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

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

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

The year keeps moving on. We just finished April and are in full blown Spring. The world is blooming, and the allergies are raging. I mentioned last month that I would have more finished objects this month, and man was I correct. I finished a lot of things. I have no new cast-ons and the WIPs have decreased. I didn’t get to the sewing, but that was because I was really busy with all of the things. I will get to my finished objects in a minute, but first I have to give a shoutout to Feebs and her first sewing project! She made an arcade game for school and she decided to make a version of cornhole. I had the leftover cat fabric from Oahu and she wanted to make the game-piece poofs out of it. The Husband helped her with the cardboard cutting and I helped with the poofs. Apparently, hers was one of the most popular game. It was very cute, and she was very proud.

Finished Objects (there are separate posts on all of these) :

Home Camisole by Caidree. I knit this in Cetari Old Dominion Cotton DK.

The Zipper- Men sweater by Petite Knit. I knit this in Plymouth Yarns Mojito Merino. (Love this yarn, and they discontinued it!!!)

Totally not a new project, but Harris has been shrunk, repaired, and is back in the Father’s custody!!!

On the Go Socks- toe to toe. I knit this in Berroco Sox.

My goooorgeous table rehab project. I can’t take credit for the design of the table, but I can for giving her new life.

Works in Progress:

Birthday Flax

On the Go socks- contrast toes

Shatar vest

Goals for next month:

Cast on something that makes you love knitting again

Budget, budget, budget

Back to regular work outs

Finish up old projects

Do something that intimidates you

So yeah, I did some stuff this month. I did a lot of stuff and I am really happy with how it came out. The socks were a great experiment, the Father loved his sweaters, the top did end up fitting me, and the table did just what I was hoping it would. I didn’t cast anything else on and I did knock a significant chunk out of my birthday Flax. I only have a sleeve and some left to do. Shatar hasn’t been touched, and I am really leaning towards ripping it out and casting it on in a bigger size. To say I have gained weight since I cast it on is an understatement and I think it won’t fit when I finish it. Yes, I realize that means I would actually have to work on it in order to have those troubles. I will have to review the pattern to see if there are shaping decreases that I can just omit. I really want to cast on the Heartbeat top once Flax is done. I did not really enjoy knitting that top, but I LOVE the finished top. I know I would wear the hell out a black one. That does kind of defeat my goal of casting on something that makes me love knitting again, though. I think/ hope it will be less of a slog this time. I will for sure knit the extra repeat, like last time, and will for sure knit shorter straps. Besides that, though, I need to start stalking Ravelry. I need to find a happy knit. I also want to cut out the pattern for the Yorkshire Pinafore. I need to look at the directions and figure out the sizing. I remember being very confused about the sizing when I read it the first time. No pressure, but I think I will be more motivated to work on it when I figure that out.

Week one of April was me having pneumonia. It Suuuucked. I got a new antibiotic and it worked like gangbusters, but it knocked me flat on my ass. I sat for nine straight days. I mean I sat. I didn’t sit and knit, I didn’t sit and do crossword puzzles. I sat and did absolutely nothing. I slept for 12-14 hours each night/day. I had no energy for anything in life. The following weekend we were supposed to meet up with the O’s and get the girls together. Both the Female O and I were sick, so the guys took the girls to the snow for the day. Feebs had a fantastic time. The week was pretty chill. I had dinner with the Sister-in-law, which was awesome. We don’t get together often, so we end up talking a ton when we do manage it. That weekend we had pizza night with the McC’s, and that is always fun. The husband was spending a lot of time with his dad and everyone enjoyed taking an evening off to hang out with friends. The husband was gone a lot, basically every day, to go see his dad and spend time with him. We didn’t see him much in March or April. The following week I went to get my hair done. I have decided that it’s time to start the process to let the color grow out. Libby highlighted the top of it to blend in the gray as it grows out. I will keep it short while I am going through the process. That will make it easier and less obvious. I figure it will be mostly grown out in a year and some. The next weekend I went to the Father’s house to see him before he leaves for his Europe trip. He and Jill were going to England, where she is from. It was a very nice visit with him. He tried on both of his sweaters and he is happy with them. They fit and he wasn’t bothered by the exposed zippers on the inside. I still think it tacky, but I won’t force him to let me hand sew them down. I am soooo happy that he has his sweaters and that they are done. I think I will stick with socks for him, unless he specifically asks me to knit him another sweater. We came home on Sunday and had to fly over to the Mother’s house to help her unload a hutch that she bought. We got to see Aunt Bun, and that was fun. Once I left there, we had to get ready for a birthday party at the McC’s house. I am so glad that she and I have a good enough friendship that she can ask me to help out. I don’t like peopling, especially with people I don’t know. They all have kids in the same sports and classes, and my kid is an outlier so I don’t know the parents. I always feel very out of place and awkward, so staying helpful makes it better. Feebs had fun, and I enjoyed making the party a little easier for my friend. That following Tuesday, my Father-in-law passed away. The Husband called me at work to say that he got a call that the end was coming and he needed to get there. I called the Mother to get Feebs and went with him to the city. We were only there about 35 minutes when he died. The Husband was with him when he went and so was his wife. The sisters came later, sadly the oldest sister missed him by about 30 minutes. It was a very sad event. I am so glad that the Husband was able to be there for him. I think that eased both of their souls. I wish Charles happy travels and safe passage to where his spirit will go. He left behind a family that really loved him. The following weekend was our kid-free work weekend up at the farm. It was also the Female O’s birthday so I brought her a tiara and gave her the travel socks. We met her in Vacaville and she drove up with us. We got there and went straight to work. We knew that the garage was very packed with stuff, but I don’t think we quite expected the amount of work that had to be done in the sheds and the house before the garage could be cleared. We filled up a half dumpster, and took at least 12 trips to the cardboard recycling center. Abs did phenomenal. She had to make a lot of decisions and open herself up to be vulnerable. She did so good. We had our asses handed us by how tired we were when we were done, but now she has her own art space, and the sheds are cleared out. I told her spouse that I would bury him in cardboard if the shed ever got like that again. We did end up staying in a hotel this trip, since there would be a lot of chaos in the house. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express up there. It was so nice! We will do that from now on, we decided. It was close to the house, gave us our space, and allowed us to get up and moving early, like we do, and not disturb them. I think it worked out really well. All in all, the trip was exhausting, but it was fun and it felt great to be a part of giving a gift like that to someone that I love so much.

April was a really positive month. It had some lessons, some sorrow, and some fulfilling hard work. I think it was what I needed to get my head back in the exercise game. I got a bunch of stuff finished and motivation to start other projects next month. I think this month really was a type of rebirth for me. The allergies have been hot flaming garbage, but I am still enjoying the bloom. I hope May keeps on the track of positivity. We will know more about the Father-in-laws service and how we help the Mrs. start the new solo chapter in her life. She is a strong woman and I know she can handle it. I just hope she shows herself some compassion, while she is helping everyone else grieve. I am so glad that he is at peace and no longer struggling. No one should have suffer like he did. This is a reminder to us all that life is short and tomorrow is promised to no one. So, get out there and make something, make something of your life.

Here is the Bingo card! I was able to check off a couple of knitting boxes! Looking it at it makes me realize that I need to get on my charity knits!

Loves,

M

While I was making plans for our European adventure I decided to take a sock on the plane ride. I cast on the toe and did all necessary increases to get to the foot circumference, then switched to my 9 inch circular needles. Usually, I would have split my yarn ball in half so that I would work on one sock, marking my increases and developing my count, then follow that pattern to complete the second sock. I decided that I would change things up for the trip. I decided that it would be most time effective and travel friendly if I cast on a toe, knit a very long tube until I nearly ran out of yarn then created another toe on the other end. When we returned home, or I had access to the necessary accoutrements, I could then divide the tube equally between two or four socks. This ended up being a fantastic idea. I did end up getting bored with my sock while we were traveling and have only just finished working out the details on what I need to remember in the future to make this idea work. I decided to knit this sock tube using 60 grams of the 100 gram ball, and set the other 40 aside. I worked the tube to the last 3 grams of yarn and started my decreases. This left me plenty of yarn left over to kitchener the toe and weave in the end. I could probably even get away with only leaving 2 grams of yarn, but that would be cutting it very close. Allotting 3 grams of yarn, I had less than 1 gram remaining.

I decided to the 60/40 split with the yarn so that I could have one tube from toe to toe and one tube with contrasting toes. I wanted to see what difference this would make for the sock length. I enjoy high socks, but not everyone does. If the tube I knit is going to be turned into two pairs of socks for two different people, that will change the the length of each sock and where I will decide to cut. For the toe to toe tube, I washed and stretched it out so that I would have a nice smooth sock and that would make measuring and cutting easier.

I had to measure and mark for where to divide the two socks and decided to pick up the stitches before I cut the stitch to start unraveling. That was a trial. I did great on three of the 4 needles, then I realized that I picked up the row beneath the row that I was unraveling. And then I proceeded to make the same mistake twice. Gosh, it was fun.

Once I had everything separated it was easy peasy. I increased four stitches before starting the ribbing to give some more ease to the cuff. Then I just knit some ribbing and a stretchy bind off.

Next step was knitting two cuffs and binding off. I decided to knit them for the Female O and needed to find her foot cutout (thank you FLK heel pattern for teaching me to make cutouts for all of my knit worthy people.) I measured the appropriate length to cut her heel in and snipped to knit in an afterthought heel.

And then there were two. The toe to toe pair was complete. I don’t think I will need to do a separate post for the contrast toe pair. It is the same basic principle. I am really glad that I did this. It gives me flexibility for the future and was a fun experiment. I will be happy to gift the finished socks to the Female O. I really hope they fit her and are comfortable for her to wear.

Loves,

M

Hello darling. OhMyGodIt’sFinallyDone!!!! The Father’s birthday gift sweater is finally completed. Naturally it is 2 months after his birthday. I knit Zipper Sweater- Man by Petite Knits. I got inspired by NE Knits podcast when she knit one for herself and was working on one for her husband. I knew I wanted to knit the Father a sweater for his birthday and figured it would be a snap since it is Aran weight yarn and size 8 needles. So I jumped onto Webs and bought some discontinuing Plymouth Mojito Merino in Gray. The yarn was delightful and a dream to knit with. I think I may have already lamented my exciting adventures in knitting 8 inches of 1×1 rib twice (you know how much I love knitting ribbing…). When I started it, I figured it would be a slam dunk to finish by his birthday. For the second time a sweater for the Father bested me and I lost the race. Once again my elbows fired up like murder and I had to take several time outs due to pain, then several more due to the sizing debacle.

What went right: The patter was very clearly written. I know her patterns are very popular and considered good for new knitters. I can see why. The yarn was fantastic to knit with. It knits up squishy and soft and washes and blocks out smoothly. The finished sweater feels lightweight, but will be warm. I hated every minute of knitting the ribbing, but it creates a really nice effect. Now that it is behind me, I am really happy with the finished garment.

What went wrong: You already heard all the griping about incorrect size selection and having to rip out the entire neck and shoulders of the first attempt and start over (incredibly painful). You also know that I detest hand sewing, and not only did I have to hand sew, I had to hand sew a non-separating zipper for the first time. That took a metric ton of clips and a lot of maneuvering and patience. I think I did a much nicer job on the zipper for Harris just because it was a nice flat separating zipper. Luckily it’s black thread on a black zipper, so it’s not terribly noticeable. There is some puckering and is a bit catawampus at the base where the zipper is connected, but all in all it’s pretty good. I am not 100% sure the length will be correct, even though I knit it to the measurements that I took of him. He does have a belly to contend with and I probably should have thrown in a short-row or two to accommodate it. I am taking it to him this weekend and he will try it on while I am there. I am taking my whole knitting bag with me so that if there are any adjustments that need to be made, they will be done before I leave his house. I don’t want to bring it home with me again. A slight critique on the pattern is that the fold over collar doesn’t cover the entire zipper. There was a significant gap from the end of the fold over to the bottom of the V, at least 2-3 inches. It made a significant…

[Darling, as I write this, I just realized the mistake I made. There is a weird flap thing at the end of the fold-over collar that I couldn’t figure out what the heck it was for and wove in the ends. My dumbass probably stopped reading the instructions… If I had been smarter, I would have probably read that I needed to put those stitches back on the needle and knit down both sides to the V and cover the zipper. Holy crap, I am dumb… Well, I have one more day to fix it before I see him. Hopefully I will remember to take a before and after. Wow. Just, wow.]

So, back to our regularly scheduled program. The other critique that I had about the pattern was with the fact that the Zipper Sweater was advertised as unisex, so I purchased the pattern. When I started highlighting the sizes, I realized that the sizing was very much for women. I looked on her Ravelry account and sure enough, there was a Zipper- Man. That felt like false advertising and those patterns weren’t cheap. I wasn’t very happy about that. In spite of everything, though, it’s a good pattern and a good sweater. It isn’t my style, so I don’t think I will ever actually use the Zipper- Woman pattern, which is a shame. I think this may have been my first Petite Knit pattern, and it was a pretty good one. I hope the Father likes his sweater and I hope it keeps him warm and safe. I love him and I hope he knows there was love knit into every stitch.

Loves,
M

P.S., It Fit!!!!

Hello darling. I did a thing, and good lord, she is beautiful! I was shopping at Urban Ore, like you do, and was trying to find a headboard for our queen size bed. I couldn’t find what I was looking for, and the copper bed set still had a Sold sign on it, so that was a no go. I went over to the table section and came across this beautifully shaped but sadly abused table. I felt like she was giving “I’ve seen some stuff” vibes and I could justify the $95 price tag. I was going to strip this baby down, give her new life, and use her as a head board.

The Mother and I started to plot the best method for fixing this beauty up. I wanted to buy stripper and remove the varnish and stain prior to sanding her down. I went on-line and found a highly rated stripper that was supposed to work beautifully. I used 3 cans of stripper and 3 full days and it didn’t make the slightest dent in the finish. I don’t know if it was a faulty product, I missed a step, or it was just too cold in the garage, but nothing happened. I was not happy. So after wasting time and money, I agreed with both Mother and the Husband that sanding was going to be our only hope. So we started sanding. We had to buy two new sanders, and use both the circular sander and the belt sander. The Husband was an angel and he stripped the top, the Mother and I did the rest. We couldn’t get all the varnish at the very top of the legs off, due to the curves, nor the cutouts. In the end, I sanded down the texture in the cutouts and left them two-toned. I hymned and hawed about whether I wanted to stain the table or not. There were many different types of wood used to create this table, and each would have taken stain differently. In addition, there had been some repair done in the past and the wood glue would have stuck out against the wood grain. In the end I decided to smoothly sand it and coat it with clear varnish. Ladies and Gentlemen, here she is!

At some point, I will get better pictures and do her justice. I love this table. I love the idea and the execution of this table. I am proud that even though I got super frustrated with the stripping, I figured it out (with help) and moved on. I am NOT a distressed, shabby chic person in the slightest, but I really love how this table has character and history. I am very happy that I went with my gut and kept the wood natural. Aside from the fact that I think it would have been a beast to get the stain even, I could have taken away some of her natural charms. I am so happy with this table/ headboard, and it may have inspired me to finally work on the curb-gnome table that I picked up last summer (that has been taking up room in the garage).

So, here she is and she’s beautiful! I’m excited for the next upcycle!

Loves,

M

Hello darling. Here is my Home Camisole by Caidree. I knit this using my special Hawaii yarn, Cetari Old Dominion DK Cotton. I wasn’t 100% sure of this yarn when I bought it, but it was a local yarn store and the store was going out of business. I wanted to buy something to help the shop owner and I wanted it to be useable. The top took a while to knit because I was sure that it was going to be too big on me. So, she got put in a time out for several months. That was naughty of me, especially considering that while it is a titch loose in the bust/ ribs (like most summer tops I have knit) it fits practically everywhere else. I got a bug in my bustle about finishing WIPs at then end of March and decided to finish it, even if that meant gifting it to someone. That may not end up being necessary. I-cord edging… am I right? That nonsense takes for-ev-er to complete! But it looks so pretty when it’s done. It is truly a labor of love. The pattern was really well written and everything worked out exactly as they planned it.

What went right? I wasn’t totally in love with the color, but it has grown on me. I like the variegation and the fact that it looks purposeful, even thought I didn’t alternate skeins like I should have. The v-neck is fantastic. I think that may be my preferred neckline. It is a bit of a beast to knit and fiddle with, but it is so flattering on me. I also think that it allows the bold color to be farther away from my face, so I appear less splotchy. While it seemed like it was going to be too loose, the fit is actually fine. I bought a tube top to wear under it so that it can work with a looser fit. The i-cord is tedious A-F, but it looks so polished and finished. I did need some help with joining the i-cord. I decided to wing it for the underarms and hem, but there was no way I was getting away with that on the neckline. I turned to ye old YouTube (Knit a Rainbow with Kimberly McAlidin: How to finish knitting i-cord in the round) to find out how to join the ends seamlessly. This tutorial is fantastic and after blocking, you can’t see where I joined at the neck.

What when wrong? I don’t necessarily think the fit is wrong, but it wasn’t the fit I had in mind when I cast it on. When I knit this again, and I will, I will do either a. use a finer yarn and go down a needle size while knitting the same size or b. use dk weight yarn with recommended needles and cast on a size smaller, then increase a bit after I have joined for the underarm to give a slight A-line to hide the breadbasket stomach. This will make the fit a bit better in the bust/ underarm. This tip isn’t just for this top, but for all strappy tops that I knit: KNIT LESS ROWS FOR STRAPS! I always knit the straps per the pattern recommendation and always end up with straps that are too long and need to be ripped back and adjusted. It is tedious. It is fiddley. I do not like doing this. Also, I should have referenced the video on how to seamlessly join the i-cord edging when I first bound off for the hem. It isn’t horrible, but it doesn’t lay as flat as it could. I have blocked the top and pinned the underarms, and will find out if the join still sticks out. If it does, I see myself ripping back to join seamlessly. Prior to blocking the join kind of stuck out at the sides.

So, that is all she knit. This is my second Caidree top, and both ended up being loose. I can’t help but think that it is user error more than designer, but who knows. If I make the modifications that I mentioned, I see the next Home Camisole looking more, not body-con, but fitted. The yarn didn’t dry out my hands, but I did use the wrong needles to do the i-cord around the arm holes so my hands still hurt like mad when they were done. Once I switched to the sharp Chiagoo’s for the neckline, everything went way smoother. As I said, I will for sure be knitting this again. I have the cotton-silk yarn from the shop in Petaluma that I want to find a use for. I realize that it isn’t deep stash, but it is from 2023, so it counts as stash. The designer writes a good pattern. I see myself recommending it to others and letting them know to swatch to be sure the fit issues aren’t a designer error. I see myself wearing this top a lot this summer, and also wearing any other versions that I create.

Loves,

M

So, March is over. I just posted February (literally) and here we are talking about March. I am sad to report that there are no finished objects this month either. I did knit a lot, especially in those few final days, but nothing got the Completed stamp. I must say that I am proud of how much I pulled together at the end, though.

Works in Progress:

Zipper Sweater

Birthday Flax

Travel socks

Home Camisole

Shatar Vest

Goals for next month:

Mending pile-

Sew zippers into Zipper Sweater and Harris

Shorten the sleeves of the Betty cardigan

Work on WIPs

Give the Father his sweaters/ get them out of your house/ head

Meet with a financial planner

So, nothing is done. I finished knitting the entire body of the Zipper sweater and the Home Camisole. I only have to sew in the zipper and weave in the ends of the sweater and do the neckline and armholes of the camisole. Of course, I had to order new zippers for both of the Father’s sweaters and now have to hand sew them in. I am never excited about hand sewing. I think the camisole is going to be too big, as usual with any summer top I have knit in the past year… I don’t know what my glitch is with size selection. I seem to keep over estimating my size or just picking the wrong size to knit. I am not petite, but apparently I need to knit smaller. Mind you, if I ever knit a gauge swatch, it may not be so far off… I could be onto something there. I think the Zipper will be too short for dad and I will have to cut and extend it. I knit it to fit the measurements that I took, but I still don’t think it will work. I go see him next month and will figure it out then. I am taking it and the yarn with me so I can finish it while I am there and leave it with him. I would like him to be able to take it on his trip if he chooses. I also want both sweaters out of my custody. I think April will have a glut of finished objects (fingers crossed). I am in the homestretch of several things. I also think that April will be the month that I buy my sock machine. She will finally be mine. One small bitch is that you have to pay for shipping on an $800+ machine. How can you charge me extra to send it when the cost is so high? Am I too used to buying through big box stores? Gripe, gripe, gripe…

March was pretty okay. My work life is still going pretty smooth, so that is always good. The first week entailed the great annual tax preparation, which is always fraught with concern. It isn’t too bad. Owing taxes means I make enough to have to pay them. Right…? That is what I tell myself to feel better. I had my usual 5 week hair appointment scheduled on the first weekend, but we ended up going to see the Father-in-Law at Stanford. It was a long day, but we were able to spend time with that family. We missed the Edgar Allen Poe Speakeasy, which was unfortunate. Maybe we will get so see it or something like it another time. The following weekend was ladies nights with best girls. We have been plotting a fantastic surprise for the guys and it involves t-shirts and looks of disgust. I can’t wait to give them to the guys at the work weekend at Ab’s house. I had reserved the following weekend for Jamie’s visit to Napa, but we didn’t get to hook up while she was here. Anniversaries are so inconvenient and it interfered with me getting to see her while she was in California. Our Jamie-free weekend ended up being incredibly chill, which was nice. The Mother and I worked on my table and got it mostly sanded. The Father came that week for a visit. We took him to the good Burmese place in Dublin. He was supposed to come back the following day, but his busy schedule prohibited it. He and Jill are traveling to London in April, so we made a plan to get together before he leaves. That next weekend I rescheduled my hair appointment, thank goodness, and I changed my hair color and have gone back to my more natural color. My goal is to let it grow out and cut off the color treated hair overtime. I am very curious what my natural color and texture are now at the ripe age of 43. I know I am very gray for my age, so I will be curious to see how it goes. I will keep it short while it grows out. After my hair, I had lunch with the Husband’s Aunt. She is such a delight. I absolutely love her. We have decided that we will take a trip to Urban Ore so that she can check it out. I will get in touch next time mom needs to go so that we can make a day of it. The next day was St. Patrick’s Day and the Husband made his amazing corn beef sliders. Those things are so good. That week my allergies absolutely floored me. I was in a haze the whole beginning of the week. By Thursday I was still miserable and we had to go to a retirement party for the Husband’s coworker. Unfortunately it was in the park in the reservoir and I felt like garbage. I am sure my snotty cheerfulness really impressed all of his coworkers, but I felt like hell and couldn’t fake it. We were pleasantly surprised by a visit from the Mark. He was working in the bay area and stayed with us for two nights. Feebs had a sleep over with the Mother and they had a nice time. The three of us went on an adventure to Santa Rosa and had good food and (they had) beer. The next day we went to a really good little breakfast place in Berkeley. We also stopped by Avenue Yarn shop so that I could get a tiny bit of the Bay Area Yarn Crawl in. I only went to that one shop, so I didn’t participate in the event. I couldn’t justify traveling to 20 yarn shops in that wide of an area. I do intend to go to the Sierra Nevada one, though. I won’t miss it again this year. The week continued on, and I still felt like garbage. I was off Thursday and Friday to spend time with Feebs for her Spring Break. On Thursday we went the Museum of Curiosities in Sacramento with the Mother. We had a nice time. It was only one floor, but had NEMO vibes and Feebs loved it. After the museum we went to Fenton’s and had a delightful lunch. We were all tired by the end of the day. Then Friday came, and my coughing was really bad and I started to get death breath (what I affectionately call the taste in my mouth when I start to get bronchitis or pneumonia). I know my body and the signs of impending doom so I called my doctor and got some antibiotics and a stronger inhaler. I was wiped out all Friday and Saturday. Sunday was Easter, so I had to rally a bit to make the day fun for my girl. I did, but just a bit. I had absolutely no energy and was pretty lifeless. I think I could have finished my Home Camisole if I could have knit for more than 5 minutes at a time. Oh well, there is always next month.

I have a lot that I want to accomplish for next month. Things to finish, things to start, things to organize. I want to set up a call with a financial planner and get our money better organized. I am almost to my savings goal, that will allow me to shift what I am saving for. We need to start thinking/ planning on buying a truck, so that needs to happen. Once the Father’s sweaters are done, I need to cast on the top for the Mother and get that going. I may not be able to pull it off for Mother’s Day, but should be able to get it done before her birthday. I still want to cast on something that makes my heart smile. I want to sew something fun and feel accomplished for completing something special and useable/ wearable. I want to get over whatever yuck is plaguing me and pretty much everyone I know so that we can all be healthy and well. I want April to bring happy things and more good memories.

Loves,

M

And here we are, February is complete. That means we are almost done with the first quarter of the year. February was really good. Many good things happened this month and I move onto March with good memories. A lot of knitting happened, but not a lot of finishing. No sewing occurred, but I think I have a plan in the making. There are no finished objects, but March should see some, so there’s that.

New cast-ons:

Birthday Flax

Works in progress:

Zipper sweater

Shatar vest

Home camisole

Travel socks

Goals for next month:

Finish the Zipper sweater

Resew the zipper in Harris

Plan out a sewing project

Find a knit I can’t wait to work on

I hope he never reads this because I have really hated both sweaters that I have knit for the Father. He is so knit-worthy, and I love him so much, but both of the sweaters that I have knit for him gave me absolutely no joy to knit. Add to that, they never seem to fit him. Harris was enormous. While I did manage to shrink it (successfully, I think) it was a pain in my ass and I still haven’t resewn the zipper and returned it to him. The birthday gift that should have been finished, by his birthday, still isn’t done. It is very close, but then the dread of “will it fit him” creeps in. That being said, I did allow myself a cheeky birthday knit. I have knit at least seven Flax sweaters, but none have been for me. So I grabbed my Knitting for Olive mohair and Holts Garn combo from our European trip and cast one on for my birthday. I started with a fold over neck, but fell out of love with it and have put it in a time out. I started to browse Ravelry, looking for a pattern that would spark joy, but I haven’t committed to anything yet. I have my eye on using up my old- AF Berroco Glace and knitting another Heartbeat top. I don’t have enough yarn to knit it, but have put out feelers on Ravelry for people willing to sell theirs. So, I will see if this is even a possibility. I had nerve to buy a new sewing pattern, the York Pinafore by Helen’s Closet, and have finished assembling the million sheets of paper that creates the pattern. I feel like I have no concept of what size I am, so am being a chicken about cutting it out. I think it will be super versatile for all seasons, so I need to woman up and commit. I also hacked up a pair of the Husband’s ruined pants and plan to knit a project or mid-sized tote bag. I have to “design” it so, again, I am being a chicken. I am putting no pressure on myself to sew, though. When I do it, I do it.

The month was fantastic! It was full of good things and I am so happy that everything worked out great. Day one started with Feebs’s recovery from her tonsillectomy. You’ve never seen a kid more excited to have surgery, she was hilarious. I was worried about how recovery would go, but the kid flew through it like a champ. I am so glad it is over and she is almost back to 1000%. Two weeks after the surgery, she was sleeping better and no longer snoring. It has been amazing. The second weekend was the Father’s birthday. Sister #1 and Sister #3 and I showed up at his party to surprise him. It was a tiny bit awkward, but he was delighted and that made it worth it. Sister #1, her husband, and I went to dinner that night. It was so great to talk to them and feel like we got some reconnection. With busy lives and a lot of distance, we haven’t been great about maintaining our relationship. We have both pledged to do better. At the beginning of the month my work like drastically lightened up, so that rang through everything. My birthday week was fantastic. I took two days off and Feebs and I went to spend time with the Father at his house. It was a great visit. The day of my birthday started out rough because I have misplaced my 16th birthday, baby, and mother’s rings. I still haven’t been able to find them, but I tore up the house that morning looking for them. Once I finally decided to relax and enjoy my day, we went on a few adventures. We found two crafting thrift stores, one in Berkeley and one in Oakland. The Oakland one didn’t impress me much, but I loved the Berkeley one. I got a huge code of natural color yarn that I want to use to redo the Knitting my Memories blanket for $13. After that, we headed to Urban Ore and I got to walk around and see all the fun things. I happened to go past the display cases and holy hell, there was a bag of beige silk mohair… for $6. It was a whopping $1 per skein. There was also an unopened back of Knitpicks Dream Catcher for $10. I was absolutely floored that I was able to find such a steal, at both stores. I did some Google searching and realized that I spent $29 dollars on roughly $450 worth of yarn. On. My. Birthday. I was giddy the rest of the day. After my major scores we met the Lisa and Jorge for dinner in Oakland at Wahpepa’s Kitchen and had a delicious meal and wonderful company. We came home and had the stellar corn meal pineapple upside down birthday cake. The next day I spent with the Mother and we had a wonderful day. We couldn’t really think of anything to do, but it was really nice to just spend time with her. The last weekend we went to the Treasure Island Treasure Fest. It was an absolute cluster-fluff to get onto the island and none of us were super thrilled with the festival. We went to visit the in-laws after that. Unfortunately, the end is near for the Father in Law. We were told “weeks” at the end of January. We have no idea if that meant two weeks or twenty, so the Husband is just spending as much time with him as he can. He got the idea to cook him a venison dinner, so I called in a favor to Sister #3 and the best bro-in-law hooked him up with some venison stakes. We went to collect them and took all but the youngest to dinner. It was fantastic to spend time with them.

There was an extra day in February this year, so that stretched the good month out a little more, and I am very grateful for it. It was a great month, and 43 isn’t starting off too bad. Next month looks promising and I hopeful that everything continues to run smooth. (Considering this is being posted at the end of March, obviously it was a busy month.) So that sums her up. You and I both had a birthday, and I am grateful that they were good ones.

Loves,

M