Here We Go

Yesterday, one of the local metereologists posted this on Twitter.

Now, I know for a lot of people, this is upsetting/depressing/whatever.  But for me, this is just the best!  I love this time of year when some of my favorite things/times just come at once!  

But I was already thinking about it, since in my family, there are 15 birthdays between October 1 and December 30 - we call it The Birthday Marathon.  Fortunately, I don't have to have gifts for every single birthday, but I do like to at least try to send a card so that they know I'm thinking of them.

Plus, our anniversary is October 28, and The Tim's birthday is November 18 - which always throws me off, because all of a sudden one happens, the next happens, Thankgiving happens, Christmas happens, and BAM it's the new year!

However, this doesn't mean I start to panic.  First of all, as I said above, I really like this time of year.  Secondly, for the past few years I have tried harder than ever to live in the moment.  So, although I  try to plan ahead as far as gifts are concerned, I don't let myself *get* ahead of things.  I've always been able to do this to some degree, but it's even more so now.  And as a result, I appreciate it, enjoy it, and am always sad to see things end.  

I have not actually started any gift knitting yet (long story involving misplacing things, but it's all good now), but I'm ready.  I'm not making a whole lot of things, but my goal is to be finished with things needing to be mailed by the end of November - end of first week of December at the most.  And I'm thinking it's completely doable.  

Things for The Tim can take longer, because I don't have to mail them, but I try to not leave those until the last-minute either.  

Some hats and some kiddo socks (house-type/slipper socks in worsted weight) are the main items I'm planning to knit that will need to be mailed, so I think I'll be OK there.  

I'm still knitting away on my Pabaigh, and am not that far away from finishing it, but then it's not likely I'll start anything for myself that I want right away until after the holidays.  

Though I reserve the right to start a Christmas-themed project for myself because Christmas comes every year, and it will be for me, so if it isn't finished until January, it will be a surprise for me next year as I will pack it away until then.

But for now, I have to finish September, and get ready for the birthdays to begin.  The first birthday, on October 1, is my nephew's 50th, and though I don't generally send him a gift, I'm hoping to get something together to send him that I think he may like.  I'll keep you posted.  :-)

Starting With a Finish

Hello and Happy First Day of Fall (even if summer weather is still horning in)!  Yes, I am annoyed that the fall weather we had last week turned back into summer weather, BUT - I know that as we go forward, fall will really happen, and the weather and temperatures will be those that make me both comfortable and happier.  (Unlike summer, where I know it will only get hotter before it's time to cool off.)

Anyway, I hope all of you had a good weekend, or at a minimum, not a terrible one.  Mine started out OK, but got derailed yesterday and I never caught up with myself.  At least it was on a Sunday and didn't put the whole weekend out of sync!

The good news is, I have a finish to show you - YAY!  

Project:  Grey Tabby Socks
Pattern:  Heel Toe Do Si Do, from Crazy Sock Lady Designs
Yarn:  Ancient Arts Fibre Crafts 100% Superwash BFL Wool 4-Ply Fingering Sock in the Grey Tabby colorway (part of their Meow Collection)
Needles:  US size 1
Modifications:  I did a normal 2 x 2 rib at the top, rather than the twisted rib indicated in the pattern.
Comments:  This was such a fun knit, the pattern just zooms along!  You can't tell in this photo, but the front of the sock ends up with a chevron-type look, and it's easy enough to remember that after the first few 2-row repeats, you've got it in your head.  I probably could have finished these sooner, but I took some time to [obsessively] finish my counted cross-stitch project.  I've never knit one of the Crazy Sock Lady's patterns before, but if they are as well done/written as this one, she has her sh*t together, I must say.

The yarn is from my stash, which pleases me, and it is has a cozy feel to it as you are knitting.  It moves along well in your hands, and doesn't get tangled on itself along the way.

These will be for me, and now that they are finished, it's time to get started on some gift knitting.  I don't have a lot planned, but I want to get it underway so I'm not doing anything at the very last minute.

Finally, RIP to my Edie sweater, at least for now.  I took it over to Loop yesterday, when they were offering a help session.  Besides the issues that started the whole thing out, the person there pointed out to me that the friend who made a temporary fix (said friend said she had "triaged" it), had actually done something that meant that the sleeve that was the problem had about 20 extra stitches on the needle, so regardless of what could/could not be figured out, the sleeves would not match at all.  I went home and frogged it, which on the one hand was dismaying, but on the other hand was OK because since it's linen, I won't even think of re-knitting it until next spring/early summer, when it will all feel new again.  And at least in theory, since I have already knit the body, it should all go more quickly.  I wouldn't even consider this except that I really want this knit, and it was an enjoyable project.

And that's it for today.  I hope all of you have a good week, and that none of your projects have to be frogged for any reason.  :-)

The Last Weekend of Summer

I know many (most?) of you are summer fans, but I will not miss it at all.  I did better trying to live in the moment this year, and not wishing it away, but it was not a good summer for a lot of reasons, and I'll be happier than usual to say goodbye. 

The weather here in Philadelphia promises to feel summer-like, fortunately without any humidity, and we have no specific plans, which is nice, since I'm enjoying the feeling of not being scheduled for anything.  

I do hope to finish the socks I'm knitting, which is completely doable, since I have only the toe on sock #2 to complete.  I'm hoping to start my next stitching project, and I also want to see if I can organize a gift for my great-nephew's 50th birthday on October 1st.  What is rattling around in my brain and reality may not be compatible - we'll see.

I'm sure there will be some outside time as well.  I think The Tim has things he wants to do around the house tomorrow, and he works on Sundays, so at a minimum I'll take some walks with Hamlet.  He is always happy to join me, whether we are going around the block, or on a long ramble.

Here's hoping your last weekend of summer is enjoyable, and that fall will hold some good things for all of us.  :-)

I Miss Instagram

I know that it's all the rage to rant against Instagram, and the way it makes everyone think they need to be perfect and live a perfect life.  If you are not using filters, or being an influencer, you need to follow those people and make your life as much like theirs as possible.

Which is of course a big load o' crap.  And I have no problem saying that, because to me that's not what Instagram is about.  For me, it's the chance to see what friends are doing in many senses of the word.  It's a chance to meet new people through following hashtags and then looking at the pages of individuals who might appeal.

I have no problem filtering out the rest.  I have no problem doing my own thing, completely unfiltered and with my bad photography.  I really enjoy using it.  I love seeing things that others photograph, and hear what they have to say.  Sometimes it's inspiring, sometimes I'll see something and just scroll on by.

In any event, in the past few weeks, I haven't really been able to enjoy Instagram.  Since I don't have a cell phone, I access it/post there using my tablet.  And it has stopped working on my tablet, in that I cannot even get it to open.  I searched online to see if I was the only one, and apparently I am not.  I tried doing all of the suggested things to get it to work again, without success.  I even contacted Instagram (HA!).  I can access it on my laptop, but cannot comment or even like things.  So it's kind of a "look but don't touch" feeling.  A friend told me that it's really only created for, and updated for, use on a phone.  I know that I am not the only person using it on a tablet, but I guess for those of us who don't use our phones for it, or don't have a phone in the first place, it's just too bad.  :-(

It's really frustrating, and I have no idea if anything will change soon, or at all.  And I miss it.

Fortunately, it's not the center of my existence, but it was a nice, added part to my day.

I think we can all agree that technology is great.  Except when it isn't.

Some Good, Some Frustrating, and a Whole Lotta Floss!

It was a lovely and also a frustrating weekend.  We had good weather, we got to spend some great time together, and I got some things accomplished even if they were not major activities.

And then it was frustrating - though the good outweighed the frustrating, thank goodness!

Saturday we got an early start, and took Hamlet to the Wissahickon Trail for a nice long walk.  The Wissahickon Trail is part of Fairmount Park here in Philadelphia, and if someone dropped you onto the trail from a spaceship, it would never ever occur to you that you were actually smack dab in the middle of a major city.  We had a good walk, and Hamlet loved seeing other people, pups, and ducks.  I was kind if disappointed that we didn't see any horses, but maybe next time.

The funniest thing was when we first arrived.  We parked the car on the end of a street right near the trail.  When we let Hamlet out of the car, he excitedly ran up to the door of an apartment building right there, as if to say, "I just know these people will be excited to meet me!"  It took us about 5 minutes to convince him that we weren't visiting anyone.  :-)

On our way home, we stopped in Manayunk at Hidden River Yarns, to pick up some knitting of mine that I was finally getting back.  You may or may not remember that last summer, I was knitting the Edie pattern, and when I went to do the sleeves - the very last part - one of them had all of the stitches off of the spare yarn where I had placed them.  (I suspect cats, but have no proof.)  I spent a lot of time trying to recover things, but finally had to admit defeat. I pollled my knitting friends, and someone volunteered.  Well, over the course of the last year, every time I would ask about it, she was "going to get to it," and finally I just said please return it.  So she returned it to Lisa at Hidden River, and Lisa performed "triage" so that I should be able to finish it (finally!).  So I stopped and retrieved it.  But today when I pulled it out to see what was/was not done, I was missing the pattern and some of the dpns!  So I messaged Lisa, and she is going to check when she is in the shop on Tuesday to see if they are still there.  I'm kind of annoyed - though NOT at Lisa - because the person who had it didn't seem to take very good care of it, or the project bag I was using.  But hopefully I'll be able to finish it soon, wash the project bag, and wear the top next summer.  Suffice it to say this was the frustrating part of the weekend.

Moving back to good things, I did finish one foot on one of the socks I'm knitting, and am nearly finished with the foot of the other one.  So I'm guessing that these may be finished by next weekend.

Forgive the smushed-up appearance of them - I just pulled them out of the project bag to take a photo and didn't do anything to "arrange" them.  I've been enjoying knitting this pair!

Today, I decided that I would undertake a project that could get me prepared to start my next cross-stitch project.  My mother was a major and prolific cross-stitcher, and I inherited her supplies.*  So before I bought any floss for my next project, I decided to pull out what I already had, because maybe I wouldn't need to buy any, or at least not much.

The stuff had been in the basement, so the binder-type things that the floss had been stored in were in questionable shape, and the floss, though fine, was musty.  I washed the binders and they are hanging up to dry.   And then I needed to figure out a way to hang up the floss so that it could air out, but even more importantly, out of the reach of kitties.  So currently there is a whole lot of floss hanging in various locations on our third floor!

You know, just a few things to choose from ... !!!

It may take me as long to organize and put it away again as it takes to make my next project. :-)  But I'm glad I have it and that it's in good condition, because it reminds me of my mom, and she would be happy to think that even though it's been just sitting for years and years, that I'm using it now.

I do wish that the weekend had felt longer, but it was a pretty good one overall, so I really can't complain.  This week I have a gynecology appt this afternoon, and a dental appointment on Friday, so it's a week of things not all that pleasant, but necessary and then hopefully taken care of for a while.

I hope your week will be a good one - if you are lucky, leaving out any medical stuff!

*One of these days, I'll do a post and show you some of her work.  My sisters and I all have some of it, and it's so beautiful.