Seven Quick Takes--St. Therese, Patty, and Speaking For Myself

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Happy Feast of St. Therese!

I just love that meme. :)

Here’s my post on why St. Therese is sort of my accidental patron.

And we used to (I hate saying “used to”) have a retreat center in town under her patronage, where I went on retreat at least once a year. We’re getting a new bishop and I hope he makes the effort to re-open it! But I took lots of pictures over the years:

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Patty was 15 months old yesterday!

Likes: her remote controls (that’s the one my dad gave her when they visited in July), waving bye bye with both hands VERY enthusiastically, blowing kisses, going outside, swings, running around the house while talking on the phone, going down the slide, baths.

Dislikes: Her car seat (sometimes), clothes (sometimes, as we see above), Sharing (sometimes), sharing her remote (always), when her mom wants to talk to me and will not give her the phone to talk to me…

I can’t believe how much she’s grown and how fast! She also says “donut” now, but doesn’t repeat words on command, which is funny. She just looks at you like, “what are you doing?”

She’s just a doll who definitely has a mind of her own. (Hmm…..sounds like her godmother!)

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In knitting, I have started my Ursina sweater!

One of the reasons I wanted to knit this particular sweater as because it’s very adjustable—adjustments are written into the pattern. I can adjust sleeve length, which is good because I have short arms, I can adjust the bicep, and I can adjust the bust size by adding bust darts (which are what keep you from tugging down the sweater as it rides up). It’s knit top-down, and if you remember my cardigan, that was knit in pieces and seamed. So fortunately I have a knitting buddy who will be knitting her own sweater with me so we can help each other out!

I’m also being very deliberate on this sweater—moving slowly, and also carefully. Part of this is because I don’t want to frog it (knitting talk for ripping it out—get it? ripping?), and also because it’s nice to not have to speed through something. Normally I’m a pretty fast knitter.

What you see in the photo above are the first 10 rows. Eventually the directions will tell me to knit in the round, which makes me nervous, because I have a bad habit of twisting my stitches!

If you’re on ravelry, you can see my project notes and updates here.

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So, “talking for myself.”

One of the big reasons I wanted to write my book—and what made it different—is that I am speaking for myself. It’s not my parents talking about me. This is really, really common in disability/illness literature. Either the child has died, and the parents are writing about that, or the child is still alive, but they’re writing about their experiences of raising said child so far.

My book is me talking about what it’s like for ME.

It drives me crazy when I see articles about disability written by the parents. Especially when the parents are talking about how the child must feel to hear X or Y.

Magazines! If you want to know, ask us! I can tell you all about how it feels to be told I’m disposable. TV shows! Any media outlet! You can ask us and we’ll tell you!

But instead they don’t.

Please, media outlets, ask us. We can speak for ourselves. CFers aren’t dying when they’re five. There are lots of CF adults. Ask us how we feel!

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In this realm….you know that I am always talking about disability access. I do it because it’s something that needs addressed and I feel like if I keep pointing it out, I can make changes and/or bring the problems to people’s attention!

Today’s accessibility rant: captioned videos.

Folks. If you are going to make videos, please caption them. If you cannot caption them because your software won’t let you or something, please create a downloaded document so that people like me can print it out and follow along.

This is especially necessary if the videos are a big part of your class. If people have to watch a video and then talk about the video, or watch and then fill in a worksheet, not having captions is completely not acceptable.

(Yes, I’m running into this right now with a church bible study.)

It really, really is not OK for this to keep going. Please caption things. Don’t say you don’t have the ability to do it, because there are solutions.

It makes me sad that I have to say this, especially about church-related things.

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It’s flashback time!

I saw on my SM yesterday that Kilauea was erupting I immediately thought of this

If you are too young to have seen this, WATCH IT. It’s awesome!

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We’re taking a trip to Amish Country this fall and I CANNOT WAIT! I’ve always wanted to visit so this trip makes me really happy. I’ll share more about this later, but right now I can just say—chocolate.

Seven Quick Takes--Sinuses & Stats

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Hey everyone! Welcome to fall. (AKA, the return of hockey season!)

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On the blog this past week, I wrote a piece that I think is pretty important, and if you haven’t read it, here it is: Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics.

If you’ve been a reader here for any length of time, you know that I take the idea that “everyone has worth” seriously. This is because I have been frequently told that because my genetic code is messed up, my life is “too hard”.

Life is hard for everyone. Everyone will suffer. Everyone will die. I wrote a book about this, for Pete’s sake.

Yet some people think we can control suffering. We can control unhappiness.

We can’t.

So whenever the ugly head of eugenics rears its face, I try to play whack-a-mole with it and beat it down into the dust where it belongs. This piece is my latest Whack-A-Mole entry, but with the caveat of a really, really grim statistics at the beginning.

95% of children with CF are aborted in utero.

Anyway, read the piece to get all the sad facts and see exactly how I feel about this. :)

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Happy news, yes? :) How about some Patty?

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Also in HUGE news, I’m an auntie to a little girl! I have a niece coming! Her name is Madeleine Grace and she will arrive in the world in January and I am so excitedddd. (She is my sister and her husband’s little girl)

This is the first grandchild for my parents, so obviously we are all really excited.

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I’m having sinus surgery in December! My ENT had a CT of my sinuses taken and apparently there is lots of “mucus and junk” hanging out in my ethmoid sinuses (which are really cool, btw), so he’s going to go in, get the crap out, and then flush in lots of antibiotic stuff to keep things happy!

This is all part of CF. The mucus that’s really think and causes so many issues in my lungs also causes issues in other places, mostly the sinuses, the pancreas, and the reproductive tract (most men with CF are sterile—not sure if it’s all, but most are.) For me, my transplant took care of about 98% of my CF issues—but not my sinuses. Fortunately I have really good sinuses (I had a friend who needed sinus surgery every nine months) but it’s been about 10 years since I had a clean out and that means I’m overdue. So, December! Surgery! Yay!

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Dad and I are reading the Cormorant Strike series and we love them. I just started watching the TV series. Have you read these? I’m not super into mysteries/crime, but I love these. And I mean it helps that they’re ghost written—it’s actually JK Rowling who write them. :) So as a massive Harry fan, that helps. (I didn’t like her first adult novel, btw. So that’s why I was slow to pick these up. But these are good.)

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Knitting? I finished the Beatrice Shawl, and I’ve got four colors for a mystery KAL.

Beatrice shawl on the mats

The KAL is a 6 week thing, and I have five of the clues so far, so I joined late, but I’m really chomping at the bit to get started. I just needed some more size 4 needles, so once those arrive I can dive in!

Seven Quick Takes Labor Day Edition

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Hi! Happy Long Weekend, US readers! :)

If you’re a subscriber, this post just landed in your inbox. If you’re not (and why not may I ask?), then: Ave Maria Press is having a Labor Day Sale! 10% off everything with the code LABORDAY21 at checkout!

So be sure to get your copy of Living Memento Mori (for yourself or friends!).

In the post I also talk about Ave’s new note taking bible. It’s great! And it’s also included in the sale! So you can check out my notes on that.

The sale runs through 9/6 (Monday). Hop to it!

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OK so in the last quick takes I said I was feeling better. Hahah I LIED. By the 26th I felt so crappy that I didn’t have the energy to make coffee. So I called clinic (called=emailed) and got a script for Cipro which is making me feel better.

However, Cipro is a strong (as in, it’s used for plague and anthrax) antibiotic and can mess with tendons. I don’t really like that, but I like that cipro works. I’m on antibiotics all the time as a matter of course so there’s not a whole lot to pick from when I do get sick that’s in pill form. It’s basically Cipro. So I’m used to it, but I don’t really like it. I mean I like feeling better but it’s still a nasty bit of work.

I have less than a week to go on it so that makes me happy, because then I can stop freaking out about my tendons!

And yes, I am getting back to normal energy, which is great.

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Since I want to not mess up my tendons, I’ve been doing a lot of sitting, which means reading and knitting mostly. Fortunately my Aunt Mary (who is also a bookworm of the first degree) sent me a box of books so I can have something to do while I sit! She sent me We Are the Brennans, Klara and the Sun, and A Swim In A Pond In The Rain.

So far I’ve read Brennans and really liked it. I’m reading Klara now, and I’m looking forward to Swim because I like Russian literature. (Mostly. I still need to read War & Peace which is in my library, mocking me for not reading it yet.)

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In Knitting, I have a lot going on but there was a Great Knitting Mystery Adventure this week.

I got a lot of yarn….

And then wound the pretty champagne colored yarn (Quince and Co Crane) for a project.

I was confused on said project. I posted it on Facebook to numerous excellent knitters. WE WERE ALL SO CONFUSED.

Finally, we figured out what to do. It was insane, my friends. Many minds were flabbergasted about this pattern.

But WE DID IT.

BEHOLD.

Anyway now it’s chugging along and is going to be a gorgeous shawl but man, figuring out this pattern was ROUGH!

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The rest of the yarn will be used for two shawls (I LOVE SHAWLS, OK? I really do. They’re so fun.) and a cowl. And yes, I am going to start my sweater soon!

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What are your weekend plans? Mine involve two dinners, lecturing at Mass, and…that’s it. :) But one of the dinners is for Tiffany’s 40th birthday!

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You know Tiff as the mom of Billy, most likely. Well, she’s pregnant again (with a little girl this time) and today is her 40th birthday!

Here she is with Billy…

And this is one of my favorite pictures of us. :)

Seven Quick Takes: Truth, Cold Bug, and Babies!

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Hello! Happy Friday!

Last week I didn’t write because I had a nasty cold/virus bug thing. It wasn’t the plague. :) But I had some dental work two weeks ago to replace an old filing, and some grossness must have come out during the work and flown right up to my left sinus cavity. For teh first few days it was just sort of sore throat, but then it became a nasty cold that had me pretty well sidelined. Sigh. At least I can take cold meds now—I couldn’t pre-transplant!

Anyway, mostly over now, which is good. Yay!

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This next bit is something that’s been gnawing at me for awhile, but it came to full flower yesterday. That’s the movement of people to not tell the truth. Not necessarily intending to lie, per se, but to not be accurate with their words.

During COVID, I’ve noticed this a few different times, and especially now with vaccinations. There seems to be a persistent myth—and it is a myth—that people who are immunocompromised can’t receive the vaccinations.

We can. I have.

So I’ve taken to calling people out on this—nicely!—when I see it. yesterday on twitter, I did this. The response I got was (and I’m paraphrasing): “well, we only have 140 characters, so we don’t have space to make distinctions.” I was told (and this is a quote) that I was “mincing words.”

No. I was being accurate.

The words we use do matter. That’s not just because I’m a writer and words are what I use to earn my living, but I think we all know that words can be dangerous or healing. Truth or lies matter, and facts matter.

It matters that people believe what’s true, which is that immunocompromised people can get the vaccine. Some people cannot get it, just like all people cannot get every vaccine. (I can’t get the shingles vaccine, because it’s a live vaccine.)

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Being told that it’s mincing words to want to be accurate—to be truthful—was very strange to me. (besides the fact that to “mince words” means to not be truthful or to beat around the bush. When people say “let’s not mince words”, they mean, “let’s be totally honest.” )

When I studied journalism and wrote for my college paper, the goal in writing as to get across the facts in as few words as possible, because all journalists (well, and all writers) know about words counts and space. To say that a word or character limit doesn’t allow you to be honest is…..weird.

I think it also bothers me as a Dominican. The motto (well one of the mottoes) of the order is veritas— “truth.” The order was founded to spread God’s truth throughout the world, not the “truth” that the Albigensians believed. Truth is important, in every sense. Jesus called himself the way, the truth, and the life. Truth isn’t “mincing words”.

So that’s been something I’ve been thinking about lately.

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Another thing I’ve been thinking about? BABIESSSS.

Here’s some Patty:

“Mom, I LOVE PAPER TOWELS!”

She’s 13 1/2 months old, is working on more teeth, and is walking like a champ. She can also walk while holding her mom’s phone and have a “conversation” (in baby talk) with you. And she kisses the screen, which I think is adorable. Her big siblings have gone off to school, leaving her and Johnny (seen above) at home with mom—at least until Johnny starts pre-school in a few weeks. (He won’t go every day).

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And in other BABY NEWS—My sister is pregnant! I’m an auntie! Yay!!!!! This is my first niece or nephew and I am insanely excited. Of course baby blanket knitting will begin as soon as my sister lets me know what colors she wants. I’ll be making the same one I made for Patty, just different colors.

Patty snuggled under her blanket. <3

Since Mel and her husband live in Colorado, I won’t have to worry so much about using wool, like I did with Patty, who lives in Texas! I kept worrying that she’d overheat under it, but she seems to do A-OK with it and takes her blanket everywhere, which makes me very happy. I hope that my niece or nephew love her/his baby blanket just as much!

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I’ve been re-reading/re-watching the Harry Potter series. (And the baby’s bedroom is Harry Potter themed!) And while I do that, I’ve done some HP knitting….

For Christmas last year, Mel got me Knitting Magic, a book of Harry Potter projects. These are the horcrux washcloths, so there is a set of seven. I started with Harry, and then made Hufflepuff’s Cup.

Hufflepuff’s cup—it’s not as easy to see as Harry, but it’s there!

Next up will be Ravencaw’s diadem. My Ravelry notes are here.

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The local school district has started back here, and Patty’s siblings all went back on Tuesday:

Has school started back where you are?

Long Time No Yarn Along! :)

I know it’s been FOREVER since I’ve done a yarn along for you, so here we go, I owe you one!

So the first thing is finished objects, or FOs in yarn speak.

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This is a finished Free Your Fade shawl from Andrea Mowry. I just adore her designs! (I have to weave in the ends and block but it’s off the needles, so finished for our purposes!) I used Wonderland Yarns fingering weight yarn in Egypt (light blue), Seography (bright blue), and Jerusalem (all the colors!). Egypt and Jerusalem are limited edition yarns for their 2020 Around the World collection, and as of right now, Jerusalem is still available!

This is an amazingly fun shawl to knit—very relaxing, very portable (I took on the wedding trip!), and a lot of fun when it comes to color combinations. I am definitely knitting another ASAP. (You could also make it bigger!)

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In progress: a sweater!

From Jacqueline’s website

Jacqueline was one of the starts of Knit Stars 6, and she talked about how to adapt patterns to fit your body, which I loved. The pattern we got in her class was this sweater, called Ursina.

I’m going to be adapting that as my new project. I want the length to be more full length, not cropped. (I don’t like cropped). I love the v-neck that isn’t too deep, and the shaping at the bottom which points to the face—all good things! This is a top down sweater which I’ve never done, but I have a knitting friend who is doing it with me so we can help each other!

For my yarn, I chose Quicne and Co Lark (the same I used for my cardigan project), but this time in the Limited Edition Blue Balloon color way (which, as of this writing, you can still get!)

SO MUCH Blue Balloon to wind!

Blue Balloon was also offered last year and I grabbed some to knit a Hawthorne Shawl (which is currently hibernating, bad me!) But I just love this yarn and the color is perfect for me!

I knitted a swatch but I was off a tiny bit on the gauge, which, not to brag, is rare for me, so I’m trying again, going down a needle size (to a 6, instead of the recommended 7). I’ll see if that helps.

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In progress: Confetti Shawl

I belong to a knitting/yarn club where every quarter you get a special skein of yarn, a unique pattern for that yarn, and fun surprises. This was the yarn for summer—it’s a cashmere blend! I didn’t want to make the pattern that was included, so I decided to use another pattern they recommended, a shawl called “Confetti”. I haven’t cast on yet, because I wanted to finish the Free Your Fade at the top of the page first before I started another shawl, but the time has come to cast on with this guy!

I might not do the picot bind off—we’ll see. I was supposed to do it on Free Your Fade but I was so confused when I looked it up that I said, FORGET IT. I don’t like to be too frustrated with my knitting, so I just did a basic bind off.

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In progress: Rosarium shawl

Quince and Co—in case you haven’t realized—is one of my favorite yarn companies. In fact, it’s my go-to for good, quality wool in solid colors. I’ve never used their Finch fingering weight yarn, though.

Well, that’s about to change. I just had to get some of their birthday limited edition in Parakeet!

image from Quince and Co’s Facebook page

(Yes, I like blue, OK?! :) )

Quince describes this as a tonal variegated yarn, so I’m really excited to knit with it. At first I was thinking of a shawl that was two colors, but then I thought, wait, what about Rosarium?

A rose garden—but that’s also where we get the word “rosary.” So….a Marian blue shawl? AMEN! I can do that! I had been waiting for a good yarn for this and voila! I think this will be amazing. And since it’s fingering weight, it will be a lightweight shawl that’s an easy size to throw over a dress or short sleeved top for Mass or anything else, really. Catholic knitting! And also it’s a solid color, which none of my shawls are, so it’ll be a nice addition to my shawl wardrobe.

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Texas yarns!

I have a cowl planned for the Texas Tulip yarn, and the matcha is still sort of up for grabs. Like Rosarium, it’s waiting for the right pattern. I might do it up in the Confetti pattern if I like it—we’ll see!

Teas Tulip on the top, matcha on the bottom.

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As for books….

I re-read Tokyo Ever After (love it), and read Artemis, the only one of Andy Weir’s books I haven’t read. I’m re-reading the Harry Potter series, and I’m currently on Chamber of Secrets. I’m also reading No Man Knows My History, Dominican Spirituality, and Emma.

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!

Weekend Quick Takes!

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Doing something a little different and giving you weekend quick takes! So enjoy!

We’ll start off with a Patticake photo, per usual….

Taking a nap on her mom’s lap in the yard.

(For new folks, Patty is my cousin’s girl and my goddaughter. She is not my child. :) )

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I wrote an essay earlier this week about risk and medicine and…well, things. Sort of COVID related, but it’s more like things I’ve noticed with COVID and….well, thoughts. So take a gander at it if you will. I guess I could call it a “long-form” piece?

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I’ve started working on this Moonwhistle Shawl from Drea Renee Knits and oh my goodness, I adore it.

Ignore all the ends! I’m also fairly sure the bit on wonkiness on the left side will ease up post-blocking.

Here are the yarns I used: Light blue is Wool of the Andes worsted in Whirlpool; Dark blue is Swish Worsted in Marine Heather; and the color change ball is Chroma Worsted in Drawing Room.

This is a pretty easy knit, in that I think I’d great for learning color work, and it’s simple. It’s all knit stitch (garter stitch) and slipped stitches, and one M1L (Make one left), which is explained in the pattern. One of the great things about Andrea’s patterns is that she explains everything, which is so great, and she lists the skills/techniques you need before you buy the pattern, which I WISH all designers did! If you want to check out the pattern for Moonwhistle, here you go.

One of best parts about the design is what she calls the “tweed” sections—where you work with the color change yarn. Oh my gosh this is so fun. So I am addicted to this and am trying to not knit all day, but it’s hard not to when a pattern is this great.

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Reading: The Hour of the Witch, Drums of Autumn, and the last book in Alison Weir’s Tudor Queens series, Katharine Parr: The Sixth Wife, which then led me to go back and re-read the entire series, so I’ve read Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen, and now I’m on Anne Boleyn: A King’s Obsession. The great thing about Weir is she’s a historian first, so her books are all informed on the latest scholarship, which in the case of Katherine of Aragon, Ames it pretty clear that she was not lying to the king about her relationship with Prince Arthur. (Yes, I’m a British history nerd, sorry.)

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I don’t really need a reason to re-read any of the Outlander books, but I’m doing it because I’mw working on my new project! Presenting….

There is so much good Catholic stuff in the books and even the TV series, and I’ve wanted to do a deep-dive into it for awhile, so I figure now is the time. So I’m re-reading all the books and making notes. I’m also trying to marshal my thoughts on organization—by book, by theme, by….? But anyway, that’s what’s going right now in my research. Very excited for this.

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No movie reviews this week (did you like that? Because I liked doing it), but I’ve been watching some opera. I do love opera. I sort of wish I would’ve loved it more when I was younger, because my voice teacher is an opera singer who now sings with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. But alas. However, I am classically trained! So I love watching opera—I find it much easier to watch than to listen to, if it’s a new work. Once I know it, then I can listen to it. I have quite a few operas on DVD because of that, as opposed to CD recordings. So I pop them in when I’m knitting (or really any time, I don’t need an excuse.) . This week is was La Fancuilla del West.

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And finally, the Ohio bishops have reinstated the Mass obligation, beginning the weekend of June 5/6. Has your diocese re-instated the obligation yet?

Anddd if you’d like to learn more about the basics of Catholicism, check out my ebook, Catholic 101! :)

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).

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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!

Seven Quick Takes--Second Friday of Lent

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Hi, everyone! How was your first week of Lent?

Mine was MEH. I thought I could get away with king just little social media. No, I really can’t. I need to be strict about it. So I’m really going to try to only use it for book/writing things and some random updates on my personal page on FB. Because man I use way too much SM. So. Time for timers!

In other news, we WILL start Stations tonight! 7:00 PM EST on my Facebook author page!

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Patty and her family are safe and warm in Texas. :)

Patty was supervising her mom’s yard work when this was taken. :)

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I got my first COVID vaccine!

Yayyyy! My parents and I all got it at a drive-through clinic here in town. It went really fast and really well. I did have a sore spot the next day, but it was minor. Didn’t stop me rom doing anything or sleeping on it.

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I had clinic on Monday. It was….special? I mean, not bad special. I get to go six months without being seen which is the longest I have ever gone in my life between pulmonology appointments, so yay! And my old transplant coordinator at Children’s is now at the New Resort, double yay!!!!! As I told my doctor, “We’re getting the band back together!”

But in some non-yays, I am learning the ways of the new place. The first thing being, they will not take you early. Doesn’t matter if they have time, doesn’t matter if the doctors are ready. They will not take you early. So I now know I don’t have to get up as early as I did, because if I’m there early I just….sit there. Until it’s my turn to be called.

Actually, you can tell this hospital is not used to people being on the ball, because they say they want you there a half hour before your appointment time. I’m assuming this is because people tend to be late. I, however, am almost never late. If I am late, I am probably dead. :-p So, now I know!

Also in the lab, I had a freak out with the tech because she saw all the orders for me in the computer—we were doing vitamin levels and that always require like 40 orders—and she freeeeeeaked. “Well, what do you normally have drawn?! There are orders from two doctors in here! Who do I call!? What labs do you normally get drawn?”

I do not know. I tell her that. She asks me again, in increasing levels of panic.

We did this about four times.

Then I had to give her the clinic number so she could….call and ask them if they really wanted all these labs.

It was insane.

If it’s in the computer….it gets drawn. Sigh.

But, everything was good. PFTs were good, a random treadmill test was good, everything was good. Everyone is happy. We’re working on getting my colonoscopy scheduled….what joy. :-p (it’s a little tricker for me because we have to use the port, and we have to make sure I have lots of anti-emetics (anti-nausea) drugs on hand because my stomach hates the prep. We’re talking projectile vomiting hates the prep, folks. )

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The nice thing about this clinic, however, is that it’s close to a French cafe and a local yarn store! So I went to the yarn store and picked up a really quick project—the yarnicorn cowl.

Knitting in clinic!

Done the next day!

I’ve never used a really chunky yarn like this before and it was SO FUN. It’s from Knit Collage, if you want to check it out. I definitely am going to use more of this in the future! (I used the Lagoon and Nomad color ways here, in the Cast Away yarn.)

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Quick ad break! If you haven’t picked up Living Memento Mori, please do so? Support your local Catholic author! :) I also have a patreon, with memberships starting at a buck a month!

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Next week’s yarn along is going to be AWESOME because…..the cardigan is finished. But more on that next week!!!!!! :)

Seven Quick Takes--1st Friday of Lent

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Hello everyone! How’s your Lent going so far? (The weather might be providing your penance….)

So far mine is going well. I’m adapting this monastic horarium for my use, which is great for adding in extra prayer and also dedicated times for spiritual reading, Lectio, and work. So I get a lot more done, partially because I use this schedule and partially because I’m on social media less, although I think I might need to cull that even further. We’ll see how it goes.

(Fun fact: I was discerned being a cloistered Dominica nun! At Summit!)

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Little Patty and her family are definitely getting penitential weather. They live in Texas, so they lost power, gas, and water, and then had to go to her grandparents’ house for a bit. Now they have gas, power, and “60% water pressure” (according to her dad) so Patty and her family are warm, but so many families aren’t. Pray or them!

Patty does not seem to mind being bundled up….

And yes, she has two teeth now!

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Patrice Fagnat-McArthur wrote a lovely review of Living Memento Mori! (You can find all the reviews of the book here). If you’d like a copy, there are nine left on Amazon! Yes, more are coming, but you know you want it now, right? :)

In other book related news, don’t forget that I’ll be doing Stations of the Cross, using the prayers in my book, starting next week! (We were going to start tonight but….see next point.)

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This is going up later than usual because I had an ENT visit this morning. No, not Tolkien Ents, Ear, Nose, and Throat. I knew that it was going to be AN APPOINTMENT, meaning we’d have lots of thing to do, and we did. Ears were vacuumed (that’s the BEST seriously), and my sinuses were found to have infection. Yayyyyyy. (Not) So that means cipro, which means not moving for two weeks so I don’t rupture any tendons. Seriously, no working out. It sucks because I just started working out again yesterday and it was great. But, alas. Cipro for two weeks.

So because of that I am headach-y and dehydrated (because of all the heat that’s on), so my cochlear implant is hurting my head. So it’s going to go off making me deaf for the rest of the day, but that’s OK. But it does mean no stations tonight. Next week, though!

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I also have clinic on Monday. I have basically three hours between the testing part of clinic (labs, chest X-ray, and PFTs) and seeing my doctor. So I might go to the yarn store. I’ll definitely hit the local French bistro for lunch because it’s one of the perks of being at New Resort. I’m close to really really good food.

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My cardigan is ALMOST DONE! Yay!!!!!!!!!! Just about an inch more to knit on the collar and then I can cast off!

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I get my first COVID vaccine tomorrow! REJOICE!

Seven Quick Takes--Let's Talk Lent

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Hello friends!

From the blog this week: Yarn Along with progress!

Also speaking of yarn, I’ve started this Whatever the Weather knit along from Wonderland Yarns, and I LOVE IT. Essentially you take the low/high/average temp (whichever you choose) of the day, and that correlates to a yarn color. So you can see the temperatures of the year in yarn!

Here’s January—I chose the daily highs.

It’s a “mystery” knit along because we get a new “clue” every month. I think that every month is going to have a different stitch pattern, bordered by garter stitch rows (at the top of the bit here, you can see the rows) . But that’s just my guess. And I love working with these yarns—they’re so buttery and squishy!

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OK let’s talk Lent.

First, get a copy of my book. Please and thank you. :) If you would like to choose your retailer, here is a list of places you can get the book. You can also get it from your local Catholic bookstore!

Really, though, every sale means so much to me. My publisher has goals for sales, and I want to meet them so I can write another book! This really is a team effort. So thank you!

(also please leave an Amazon review if you haven’t.)

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I will be praying the Stations of the Cross, using the Living Memento Mori reflections, every Friday during Lent (except Good Friday), on my Facebook page. Check the events tab for all the dates! (If you like my page then you’ll get updates and you’ll know when I’m going live, so that’s another option to following along!)

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Since I can’t give up anything food related for Lent, and I am also VEHEMENTLY TOLD NOT TO FAST, I’ll be giving up social media usage except for book related and Stations related things. Also no yarn buying. :) Normally I give up buying books during Lent, but given that I’m still sort of stuck in my hobbit hole until I get the vaccine, I’m letting myself buy books.

I want to use SM as a force for good—hence doing stations on FB—but I also have to use it mindfully. I’ve found a lot of good on social media—I’ve made wonderful friends and connections. But, gotta use it mindfully, just like any other tool or “thing”. This is also a very Dominican thing—things aren’t bad in and of themselves, it’s how we use them. And as preachers of truth, we want to use media! That’s how we get the Word (and the word) out!

I’ll also be doing the Consecration to St. Joseph again, as well as 33 Days to Greater Glory. Last Lent I read about St. John of the Cross and then I read his Dark Night of the Soul. Not entirely sure what I will read this Lent. Probably more of the books I have stock piled here? :)

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It is probably not likely that I will receive both doses of the vaccine before Easter. However I am VERY much hoping to get to Mass during the Easter season and then be back to normal Mass going and sacramental life!

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Next week is clear but then I have three doctor appointments to round out February: eye doctor, ENT, and then transplant clinic. I hope everything goes well but I will keep you updated.

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And finally, here’s your weekly Patty. She cut her first tooth this week!

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?

Seven Quick Takes--What a Week!

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Oh my goodness what a week around here!

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On Sunday I celebrated the birthday of my book! So that was a nice start to the week (or end of the week, depending on how you count the weeks!).

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Monday was…OK? I mean my body was still being sort of silly and my sleep was nuts, but it was all right.

Tuesday, however…..no bueno.

It began with finding an email saying that one of my favorite flower companies supports Planned Parenthood. This makes me sad and angry on several levels. One, that the lie that PP is for “women’s health” continues to have traction, whether or not people believe it or if they’re just parroting something that sounds good. Second, that people still think that being able to murder your babies is an OK thing. And third, that politics has to be in everything, even flowers!

Endo kept calling my parent about check in stuff and we couldn’t get ahold of them. (More on endo in a bit). THEN it was port access day, and my port decided not to work.

via GIPHY

“Work” in this case means—get blood return. Really quickly: When you access a port, you put in the port needle, with a syringe full of saline attached (used to flush the line) and if the needle in the port, when you pull back on the syringe, blood will come out.

No blood came out. We tried several times.

So, this means that either 1) there is some sort of issue in the line that needs professional help, or 2)the port is broken. The port is 16 years old, so that’s pretty likely. They don’t last forever, sadly.

So I had to email Kim, my transplant coordinator, and see what’s up.

And then both my hockey teams lost in OT.

Tuesday was not good.

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Wednesday.

Kim gets back to me and asks me if I want to see what happens with my port when I come in for blood work on 2/22. I say, yes, let’s do that. If the nurses can’t get it, then we will try a dye study to see if the port is really broken. And if it is, then surgery to remove the old one and put in a new one, which I hope fervently will be a POWER PORT! A power port means that I can get CT contrast through that line! Yayyyyyy!

So, OK, one issue dealt with. The port doesn’t hurt me, so the fact that it’s not currently working isn’t a huge deal.

I have an endocrinology appointment so my parents have to play phone tag with endo and I wail about how the fact that they won’t email me is just insane. Sigh.

So, the office is crazy, but my doctor is good, and I really like her. My appointment with her goes really well; my A1c has dropped two percentage points since last year, so that’s great. She’s “not worried about me” and is pleased with my progress. (I really like it when I don’t worry my doctors.) We make a few little insulin tweaks and set up some more appointments, including an education appointment. So I’m really glad that endo went well.

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And I was so glad that endo went well, and I was all dressed and pretty, so I went to the local yarn store! I had emailed them earlier in the week about stopping in for some help and the owners graciously said yes! (Knit ins aren’t happening right now, obviously, but this was OK.) So with the help of one of the wonderful owners, I finally have figured out how to pick up stitches for my cardigan collar! Huzzah! The end is near!

And then Ince I was there I had to get more yarn, right? So I did. Firstly because the woman had given me her time—she really had, she sat by me until I said I was comfortable doing it!—and also because…..YARN.

Behold the pretty—this is all Wonderland Yarn from Frabjous Fibers in the Mary Ann fingering base. Tonals: the bright turquoise, called Seaography; variegated: Biscotti, from the Tea Time Collection (the cream/gold/sienna speckle), and then the last two are from their De-Stitch Nation special collection: Jerusalem and Egypt.

Right now I’m thinking about doing a Free Your Fade shawl with Seaography, Egypt, and Jerusalem. Biscotti is a great neutral that will work with anything and makes me really happy.

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The other issue is vaccine roll out here. I am in group “1b” , but that’s been a group that’s been subject to a lot of political pandering. I might not get the vaccine until February 15 because, while I have lots of health issues that are in this group, I don’t have intellectual impairments. I’m not sure how that affects your immune system, but…..the state has decreed it so. Sigh.

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So yes it’s been a busy sort of insane week. But there are good things in it, as always. Like Patty!

She’s scooting now and it’s so cute—her mom video called me to show me. I just adore this child. And check that dimple!

As soon as I get vaccinated I am RUNNING to see her.

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?

Seven Quick Takes--Post Turkey

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Happy Post-Thanksgiving! I hope you had a lovely Turkey Day!

Patty certainly had a good day.

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We had Buca di Beppo. They had the normal menu (well, a smaller menu, as is usual these days) an then Thanksgiving meal which was very good. I really liked the stuffing, which had Italian sausage in it—WINNER. It was a little different than regular stuffing (or dressing, as some of you say), but I really liked it!

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OK time for business!

OK first: my ebook, Catholic 101, is on sale for FOUR DOLLARS. If you are a blog subscriber, you get even MORE off with your special coupon code! So if you aren’t a subscriber, sign up now and get the code!

This book is based on my experiences as a first grade CCD—as I was teaching the kids things, I noticed that parents and other adults didn’t know the stuff I was teaching the kids! So I decided to write an ebook about it.

The ebook is gift-able—you can email it to people!—printable, and also readable on any screen.

The sale runs through next Friday (Dec. 4), at midnight. You don't need a code or anything. Just go buy it. :)

Second, Ave Maria Press’s Black Friday deal is on. Using the code BLACK20 to get 30% off and FREE SHIPPING PLUS an Advent booklet (while supplies last) for free! You can get Living Memento Mori here.

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I got my first Christmas gift today from Tiff (aka Billy’s mom)—three books that I will probably spend the rest of the day devouring. That and also digging out in Orchard House—it’s a disaster. One of the biggest issues with not going out to shop is that I get so many BOXES AND BAGS delivered on a weekly basis. So they pile up fully quickly! So today I’ll be making several trips to the bulk trash and trash compactor.

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Normally I put my tree up tomorrow during the OSU/ Michigan game. But….that game is now next week, so my schedule is all off. :) So I might not get the tree up until next week but it’s all good, right? I would like to get the nativity set out this weekend.

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In what has become a Thanksgiving tradition, I watched Miracle on 34th Street (the original) last night while I worked on my Find Your Fade Shawl. It’s actually quite a lovely tradition, if I do say so myself.

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And speaking of knitting, this weekend I will start picking up the stitches for the cardigan collar! Wish me luck. :)

Seven Quick Takes--a bunch of random

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We’ll start with some Patty for ya….

FINGERS ARE YUMMY!

( I seriously could just post photos of her all day…..)

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In really good news, I’ve gotten to talk to Patty! Well, not really talking, more baby talk and gurgles and baby voices. But her mom (my cousin Diane) has video called me twice lately, and it’s been so great to see Patty and her brother, Johnny (who is too young for school yet) and also catch up with Di! Normally I’d have been in Houston for the baptism in September, but….not this year. Sigh. So video calls are what we do, which is still a good substitute. At least Patty can see my face and hear my voice! And I like seeing Di’s new house, too (well it’s new to me. I haven’t visited them there yet.) Johnny is not in school yet, so that’s why I get to see him while the other three are in school. (There are five kids in total, three girls and two boys.) It’s great to be able to catch up this way, even if I can’t actually snuggle the baby yet. I can make weird faces! :)

I am also going to get her several Baby Lit books for Christmas. :)

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Speaking of Christmas shopping, get copies of Living Memento Mori for Christmas! Pregame your Lent! :)

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As my cardigan project nears its completion, I’m thinking about other things I can knit! One of the things I like is the idea of a capsule knitted wardrobe. I like the idea of “slow fashion” (ie, things made with care, not as cheap as possible and things that last), and I also like the idea of making pieces that will go with a lot of other things. So right now, that means I have to get better at knitting in the round, so I can make hats and sweaters with a top-down construction.

In order to practice, I’ve got two patterns coming up. One is a cowl I’ve done before. After this is this hat, done in Quince and Co’s Lark yarn in Peacock.

Why peacock? When I was in the hospital last year for pancreatitis and gallbladder issues, I got a magazine with the model wearing a peacock colored beret on the cover, and I WANTED IT. Also, it has sort of a Mrs. Weasley-ish vibe that I liked. :)

So after I’ve done a hat (or two—probably two!), I will move on to this sweater, called Leslie, from the same book as my cardigan project:

Leslie is knit in pieces, like my cardigan, and then seamed. It uses Quince and Co’s Osprey yarn. Not sure what color I’ll pick yet, but to fit in with the “capsule” idea, it’ll probably be on that will go with a lot of what I wear!

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Yes, I am watching The Crown. To me it seems like this is the first season where the queen is not…totally likable. I also wish they’d given Maggie T a little more credit, especially in the South Africa episode, but whatever.

Also, the queen’s sons sure are special!

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What are you doing for Thanksgiving? If our restaurants stay open we’ll be going out. But things are sort of….tenuous right now, so no one really knows what’s going to be coming down from the state government….we’ll see!

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I’m also working on my goals for 2021, using Lara Casey’s power sheets, which I absolutely love and highly recommend. :) Look for a post on 2021 goals soon! :)

If you’d like to support my writing, become a Patreon member! Memberships range from $1-$20 a month. Thank you! Your support keeps me creating!

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.

Seven Quick Takes--Only Treats!

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Helloooooo everyone!

Let’s start your day with some Patty, shall we?

Gosh I LOVE this kid.

Patty is four months old today!!!! :)

Also, here is her Halloween costume:

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From the blog this week:

The Brave New Us podcast is live!!!—I had a really fun time doing this one, since it’s about genetics!

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The cardigan is taking a break right now. The next step is to pick up stitches and knit the collar, which I don’t know how to do, so I am going to practice on the swatch.

In the mean time I’ve been working on this shawl. Ravelry notes here. It’s the sail-away shawl from Modern Daily Knitting’s “ease” issue, and it is easy! The yarn was actually a birthday gift and I’d completely forgotten about it during all the Big Projects I’ve been knitting.

The yarn is Sincere Sheep’s sport in Hathor’s Gem (the blue) and Suerte (the green). This yarn is magical. It’s so much fun to work with and the shawl is SO SQUISHY.

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My book, Catholic 101, turns three this weekend! Do you have a copy? It’s FIVE BUCKS, and if you’re a subscriber to the blog, you get an additional 15% off!

You can read it on any computer or e-reader, and it’s both PRINTABLE and GIFT-ABLE. So knock some folks off your Christmas list! :)

In that vein….

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Signed copies of Living Memento Mori are available! They are $20, and that includes shipping and a custom bookmark and prayer card that the Ave Maria Press marketing department made for the book! Fancy! I can dedicate the book to anyone you want! If you want a copy, email me. Buy some Christmas gifts and/or think ahead for Lent! :)

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Do we even want to talk about the election? How about not? :-D

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Next week I’ll have two new blog posts out for sure….the first one being about the second book, which is really exciting, and the second one being about health stuff, I think. No, nothing is going on that’s new, but I like to keep y’all informed about my life and health, so I’ll be writing a post about how things are going there!

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