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All the makes- December 2025

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This is the final monthly post for 2025. I have written all of my wrap ups and put my goals for the new year onto the internet (so they must be real). I got A LOT done this month. I am very happy with myself. I knit stuff, sewed stuff and reworked stuff to give it new life. I have started my first sweater for the new year and am using two sweater quantities of yarn (though I will only count one on my Bingo card). I was also able to give away the Christmas makes, so that part is over and done and complete! All in all it was a great month.

Finished objects:

The Traveler by Andrea Mowry. This was knit in Knit Picks Upcycle Alpaca Blend Sport. There will be a separate post about this, so I won’t wax poetic here.

Cambric Shawl by Heidi May. I finally got to use up a small quantity of Cascade Eco+ wool. I knit the size for adult, and it fits 11 year old Feebs just perfectly… There may be a separate post about this, if I decide to knit a much larger version after changing the maths a bit.

Made Everyday- Easy Apron. There is a separate post about this, so this is just her photo-op. Technically, I finished this and cuffs in November, but didn’t want to show pics till Feebs had received them.

Bookmark cuffs- self drafted. Again, finished in November.

All seven CPAP hose sleeves- self drafted. I am so freaking excited that these are done!!!

This is technically not a make it is a mend. I made poor life choices and decided that a white denim jumper would be a great idea for our Mendocino picture this year. I bought it, took off the tag, and realized that I was being insane. So I broke out the bottle of green RIT dye and gave it new life.

New cast-ons:

Zipper Sweater- woman/ unisex

Works in progress:

Shatar Vest

Knitting my memories blanket (which will for sure be reworked in 2026, stay tuned)

Goals for next month:

Use a sweater quantity of yarn

Sew something, even if it is small or mending

Re-organize the bill case (this has been on the to-do list for too long)

Start psyching yourself up to learn how to use your sock machine

Learn to crochet with Feebs

Pick a square to work on from 2026 Knitting Bingo

Work on Shatar Vest

I knit a lot this month. A really big heaping lot. The Traveler is a cropped sweater and doesn’t seem like it would be a huge amount of knitting. That, my darling, is grossly incorrect. Since the fabric is horizontal rib, it shrinks up. It does release, approximately 18%, after being worn. But when you are slogging your way through the sleeves and swearing that you have knit a mile of fabric, but it is only 3 inches, you realize that she is a lot of knitting. As a way to procrastinate starting the hood because is a was scary new technique, I cast on and completed the Cambric Shawl. I am in love with the idea of hoods right now. I have full bangs and am always cold. I knit a crazy amount of hats, but due to the aforementioned bangs, never wear any. PassioKnit Kelsey has the same issue, so she is starting to embrace hoods. Hoods keep your head and ears warm, but won’t smash your bangs. That started me down a rabbit hole of looking for cute hoods. I love the shawl/ hood combination and was jazzed to see that while all of the pattern pics on Ravelry were of children, there was sizing for an adult. I used the recommended needles, slightly thicker than suggested yarn, and my gauge was even correct. It looked ridiculous on me, and is now proudly in Feebs’s possession. She is thrilled. Being that as it may, it was still a good little chunk of knitting. I then finished the hose sleeves. They have all been gifted and are currently being enjoyed across the U.S. Fare thee well! I am so glad they are done! Another making- esque thing I did was my annual yarn organization and Ravelry Stash update. This year, I even got really real and pulled out yarn that I know I will never use and bagged it up to donate to the craft thrift store in Berkeley. I photographed and posted everything new, counted and edited yarn quantities, deleted donated stash, and we-worked where I had everything stored and updated their location on the page. It took 4-5 hours and I regret nothing. It really helped me put everything into perspective and start thinking about stash marriages and new cast ons. I am stoked that it is done.

I know that I always talk about how chaotic the months are and how chronically busy we are, but I didn’t feel that way about December, oddly. I felt like it was a very relaxed month. There was one very stressful (re: people-y) month. But other than that, it was actually really chill. The first week was treatment, which went fine. I had to take a dresser from my mom’s to my dad’s on the first weekend, which was a lot of driving, but was fine. I got to spend a little bit of time with him. You should have seen the look of disappointment when I showed up without Feebs. I was afraid he wouldn’t let me inside. Ha! I also got to see Sister #2 and her oldest. They helped unload the dresser since it a solid wood beast. Sister and I went for coffee after and had a delightful time. I believe I stayed home the next day and only took off my jammies in order to take a shower and put on clean jammies. The following weekend was supposed to be a group work weekend at Ab’s, but the Female O got sick, as did Feebs, so only the two men folk went to help her. I had wished that Feebs had felt a bit more spry, but we still had a nice dinner with the Mother and did a little shopping and snuggle time. She got to sleep in my bed with me for the first time ever, which was fun. It felt very odd sleeping in that bed without the Husband his moderate mountain of pillows. Fortunately, the guys were still able to get a lot done up there. We will all be going back in the next couple of months. The following week was the stressful one. There were a lot of holiday festivities, including group lunches, my office holiday party, and then my family’s Christmas party over the weekend. It was A LOT of people. I was very anxious and incredibly grateful when we got to Sunday and it was all over. I loved seeing my family and talking to everyone to catch up. I also loved going home and sitting in the quiet for the next 24 hours. I don’t know if it is my aging or my nerves or what, but I just don’t tolerate large groups well anymore. I am not 100% sure I ever did, but I know it is getting worse. The next week was Christmas week and work was very quiet. We had a lot of people out and not much happening. Christmas day was very relaxed, which was so nice. We spent a few hours with the local Sister-in- law and her family. It was a really nice visit. I have really missed seeing her. Hopefully we will be better about getting together this year. I worked the day after Christmas and it was a very quiet day. After that, my week of “vacation” started. It began with treatment the first two days. Then Wednesday was New Year’s Eve and it was our year to host. There was a lot to get done in preparation, and I didn’t have much time at the beginning of the week, so it was a big scramble to get it finished before the O’s arrived. Feebs and I completed the annual bonus room clean up, where all the toys, Legos, and making stuff was all wrangled and put away. It felt incredible. I am still sitting in a relatively tidy space. It’s amazing. The adults went to dinner that night, and the girls got to have dinner with the Mother. They were all thrilled because none of them wanted to go out for dinner. When were done, we went to pick them up and we all rang in the new year together. I made it to 12:00 am and was in bed by 12:05 am. It was lovely. The rest of the week will be talked about in the next post. Needless to say, it was a wonderful, but very busy week off. The holidays were so relaxed and mellow. I think all years should feel like that. It was a very nice end to very productive year.

And that is all she wrote for 2025. I am eternally grateful that my health stuff has calmed down. I am grateful for the family, chosen family, and friends that have brought so much joy and security to my life. I am grateful that Feebs is my best girl and we are both making some big changes in our processes and how we think about things. I am hopeful that these changes will help us ease into the teen years a bit. I am grateful that I have a husband that I love and can count on through anything. I am grateful that my parents are relatively strong and healthy and a big part of my life. I am just grateful to be who I am, where I am, and with who I am. I can honestly say that I am happy being me, warts and all.

Loves,

M

2026 goals- Changes

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I’ve got my mind set on goals right now. Goals for the end of the year and for 2026. I have so many things that I want to accomplish next year, but don’t want to overshoot and become overwhelmed. My new Bingo cards are ready and a bit hodge-podge, but I am happy with them. I really want to use up some stash yarn and fabric this year. I have one project planned and am looking for a pattern to go with another sweater quantity of yarn. I am wanting more complex patterns this year. I don’t want to tear through projects and end up with a bunch of plain stockinette sweaters. This was what appealed to me about the Traveler sweater. I wanted something with texture and new techniques. That is my goal going forward for all of my making. I only want to make things that I really want to wear, use, or gift. Financial goals are set and I feel are realistic. My health goals are set and completely necessary. It is time to get back on track and put my physical and mental health on the priority list.

Making goals:

  • Use five sweater quantities of yarn
  • Learn how to crank sock tubes
  • Use macrame book
  • Cross stitch project for Abs
  • Cross stitch project for me
  • Crochet a handbag
  • Use two stash fabrics
  • Teach Feebs how to crochet

Financial Goals:

  • Pay off car (August?)
  • Save at least $15,000 for truck
  • Save $10,000 for school
  • Continue to track dining out spending
  • Set monthly savings amount
  • Reset budgeting app
  • Open 529 plan
  • Review retirement plans

Health Goals:

  • Get more exercise
  • Improve diet- protein and fresh foods
  • Take more mental health breaks
  • Improve core strength

Knitting Bingo (yes, I know there is a crochet project)

Sewing Bingo

I am happy to report that my word of the year has chosen me. Changes in 2026. I really wasn’t sure about my word this year. I was really kind of getting stuck on the word Goals, but it didn’t feel 100% right. The more I thought about it, the more Changes seemed to fit properly. I feel like there are some big changes that will be coming in 2026. I am really hoping that most of them are positive changes. Aside from the things that may happen, there are several changes that I feel I need to make in 2026. I want to change the way I look at work. I want to change the way I interact with Feebs about her school/ homework. I want to change the way that our lives seem to be constantly busy. My word last year was Home and I feel like we did a great job at living that word, but there is always room for improvement. I am going to be setting a block on one weekend per month. This weekend will force us to stay home and have down time. The Husband and I are still negotiating terms for this, but he seems on board too. I want to start maintaining our lives more and procrastinating till we have big projects. This won’t go over well with everyone in my house, but I feel like it is a necessary change that we all need to make. I want to change how I am treating my body and overall health. I know I need more movement again and I need to change the way that I continue to remove it from the list of priorities. There are many changes that I need to make and I need to start identifying them.

We are now set and ready to go. 2026 will be here before I know it.

Loves,

M

All the makes- November 2025

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The fall is falling and making room for winter. It is cold and I am cold and I don’t like it. November always sneaks up on me and ends quickly. It is always packed and I often can’t recall what all happened. My finished object game was pretty on point this month. A couple of November’s finished objects won’t be posted until December, after the advent calendar has been emptied. I also have an almost finished sweater that I did a bunch of work on. I have finally started on the hose sleeves and can’t wait for them to be finished. My want to create seems to be coming back and I am all for it.

Finished objects:

The last two teacher’s hats are completed. I knit these using my ribbed beanie pattern holding a strand of fingering weight yarn with a strand of mohair.

Another Skull & Stormy hat by Brienne Moody. I knit one of these for the Husband previously, but even the largest size in the pattern was no match for his big head. I added one extra stitch per pattern repeat. It’s now a little large on him but I am certain that it will felt and shrink with wear.

New cast-ons:

Cambric Shawl

Works in progress:

Shatar vest

Traveler

Goals for next month:

Complete the Traveler

Finish the hose sleeves in time for the Husband to give/send them out before Christmas

Wrap up my end of year projects

Sort and organize my yarn stash

Finish my financial goals for the year

Knitting has been really good lately. I have found a groove and some patterns that I have enjoyed working on. I got a little burned out on ribbed hats, to be honest, but they knit up so quick and easy. I hope the teachers like them, especially the horrible yellow ones. I love working on the Traveler. It is a lot of knitting because the fabric shrinks up, but it is beautiful and I really like the yarn. Of course, it has been discontinued… I think if I push hard, I can finish it before the end of the year and can check “new technique” off of my Bingo card. I also cast on the Cambric Shawl, which is a shawl with a hood. I am a little nervous about size because all of the pictures show it on a child. There is a size for Adult, but no pictures. It is also allowing me to use up one of the balls of Eco +. I swear that yarn is never leaving my stash. Hopefully it turns out good because the thought of having a nice hood to keep my head and ears warm while not having to wear a hat that makes my hair crazy sounds delightful. I want to cast on one more big project this year and use up a sweater’s quantity of yarn. My goal for 2026 is to use up five sweater quantities at least. I want to get started as soon as I finish the Traveler. I am not being precious about it having to be cast on in 2026, as long as it is completed in 2026. It would be crazy if I could finish two sweaters in two months. I am not going to push myself though. I have started stalking Ravelry, looking at both my stash and possible patterns. The hose sleeves are going well. I nearly broke my back hunching over on the floor to cut out the seven 96 inch strips of fabric. My sewing machine did end up going on the fritz (I don’t remember if I mentioned this in October) and I had to take her in for service. That was frustrating. Fortunately, I bought that little baby Janome machine and was able to use that for the Advent gifts. I LOVE how Feebs’s apron came out! I think it is adorable and it came out exactly like I saw it in my mind. That never happens. I can’t wait to see how she likes it. I did a complete 180 on the bookmarks. I dreamed up the idea to make long rectangles that have snaps on them. That way when she is reading her book, she can snap the bookmark around her wrist and not misplace it. I made two with the polka dot fabric and one with the kitty. I am very proud of my advent game this year, not gonna lie. Hopefully, it has inspired me to sew a couple more things this/ next year.

November was a good month and it was really packed. The first weekend we took Feebs to a theater performance of Sponge Bob The Musical which was put on by our local junior college. While Sponge Bob isn’t my jam, the performance was fantastic. The cast did a wonderful job and we all enjoyed ourselves. The next two days were treatment, and that didn’t go as well as I would have liked. It is just another reminder how important it is to hydrate and eat properly before I go. The following weekend we were supposed to spend the weekend with the Father, but Feebs got sick and we had to stay home. We ended up getting ready for our annual Mendocino trip instead. We also had to go buy a new dishwasher, which wasn’t the greatest thing to have to do. The Husband and I both took the Monday off and spent the day running errands until it was time to get Feebs from school. We left for Mendocino the next day. The trip was wonderful, but not without it’s issues. Feebs was super behind at school and we had to dedicate a good chunk of each day doing homework. This wasn’t the best thing for any of us, but it had to be done. Other than that, the trip was a delight. We had a lot of down time and good food. The Husband and I always have a night away, then we give the adult O’s a night away. It works great for all of us. We had our amazing seafood lunch each day and weren’t deterred by the rain. We had our hot tub evenings and the girls got to spend time together. We took our annual pictures- the three of us in the front yard and the girls in front of the fireplace. I think this year’s picture is my favorite so far. The following week was my appointment in Redwood City. I love that doctor and I hope to stay with him for as long as I can. He always gives me such good information and doesn’t make me feel like I am crazy when I talk about my symptoms, treatment, or worries. The following weekend was the dreaded porch painting project. We put it off for as long as we could, but then had to get it done. It ended up spanning two weekends. The Husband and I work in very different ways, but we did work together to get it done. We still have the bonus room trim to paint, but once that is done, the big 2025 house project will be finished. Thanksgiving was the following week. Work was very quiet and the week passed quickly. The Mother was supposed to go to dinner with us on Thanksgiving, but she ended up getting sick and staying home. We still went and had a delightful meal. I am constantly shocked and appalled by the pretentious ass-holes that live in that area and how they treat service industry staff, but… I had made an early reservation so we were done with dinner and I am was in my jammies by 6:30. It was wonderful. The Husband’s cousin came over to hang out after dinner and that was really nice. It has been a long time since we have spent any real time with him and it was nice to catch up. The next day, I went to see Sister #2 and her new house. She had some furniture that she was giving to the Mother and I needed to pick them up from her. It was wonderful to see her new house and hear all of her plans for it. I also got to see bro in law and hear about his adventures. They are very excited about their new chapter. As I already mentioned, the rest of that weekend was about painting. We got it done and have set a calendar reminder to do the porch floors in the spring. It is too cold to do it now. I am completely ready to have that job done and clean off the porch. I want all painting equipment out of my house and put back where it belongs.

I am very grateful that November was a good month. I am grateful for my family and my wonderful friends. I am grateful that we get to go to Mendocino each year and create new memories. I am grateful that I seem to have my knitting mojo back, and even a little spark of sewing. I am grateful to have a job and wonderful coworkers who are like a second family to me. I am grateful to be going into December and to start wrapping up the year. I think there will be some amazing things that happen next month, and I am ready to get on with them.

Loves,

M

All the makes- October 2025

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Another month down. And October is the busiest month of the year and is always packed. We always have something the first week of the month (generally it is Mendocino), then our anniversary, then the back to back train of birthdays, then Halloween. I am always exhausted by November 1. I am happy to report that I have made some stuff this month. I finished some projects, ended some projects, and launched into some new projects. It has been going pretty great and this will be a very long post.

Finished Objects:

Remake socks for Feebs using my vanilla sock pattern. I knit these (for the 3rd time) using the yarn from my old socks and a contrast heel, toe, and cuff.

Ribbed hats for teacher gifts using my self drafted ribbed hat pattern. Technically, I finished one on November 1, but I am just going to call it an October win. The yarn is Yarnalia Marvel held double with Dauruma Silk Mohair.

New cast ons:

The Traveler, by Andrea Mowery

Tonya Leg Warmers, by Victoria Chaplina

Works in progress:

Shatar vest

Knitting my Memories blanket

Advent day 25- apron

Goals for next month:

Finish the Advent gifts- apron and book marks

Sew the sleeve hoses

Cast on a hat for the Husband

Start thinking about 2026 goals.

I am so happy that I finished those socks for Feebs. Weaving in the last end felt like I had climbed a moderately sized mountain. I knit the original socks for me when she was just a bean and I didn’t have my sock formula down yet. I rarely wore them because they were too loose and the cuff was too short. They sat in my closet for a long time. When she saw them and loved them, I thought I needed to remake them in a smaller size. Little did I know how much Princess Thunder-Toes’ feet would grow. Knitting them a second time and finding that they were too small for her completely sucked. I am proud of myself for not just scrapping them. I have knit them a little shy of fitting me. That makes them too big for her now, but I feel confident that they will fit her before too long. The ribbed hat pattern is so easy and goes so quickly. I feel pride every time I knit one, because I figured out the pattern. But, when you have to knit 5 in a row it gets incredibly boring. I am happy they are done and I don’t have to think about them again. I started the apron project, and I think it is turning out so damn cute. I have no idea if it will be too baby for her, but I love the combination of the kitty print and the polka-dots. I know that my sewing machine isn’t appreciating the areas with 6-8 layers of fabric, due to the double layer, plus double fold bias tape. In fact, I had to take old girl apart completely and clean her because the needles kept bending. It turns out that I had broken a needle at some point and the tip was still in the bobbin carriage. It was also filthy, so it was good that it was cleaned out. The instructions say not to oil the machine, but the YouTube video I watched showed the guy oiling it, so who knows. Sadly, I got to the final stages of the apron and my machine just quit. It was starting to eat the fabric, so I had to stop right in the home stretch. It was incredibly frustrating. Luckily, I had found a travel/ kid size Janome sewing machine, still in the box, at Urban Ore a few years ago. I bought it for travel sewing (like I am that dedicated to sewing…) or for Feebs if she got a hankering to learn. I have to take my machine to get fixed, but I will bust out the smaller one to use in hopes of completing my projects before I lose steam. I finally found a couple of knitting projects that 1.) I am excited to knit (hooray!) and 2.) Use up a good chunk of yarn. I cast on the legwarmers using some of the Eco+ yarn that never seems to run out. I hope to use up at least one of the two remaining balls of that yarn. The second project took some serious Ravelry searches. I wanted to use a sweater quantity worth of yarn, and found a gorgeous knitting pattern that uses sport weight yarn. I reviewed the pattern info and it showed sizes XS- XL. I paid $9 for the pattern. I print it out and and go to start highlighting my size info and find that it is only in size XS. Darling, I am not an XS. I have sent a message to the designer, but have had no response. This really pisses me off. That was not a cheap pattern and it was false advertising. I don’t know if I can report her to Ravelry, but I will try. That is crap. So my search for a pattern recommenced. I now wanted to use sport weight yarn and found that there were a lot of The Traveler sweaters made. So, I jumped onto the bandwagon and bought the pattern. I was going to use the Houndstooth Fiber purple yarn for the XS sweater, but I wouldn’t have enough yarn for The Traveler. Instead I decided to use Knitpicks Recycled Alpaca yarn. I bought that yarn for a long cabled poncho with buttons on the side. Once I bought everything for it, I fell out of love with the pattern and shelved it. I am hopeful that this pattern will use up the bulk of the yarn. I don’t know if you noticed, but I no longer have the Kaylen Mesh Shawl under Works in Progress. I didn’t make the deadline of Sister #3’s birthday and the more I thought about it, the less I thought she would want another shawl. That woman owns every piece of clothing she has ever had and a million and six accessories. I finally sat down and ripped it out. It just didn’t make sense to keep going with it. I am also pondering ripping out Knitting my Memories and starting over with a different design. I am still very much considering adding a light neutral color and knitting hexipuffs. I like the idea of them and I think the design could come out really freaking cute. I could do it like Retro Claude and make groups of flowers to attach. I could also wait and finish all of the hexies and arrange them in a way to get a cool faded striping pattern. I don’t want to spend a $1m dollars on contrast yarn, and I am not having much luck finding cones of natural color superwash yarn. I may wait till closer to Christmas and check out the Knitpicks holiday sales. Another cool thing that happened is I found a ton of t-shirt yarn at a craft thrift store in Berkeley. I really want to make a crocheted handbag like I saw Amazing-ish Grace make for her friend’s birthday (Loose Ends Triangle Tote, though I accidently bought the Dusk Bag). I am not great at crochet, but I would like to give it a try. I probably bought enough yarn to make 12 bags, but… Oh well. I have never done something like this before and I don’t want to run the risk of running out. I won’t let myself start on it until after all Christmas making is complete.

October was it’s usual brand of craziness. We generally start the month out with our Mendocino trip, but we had to mix it up this year due to conflicting schedules and as it turns out, a family wedding. The wedding was in Sonora and wow, was that a chaotic trip. We left after work on Friday and headed up. We ended up staying at the modern day Bates Motel with a plethora of problems. We didn’t eat or drink enough the entire weekend (oh, did I end up paying for that!). And the weirdest thing happened to me emotionally. I loved Sonora when the Parents lived there. I had dreams of getting a job at the prison and moving up there and buying a little cottage in the woods. When I found out that the wedding was happening there, I was so excited. Fast forward to actually being up there, and I got absolutely bitch-slapped with sadness. It was crazy! As we drove around the town, I remembered where I was when they lived there, where they were when we lived there and all of the unhappy memories came down on me like an avalanche. I had not anticipated feeling like this AT ALL and didn’t know how to process it. The weekend was pretty crazy and I couldn’t wait to go home. The wedding was lovely, though. The following week was treatment. Due to the aforementioned malnourishment and dehydration, the nurses could not find a viable vein on either day. I had a total of six IVs over the two days. It sucked. I will NOT make that mistake again. Then I took the Mother to a throat specialist and I got to see the inner-workings of her esophagus, which was pretty cool. The following day I went to Reb Bluff to see the red-headed badass and help her for the weekend. The Female O came up on the Friday and we got a lot done around the house. It is so great to see my girls thriving. The following weekend was the Husband’s birthday celebration weekend. We spent Saturday frolicking and enjoying him. We went to breakfast with Feebs and the Mother, then they went to her house for a sleepover. The Husband and I went to Mare Island and then to Santa Rosa. Little did I know at the time, but I ended up leaving my prescription glasses at the restaurant in Santa Rosa. I realized it when I went to use them on Monday and they were no where to be seen. I can’t remember all that happened, but that week was incredibly Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events. It was crazy. That Friday we ended up back in Santa Rosa so that I could pick up my glasses. Ridiculous. After that, I went to have sleep over with the Mother for her birthday. We spent all day Saturday together, plotting out her kitchen. Then we went to Horatio’s, which I hadn’t been to since Grandpa was alive. It was still very good, and I will take the Husband on our next date night. The last week of the month was spirit week at work. We did stripes on Monday, onesies on Tuesday, denim on Wednesday, red carpet on Thursday, and Halloween on Friday. It was so fun and I was really happy with how many people participated. For Halloween, my group were the characters from Inside Out. Naturally, I was Disgust. She is the role I was born to play.

The month was busy, but still very good. I am grateful that I got to celebrate another wedding anniversary (13), another year for the Husband, and another year for the Mother. There was a lot of time spent with my favorite people and that always makes me happy. Work was really busy, but feel like I am starting to get a lot done again. I am not nearly as foggy as I was even three months ago. I am grateful that my health seems to have stabilized. I am grateful for the people that I love. I am excited to see what the end of the year has in store for us.

Loves,

M

All the makes- September 2025

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I must say, it was a good month. There was nothing earth shattering, but nothing dire happened either. I did some knitting and some relaxing. Some family time and some party time. I have to say, it was one of the most chill months I have had in a while. I will happily accept more of those.

Finished objects:

Ribbed teacher hats using my self-drafted hat pattern. I used the three one of a kind Madeline Tosh/ Jimmy Bean Yarns collaboration yarns. They were simply lovely to work with and I am low-key sad that I don’t have any more.

New cast ons:

Another ribbed teacher hat

Works in progress:

Shatar Vest:

Re-make socks for Feebs

Kaylen Mesh shawl

Knitting my memories blanket

Goals for next month:

Finish the teacher hats

Work on the hose sleeves

Figure out Feebs’s advent gifts

Identify any other Christmas knitting needs

Figure out Mendo knitting

I didn’t blaze knitting trails this month. I didn’t get all of my to-dos done. I did make a start though. I had planned to use the assortment of hat patterns that are in my Ravelry Library to knit the teacher hats. After review, the hats are all rather feminine and they may not be as usable for the male PE teacher. I decided to knit the ribbed hat pattern that I used for the Husband. It worked out great. I decided that since I don’t know these teachers, and ribbed fabric is more forgiving, I would knit them all using that pattern. Feebs went rogue and has asked that I used yarn that matches the color of each teacher’s “house.” So we have the PE teacher with no official house, so his is green, the core teacher who’s in ruby (red), and the math teacher is in emerald (teal green). I had the yarn in stash for them. The science teacher and the communication teacher are both in the house of citrine (yellow) and I was fairly shocked to find that I own absolutely no yellow yarn. So now I have to buy yarn, which kind of hurts my feelings. I will purchase that next month and knit them up so that I am officially done with teacher stuff. She also asked that I knit a hat for her school counselor. I had already knit the Alpine Bloom Hat as a future gift and she really wants to give her that one. Easier for me! I started looking for my notes on the hose sleeves, and I have no idea where I wrote everything down. It is kind of pissing me off. The sewing will be cake, but I need the dimensions. Yes, it’s not hard to figure out, but I had already figured it all out. I don’t want to do it again! My brain is lame sometimes. I think I also figured out what to make for Feebs’s advent- an apron. I have to look for patterns before I fully decide. I still haven’t figured out a happy knit yet. I found a gorgeous pattern and pulled everything out to knit and and immediately fell out of love with it. It is all still in a bag, sitting in time out. Again, my brain is so lame sometimes.

The first week of the month started with a holiday, which is always nice. The only bad thing is that it throws me off for the week, trying to figure out what day it is. I got to see the little cousin before she left for her Japan adventure, which was really nice. I am so excited for her and I hope that everything is as she hopes it will be. Sister #2’s birthday was that week, and we got together to celebrate. We met at our usual half-way spot. Fenton’s no longer sells potato skins, and I am afraid they are now dead to me- food wise. I will still go there for the amazing ice cream, but I will eat food elsewhere. The absolute nerve! We still had a wonderful time together. I wish we lived closer to one another. That next week was my infusion. It went well, all things considered. I did end up feeling like poo toward the end of the week, but that seems to be the norm now. Considering where I was this time last year, I will gladly take a day of feeling crappy. That weekend was completely free, and oh my god, Becky! It was so nice. I had a lovely dinner night with the female Mc. We decided that we will try to do it again with all four girls. We also had a nice chill adventure day with beverages, snacks, and the 3001 Would you Rather book. I love those days for us. The only sad thing was that my car needed it’s 60k mile service, and that was not cheap. However, I went to my favorite craft thrift store and found the most fabulous t-shirt yarn. I have really wanted to try to make the purse that Amazing-ish Grace made for her friend and have been looking at the yarn for it. I was floored to find it for 1/4 the price at the shop. I won’t let myself start it until the Christmas hats are done. The following week, we had pizza night with the Mc family, which was a lot of fun. Their house project is finished, and the kids pretty much made use of the new rooms and left the adults alone. The next day we headed up to EDH for the youngest O’s 11th birthday party. We met at a brewery and then went to a concert in the park. I was fairly wired that day, so the noise and crowd didn’t go great, but we survived. The next day was the party and the kids had a lot of fun. I can’t believe how old the girls are getting. I think I say that every year… That week at work was Big Ed’s retirement party. It is crazy that he will no longer be a part of my team. He is well loved by everyone and will leave a large vacancy. The party was a lot of chaos, but ended up fine. The party fell on Annie’s birthday, so we postponed her celebration till Friday. We went for dinner at the good Mexican restaurant where I got two blackberry margaritas (they are sooo good). It was a really fun night. I love getting together with fun work people outside of work. The three of us also got our flu and covid vaccines that day. The Husband had a reaction, but Feebs and I were just fine. The Mother and I spent the day together, which was really nice. We went to lunch and shopping. Shopping isn’t really my thing, but it made her happy. I needed shoes for the upcoming orchard wedding so I got that taken care of. The last few days of the month were very uneventful.

So all in all, the month was really good. I got to catch up with friends and see my sister. I got to spend time with the Mother. I am so grateful that my health has completely turned around since last year. I can’t swear that I fully trust my body again, but I am working on it. I am so grateful that we had some down time and could spend time relaxing this month. We all needed it. I am grateful for my amazing family and support system. Next month is going to be very hectic, but it will be filled with good things.

Loves,

M

Doctor Who Scarf (Tom Baker)

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The Doctor Who Scarf is finally done. Good lord, it’s done. I can’t believe that I have crossed that absolute bastard scarf off of my to-do list. I can’t tell you why that scarf caused such a visceral reaction in me, but it did. I almost wept with joy when I bound off the last stitch.

This is the Doctor Who Scarf (Tom Baker) published by the BBC sometime between 1963 and 1989. The Husband has been asking for this scarf for about eight years. I put the pattern into my Ravelry library in 2017. I decided this year that I would knit this scarf for him for Father’s Day. I followed the yarn recommendations (though they were incredibly vague) and ordered over $300 in yarn of varying colors and brands, trying to pick the best match against the pictures that I could find online. I was a mix of PaintBox Aran weight, Ella Rae Aran weight, and Cascade 220 worsted weight yarns. There were seven different colors in this scarf. The recommended amount of yarn was incredibly over estimated and I have a ton of yarn left over.

What went wrong? Technically nothing. Knitting this scarf was simplicity itself. It is 70 stitches wide and knit completely in garter stitch. The most complicated thing was remembering to slip the first stitch. It was knit with thicker yarn and on size 10 needles. This should have been an absolute breeze that knit up super quick. Here are some facts about Mrs. Collins: 1. I do not love garter stitch, neither the knitting nor the resulting fabric (generally). 2. I am symmetrical to a fault. Things without symmetry make my eye twitch and my soul scowl. I do not like them at all. 3. I think I have a mild affliction of either carpal tunnel or tennis elbow or both in both arms. This generally doesn’t bother me much unless I knit too much too fast for a long period of time (especially when using larger or very small needles). So when you combine a 7-foot long garter stitch scarf in horrible colors with no symmetry in the pattern with large needles and knitting a lot, very fast, to try to get the project over with= you get the perfect storm of a shitty project. Add to the fact that I had to weave in 1.6 million ends for each color change. My elbows are still hurting, and my eye still periodically twitches when I have flashbacks of the erratic striping pattern.

What went right? Everything else. He loves the scarf! He thinks it is the bee’s knees and he is so happy to have it. It is finished and it is everything he wanted it to be. I am very happy that it is finished and that I can check that long ago stashed pattern off of my to-do list. I am proud of the fact that I set a goal to finish it, and while it wasn’t exactly on time, I did get it to him within a reasonable timeframe. I set the goal of Father’s Day and finished it within a month of that date. I did have to take some breaks due to the elbow pain.

In conclusion: I am so happy this is done. I can’t ever imagine him wearing it outside of maybe 15 minutes at a convention. It is too thick, heavy, and warm. He is not petite and he has no problem warming up. But he will have it and the associated bragging rights that come with it. I cannot see any scenario where I will knit another one of these scarves. I can’t even think of a reasonable price that I would charge to knit another one. One and done, as they say.

Loves,

M

All the makes- August 2025

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Okay, this is more reasonable. I posted July way after the fact and was really considering just doing a combo post for July and August, but it helps my little brain to have them separated. August was a recovery month for me. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it was packed full of stuff. But, it was less mentally taxing. I knit some charity hats and got rid of some of the nasty leftover colors from Doctor Who, I started perusing Ravelry for my next happy knit, and I am mentally gearing myself up to tackle the abandoned sewing projects from last year. So it was a pretty successful month, all in all.

Finished objects:

Charity hats using either the 80, 90, or 100 stitch vanilla hat pattern. I used up the Paintbox Aran yarns left over from Doctor Who and one of the balls of KnitPicks Wool of the Andes leftover from the Betty Cardigan. I want to use all of that yarn up and get it out of my stash. I believe I have two hats worth until it is finally gone.

Works in progress:

Shatar Vest

Kaylen Mesh Shawl

Re-knit socks for Feebs

Goals for next month:

Cast on a new happy knit with gorgeous yarn

Figure out and use the new budgeting app

Start sewing the Christmas gifts

Start knitting Christmas gifts

Well it wasn’t glamorous, but it was satisfying to knit eight charity hats last month. I got to use up yarn that did NOT spark joy and I got to check off some boxes on the Bingo card. I plan to mix it up and do more than just vanilla charity hats, but I had a goal to get those yarns out of my stash and it was the fastest way to accomplish that. I have another one on the needles and want to finish it and use up the rest of the green KnitPicks yarn. That color looks like death on me, and it really needs to find a new home. I really, really want to find a happy knit. I think I am ready to find a new sweater pattern and get started. I want something that will take some time and make me slow down. I also want to use up a sweater’s quantity of yarn that is in my stash. My goodness, I have some gorgeous yarn. I made a hobby of collecting beautiful yarn for a long time. Then I hit my knitting dry spell last year and now I am no longer buying yarn, but I not really knitting with what I have either. I need to get my knitting mojo back for real. I also need to get out my circular sock machine again and give it another try. I tried to learn it at the worst possible time, when my brain was completely attacking me. I got frustrated and just packed it away. I think it will soon be time to pull it out and give it another go. I would love to use up some of my sock yarn and what better way than to be able to crank out tubes? I also need to re-commit to sewing the CPAP hose sleeves that the Husband asked me to make for his friends last Christmas. I got a pass because I was barely hanging on by a thread, physically and mentally last year. I don’t have the same excuse this year. And I want to start on them on my own and not make the Husband bring it up. I want to do this for him. I bought all of the stuff last year, so I just need to sit down and figure out the very simple math and get them sewn up. I will start a separate post about them so that I can track what I need and what I do. This should help me if I have to take a break or if I want to make more in the future. I have three months till Christmas, so it is plenty of time to get my shit together. I also need to assess what, if any, Christmas knitting I need to do. I will need to knit an Advent hat for Feebs. I will knit hats for the teachers. Hm, this may need to be a Christmas knitting post too. That way I hold myself accountable for what I need to do. Transparency, and all, ya know… I think possibly a new Dream Knitting post, too. Actually, I need more completed to-dos and less dreams right now.

August was equal parts happy and sad. I don’t know where summer vacation went or how the hell the new school year came so fast. But, I am getting ahead of myself. The month started with the big family barbeque. This may be the last year that Sister #2 hosts it. They are working toward selling their house and downsizing. If the spouse gets his way it will have no pool and a postage stamp sized yard with no maintenance. That will be the end of an era and so I cancelled our trip to Yosemite so that we could go. It was a good time, all in all. I had a lot of anxiety about going, since my sibs are all on my shit-list. I was worried that one of them would say something to set me off and I would turn feral. Luckily, that didn’t happen. Feebs had a wonderful time with her cousins and the pool. I can’t believe how old all of my rental-children are getting. They are all becoming adults and starting their lives. It is beautiful to watch, but it is bittersweet too. That week was the first day of 6th grade. Holy crap, how are we already in middle school? How is my baby already heading into this next chapter? We went back to school shopping, for real, for the first time the previous week. The Mother went with us and we had lunch and made a big fuss over it. It is so fun to see Feebs start to develop her own personality and style. I wouldn’t usually do such a big shopping spree, but we had been holding out on getting her new clothes to replace the ones that she had finally outgrown and worn out. Seriously, almost everything was passed down to the cousin and we had to start from scratch. We even got new shoes to replace the ones that were trashed and just starting to get to too small. It was like getting there with my little girl, and leaving with a young woman in training. She was so excited to have her new things and to get to feel “very Junior High” (direct quote). She picked out a cute new outfit and headed off to her first day with confidence, and lipstick. She looked adorable and happy. Side rant, we ended up having to buy her a rolling backpack because there are no lockers at her school. She has to take everything with her to school each day. Her backpack weighs 22 lbs.!!! She only weighs 75 lbs. I am appalled that they don’t have lockers for the kids. Not even PE lockers that they can keep their gym stuff in. Complete garbage! That weekend we had the big/ little cousin over. This will probably be her last visit with us before she leaves for her year in Japan. We took her to the Benicia Peddler’s Faire. We had never been before, and it was really cute. It was pretty hot and the parking SUUUUCKED, but it was fun to walk around and look at everything. It was also nice to walk through main street Benicia. I haven’t spent any real time there in almost two decades. The rest of her visit was very chill. I am always boggled that she wants to come stay with us, we are so boring. The following week was back to school night. I got to meet her teachers and see her classrooms. I wonder if my middle school was as small as hers. It seemed huge to me at the time. I wonder if it would still seem as big to me now. I had treatment that Monday and Tuesday. Nothing super exciting, but I didn’t remember to hydrate properly that week and ended up horribly sick on Thursday. Note to self- hydration that week is a MUST. If you don’t, you will pay dearly for it. That weekend I took Feebs and the Husband to get pedicures. I don’t like having my feet messed with, but my nail guru opened his own shop and I wanted to support him. And they love their daddy and daughter pedicure dates. Feebs had picture day that week, and oh my God, she looked adorable. Thank goodness they did pictures in PE class and hers is 1st period. She wore lipstick and had her hair done up. She looks ridiculously grown, but so pretty. I am happy to report that we did absolutely nothing that next weekend. It was glorious. I took naps, sat and doom scrolled and knit. The Husband and Feebs chilled. It was spectacular. We probably won’t have another weekend like that any time soon, so we enjoyed the hell out of it while we could. The following weekend Feebs and I went to spend time with the Father. It was a really nice visit. We tried a new restaurant and played games. We had dinner with his other. She is a delightful person, but I stand by my confusion of why she stays with him. He really is a terrible boyfriend. Oh well, her choice. That was also a three day weekend, so we got an extra day to relax and decompress. I can’t tell you how much I needed that extra day. I can’t remember exactly when it came up, but at some point during the month, Abs and I got talking about terrible books and wonderful books. We came up with the idea to create a list (of course I suggested a spreadsheet) to document the books that we have read and give them a review. So I created a spreadsheet and shared it with her. I have been having SO MUCH FUN entering books, both from past reading and recent reads. We are commenting on spice level (because of course they are all smut of varying degrees), character and story development, how the narrators are since we are both mostly audiobook girlies, and if we would re-read them. I have also added Sister #2 to the sheet so that she can contribute. I am hoping that Abs shares it with her friends too.

The month was really a good one. I am grateful that my girl is onto a new chapter of her life, and so far is mostly liking it. (Of course homework issues still plague us.) I am grateful that my family was able to get together and enjoy each other. I am grateful that all of my nieces and nephews are doing well and becoming pretty cool people. I am grateful that I have my husband and daughter and they make up my whole heart. I am grateful that my health issues seem to be behind me right now. I know that doesn’t mean they will be gone forever, but I can bask in the wellness that I am experiencing right now.

Here is the updated Bingo card. I am sooo close to my first bingo!

Loves,

M

All the makes- July 2025

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Well crap. Here we are in mid-September and I am just posting July. There is no excuse for this delay, it’s strictly a matter of “I don’t wanna”. I couldn’t get the oomph needed to detail my July making and shenanigans. July was good, I got stuff done. It was productive and had some great highlights. AND a finished object! Whoop, whoop!

Finished objects:

Doctor Who Scarf (Tom Baker) by BBC Enterprises. Thank God it’s done! I knit this using a mix of Painbox, Ella Rae, and Cascade yarns. It used a lot of yarn, but not even close to how much I ordered per the directions. There is going to be a separate post for this, so I won’t go too far into the details.

New cast ons:

Charity hats

Works in progress:

Shatar Vest

Kaylen Mesh Scarf

Re-knit socks for Feebs

Goals for next month:

Use up the extra yarn from Doctor Who scarf to knit charity hats (I actually did set this goal in July)

Set up the new budgeting app

I finished the beastly Doctor Who Scarf! I didn’t meet the Father’s Day deadline, as I had originally hoped, but it is done and the Husband is now in possession. At the risk of being redundant, I hated working on this and my elbows still haven’t forgiven me. The Husband is thrilled, though, so that is all that matters. It really felt good to complete it and mark it off of the list. That is my second big intentional gift knit this year (I’m looking at you, Calliope). I am still dragging my feet on finishing the Kaylen Mesh Shawl. I just don’t want to work on it… It’s terrible. I really like the yarn, I think it will be beautiful when completed, but I just do not want to work on it. I had to put Feebs’s socks on hold due to the elbow pain. Working on the smaller needles make it worse. I have time though, since she is barefoot or short socks all summer. I am wanting to cast on a project that makes me happy. I have no idea what that is. I will bust out some charity hats then start trolling Ravelry for ideas.

July was really good. It started with an appointment with my neuro doc. I have more information about my treatment and future goals. Apparently I will have it monthly for at least the first year, then will continue on it, possibly more spread out, for 3- 5 years. So far it is going really well and my labs are looking good. No breakthrough symptoms, so she is happy with that. We celebrated the 4th with the parade as usual, with the FH bestie. We got to go the Ladies’s house for a barbeque and swimming after the parade. We watched the fireworks from Feebs’s window, like we always do. It was so much easier to do that this year, since she was staying home by herself this summer. It allowed her to stay up and watch them and not have to get up early the next day. That weekend we went to the Father’s for a game day and visiting. That Sunday my trainer friend was in SF so I went out there to spend the day with her. I really wish she lived closer so we could spend more time together. I can’t remember the last time I walked around the city with no agenda. It was a good day. That next week was Feebs’s birthday. My baby is 11. I was not okay. She is growing up so fast and is changing every day. The Father came down for the day and we all went to dinner, the Mother included. She had a great birthday. That weekend was her party and the O’s came down for the weekend. It was a whole different vibe and I think we all really enjoyed the visit. The party was good, but holy Jesus, it was expensive. I can’t believe how much we paid for two hours at a kid’s activity center. Ridiculous! My anxiety was pretty high due to a larger social gathering. I was pretty worn out after. The female O stayed a few more days so that she could take me to my treatment appointments, since the mother still wasn’t up for driving. Feebs stayed with the Mother and the Husband was at work. It was so cool having her here and not having to be distracted by kids and husbands all the time. The following weekend we took Feebs to her first ArnoCorps show. I think it was a lot for her to take in, but I think she still had a good time. We marked up her face and she got to rock out. I didn’t get to be in the front of the stage, like I usually do, but it was worth it to see her interact with live music. The following weekend was the bassist’s birthday party. I was reminded of two things, very quickly: 1. I really hate large social events 2. I am so incredibly uncool. I had a lot of anxiety the whole time. These were all cool band people and other types of creatives. I am not one of those people. I kind of sat there and tried to blend into the wallpaper. At the end of the night, I was completely drained. The Husband had a great time, which was the whole point. The last week of the month was the 6th grade walk through at Feebs’s new middle school. I am so glad that the school hosted that event. It allows the kids to get their schedule and figure out where their classes are and where everything is. I hope this will make them more comfortable when the first day of school gets there. Feebs is nervous, but really seems to have a good attitude about taking on this new challenge. (Unfortunately, the sub-par teacher we had in 5th grade will be her 6th grade core teacher. At least Feebs is excited about it.)

That was July. I am sure that more things happened, and good things at that, but I am not recalling them right now. I am so grateful that I got good news medically. I am grateful that my baby got to celebrate another year. I am grateful for all of the people that I love and the roles we get to play in each other’s lives.

Loves,

M

All the makes- June 2025

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I have to say, June wasn’t too bad. There was enough craziness to keep it interesting, but also some down-time. There was time for some knitting, and hallelujah, there are finally some completed projects. I did some reprioritizing and some trips to the frog pond. I have some new goals in place and should have more finished projects soon.

Finished objects:

Re-set Socks knit in a couple Regia yarns. These are basic vanilla socks that I knit for Feebs. I knit them with a 7 inch foot, so hopefully they will still fit her by winter. I have no idea how I screwed up the grafting of the after-thought heel so bad. It has a purl line instead of a smooth knit. Feebs doesn’t wear her handknit socks in shoes, so it shouldn’t bother her too much.

The Alpine Bloom hat by Caitlin Hunter. This has it’s own post, but let me suffice it to say, she was exactly what I needed. This hat was a pallet cleanser and a quick squish knit. I have put it in the gift box, since they aren’t really my colors. This should come in handy for any school or work gifts.

New cast-on:

Re-knit socks for Feebs (new addition)

Works in progress:

Shatar Vest

Knitting My Memories blanket

Kaylen Mesh Scarf

Doctor Who Scarf (Tom Baker)

Goals for next month:

Finish Doctor Who Scarf (Tom Baker)

Work on Kaylen Mesh scarf

Get more daily physical activity

Practice more mindfullness

I have finished projects! Hooray! Weaving in the last end of the Alpine Bloom was so incredibly cathartic. It may just be a single hat that generally takes me a day to complete, but it was the first happy thing that I had completed in so long. I was able to use up some yarn that I wanted out of my stash, and it was such a pleasant knit. I think I will pull out another small skein and use of the rest of the Urth yarn, once Doctor Who is completed. When I got the contrast yarn that I needed for the Reset Socks, I decided to knit them for Feebs instead of me. Since her feet want to grow an inch per day, I knit them with a 7-inch foot. They are too big for her right now, but that will give her some time with them. I am so happy that I wrote the post about the frog pond. That forced me to really evaluate my projects and determine their fate. I did rip out the Highlights Tunic (that was so painful), the Gingerbraid, the vanilla socks, and the Re-make Socks for Feebs. I think this is the second project that I have ripped out using the Berroco Summer Sesame (Highlights Tunic), and probably the third or forth rip out of the Cascade Eco+ (Gingerbraid). I am tempted to just use up the Eco+ on bulky charity hats. I can’t seem to find a good pairing for it in garment form. Plus it just pills so easily… I will put the Berroco Sesame and the man colored Regia away for a future use. I intend to cast on the Re-knit Socks for Feebs shortly, adding contrast toe, heels, and cuff. That should stretch out the recycled sock yarn. Sitting here writing this, I am pondering if I have more of it wound up for my Knitting My Memories blanket. I may have to investigate that once I use up what I have. Feebs told me that she wants high socks, so I may need to either look for more yarn or figure out a striping situation with the contrast color. The striping would be really cute, actually. I really want to finish Doctor Who. I love the Husband so very much, but I hate this scarf with a passionate passion, not found in nature. Everything about it makes my eye twitch. Therefore, I will be making a completion chart and figuring out a way to get it done by the end of July. After that is complete, I need to buckle down and complete the Kaylen Mesh Scarf. I have time till Sister #3’s birthday, but I want to get it done and off of my mind. Between the two projects, I may need to cast on a cheeky little project to keep my inner-knitting gods happy.

The first week of June was pretty busy. I brought the Mother home from the hospital that week. The Auntie came and spent the week helping her. The following week I had lunch with the work ladies, and then Father’s Day was that weekend. I’ve been going to the Mother’s daily to change her bandaging and check her surgical drain, so it was looking like we were going to have to postpone the celebrations. But it all turned out good. On Saturday, I was needing some time with my people, so we got in the car and headed over the hill to Berkeley. We stopped at Barnes & Noble to pick up a copy of “3001 Would You Rather” book, and then we headed to a local brewery, Fieldworks. We sat and read off Would You Rathers for a solid two hours. We had snacks and the Husband and I had drinks (they had a tart cherry cider slushie that was a complete delight). The three of us had a fabulous time. No one was on their phone, no one was tuned out. We sat and enjoyed each other’s company and the way that our minds worked. It cracks me up how alike Feebs and the Husband are, sometimes. They both quantify the hell out of me. Oh, and we did a little side quest to Urban Ore and holy crap! They had a set of Knitter’s Pride interchangeable wooden needles for $65. They were in perfect condition and I was thrilled to find them. The following day was Father’s Day. The Husband decided to go to Pacifica for Gorilla BBQ. He wanted to go for a bike ride too, so we loaded up the truck and headed out. We stopped and got his food, then headed to Sam’s for lobster rolls for Feebs and me. I need to remember that their on-line ordering/ pick up situation is amazing. We took our food to the Pacifica Pier, and the Husband got to say hi to his dad (since that is where we spread his ashes). After we ate, we decided to ride along the bike path next to ocean. It was slightly chaotic, and Feebs got very nervous riding around people (honestly, so did I), but we still had a great time. We drove back toward home and stopped in the city to see if the Husband could find a beer called “Dill and Ted”, which is a dill pickle brewed beer. He had read that Fieldworks had brewed it and this place stocked it. Unfortunately, they had already sold out. He did end up finding it later in the month and he made dill pickle micheladas, which were incredible. After that we headed home and relaxed for the rest of the day. The following week was my infusion appointments. They were rather uneventful, which was very nice. That week was also Juneteenth, so we had a lot of time together. I only worked Wednesday and Friday. The weekend was very chill. The next Monday, I got to see Sister #2 for a quick visit/ dinner since she came down to take the Mother to one of her local appointments. I am still the lucky one that get’s to take her to all of her city appointments. That Friday was a Ladies Night. I got to see my Golden Girls (virtually). My soul needed that. Things are moving along for Abs, but they are neither easy nor painless. She makes me awed at her strength and positivity, even when her world is falling down around her. There were a couple of drain appointments in there for the Mother, but other than that, the month ended uneventfully.

I am so grateful for my little family, both my unit and my chosen family. They are what keep me going. I am so grateful that the Mother is healing so well and that she is doing way better than I thought she would. Work is still challenging, but I am so happy to have a job and be able to afford my life. I am happy beyond belief that the first stage of the house project is done (so are the kitties!). It took a while to gain the momentum to do it, but now it’s done and it should never have to be done again, at least not by us. I am happy that June was a kind month. Next month will mark one year of my life being turned upside down. I am looking forward to July 16. I have decided that is the day that everything changes and I can let go of all of the chaos of the last year. It will be here before I know it.

Loves,

M

Frog Pond

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Hello darling. At some point I fell in love with the idea of having WIPs that I could work
on as I got the urge. I am always drawn to podcasts that are about WIP round ups and
whether the maker will finish or frog them. I get a huge adrenaline rush when I pull out
a project that has been languishing for a while and finally knock it out. So, here is my
version of “To frog, or not to frog?”.

At present, I have 9 WIPs on my Ravelry projects page.

In order from oldest to newest:

1. Knitting my Memories blanket- this is a self-created chevron pattern to use up my
scrap sock yarn. I began using a single strand of sock yarn. I work on this when
the mood strikes me, which is very infrequent. I have flirted with starting over
and double stranding with a neutral fingering weight yarn to add uniformity and
so that it knits up quicker. I intend to continue working on this blanket and will
make the decision about restarting with a new yarn the next time I pull it out.
KEEP!

2. Shatar top- this is a colorwork pattern knit in light fingering weight yarn. I love the
colors that I selected, and I think I will wear the garment (in cooler months) when
it’s finished. The last time I pulled it out I was having issues with hand pain and
the color work made it worse. I honestly think that once I buckle down and work
on it, that it will be a relatively quick knit. The color work pattern is memorable
and can be visually tracked easily. I may try working out a completion chart when I am ready to work on this again. KEEP!

3. Highlights Tunic dress- I started this dress as the pattern was written, but let’s be
real: I HATE bobbles. They look like skin tags, and they are just not my thing. I
ripped it out and altered the pattern intending to sew pearl beads where the
bobbles should have been. I think I messed up on the lace pattern and had to rip
it out once or twice. I made another mistake and instead of working on the top
of the dress, as the pattern called for, I flipped it and made it the skirt. When I
started to knit the top portion, I made so many mistakes and alterations. I got very frustrated and ended up putting it in a time out through the winter. I pulled it
out recently and realized that I did not notate any of the adjustments that I
made to the back portion of the dress and I have no idea what I need to edit on
the front. As I look at the fabric being made, I realize that I really don’t like how it looks, and I am not certain that the beads will make it any
better. I considered ripping out the top portion and keeping it as a skirt, but I
really just don’t like the pattern adjustments. I took it too far out of look of the
original pattern and now I am not happy with it. I still really love the original pattern, and I may consider trying it again with a different yarn and ideas on bobble substitutes. FROG!

4. Kaylen Mesh Scarf- this is a gift knit for Sister #3. This was supposed to be her
50th birthday gift. Her birthday was last October. Holy Jesus, I need to finish this
and give it to her! I have absolutely no excuse for this, other than I simply don’t
want to work on it. My plan now is to give it to her for her 51st birthday, which is
just pitiful. This will really need a completion chart. KEEP AND FINISH!

5. Gingerbraid- this was an idea to finally use up some of the Eco+ wool from my
first failed attempt at the Dude Sweater. I still have it in black and natural, and I
still have no idea what to knit with it. I really loved the pattern and thought it
would be a great pairing. I started it when my brain was still pretty mush from my
old meds. I was stuck right away and only completed the ribbed band and the
first row of the pattern before putting it in time out. I still think the pattern is great,
but a.) I don’t know how often I will wear a sleeveless sweater and b.) that yarn
pills like crazy after wearing the garment twice. Because it is cabled, it will make shaving
it difficult and the fabric will look sloppy very quickly. I need a spinning friend who
could spin the yarn tighter for me (if that is even a thing) so that it pills less. I
may consider reknitting this at some point and possibly gifting it but now is not
the time. FROG!

6. Re-make Socks for Feebs- these are the socks that I started for Feebs, knit out
of the socks that were too big for me. I thought these socks would be an easy
and quick upcycle project and that she would have some new socks before the
weather warmed up. Then her feet decided that it just wasn’t going to happen, and
they had nerve to grow an inch and a half in about two months. The socks were
already snug by the time that I got to the cuff. Since I had knit the heels in, there
was no going back. I was considering cutting off the toe and knitting a long
contrast toe to lengthen them. Unfortunately, by the time it would warm up
enough for her to want wool socks, even with a longer toe, they will be too small.
I know that she still really loves the yarn, so I think I will rip them out, and start
over with a contrast toe, knit the foot and then stop until the fall and remeasure
her feet to see where the (contrast) heel should go. That will allow me to use
more of the main sock yarn for length and then I can add in an additional inch or
two in hopes of the socks lasting through next cold season. FROG AND
RESTART!

7. Doctor Who Scarf (Tom Baker)- this is a gift knit for the Husband. It is unofficially
his Father’s Day gift. I hate everything about this knit. 1.) it is a 1.5 ft x 7 ft long
garter stitch scarf, 2.) it is knit in the most horrible colors, 3.) the striping pattern
has absolutely no symmetry and creates a ton of loose ends to weave in, 4.) it
is knit on size 9 needles, and they are killing my hands. What’s not to love?
Unfortunately, I really love the Husband, and he really wants this scarf. To the point that he has even started to watch that season of Doctor Who in anticipation of getting his new scarf. This will really need a completion chart, and I will have to stick with it so that he can have this damn scarf sooner rather than later. KEEP AND FINISH!

8. Reset Socks- because I was really starting to build up my WIPs, but was finishing
absolutely nothing, I was feeling the need for a quick win and cast on a pair of
vanilla socks in a fun rainbow striped yarn. I cast on 60 stitch socks and
intended them to be mine. They seemed very tight to me, and since Feebs won’t
be getting her re-make socks any time soon, I decided to make them for her
instead. I didn’t knit in heels because of the great growing feet debacle and
realized that I have no thicker weight sock yarn for the contrast heel and cuff. I
had to put these aside and order another ball of solid colored Regia to use. I
have just started to work on them again. I think I will cut the heel in at 7”, just to
be safe. That should allow her to grow into them, possibly even into the following
winter. KEEP!

9. Vanilla socks- I cast this sock on because I needed something to work on while
the Mother was in surgery, and I didn’t have the contrast yarn that I needed to
work on the Reset Socks. I grabbed a pair of needles, but they were 2.75mm,
instead of the 2.25mm that I usually use on my socks. I haphazardly grabbed a
ball of Regia yarn and knitted one sock all the way up to the lower ankle,
including the heel. These were going to be for me, but the fabric is just too loose,
and I don’t think I will want to wear them once they are done. In addition, I think I
bought this yarn with the Husband or Father in mind. FROG!

Now that I have done the thing and documented what I am going to do with each WIP, now I have to do the thing and either finish or frog them. I honestly think I need to finish the Kaylen Mesh Scarf first, just to get that done and ready to gift. I really want to finish my Reset Socks so that I can just be done with them. I also want to be done with the Doctor Who Scarf so that I never have to work on it again. Seriously, girl, I am ready to take these on and get them done. I also need to bust out the ball-winder and start to rip-it, rip-it, rip-it. I have my plan, now I need to execute!

Loves,

M