Happy Canada Day, and Happy July (Not the Heat Part Though)

Today is the first of July, which means it is Canada Day, so Happy Canada Day to everyone north of our border! I hope for your sake it's more comfortable, temperature-wise. 

And for those of us who live elsewhere, Happy July 1! We are officially starting the second half of 2026, which is - at least for me - always hard to wrap my brain around. We are supposed to have temperatures in the 100+ degree range over the next 5 or 6 days, and that's not even taking into account the infamous "feels like" temperature that includes the humidity! Gah. My reverse SAD is kicking into gear. 

This morning, however, felt very very nice, so Alfie and I took advantage of time out in the garden, since the next few days will probably not be good ones to be out there. 

He was very pleased to be out there, but not so much to come back inside. But I told him that after we fill the bird feeders, we have to come in so that the birds and squirrels can have a chance to eat. He usually give me a dirty look, but then once we are actually inside, he remembers that the window looks out onto the garden, so it's all good. 

We were supposed to go to a baseball game tomorrow - our annual Pittsburgh Pirates vs. the Philadelphia Phillies - but since it's supposed to be at least 104 degrees, and we don't do well in extreme heat, we sold our tickets. I just hope the person who bought them is sensible about being prepared for the weather. Our seats are under an overhang, so at least they won't be out in the direct sun, baking away. It's extremely disappointing, but July is a crap shoot with a few nice days mixed in with mostly awful days, and this year we lost that bet.

Saturday is of course July 4, and the 250th birthday of America (as well as a World Cup match here in Philadelphia). I am beyond disappointed that Orange Foolius is in office and doing his asinine things during this special time, which I've looked forward to for years. I had already decided that I was going to ignore his plans, and enjoy being in Philadelphia instead. But now a lot of things are being cancelled or time-shortened, etc. because of the extreme heat. Which I am also blaming him for, BTW, because he makes life hell on earth, and now it even feels like it!

Oh well, we'll just have our own little party together here in the house. Happy 250 indeed. 

Speaking of the World Cup, it has been wonderful to be in Philadelphia with so many people visiting and seeming to enjoy themselves so much! Last week, I took a walk, and stopped at a neighborhood coffee shop, and while I was waiting for my order, there were two young men in soccer jerseys sitting at a table. One of them asked me if I lived in the neighborhood, and I said yes, and we spent about 20 minutes chatting. They were visiting from Munich, Germany for some of the World Cup matches. They had been in Houston for a match a couple of days before, and told me it was too hot there, and hard to walk around, with no good public transportation. But they LOVED Philadelphia! They said in some ways, it was a lot like Munich - but "not as many lakes" - and they were enjoying themselves immensely here. After here, they were headed to NYC and then back home. They were kind of disappointed not to see more matches, but until they tried to book their trip, they didn't realize that "America is so big that it's hard to get to some places easily." And I know that, but I tend to forget - especially since here in the Northeast, things are so close together. 

Anyway, they were lovely, and I was glad they were getting such a good impression not only of the city, but the country at large. One of them said, "Americans are MUCH nicer than Donald Trump." Low bar, but still. I told him to please tell people that when they got home. 

I was telling this to a friend, and she told me that she read that someone said that the New York Knicks victory parade, Mayor Mamdani's speech there, the opening of the Obama Center, and the World Cup were all the 250th celebration we deserved. I completely agree, and I'm going with that.

Someone posted on Instagram that having the World Cup in the U.S. was like having your cousins visit after you haven't seen them for years, because your respective sets of parents are no longer speaking to one another. 😄

OK enough blathering from me about all of this. I hope if you are somewhere that is too hot, or too cold, or suffering too many fires, or just whatever else is being unleashed, that you can manage to keep safe and comfortable. 

And I hope if you are Canadian, you'll have a Tim Hortons for me. (A donut or cruller, with a hot tea with milk. Or, Timbits are also good - you choose!)

Take care, everyone!

Five Favorites for This Friday

Hello from preparing-for-the-big-storm Philadelphia! For the past week, the forecasters have been talking about the MAJOR snowstorm we would be getting that would start on Sunday. Last night, they changed it to "some snow, but mostly freezing rain." Great. Snow, I can deal with. Ice means stepping outside is a death wish. 

Which only added to my decision made earlier in the week to try and "bring back" (so to speak) something I used to do fairly regularly on the blog, namely a post pointing out five things from the past week that made me happy, felt good, made me laugh, etc.  I could talk about all of the things happening that are terrible, scary, unfair, etc., but I know that all - or at least most of us - are feeling that, and probably don't need additional reminders. So here you go - five things from the past week that were good:

1. The socks I am knitting. 

I showed you these before, but now I am on the heel flap of the second sock. And I'm enjoying them so much, now that the pattern repeat is firmly in my brain (if not always in my hands). The completed first sock looks so nice, it makes me glad that I decided to continue the pattern on the top of the foot of the sock. (Though I'm not sure I'll do that again soon because it does mean that it takes me longer to finish a pair.)

2. Really cold weather walks. Yes, I know a lot of you are thinking I am crazy, but I love the feeling of getting truly bundled up and then taking a walk. For the most part, I have my routes to myself, because people are either working/in school,, or avoiding the outdoors because it's too cold. So I make my way around, occasionally getting to pet a dog or two, and then come home and get cozy with a nice cup of tea.

3. Making plans for little projects. I love to have little projects to work on - I do much better when things are broken into smaller components. For instance, this week, instead of telling myself that I needed to do a really thorough, after-the-holidays clean of the whole house, I decided to only concentrate on the first floor. Then the second and third floors got a good dusting and clean up, but will get their turn for more serious cleaning in the next couple of weeks. 

4. Watching old movies. Recently, The Tim was looking at various sites for something, and I saw that the old movie "Till The Clouds Roll By," was available. It's a "biopic" of Jerome Kern, in the style of the old movies where the term biopic is used very loosely. In any event, this one has a lot of famous people in it, but mostly importantly, Van Heflin AND Van Johnson - two Vans in one movie! And the movie itself is what we refer to as "killer" movies, meaning that there are scenes and events that just kill you. The Tim, who never watched many (or any, really) of these movies said, "I'm not sure this is all accurate," and I pointed out to him that a) that wasn't the point, and b) how often do you get a movie with BOTH famous Vans in it???

5. The ridiculousness of cats. Milo the Koodle, Alfie, and Esme are hilarious without meaning to be. The Koodle has decided that Dug and Hamlet's old sleeping pad is now his. So there's this 8 pound cat claiming a huge bed for his own. He's so pleased with himself, too. Then Alfie and Esme have decided that they both need to be out in the garden. So when I go out to fill the bird feeders, Alfie dashes out, and then has no idea what to do, because of course every bird and squirrel in the area disappears when I open the door. So he looks at me like "Wasn't there just a lot going on out here," and then cries. Esme, meanwhile, is too afraid to go near the door to the garden, so she waits inside and when Alfie comes back in, bats the crap out of him. It's never not funny!

So there you are, I hope this reminded you of at least a couple of things that were good, funny, or comforting this week. They're there - but lately (at least for me) you have to dig a bit to find them.

Have a good weekend, and if you are part of the area (which seems to be a LOT of the U.S.) where the snow/ice/whatever decides to show up, stay safe! 

The Ugh of Summertime

The way things are going in the country right now, we don't even need a weather report like this, but it's not far off the truth. You know, the kind of weather where you get out of the shower and towel off, only to find that you need to start over. Ugh.

The other day, The Tim said, "Fall will be coming, right?" - and that's when you know it's bad. He's not a fan of summer, but mostly suffers in silence. 

I've been trying to decide what I can work on that won't make me want to pass out or throw up. For once, I'm in the mood to do some of the projects I have around the house that have been on my list for a while, but since we don't have great air-conditioning, it's not really worth even starting. And forget doing stuff outside - I've been forcing myself to go out for my morning walks, but other than that, I stay put inside because it's the kind of weather that actually makes me physically ill.

So there has been more reading than usual, as well as knitting. But I've also been really conscientious about balancing the checkbook (which if you know me, says how desperate I am), and organizing the linen closet. I think I'm wearing out the towels and sheets I've been fooling with them so much!

Anyway, I'm a bit uninspired with my knitting. I have the puppy project, which I showed you recently, that I'm enjoying. But I don't feel like working on that every day. I am on the body part of a Relax Tee, by Aimee Sher, and if I could make myself work on it regularly, it could be finished. But contrary to the name, I do not find the pattern relaxing. 

I have been wanting to make this pattern, and even have yarn chosen. But regardless of the size needle I use, I keep ending up with too many stitches to the inch in the gauge, which I find suspicious, especially since no matter what size needle I try, I get the same numbers! - but there you go. There's a part of me that is tempted to start it anyway, and see how it goes. But I don't want to do that because even if I've done only 10 rows, it will be too disheartening to rip it out.

I guess I'll pull out some sock yarn and wind it because then at least I'll have a project that I can pick up and put down without causing problems. 

Sometimes, it just seems like everything is too much work. For me, that almost always happens in the summer. And really, it's never too much work in reality. So I'm gonna look for a skein of "extra special" sock yarn to use, because that will inspire me.

What about you? Any exciting projects going? Let me know, I'm happy to live (knit?) vicariously!

First FO of 2025!

Hello from very cold and little bit snowy Philadelphia! I hope if you are in the cold/snow areas, you are managing to stay warm. 

I am happy to share my first FO of 2025 with you. I can't remember if I showed you anything when I started or not, but I do remember that I posted this picture on Instagram:

Project: Twelve Days of Christmas Socks

Pattern: basic vanilla sock with some texture on the leg (see notes)

Yarn: Loch Briar Knits Un-Twisted Sister base, colorway Christmas Bark

Needles: US size 1/2.25 mm

Notes: I bought this yarn in late 2023, when I saw it knit up on the Loch Briar Knits podcast on YouTube. And I knew I wouldn't get to knitting it then, but I purposely left it out so that I would make a pair of Christmas socks this year. 

Well, I had a lot going on and never got to it before Christmas, but on Christmas Day in the afternoon while The Tim was starting on our dinner, I sat down and cast on for a pair of socks. I decided since I was starting them on the First Day of Christmas, and it was Christmas-themed yarn, I would call them my Twelve Days of Christmas socks. I knew I wouldn't finish the pair in those twelve days - though I am proud of myself, because I finished the first sock on January 6, the twelfth day!

I just did a 2 x 2 rib for the cuffs, and then a texture pattern that I liked and had seen the Crazy Sock Lady do - two rows knit, two rows knit 2, purl 2. It makes a nice look, and is easy to remember.

I love the finished socks, though I do kinda wish I'd just knit them plain, because I love the look of the way the yarn is on the foot, which is stockinette. But I'm still happy with the pair, and have tucked them away to wear next year at Christmastime.

The yarn is really lovely to work with, and I will definitely buy some of her yarn again. Though at the moment, I'm trying to work from my stash for a while.

I have a bit more the half of the skein left, so I may make a two-tone Musselburgh for myself (no, not yet for The Tim, just don't talk about it!), because I just love the way the yarn knits up, and at some point I want to make a Musselburgh for myself anyway.

*****

We had a nice, if expensive, weekend. Our third floor sink faucet stopped working, and the drain backed up. So we had to call a plumber, and get a new faucet, etc., which of course cost a lot of money, and means that the next big project we have planned will wait a while. But a) I like the new faucet much better than the old one, and b) it is WONDERFUL to have a drain that works again!

Other than that, we put away the Christmas decorations, and The Tim took the tree to be recycled/composted. We sweated through the Eagles game yesterday, and were thrilled that they won. And otherwise just watched some shows we'd recorded and cozied up with the kit kats.

All day today, knowing that it is the observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I've had his quote about not judging people on the color of their skin, but rather on the content of their character in my head. 

I wonder why that particular one is so relevant to me at this moment in time  ... 

Keep warm, and keep going. We have to be ready to save ourselves starting today.

Feels Like Christmas!

Well, at least Christmases as a kid - no snow, though. But it's cold and sunny and bright, which is just perfect.

Our weekend was pretty quiet. We both did little finishing up things to be ready for Christmas, so that the house finally really looks like it's ready to celebrate. This morning I finished any wrapping that I had left, mostly things for the kit kats. 

This afternoon, I'm finishing the last few rows of a top of a hat that I'm making for The Tim for Christmas. It was kind of a last-minute decision, and I had decided that if it wasn't finished in time, I wasn't going to worry about it. But as I said, I realized that I have just a few rows, and then some ends to weave in so I'll finish that up this afternoon.

I've been working away on my sweater, which I had sincerely hoped could be a Christmas sweater, but which I also knew meant that realistically, I should have started in September. But I haven't knit on it much anyway lately, since I've been waiting for a longer needle to arrive. I was just getting frustrated because the needle I was using, which was one I already had, was fine but making me nuts because I had to squish the stitches onto it and it was a pain to keep doing that. My longer needle finally arrived today (that's what happens when you order during the holidays!), so I can return to working on it and get it finished. Technically, it can easily just be a winter sweater, but I'd really hoped it would be a Christmas sweater. And next year, it will be. 😊

I'm pleased because I got a notification yesterday that the last "outstanding" box of gifts I'd send out had been delivered. So that worked out nicely. The rest have been at their destinations for a while.

I also keep getting reports on how successful the little Advent calendar I made for Penn and Oden, my great-niece and great-nephew, has been. Apparently they were/are fascinated by the 50-cent and the dollar coins that have been in a couple of the stockings. So The Tim was right to suggest that. Apparently Oden - who is six- keeps asking my niece Julie if she thinks they will be able to spend "that big money." Which just cracks me up!

So that's the state of things here right now. I hope if you got any snow, it wasn't too much for anything you needed/wanted to do. And if you are also someplace cold, I hope you can stay cozy!

Enjoy the rest of your day, and have a good Christmas Eve Eve (that's especially for you, Kym!)

We'll See What Happens Next Spring

Remember my story about Paulie Walnuts, Jr. and the gang coming to demolish our collapsed planter in front of our house? Well, they showed up a short while back and got the job done in only a few hours, and they did it very well! But I swear that it was like living in a local version of "The Sopranos" because the work crew could have all been related to some of those characters!

Guess what though? Even if they were, I don't care because they did a great job!  I think I'd posted a photo of the collapsed planter, but anyway here is what it looked like: 

Now granted, after it collapsed, I made no effort to pull the weeds there, etc., since I knew that before long it was all going to come out. But if you look on the far left of that photo, the first two areas of the planter actually had plants in them - asters, that were getting ready to return. I'd planted them about three years or more ago, and they loved it there! When they were in full force, they looked wonderful.

So before the workers came, I pulled up as many as I could with the roots attached, so that hopefully I could save at least a few. I planted them in one of the empty huge plant pots in the garden, hoping that if any survived, I could re-plant them next spring. So far, they seem to be doing OK so I have my fingers crossed.

Anyway, this is how it all looked after the work was done - we are really pleased with it!

It's also good because we know that sooner rather than later, we'll need to get the bricks pointed, so this way, nothing will be blocking anything else.

Our plan is that next spring, we'll get some planters/large pots/whatever, and put some flowers and plants in there, so we still have something nice in front of the house, and also so our new tree doesn't get too lonely. A lot of houses in our neighborhood have that kind of set up and it looks really good. Of course, I'm so picky, The Tim told me to start looking at things now, so that I might find something I like by next spring ... he's not wrong! 😊

So we're moving along slowly but surely with getting everything fixed up, repaired, replaced, etc. This wasn't really something we had planned to do or have to do, but at least it wasn't another major project.

We have even found a new guy and his crew to replace the kitchen and the bathroom floors - I *really* hope the second time works! This person seemed much more together than Floor Guy #1, and I had created a document with specific requests and questions, and he addressed all of them in great detail. Of course, it's costing a lot more, since the kitchen floor put in partially and poorly by the first guy has to be redone, but if we end up with what we wanted, it's all worthwhile. They are supposed to start a week from tomorrow, and he said that there will be three of them and they will likely need most of the rest of that week. I'm feeling good about this and hope that Floor Guy #1 was just a fluke for us. And yes, it's a pain in the neck to have workers in the house for a week, but if after that week the floors are really and truly finished and we are happy with them, a week is no big deal.

******

The weather has been so lovely here, and yesterday was the first No-Car-Sunday of this month in Center City Philadelphia. For yesterday and the rest of September, the city is closing off a group of streets in Center City to cars on Sundays from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. There are all kinds of special events, offers from stores and restaurants, etc., but mostly there are just no cars and no traffic so you can walk around and just enjoy it! We went out, in the afternoon for a nice stroll, and there were a lot of people out and about, but it wasn't crowded anywhere, so it was just a nice way to spend time and people watch. 

That's about it from here. This should be a relatively quiet week for me, since the only specific thing going on is my volunteer shift tomorrow morning. So I've made a list of some other things I'd like to do, and have told myself that even if I just manage a couple of them, that's OK.

Right now, it's time to spend time paying some bills. Not my most favorite thing, but necessary and if I do it now, it's over with for a while. So I'll check in again soon, take care.

Resurfacing After Being MIA

Well here we are, almost in the middle of the month, and I'm finally checking back in with all of you. The past couple of weeks have been difficult, but things are looking up, so fingers crossed that it stays that way.

At the end of July/beginning of August, my Reverse SAD finally got me and got me good. It was so hot and so humid for so long that I got to the point where I could barely function. I was tired and miserable all of the time, and my depression and anxiety ramped up like it has not for a while. I was in pretty bad shape to be honest.

I did manage to get myself together enough to enjoy a weekend visit to NYC to see a lot of family, which was really nice and I'm glad we went, but then we came home to the same slop and that caused me to crash big-time. Fortunately, last week, even though it was still humid, it wasn't as hot and the rain did a lot to make the flowers, trees, etc. look and obviously feel better.

This week has felt so good! It's so nice to be able to have the windows open, especially at night, and to take walks without being soaked in sweat after a block and a half. And considering that it's August, it's a nice surprise that it's feeling that way now.

As mentioned above, we were in New York to see a lot of family for a weekend overnight. My sister Nancy and her husband live in Southern California, but they come to NYC usually every summer to visit with a lot of his family who live in the area. This year, their kids and families joined them. My nephew and his wife in Arizona have four kids, and the last time we saw them was 11 years ago. Three of them were able to make the trip, so it was nice to see them as young adults now. My niece and her husband who live in Northern California have two kids that we have never met, so we got to meet them in person, which was nice. Then my other sister and her husband from WV came for the weekend also, and one of their daughters and her family live in Brooklyn, so it was really great to get to see nearly everyone! It was loud and funny and frustrating (none of them are planners, ugh!), and of course, we always enjoy the train ride to and from there. It would have all been perfection if it hadn't been in the high 90s Fahrenheit with the ever-popular "feels like" temperature of 108 degrees. 😡

Only for family would I even consider braving it!

Then, we had found someone who could do our bathroom and kitchen floors - meaning that sooner rather than later, the new refrigerator would be in the kitchen where it should be! There were a couple of blips - the original date they said they'd start had to be pushed back, because the person they dealt with at Home Depot/Lowe's (I forgot which one) ordered the wrong bathroom tiles. 

The guy who was the head of the crew then said they would show up "early afternoon" on this past Saturday to get started on one of the bathrooms, after they finished another job. Which was fine with me. So I was going along in my day, and about 1:15 in the afternoon, The Tim informs me that he called and told the guy not to come, because it was "way past early afternoon." WHAT? I consider early afternoon  to be until around 3 p.m. Then he went on about how he told him it wasn't professional to treat people this way, etc. All I could think of - and I really don't think this very often - was WTF??

This, from the person who weeks ago explained to me (even though I already knew it) that contractors are usually working on several jobs at once, so they seldom devote all of their time at once to your project only. So I don't know what kind of needle ended up in his butt to cause him to do that, but I was really afraid that the guy would say, here's your down payment back, find someone else.

So currently, they are supposed to come tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday to get all three floors replaced. The lead guy texted me yesterday and told me he would text me again today to let me know what time tomorrow to expect them, and where they were starting, so I could have things ready. I hope it all works out this time. Otherwise, The Tim better have something else lined up.

In the meantime, Alfie will be in heaven when they finally arrive. I told a friend that it wouldn't surprise me if he has been watching floor repair videos on YouTube so that they have no excuse to not let him "assist" ... 😄

And now you are all caught up on the high-/lowlights. Cross your fingers that the next time I post, the floors are at least underway!

Five Favorites For This Friday

 

OK, it was kind of hard to come up with five good things about the past week, mostly because it was so hot every single day all day and night that everyone in our house was miserable. Plus I got sick, which did not help the overall vibe.

But there are always some good things, so I just needed to find them. Here you go.

1. This podcast. I came across Renee's podcast about a year ago, and granted, not every single episode is one that I watch, but in general, I really enjoy it and get a charge out of her. She lives in Kentucky with her husband, and has two adult daughters. She is so crazy about her family and her two sweet dogs, and it's funny because I think she would be fun to hang with - while at the same times suspecting we would not really get along that well in real life. 😂

2. My walks. It's been really hard to get moving this week, but I've forced myself to go out between 5 and 6 a.m. every single day this week, even if it's for a shorter than usual walk. And even though I've seriously had to force myself to do it, or do it out of guilt, once I'm out and walking, and once I get home, I'm so glad I left the house. And for most of this week, it's been the only time I've left the house! Wednesday was the best walk because I got to pet 8 dogs. Eight!

3. Ordering a new refrigerator. Yes, ordering it. Because that's the fun part. Emptying the old one and moving stuff to the new one is another story, as is paying for said refrigerator. But the ordering is full of anticipation. We've been lucky - our current fridge is 30 years old and we have never had a single issue, or had to call for service, etc. But it is falling apart, and we figured rather than continue to tempt fate, we'd take the active step. As when we shopped around for a new front door, we were surprised at the cost of refrigerators - because when you didn't buy one for so long, prices do tend to go up! It will arrive next Friday, so we don't even have to wait that long until it's here.

4. Chocolate chip brioche bread toast. I've had this with my breakfast this week three times. The Tim found the loaf at a Lidl store in New Jersey, and bought it for us to try. It's been a big hit.

5. My current book. 

This is such a good read, and entertaining to boot. My mother spent summers during her childhood in Chicago, where her aunt, uncle, and cousin lived. Her stories from those days were always great, and some of them seemed ridiculously fantastical. This book covers a time period just before her childhood, but a lot of the same places, people, and well, practices, were involved. And having lived in Chicago myself as a child for a few years as well as an adult, I love the stories and the history as well. This is one of those non-fiction books that is so readable and enjoyable, you might forget that it's all based on real things!

So there you go - I did find five good things, and I have to say, finding those were fun. I'm starting to recover from being sick, and it has just (barely) started to rain here, so maybe myself and the plants and flowers will at least get a break for today. Because they have been predicting worse heat and humidity next week (is that even possible? Won't we all just explode?), and it's one of those weeks when I have some kind of appt every single day. So that will be a challenge.

I hope wherever you are, and whatever weather conditions are happening, that you can round up five things for yourself that made you happy. Have a good weekend, however you manage to do that, and I'll check in next week.

My Mom Was Right

 

This was one of her favorite expressions - who knew it was actually in the Oxford English Dictionary??

Stay cool, friends!

Personal Space On a Hot Day

Yesterday it was pretty warm and humid around here - much more than you would expect this early in June. At least before global warming.

I do love to cuddle with our cats all year long. But in the summer, with our basically non-working air-conditioning, it can be uncomfortable. Of course, that's apparently because I am a human. It doesn't seem to bother them at all.

Almost every day, there is some combination of cats close together on the couch or the bed. Sometimes, they will even be under the bedspread on the bed in a sun spot. You lift up the bedspread to make sure they are still alive, and they look at you as if to say, "What? I'm trying to sleep here."

Fortunately so far, most days have been comfortable with the windows open and a fan going, so everyone has been doing OK. But their desire for the most heat possible all of the time is one of the four million things I will never understand about cats. 

Somewhere, a cat is writing the same kind of post about people.😉

FO Monday : Alpine Bloom Red

Hello and I hope your weekend was a good one! Mine was fine - nothing especially good, nothing especially bad. It was pretty rainy and cold, which was nice for staying inside, knitting, reading, and drinking tea. Plus, yesterday was one year since Miss Esme joined the family, so we had a little celebration for her - little, because although she has made huge progress, she's still not sure we're not trying to kill her ... it was also Hamlet's birthday, so we drank a special toast to him last night. We miss our Hammy so much!

Anyway, I'm starting this week with an FO which was a long time in the making. Partly because it was colorwork, which I am not well versed in, and partly because it was charted, which I have not really done too much. But it all worked out in the end.

Project: Alpine Bloom Red

Pattern: Alpine Bloom Hat, by Caitlin Hunter

Needles: US size 3/3.25 mm and US size 5/3.75 mm

Yarn: Barrett Wool Co. Wisconsin Woolen Spun Sport Weight; colorways Chestnut and Apple

Modifications: Are you kidding me?

Notes: This was part of a kit I purchased from Barrett Wool Co. at the beginning of 2024. I had decided that I wanted to give colorwork knitting a try, and thought a hat would be a good start.

I have not really knitted much from a chart, so that was also a challenge to me. Fortunately, the pattern was very well-written and very understandable. Though it required a lot of concentration on my part, and went quite slowly. I had to make sure that I was home by myself with no distractions whenever I worked on it! I started at the beginning of February, and finished around the middle of April, so it was a longer project (though of course it was interspersed with working on other things during the same time.)

This was also the first time I knit a pattern by Caitlin Hunter, and I have to say that it was really enjoyable. I can see why her patterns are so popular, if they are as well done as this one. (Who knows, maybe I'll try another one ...) 

The kit was good for me, because there were limited choices as far as colors go - otherwise I might still be deciding what colors I wanted to use. I like the yarn - it is cozy feeling and soft but still rustic. I think this will be a great hat to wear. The kit included a pompom option, and I like the hat both ways to be honest. Since the pompom is one of the removable kinds, I don't have to make a single decision about it, at least not right now.

Best of all, it fits my big head! I knit the Adult Small/Medium, because I figured that the Adult Large might be really large (which now I know it must be), and figured if it didn't fit me, I could always gift it to someone in my family. But too bad, everyone else, this one I'm keeping for myself! 😊

I only used about half of each of the colors of yarn, so I think this would be an excellent scrappy project. Down the road, I may look through my leftovers and make another, you never know.

*****

I hope your week goes well. I have two Dr appts on different days, but otherwise am hoping to work on some of my personal projects, in and out of the house. And I am one sock toe away from having completely empty needles - time to decide what projects are next!

Enough Light!

Last week, I started working on this stitching project:

And I have to tell you, doing the black thread on the black background was to say the least, a challenge! But I really want to make this project, and this is about the third of the black-on-black part of it, so I'm hoping to get another good chunk done today, because guess what? It's sunny and bright here, so I'll actually have enough light to see what the heck I'm doing - hooray! It's a Halloween ornament, so I would really like to get it done for the holiday this year. Fingers crossed.

How are things where you are? Today like I said is bright and sunny, and so pleasant and cool - just the way I like it to be, especially after last week was so hot and humid. Maybe fall is really thinking about showing up. I mean, next week *is* the last week of summer, so I'm more than ready. I've even been thinking of putting together some kind of soup for dinner. I love improvising with what we have, and I can walk to the market around the corner and get some nice crusty bread to have with it.

Since I worked for someone yesterday, they are taking my shift on Sunday, which means I have the entire weekend off. With no specific plans, except for Sunday morning when The Tim said that we should go out for brunch - you don't have to twist my arm, I love to go to brunch. I have things I'm hoping to do, but nothing absolutely necessary, and nothing time-sensitive, so I'm just going to see what I feel like each day and go from there. Such a luxury!

Today is laundry, and I'm currently waiting for the workers to come and put the final seal on our repaired chimney. I got my hair cut earlier, so once the chimney work is complete, I think I'll take a walk in the nice weather. It's so nice to have the windows open and not feel sweaty.

I'm glad you enjoyed the photo of Alfie and Esme that I posted. They truly seem to have a special bond, and it's fun to see them together. Alfie is such a goofy weirdo, and Esme is definitely the boss in that relationship. Which is extra funny not just because she is still timid around us, but also Alfie is easily twice her size. 😊

What are your weekend plans? I hope you are having good weather wherever you happen to be, but if not, I hope you can avoid anything too awful. Whatever you do, I hope you have time to just relax and enjoy things. I'll see you again next week.

A Monday FO Post

I've never been a fast knitter, and this year - especially this summer - I've gotten even less knitting done. Partly because of the weather, partly because on the days that I work at the yarn store, I knit for part of the day there, and depending on what I'm knitting there or what I'm knitting at home, too much knitting can cause my hands to hurt. 

But nonetheless, I have my projects going, and I can finally announce an FO!

You may remember that in June, I showed you the beginnings of a market bag I was making:

(The bottom with a bit of the sides going)

(A little bit more of the sides knit)

Project: Splashy Ilene

Pattern: Ilene, by Hannah Mason (free on Ravelry)

Yarn: Berocco Splash, in the Key West colorway (I used 2 full skeins and a small amount of a third)

Needles: US sizes 4 and 6

Notes: This is a very straightforward, easy pattern. It's also very forgiving - as in, if you mess up the count on one round, you can fudge/fix it in the next round and there is no real way to tell as you continue.

The hardest part of all of it is the picking up the stitches once you have knit the bottom. But to a certain extent, that can be fudged as well to get the right count after one or two rows.

I decided to make this because I wanted to try the yarn. But the skeins don't have a lot of yardage, so making a top or something would have been prohibitively expensive for me, even considering that I get an employee discount. So I thought I'd try this, since I knew it would be something I could still use.

Modifications: The pattern calls for you to do the pattern repeat until you have 50 rows of the mesh; I kept going until I had 72 rows. And the pattern is written for a certain yarn, so when you are doing the handle, it says to knit until you have approximately 36 inches of yarn left, and then do the three-needle bind off. I just knit the handle until I had 17 inches, and then did the bindoff, and it rests comfortably on my shoulder without being right up into my armpit.

You can cram a lot into this bag - the mesh makes it very stretchy! 

If you have some cotton, linen, whatever kind of plant-based yarn and am wondering what to do with it, this is a good project. At least here in Philadelphia, plastic bags are longer allowed to be given out in stores, and most places charge a fee for a paper bag. So you need to remember to bring your own bag along with you. This bag is very lightweight, and could easily be balled up and put into your pocket or into a purse. Win-win!

*****

Don't forget - to enter the giveaway for Week 2 of Christmas in July, leave a comment on this post by midnight tomorrow! And read the comments even if you don't comment yourself or enter the giveaway - so many interesting foods and dishes. Plus a taste of the New Zealand-Australia rivalry as a bonus! 😊

I hope this week is a good one for you. Sounds like our area is staying in the horrible heat, though I know other areas of the country are suffering even more. So take care, everyone and keep safe!

P.S. We might all need to start buying these shirts!

We Have a Winner!

Thanks to everyone who responded for the Christmas in July giveaway! I so enjoyed reading all of the comments, it was fun to see what everyone had to say. Sometimes you read something, and think to yourself, "Well, OK that's true," because you just never thought about it that way. 

The random number generator has been consulted, and the winner for the first week is:

🎉🎈🎇Alison!!!!!

I think that makes it extra fun, because Alison lives in the Southern Hemisphere, and as you recall, I said I knew nothing about what the summer months would be there. But now I know, and I so enjoyed her response.

Living in New Zealand our summer is December January February. December is too busy with end of year parties, the rush to Christmas etc. Then comes January….we all heave a collective sigh of relief that “It” is all over, the weather settles into balmy long days, people flock to the lakes and beaches, the laughter of kids on trampolines wafts through the air in the early evenings, and we just enjoy chilling out. There is no rush to do anything, the gardens are having their mid summer break from growing so are content with a splash of water now and then. The days stretch out and with a huge amount of.folks on annual leave there is a calm happy buzz in the air. It is languid and oh so peaceful. Then comes February, school is back in with all the costs of supplies, uniforms, fees etc, the Christmas credit card bills have arrived, there seems to be a gritty look on people’s faces, and it gets HOT.

Alison, I know I had your address previously, but since then my computer has died several times, and the backup files were corrupted (Oh technology!). So, if you could send your full name and address again to baclancyATverizonDOTnet, that would be most excellent. 

And guess where I'm saving addresses now? In a PAPER address book. So suck it, AI!

*****

In other news, I am making slow but steady progress on my summer stripey sweater. I'm nearly through the body, and then only have the short sleeves and neckline to complete.

I stalled on this for about two weeks, but since technically I have until the last day of summer to call it a summer sweater, I think I'll make it. 😊

And I'm on the strap of my market bag, which is currently impossible to photograph, so you'll just need to take my word for it. 

Today is one of my non-work days, and I plan to knit and read most of the day. I am incredibly tired, I think because of the heat, and so today I have decided to make it a true day off and save laundry, etc. for tomorrow and Friday. I need to take a walk to the market for some milk, and water the flowers, but otherwise, I'm staying inside - even the health department said to avoid going out!

Wherever you are, and however your weather is, take care. Things seem so extreme everywhere around the globe, it seems like we all need to pay more attention than usual to the weather reports. (Me, at least once a week to The Tim: "Why couldn't I have lived during the Ice Age??")

And A Good Time Was Had By Al(-most) Everyone

This past weekend started with a celebration that Alfie has been part of our family for a year! That meant cake for us, and treats and toys for the kitties. Alfie and Pip had a good time together figuring things out, whilst the Koodle was there, but out of the frame, due to being in trouble because he had tried to eat all of the treats and steal all of the toys. (There's always someone, right?)

In any case, the other two found it all quite hilarious.

Alfie LOVES those wavy cardboard scratch pads, and he got a new one because he goes through them really quickly. He is declawed in the front, but nonetheless makes quick work of them. He also finds them comfortable as a home base of sorts, to lounge on and observe all around him. (He's still such a lovable weirdo!)

Pip and Alfie are more than happy to share the toys and treats, so they both had a lot of fun seeing what was what, and leaping around, since some of the toys contained catnip.

Alfie is such an unusual kitty. He is affectionate, but really also just does his own thing. He is always happy to see you in the morning, and/or when you come home from being gone somewhere, but he's just kind of goofily himself, and quite pleased about it. We are glad to have our very own Fluffernutter as part of our family, and can't wait to see how he does as he figures out more things around him and around the house and garden.

*****

We had a lovely weekend, and I'll share some of our photos from our day in Annapolis soon. Other than Friday, which was too hot to be enjoyable at all, we had lovely weather, which has continued into this week. I know it won't last forever, but I'll happily take it as long as it wants to hang around!

Lazy and Cold

Hiya - I meant to post yesterday, but woke up feeling pretty awful. Things improved as the day went on, but I think I might be getting a cold. Today I feel congested and all of my bones hurt. Fortunately, it's not Covid, so that's the good news.

Anyway, it was a cold and lazy weekend. So cold, I happened to snap this photo on Saturday morning:

I got up a bit later than usual, and after getting cleaned up and dressed I came back into the room to make the bed, but there were three reasons I wasn't able to do that. 😊 But I couldn't blame them - the bed was cozy, and the sun was coming through the windows, warming up the room. So I left them all there and made the bed later.

I did a few cleaning-up-putting-away things, but was mostly just lazy all day, staying warm and reading or knitting. I did make some granola, which turned out very well, so I guess that was my major accomplishment! 

Sunday was my shift at the yarn store. It was busy enough, but not crazy busy, and we didn't get one nut job all day, so that made it more pleasant. It's funny, but Sundays go fast as a rule. I guess it's because that's when most people are able to come in, and quite a few people show up for Knitting Circle from 1-3. We close at 4 on Sundays, so once we clean up after people leave, it's just about time to go home.

I guess it's because I don't feel so great, but yesterday and so far today I haven't been in the mood to read or to knit much. I work on my project at the shop, but even on Saturday when I felt fine, I did more reading than knitting. I'm not worried about it, but I would like to finish some of my projects so I could use them. Maybe if this cold gets under control, I'll feel more with it overall. I hope so.

And that's the exciting news from here. I hope your week treats you well. 

Three Rainy Thursday Things

Hello all, and I hope you have had a good week so far - either way, it's Thursday, so we're almost finished with the week anyway.  

Today I'm joining Carole and the others for a Three on Thursday post.  The first two are related somewhat, but the last one is just something that I was wondering about on my way to work this a.m.  

1.  Happy Bloomsday!

Usually on this day, I take the day off from work, but my request was not approved this year.  But we'll still celebrate this evening, which leads me to another thing we will celebrate as well:

2.  Today is also the birthday of the first kitty that belonged to The Tim and I.  We named her Molly Bloom and designated Bloomsday as her birthday.  Here is a close-up of her sweet face.

She was really a great cat - friendly, adaptable, cuddly, and extremely brave.  She used to do a lot of traveling with us, and she also [begrudgingly] used to let us put hats on her and take photos.  But as long as she could hang out with us, it was all good.  We have always told her, and continue to say, that she was "The Original and Still the Best."

It makes me sad that I lost so many photos of her when my previous laptop died, but at least I have some print photos, though right now we don't have a scanner so they are difficult to share.  But you don't actually need a photo to continue to remember and love someone, right?

3.  OK, this is the one that I wondered about on my way to work this morning.  It was raining pretty steadily and continually, and it occurred to me that every person who was visibly of the male persuasion was walking along getting soaked - none of them had an umbrella.  Thinking about it, I realized that I see that a lot, and so I'm wondering, is there a reason that men seem to be averse to carrying an umbrella?  It's not like I love doing it, but I do prefer it to getting soaked.  The Tim is in fact an umbrella person, so maybe I notice more when I see men just walking in the rain getting wet, I don't know.  But as the king would say in The King and I, "Is a puzzlement."

And there you go.  Have a good one!

Happy June!

Well, at least I hope it will be happy for most of the month for all of you, even if not every day is perfect.

Our trip to West Virginia was wonderful, though it started out sketchy.  It was raining a bit on Friday when we left Philadelphia, and it was pretty foggy, but nothing to really worry about.  However, by the time we got to Somerset, PA (where weather is always an issue, no matter what time of year!), it was raining so hard, you couldn't even see the lights on cars ahead of you, much less the cars, the lines on the road, the twists and turns - well, you get the picture.  So much for our plan to stop on the way to see the Flight 93 Memorial.  Hopefully we can do it next time.

So we stopped for lunch off of the turnpike - way deep into Pennsyltucky territory!  I mean, it was really creepy to see the signs, clothing, hats, well, whatever you can imagine all extolling the wonderfulness of our former terrible President.  Ick.  But we did find a nice diner, and our waitress was adorable (The Tim: I think we have found Kimmy Schmidt), so we had a wonderful lunch.  By the time we left, there was not a drop of rain falling, go figure.

Fortunately, for the rest of the trip - getting there and coming home - that was the extent of bad weather.

We had a great time, just hanging out, enjoying catching up with everyone.  We played bocce, took a couple of hikes, and did as much porch sitting and laughing as humanly possible (which is when we caught up on our wine and other beverage drinking, for those who may be wondering).  This is the sum total of the photos I took:

This is one of the views from the porch at my sister's house.

The weather was stunning.  Highs during the day of about 80 degrees Fahrenheit, with nighttime temperatures of 65-70 degrees - open window weather!  I still can't believe how we lucked out!

We were also fortunate that we didn't run into any traffic either way - unusual for a holiday weekend, but it makes everything so much more relaxed.

Then back to real life.  It happens, what are you gonna do??

I am hoping that June will be a kinder month than May turned out to be.  I know of two things in particular that will be good for us, one that is happening later this week, and then another at the end of the month, if all goes well.  Don't worry, I'll keep you posted.

And for any of us who might like to know that all is not lost (and these days, isn't that all of us?), here is an article that a friend posted on social media that I really appreciated.  I'm not usually one for inspirational reading, but I think this is a good one.  I hope it will give you some hope.

Have a good rest of the week, everyone - we've already got most of it under our belts!

Perfection In One Day

First of all, thank you for your kind support and commisseration about my work situations in my last post.  Please be assured that everything that can be done has been done, even if to no avail.  Though I'm guessing that now you can appreciate more than ever why I am dreading next week, when we have to return to the building to work five days a week.  At least being at home some of the time gave me some space and a buffer.  Oh well

ANYWAY, the important thing here is to share some of our weekend with you.  This past weekend, both the NJ Sheep and Wool Festival and the Lehigh Valley Fiber Festival returned to in-person events.  I love going to the NJ one, but this year just didn't get myself together to go.  

Instead, since it sounded as if the weather would cooperate, The Tim and I planned an outing where Hamlet could join us.  So we got into the car and headed a bit northwest to the Andorra Meadow - about 20 minutes away on a Saturday with little traffic that early in the morning.  It's a little more than 2-mile trail that ends up in a meadow.  We hadn't been there before, so we were exploring as well.

Me to The Tim: We can tell people we went for a hike, and found some fungi(s).

The Tim: [crickets]

In any case, it was wonderful, and Hamlet had a great time!  For the whole time we were there, we ran into only two other people (and of course Hamlet made sure that they petted him).  It was perfect.

Apparently, the grasses were very tasty.  The Tim and I did not sample them, but Hamlet took his time doing a tasting all along the way.

In the photo above, Hamlet is right in front of a log that was blocking the trail and required one to go over it.  I went over first, and then Hamlet lept over it, "just like Lassie!" (OK, that's what we told him - in reality, I pulled, and The Tim pushed and lifted.)  Then The Tim joined us and we continued along.

I always love seeing little wild daisies like these:

And seeing these little berries pleased me!

This was in the meadow, where they had these little houses scattered all around.

Just look at that sky!  And if you saw these photos and didn't know where you were, who would think that less than a mile away was a major road with stores and houses?

On the way home, we passed a corner where one side of the street had a place called Pete's Pierogies, and the other side of the street had Murphy's Tavern.  We decided that was the best corner in town, since it would cover all of our needs ... 😊

The day finished up with some knitting and reading in the afternoon, and then The Tim made a pizza for dinner.  We watched some shows we'd recorded and just relaxed.  There aren't many days that are that perfect, but Saturday turned out to be one of them.

As we were walking around on such a lovely day, it struck me that it was the same kind of day that it was here on September 11, 2001 - a little bit cool, very sunny, and the kind of day that made you smile and believe that nothing could go wrong.  And it made me think once again how lucky I am to be able to still be here, enjoying those kinds of days, when so many never had that privilege, through no fault of their own.