Armchair Travels and a New Project

I am still enjoying my time at home, even if not enjoying the reason for it.  I fluctuate between being so very very glad I don't have to be surrounded by my office mates, to feeling so very very sad and angry that people are dying and I blame a certain specific individual for getting us to the place.  I am trying to do my part by staying home, wearing a face mask when out of the house, and trying to live my life in as normal a way as possible.  But what is happening to so many others is always sitting on my heart, making me realize that though I may be helping in the grander scheme of things, I can't do anything actively for anyone.  So I pray, though even that can seem futile at times.

Anyway, I didn't mean to start out with such downer words. 

Thank you for all of the kind comments about my finished socks!  It was nice to get such lovely feedback.  Though I have to tell you that in addition to those comments, I also received via e-mail about 2 weeks' worth of others!  I hadn't thought anything much was problematic, since I thought I'd gotten some and responded where I could.  Apparently I was wrong.  So, if you didn't hear from me, I wasn't ignoring you I just didn't get the messages in a timely fashion.  I have also decided that any comments other than those from the last couple of posts will just not get an e-mail response from me, and I apologize for that, but there is only a limited amount of time I can bear to spend on the computer in any given day.  I will say that this seems to happen in fits and starts, so I will start paying closer attention to the number of comments I approve and if it corresponds to the ones forwarded to my e-mail.

Moving along, today is Unraveled Wednesday, and I've decided to join Kat and the others.  Just this morning I finished this book:

Nope, not high literature, but a cozy mystery that was not just an enjoyable read, but a way to remember our visits to Ireland, back when travel was in our budget.  As well as being just what my brain was able to handle, it was really enjoyable and not *too* much of anything, which means I will likely give the next one in the series a try down the road.

I love armchair traveling, and it's always fun if I have actually been able to visit the places, since I always enjoy knowing just exactly where the author is mentioning.

I had wanted to finish the aforementioned socks not just so I would not drag our informal KAL longer than necessary, but because I had told myself as I was so close to finishing that project, I could not cast on another until they were finished.  And so Saturday afternoon I got started on a new project, and have been enjoying it quite a bit:

This is the start of the Beachcomber shawl pattern, and I have to tell you this is a fun one.  I'm using Knit Picks CotLin, which the designer also used, and I think this will be a lovely item to have for the spring and summer, when it's cool and/or you are someplace with too much A/C, and wish you had something to make you more comfortable. 

There's a little story about this.  Before Covid-19, we had plans to spend Easter weekend this year with my niece Amanda and her husband Pat in Rehoboth Beach.  It is one of our most favorite places to be, and I had a plan to start this while we were there, since a) it would be seasonally appropriate, and b) it seemed like a good location to start a project named after a beach activity.  I had thought of calling my project Beach Holiday.  :-)

But now, it's still being worked on over the same time period, but we'll be at home, celebrating on our own, without Inappropriately Themed Easter Eggs to do with Pat and Amanda, and no beach in sight.  I have therefore decided to name this project Down the Shore, where hopefully we can go on a day trip sometime this summer, God willing.

Related to that,  I thought people might be amused by the phrase "down the shore" and wonder about it if you are not from this area.  Most people say they are headed to the beach, or going to the ocean, etc.  But people here always go down the shore.  Geographically, it makes sense, since a lot - though not all - of the beach towns within easy driving distance are south of here, particularly a lot of the really popular Jersey shore towns.  I was familiar with the expression, having spent some early years living in northern New Jersey, but forgot about it altogether until we moved to Philadelphia, because I was never around anyone after that who used the phrase.  I do remember that someone new to the area that I worked with once asked a native of this area why it was "down the shore" instead of "going to the beach," and the answer actually made a lot of sense.  The explanation was that you go down the shore and once you get there, one of the things you can do is go to the beach.  In other words, the beach is at the shore, but there's other stuff to do as well.

OK you may not even care, but I love this kind of stuff.

In any event, I hope you are doing well, reading things you enjoy, and crafting happily.  :-)

Kinda Sorta Tiny Needle Tuesday - An FO Post

I know that Tiny Needle Tuesday is actually about other kinds of stitching - embroidery, counted-cross stitch, etc., but since I used tiny knitting needles for this project, I'm crashing the party with this post.  :-)

Back at the end of January, my friend Andrea and I decided to have a socks KAL during March.  We decided to knit the same pattern, and see if we could do it within the month.  This is the kind of KAL I can do - informal and not involving lots of other people!  It meant that I actually knit the project, instead of losing my knitting mojo altogether.

And here are my socks, finished only three days after the end of March!

Project:  Clarkle Sparkle Socks
Pattern:  Clark  Socks, by Jaclyn Salem
Yarn:  Black Bunny Fibers Stella, colorway unknown (this yarn has been in my stash for a while, I have no idea where the ball band is ...)
Needles:  US size 1
Modifications:  None.
Comments:  I have been wanting to knit this pattern ever since it came out.  I am a big fan of cables, and I love that the main cable is in the front rather than on the sides.  There is also a small cable that runs down the back of the leg, but I could not contort myself to photograph that! 

The yarn was lovely.  The color is kinda close in the photo, but in person it's actually a celadon green shade, with an occasional wash of blue and purple; it also contains stellina, so the socks have a little bit of sparkle!

Because I was trying to follow the pattern exactly as written, I went ahead and did the short rows/wrapped stitches heel.  I am trying to learn - or at least try - new things when I come across them.  The heels don't look great, and I don't know if they will wear that well, but I did manage to get them done according to instructions.  Needless to say, if/when I make this pattern again, it will be with a heel construction of my preference.

That part aside, the pattern is fun and after the first pattern repeat, it's very memorizable.  I am a huge fan of cables, so I'm glad I got to knit a pattern that includes them!

I recommend this pattern - it's well-written and very clear, and once you get set up and started, it goes really quickly. 

Now on to an April pair - TBD!

Another Monday - I Think ... Right?

As if keeping track of the days of the week wasn't enough of a challenge these days, I ended up with a partially lost weekend.  So I actually had to check to make sure what day it was and what was happening.  I hate hate hate it when something happens on any day, weekend or not, that means one or more days feel like they never happened.

Friday I had finished the pair of socks I was knitting (photos to come) and I had designated Saturday as the day I wanted to attempt to sew some face masks for The Tim and myself.  I got started nice and early, and since I'm not a fast or amazing sewist, it took all morning and into early afternoon.  I finished two that are fine - not great, but better than nothing.  I figured that I would make at least two more on Sunday and go from there.  Then I sat down for a while and started a new knitting project, until I decided to just zone out for a while.  The rest of the afternoon was uneventful.  Around dinner time, I started to feel really sleepy, the way you do when you have gotten up earlier than usual and just kept going.  I figured since I had actually "done" something with my brain (i.e., made the masks), I was just tired for a change, but I was really so very sleepy that I went to bed extremely early, and feel asleep quickly.

Fast forward to ~ 1 a.m., when I woke up because my neck hurt.  I went to sit up, and SEARING pain came from the back of my head.  I finally managed to sit up, and I promise I am not being dramatic, but every time I moved any part of my body, I would scream out in pain.  The Tim helped me get upstairs very slowly to sit in a chair and found one of those neck rings like you wear on a plane to sleep without getting a stiff neck (we actually used to travel quite a bit).  He found some Tylenol, and I took it.  I was in misery, sitting very still in the dark for hours.  But finally the Tylenol kicked in, and the pain started to lessen.  Between the neck pillow, a heating pad, and more Tylenol, I finally got to the point where I could move without the searing pain.  But the day was spent just doing that and nothing else.  I was able to go to bed and lie down with a minimum of discomfort, and had a pretty decent sleep.

Today I feel a lot better, and have very little pain.  But I am exhausted.  In my panic during the night on Saturday/Sunday, I was actually worried that I was having a stroke, but was with it enough to know that none of the BE FAST signs were there.

I have decided that what it was in fact was a migraine.  Normally I get the ones that are in the front of the head, where everything seems to have an aura around it.  But other than location, this had all of the same kinds of things going on, both during and after.  I was also extremely grateful that I didn't have to go to the ER, not because I was afraid I had Covid-19, but because they have so much else to worry about right now.

And now, here we are on another Monday, back to the grind, right??? 😄

Take care, friends!

Palm Sunday in Isolation

Hamlet Is a Good Boy, But -

even he has his limits!

"I know this is a kitty toy, but I no longer care!"

"Trump's gotta go!"

(You know it's bad when a Golden Retriever doesn't like you.)