I Have a QO to Show You!

Happy last Friday in August - though I realize it's not the same as most Augusts are.  But still time goes right along, and it seems only right to mark it.  Because I have a Zoom meeting at 1:00 today that I know will only make me angry, I thought I'd use this time to write a happy post.  That way, I can be in a good frame of mind before it starts, and spend the afternoon knitting away my anger and aggravation.  

And so, I wanted to share my QO with you.  You may think, "What in the ever-loving universe is a QO???"  My response to you is, that *this* is a QO:

Then you will say, "But Bridget, that looks like a hat, and like it's an FO."  Which means that yes, you are quite observant, but then again, not quite.  Because although this particular piece may be a Finished Object in and of itself, it is only 1/4 - a Quarter - of an overall planned project.  Hence, the term QO = Quarter Object.

This is a hat for Keith, who is married to my niece Julie.  I decided a couple of weeks ago that I am making the same hat for everyone in the family for Christmas, which then became the KJPO Hat Project.  Above you see the K hat.  I am using the Olmsted Hat pattern by Jaclyn Salem.  I have already used that pattern to make a hat for The Tim, which he really likes and wears a lot in the cold weather.  It uses DK weight yarn, so for me, it was a perfect chance to use some stash!  This one used two strands of sock yarn knit together.  I used some leftover Hedgehog Sock in the Construct colorway for all of it; the brim which looks gold and blue is leftover (and now completely used up - YAY - Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the Spats colorway; and, the bulk of the rest is Ancient Arts Fibre Crafts sock yarn in the Grey Tabby colorway.  I like how the brim turned out, though I must admit it was as much dumb luck as anything else, because I didn't really do a lot of planning - just grabbed and started knitting.  I followed the pattern exactly as written, and again have to say, it's a great pattern and makes a nice, squishy hat.

This took me about a week to knit, though in fits and spurts.  I'd get a lot done one day, and then not knit at all the next.  So this is all definitely doable.

And now?  I'm working on the next one in the group, which is the P hat.  I've adapted the stitch count for a kid's size, based on other kid-sized hat patterns I've seen.  As you know, baby and child knits go so quickly, I'm just moving right along on that one!  I want to try and get all four of them done before I move on to any other gifts for anyone else.  That way, at least one group will have handknit gifts this year. 😉

*****

I'm feeling pleased with myself this morning because I have been able to get a few things accomplished - got a flu shot and the first part of my shingles vaccine, took a LOT of old but still in good shape towels and dropped them off at the vet's office where they were much appreciated, and I'm almost finished with the laundry.  Always a good feeling to check things off the list for the day.  We have no particular plans this weekend.  Tomorrow it is supposed to rain the entire day, pretty steadily, so it will be a day of inside projects.  Sunday promises to be lovely, and so The Tim is thinking maybe we can take Hamlet to one of the large parks nearby where we can all walk around and not have to worry about crowds.  I hope we can do that, it would be a real treat.  

And that's all of the excitement from my life.  I hope all of you have a nice weekend and get in some time to do the things you really enjoy.  See you next week!

An FO for Friday - Not Blocked and No Longer a Secret

I'm glad that today is Friday, because this has been a rough week in so many ways, and since today (at least so far is rainy and dreary) I can just stay home and do what I want - or not do anything.

I have an FO for you today.  I almost waited to share it until it was completely finished - meaning blocked - but that will likely take a while, so you are getting an FO post anyway.

As mentioned during July, I decided to join the Stillness Shawl MKAL hosted by Helen Stewart.  To be honest, I'm not sure why, except that I'd seen the finished projects on several podcasts from previous MKALs and they were always lovely.  It could also be because at the time I was knitting a pair of socks designed by her and really enjoying it.  Anyway, I signed up.  More amazingly, I actually participated, in that I decided on yarn, wound it up, and not only downloaded the clues each week, but actually kept up with the knitting.  WHAT????

Project:  Stillness Shawl

Pattern:  Stillness Shawl MKAL, by Helen Stewart

Yarns (from left to right):  Indigodragonfly Tough Lester Sock, in the Dark Lord Bob colorway; Plucky Knitter Plucky Feet, in the colorway Good Ol' Pip; and, Sweet Swallow Yarns Nuthatch in the Shy Violets colorway

Needles:  US size 6

Modifications:  None, since I was flying blind here!

Notes:  First of all, I was pleased because I used all stash yarn for this project, and since that has been something I've been really trying to do, it was nice to use three skeins in one project.  Also, I was pleased because I got to learn two things that were new to me, which is something I have also been trying to do.  This pattern included an i-cord cast on; one of the sections was the Star Stitch, which frankly I was worried about since it looked rather complicated, but as it turns out, it's fairly simple to execute.

After finishing the first clue, I was feeling quite proud of myself, I must admit:

I think the fact that I was able to do this without [many] problems kept me motivated.  I will say now that the project is finished, that I feel confident that I can trust any pattern written by Helen Stewart to be not just well-written and understandable, but very easy to follow.  Even when I would mess up, it was my mess, not because of anything to do with the pattern.

The finished shawl is a really BIG one - so big that I do not have the space nor the pins to block it!  I mean, even before blocking, there's a whole lotta shawl here:

As a point of reference, this is across a double bed!

I do think it is pretty, and when I talked about my blocking issues on Facebook, Lorette offered to block it for me if I wanted to sent it to her.  I have to say, I'm giving that some serious consideration.  I know she does a lot of both shawl and lace knitting, so she knows much more about blocking this kind of item that I do.  I'll keep you posted.

In any case, this was actually fun to knit, and though I didn't really do a lot of the chatter, etc. type of stuff on Ravelry, I did enjoy seeing others' projects.  I think the reason that all of the planets or whatever aligned and I ended up finishing this was because at first it seemed a good distraction and a way to use stash, and then it became a personal challenge to me to keep up.  This is not to say that I'm likely to sign up for any KALs again anytime soon, but it was a good feeling to sign up and then actually *do* something!

 I guess sometimes you can still surprise yourself in a good way.  

******

Not a lot else worth reporting.  This morning I walked up to the Post Office, and finally mailed out all of the prizes for Christmas in July.  Why do I think I'll mail each one as it happens?  From here forward, if you win a prize, just assume it will go out all at one time with the others.  Geez.

I did feel bad because the woman who helped me was so apologetic, saying, "I just want to let you know that in the current situation, I can't guarantee that any of these will get there right away, or as soon as they probably should.  The Post Office is under attack, you know."  I told her that it was OK, I'm a big supporter of the P.O., and between the virus and the administration, they were getting hit everywhere.  She looked at me and smiled and I hope it made her day at least .000001% better.

Hamlet is recovering from a bad bout of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis, which has really knocked him (and by extension, all of us) for a loop.  Fortunately, the vet took x-rays and it wasn't caused by any blockages, tumors, etc. - just probably from something he picked up and ate off the street.  We watch him like a hawk, but sometimes things get past us.  He is starting to seem more like his usual sweet self though, so that's good.  The cats have been very annoyed because they can't sleep on/next to him because he smells bad and that is a real inconvenience for them ...

Next weekend we had scheduled a trip to Baltimore to visit my niece and her husband (we made the plans back in April).  Now my sister and brother-in-law are planning to be there as well, which means most of the family will show up to visit also.  I had been leaning towards cancelling even if it would just be the four of us, but the addition of even more people has made me certain that I don't want us to go.  It just seems irresponsible, and though I know they are all careful people, I just think we have been so conscientious about things, why stop now?  Having to go into work two days a week has been making me anxious enough.  It is disappointing, since we haven't seen anyone for such a long time, but I'm not willing to take the chance, particularly when things are taking an uptick again.  Why can't people wear a mask? (Rhetorical, I know why and so do you.)

Anyway, it's Friday, and it's the weekend, and we have wine, and The Tim just informed me that he made some chocolate pudding!  All's well that ends well, right?  😃

Have a lovely weekend yourself, and take care.

Staying Healthy by Staying Home

Hello friends - I hope you are all doing OK, and remaining healthy during this dangerous and uncertain time.  I am at home as we learned last Friday that we would all be home through the end of March at least, and perhaps even longer.  We are of course supposed to work at home.  My job does not make that possible, so my sick and vacation time is being used.  Sadly it's out of my control.  I just hope that I have enough of both so that I don't get to the point of not getting paid at all.  YIKES!

None of it is under my control at least not at this point, so I just decided to do what I can when I can and go on with things.  So I had a lovely birthday last Saturday, and it was also a pretty day here, so that was good.  The Tim and I went to breakfast at our favorite diner, which was not yet closed but was not very crowded at all, very unlike any other Saturday morning ever!  And we had cake, presents, and a birthday dinner with the critters at home that afternoon and evening.  It was a good birthday, even if an exceptionally quiet one.  Thank you for your kind wishes!

The Tim still has to go to work, though I'm not sure how much longer that will be the case.  He said on Tuesday that rentals were down more than 50%, and they were starting to lay off people.  On the one hand, I would prefer that he could stay home and [theoretically] be 100% safe, but if he is laid off, we'll be on extra thin ice otherwise.  Again, though, out of my control, so we'll just see what happens.

I do have to say though that the only family member who is struggling with social distancing is Hamlet!  When we go outside for walks, he can't quite figure out where all of the people are, and also why the few we do see don't want to see him.  The Tim, the cats, and I are doing much better, as we are all fine with not having to be around people.  When I went to see my therapist on Monday, she asked how I was doing, and I told her that I don't like being lonely, but I don't mind at all being alone.  She smiled, leaned forward, and said, "Me too." 

Spoiler alert:  I've been knitting!  Not 24/7 of course, as I've been trying to stay on a fairly regular schedule, but certainly more than I normally am able to do it.  On Sunday, I finished a few more blocks on my blanket.

I really need to stop working on this row and fill in some rows on top, but since there is no real deadline for this, I'm not worried about getting it all done. 

And I've made a lot of progress on the first of my socks that I've been knitting.  The last time I showed them, I had knit this much:

And this time, I actually have memorized the pattern and so have not had to do any more ripping out.  Now I'm past the heel and working on the foot.

I've even made more progress since I took this photo.  At first, I wasn't going to continue the main cable pattern onto the foot, but then I decided that at least this time, I'd try my best to follow the pattern exactly as written.  

I hope at some point, I can get a good photo that shows how pretty the yarn actually is - it's a light green with washes of blues and purples every once in a while, and also has stellina.  It makes it fun to knit, that's for sure.

Also keeping me smiling during this project?  This guy:

BABY YODA!  Isn't he cute?  Someone I follow on Instagram showed a project of theirs with this progress keeper, and I decided that being the Baby Yoda devotee that I am, I deserved to have one of my very own.  He makes me smile whenever I work on this project.  That counts for a lot, particularly these days.

Yesterday, I also started (and restarted, and restarted, and then restarted again) a sweater.  So far I have the neck done and today will start on the yoke (already restarted once unsuccessfully, I might add).

My original plan was that I would be on vacation from Monday through yesterday of this week, so to be honest, I sorta treated those days as I would have anyway.  Today is my first day when I will try to spend at least a bit of time reading some articles related to my work, so I can feel that I'm making some kind of effort - and also maybe learn what some others are working on these days.  There will also of course be some walks with Hamlet, and an exercise workout.  

I am grateful that I am well and only inconvenienced right now, and I hope that will be the case going forward for all of us.  I will say that I blame the person currently living in the White House and his ilk for all of this.  In not-surprising news, it turned out not to be a "Democratic hoax," and by the time he was willing to do anything, it was already too late.  Every person's illness and any deaths are on his hands, as far as I'm concerned, and I hope that when November comes we will all remember why this ended up being the horrific mess that it is.

OK, I got that off of my chest.  So now I'll just say that I hope you are all taking time to make sure that you are keeping on and making things work the best that you can.  My suggestion would be to limit the amount of time you listen/read/absorb the news and other information, and take time to breathe, and do what you can for yourselves and your families.  Let me know what you are making, reading, cooking, or baking - we can share the happy things and lift spirits!  

And before I forget, today is the first day of Spring - the earliest it has been in 124 years!  Maybe the universe knew we would need it now.  This is proof that the world goes on, no matter what we are doing or feeling on any given day.  Our daffodils are already out, looking quite pleased with themselves, and the crocus are getting ready to do their part.  

Look for the pretty.  Look for the happy.  Trust me, if I can do it, so can you.  :-)