Less in 2025: June

Is anyone else in absolute shock that today is the last day of June? Despite the longer days, this month always seem to pass much faster than I'd like, but this year it seemed especially quick, I suppose because I lost some days due to illness (mine and Ruthie's).

So how has Less made itself apparent in my life this month? Several ways.

To start with, there's certainly Less in my wallet after trips to the vet, urgent care, the pharmacy, and the vet twice more (to pick up meds). I'm sure in the long run, my health care is a lot more expensive, but the bills were certainly bigger for Ruthie this month!

There is also these days Less of me. Those of you who have been reading for a long time might remember that several years ago, when my cholesterol was starting to get a little high, I made some major changes to lose weight and get it down, and I've been maintaining my weight ever since. But this month, in spite of more than a few days of not exercising at all (first because I was ill, then because of the extreme heat), I've lost more weight. I know part of it is due to anxiety about the aforementioned illnesses; when I'm really worried about something, I lose my appetite. But I think another part of it has been because it's rare these days to find me sitting down, especially at a mealtime. Keeping an eye on a puppy who is always getting into mischief can be a full-time job, and it can be even more challenging at breakfast and lunch when I'm the only one here with her. It is ironic that I'm losing weight without trying or wanting to for probably the first time ever in my life! I am keeping an eye on it, just in case it's not my increased level of physical activity and something that merits seeking medical attention, but for now I'm just trying to make sure I'm eating enough.

On a more positive side, this month there's also been Less to-do about puppy bedtime. Hearkening back to when Molly was little and demanded I stay with her until she fell asleep, I had been sitting with Ruthie in the evening after her final walk, letting her curl up and fall asleep in her bed, and then trying to transfer her to her crate and leave before she woke up. Kym told me that I was pretty much nuts to do that (well, she said it using much nicer words) because I was letter Ruthie have all the control. Instead, she advised, say goodnight, put her in her crate, and leave her. And naturally she was right. We have a bedtime routine now -- I sing a little to her (I changed the words of "Goodnight, Ladies" from The Music Man to "Goodnight, Ruthie), put her in her crate and pet her for a minute, then close the door and leave. For the first week and a half or so, she cried and barked for up to an hour. Lately, though, she has been great. I hold her when I start to sing and then put her down in front of her crate, and she goes right in and curls up. If we hear anything from her, it's either a noise she's making in her sleep or there's something outside she's barking out, and it's usually very brief. I'm hoping one day we'll get to the point where she puts herself to bed, but I have a feeling we've got a while until that happens. In the meantime, I'm enjoying our little snuggles and then having my evening back.

Thank you to Kat for hosting our monthly One Little Word link-ups! Be sure to visit her post for today to read her reflection and get links to others'.

TGIF

What a week it has been, friends! The heat has been something else. I know other places have had it worse and I am lucky to have AC to hide out in, but just taking Ruthie out for (brief) walks has been enough to leave me dripping. I made the executive decision to not worry about exercising this week -- too dangerous to do outside, frankly -- and have accepted that I'll be a little stinky all day until I shower before bed. I haven't blown my hair dry in a week, not that I've needed to, and much of my time has been spent in a dark room. We finally got a brief thunderstorm late yesterday afternoon. It didn't do anything for the humidity, but it at least dropped the heat index by about 20 degrees. Today we're only (ha) supposed to reach a high of 88ºF. Still a bit too warm for me, but it's better than mid- to upper 90s.

While I haven't made a ton of progress on my Midsommarkrans, I am happy to report that I have conquered the left/right confusion and have 3/4 panels done and the fourth under way:

After knitting and reknitting so many times, I am finding that I am getting faster at the lace because I'm not checking the stitch key as often. I've just started the neck shaping on this panel and it's moving right along. I hope that by next week, I'll have joined all four panels in the round and gotten started on the body.

By way of a pup-date, I'll let you know that Ruthie is doing much better (although she did wake me up at 4:30 a.m. yesterday -- good thing I had the day off and could nap with her in the afternoon!). She has a playdate with Bagel this morning and puppy class tomorrow morning, and she's had a couple of quick play sessions with the pups on the next street over this week when we've happened to run into them on a walk. She has been enjoying taking naps on these hot days, which isn't much of a departure from her usual routine except that I've been next to her. We've pretty much given up on keeping her off the couch in the family room, so we got a slipcover to protect the upholstery and it's working well. She still occasionally "digs" or chews on it, but, you know, puppy.

I am not going to express any hopes or expectations for the weekend ahead because that hasn't gone at all well the past two weeks. Instead, I'll say I hope it's a good one for you, and I'll leave you with the spectacular rainbow we spotted when we went out for our last walk yesterday evening, right after the showers moved through.

Unraveling, Week 34/2025

Who else out there is melting? It's so darn hot out there this week, and I know how lucky I am to be able to spend most of the day in the air conditioning, but puppies do not understand this and so I've been out in it regularly the past several days. I'm happy to report that Ruthie is doing much better and in fact is loving her new diet of chicken and rice with the occasional addition of pumpkin puree. She's also gotten a probiotic from the vet that's like a giant piece of candy to her, and to encourage her to drink more water in the heat, she's gotten some weak chicken broth (from making the boiled chicken). I may have in fact been a little overzealous in trying to get liquids into her because she's had several accidents in the house and that hadn't happened in a long time. Fortunately she's been nice enough to have them on a towel or blanket or on one of the rubber/synthetic mats by the door, so at least cleanup was easy. When we haven't been taking quick walks outside (though not as quick as I'd like), we're staying insight with the lights dimmed or off to help keep things cool, and she's been napping a lot.

Feels like 100+ outside and she still has to be touching me!

But enough puppy stuff -- this isn't a dog blog, it's a knitting blog! Time to join in with Kat and the Unravelers for another week!

I'm sorry to say this week there has been more unraveling of my Midsommarkrans tank. Yes, once again I mixed up left and right. I was looking at the left-hand side back panel as I was working on it, but of course it was actually the right back panel as worn. Good grief! I think by the time I finish this tank I will have knit it about four times. Also, it might be winter. But all that is to say that I don't have a progress photo because it looks pretty much the same as the last time I shared a photo because all I have done is knit, rip, and reknit the same section.

Fortunately the hat is going much better, as you would expect. I knit on it while Ruthie was napping as I was able, and it's grown. I really like how the neon sections are pooling so that I get thin neon stripes. I think this will make someone very happy.

I have finished only one book this week, but it was a great one.

When we first meet Cora in the late 1980s, she is on her way to the local registrar's office to register her newborn son's name. Her abusive and controlling husband expect her to register the name Gordon, the name all first-born sons in the family carry. But Cora rather likes the name Julian, and her daughter Maia, who is accompanying her on the errand, suggests Bear. From there, the story splits in three, imagining where life goes for this family if the baby had received each of these names. Every seven years, the reader gets another installment of Bear, Julian, and Gordon and gets to ponder that old question: What's in a name? Within each possible life trajectory, there are triumphs and tragedies, achievements and losses. This creative structure allows the author to examine the dual impacts of nature and nurture and how something that seems as simple as choosing a name for a child can have implications far beyond identity. The prose is beautiful and often emotional, especially when dealing with abuse that's hard to read, and you never stop rooting for Cora and her kids. This may very well end up being one of my favorites for the year! I gave it 5 stars.

Sitting inside with a good book and a cool beverage seems like the best way to get through this heat wave! I hope the rest of you who are in it are managing. Remember your sunblock and to stay hydrated!

It's Always Something, Part III

Remember when weekends used to be calm? We've started an extreme heat wave here, and of course that's when Ruthie would have, um, let's say "the runs." I suspect that it's likely due to her parasite treatment based on my internet research, but I will be calling the vet when they open this morning (assuming the night goes okay -- I'm writing this Sunday night to save time). My biggest concern has been dehydration, because it's already a concern with the heat, and lately she's been more interested in playing with her water dish than drinking from it. But I got some good recommendations from an Instagram post, including boiling chicken in water and giving her the broth, and that was a huge help! I'll let you all know how she's doing and what the vet says, but send healing thoughts her way if you're so inclined.

Update from Monday morning: She slept all night and had a solid poop to start the day! Things are at least heading in the right direction!

Before all the drama yesterday, I was able to finish my Kouyou. I still have to find time to weave in ends and block, but it is done! And I have started another project, using a skein of yarn that I hand-wound while Ruthie was napping on Saturday afternoon:

This is a skein that's been in my stash for many years. It came from the Steel City Fiber Collective, an effort that closed up many years ago. This is a sparkly sock yarn with a neon rainbow in it, and I thought it would be perfect for a charity hat cast on during Pride Month. I'm making my own pattern again and will knit until I'm out of yarn. It'll make for good mindless knitting while reading (which I need, because I got a library hold on Saturday).

The weekend wasn't all doom and gloom (and heat) -- Ruthie had a great time at puppy class on Saturday morning! Here's a video of her running around with some of the other pups:

She's getting less timid and clearly enjoys having the space to run!

Here's hoping your weekend was better than mine. Stay cool and hydrated, friends!

A Free Friday

TGIF, friends! I always love having a Friday off from work, and it's even better when you've also been off the day before! I still had to get up early (well, the normal time) yesterday to get to my follow-up appointment (everything is normal and good!), and my day didn't look all that different because of Ruthie, but it was so nice to not be tied to my laptop all day. Also, Ruthie had a playdate with two other puppies in the neighborhood that I couldn't have taken her to had it been a regular workday, and we both very much enjoyed that. Today will be more of the same, I expect.

I promised you an update on my Midsommarkrans top, and today feels like a very appropriate day to do it given that "Midsommar" is the Swedish festival for the summer solstice, which just happens to be today! Here is what it looks like at the moment:

In the midst of my illness, it took me a while to work the joining row for the front, but once I was feeling better, I made excellent progress. On Wednesday evening, I was getting ready to finish up the left back panel when I picked up the piece and took a good look at it -- only to realize I had done it completely wrong. Lest you think it was the illness causing it, I want to share with you the instructions for the back panels. See if you can figure out where I went wrong:

Can you see the problem? If not, does this help?

That old adage about getting what you paid for is completely true when it comes to this free pattern, not to mention that the designer's first language does not appear to be English because I've come across some other weird instructions and a few typos. What this should say, for the left side of the back, is to work it as for the right front. I had worked the left, as written here, and that resulted in the lace panel ending up closer to the armhole than the neck. Riiiiip! I've restarted and knit back most of what I ripped, but at least I know what I'm doing now. I think I have now ripped and reknit this one sweater more than any other project I've ever worked on, but I am now even more determined to get it right!

I expect that by next week I'll have finished my Kouyou, as I only have a handful of rows remaining (they're long rows, of course, and the bind-off has picots so will take some extra time). And I've pulled out some yarn to wind for my next mindless project, which I'll share next week. This weekend we have plans to get together with some friends who are moving out of town next month, and Ruthie and I will go to puppy class tomorrow morning. I hope this time she's a little more adventurous when it comes to playing with other dogs. She and I both wish you a good weekend -- enjoy the longest day of the year today if you're in the Northern Hemisphere!

Please admire my long legs!

Unraveling, Week 33/2025

Thank you all, first of all, for your concern and your good wishes. I'm feeling so much better and am so grateful for modern medicine! I have a follow-up appointment with a provider in my OBGYN practice tomorrow morning (one who happens to be a nurse-midwife, so who is presumably very familiar with this sort of thing). I will certainly be asking if she has any insight into how I could have gotten mastitis without actively breastfeeding; the last time I had it -- the only other time -- was when Molly was 2 months old and clogged milk ducts were a typical thing for me.

Today is my Friday, but it's technically Wednesday, which means it's time to join up with Kat and the Unravelers. And I have an FO to share that I completely forgot about on Monday!

I'm sure the pattern doesn't need any introduction, but just in case you're new to my corner of the blogosphere, this is the ever-popular Hitchhiker (Ravelry link). I used all but about 3 g of yarn from a skein of Old Rusted Chair Sock that originally weighed 108 g, so I used 420 yards in total. I also went up to a US 5/3.75 mm needle, so I only got 37 teeth on this particular shawl. It may not have the recommended 42 teeth, but I like how well the variegated colorway played with the garter stitch. The colorway is called Panic in Detroit, which is apparently a David Bowie song, but I bought it because, in addition to just liking it, my father's originally from Detroit and, moreover, I was shopping with a friend from suburban Detroit. This was part of my SSK 2023 stash, which I have actively been trying to use up before Molly and I go to SSK this year. I took a photo of what I came home with two summers ago, and as I've been using items, I've been crossing them out on the photo. Here's where things stand now:

That pale pink on the right is what I'm using for my Midsommarkrans tank, which may not be done before we get to SSK but at least is on the needles. All that's left is the two skeins of Stranded Dyeworks that I bought to make something for Molly, but she hasn't been able to figure out anything she wants me to make with it, so it may stay in the stash.

In other news, Ruthie took a good nap yesterday afternoon and I got a good number of rows knit on my Kouyou, though it still doesn't look like much because it's lace and not yet blocked. That didn't stop her from trying to taste it, though.

The colors aren't quite right because I snapped this in the family room with the overhead lights on in a hurry so that it didn't end up in her mouth, so this photo doesn't do it justice. The handspun has a lot of sparkle and bits of color in it. I will be sure to take better photos in good lighting when it's done.

I don't have an update on my tank because I had to rip and redo the joining row so many times that I haven't gotten much done on it, but I will definitely share more on Friday.

Reading has continued and I finished two books this week.

I'd had Banyan Moon on my Kindle shelf for a while and finally got around to reading it. It's a family drama following three women: Minh, who immigrated to the United States from Vietnam following the death of her husband; Huong, her daughter; and Ann, her granddaughter. The three are connected as members of the same family but also by the Banyan House, an aging home full of the belongings of the former owner. When Minh dies and Ann comes home to say good-bye, Ann and Huong are forced to confront their semi-estrangement and Ann has to make decisions about what to do about her relationship with her boyfriend, given his recent revelation of a betrayal and her recent discovery of her pregnancy. The book deals with the relationships between mothers and daughters but also about personal identity, what makes a home, and what we inherit. It was an enjoyable read. I gave it 4 stars.

My other finish wasn't one I'd been wanting to read, but it's what I picked when I was caught up on podcasts and was looking at audiobooks that were available from the library and could be listened to in two to three days. The Silent Patient is billed as a psychological thriller and a mystery to uncover why an artist shot her husband dead and then refused to speak. It's told mostly from the point of view of her psychotherapist, with entries from her journal interspersed, and of course there's a twist at the end. I found it entertaining enough to listen to, but overall it felt like another example of a woman's concerns being written off as mental illness. I didn't necessarily see the twist coming, but I expected it all the same. I gave it 2 stars. 

I'll be back on (real) Friday with another update on my knitting and a report on what I find out at my appointment tomorrow!

It's Always Something, Part II

Can I get a do-over on the weekend? I was hoping it would be quiet and relaxing, but it seems like when I need that, I don't get it. I never heard back about whether Ruthie could attend puppy class, but it ended up being a moot point after I nearly fainted while walking her Saturday morning and then felt awful the rest of the day. I was exhausted (likely because Ruthie was up barking for several hours Friday night), my body hurt, I had chills, and I had a terrible sinus headache. I wasn't sure what was wrong with me. The Mister told me to go back to bed for a bit and sat with Ruthie, and in the afternoon all three of us girls snoozed. I slept well Saturday night and felt a little better when I got up on Sunday, but when I was looking in the mirror before stepping into the shower, I realized what the problem was. A visit to urgent care later in the day confirmed a case of mastitis (yes, even though I haven't nursed a baby in well more than a decade!). I'm now on antibiotics and hoping that they kick in soon, though Tylenol is helping with the aches and pains. On top of my list today is calling my OB/GYN to get in in a few days to get it checked out to be sure everything is as it should be.

If you want to know just how terrible I felt on Saturday, I will tell you that it was bad enough that I couldn't knit. It's been a long time since that happened. I think part of it was certainly the worry over not knowing what was wrong with me, so even though things weren't that much better on Sunday, I at least was pretty sure what the problem was and was just waiting for confirmation, so while Ruthie napped, I watched the U.S. Open and pulled out my Kouyou to figure out where I was going wrong.

It turns out that it was partly user error and partly bad charting. It seems that the four total border stitches (which are meant to be worked in garter stitch) are included in the chart, but I didn't realize that because they're charted as being in stockinette, so I was assuming what was on the chart was only the body stitches. Once I reread the instructions and realized the issue, everything worked out perfectly.

My Midsommarkrans top is making progress, too, though slowly. I've reached the point on the left and right front where the two pieces will be joined to complete the lace feature.

The good news is that it's a three-day week for me. The university is closed on Thursday for Juneteenth, and then I'm taking Friday off (using one of my two personal days that go poof at the end of the month if I don't use them). I don't expect my days off to be all that different, given that Ruthie doesn't understand that she can sleep in, but at least I won't be tied to a laptop all day. Here's hoping the next three days go quickly and easily! And just because, here's a photo of my girls. Clearly we're failing at keeping Ruthie off the couch!