I've Been Thinking

Hello! I hope you are all doing well, or at least as well as any of us can be doing these days. I was in the mood to post today, but didn't have one specific kind of thing to talk about, so you are getting a brain dump. If you are not someone who enjoys brain dump posts, feel free to move along. I certainly understand.

1. I've decided to teach myself how to use Canva. I don't really know why, I just thought it was something I'd try. I made this during the course of the morning, after many many fits and starts. I originally thought it might be a nice header for my blog, but couldn't figure out how to re-size it. I have a Chromebook and photo editing on it is still somewhat beyond my understanding. Which makes me think I should have learned that first. Oh well.

2. In the last month or so, I've seen a lot of knitting podcasts where they are talking about "unpopular hot takes." It's entertaining, but also makes you think about your own opinions and ideas. And I've found my primary hot take for now at least:

I'm tired of people writing patterns that use two yarns together. Usually it's mohair, sometimes suri alpaca, but either way I find it annoying. Yes, sometimes I think the finished object looks lovely. And yes, I've knit something carrying mohair with the main yarn (I made a beret in 2023. I liked it but gave it away, because it just *looked* like something one of my nieces would really enjoy, so she received it as a Christmas gift).

But unless the item is small - a hat, fingerless mitts, etc. - adding another yarn to a pattern makes it even less accessible to most people. For instance, I'm not a huge person, but purchasing a sweater or even a tee's worth of yarn is a lot of money for me. If I have to buy the equivalent amount of another yarn, it's twice as much, and often more. And even if it's something I would absolutely love to have, I'm just not buying the equivalent of two sweaters' worth of yarn, firstly because I can't afford it, and secondly because I think it's stupid. 

You do you of course. I'm not buying *your* yarn! 😊

3. I am proud of myself, because I hated the current lump of orange blobbery in the Oval Office, his vice president, and the owner of Tesla long before it was a thing. As in, years ago I learned that all of them were people with no substance, no moral compass, and no empathy. Not that it's helping now, but there you are.

4. Animals rock. Always.

5. A few weeks ago, I have one of my syncope episodes, which means I fell and made a mess of my face and my teeth yet again. And as of right now, there is still no way any of my doctors have been able to figure out what causes it, though they are all still trying. Fortunately, I was stitched up well and it has been long enough now that I don't look as awful or scary. I'm grateful it happened somewhere where people were around to get me some help. And yes, I know that it's another serious fall.

But you know what I also know? I'm really sick of people telling me that I should 1) be more careful, 2) find out why it keeps happening, 3) "walk around in bubble wrap, hahaha," 4) get better nutrition and sleep, and 5) insinuate that somehow I'm doing it on purpose. I would dearly love to say, "Or you could just shut up about it," but I am making an effort to be a kinder person and keep my mouth shut - much as I wish other people would do on occasion! 

6. I need to give more thought to things I decide I will "definitely do." You may or may know that I have said in the past, that any time I've signed up for a KAL, no matter how much I think I want to do whatever it is, I immediately become disinterested in knitting anything at all. 

Well, I keep doing it all over again with other stuff - small, relatively unimportant stuff, but it is still worth thinking through before I pledge to myself that "Starting on ___, I'm going/not going to do ____ for ___ amount of time." Because it inevitably leads to what I have started to call "The KAL effect."

That's all I have for you right now. I'm washing a few throws, and I just heard the washer signal that cycle is over, so I'm going to put them in the dryer. I've started doing chores/cleaning in small increments, and so far, it's being much more successful than any plan to do major cleanup on any given day. Of course, when we are having company or it's a holiday or something, I can be motivated, but in regular life, the small method is being much more successful.

See you again soon. If you are in the cold weather/winter zones, stay warm!

Valentine's Day 2025

Hello and Happy Valentine's Day! I know that a lot of people have a lot to say about this day, but at our house we love it. As I've said before, I was raised to see Valentine's Day as a day to be happy for those you love - be it family members, friends or romantic partners. So it's always been a happy day for me, with a special treat thrown in. The Tim and I sometimes get little gifts for each other, but we always give each other a card.

This year, Valentine's Day is bittersweet, because it would have been Pip's 14th birthday. But we know he'll still have a good birthday, especially since some of our other kitties he is with now have also had birthdays on this day, so I know they are enjoying it together.

I have some special treats for Milo the Koodle, Alfie, and Esme today, as well as a flavor of canned food they particularly like that I will give them for dinner. I did find a little gift for The Tim today - a bottle of red pepper cooking oil. He is a firm believer in the hotter the better, and I'd never seen this kind of oil before, so I figured I would get it for him. It was a little splurge, so I saved it to give him today. 😊

Today in Philadelphia is also the big parade to celebrate the Eagles' Super Bowl Championship. It should be fun. The last/only other time they won, back in 2017, we went to the parade, and even though it was really really cold, it was a blast. This year, The Tim has to work, and I don't want to go on my own, so I'll watch it on TV with the kit kats, while being warm and cozy inside. When the Phillies won the World Series in 2008, I couldn't take a day off to go to the parade, so I'm hoping they will manage to make it happen again so we can go to one of those, then I'll feel like I've managed to be a true Philadelphia fan.

The weather for the weekend looks to be icky, so I have every intention of staying in and being as cozy as possible. My sweater project - which I abandoned for most of January - has been picked up again, and I started a pair of socks the other day, so I have at least two knitting projects to keep me busy. And I have two books from the library to occupy me as well, so even if The Tim decides to nap most of the weekend, I have plenty to entertain myself!

Not much else to report. I did find a little mini chocolate-raspberry ganache cake from one of our fave Italian bakeries around here to have for dessert tonight, so that will be a nice treat. And we will likely drink a toast to our sweet boy, who sadly couldn't be here for his 14th birthday on the 14th. 💔

A person commented on a social media post that she didn't understand why people had pets, because when they die it is so heartbreaking. Well, hello - when anyone dies it's heartbreaking if they meant something to you, right? I didn't want to point that out because a) duh, and b) why acknowledge dumbassery, right? (Maybe that should be a mantra for the next four years ...) Let's face it, people are weird and I often don't think they consider how things sound typed out as opposed to spoken out loud.

ANYWAY. 

Have a lovely Friday, whether you consider it a special day in any way or not. It always leads in to a weekend, and for most of us, that is a good thing. So enjoy your Friday, have a good weekend, and be the person you would like if you met yourself.

FO Post: Burgundy and Blue

Here's a project I finished not that long ago, but am just now getting around to posting about. 

Two things I hoped to do during 2025 were: 1) knit from my stash, especially using amounts that were relatively small, but still worth keeping, and 2) knit more things for charity. This project is part of both of those!

Project: Burgundy and Blue 

Pattern: A mishmash of several things

Yarn: Plymouth Encore Worsted in the Burgundy colorway (#999), and Baby Blue (I don't have the band, so don't know the colorway number)

Needles: US 8/5.0 mm

Notes: I had small amounts of these two yarns left (31 grams of the burgundy, and 44 grams of the blue), and thought it would be enough for a hat, as long as I inserted some color changes throughout. So I took a look at a couple of different worsted weight hat patterns I had, to see what needle size worked best, and how many stitches to cast on, etc. And then I just got started and hoped for the best!

I love the way to crown decreases worked up!

And here's the yarn I had left - 7 grams of the Burgundy and 3 grams of the blue! Not bad, I was happy that I had enough for the hat, and that how I decided to start worked out in the end.

While I had the hat on a medicine ball blocking a bit, The Tim said, "What a great-looking hat! That should look nice on you." I told him that I had actually made it for charity, and he said, "Well you should save that pattern, because I really like the design." Which was nice to hear ... except, well - I didn't write anything down, so although I have a decent idea of what I did, I don't have any specific instructions for myself or even for anyone else to duplicate it. 

I mean, I'll likely be able to figure it out if I try, but right now, it's just floating around in the universe somewhere, perhaps never to be found again ... 😀

But the best things are: 

1. It's finished and looks nice.

2. It will keep someone warm and cozy.

3. I used up most of two scraps that were leftover.

4. The yarn was from my stash.

Any of those would please me, but all of them together make me feel pretty good. 

Small victories, people. Small victories.

Super Bowl Champions, Baby!

Well, I'm sure by now you have heard that the Philadelphia Eagles demolished the Kansas City Chiefs to become the Super Bowl Champions! I mean, I'm not sure anyone but the members of the team were ready for how well they played, but no one is complaining. It's so exciting, and especially after last week's terrible plane crash in Northeast Philadelphia, it's nice that we all have something good to cheer about.

On a personal level, it was just such a relief to have something so happy and so joyous to watch and think about. The beginning of 2025 has been horrible for us so to just be able to watch and cheer and laugh was wonderful. Does it mean the world is immediately better and nothing else bad will happen? Of course not, but it's a small circle of joy that needs to be marked and celebrated.

As I said, 2025 has not been kind to us so far. I won't be going in to detail, but I really can't remember a year that has started off this way. I do want to thank every single one of you who left a comment on my post about Pip. It means so much to know people are thinking of you, and that other people "get" it. We are getting used to not having him here, ready to cuddle, or play, or comment on everything, but there's a long way to go. Alfie and Esme have glued themselves to each other, and Milo the Koodle walks around the house meowing in the most pitiful way that he never did before. It makes it extra hard because they of course don't understand what happened. 

You know, some people complain that too much is made of sports, particularly NFL football, which can of course having lasting, terrible effects on players' brains and bodies. And that is true, but to be honest, I don't see it going away any time soon. And in the grand scheme of things, is sports the most important? No it is not. Things are still horrible in the world, and Those People show no signs of stopping the terrible things they have started. 

But for the past week, at least here in the city, people have been walking around with smiles on their faces, and nearly everyone you pass or have any interaction with would end with "Go Birds!" And last night, The Tim and I sat here and watched the game, and for a few hours didn't have a reason to feel sad or frustrated or bereft. 

And we were so very grateful for that.

Fly Eagles Fly, indeed!

Pip

If you follow me on Instagram or on Facebook, you already know this. But I am heartbroken to tell you that this past Saturday, February 1, 2025, our sweet boy Pip joined his brothers and sisters in heaven.

Pip first came to live with us when he was just short of a year old. He had recovered from having his back left leg amputated, and a friend of mine - Kate Gagnon Osborn - had been fostering him. She suggested that he would be a good fit for our family. (Fun fact: about a year later, she would foster the dog that would become another member of our family, Dug!)

When Pip joined us, we had Jetsam, who had been alone for about a year after we lost two other kitties within a week of each other. They became fast friends, and we could tell Jetsam was glad to have a companion again. Pip loved Jetsam right away, and things felt more complete again. 

Pip never met someone - human or otherwise - that he didn't make friends with. We used to joke that if we brought an alligator home, he'd make it his friend. Anyone else who joined the family was immediately fine with him, even if the others might take a while.

He was our sweet boy, cuddly, purry, and playful. He was also the family narc, making sure that we knew if something wrong occurred. He loved it when people came to visit (more friends!), and loved going out in the garden for a walk around, once he realized (starting over every single year) that it was a safe place.

He had a great Christmastime this year, which made us (and him!) happy. Last October, the vet said he had lost a bit more weight than before. He wanted to do all kinds of tests to see if it might be cancer or something, but we decided that as long as Pip was happy and his usual self, we were leaving it alone. Going to the vet was one of the few things that stressed him out, even more than any of the others, and we wanted to avoid that. 

In the last few weeks, you could tell he didn't feel well. He slept more, and though everything else was pretty much the same, he wasn't his usual Pippy self. And then his back leg - the only one he had - started not working too well. 

I kept telling him that he needed to let us know when he was just too unhappy or sick to go on, because like I said, he was clearly not feeling his best. On Saturday morning, when I went downstairs to give everyone their breakfasts, he was sitting next to the heater, and he looked at me sadly and meowed even sadder. So I knew he was telling me. 

Fortunately, the vet could take us a couple of hours after we called. All the others told him goodbye, and we put him in the carrier to go to the vet, which is about a block away from our house. It was a *very* sunny day, and we talked to him and told him the sun came out for him the whole way there. 

And by the time we went to take him out of the carrier at the vet's office, he was already gone. We agreed that one of the rays of sunshine decided that it couldn't wait any longer for him to join in making the world bright and making people smile, so that's what happened on our way there. I like to tell myself it was quick and he didn't even have time to think about it, because I hate to think he was panicked in the carrier for the last seconds of his existence. 

Pip was a happy boy, and from all that we could see and tell, he had a happy life. We tried our best, and I like to think he knew that - he seemed to know that he was beloved, and he really was.

He would have turned 14 on the 14th of the month - Valentine's Day. So rather than have a little party for him, we'll do our best to celebrate that he was ours for as long as he was. Maybe by then we'll have his ashes here at home with all of us.

 

God bless you, Pip. We will love you forever, and will never be able to stop remembering how you saved our lives. I hope you were extra happy to see your Welcoming Committee in heaven - I know they were happy to see you!

Please give all of your family members some extra love today, however you can. Pip was all about love, and knowing that other people and animals were getting some extra love on his behalf would make him happy.