Blogmas '22 Day 7: Christmas Knits

There were three things knit for gifts this year and now I can talk about them since they don’t have to be surprises anymore!

One of them I think I’d already shared—Hailey’s baby blanket.

Wrapped up in it :)

This is an adaptation of the Sully blanket pattern I’ve used for all the baby blankets I make, but every time I keep adapting is! This time I added a border of garter stitch all the way around—I start with four rows of garter stitch and then end with four rows of garter stitch, in addition to the four garter stitches at the end of each row. I don’t like to block blankets so I think that this makes the blanket “lie” a little bit better.

I used Rowan’s cashsoft merino in three colors: snowflake, vintage pink, and rosy.

Project Number 2: A winter scarf!

This was actually planned as a Christmas gift—I made my dad a scarf in easy mistake rib, using a nice navy blue yarn—and he got it before Christmas due to the insanely cold temperatures we had here! I’m glad I’d thought to make it!

(I don’t have any pictures, sorry, bad blogger me!)

Project Number 3: A Cowl for my Sister-in-law

This was sort of a random project. I had some of Quince and Co’s limited edition yarn based on a Taylor Swift song—Lavender Haze. I bought a few skeins thinking it would make some good cowls.

Once Hailey was born, I felt like I needed to make another Christmas gift for Sarah (my SIL) since one of her gifts was Hailey’s baby blanket—but since Hailey was here, it was hers now! Knowing that she loves sparkle, I thought I’d pair Lavender Haze with a sparkly Knit Collage yarn to make a really quick cowl that will keep her warm on walks with Hailey this winter!

The colors here aren’t really representative—it’s much more pink in person, not orange!

The pattern is Knit Collage’s Yarnicorn Cowl knit with Quince and Co Puffin and Knit Collage’s Star Spun in Lunar Landing. You need one skein of each and it seriously takes about two hours to knit up! Knit Collage’s yarns create really fun, unique knits. I’m going to make another one of these for my sister, except using the Knit Collage Kona Sky color way with the Lavender Haze.

Did you knit/crochet/craft any Christmas gifts? Tell me about them!

Blogmas '22 Day 4: Books of Christmas!

There must always be a Christmas book post! :) There are a few more coming from Amazon that I bought with gift cards I received. So this is really like Christmas books part one.

Go-To Dinners, Ina Garten*: I love Ina’s cookbooks—I have all of them—and when she has a new one, it’s a guaranteed item on my Christmas list. I’ve already gone through and marked up the recipes I want to try, and there are a lot of them.

Welcome to Our Table: This cookbook is by the Penguins’ (my favorite hockey team) wives and girlfriends, and the sales support the Penguins’ Charitable Foundation. It is pretty cool to see recipes from Anna Malkin in here. If you’re a hockey fan, this is a great book—with lots of good recipes even if you’re not!

Queens of the Age of Chivalry,* Alison Weir: Why yes, I am a British History Nut. This book is the third in Weir’s series of books on the queens of England up to the Tudors, starting with William the Conqueror’s wife, Matilda of Flanders. There will be four books in the series (here are the other two: Queens of the Conquest and Queens of the Crusades). Weir has written full biographies of some of these ladies, so if you want even more detail, you can get it!

Antoinette’s Sister*, Diana Giovinazzo: I’m a sucker for anything about Marie Antoinette—she was really the first historical figure I “got into”, as it were, so this novel is pretty perfect for me. It’s told from her sister Charlotte’s viewpoint, which should make it even more interesting. I will report back.

The Lays of Beleriand*, JRR Tolkien: This is the third volume in the “History of Middle Earth” series. I’ve been working my way through this, very out of order—I’ve read the four that deal explicitly with Lord of the Rings, but then I went back and started at the beginning, with The Book of Lost Tales Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. If you’re really into Tolkien, these are good reads. If you’re not, then you’ll be bored stiff!

(asterisk—Amazon affilate link)

Mid August Daybook

Flowers at the local French cafe

Outside my window::

Sunny and breezy—great late summer weather.

Listening to::

The Rings of Power soundtrack. I’m very excited for the show to start on September 2!

Wearing::

crops and a gray t-shirt—a uniform of sorts for me.

Grateful for::

Conversations with Di, Patty, and Johnny.

Good Echo results!

new knitting projects

Pondering::

Functional fitness. As I wrote in the last daybook , this is important in just keeping up the house and doing regular things, but it’s also important in giving my body the tools it needs to “get through” things. If I’m stronger at the outset then I have less to lose if/when I get sick.

Like right now, I have a sinus infection. Wheeeeeee again. I’ve had a lot of them sine 2020, and that’s unusual for me. I had a long-overdue sinus surgery last December, but that didn’t seem to solve the problem the way it normally does.

So right now I’m on Cipro, which is a great, super powerful antibiotic which will clear up the sinuses—but will also mess with my tendons. So that is a bummer when it comes to the whole “functional fitness” thing, because I really do not want to rupture a tendon.

This means that my workouts have to change—I can’t be doing things like treadmill workouts. So I’m doing gentler things, but things that my body still needs, like yoga/stretches for my body, especially my legs (because my legs get really tight), and things I can do that don’t put a lot of stress on my knees or Achilles’ tendon, because these are the areas that tend to get grumpy with me. I’ve gotten some permanent injury to my right knee because I didn’t listen to my body when I’ve been on Cipro, so I don’t want to repeat that.

It’s a fine line, but it’s one that I have to figure out how to manage, and I think I have a good plan for the next two weeks that I’m on this medication.

Reading::

The Silmarillion,* The Book of Lost Tales (Part 1),* (yes, lots of Tolkien right now!) The Crossing* (my parents are really into this book series and so I’ve started reading them too), and Memories Before and After The Sound of Music.*

In case you’re wondering how I read multiple books at one time—I was an English Lit major in college (and Political Science), so I’m very good at reading multiple books at one time! I’m reading Silmarillion almost like I’d read it for a class; I take it slowly because there are a lot of names and places and things to remember. I try to read 1-2 chapters a day. The other books I’m not reading like that. But I’m very good at juggling books and plot lines.

Creating::

A '“stupid easy” shawl with some of the gorgeous yarn I bought on the yarn crawl!

The pattern is Casapinka’s “Woven”, which I had bought and forgot about in the wilds of my desk, but as part of the house reorganizing/decorating project, I was going through papers and found it, and then decided it would be perfect for this yarn. Ravelry notes here. I still have two shawls to block as well.

(Yes shawls are my favorite thing to knit. They’re so diverse and you can have o much fun with yarn and technique! BUT color work is also really fun. And I’m liking cowls. So cowls/shawls are my favorites right now.)

To live the liturgy::

Today is the feast of St. Bernard, Doctor of the Church and Abbot. Did you know he wrote “O Sacred Head Surrounded” (or “now Wounded” in some translations)? I didn’t! I love that hymn. He’s also featured in Dante’s Paradiso. (The last part of the Divine Comedy. If you haven’t read it, I recommend it!)

Around the house::

Still going on the big project but things are coming together! Yay!

From the kitchen::

I will make another load of Sourdough sometime this month to incorporate Diane’s suggestions to my last attempt! I’m actually really excited. I need to feed Sammy the Starter today.

Plans for the week::

All day doctor extravaganza on Monday for yearly testing. WHEEE. Since I’m on Cipro I won’t have to do the six minute walk, which I sort of hate anyway, so that’s a plus!

August Yarn Along--Christmas knitting takes off!

I went on my first “yarn crawl” on Monday and so that was a lot of fun! A crawl is basically visiting a bunch of shops that are all participating in the event; it’s a great way to visit new stores and get discounts and other goodies, like….TOTE BAGS.

The bag with….

My goodies inside! :)

The Carnation Yarn Trail runs through Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky, and man, it’s extensive, as you can see on the map (scroll down)—it goes from Grand Rapids, MI, to just outside Louisville, KY! A lot of knitters will visit stores as a vacation or a fun thing to do with their yarn buddies, but I “just” visited two stores, though I am keeping this list for future reference.

First I visited 614 Knit Studio, which is on the north side of town. I’d never visited it before but it’s so gorgeous that that’s going to change! The top photo is of their ‘baby yarn’ wall and I bought almost all of the teal yarn for a dress for Maddie. I also picked up some Malabrigio Rios in Anniversario for me (that’s the pretty multicolored yarn!) that might be (yet another) shawl. :) Shawl knitting is my love language! I also got a shawl cuff so I can experiment with different ways to wear my many shawls, and some blocking pins that I think will work a lot better than the ones I currently have, which are sort of fiddly.

My second stop was Yarn it and Haberdashery, which is my “regular” local yarn store. I got the dark blue yarn you see in the photo for a Christmas project. (You can see the project on Ravelry here), as well as the knit picks needles so I can cast on a baby blanket without waiting for a current knit in progress to be done! :) (Yes I have a second niece coming, she needs a blanket! Yay babies!)

In progress we have:

*Chocolate Lily, where I have just finished the main body increases. That means there are two more sections to go before it’s off the needles!

*Christmas project (see link above)

And things that need blocked: Quindici and Take It All. (Seen below—quindici is the one done in blues)

Whew! That’s a fair bit of knitting and finishing to do.

Onto reading!

Above, The Silmarillion surrounded by the projects that need finished. :)

I’ve been meaning to read The Silmarillion* for awhile, but it wasn’t until a week or so ago that I decided to be serious about it. Thanks to this great reader’s guide, I’ve been making progress! This is very different from the Lord of the Rings books in that it’s very dense—I’m taking a ton of notes in the margins—but rewarding to read.

I’m also re-reading Cardinal Pell’s prison journals*.

End of July Daybook

It has been so long since I’ve done one of these, but I saw that Elizabeth Foss has re-started them over at her blog and that gave me the impetus to go ahead and write this one! Because I like them and it’s been way too long since we’ve had one!

Outside my window::

It’s a sunny day, the grass and trees are green and thriving (see above photo!). It’s only going to be 81 today so that mens I can sit on my porch and read without frying to a crisp. This is excellent.

I am listening to::

In the car, it’s the Six * soundtrack. It’s so fun. I’ve also been working on learning Scottish Gaelic, so sometimes I tune into the BBC Scotland (Alba) channel and get a mix of Scottish music and talk radio—sometimes in English, sometimes in Gaelic. I’m really good at picking out the word “and”! (which is agus).

I am wearing::

You know, when the world shut down in 2020, it was so easy to get into the “I am not going to get dressed” thing, right? I’ve never been a person to leave the house in my pajamas, and I’m still not. But yes, my favorite leggings and a great t-shirt are sort of my summer uniform, along with a fun lipstick. (One of my New Year’s Resolutions? Wear more lipstick. It sounds really funny and sort of silly, but I love doing it now!) Generally my hair is up. When I’m dressed like this I feel like I can get a lot of things done, which is always a good idea!

Grateful for::

Talking to Maddie and my sister this morning—Maddie is blowing raspberries and it’s so cute.

Good weather

The local farmers’ market, which I remembered to visit yesterday!

A new baby to knit for

a local yarn crawl to attend!

Pondering::

Two big projects—but not writing projects. One of them is a wholesale overhaul of my apartment. The other is about gaining back muscle strength and endurance post COVID lockdowns.

The apartment is something I’ve been wanting to do for awhile, and this has two parts: the really deep clean + organizing, and then the decorating part. The two are sort of dovetailing because as I deep clean/sort/donate/organize things I notice things that need replaced or things I need to get to ensure things are running smoothly around here. The other part is replacing broken things with things that I, in some cases like better, like the lamp below:

This lamp is perfect!

The goal is to have the cleaning and organizing done by Labor Day. I think I can do it! The decorating will take a bit longer as I look for things that are good fits, like the lamp above. There was a lamp there that didn’t really fit the space or my style, but I kept it because I hadn’t found anything else I really liked. As soon as I saw this lamp (from Target) I knew it would be perfect, and it is. So then I was able to get rid of the old, broken lamp!

Another part of housekeeping is having the energy/stamina to do it, because I don’t always. If I get sick, the entire system collapses, so I need a better system, for starters, but that also feeds into the second project—getting my stamina back. Lockdowns did a huge number on my overall fitness, and so I’ve decided that I’m really going to re-focus on that. I’m doing Take Up and Read’s Well and Good summer program, and that’s been really helpful in addressing certain issues I’d been having. I’m not trying to lose weight—at this point, I want to be strong and be able to function on a daily basis, for myself, but also for Patty, Madeleine, and my new niece!

So I’ve been working out three times a week—the goal is to build that up to 5 days. The workouts vary but I can already seem changes in my stamina and strength, which is all for the good. And if I have more strength, I can do more around the house as well! It all works together.

Reading::

The King’s Pearl*, about Henry VIII and his daughter Mary; Mansfield Park*'; Taste: My Life Through Food*, and Theology of Home III: At The Sea. *

Creating::

a shawl—I’m in a yarn club so every quarter members get a special kit with an exclusive pattern, yarn for the pattern, and a knitting notion. I’ve been knitting through kits I have, and this is the one I’m on now—hopefully I’ll have it off the needles by August’s Yarn Along! I’ll have full notes there too.

To Live the Liturgy::

Today’s the feast of St. Martha!

Around the House::

See above! :) But right now the laundry is going as I write this.

From the Kitchen::

When I visited Diane, she taught me how to make sourdough bread and gave me some of her starter. I am most likely going to bake my first loaf with it within the next week. Fingers crossed!

Patty observes the process!

Plans for the week::

As we head into August my schedule is lovely and clear. August has two medical days—an Echo as part of my yearly transplant testing, as well as the whole day testing/doctor visit extravaganza. But other than that, the month is so clear and I love it.

Yarn Along: Digging into the stash!

I don’t know what it is about vacations but it always seems to give me mental clarity. Does this happen to you?

One of the things I was thinking bout when I was in Texas (which I will write about soon!) is knitting. I didn’t bring a knitting project with me, but I was thinking about what to do with some yarn I have and hadn’t used. That lead me to remember this kit that my parents got me for Christmas, for a shawl called “Take It All.” The kit uses one main color (that’s the ‘natural’ color you see) and a mini-skein kit for the contrasting colors. I thought that would be a great project to work on. I wanted something pretty simple but also fun, and this checked all the boxes. (You can see a version of it knitted up here)

I also decided wht I’ll be knitting next, so I have my updated “knitting queue” ready to go. It can be so overwhelming to have yarn for so many projects, and to have a huge Ravelry queue, so sometimes it’s easier for me to write a “top three” list and then work down that.

My Ursina sweater is sort of in limbo because I have to learn how to do magic loop! So I’m taking a short (I hope) break from it. I finished my Quinidici shawl, and that was a lot of fun. I especially liked working with La Bien Aimee’s cashmerino yarn! I used Winterfell, Hegelia, and Nymeria for my Quindici. (I bought the yarn with birthday money—a very good expenditure if I do say so myself!) I actually have a ton of Nymeria left so I’m thinking about doing another quindici with two other colors…hmmm! (You only use a little of the second contrast color in this project.) I mean, waste not want not, right? :)

As far as reading: I love visiting a little independent bookshop whenever I visit Diane. So we made a trip to the Blue Willow Bookshop!

It’s so adorable and it’s home to lots of amazing things. I bought two copies of the 200th anniversary edition of Emma for Di and I….she’d never read it, except in its Baby Lit version:

Johnny: Emewee, are these the same book?

(Yes I have multiple copies of Emma, don’t judge.)

When I do the full Houston write up I’ll include book links.

What are you making/crafting/reading?

A Truly Massive Birthday Yarn Along!

In the words of an Eva Cassidy song, “People get ready”—there’s a lot of yarn and books to discuss!

For my birthday, I received a lot of books and yarn gift cards/money I used on yarn. Since it was a milestone birthday I definitely was spoiled! I can’t wait to walk you through the goodness.

The yarn you see above was bought with some birthday money. It’s La Bien Aimee’s cashmerino yarn, all the way from Paris! Aimee, the owner, is known throughout the yarn world for her amazing colors and yarns, and I was so glad to be able to finally get my hands on some of it. From left to right, the colors are: Nymeria, Hegelia, and Winterfell. Knitting with it is a delight! I’m turning the yarn into this project.

I love blue, but I don’t actually have a “plainer” blue lightweight shawl or wrap, and that’s something I definitely need in my wardrobe, so this is a good addition to my knitted accessories repertoire. (By “plainer” I mean, one that’s mostly shades of blue and isn’t knit up with other wilder/brighter colors or mixes and that is also lightweight. I do have a shawl that is mostly blue and gray, but it’s a sport weight so it’s a little heavier than what I’m currently knitting up.)

Onto the next batch of yarn! Behold!

Wanna talk wild colors? We got your wild colors right here!

This is more La Bien Aimee yarn, but this time I got it from a US store, so I didn’t have to pay shipping and I could pay in dollars, not euros! Yay! :)

Knit Stars is both a knitting masterclass series and a yarn store in Tulsa, OK. Every Spring and Fall they rearrange their “hot loops” wall, which is a bunch of projects and yarn they’re featuring that particular season. This spring, knitter and designer Gaye Glasspie (aka, GG, aka, the Iconic Orange Lady) designed the wall and picked the projects. So obviously orange figured in a BIG way.

At first I wasn’t sure about this because….orange is not really a color I use. My friend Andrea loves orange. But I am not really much of an orange person.

However I did want more LBA yarn….

And these flowers arrived on my birthday, which was also the same day as the Spring Hot Loops wall reveal:

Hmmmmmmmmm. That’s a lot of orange! And bright pink! And purple!

And the yarn could capture these flowers and I could have a shawl that would echo these flowers and pay homage to a special birthday……

BINGO.
So I’m making my second Find Your Fade shawl using these colors, which is the LBA Merino Aran base. (You can get it at KnitStars here) My Ravelry notes are here. The shawl is originally designed for a fingering weight yarn, and I’ve obviously bumped it up several thicknesses to an Aran base, but I’m using the same yardage amounts (which means I’ll need to order more of some of these colors). I’m also only doing one lace repeat per color, which is also what I did with my original Find Your Fade. (This is a shawl that can be huge.)

Here are the colors in the order I’ll be using them in the shawl, starting at the bottom (blue) and working up:

From bottom: Hegelia, Winter Garden, Sari, Fiori, RGO, Le Littoral

I just couldn’t wait to start….so I didn’t….and I’ve finished two colors (Hegelia and Winter Garden) and moved on to the third (Sari)! I am seriously obsessed with this project.

Sari comes in…

Whew! I love it! And I’m still working on a baby blanket for Miss Alice and I’m about to start the sleeves on my Ursina! Hopefully I’ll have some finished objects to show you in May!

Now let’s talk books.

I got a lot of book gift cards for my birthday so I, of course, got a lot of books with them. There are so many that I think I might share them with you over the coming weeks (and Yarn Alongs!). So let’s take the first four: (yes, FOUR!)

Time for Tea* is in the first photo. This is from Fortnum and Mason, the big food emporium in London. If you’ve been reading here for awhile, you know that I love tea! So this book discusses the history of tea, types of tea, hat tea is best for various occasions, and also, recipes for tea time! It’s gorgeously produced and its cover is Fortnum and Mason’s signature “eau-de-nil” color.

The second book, which is perched on the shawl above, is Queens of the Conquest: England’s Medieval Queens.* You should also know, if you’re a longtime reader, that I am an anglophile. A big one. :) My friend Amilia got me this book, because we both share a love of British history. Weir has written many, many books about British royalty—both fiction and nonfiction—and this is the first in a series that will look at England’s early queens. I really loved this book and I loved taking notes and adding to my research files, because, yes, I do research files for fun, because I am a nerd! The second book in the series is Queens of the Crusades: England’s Medieval Queens*, which I need to read next!

I also just finished All The Queen’s Men*, which was another birthday book. I actually got the first book in the series, The Windsor Knot*, too. The books revolve around the premises that Queen Elizabeth II isn’t just queen—she’s also. sleuth who has been solving mysteries since her father, George VI, was on the throne. with the help of her Assistant Private Secretary, Rozie, and a retired member of her protection detail, she cracks the case of a murdered pianist in the first book, and a murdered housekeeper in the second.

This installment definitely has a British flavor, doesn’t it? I didn’t just get books about England for my birthday, I promise. I’ll share the rest of them soon!

Yarn Along: Ursina body!

About to begin bust darts after separating the sleeves from the body

It’s an Ash Wednesday Yarn Along! :) And we’re continuing adventures in top down sweater knitting!

I am loving this sweater. It’s so fun to knit, and I love the color and yarn I’ve chosen (Quince and Co Lark, in limited edition color way blue balloon). (Ravelry notes here)

In the photo above, you see the sweater after I separated the sleeves from the body (this link is genius for explaining it!), and began the bust darts in size D. (The sizing options are part of the pattern) The bust darts give you extra fabric so that you’re not pulling your sweater down! They’re genius! It gives you more length right where you need it.

After the bust darts it’s just regular rows, working the half brioche stitch when you get to them (that’s the bit in between the stitch markers). Now I’ve finished the body rows and I’m on to the triangle detailing at the bottom of the sweater, which you can see here:

From the designer’s website: you can see the sweater can be cropped or full-length. (I chose the latter.)

The triangle detailing is one of the things that drew me to this pattern in the first place because it directs attention up toward my face as opposed to on places I don’t want attention directed! The v-neck collar does the same thing.

you can see the bust darts here--those will smooth out after blocking.

I have 48 rows to do for the triangle shaping, and then it’s on to the sleeves. I will say I’m a litttttle nervous about the sleeves, but the one thing I’ve been using as a motto for this sweater is: do not read ahead. Read the directions one line at a time and do what that line says!

Since today kicks off Lent, my reading is all Lenten: Restore by Sr. Miriam James, SOLT, and Just Rest (a bible study of the Book of Exodus) by Sonja Corbitt.

What are you making or reading?

February Yarn Along: Colorwork and a sweater! (And Candlemas poetry!)

Welcome to a pre-snow/icepocalypse Yarn Along!

(Right now the weather forecast is basically doom. 2-4” of snow isn’t bad in an of itself, but we’re talking about accumulating ice, too, and that….is the danger. Lots of ice can take out the power. So let’s hope that doesn’t happen!)

Up first: My first piece of stranded colorwork, and I love it! (photo above)

This is Jennifer Berg’s “The Peaceful People” cowl. (Ravelry notes at that link) I used Malabrigo Caprino yarn, which is a wool/cashmere blend and is so perfect for something that’s going around your neck! I used Pearl and Pines.

I think this is a great first time stranded colorwork project. The pattern is very well-written and really, you’re just working with two colors in each row, so it’s not overtly complicated. And it’s so pretty.

Second: Emily Knits A Sweater!

This is the Ursina Sweater, which you can make in a cropped or full-length size (I’m going for the latter). My Ravelry notes are here. The yarn is Quince and Co Lark in Blue Balloon (a limited edition color way).

This project has a bunch of make one right and make one left (M1R and M1L, respectively) notations in this, plus a half brioche stitch (hbs) detailing. To keep that all straight, I’ve gone through the pattern and color coded each. M1R is blue, M1L is pink, and the hbs detail is underlined in pencil. This really helps me keep things straight.

I also write in the number of repeats for my size above the instructions and then cross them off, so I always know where I am in the pattern.

I will also be making another baby blanket for Alice (my friend Tiffany’s daughter), but I have to order the yarn first!

As for books: I’m about to start reading Dante’s Inferno * (the Anthony Esolen translation), and probably The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, which is an Anne Bronte book I’ve never read but I bought a copy over Christmas.

ALSO, here’s a poem by Robert Herrick about Candlemas—well, Candlemas Eve, which was yesterday, since today is Candlemas, but hey, I’m going to share poetry!

CEREMONIES FOR CANDLEMAS EVE
by Robert Herrick


DOWN with the rosemary and bays,
Down with the misletoe ;
Instead of holly, now up-raise
The greener box (for show).

The holly hitherto did sway ;
Let box now domineer
Until the dancing Easter day,
Or Easter's eve appear.

Then youthful box which now hath grace
Your houses to renew ;
Grown old, surrender must his place
Unto the crisped yew.

When yew is out, then birch comes in,
And many flowers beside ;
Both of a fresh and fragrant kin
To honour Whitsuntide.

Green rushes, then, and sweetest bents,
With cooler oaken boughs,
Come in for comely ornaments
To re-adorn the house.
Thus times do shift ; each thing his turn does hold ;
New things succeed, as former things grow old.

Are you working on anything crafty?

Snow Days

(This project is done! I can’t wait to show you in February’s Yarn Along!)

My general thought on snow is that if I don’t have to go anywhere, it’s fine. I really hate scraping off my car and all the extra time that snow entails when traveling, especially if it’s before the sun has come up. But since I work from home now I generally like it a lot more than I did!

I especially like the sense of quiet and coziness that snow brings. I feel like I can knit, read, putter….and that’s all productive, instead of feeling like I should be out in the world, doing other things!

But when I do go out in the world, there are babies to be snuggled!

Alice and I, becoming friends!

I mean really, is there anything better in the world than holding a baby for hours? There are parts of my chest that just seem made for a little baby head to nestle in—and they probably were! :)

Truly, this is divinity. I am very glad that Tiffany, Alice’s mom, allows me to be so adoring over her child. :)

So while I do have to go out into freezing cold-ness tomorrow for labs and PFTs, it’s nice to come back to a warm hobbit hole!

Blogmas Day 12: First Yarn Along of 2022!

I have so much yarn and knitting to show you! (and books. Always the books.)

Let’s get started!

First up: Jacqui Fink’s Heartstrings Shawl

This is a project from Knit Stars Season 6. It’s not a technical project, it’s an emotion-guided project. Each color represents a certain emotion and you knit with that color until you feel like you’re done with it. So it’s an intuitive project, as well as an emotional one. There’s also a journal that accompanies the project.

I’ve used every color in the kit except black (the dark color you see is navy), and it is really surprising to see what emotions I’ve assigned to each color.

It’s called the “Heartstrings shawl”, and you see the loose ends? Those are the heartstrings—they don’t get woven in.

Jacqui (the designer)’s mother died a few years (five, I think) after receiving a double lung transplant, so I knew this project would be really resonant for me, and it has been. I’ve really enjoyed working on it, and so far I’ve had 21 colors changes!

The yarn is KPC’s Glencoul, which is absolutely buttery. Seriously. I just love working with it. So this project is really just total indulgence!

(Ravelry notes here)

Second: Jennifer Berg’s “The Peaceful People” Cowl

Since the project is still on the needles, it’s a little scrunched up! When it’s done it’ll be easier to see the pattern.

This is my first stranded color work project and I am absolutely in love! This pattern is so much fun. (You can get it from Jennifer’s Etsy shop). Jennifer, who is a Navajo woman, is inspired by Native American history and culture in her work. This design is based off of a Hopi design.

I’m using Malabrigio’s Caprino (80% superfine wool and 20% cashmere, be still my heart) in pearl and pines.

If you’re looking for a first stranded color work project I think this one is perfect! (Ravelry notes here)

Third: “Whatever the Weather” shawl

This is a finished object! It’s an entire year of weather in my town!

I used the high temperature to determine what color to use (you could use the low, the high, or the average temp).

Unlike heartstrings, I have a LOT of ends to weave in here. Also pardon apartment carpet.

2021 began on the right side of the photo. The dark burgundy divider shows where winter and spring end, and after the divider, its summer and fall (through the end of 2021). Once all the ends are woven in you’ll have a better idea of its shape, but it’s a big project! I loved making this. All my notes on it are here.

Book time!

As you know, I got lots of books for Christmas. I’ve made a dent in some of them: The Ballerinas, The Lost Crown*, Clanlands Almanac*, and The Ballerina Mindset* have been read (I got The Last Crown and The Ballerina Project with Christmas gift cards). I’m about to start The Island* (also Amazon gift card purchase) and I’m re-reading In This House of Brede*. (If you want to follow me on Goodreads, here’s my profile. )

I also took advantage of Barnes and Noble’s hardback book sale and got The Tenant of Wildfell Hall for my Penguin clothbound collection!

What are you reading/making?

Blogmas Day 4: Books of Christmas!

OK it is time for THE BOOK HAUL.

I always get a lot of books for Christmas—either as gifts or because of gift cards to book stores. :) I have actually ordered some more books that haven’t arrived yet, so those will probably show up in next week’s Yarn Along! If I’ve read it already there will be notes. If not, just the title and a link.

(All book links are affiliate links!)

The Ballerinas, Rachel Kapelke-Dale. A former soloist with the Paris Opera Ballet returns to set (choreograph) a new ballet on its dancers. She wants to use two of her former friends in the ballet—especially Lindsay, who she hurt years ago and now wants to make it up to her. The suspense is in what our narrator actually did, as well as the machinations of the other characters who swirl around her, including a former boyfriend and the ghost of her mother, who was a former etoile (star, the highest level a dancer can achieve at the Paris Opera Ballet). There’s definitely a tinge of Black Swan to this one, but I found it incredibly propulsive and couldn’t put it down on Christmas Day.

Cloud Cuckoo Land, Anthony Doerr

Drums of Autumn 25th Anniversary Edition, Diana Gabaldon. The fourth installment in her Outlander series, this one takes the Frasers (Claire, Jamie, and Ian) to America to settle. It also involves Brianna, Jamie and Claire’s daughter, whom Claire left behind in the 1960s. If you haven’t read it, I don’t want to spoil it! This was the basis for season four of the TV show.

Outlander Knitting: I’ve looked through this, not enough to really digest any of the patterns, but there’s a variety of things here, from accessories to home items to some garments. Now that I can do stranded color work (more on that next week!) there are projects in this book that I can do, now which is very exciting.

Half Baked Harvest Super Simple: I fell in love with Tieghan’s first book Half Baked Harvest, which I picked up in Houston during my summer trip, so naturally I asked for her second book for Christmas! There are lots of good things in here so I’m looking forward to going through it with my post-it notes and marking recipes I want to try. (All my cookbooks have tons of post-it notes in them, marking recipes I want to try. I use a lot of post-it notes!)

Now for (some of) the Amazon books!

The Ballerina Mindset, Megan Fairchild. As you know if you’ve read here for any length of time, I love ballet. So reading Megan’s book as definitely something I wanted to do! She’s a principal dancer at New York City Ballet, has acted on Broadway, is earning her MBA, and has three kids. Whew! I’m really excited to dive into this one.

The Island, Victoria Hislop. I saw this book on The Duchess of Cornwall’s (Camilla, Prince Charles’ Wife) Reading Room feed. If you’ve not heard of it, the feed showcases books that the Duchess loves with there being several books a season”. It’s a great way for me to expand my literary horizons! The Island was featured in season 4, so I put it on my Amazon wish list. It involves Greece, leprosy, WWII, and family ties—sounds pretty good!

Christmas fact: Today is the Feast of the Holy Innocents (it’s also the wedding anniversary for two of my friends!)

Christmas Music: Linda Eder with the Broadway Gospel Choir , “Do You Hear What I Hear?”

(Fun fact: This was one of the “traditionals'“ in my high school choir. We had two of them, and one of them was this one, which we called “Do you hear what I know” because, let’s be honest, it’s hard to remember the order here, people!)

December Yarn Along

Last week was “technically” yarn along week, but I was having surgery, so no yarn along for me, haha. But I can talk about yarn and books this week!

This project has been a year long knit along, and I’ve had so much fun with it! Whatever the Weather wraps up this month and I’m really going to miss it! The Ravelry link is above if you want to see all the details. There were three size choices: scarf, wrap, or blanket, and I chose the wrap. You’ll see it in all its glory next month.

I’ve finished Madeleine’s (my niece’s!) blanket:

And I have two more Christmas gifts to knit. I’m about halfway done on one and once that’s done I will start the second. I’m hoping to get them done by Christmas, but if not, they’ll be done by Epiphany!

There are lots and lots and lots of fun projects on the horizon but right now Christmas knitting has taken precedence over all the things.

But just WAIT.

In terms of books: I’ve started reading Dune! I was really intrigued by the movie trailers and I have to say I am liking the book so far! I have it on my iPad because that’s easier for me to read, post-surgery, for some reason, so no good pictures of it. :)

I also re-read one of my absolute favorites, In This House of Brede, which EVERYONE must read.

Thanksgiving in Amish Country, Part III

Side view of the Carlisle Inn

part one

part two

Friday

It was snowing on Friday when we left, but it was the “good” kind of snow that doesn’t stick to the roads, so we weren’t worried about driving home.

After we packed up the car, we went to Der Dutchman for breakfast (part of staying at the Inn is that you get one free breakfast buffet at the restaurant), which was excellent. Buttermilk pancakes for the win!

Before we left, we stopped at the attached bakery to get some goodies to take home. I got a strawberry fry pie, ground coffee, bread and butter pickles, and Amish popcorn (apparently this is a big thing, Amish popcorn!). Mom and Dad also got some things. It was a really nice bakery, with plenty of items, from bread to doughnuts and other goodies. They also had things like mugs and gift baskets and candy.

Some of my bakery purchases.

On the way home we passed a lot of Amish farms and more buggies (I counted 11!) and Amish kids on bikes. There was more laundry on the line, and lots of cows, goats, horses, and sheep in the fields. Some people had their laundry hung on their covered porches, to keep it out of the wind and snow.

Hills behind the Inn.

This was a great trip that I’d long been wanting to take, and I definitely want to go back as soon as possible, hopefully in the spring so we can use the porches and balconies of the Inn!

Breakfast menu

Links to Places & Things

Carlisle Inn, Walnut Creek

Farmhouse Frocks

Der Dutchman Walnut Creek

Carlisle Gifts

Olde World Bakery and Bistro, Berlin

Berlin Craft Mall

Thanksgiving in Amish Country, Part II

Wednesday morning

part one

Wednesday

Wednesday was our big day out, since everything was closed on Thursday. Surprisingly, some stores were also closed on Wednesday or had shortened hours, so I was glad I’d done some research ahead of time and ID’d places that were open. Because of that, some of the places on our list we weren’t able to go to, but we can save them for next time.

We had breakfast at the hotel and then headed to Millersburg, where both my aunt and I wanted to hit Farmhouse Frocks.

Uncle Frank checking out the candles (which are awesome)

Farmhouse Frocks is run by a local woman and her two daughters and features clothing in sizes 5-28. All the clothing is made by Amish seamstresses from fabric that Lena (the owner) picks out. Clothes shopping really doesn’t get more local that this!

The shop carries clothing, accessories, and all sorts of home goods, from cowhide rugs to ornaments to kitchenwares and stationery. This is my kind of store and I could have spent hours in here!

We did spend about an hour and a half in here, trying on clothes and looking at everything. Aunt Judy and I got some great pieces—I got two dresses (two prints of the same dress) and a top, as well as two hair clips (I’m SO GLAD claw clips are back!) and a leather pouch, because my purse is like Mary Poppins’ bag, and I always need pouches to keep things organized.

All of the pieces that I got are versatile, beautiful, and comfortable. All important things! I was hoping I’d find some great things here, and Aunt Judy and I were not disappointed.

All decorated for Christmas!

After shopping we were, understandably, hungry. So, lunch time! This was a bit tricky because, as I said, some places were closed on Wednesday or had special hours. But fortunately we found a great cafe, the Olde World Bakery and Bistro in Berlin, right off of state route 39 (which is the main road that connects Millersburg, Berlin, Walnut Creek, and Sugarcreek.)

mmmm, bakery case!

The food here was delicious, and as an extra perk, the shop also makes their own sodas, including Cream Soda, which my dad and Aunt Judy love. I had the grilled cheese and tomato basil soup, which was perfect after a morning of shopping.

Perfection.

The bakery/cafe is part of a bunch of shops and craft malls, so after lunch mom, Aunt Judy, and I headed to the craft mall while the men checked out the leather and shoe shore. In the craft mall, I found some hand spun and hand dyed yarn! I totally wasn’t expecting that so it was a lovely surprise!

Yay, yarn!

It was a really nice day, sunny and sort of breezy and not too cold. I had my sketchbook with me so I was able to sketch a bit while people finished up their shopping.

After the antique/craft malls, we split up. Our hotel had a promotion with a local forge where guests could get a free commemorative ornament, so mom and dad and I headed out to Wendell August Forge. They’re actually based in Pennsylvania but have a local store in Berlin; we loved seeing all the Pittsburgh things! (Dad actually got a Pitt keychain, which probably proved lucky, since they just had their first 10 win regular season since nineteen eighty-one…..) Mom and I got some coasters and we all got our ornaments.

Another fun part of the store? They have the world’s largest Amish buggy!

It be BIG.

On the way back from the Forge, we saw this:

This was the first time on a trip I’d seen a horse and buggy in a parking lot. We actually saw five buggies that day (holy moly they’re loud I can hear them better than cars!), but since this one was parked I could actually get a photo.

We also saw a lot of Amish teenagers wearing the safety vests (you can see these in the back of the photo) while they rode bikes around the area. Most of them had saddlebags on their bikes and the teens seemed to be making deliveries. It also seemed like wash day in the area because a lot of the houses had their laundry on the line.

Once again we went to Der Dutchman for dinner—they were one of the only places open—but there was so much on the menu we wanted to try that we didn’t mind going there again! It was definitely much more crowded (see—no other place open!) but the service and food were still excellent. I had the local bologna and Swiss sandwich (YUM) with potato salad, and a sampler size of the fudge cake (Really, sampler size is all you need, it was a rich cake. So good.). (Yes, I think one must talk about food when one is talking about Amish Country, because the food is really good.)

Then back to the hotel (next door! Walk off dinner!) where we chatted for a little bit in the second floor gathering room. The hotel had filled up quite a bit from the night before; lots of people were checking in all day. Apparently some people do this every year (I can see why!) and they bring their entire extended families for the holiday.

Amish quilt work in the hallways.

Carolers tucked away on the second floor.

Stained glass details off the lobby.

Thursday

AKA, Thanksgiving!

We all slept in to varying degrees. It was raining so it was very cozy to enjoy a comfortable bed and watch the Harry Potter marathon on USA. (We got through the first and second movies before dinner.) Aunt Judy had stopped at a local market yesterday and picked up some lunch fixings, including baby Swiss cheese, so lunch was delicious.

I sketched a bit, then put on one of my new dresses, as well as a necklace mom had gotten me at Carlisle Gifts. Around 4:15 we headed down to the basement event center for dinner.

There weren’t just hotel guests, there were people from all over the area, so apparently this is a big thing, and after we ate, we could see why—it was great! It was buffet style but there were waiters and waitresses who took drink orders and cleared your plates.

Table setting.

Sadly I didn’t get photos of the buffet, bad me, but it was really good. There was turkey, ham, chicken, and bunch of sides to choose from, including Amish noodles (which my dad tried). The mashed potatoes were particularly good! There was also an entire table of pie, plus spice cake trifle.

It was pretty easy to walk away satisfied, let me tell you.

A quilt on display near the banquet room.

View of the lobby from the staircase

After dinner, we played Apples to Apples for a bit, and then sadly we had to go pack up. Aunt Judy and Uncle Frank were leaving before us in the morning so we said good-bye then—which I hate doing, but I was so glad that we’d gotten to spend time together!

Packing was hard, since my suitcase didn’t have room for all the things I’d bought! But we managed to get everything a bag and in the car—success! (Yarn takes up space, people!)

Thanksgiving in Amish Country

This Thanksgiving my family decided to do something different—we took a road trip! We decided to go to Holmes County, Ohio, and spend Thanksgiving in Amish Country.

Ohio has the largest Amish population in the country, and “Amish Country” really includes quite a few areas in Northeastern Ohio, but the epicenter, if you will, is in Holmes County, around the areas of Millersburg, Berlin, Walnut Creek, Charm, and Sugarcreek.

My parents had taken a day trip up to Holmes County years ago and had really enjoyed it, and when my grandmother spent a weekend there recently, Mom thought it would be fun for us to go there for Thanksgiving, along with my dad’s middle sister, Judy, and her husband.

The view from my balcony

I had only been to Millersburg once, to attend a wedding of a college friend who grew up there. But I’d been interested in Amish culture for a long time and I’d always anted to spend more time there, so when my parents suggested this trip, I was totally on board.

We stayed at the Carlisle Inn in Walnut Creek, which put us really close to Millersburg and Berlin. The plan was to get there Tuesday, spend Wednesday shopping and exploring, chill on Thursday (since everything was closed for the holiday), and leave on Friday.

This will be in a few parts so that it’s not a huge deluge of text and photos.

Tuesday

We only live about two hours from Holmes County, but there’s no direct way to get there, really, so we took the “back” roads—what the Ohio Department of Transportation calls the “Amish Byway”. I had been on this route once, but I’d forgotten how hilly it is here! (People who say Ohio is flat haven’t really seen Ohio.)

We arrived at the Inn around the same time as my aunt and uncle, who were making the trip with us. My Aunt Judy is my dad’s “middle” sister (he has two older sisters), and I hadn’t really seen them since my brother’s wedding. We’d had lunch with them this past summer after Kelly’s wedding, but that’s not the same thing as really spending time with people, in a place where I can hear them. So it was great to see them.

We checked in and got settled into our rooms. The Inn was already decorated for Christmas and they did a wonderful job.

The lobby fireplace—a great place to sit and read or nap!

Almost every room has a balcony or porch, and garland and bows were strung from them. I’m sad it was too cold or too rainy to use the balcony—next visit!

Looking down from the second floor breakfast room.

Outside of every room were these lanterns, bedecked with a wreath and ribbon.

We had a very early dinner at Der Dutchman next door (it’s owned by the same company that owns in the inn), and it was delicious. I had broasted chicken, which, if you’re not familiar with it, is a way of cooking chicken that gives you crispy skin and juicy meat, without frying it. It’s an Amish specialty (sometimes you’ll see Bob Evans offer it, so you can try it then.). With it I had potato salad and green beans. Portions here are BIG, so be prepared. You get your money’s worth but it’s a lot!

We all had dessert, because, hello, PIE, but they also have a pie sampler, where you can get cuts of three different types of dessert. (We did this the second night and I have to say it really was a perfect size). I got the Butterscotch custard pie; my aunt had cherry, and my parents had the pie sampler.

I’m not a huge pie fan, but here, I definitely am. These were good pies.

There was a gorgeous sunset that night…

We spent the evening in front of the fire place, talking and enjoying catching up with each other. We al went to bed pretty early, which is one of the things I like about vacation—if you want to go to bed, go to bed! Want to stay up? Stay up! No worries!

I forgot to take pictures of my room (bad blogger), but every room has a wooden bedstead covered with an Amish-made quilt. There were also watercolors in the rooms, a small refrigerator, TV, and the bath/tub combination (which I love. I dislike places that only have showers!). The floors were wood with some inlaid carpet.

One o the things I really liked was that it was dark outside. No random electric lights, no light pollution—the night skies were gorgeous.

Because of COVID, you had to ask for maid service, and if you wanted fresh towels, you put your towels in the laundry bag outside the door. The housekeepers would then collect the bags and return them with fresh towels. The desk clerks all wore masks, as did the rest of the staff, but that was the only thing I really noticed, COVID wise.

Amish art in the lobby lounge.

Seven Quick Takes: Women's Retreat, a New Book, and Yarn-A-Palooza!

-1-

In the words of Dumbledore (adapted), “Welcome, welcome, to another week of Quick Takes!”

Post from earlier this week, which is proving really popular: Get In The Picture.

-2-

Last weekend, I attended my parish’s women’s retreat, and it was so lovely! I loved the items we received from Pio Prints, a fabulous local company.

Each table had a lovely bouquet of flowers.

I just joined this parish in January, so I hadn’t been to this retreat before, and I hadn’t had a chance to meet many women in the parish. Fellow Ave Author Emily Jaminet was the speaker, and she gave us three fabulous talks that were just what I needed to hear.

Emily’s authored and co-authored several books, and her talks were derived from those books. The first talk was about the Sacred Heart, which was a devotion I’d heard of but hadn’t really thought much about. Emily runs the local Sacred Heart Enthronement group, and it was beautiful to hear her talk about this special devotion! (Her book, Secrets of the Sacred Heart*, is well worth reading to learn more about this devotion).

Her second talk was about Christian friendship (based on her book The Friendship Project*, which is great), and the third focused on making time for prayer throughout our busy days! (Based on her book Prayfully)

My notebook is full of a lot of “thank you, Jesus!” for bringing me on this retreat, because initially, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go. I am really glad I listened to Jesus’ prompting and went. And I told Him so when we had adoration after Mass.

It was also really great to talk to Emily about writing and being a writer, especially since we are published by the same publisher. She was also gracious enough to plug my book several times during the retreat!

There are so many lovely women at my parish who are truly seeking holiness, and it was great to meet them and have good Catholic women’s fellowship!

(Also, want a signed copy of my book for a Christmas gift? Keep reading. ;-)

-3-

Speaking of great Catholic women….my friend Kelly (who runs the Seven Quick Takes) has just published her first book!

I was deeply honored to endorse Better than OK*, which I think (and I wrote!) is vital for parents with kids who have chronic illnesses or other types of issues (I just say issues. I could say special needs, etc. but issues is the word that comes to mind for me!) It’s a beautiful, helpful book and I hope that it reaches the wide audience it deserves!

This sort of thing is something that the pro-life movement needs. We need parents to hear that it will be OK—BETTER than OK!—to raise these children, from parents in the same situations. We need to hear stories like mine that talk about how it’s possible to find job in a hard life. All these things come together to create a culture of life, with support that people need.

So go get this book! Get it! Now!

-4-

In Patty updates: this week, she has become a little girl.

I mean she always was one, duh. But she’s gone from baby/toddler to a little girl.

She has seemingly discovered her sister Bridget’s baby dolls this week, and…what a little mama! I just can’t believe how grown up she is, all of a sudden. Like I said—little girl, not a baby.

And what a fun stage—to hear her talk and to get to play dolls with her, like her sisters are doing—but it’s also sad to leave behind baby Patty.

Fortunately Baby Maddie (my niece, my sister Melanie and BIL Jason’s little girl) is on her way!!

-5-

Speaking of Maddie, I’ve started working on her blanket!

It’s a variation of the one I made Patty….

Which in and of itself is a variation on the Sully blanket pattern. (I don’t do the picked up border.)

or this one, I’m adding a small garter stitch boarder to keep the ends from curling up. You can’t really see it here (the bottom part, you can, imagine it doing that all the way around), but I don’t block blankets and with stockinette stitch (which this blanket is), I want there to be less curling. So basically every time I make this I modify it a little bit!

I’m using Rowan’s Baby Cashsoft Merino, which has cashmere in it, because, why not, and she is my first niece. :) (Well first niece or nephew, for that matter.) It’s so great to work with! I’m using the colors turquoise, rosy, snowflake, and lavender (in that order of striping) and I’m almost done with the first turquoise stripe. Because of the stockinette pattern you can’t see it really well, but I took a photo for you anyway (above)!

-6-

OK before we continue Yarn-A-Palooza, CHRISTMAS BOOKS.

If you would like a signed copy of Living Memento Mori for Christmas, then please email me. They are $20, and that includes shipping, a bookmark, and a prayer card. I can make it out to anyone you want! They are great gifts!

-7-

Back to yarn. :) I recently ordered these beauties, to make into a shawl:

And Christmas knitting has begun! I didn’t do too much of it last year, but this year, I’m making a few things for people. Do you make hand made gifts for anyone? I’m using some really soft yarn that will make up into great winter accessories!

Seven Quick Takes--Sinuses & Stats

-1-

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

-2-

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. :)

-3-

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

-4-

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.

-5-

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!

-6-

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.)

-7-

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

-1-

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!

-2-

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.

-3-

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.)

-4-

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!

-5-

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!

-6-

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!

-7-

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. :)

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.

-one-

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!)

-two-

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.

-three-

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.

-four-

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.

-five-

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.

-Books!-

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.