A really big yarn along!

Hanks of yarn at Ginger Twist Studios in Edinburgh

So I owe you a HUGE yarn along, featuring Edinburgh yarn! So let’s get cracking.

The first thing I’m making is a Saturday Shrug:

There are a TON of ways to make this. In the shop, the lace weight yarn (the yarn at the bottom in the above photo) was used to make thin stripes:

I decided to do it with both yarns held together:

isn’t it pretty?

This is pure comfort knitting. If you want to use these yarns (which I recommend!), they are Ginger’s Cumulus Humilis Aran and Leading Lady Lace. Jess, the lovely shop owner, ships to the USA!

The other yarns I got from her shop are:

Masham Mayhem in Lallybroch, Hocus Pocus, and Au Naturel, which will be used to make a Drachenfels shawl.

I HAD TO (yes, had to) grab two skeins of the yarn on the left (above)—that color! And the name—Voyager is the title of the third Outlander novel. This is Yakety-Yak 4 ply, which is merino, yak, and silk. It’s so squishy! I haven’t decided on a project for this yet….any suggestions?

Another thing I did was purchase one of the mystery bags they sell. Once I was home, I knew I wanted more yarn (space constraints limited me!), so thought this was a great way to get a mix of gorgeous yarns. Jess will send you yarns based on one word you give her, and she’ll also send patterns! I mean how fun is that?

I got:

Victoria DK in Breakfast with Ginger (below) and the pattern BRU by Amanda B. Collins

Halo Honey Aran (currently unavailable!) in Ginger, a lovely warm ginger (obviously) red color, with the pattern Little Squirrel Socks by Tin Can Knits. This has inspired me to conquer socks! Halo Honey is 100% British Wensleydale Wool and I have no doubt it will make wonderfully cozy socks. (Or I could use it for something else but I REALLY want to try a pair of baby socks with it, especially since I have many babies and toddlers in my life!)

Finally I received the Hipster Hat pattern by Alexa Ludeman, the co-founder of Tin Can Kits. This also comes in a variety of sizes, so….baby hats! :-D And the yarn, St. Magnus DK in Gold, will definitely make for a happy hat!

So that is the Great Scotland Yarn Round Up! I am really exited to use all of these beautiful yarns!

Yarn Along: The Summer of I-Cord

This summer I have been diving into the fabulous world of knitting I-cords.

What is an I-cord, you may ask? It’s the border and loop you see in the mini washcloths above (knit during Modern Daily Knitting Summer Camp, which was all about dishcloths that use I-cords!). They are delightful and pretty and sometimes functional, as we see here!

The I-Cord obsession began with the Sophie Scarf and Sophie Shawl—if you knit, you need to knit these patterns because they are truly delightful and adaptable. These projects use applied I-cord for the pretty edging. All this means is that you slip two stitches with the yarn in front at the end of every row, and voila! I-Cord!

The large Sophie shawl n Quince and Co. Phoebe—colorway Orion.

I’ve made three Sophie scarves (one as a gift, two for me), and one shawl. They make fabulous gifts!

Using La Bien Aimee’s merino boucle

I-Cord is also used in Andrea Mowry’s Everyday Cowl—both for edging and bind-off. I-cord bind off is sort of the equivalent of one step forward, two steps back, but it does look nice and tidy.

Close up of the I-cord bind off.

Then I decided to get really crazy, and learn how to do two color I-cord bind off for Andrea Mowry’s The Shift cowl!

This wasn’t in my plans. I’ve been trying to work down my Ravelry queue of patterns and use up stash, which is what happened with both the Sophie Scarf above and the Everyday Cowl. But when I saw that Andrea had designed this pattern for the Edinburgh yarn festival, and since I’m going to Edinburgh in September, and all the colors she used were named after places in Edinburgh, I not only had to make this, but I had to use the original colors. (They’re the bottom three colors here.)

From the bottom: The Meadows, Leith, and The Castle.

I also learned mosaic knitting with this project (Mosaic knitting is basically slipping stitches in various patterns.)

While on the needles. Check those gorgeous colors!

This is about to go in the bath and be blocked, then seamed, to create the finished object. Keep your eyes peeled for an update!

And then finally, I learned to knit a single I-cord during the Modern Daily Knitting (MDK) Summer Camp held last Friday. This was pretty amazing; if you’ve never taken a class with them, I highly recommend it! Lorilee Beltman taught us all sorts of tricks using her Sinkmates Suite dishcloths, which use I-cord and various stitch techniques to create beautiful dishcloths. I generally hate working with cotton yarn, but the Rowan Handknit Cotton we used for this class is great!

I’m addicted, I’m just going to admit it. So far I’ve knit one basic, one striped, and I’m about to start a mosaic one. The other great thing about these patterns is that they help me master a technique that’s stifled me—picking up stitches from a cast-off edge. I’m really bad at this! But I get lots of practice while I knit these dishcloths, and this will definitely come in handy for future projects, especially cardigans that have a shawl collar!

In the non I-cor world, I’m also working on a blanket for a friend’s little boy, and there’s another MDK online class coming up in August where I’ll be knitting a cowl that looks scrumptious.

Have you ever fallen in love with a certain type of technique, recipe, or music, and then just couldn’t stop doing it? :) Tell me about it!

Putterings

My garden grows!

Long time no write! Time is just slipping by and I realized it’s been awhile since I’ve posted here. So here we go!

My garden, as you can see above, flourishes—I even have my first tomato!

It’s little but it’s there!

**In the garden this year I’m growing lavender, sweet basil, mint, and cherry tomatoes. I’ve never grown any vegetables before but when I saw that this type of cherry tomato grows well in containers I thought I’d give it a whirl. My grandpa grew tomatoes in his backyard, and I loved helping him take care of them and seeing the ripe tomatoes lined up on the kitchen windowsill. I didn’t really think they’d grow, but behold! So today I’m off to the hardware store to get a bigger planter, a tomato cage, and a trowel.

I’m hoping to dry a lot of the basil so I can have it on hand throughout the year. The mint is doing well, and the lavender is too, but I know the lavender is really going to be dependent on our weather. I tried to grow it a few years ago and the summer was so wet that it killed it. So I’m hoping we only have a moderately wet summer so it doesn’t drown. I had to really cut the mint back a few weeks ago because it had gone all leggy, but it’s doing better now.

**I’m going to have an essay published in The Public Discourse, probably at the beginning of June! It’s about transplants, gratitude, and memento mori (because I do think about that!) When the article is up I’ll post a link here and on my social media (you can find the links to all my accounts on the blog sidebar).

**Scotland trip planning continues! We’ve booked our tickets for Britannia, The Palace of Holyrood House, as well as some afternoon teas and meals. Can you tell I’m EXCITED?

Hive mind: Best tips for a long flight? I’ve never taken a trans-Atlantic flight! Tell me what I need to know/pack/do!

**In Knitting, I’m obsessed with the Sophie Scarf and the Sophie Shawl. So easy, so elegant, and so fun.

Here’s a completed Sophie Scarf in La Bien Aimee’s Merino Boucle “There Goes My Yarn Diet”

I’m currently knitting the Sophie Shawl in Quince and Co’s gorgeous Phoebe Yarn in the Orion color way. I’m doing the largest size, so you’d need two skeins of Phoebe to knit this up. These are perfect accessories for adding a little bit of flair to an outfit or for keeping the A/C chill off!

Phoebe in Orion

How’s your May going?

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!

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?

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 3: Knitted Christmas Gifts!

These aren’t really surprises, but I do want to talk about the two things I knitted for Christmas gifts this year.

The first was a blanket for my niece, Madeleine.

I’ve given some notes about this before, I think, but I want to talk about it more in-depth.

I worked with my sister to select the colors—I gave her a choice of yarns, and she chose the yarn and the colors for the blanket. This yarn is Rowan Baby Cashsoft Merino , in colors teal, rosy, snowflake, and lavender. These go with the aesthetics of Maddie’s nursery, but they’re also colors that can grow with her, because I don’t like to make just “baby blankets” that have typical baby colors. My siblings and I adored our baby blankets, so I wanted something that would be good for a little girl, tween, or teenage (or even adult!) Madeleine.

This yarn is also great because Maddie lives in the Rocky Mountains, where temperature changes can be fast and brutal! The wool, acrylic, and cashmere blend will provide warmth and softness. (I would not have used this for Patty’s blanket, because she lives in Texas where it is HOT.)

The pattern I used is my favorite Sully, but I made some alterations to it. I don’t do the picked up border because picking up stitches is fiddly and I don’t really like it. But to prevent curling, I did a 4 stitch garter stitch border on both sides of the blanket. It still curls a bit, but it’s not as bad, and I like the bit of whimsy it adds to what is essentially a stockinette stitch blanket (with pearl stitch detailing in the color change rows).

I didn’t block it, because I like how it looked off the needles and I didn’t want to mess it up with blocking. Sometimes in blocking things like a blanket or a shawl, the blocking can be….weird. It can be stretched too much, it canasta be “off”. Now, I know that’s partially my fault! :) But I didn’t want her blanket stretched out. I liked the effect as it is, which you can see above.

I mailed it wrapped in plastic wrap and I also included a care card, so my sister Melanie knew how to wash it, if needed. (I always include a little care card with knitted gifts.)

The second gift is a simple scarf for my friend, Amilia.

This yarn is a super, super soft alpaca silk blend. It is very pretty—much prettier in person!

However, I have a hard time knitting with it because it is so slippery!

So I decided that I would use it for a very simple pattern—make a long, garter stitch scarf that gives Amilia styling options and allows her to just love a useful accessory in a beautiful yarn.

I called this pattern “Ripples” and it’s super basic. It’s just 25 stitches cast onto size 9 needles, and then I knit in garter stitch until it was the length I wanted it. Easy-peasy.

Christmas fact: Today is the feast of St. John, apostle and evangelist!

Christmas music: From Linda Eder and the Broadway Gospel Choir singing “Silent Night”.

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.

Post-surgery, knitting, and a Bl. Emily

Sinus surgery was successful!

There was a lot of stuff in there, according to my ENT—the sinuses were actually “overflowing” (which I could’ve told ya.) It’s so nice to be able to feel air in my nose again! Yay!

So I’m taking the next few days to just putter and rest/work on house things that have been neglected during the massive “I have no energy because I have massively infected sinuses!” campaign. I want to work on my travel sketchbook and get some of my Amish Country sketches done/finished, and I have a few knitting projects that need repaired or blocked. I’m done with Madeleine’s blanket (she’s my niece!) and I’ve moved on to the next Christmas gift on my list, a scarf for one of my best friends.

Maddie’s blanket (not blocked)

And here’s a nice little treat for all of you—I didn’t know there was a Dominican blessed named Emily! You can read all about her here!

Detail of Bl. Emily in Bernadette Carstenen’s “The Dominicans”

How are you doing? Are you preparing for Christmas? Are you celebrating Advent? Are you doing both or neither? :)

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

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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.

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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. ;-)

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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!

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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!!

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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)!

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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!

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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

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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.

-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.

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!