I visited ReCraft in Roseville. ReCraft is a fabulous crafting thrift store, that stocks everything that any flavor of crafter could want. I came upon four balls of Queensland Collection Sunshine Coast in very vivid rainbow colors. I almost passed it up because as much as I love rainbows, I couldn’t quite picture myself in a rainbow bright sweater. I circled the store and kept coming back to that yarn, and finally decided to just buy it. I then remembered that I watched a podcast and the knitter was knitting a Traveler Sweater for her boyfriend, pairing a rainbow held double with black. The effect was really cool and I wanted to try it. Since I was breaking my rule of working from stash, I pulled out some Knit Picks Palette that was in my stash and planned to pair them to knit another Miss Bracken sweater. I cast it on and realized that the neck construction was going to skew the rainbow pattern and make it look messy on the neck and shoulders. I decided to shift gears and went with the Weekender instead. For the black sections, I held two strands of Palette with one strand of the left over Shibui Lunar to give it the required thickness.

What went wrong?

Why do I always question the designers? Why don’t I follow the directions as written, especially when I have knit the pattern before and the end product was correct? For some reason, that I don’t recall right now, I didn’t do the slip stitch that creates the cool design down the front. I realized this about an inch into the pattern and KEPT GOING. Why did I do this? I got about 4 inches up, then had to count the stitches to the center stitch and drop the stitches down so that I could ladder them back up correctly. I did this for the front and back, though I don’t know if the pattern is supposed to be on the back too. I felt pretty dumb, and like I had wasted some time. I don’t know if I thought I could will the slipped stitches to be there, or what. So I dropped them down and laddered them up, and it looks good, and all is well. But it was a very stooge move on my part.

What went right?

Everything else. I really love how the combination of black and rainbow pair. I like that I made all of the hems in solid black to give a nice contrast. The picture shows the rainbow looking more stripped than it is in real life. I even matched up the color repeats on the sleeves, so they would be symmetrical. I knit the sweater to the cropped length and I love how it falls on me. I forgot that I am not the biggest fan of boat neck sweaters, but I can always seam it up a bit if it stretches out.

I really love this sweater. It is happy and cheerful and has Pink Floyd- Dark Side of the Moon vibes. I was very happy to use up most of these yarns in my stash. That is another Sweater quantity of yarn out of my stash and onto my body. I get compliments every time I wear it. I have worn it quite a bit and I am not seeing any piling yet, which is great, considering the Queensland wool is single spun. The fit is great, and so far the neck is fine. The weekender was the perfect pattern to knit with yarn that I didn’t want to interrupt or pool the yarn. A perfect score for pattern and yarn pairing!

Loves,
M

No Frills Sweater

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I can hear Stevie Wonder in my head, crooning “Isn’t she lovely!” This sweater is absolutely beautiful. I have been a long time fan of TCK Flax Sweater and have always felt that it was the most beginner friendly sweater pattern. I don’t know why I decided to not only try, but purchase No Frills, by PetiteKnit. I am now a convert and will suggest both patterns a excellent beginner level patterns. I knew that I wanted a simple, soft, and luxurious sweater and I wanted to knit it with the mohair silk yarn that I found at my favorite thrift/salvage shop in Berkeley. It was champagne color and would knit up beautifully. I was originally planning to pair it with the Knit Picks Cloud that I picked up on that same trip to Urban Ore, but thought it would look too marled. I looked through my stash a little harder and found the Rowan Fine Lace that I purchased off of Kerry’s destash several years ago. The two yarns together are heaven in sweater form and create a beautiful dusty rose colored fabric.

Absolutely nothing went wrong with this sweater and everything went right. I loved knitting this sweater. It felt so soft and plush in my hands. The pattern was clear and well written. The only alteration that I made was to crop the length a little. I find that length more flattering to my body type. I knit this sweater in 15 days, from start to finish. Toward the end, I really buckled down because the weather had started to warm up and I simply had to be able to wear it a couple of times before Spring kicked in. I love, love, love it. I can’t even give that many details about what I did to create it, other than follow the pattern. This was the perfect yarn for this simple stockinette sweater pattern. I will definitely want to do this again, maybe in black next time.

Loves,

M

All the makes- February 2026

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Girl, Finish it February Rocked! I feel like I made that month my bitch in every way possible. It is my birthday month, it is your birthday month, and all of the knitting took place. I finished two sweaters and a hood and then cast on and finished a sweater all in one month. You will notice that I have no Works in progress listed below, and the only New cast on that I had in February, was also finished in February. It was crazy!

Finished objects:

The Zipper Sweater by PetiteKnit. This is fabulous and I love her. You can see in this picture that one sleeve is slightly shorter than the other, but I am not mad at her. There is a separate post for this project but Oh I Love It So Much!

The Harris Hood by Cheryl Mokhtari. Again, there is a separate post for this. It didn’t turn out how I wanted, but look at the gorgeous fabric that yarn created!

The Weekender by Andrea Mowry. There will be a separate post about this shortly. I am really happy with this sweater. I love the dark side of the moon vibes of the rainbow paired with black.

No Frills Sweater by PetiteKnit. A separate post will be coming shortly. I am a die hard Flax Sweater pattern fan for basic sweaters, but this pattern could change me. I really like the pattern/ yarn combination. This sweater took me fifteen days to knit from cast on to bind off!

Goals for next month:

Figure out the Knitting My Memories revamp pattern

Crank a sock tube

Find projects for Mend it March

Cast on Mother’s Day gift for the Mother

February was short, but man she was packed. I am not sure what got into me, but I just wanted to knit and work on all the things. The Zipper Sweater was kind of a cheat, because I only had to sew in the zipper and tack down the facing to call it complete. I knit the entire body in the month of January, so all of the lengthy work was done. The Weekender was a passion project and I had no business casting on the yarn that I just purchased, while my stash yarn glared at me from across the room. I love it so much, though. And technically, I still used stash for the black yarns. The Harris Hood shouldn’t have taken me as long as it did. I could have knit that in a day. The only reason she was put in time out is because I couldn’t be bothered for find the specific set of needles that I needed to continue. The project was lovely, but the product was a flop. The Zipper and the Hood used such beautiful, squishy yarns that I wanted to continue the trend. I got a wild hair to use up more of my sweater stash and knit something gorgeous. So I paired mohair silk with merino lace weight and got the lightest, most fuzzy and dreamy sweater. The Husband said hugging me when I wear it is like snuggling a lovey. I am very happy to report that even though I was knitting like a crazy lady, my wrists and elbows did just fine. I made it a point to knit slow and steady and not do any hand cramping gages that would cause problems. After I finished No Frills I hit kind of a studder-step. That was it, I had no more works in progress and nothing more to work on. I felt accomplished and deflated all at once. The weather has warmed up, ridiculously early, and it has me thinking of Spring and warm weather knits. I need to start planning a Mother’s Day knit for the Mother. I am leaning toward the Lace Tee by Annie Lupton. I have knit that before, and don’t remember it being terribly difficult. I will need to use thinner yarn and add length. I ended up gifting the first one to Sister #1, because it was too cropped and looked very blocky on me. She is taller and tends to be more slender, so it worked better on her. If not that top, I may cast on another Rota Top for her. The only issue with that top is that she has scars and it bothers her to have them on display. And lastly, I need to figure out what I am going to do with my scrap blanket project. I did order an enormous cone of white/ natural fingering weight superwash and it has arrived. I know that my plan is to hold it double with my scraps to make the fabric thicker. I know that I want it to have the same effect as my recent Weekender as far as being a neutral rainbow. What I don’t know is what pattern I am going to follow. I can very easily cast on using the Knitting My Memories pattern that I already have written down. I can find an existing pattern, like the Granny Striped blanket (I can figure out that crochet pattern). I could also try my new circular knitting machine and knitting long tubes or smaller squares and patchworking them together. This would create a fabulous, double- double layer blanket that would be amazingly warm and cozy. Another horrible and intrusive thought that I had was to go through all of the scrap yarn and pull out any that could be cranked on the CSM, that I have yet to pull back out of the box and learn to use. I hate when my mind tries to make order of my mess. Hate it.

The month of February was fabulous. There is no other way to describe it. It started with an evening with my work peeps having dinner and drinks. We had good food and good chat. The following night was ladies dinner out with the McC ladies. I miss my friend so much and need to do better about getting together with her at least monthly. The little ladies had a wonderful catch up too. The next weekend was my pre-birthday weekend and the O’s came to be decadent and relaxed. We had the best weekend. The Husband did it proper. We had snack dinner the first night. We had his special lasagna the second night. We had delightful brunch and snacks and all of the amazing things. We had beverages and jammies and chatting. I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. I bought myself some yarn and the 40-stitch circular knitting machine. PassioKnit Kelsey uses hers to crank ear warmers, and that gave me ideas for charity and gift knits. It may also work for the aforementioned Knitting My Memories revamp. Oh, and the Husband bought me the glass mannequin head that has been on my wish list for eons. She has a proud place on my bookcase in the bonus room. Once the O’s left we did more relaxing and got Feebs ready to start her week. I took my birthday off of work and spent it with the Mother. We had a lovely breakfast and did a tiny bit of shopping. I took a lovely nap, then we had a scrumptious meal at my favorite Pakistani restaurant. We then had the ladies over and enjoyed my favorite cornmeal pineapple upside down cake. I am 45 now. I used to get very anxious about my age, but after the hell that was 2024, I am grateful for every year that I am here. I will take them all as long as I can be healthy and happy and safe. I spent the week trying to get caught up at work, which is always a losing battle. I don’t know if I should really put this on the internet, but since this is a log of my life I suppose it’s okay to say: Feebs started her period. I was one sad mama. It seems too soon for such things, but I don’t control the world. She handled it great, though and breezed through the transition. That week I got my taxes done and for the first time in years, I don’t owe federal. So, hooray! That weekend, the Mother and I started to hull out the mess that was her garage. We made good headway and also got her kitchen cabinets in place. Her kitchen may finally be done at some point in this decade. We did a lot of work and had fun spending time together on a project. I am very lucky that we are able to work well together. Somewhere along the way (before the work weekend) I managed to trigger my sciatica. I was in pain for three weeks of February, and it sucked. I also think I made it worse by sitting too much over the weekend, then much worse for sitting the following two days during treatment. My treatment went well, but my whole lower left side has been kicking my will to live. I do entirely too much sitting and need to take the pressure off of whatever is broken in my spine/ nerves. I even had to do five days of Prednisone, which is always an adventure. The pain is still there, even as I type this, but will hopefully be on it’s way out soon. The following weekend, Feebs and I went to the Father’s house. We spent a lot of time playing games and Feebs and the Father were pretty much neck in neck in the scoring races. I did terribly the whole weekend, but I love watching them interact. I love that she enjoys playing the games I grew up on. We also got to see Sister #2 for dinner on the last night of the month. The Father had a previously scheduled engagement and we were on our own. We got to see her oldest’s new house. I am so impressed! It has a lot of work to be done, but damn, not bad for the first home of a 25 year old single guy. And then the month was over, on to March we go.

Look at my Bingo Card!!!

I am so grateful for another year for me, and another year for you, darling. We have been through some shit, and I am so grateful for our 4 years together. I am grateful for a husband that doesn’t just say he loves me, but shows it in all the best ways. I am grateful for Feebs and her every changing personhood. I am grateful for family, both blood and chosen, that love me and come together to celebrate me. I am grateful for a work family that likes to get together and let down our hair. I am so grateful for my life and all that comes with it. I already know that March is going to be jammed packed, but I am hopeful that it will be just as good as February.

Loves,

M

Zipper Sweater

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This is my second Zipper Sweater, by PetiteKnit. I knit the Zipper Sweater- Man for the Father previously, and this is the standard size pattern. I paired this pattern with my discontinued Shibui Knits, Billow and Lunar, held double. These yarns were incredibly expensive and I purchased them when Shibui was closing and selling off all of their merchandise. These yarns held together create pure bliss. The fabric is soft and fuzzy and just says luxury to me.

What went right?

The sweater is gorgeous. I have nothing but good to say about the end product. Since I had knit the pattern before, there weren’t many surprises. The pattern is very clear and well written. On the Father’s sweater, I had spaced completely and didn’t knit the zipper facing strip down both sides and this created a messy inner-facing on the zipper. The Father said it didn’t bother him and he planned to wear it zipped all the way up anyway. I didn’t make the same mistake on this one. While it was incredibly fiddly I did the strips and encased the zipper as the pattern directed. I am not sure that I used the best quality zipper, but it was in my stash and therefore was used. I also cropped the length and cinched in the waist a bit. I didn’t want the same boxy oversized fit that I have on several of my sweaters. This was a small modification, but it makes a big difference in the way the sweater hangs on me.

What went wrong?

I wasn’t sure I would have enough yarn, and since it was discontinued, I didn’t want to run the risk of running out. I knit the body to below the bust, then put the stitches on a holder and knit the sleeves. There was absolutely no risk of running out of yarn. Good lord, I have one full ball of the Billow left and had three partial balls of the Lunar. It may have been different if I knit the length to pattern, but that wasn’t a deciding factor in the modification. One small error on my part is that the left sleeve is shorter than the right. I don’t know how I let this happen. I used stitch makers at the decreases and (I thought) I knit one sleeve exactly the same as the other. I rarely have issues with gage changes through project, so I doubt that is it. I just made some silly mistake and ended up with different length sleeves. I blocked it out and I barely notices, so I doubt anyone else does either.

I completely love this sweater. The million miles of reverse ribbing is a pain in the fifth point of contact, but the end result is so beautiful. The Female O told me, with no offence meant, that she thought it was a store bought sweater because it looks so professionally finished. No offense was taken at all. I love the sweater and have worn it many times. The fabric is light and warm and turned out to be a very nice dark neutral color. I may make this again, honestly, and if it is for me I will make the same waist modification. Love, love, love!

Loves,

M

Harris Hood

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Hello darling. I kind of feel like this may not be a post-worthy project. However, I am still on the hunt for a good beanie replacement and therefore should document my attempts. This is the Harris Hood by Cheryl Mokhtari. The pictures on the project page look great. It looks like the exact thing I was wanting. I used Ella Rae Cashmerino Aran in a gorgeous cream color, which has devastatingly been discontinued.

What went right?

This is a very well written and clear pattern. I didn’t have to do any guesswork or figuring out. The fabric that the yarn made was squishy and soft and beautiful. The construction was really interesting and while it differed greatly from the construction of the hood on the Traveler, it came together very nicely. I did have to add drawstring holes at the bottom of the hood. There was a drawstring channel, but no holes were mentioned.

What went wrong?

It looks so stupid on me. My head looks like an enormous Q-Tip when the hood is up. If it laying flat on my collar, it isn’t so horrible, but it still looks odd. I have spent some time trying to mentally alter the pattern around the collar to see if it could be made better. I thought about elongating the bottom rib or splitting it on the sides and creating a front and back bib, but none of my ideas seem like good ones.

The bottom line is that while I enjoyed knitting it, I really don’t like this hood. I have placed it in my gift/donate cubby and have considered ripping it out and reusing the yarn for something else. The jury is still out since the yarn is discontinued and I only have a small quantity of it left. I will keep it intact until I finalize my decision. You can’t win them all, and for me at least, this was not a win.

Loves,

M

The Traveler

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She is done, and she is delightful. I wanted to use up my Berroco Recycled Alpaca, and I wanted to knit something that wouldn’t just use up yarn, like another plain stockinette sweater. I was on the fence about Andrea Mowry’s Traveler, because I had never knit a hood before and it made me nervous. The designer tends to make all of her sweaters bottom up, which is not my preference as I like top down so that I can try it on for length. In the end, I decides to go for it anyway.

The Pattern:

This sweater is very deceptive. It not difficult to knit at all. The pattern is very well written with very clear instructions. What I didn’t count on was that it was A LOT of knitting. I didn’t factor in that alternating the rows between knit and purl would cause the fabric to shrink, so it felt like I was knitting forever. The shrinkage also caused some minor issues with the length of the sleeves. And I mean, it isn’t like she didn’t clearly state that the fabric will grow approximately 18% with wear. Honestly, any issue with this pattern was 100% user error.

What went right?

Pretty much everything. The sweater turned out beautifully. The combination of pattern and yarn was a dream. The sweater is lightweight and incredibly warm. The color is a good solid neutral blue, and it goes with anything. I almost jumped to my normal practice of lengthening the torso, but decided to follow the process and I am so glad I did. I love the length, and the 18% growth made it a perfect fit. I really enjoyed learning the hood construction. Andrea’s instructions were super easy to follow and I felt very accomplished when I finished it.

What went wrong?

Again, this was user error, not designer. I knit the sleeves too long, so that when I wore it and the 18% growth kicked in, they are slightly too long. I like long sleeves, so that shouldn’t have been an issue, but these go just beyond my preference. I could rip them back and take out some length, but I won’t. Also, the hood is REALLY big. I didn’t do any modifications to it and followed the pattern exactly, and it is still huge. It looks fine when it is laying flat. Wearing it is where I notice the size. I honestly don’t wear the hood, though, so it doesn’t really matter.

All in all, this is a perfect sweater. I have worn it a lot and received many compliments. It is warm and cozy and very versatile. I have another sport weight yarn in a dusty purple and I am flirting with the idea of knitting another one. I think the pattern is beautifully written and she is accurate in her description of the fabric and how it will behave. I really love this sweater.

Loves,

M

All the makes- January 2026

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January is usually a nice calm month, after the chaos of the holidays. I am usually able to sit back and take some deep breathes and bask in the holiday afterglow. Last January was still a health shit-show, so this month was a breeze in comparison. The month was a little spicier than I would have preferred, but it had plenty of chill. I did a whole lot of knitting. I knit most of one sweater and started another. I have also started to plot a new sewing project. While there are no finished objects, I am very impressed with how much was accomplished this month. I am all lined up for Finish It February to be very successful.

New cast-ons:

  • Harris Hood
  • The Weekender

Works in progress:

  • The Zipper Sweater
  • Knitting my memories blanket

Goals for next month:

  • Make a Sew Over It- Bow Bag
  • Knit the bater scarf for Sister #2
  • Get lined up for Finish It February
  • Slow Sundays
  • Knit sample square for blanket re-boot

Before I dive into the knitting itself, did you notice that I have a much shorter WIPs list? I made the decision last month to rip out Shatar, so off to the frog pond she went. I didn’t even have that much knit, but I had sat down and made a completion check-sheet, so it was a bit bittersweet. It was time, though. I knew that even if I was ready to start knitting on it again, I wouldn’t really wear it. I am trying to be very intentional with my knitting now. I want to knit things that I love and want to wear. I am no longer knitting random things in order to use up stash, or knitting a ton of plain stockinette sweaters. I want my projects to have purpose, style (per me), and be exactly what I want to wear or gift at the end of it. I cast on the Zipper Sweater at the end of December and knit all of it in January. The only reason that it isn’t listed as a Finished Object is because in true Mrs. Collins fashion, I stalled knitting the facing and sewing in the zipper. Ridiculous! This will count as finishing a sweater’s quantity of yarn and will be 1/5 of my annual goal. I need to hurry up and finish it. Instead of actually finishing the sweater, I cast on a new Weekender Sweater, by Andrea Mowry. I have knit this pattern before and really like both the process and the finished sweater. I had several balls of a fingering weight wool in black, and had picked up four balls of rainbow wool at the craft reuse store that I always go to when I visit the Father. I loved the idea of pairing them together to make a dark rainbow sweater. I started out with a different pattern, but decide that The Weekender would allow the rainbow pattern to stay cohesive. It is bottom up, which isn’t my favorite, but it worked much better than a yoke or raglan for the pattern flow. I will make a separate post about this when it’s done, even though it is a reknit, because I want to try sizing down the pattern to knit one for Feebs. I also cast on the Harris Hood to combat the battle of keeping my head warm while dealing with full bangs. I didn’t meet my goal of sewing something this month, but I am working out a couple of things that I want to work on in the near future. They will not be super complex or fancy sewing projects, but that is totally okay.

If you read December’s post, you already know that we had the O’s here for New Year’s. We had a lovely time with them and rang in the new year together, like always. The following day, Feebs and I went to see the Father and spend some time with him. We played lots of games and had a great dinner. We didn’t get to do our annual mini-golf game due to the rain, but we did have a lovely time. I also got to swing by Sister #2’s house and see her and her newly finished yard. It turned out great. She is an amazing creative, and was kind enough to make me some care instruction tags on her Cricket machine. I attach them to any handmade gift that I give and had run out. She took my incredibly lackluster and basic design and created fabulous new tags. I wish I had her creativity. The rest of the weekend was spent recovering from the “week off.” We were very mellow and relaxed on the Sunday. That week was spent getting back into the swing of things after two weeks off for Feebs, and a week off for me and the Husband. It was a rough transition for all of us, but we made it. That Friday I had dinner with two of my work peeps and it was a really fun time. We had margaritas, Mexican food, and laughter. The week after was pretty busy. We registered Feebs for a Women in Science conference that will take place in March. It seems like a really cool event and she is excited to go. She also had her first Junior High dance, and had a blast. I guess dances aren’t like they were when I went to school. This one had a movie room, craft room, game room, and dance room. That sounds pretty fancy to me. That weekend was the MLK holiday weekend, and having that extra day off was simply delightful. We had a very mellow and relaxed weekend. I could really use more of those! And I cleaned out the bill case, finally (only took two years). The week was short, but packed. There were appointments to attend, the Father was here for golf, and work was really busy. One of my supervisors has taken a promotion and I spent time with him to learn his desk so I can cover it until I hire a replacement. The following week was my infusion appointments. Nothing super spectacular happened, but we did figure out that the Benadryl is starting to burn my veins. So now we have to dilute it and push it in over a longer period of time. Not ideal, but it won’t hurt anything. I really wish I didn’t need it… I also got to see Ms. C. She came down to have dinner with us. I have missed her so much. Her life is pretty full and she has days scheduled, so we have to work around each other’s lives. We promised to get together more often, so we will see each other again in March. Oh! The other exciting thing that happened in January is that the Husband and I made good on our promise, and Feebs is now in skateboarding lessons. She has taken to it really well and is learning very quickly. It makes me very nervous, but it will give her balance, strength, and confidence. Also, she looks freaking adorable doing it.

Now we are moving on to February, but January was really great. I am grateful that everything stayed rather calm. I am grateful that I have self-imposed Slow Sundays and am not scheduled up to the last minute of my weekend. I am grateful that Feebs found something fun to do that she is enjoying. I am grateful that work is getting better. I am grateful for my family and friends and all of the new memories that we are creating. I am continuing to try to stay positive and look for the good in things. I feel like I am in a better place now, and I want to continue that into 2026. We’ll see how next month plays out.

Loves,

M

You’re Four!

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Holy crap, darling, you are now four! Four years ago I decided to start to memorialize my making and a 30,000 feet view of my daily life. I am not much of a journaler, so I didn’t have great faith that it would last more than six-ish months. Lowe and behold, you are celebrating your fourth birthday. We’ve been through some shit together, that is for sure. We have created a lot of things and documented them in this safe space. I absolutely love that I can go back and see the dates, pictures, and notes of old projects and see all of the trials and tribulations that went into making them. I wanted to be completely honest about the things that I made so that I would have notes not just about how I made them, but also how far I have come in my making journey. I have set many goals within this archive and I have met many of them. I use this blog as a way to motivate myself to keep going. I think for a quick minute I allowed it to pressure me, but over time that has dissipated greatly. I now just want to have something to share each month.

Some of the goals that I have met:

  • Making monthly posts showcasing all of the things that I have made and the highlights of my life during that time
  • Documenting my completed projects and posting honest reviews of what I made, the materials that I used to make them, and how I felt I did in the making process
  • Allowing myself to dream and plot about future projects or goals

Some goals that I have not met:

  • Posting annual health updates
  • Backing up everything on my page- I will be devastated if the system crashes and I lose four years of personal history
  • Posting my monthly makes posts timely, though less than a handful of times have I been more than a month late

Goals I would like to set:

  • Altering or creating patterns and using this forum to plot them out and make notes- I feel that I did this for my advent gifts this year, and that was a fantastic help
  • Breaking down difficult project into bitesize chunks, similar to what I did with the Betty Cardigan, to help me stay on track to completing them
  • Write more dream making posts
  • Make more connections with other knitters
  • BACK UP THIS BLOG!!!

I am very glad that this blog has stayed small and that no one that I know (at least I think this is the case) reads this. I know that if I really wanted to keep it completely private, I wouldn’t have posted it on the internet. I did this in hopes of connecting with other knitters. That may still happen, but I still enjoy this being the small corner of my virtual brain. I will keep documenting and keep tracking my life and enjoying the time I spend here.

So, here is to another year with you, darling. Let’s keep going as we have been. Make some improvements here and there, and enjoying the documentation of new memories.

Loves,

M