Day 6: O Beautiful For Spacious Skies

Day 6—Fourth of July! And Sunday Mass!

(Previous installments: Day one, day two, day three, day four, day five) (and, signed books. On sale!)

Seeing Patty in the morning is a great way to wake up, guys. It is.

As per usual, getting everyone ready for church was wild (I mean, is it ever NOT wild in a house with more than two people?). But everyone looked nice!

Johnny is ready

Frankie with Amanda the Panda

Red, White, and Blue Patty!

Diane’s church is amazing. Seriously. On all levels. I could understand everything! WOW! Go church sound system! And there was a great choir and an excellent cantor, and a fabulous homily….it was great. Di had to take the littles to the cry room so it was mostly Susie, Bridget, and I in the pew, but that’s no biggie. It as a great Mass. And it ended with singing “America”, which I love to do. Some parishes do patriotic hymns and some don't, and I was glad we did this one as the recessional because it’s FUN TO SING, dang it.

After that, we went to Pecan Creek Grille, where I had….an English breakfast? :) (Minus the black pudding)

Yes, it was proper American bacon. :) Also, GRILLED TOMATO IS YUM.

We had a nice, leisurely brunch and were surrounded by other families, which as nice. Lots of kids! I talked a little bit about the homily, which had talked about gratitude and our blessings. I didn’t want to be that person who quizzes the kids on the homily, but I did want them to sort of think about it, if that makes sense. We should be grateful for our blessings!

After this we headed home and Di and I put on The Sandlot for the kids, which they enjoyed. Susie came in at the end and Di said she’d have to watch it start to finish because she’d probably like it (she would), and it’s just such a Fourth of July movie (especially with a scene that takes place on the Fourth.).

Then we decided to play Settlers of Catan—well, Susie, Frankie, Di, and I. Bridget was playing with her dolls, Johnny was chilling, and Patty was napping. So we figured we could play. None of us had ever really played before—my cousin Kelly tried to teach me one Christmas, but I hadn't retained any of it—so that was good because we were all starting from scratch.

It took a long time, but it was fun. Di won. Afterwards we had pizza and—you guessed it!—ice cream! We didn’t go to see the fireworks, and the kids couldn’t really see them from the house, but that’s OK. Matt had bought some little ones for the kids on Friday night and they’d played with those in the driveway for awhile (always under supervision!)

It was my last night (sigh) so I had to do things like pack, but I did still get to have some downtime with Susie, Patty, and Di once the other kids were in bed. I love how Patty is still cuddly. She loved being read to and sung to, which also made me happy.

In our Fourth of July best.

I took a bath in the awesome tub one more time (want to be clean for travel, right?). And I definitely wasn’t ready to leave these people that I love so much.

Day 5: An American Girl Doll Is Purchased, and We Get Yarn!

We love Buc-ee’s!

(Previous installments: Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four) (And SIGNED BOOK SALE!)

On Saturday morning, Diane decided to make banana pancakes for breakfast, and lo, they were delicious. :)

So Patty took her morning nap, I had art time with Bridget (I taught her about wet-in-wet watercolor, which she immediately proclaimed perfect for her drawing) and then Patty got clean!

All the girls—Bridget wanted she and Patty to “match”, so they wore the tops their grandmother (my aunt Sue) had made them!

Patty loves being wrapped up in her towel, but hates being unwrapped to get dressed, so…..she was unhappy, briefly. But then looked so pretty, and made dinosaur face for us!

After everyone was ready, we headed for Nimblefingers. Apple Maps got us a it lost but we figured it out. (Darn you, Apple Maps!)

The store is really cute—it’s knitting/crochet on one side and needlepoint on the other. I have been known to do cross stitch in my time, so that side was also appealing to me, but I didn’t want to keep Di and the kids in the car all day (Susie, Bridget, and Frankie came in with me). So we stuck to knitting. Susie got some lovely yarns, including a baby alpaca in a bright green that Frankie wanted made into a scarf, and I got her a ball of cashmere blend yarn, because it was an OBSCENELY good price (FIFTEEN BUCKS, PEOPLE) and who doesn’t want to knit or crochet with cashmere?!

I fell into the Madelinetosh wormhole and came out with three items:

(They got bounced around a bit in my luggage—they were wound very neatly by the store ladies. More on that in a second)

The top two are Tosh DK in Texas Tulip, because….I was in Texas. :) I’m going to use them for a honey cowl. The bottom one is Tosh Mo Light in matcha. Normally this isn't the sort of color way I’d pick but I was drawn to the name (it’s named for Japanese green tea), and also the subtle, neutral colors. I think this will make a nice lightweight shawl. I also got some notions.

I asked the women to wind my yarn. Normally I don’t do this but I wanted it to be nice and solid for the trip home. Frankie was entranced by the winding—the swift and the ball maker working together was just too cool. So he watched and then made sure that the ends were tucked in neatly! He loves any sort of engineering so this counted as engineering and coolness.

After we were done, we headed for the big mall (Memorial City) to visit the AG store. Bridget and I had been planning this trip for months—not kidding. We’d discussed which doll she would get when we went. We had it all planned out. She had saved money so this was HER doll and we were proud of her for that amount of savings. So, money in hand, we were ready to shop.

First, though, we had to have lunch. Chik-Fil-A for all!

Patty likes nuggets, yes she does.

After we had lunch, we headed for the AG store. I’ve been to three AG stores (NYC, Chicago, and Columbus) and this is a nice sized store. Bridget had decided to get Kira, the girl of the year, and Susie had thrown in some of her money so that Bridget could get Kira’s pajamas as well. I also got Bridget a doll hairbrush, to hopefully save her dolls from the hair tragedy that mine so often endured. :)

So we got in line and Bridget counted out all her money, very seriously. The woman behind the counter was so nice here. BUT—we were short! The girls had forgotten about tax. So I threw in a $20 to more than make up for it (when I was a kid, I saved my money for AG catalog items and mom threw in shipping, so I felt like I was participating in the AG Circle of Life here.) Then Bridget and Susie continued to explore the store while Di had the littles at the play area. (Which was right by an ICE RINK. I told you this mall was huge.)

After this, we went to ride the carousel. I don’t have photos of me and Patty doing it, but we did, and it made me so happy. I took my godson, Ryan, on his first carousel ride at Kennywood (the amusement park in Pittsburgh), so this was a rite of passage I enjoyed and wanted to do again. This wasn’t Patty’s first ride—she’d done that with her mom. But she still had a bit of the “what is this, will I like this” look on her face.

We chose a horse that didn’t go up and down, and eventually she remembered that she liked this and patted the horse’s mane, and also loved the red and white “jewels” on the bridle. It’s just so cute watching her little face light up and enjoy the ride. There were feels, let me tell ya. (And gosh, it’s just so fun to hold a baby.)

After that it was raining hard, so Di went to get the van and we waited for her, watching the carousel go around and people smiling at Patty (happened a lot).

We got home, and it rained the rest of the day, so no swimming. We had dinner and Bridget and Susie went upstairs to introduce Kira to the rest of the doll family (they have Mary Ellen, Courtney, and a Truly Me doll named Catherine, whom you met in an earlier post, as well as lots of other dolls that are not AG).

We also played Clue!

Frankie is READY.

Diane had to run to the store for a few things, so I watched the house while the kids were sleeping. However, Patty woke up SCREAMING, so I ran in and tried to comfort her. I was running through all the scenarios: Diaper? Nightmare? Too hot/cold? But nothing doing until Mama came home and fed her. It’s just so sad seeing her cry her heart out and nothing I did was working, because I wasn’t mom. But once Mama was back, she was happy and she joined Di and I for some adult talking time in the family room.

The next day was the Fourth and it was also Sunday, so we made plans to go to the 11:00 Mass at their parish and then go out for brunch afterwards, which sounded great to me!

Houston Day 4: Kolaches and a bookstore

In case you need to catch up: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 (also my signed book sale is on!)

The day got off to a great start because Di brought us kolaches for breakfast!

Kolaches (pronounced Ko-LACH-ees) were new to me, but they are a Big Thing in Houston, and Di had promised me we’d have them—and she delivered. They’re sort of like danishes, in that it’s sweet pastry that holds fruit surrounded by puffy dough. Above we had raspberry, cherry, apple, lemon, and a frittata sort of one, so they can be sweet or savory. There were also sausage rolls!

Patty enjoys National Review with her breakfast. Yes, she is my godchild.

We hung around for a bit while Patty took her morning nap—I read Johnny more books, including Eat Pete! , which I love now. We also read Corduroy’s Christmas, Green Eggs and Ham, and Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons.

Patty also enjoyed her birthday books!

The Daffodil page is her favorite for some reason.

Wizard of Oz!

Then we headed to Blue Willow Bookshop. Di had to get some books for the kids’ summer reading, and I….just wanted to visit a local bookstore. :)

I had actually browsed their site the day before and had ordered some books for pick up, being I’m insane like that. :) So not only did I have a bag waiting for me, but I bought more books. Because, that’s what I do. One of them was Llama Llama Loose Tooth Drama for Johnny and Patty.

The store was so kid-friendly, which was great—there was a kids’ sized table and chairs for the kids to sit at and the staff didn’t seem to mind the kids being there (which, some places do.) The women who worked there were very friendly and accommodating when I couldn’t understand them! (The store had a mask policy in place) So that’s always a plus for me.

We went back to the house and then Di went to the old house to do some cleaning. Patty was definitely in “I am tired but I WILL NOT SURRENDER TO A NAP” mode, so Susie and I had to deploy emergency measures (as in, lay her down in her parents’ room, singing, patting, and closing the blinds) until she finally dropped off.

VICTORY!!!!!!!

before nap, though, she watched Susie play Minecraft.

we had a visitor from space….

This was the day I had one of my “susie please get me a glass of juice because I do not trust my hands” moments. Fortunately Di came home soon and we went to the local Cracker Barrel because I needed to stuff a lot of carbs into my body immediately! So we all went out to eat.

Patty: There is WINE at Cracker Barrel?!?!?!

Everyone was happy post-dinner and the kids got ready for bed.

Matt was called to do some state guard duty over the weekend and he would leave early Saturday morning, So it was really good I was with Di so we could tag-team on the kids. :) There was going to be a trip to the mall, after all, AND Mass, so tag-teaming would be a good idea!

Oh also, note: Patty understands what “no” means. Which I think is great, because she’ll stop doing things when you say “no”. I discovered this telling her “NO!” (As in, do NOT put that in your mouth!) She dropped the item, and then sort of cried a little bit, but she knew what it meant, and I appreciated that she obeyed the no. Good work, Patticake!

Houston Day 3: Four Kids & Emily

Birthday cupcakes for breakfast! (With a sippy cup that DOES NOT SPILL, it’s amazing folks.)

Day Three!

If you’ve missed the other installments—Day 1, Day 2

So today was sort of like “Adventures in Baby-Sitting”.

Diane and Matt had recently moved to a new house. They wanted to get their old house on the market quickly (because, hot market, also, long weekend for house browsing!), and the last things standing in the way of that were installing new carpet and Di doing a final clean of the house.

The carpet guys had failed to show THREE TIMES. So today, they were coming and Di was gonna make them work! So she took Patty to the old house around 9 and it was me and the kids.

We started with breakfast, and the had art time.

My sketch page, based on Lupe Tortilla. Big fan of the border.

There was lunch—sandwiches for all!—and snacks (popsicles and ice cream.)

There were YouTube videos.

There was King Domino.

There was Luca.

And yeah, there was some squabbling, but that’s OK, we didn’t burn down the house and no one died.

Di came home with Patty with COMPLETED CARPET YAY! (well except for the stairs, which would be done the next day, Friday) We had a really good dinner of chicken and fettuccine Alfredo. (And ice cream).

Patty loves ice cream.

She is BITING the spoon here. She will not let me take it away.

ICE CREAM ICE CREAMMMM

So, it was a successful day because we had carpet, no one burned down the house or died, and Patty had ice cream. :)

Also, I promised a cat photo, and I think this is the only one I took!

This is Beppo! He is the “guard cat” who watches over Patty while she sleeps. He has a friend, Wilma (who is beautiful). They are quite old but very nice cats.

Happy birthday, Patty!! (Houston Day 2)

Patty, about to try her birthday cupcake.

The 30th was my first full day in Houston and was also Patty’s first birthday!!

Our day started with this…

Yes, Patty is very mobile—she can stand, crawl, go up and down the stairs, and walk while holding on to things, so walking is probably not far off! This was a great way to start the day.

I also read Johnny The Monster at the End of This Book, which is one fo my favorite things to read to kids.

We had breakfast…

and art time (I had brought my sketching supplies and the kids had a lot of fun with my watercolors and water brushes!)

Patty wore one of the dresses I’d gotten her for her birthday….

After her morning nap, with Frankie :)

After everyone was dressed and Patty had had her power nap, we went to Lupe Tortilla for lunch. It as raining but that did not deter the boys from playing in the play area!

The dress I got Patty is an 18M, so it’s big on her, but Diane put her in it anyway, which I appreciated :)

Outside Lupe: L-R Bridget, Frankie (green shirt), Johnny, Susie

Lupe was really delicious—I had the cheese enchiladas which were amazing.

We had planned on doing the yarn store after lunch. Susie crochets and wanted some more yarn (she wanted to build a stash, which made my yarn loving heart flutter). So after Diane did some banking things, we went to the store, only to find that it had moved! ARGH! Sadness! No new yarn! But it probably was for the best, since we had to go home and make birthday cupcakes for Miss Patty and get ready for family to come over to celebrate.

Diane made these amazing chocolate cupcakes, which I need the recipe for, and vanilla buttercream frosting (HOMEMADE VANILLA, people—we’re talking a big old mason jar worth. Massive props to Di.) If I get the recipe, I’ll share it here. But folks, these were goooood cupcakes.

For the party, some of Matt’s siblings came over—one of his sisters, her husband, and their four kids (she’s pregnant with their fifth), and also Bart, Matt’s youngest brother and Patty’s godfather.

Patty and Bart

Di took Patty out of her birthday dress, in preparation for messiness…..

we sang, and then….we ate!

“What is this thing.”

“I think I might like this….”

Going whole hog…..

“I think it’s good.”

“Yeah, it’s good.”

For her birthday I got her clothes, and also two Baby Lit books: The Secret Garden and The Wizard of Oz., because I have to get Patty books, it’s the law. Her aunt and uncle got her a pop cupcake (sort of like this one—I had never seen these until I got to Houston!) an a book with the same pop-up thing in the pictures. The popping is quite satisfying, I have to say. (Her older siblings also enjoyed the pop cupcake!)

After the party we cleaned up the bebe….

And then relaxed the rest of the night. Di and Matt started watching a Three Stooges movie, which I had never seen, but it was funny—but I was TIRED. So I went to bed while they kept watching it, because I am an hour ahead of them and also my body was like, SLEEP NOOWWWW.

(Blood glucose does not like really hot or cold conditions, and Houston is warmer than I am used to. I knew that, going in, but I wasn’t sure how it would affect my BGLs. It turned out that I need a lot less insulin than I thought I would and there were times I had to ask Susie or Di to get me a cup of juice because my hands would have dropped it to the ground because my BGLs were low. But hey, learning experiences!)

So that was Miss Patty’s first birthday party!

Trip to Houston: Day 1, Meeting Patty

I’m going to give you a recap of my Houston trip—not exactly a blow-by-blow, but a sort of recap, since I like to read people’s travel recaps and I figure other people do too. And of course this is the best way to share photos. :)

So I got to Houston on the 29th, the day before Patty’s first birthday! Fortunately my flight was on time for takeoff, but we did have to go around Houston to avoid some rain and ended up flying over the Gulf Coast and then back up

Everyone was on hand to meet me at Carousel 12 and I was excited—and so were they!

Patty, fortunately, did not cry when she met me (great relief). Instead she studied me very intently. You could see the wheels turning in her little head, but then it clicked (Oh wait, I’ve seen this person on the phone….I know this voice….) and she smiled and giggled for me.

Dinner was at Matt (Patty’s dad)’s parents house that night—pizza and garlic knots for all!

Susie, with Patty and Frankie, in their grandparents’ kitchen.

Here’s a cast of characters for the trip:

Diane—my cousin, who is 6 months younger than me and shares a birthday with my sister and one other cousin of ours, Jill. Her father (John) is my mom’s older brother. (he’s number 2 out of the 8 kids).

Matt—her husband, whom she met at Notre Dame. He’s a CPA and a member of the Texas State Guard.

Susie—oldest of the 5 kids. She’s 12.

Bridget—second kid, age 9

Bridget and her AG doll, Catherine, in matching PJs.

Frankie—third kid, age 6 (he’ll be 7 next month)

Johnny—fourth kid, age 3

Patty—fifth kid, just turned one (we know Patty, right?)

Beppo and Wilma—the cats

The Massive Birthday Yarn Along!

OK folks, settle in for a nice, long YARN ALONG!

There is so much going on here!

First project: Whatever the Weather Knit Along (KAL)

This project has been going all year! I’ve been loving it. Every month there is a different stitch pattern, and the color of the day is determined by the high temperature. Ravelry notes here.

Here you can see February (some of it) and March, as well as a seasonal marker (the lace) in Kerfuffle, one of the shades I haven’t used (yet). The pattern said to use one of the colors you haven’t used or haven’t used much, so I chose the coldest temperature color (-2!). April has seen the addition of a new color, “ablaze”, which is a really pretty pink-coral (which you’ll see next month!)

You could choose to make a scarf, a wrap, or a blanket, and I chose the wrap size. I’ll try to get a photo for you of how it looks as a whole, as opposed to just this little bit.

Second Project: Riverwild Quiviut Scarf

Ravelry notes here

So there’s a story about this one.

Last fall, a twitter friend sent me a big box of yarns she wasn’t going to use. At the time I briefly looked through the box but put it aside to dig into more carefully later. That time didn’t come until last week—bad me—and I was looking through and deciding wht yarns would be good for which projects, I found a tiny cake of QUIVIUT yarn.

This is yarn from a musk ox. It being from a musk ox—aka, a very large, very strong animal—it’s hard to get and is expensive. I had never thought I’d actually knit with it because it’s, well, expensive. It’s softer than cashmere!

So I double-checked with my friend to makes sure that, indeed, she meant to send this little jewel to me, and she did. Wow!

Now I had to find a project worthy of this yarn. I found this one, because the yarn was just crying out for lace, and I like the pattern very much. It’s simple, repeated over 12 rows 27 times. I’ve been working it in sets of 12, so I have two repeats done so far.

It’s a project that I’m taking my time on, which is just fine!

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So let’s talk about BIRTHDAY YARN!

These weren’t actually gifts—they were bought with birthday money people sent me. :)

First up is “London”, from Frabjous Fibers and Wonderland Yarns. They do a wonderful “around the world” series of yarns, which each month having a different country/city/region as the focus. Past destinations have included Egypt, Japan, China, India, Jerusalem, New Zealand, and New England.

At first, I wasn’t thrilled with this yarn, even though I love London, because it seems too dark brown and sort of boring. WRONG. When I got it in person, it is a rich chocolate/coffee brown! It’s their “Lory” yarn base, which is DK weight and 100% Superwash Merino (280 yds per skein).

*

I’ll be using it in the pattern that came with the yarn, called the Pub Crawl Cowl. It features some different stitch patterns and will be a great thing to wear in the fall!

Second is some beautiful Nua Sport for a Twining Wrap.

This is the “figment” color way. This yarn is so fun—it’s mohair/yak (!)/linen blend. There’s also a worsted weight, but this is the sport. I don’t like knitting with straight linen but I love it in blends!

This wrap will take awhile—the pattern is fairly complicated, at least it looks complicated to me right now! But since I love this yarn I do not mind. :)

Third and Fourth come from the Loops Yarn store in Tulsa. They are responsible for the fabulous Knit Stars series of online knitting summits, which have done so much for my knitting skills!

The first two (going from the left) are for a lovely cowl called, well, “co.wl” :) When Loops knit it up, they made it smaller than the pattern calls for, and it’s SO pretty!

From the Loops website

I mean look at that! So they were selling a kit of the two colors, which I got: Robin’s Egg and Dandelion. It’s just such a phenomenal combination! And I’ll get to learn fisherman’s rib!

The last yarn is Loops “house” yarn, Luxe Royal Alpaca. It comes in four color ways (Luxe Natural, Loops Blue, Luxe Charcoal, Luxe Perfectly Pink, and Luxe Light Grey) sold in a pack of three. There are a few patterns I can make with this so I’m considering. They’re all fairly simple, which is nice because sometimes you just want a simple project, right? I don’t see them on Ravelry right now so I can’t link to them, but they’re all variations on cowls or scarves. Obviously I had to start with the Loops Blue. I can see myself working all four patterns with this yarn over time in various colors, or even trying some other patterns. We’ll see!

And of course it being my birthday, there were also books.

The two knitting books are Tudor Roses and Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitter’s Almanac. Tudor Roses is gorgeous—the designs are based off the royal women of the Tudor court—but complex. I might make one or two of them but I just love looking through it!

I haven’t read any Elizabeth Zimmerman, and I know that she’s An Authority in the knitting world, so I picked up her almanac as well. It has a project for every month of the year, as well as tips and notes about what’s going on in her life at the time, so it’s sort of journal-ish as well.

My friend Andrea sent me the Little Library Cookbook, which I am about to dive into (cooking-wise, I mean). It’s so lovely and the recipes are delicious sounding. My parents got me Dark Tides, which is the second book in Gregory’s Fairmile series. In the Name of the Rose and How To Be A Tudor were also gifts from them after we had birthday lunch!

Finally we have Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man, which wasn’t really a birthday gift—I bought it for myself—but it came the day before my birthday so it belongs on the pile. :) This is the Ignatius Press edition which I got right from their website. (Amazon doesn’t always have the “nicest” editions of books, and I wanted a nice edition of this one!)

So the is the massive pile of books and yarn which will keep me busy for, oh, a month? :) (just kidding)

What are you reading/knitting/making right now?

Yarn Along: The Cardigan is DONE! (and so many other projects!)

Well, well, well.

My people. After starting it as my Quarantine Project, the Boothbay Cardigan is DONE!

Check those seams, folks!

Wearing it in an Instagram Friday Introductions post.

The back—you can see the collar curling a bit.

I promise that at some point we will have a photo of me wearing it that’s full-length. I promise! :)

So, final notes:

1) The sleeves are long. I knew they would be, because my arms are like T. rex arms. So it’s nice that the cuffs have a garter stitch detail, so that when I roll the sleeves up it still “works” with the overall design and doesn’t look like Emily has rolled the sleeves of her cardigan and made the sleeves too long! (Well, I did, but I was following the pattern. So.)

One of the KnitStars 5 lessons I watched during quarantine was all about how to adjust clothing measurements to your measurements, and I’m going to use that a lot the next time I make a cardigan, and there will be a next time.

2) Picking up stitches is much easier when you’re moving vertically, rather than horizontally. At least, I find it so. So the one thing with this cardigan that I don’t like is the bottom collar. The collar for boothbay is picked up and knitted all around. When I picked up the stitches on the bottom, I must have done it wrong, because it’s a little more “cocoony” than it should be—as in, if you look at the piece as a whole the collar is an oval shape. It doesn’t really hang “open” at the bottom as much as it should. However, I realize this is a very picky thing and if I hadn’t mentioned it you might never have noticed.

3) I didn’t use all the yarn called for in this pattern. I think I had two or three skeins left over. Not a problem, because it’s always good to have extra yarn!

4) One of the things I am happiest about is my decision to size up. I wanted this cardigan to have some extra give in the arms so I could wear it over things. That also probably led to the arms being longer, but I have exactly the right amount of ease in the arms, and I can wear it over things, as seen in the photo above. That makes me really happy.

5) Knitting clothes is like an entirely new world. To knit something for you, that I can throw on and wear hen I go out to get the mail or whatever, is sort of mind-boggling. I can make clothes!

6) Like I said above, I will definitely be knitting more clothes! I have my eyes on the Lesley sweater which was in the same pattern collection as booth bay—and honestly, it should be easier because it’s only FOUR pieces as opposed to six! (I definitely like seaming.) I don’t think I’d go for the negative ease that it’s shown in. With my body I’d want a little more give around the tummy area. But we’ll see when I go to look at the schematic. I’m also looking at the Georgetown Cardigan (also from the same collection).

WHEW! OK that’s it for the cardigan! If you want to see all the posts in this series, here you go.

Onto my other knitting projects!

Patty’s blanket has been sent to her….

I’m working on the Whatever the Weather Mystery Knit Along—you could knit a scarf, a wrap, or a blanket, and I chose a wrap, using the daily highs as my temperature guide:

January and February

And I also knit an insanely fun, chunky cowl with Knit Collage yarn:

I love pairing the cowl and my cardigan together when I go out. Together they’re perfect for the late winter/early spring weather we’ve got here in Central Ohio right now:

Now that the “big” project is done, I’m in the middle of finishing some projects that have been hibernating, and working on smaller projects. For Christmas I got the Harry Potter knitting book, and I’ve decided to knit the seven horcrux washcloths, because they seemed fun and easy. I started with Ravenclaw’s Diadem. I’m not too far into the pattern yet so you can’t see the design that well, but it will come:

As for what I’m reading—I’ve been on a bit of a Chesterton kick. Part of that is reading all of the Fr. Brown stories, which I’ve actually never read, but I’m working to fill that gap!

What are you reading/creating? Let me know in the comments!

Yarn Along: Picking up stitches and finishing a baby blanket

Welcome to the February Yarn Along!

The big news: I have learned how to pick up stitches for my collar cardigan!

I went to the local yarn shop (LYS) after asking ahead if it was OK, because , COVIDtide. Normally they have sit and stitch hours all day but…not right now! One of the owners said sure, come in.

So I went down after endo last week, and she (one of the owners) sat with me and showed me how to pick up stitches—and she was so patient, and sat there until I told her to do what she had to do because I think I had it! :) So that’s when I bought some of this delicious yarn…

From L-R: Wonderland Yarns, Mary Anne fiber base in Jerusalem, Seaography, Egypt, and Biscotti

So that is a huge step forward and the best tip she gave me was—look at the Vs, not the windows. HUGEEEEEEEE.

See the vees here?

So we picked up the collar and then picking up the rest of the body is easier because it’s a 1 for 3 ratio, meaning pick up one stitch for every three stitches. Sometimes those Vs are hard to find! So I’m not quite done yet but I’m making progress. There’s only so long you can concentrate that intensely, or at least, only so long that I can. But the plan is that by next Yarn Along it will be done!

The nice thing about this—besides knowing how to do it—is that it’s not really an exact knitting science.A lot of it is by look and feel.

Speaking of things that are done, or almost—Patty’s blanket!

I’m on the last stripe and then I can weave in ends and send it off to her!

I’m reading G.K. Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense and I’ll be following that up with Common Sense 101: Lessons from Chesterton. Yes, I’m on a Chesterton kick right now. I also read The Survivors last night and really liked it, so if you like crime/mystery novels, try this one out. Jane Harper is a fabulous Australian author, and The Survivors is her fourth book.

What are you reading/knitting/making right now?

The First Yarn Along of 2021!

Welcome to a new year of YARN ALONGS!

So, what have I been working on?

Two things, mostly: a blanket for Patty, and the cardigan. :)

First, the blanket

I did make Patty a blanket over the summer, but it was with a cotton yarn that I really didn’t like. It was hard to work with and so I made mistakes. After finishing the blanket I realized I didn’t want to give Patty a blanket full of mistakes. So the blanket is still here but I knew I was going to knit Patty another one.

This blanket is done in super wash wool and it’s much better. No arguing with the yarn!

( If you’re wondering about this: yarn from animal sources—wool, yak, whatever—has “give”. You can tug on it, manipulate it, it’ll work with you. Plant fibers—cotton, linen, etc.—do not. You are tugging them. At least this is my experience. I do not like working with pure linen and pure cotton. Blends are OK.)

So this blanket is done in Ewe Ewe Yarns Ewe So Sporty. I’m using Berry (the pink), Iris Blossom (the dark purple), lavender (light purple), and vanilla (white/cream). It’s the same Sully blanket pattern that I love.

The book I’m reading, Miss Austen, is one of my Christmas books. :)

In the #emilyknitsacardigan realm, picking up the collar has been….challenging, to say the least. I did OK when I practiced on the swatch but when I went to pick up the stitches on the actual cardigan, they didn’t seem to want to come! So if anyone has tips on picking up stitches I’d love to hear them!

Yarn Along--Find Your Fade is almost done!

Hi everyone! Time for the December yarn along!

Yes, yes, my cardigan is still happening, I’m just being really lazy about picking up the collar! BAD ME. So I’ going to do that this week and hopefully by the January YA you’ll get to see the finished product! Actually I want it done by Christmas, which is totally doable.

But the project that I am working on, which is almost done, is my Find Your Fade shawl:

So a few notes on this:
Not all these colors are available any more, but the ones you can still get from KnitPicks are:

• Hawthorne Fingering: Abernathy, Alameda (These are the two right before the deep pink section)

• Hawthorne Fingering Kettle Dyed: Delphinium (the jewel blue), and Turkish delight (the jewel pink).

• Hawthorne Speckle: Berry Smoothie (the last color, still on the needles)

(The first two colors, Sellwood and Goose Hollow, aren’t available anymore, but they were the Fingering yarns.)

I’m on the last section. In this bit there isn’t any lace—it’s just the garter ridges until the end. Then it comes off the needles, gets a nice bath, and then gets blocked!

I changed the pattern a bit—I only did one repeat of the lace section each time because I am still learning lace. :) But this is a great project for learning it, so the next one I make I’ll do more of the lace repeats. This pattern is really forgiving in terms of customization.

I love the way the colors fade into each other. It’s just so nice to work on such a colorful project. I bought this as a kit from Knitpicks and their inspiration was wildflowers in the Rocky Mountains, and I have to say it really does remind me of that! (Having spent minimal time in them since my sister lives in Denver, and got married near Rocky Mountain National Park.)

As far as what I’m reading:

I’m reading The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock, which was a Christmas gift (I exchange gifts with my friends really anytime in December, and this year we’re mailing them to each other. And yes, I open my gifts when I get them.). It’s an interesting book so far. I’m also re-reading Harry Potter (I’m on Chamber of Secrets) and the Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell series (which I love)—I’m on the fifth book, O Jerusalem. For Advent reading I’m re-reading my favorite, Come, Lord Jesus. I’ve read this book so often that it’s falling apart and it’s all marked up. I love it. If you’re still looking for a good Advent book I highly recommend this one.

(book links are Amazon affiliate links)

I actually didn’t have any Christmas gifts to knit this year, so I’ve had time to work on my own projects!
What about you? What are you reading/knitting?

Yarn Along: A Tale of Three Shawls

Yes, there’s only two shawls in the photo, the third shawl is below! :)

I’ve been digging into my stash to work projects that I’d sort of forgotten about!

So the blue and green shawl is the sail-away shawl from Modern Daily Knitting’s Ease edition. And it really is easy—lovely garter stitch and KFB increases in gorgeous wool from Sincere Sheep! These are Suerte (the green) and Hathor’s Gem (the blue) . These were actually birthday gifts so they’re finally getting used, yay! I’m making the smaller version of the pattern.

The second, on the right, is the Find Your Fade Shawl, which was super popular a few years ago when it came out but I finally got the yarn for it…two years ago? And I started it but I thought I was messing it up so I frogged it and put it away. BUT the yarn was calling me!

Turns out that the stitch count isn’t really important in this guy. I got to the end of the first section and I had the right count on one side and the wrong side on another—how did that happen?—but I forged ahead anyway, and I’m also only doing one lace section instead of three as you see here, which I might change to two and then to three in the following sections. But the point is, this is a really forgiving shawl, so as long as you’re increasing and decreasing at the right rate, you’ll be fine if your count is off. All the colors here are from the various Hawthorne lines from Knit Picks. (You can see all the colors on my Ravelry notes, but the colors you see here are Sellwood and Goose Hollow, which they don’t make anymore! Sadness! :( The third color which is just coming in here they do still make, and that’s Delphinium)

The third shawl is the Hawthorne Shawl from Quince and Co, using their lark yarn in a limited edition color way called Blue Balloon:

I haven’t worked too much on it because it requires a lot of concentration! So I’m working on the other two shawls and will circle back to this guy. She is pretty, isn’t she? :)

What I’m reading: My copy of Clanlands just arrived so I’m really excited about that. In case you’re new here, I love the Outlander books and TV series, so a book written by two of the stars? Sign me up. Another new novel is The Strawberry Thief, by Joanne Harris. It’s part of the Chocolat series, so I enjoy spending more time with these characters.

Yarn Along #102: Blanket, shawl, cardigan....pick your project!

So the pieces of the cardigan are done, but with all the craziness of September, I didn’t start seaming it yet. That is going to happen. Probably this weekend because I want to devote time to it without being pulled in five million different directions by other projects! So the pieces are all waiting in my bedroom to be seamed. I’m a little nervous that the cardigan will be wonky—sleeve lengths or other issues—but you know what? Who cares, right? It’s my cardigan and I can wear it around the house and WHO CARES. I gotta get over the perfection idea. I mean it’s my first cardigan! So down with the fear of imperfection and ON TO SEAMING!

Patty’s blanket is now in the last set of stripes, yay! It’s part of her Christmas gift so I have a few more weeks to finish it, but I’m probably going to finish it soon and then get it all wrapped up to send to her come December.

Remember the lace scarf?

yeah, I loved it. And then I had to rip it out. :( Sigh. I haven’t gotten my courage up to cast it on again but I think I will in the next week….I just love that yarn so much!

DO NOT try to knit lace when recovering from surgery. That’s your free tip from me. :)

And finally….

a new shawl!

I love this pattern. It’s Hawthorn from Quince and Co and I’m using Quince’s Lark yarn in a special edition color way they had over the summer called Blue balloon. The great thing about the Hawthorn pattern is that it’s designed to be worked in any weight yarn! So if you see a color you just love, you can snatch it up and knit Hawthorn with it! (Hmmm, maybe my pretty yarn from the scarf above will get used here? :) :) )

It does use yarn overs (YO), so it’s good practice for those, but it’s not “true” lace. You just get these lovely wrapped eyelets and things like that. So this isn't a hard project, at least I don’t think so. It’s a good chance to practice YO! :)

I’m reading Story of a Soul, because St. Therese’s feast day was last week, and I generally re-read it every year. I love this edition because my friend Elizabeth Foss wrote the introduction!

I’ve been reading a lot of different things, sort of dipping into books here and there. I always have a mountain of books that I’m working on at any given time!

Like what you’ve read? Consider supporting my writing on Patreon !

Yarn Along #101: The Cardigan Is Ready to Seam!

In #emilyknitsacardigan news, the carding is READY TO SEAM! Right now it’s just a stack of pieces, so no picture, because….stack of pieces. :) But! This is very very exciting. very very nerve-racking. I’m holding off on seaming until after gallbladder surgery because it will require attention!

In other WIPs…..Patty’s baby blanket keeps growing!

I’m more than halfway done, so yay! I still haven’t decided if I’ll block it. Hmmmm. Do you block blankets? (I mean you personally.) Ravelry notes here.

And I’ve started a lace project!

This is from Modern Daily Knitting’s “Open” edition. I’ve never done lace before, but this project is just my favorite, although I can’t do too many rows at once because I have to concentrate on the pattern! But I’m getting it down so hopefully I can move a little faster! It’s called the rib lace scarf, and the Ravelry notes are here.

I adore the yarn! It’s from Lichen and Lace and it’s called pressed flowers. How can you not love yarn called pressed flowers?!

As for reading….I’m having surgery tomorrow so there will probably be much reading and less knitting over the next week!

As you can see the book pile is….massive.

Because, surgery. I’m going to have a lot of free time on my hands so I can read!

(There are actually even more books than this. Scary but true)

And I’m re-reading Mansfield Park as part of the great Jane Re-Read. I love Mansfield Park. This might be the book I take with me tomorrow because I probably don’t want to have to concentrate on anything new.

Seven Quick Takes--Gallbladder Surgery Scheduled, Cheers Throwback, and More!

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Hi, y’all!

So the big news is that I am having gallbladder surgery on September 3. This isn’t actual big news, per se. I mean, yeah, my gallbladder needs to come out, but this is more of “removing a thing that is annoying” vs. “removing something that will make me feel a lot better”, because it really doesn’t bother me that much. And seriously, when you’ve had pancreatitis as much as I’ve had it (at least 10 times), abdominal pain isn’t new. I’ve been dealing with it for 20 years now, and we can’t take out my pancreas. But it is nice to have an annoying thing taken care of, that’s for sure.

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Couple quick notes re: the blog!

I have a newsletter that goes out once a month to subscribers. Subscribers also get special discounts and other goodies. If you’re not a subscriber, fix that here.

Also if you would like a signed copy of Living Memento Mori—Christmas is coming, people!—email me. They’re $20 and that includes shipping, a bookmark, and a prayer card, both of which were specialyl designed by Ave Maria Press for the book!

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Was sad to see that the Cheers bar in Fanueil Hall Marketplace in Boston is closing—Dad and I went there after my Jeopardy! tryout in 2015.

Some snapshots:

It was a dang good burger! Dad basically ate Boston Clam Chowder whenever he could that weekend. :)

(Quick bit of Cheers and Emily medical history trivia: I was in the ER for a broken wrist the night of the Cheers finale. My softball team was in the playoffs and we’d been practicing. I played third base, and the left fielder and I got into a tussle about the ball. We both went for it, and my wrist hit the ground. I had CF at the time but we didn’t know it, so that’s probably why the wrist broke. But yes, I did play a sport, and we were undefeated in the regular season that year!)

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Speaking of exercise….I found this article to have some good tips. She’s definitely right about making it part of your routine. Starting last month I really focused on creating a good daily routine that works for me. Obviously, it’s still in progress, but this is what I do so far:

• I prep the coffee and my insulin pens the night before—KEY. Even if I do nothing else before I go to bed in terms of cleaning or prep, I do this, because it makes the next morning go much more smoothly.

• In the morning, I switch on the coffee and dose myself with insulin. I have to wait 10 minutes before breakfast (so the insulin can take effect) and while that’s happening…

• I say lauds from the Liturgy of the Hours and read the daily Mass readings.

• After that, 10 minutes is usually up, so I eat breakfast. While I eat breakfast I check my email and social media and do any blog or “business” stuff I want to do that day, like setting up the newsletter or updating a mailing list.

• After that I do my duolingo—I’m learning Italian and Scottish Gaelic!

• And after that, I exercise.

That’s my morning so far! After exercising it’s usually time for lectio, spiritual reading, or a bit of knitting before lunch. Sometimes this is where I do some cleaning/tidying too—I’ll start the dishes if they need it, or the laundry if it needs it.

(I’ll actually write more about this in an upcoming blog post, so keep your eyes peeled. :) )

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This piece, on Fanny Price and Mansfield Park, is basically a shorter version of my undergraduate thesis. Fanny is awesome and more people need to appreciate her! Read Mansfield Park!

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Patty’s blanket is moving along—I’m about done with the first set of four stripes, so YAY! I’ll. have some updated photos for you soon, I hope. :) I keep forgetting to take pictures!

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Have you gone back to Mass/church yet? How is it? I’m thinking about going back because honestly I MISS IT!

Yarn Along #100! --Cardigan sleeves and two finished WIPs!

Garter Graffiti shawl—Ravelry notes here

So, before we get to #emilyknitsacardigan progress, here’s some finished objects!

The first is the Garter Graffiti shawl, featured above, and here’s a closer look at the design:

I loved the yarn. I’d used the Mad Hatter speckled tea party yarn before in another shawl, but the Snowdrop yarn, which is the purple, is amazing. It’s 45% Alpaca, 45% merino, and 10% silk, and it’s wonderful to work with! I ended up with more yarn than the pattern called for and actually ended up using only one skein of the purple (called “ Piece of Rudeness”, isn't that great? They all have Alice In Wonderland inspired names), so I have a whole skein left and I’ll have to ponder what to do with it, because it’s great. Highly recommend!

This is also a great project for a beginner. It’s a great way to learn color work, and the only “tricky” stitch is a KFB (knit front and back) at the beginning of every row. This is a stitch I’ve used a lot in shawl making, so it’s a good one to pick up!

The second is the Puck Scarf, which I made for my friend Kathleen, using Quince’s Ospery in Peaks Ferry. If you’re an OSU fan, this would be great for a Scarlet and Gray themed item, because it’s bright scarlet! The only thing I do differently here is I weave in the ends (why are ends loose, Quince pattern people???)

OK so, onto #emilyknitsacardigan!

The first sleeve is completed, and the second is in progress!

(Ravelry notes here)

I’m glad that I get to do the second sleeve because I can use what I learned from the first one! After this sleeve, it’s on to mattress stitching the pieces together, and then picking up the collar, which you can see here:

From Home and Away

I really like how the cuffs and collar have the garter stitch detail; I think that adds something special to the overall project.

One tip I’d have for a big project like this: print out a clean copy of the pattern or make a copy from the pattern book, so that you can mark it up and make notes and HIGHLIGHT your measurements! It can be confusing seeing all the numbers, so I highlighted the ones for my size so that I knew what to do. I also made notes on the different stitches I needed to do and wrote out how to do them, and other notes as I went along.

And the other project in progress is a baby blanket for my goddaughter Patty!

The pattern is Quince and Co’s Sully, using their willet yarn (which is a Cleaner Cotton, which is better for the environment!) I chose colors haze, regatta, sail, and bowsprit, because I wanted some feminine colors, but ones that weren’t too juvenile, so that she could hold on to this blanket for awhile.

So here you see Haze (the strawberry ice cream pink) with regatta. I really love this pattern and I hope Patty likes it! (Not that she’ll be expressing an opinion for awhile yet!)

Yarn Along #99: Emily Knits A Cardigan--Sleeves!

Previous posts in this series:

The Back is Done

Update!

Emily Knits A Cardigan

My notes on ravelry

June has been busy in cardigan land! I managed to knit both front pieces and learned how to M1L, which was not a lot of fun but now I’ve got it and I am proud. They lay sort of oddly so it’s hard to see here how they fit, but you can see the place where the sleeves will go. All around the cardigan border will be a garter stitch collar.

Above you can see the three pieces together; they’re not lined up appropriately yet, so it’s a rough estimate of what it looks like! (especially the front on the right, just go with it! )

So now I have begun the sleeves! YAY SLEEVES! These have a nice garter stitch cuff detail that I like.

Garter stitch cuff

So the sleeves increase every six rows, on both sides, gradually getting bigger, and then I shape the raglan and it gradually gets smaller, to fit in with the pieces you see above.

After both sleeves are done, then it’s time to SEAM!!!!

I am actually really excited about this, can you tell?

As to what I’m reading….

I got The Ten Thousand Doors of January after Christmas, because it was on sale at B&N (see the sticker? :) ), and yes , I’m just now reading it. Quarantine (which for me is going on and on and on, like the Journey song) is giving me time to read all the books I have stockpiled! This book starts off….oddly. I’m hoping it sort of evens out and we get into a groove, because right now it’s the main character, January, reading a book about someone else who discovered these doors (portals?)…so yeah. It’s sort of weird but I’m hopeful! (really, it’s that gorgeous cover that sucked me in. Well that, and 50% off.)

Yarn Along #97: Emily Knits a Cardigan UPDATE!

Hello alll!

So you may be wondering where my cardigan project is?

It’s on the needles, humming along….

In case you’re new to this, here are the posts in this series so far:

Emily Knits A Cardigan—pattern, schematic, basics

Once I got gauge, I was happy as a clam and began immediately.

This little gauge is the BEST THING EVER, really.

So all was going well until…..

I had to RIP OUT. Alas! I dropped a stitch and I didn’t like how I fixed it, so I figured it was better to just rip it out and start again….so I did. I’m almost back to where I was before that, which is good! (I had just joined the third ball to the back piece, and was getting close to beginning the raglan shaping. EXCITING! :)

(Really, it is!)

So that’s been my main project. I am loving it. I have a bunch of yarn here for other projects that I’m debating casting on and then just rotating through projects but I also feel like I need to give the cardigan most of my love.

I’ve also been loving my Knit Stars classes, which I bought when they were on sale during the Early Bird period, so now I have Knit Stars 1 and 2 and 5, when it officially opens in October. Yay! I’m learning so much, which is great, especially as I work on the cardigan.

I’m also still working on the Elementary Wrap from Purl Soho, but that’s more like weekend knitting. Most of my time is on the cardigan. :)

Although I did pick up this GORGEOUS yarn….

As for books.

Yes, a lot of reading. Some of this is research for book 2, and a lot of it is just reading to keep me sane. :)

What are you reading/knitting/doing?

Yarn Along #96: Comfort knits!

OK, so story—

this is Crookshanks. A stuffed Crookshanks (obviously). I’m not allowed to have a real cat or dog—someone else would have to clean up after them, and since I live alone, no go. But in Quarantine Time, when no one is allowed to come over and give me hugs, the stuffed cat is going to have to do. And, for my amusement and the amusement of others, I’ve been posing her doing things, so I thought I’d start off this yarn along with something (hopefully) amusing!

Anyway, she’s holding one of my “comfort knits” that I’m doing during this period.

I decided to raid my stash and take out yarn that I’d been holding back (why, I ask myself), and just knit it up. I have three skeins of this City Tweed from Knit Picks that I’d been saving and I decided I was just going to knit them. They’re on size 9 needles, cast on 22 stitches, and just knit. There you go. This color (above with Crookshanks) is called Rhubarb, and I also have Chipmunk….

And a third skein in Morning Glory. So these are really simple, the yarn is yummy, and I love working with it, so, there we go.

I also have two skeins of Quince’s Osprey yarn in Peacock that I’ve been using to make Puck’s Scarf.

I have not abandoned my Elementary Wrap. It was just that last week I wanted basic, basic knitting. So this week I will resume my work on the elementary wrap.

(Also, if you’re not on Quince’s email list—you’re missing out. They’ve been sending out FREE PATTERNS every Friday during this pandemic time—happiness! [Well at least some happiness, right?])

I’m reading many, many things (you can see what I read last week here), but right now I’m reading A Ring of Endless Light, one of my favorite books, and sort of appropriate for right now, given that the book revolves around the main character’s grandfather dying, and discusses the nature of life and death and God. Yes, a lot for something categorized as a “kids’ book”! (and no, the movie with the same title does not follow the book really closely at all….sigh.)

Yarn Along #95: The blanket is almost done!

Linking up with Ginny!

So the biggest project—literally—is the November blanket. I’m on the last 25% of it so yay! It’s actually pretty heavy to work with now, and I have to settle in for long periods of knitting with it because it’s just so hard to move on and off my lap!

The thing that makes me nervous is trying to block this baby—for people who have knit blankets, do you block them? I just have this image of it being heavy and unwieldly….

The book I’m reading is Sonja Corbitt’s Exalted, which takes us through the Magnificat. I am loving this book—it’s one of my many Lenten reads. I’m reading a chapter a day so I don’t completely devour it in one sitting!

What are you reading and working on right now?