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!

It's Always Something!

I am so glad that it's Friday today. It's been a long week -- and a hot week, too. With Ruthie's vet visit on Tuesday and a dentist appointment for me Wednesday morning, our usual schedule has gotten disrupted, and combine that with the heat and you get a grumpy, worn-out me. To add to it, I got a call from the vet on Wednesday saying that Ruthie's, um, sample had tested positive for a parasite, so I had to go back to pick up two medications for her. Poor thing. Fortunately she doesn't seem to be having symptoms, and she really doesn't mind getting the peanut butter and cheese that are the vehicles for getting the meds into her, but it's one more thing to worry about. 

I haven't gotten much knitting or reading done the past several days, for obvious reasons, though I've added a tooth or two to my Hitchhiker each afternoon and the remaining yarn is quickly getting smaller. I think I should be able to finish it up soon, and I think I'm going to give it to my mother as a birthday present because I don't have time to knit her a pair of socks. I'm hoping to find some quiet time this weekend to try to figure out the lace on my Kouyou again; I've put it aside since the two failed attempts and am hoping the break will help me to clarify things.

We have no big plans for the weekend other than a Father's Day brunch with my family. I'm not even sure if Ruthie and I can attend puppy class on Saturday morning (I'm waiting to hear back about whether it's okay because she'll have been on the medication for several days by that point). With no exciting knitting photos to share, I'll leave you with a shot of my hydrangeas, which have just exploded with blooms in all shades the past couple of weeks:

and a shot of Ruthie -- just because (and hey, today also marks two months since she joined our family!):

Have a good weekend, friends!

Unraveled, Week 32/2025

Happy Wednesday! It's shaping up to be a beautiful day here, and it's my favorite blogging day of the week. Time to join in with Kat and the Unravelers!

First, I'll let you all know that Ruthie was a real trooper at her vet appointment. Though I'm sure they say this to all the dogs who come in, the staff really fawned over her and kept telling her how cute she was. She also got lots of treats and an entire individual container of peanut butter -- all of which came out of her on the way home, poor thing! But she did really well with getting her vaccines and will go back for the second round in three weeks. We also got good recommendations for further training and some things to try to help her be less anxious. And this practice also offers what they call "happy visits," where you can schedule a time to go in for a short period of time where nothing scary happens so that the pet doesn't associate going to the vet with only the traumatic stuff.

As for the knitting, the Hitchhiker has grown a bit since you last saw it (it's my go-to afternoon nap knitting) and I managed to finally cast on my summer top using the linen/silk yarn. I don't have a lot to show for a couple of evenings with it (it's a pretty involved pattern, so I'm pausing to check it frequently), but it sure is pretty.

I finished a pair of books this week.

After last week's Lily King finish, I decided to delve into her back catalog for an audiobook and found Euphoria available on Hoopla. To be perfectly honest, I didn't really look into what it was about before borrowing it because I knew I like the author's work and wanted to read more of it. This novel is set in New Guinea in the 1930s and focuses on a trio of anthropologists: American Nell Stone; her husband, Fen, from Australia or New Zealand; and the British Andrew Bankson. All three are studying the native tribes. Soon it becomes clear that Fen resents his wife's success and that Bankson is in love with her, and in the context of upheaval within the tribe with whom they're living, it all comes to a head. I didn't realize until later, when looking for more information about the book because so much had flown by me on audio, that these characters are based on real people -- Margaret Mead, Reo Fortune, and Gregory Bateson. I thought the writing was good and the narration of the audiobook was well done, but I didn't love the story and felt like I was missing a lot by not reading with my eyes. I gave it 3 stars.

Black Cake was popping up a lot of places a few years ago, and I'd heard it mentioned again recently following the publication of the author's most recent book, so I thought I'd give it a try. This is a novel about adult siblings who are estranged but who come together following the death of their mother and soon learn that nearly everything they knew about her was a lie. The mother tells her story, via a recording she made for her children when she realized her time was limited, taking them back to an unnamed Caribbean island (presumably Jamaica), then to the UK, and finally to California. Through it all, the constant is the traditional black cake, a recipe handed down from one generation to the next and signifying the connection to home, even across oceans and continents. I thought it was a fairly entertaining read, though I figured out a number of the mysteries before they were revealed and thought that there were maybe too many cliffhangers from one chapter to the next. It's a good summer read, for when you want the pages to turn quickly and don't want to have to think too hard. I gave it 3 stars.

It seems I'm in the mood for family stories, because that's how you could classify both of my current reads: Banyan Moon and The Map of Love. 

I'll leave you with this, one of many positions that don't look comfortable in the least to me but in which Ruthie seems to like to sleep:

Still Drying Out

I'm sure you'll all be shocked by this, but we had more rain over the weekend. It poured late in the day on Friday and rained overnight. It did clear up a bit during the day on Saturday, but it came back overnight and rained off and on for most of yesterday. And it's been warm, so it's very humid out there. It's the time of year when blowing my hair dry is a bit of an exercise in futility!

Puppy class went well on Saturday. I didn't give Ruthie anything to eat other than a few small treats for going to the bathroom outside before we left, but she was still sick in the car on the way there (fortunately, I had a towel under her and it wasn't much). She did much better on the way home, I think because she finally figured out that if she was lying down, it wasn't so bad. Mostly she just drooled. The class instructor recommended putting her in a crate in the car, at least until she grows out of it, so I ordered a travel crate to use for transporting her. If this video will work, you can see a bit of class. Most of the hour is free play for the puppies, so they can get used to socializing with each other and with other people. During this time, you're not allowed to to call or interact with your own dog, though you are free to do so with other dogs. Ruthie was definitely a bit reserved, but she didn't hide under my chair the whole time and did interact with some of the other dogs.

In terms of knitting, all I've really made progress on is my Hitchhiker. It's been the easiest thing to pick up and put down quickly. I attempted to start the lace on my Kouyou but had to tink back twice because I got to the end of the row and didn't have the correct number of stitches to finish the pattern. I think I will need to mark off the number of stitches required for each repeat with stitch markers before I try again. I think once I have the lace established, it'll be easier to find my place, but clearly my brain hasn't been fully engaged thus far. Thank goodness for the simplicity of the Hitchhiker!

The last time I counted, I had 31 teeth, but I don't know if the yarn that remains is enough to get me to the official 42. We'll see!

This week the (golf) U.S. Open is in town, and the Mister will be attending a couple of days because his company has some sort of sponsorship thing there. Molly's scheduled for two shifts at her job, and I've got my usual schedule. This week's challenge is to try to keep Ruthie off the couch. She's not supposed to be on it, so of course it's the only place she wants to be. The puppy class instructor recommended giving her a better alternative (cuddles, treats, etc.), but of course now she seems to be going on the couch on purpose to get whatever the reward is for getting off. She likes to push my buttons!

Finally, because I know some of you asked to know, I wanted to let you know that more than 90% of the households who voted yesterday were in favor of unification, and the numbers for the other congregation were similar. So we will soon have a new entity forming!