Running Out of Time

It's Friday -- my last day of work for the year and Mo's last (half) day of school. And it's also her 14th birthday! It hardly seems that that much time has passed since she looked like this:

And now she looks like this:

I'm so proud of the kind, thoughtful young lady she's become, even as I miss the little girl she used to be. I'm trying not to think about the fact that there are only a handful of years left before she becomes a legal adult and instead focus on enjoying every day with her.

Today is going to be an extremely busy day with a lot on the to-do list. Highest on that list is, of course, packing, but I also have some crafty items to check off. The first is washing the rest of my handspun mini skeins, which I finished plying yesterday. While I was working on the last of the set, I washed the first half that were complete, and you can see the real difference in this photo:

I'll reveal all the colors next week!

I'm also hoping to finish up this hat, as I'm very close to the crown decreases:

I've already wound my mini skeins for my mystery gnome and wound off the needed amounts for the sleeves of my Birch sweater, and I wound a skein of sock yarn last night, so other than actually putting the project bags into my suitcase, my vacation knitting is all sorted. I've also made a list of all the things I need to pack, though I still have to actually select the clothing I'm taking. It's supposed to be cool and rainy all this weekend, so there will be a lot of reading, crafting, and napping time.

And now I've got to run for my morning meeting! Hope you have a wonderful weekend -- see you back here (but posting remotely) on Monday!

A Magical Weekend

We are still recovering from a very busy weekend, but our hearts are full. The service was beautiful and Rainbow did an incredible job of leading prayers, reading from the Torah, and giving her speech -- just as we knew she would. We danced and ate delicious food. We caught up with friends and family we hadn't seen in person for more than three years. And there were so many hugs (and a few happy tears). I wish I could share all the details, but it flew by, as I knew it would, and I am still processing it. We'll have to wait a bit to see all the photos, but we did get a little preview from the photographer last night, so I have some representative photos to share with you. Thank you to all of you who sent me messages with your good wishes and congratulations!

She's Hooked

Today, I have something a little different -- a special guest appearance by our resident hooker! (And by that, I mean crocheter, of course!) Rainbow learned how to crochet several years ago, but this summer, she's really gotten hooked on it -- pun intended. First, she used up a ton of my leftover scraps to make some fun scrappy blankets. Then, last week, she dug into my kitchen cotton stash and has started making bags. But I'll let her tell you more about it all.

Hi, I'm Rainbow. That's not my real name, but that's what I go by online. First, I'll tell why I recently got back into crocheting. It started out as just something to do over the summer to pass time, but eventually I was crocheting for a reason. First I found out I would have a new cousin this fall, then that a family friend was having a baby. I wanted both babies to have a handmade blanket, and I wanted to use up all of the colorful scraps my mom has acquired over the years. So I got to work. Before I knew it, I had completed four blankets: two for those babies and two to donate. In that time, I also completed a lap blanket for my best friend.

A scrappy blanket using fingering held double, a clutch, and a tote bag

The more I crocheted, the better I got. I was ready for a harder project. I remembered a video one of my favorite YouTubers had made a while ago, so I went back and re-watched it. In the video, she crocheted an adorable tote bag. That's when an idea popped into my mind. I dug into my mom's kitchen cotton supply and found a few colors I liked. Then, I went onto Stitch Fiddle and used an image I had found online to create a simple flower design. Finally, it was time to get to work! I carefully followed the graph and after about four days, I had finished my first tote bag! I immediately got to work on another, but took a short break to make a small clutch/pouch. I'm still working on the second bag, although I'm very close to finishing. 

The tote bag made with the flower motif

As for my future as a crocheter, I plan on not only making things for myself, but for others. I'll make blankets, bags, and much more for my family, friends, and to donate.

Another tote bag in progress

Sarah here again! I want to point out that while I have offered a little advice and my opinion from time to time, Rainbow has done all this work on her own. And I couldn't be prouder! She's also doing a great job of helping me use up stash, particularly my scraps and leftovers, and I think it's only a matter of time before I have to hide the good stuff so she doesn't use it before I do. She doesn't plan to start a blog just yet, but she did recently open a Ravelry account so she can keep track of her projects (especially because she now has more than one WIP at a time). Perhaps one day she'll dip her toe into designing as well! She starts school (seventh grade, if you can believe it!) next week, so there will be a lot of yarn flying around this week as she savors her last week of freedom.

Thanks for indulging me and my parental pride for a bit. I'll be back on Wednesday with a knitting and reading update!

Knitting Small Things

Phew, we made it to Friday! Work hasn't been too busy this week, but it's been a long week nonetheless. After getting her first appliance off a couple of weeks ago, Rainbow was back at the orthodontist on Tuesday to get her expander and some braces brackets put in. The expander will only be in for about three months, but it's a major adjustment for her -- I have to use a special "key" to expand it twice a day for two weeks, and it's made it harder for her to talk and eat, so she's been pretty pitiful for the past several days. We'll go back the week after next for the lower braces to be put on and the wires to be added.

On our way to the orthodontist's office, we stopped by the post office to mail a baby gift. If you've read this blog for any length of time, then you probably remember that my best friend's family has long been like extended family (we spent Christmas with them for many years, for example). My best friend is one of three daughters, and those three daughters have had nothing but sons -- until a couple of weeks ago, when the youngest one had a little girl. As per usual, I made some gifts for the new little one. You saw one of them a couple of weeks ago, though at the time it wasn't yet blocked and still needed a button at the time:

Because they were specifically requested, I also added some booties (Ravelry link), which were made with leftovers from the sweater I knit for the recipient's big brother several years ago:

Rainbow wanted to get into the act, too. She's been doing a lot of crochet lately, raiding my stash for leftovers, and she made this blanket using a skein of fingering MCN held together with a set of mini skeins (I did the single crochet edging):

The colors are more vibrant in real life, but I think you get the idea of it! The recipient lives in Miami, so we chose bright colors. The yarns I used in the sweater and booties are both cotton blends, and obviously the blanket, though primarily wool, is light and airy. The gifts arrived safely yesterday and were enthusiastically received.

I finished up my Twofer Tank yesterday (photos coming once it's blocked!), so I'm ready to cast on some new small projects:

These are both skeins of DK (A Hundred Ravens Vanir on the left and Fibernymph Dye Works Bona Fide tweed on the right) that will soon become a cowl and a hat, respectively. The hat is a new sample of a design that I have the rights back to and the cowl will be a new design that will coordinate with the hat. My designing has been woefully slow this year, so I'm anxious to get these knit up, edited, and published.

Also on tap for today: baking challah! My parents are out of town, so we're hosting my in-laws for Friday night dinner.

Here's hoping this weekend is a good one!

Unraveled, Week 24/2022

I know that Kat is taking this week off from her blog and thus won't be hosting a link-up this week, but it's still Wednesday, and that means it's time for a mid-week check-in on my projects and my reading. Why don't we kick things off with a finished project?

I finished Rainbow's latest socks up just before bed last night and wove in the last two ends this morning. When I finished the toe on the first sock, I was pleasantly surprised that I was at the precise spot in the striping sequence to start the second sock in the same spot I'd started the first, so in theory these socks should have matched. But I am only human, and if you look closely at the heels and toes, you'll see I got ever so slightly off. Rainbow is unbothered by this; she told me she didn't even care if they matched or not, and I think they are close enough that no one is going to notice. I will draw your attention to the fact that these socks are on adult-sized sock blockers -- someone's feet aren't little anymore! 

I have started the left front of my brother's cardigan, but I had a bit of a snafu with the ribbing (I think it was actually an error in the pattern) that required ripping out the inch or so I'd knit on Monday night and starting over, so it doesn't look like much at this point. I can, however, share what is on my wheel now (which you will have seen if you follow me on Instagram).

Like the majority of people who weighed in on my choice on the blog and on IG, I realized that of the two colorways, I was much more keen to spin the blue/green one (are you at all shocked?). So, using that bag of fiber as the proverbial carrot on the end of the stick, I decided to spin the other colorway first -- I figure that if I really want to get to the blues and greens, I'll be more likely to whizz through this one. As it turns out, I am really enjoying these colors, too, even though they didn't initially call to me as strongly. I couldn't get over how much like spun gold this particular section looked. And what's not to like about superfine merino and silk?

Reading has been good this past week, even though I've only finished one book -- but it was a 500+-page book!

I'd had A Girl Is a Body of Water tagged "to read" on my Libby app since hearing about it on the Novel Pairings podcast sometime last summer, I think, and I decided to give it a go last week. This is a coming-of-age story set in Uganda, partially during the time of Idi Amin, focused mainly on Kirabo, a girl who has been raised by her grandparents after she was born to their teenage son and a mother she has never known. As Kirabo grows up and learns more about her family and how she came to be, we also get a sense of what is was like to live in an extremely patriarchal society in which a feminist movement is just starting to gain traction. I'll admit that my knowledge of Uganda was limited to having watched a couple of movies (Raid on Entebbe and The Last King of Scotland) years ago, so I perhaps did not have the best background to understand the context. There's also a lot of non-English terms used that aren't fully explained, though context clues often help, but I could have used a glossary (my Googling wasn't always useful). I wouldn't say I loved the book, but it was a welcome change from my typical setting and perspective, and I always appreciate books that push me out of my comfort zone, so I'd say it was well worth reading. I gave it 3 stars.

Currently I'm trying to finish up Four Souls, and just yesterday I started two new books: I've started running again a bit, so I borrowed Nine Perfect Strangers on audio to keep me distracted when it gets tough, and while I was visiting Netgalley to see if anything interesting was available, I discovered Ian McEwan's newest forthcoming novel, Lessons, which I'm really enjoying and am already about a quarter of the way through.

I'm also looking forward to the announcement of the winner of the Women's Prize this afternoon and have a reminder set on my phone so I can watch it live! I've read all the finalists and am rooting for either Sorrow and Bliss or The Sentence to win.

What are you making and reading this week?

Really Almost Summer

I know that last week I implied that I'd be posting a Spinning Sunday update, but as is so often the case, life had other plans this weekend and I ended up being a lot busier than I thought I'd be. On Saturday, I was barely home, and I had to get creative to get my household cleaning done and squeeze in a walk (and I only managed about half of my usual distance). That meant the spinning I thought I'd be able to do did not get done, but there was knitting progress made!

Saturday morning Rainbow and I went to the zoo with my parents to see a talk given by the son of some of their good friends (and Florida neighbors), who has just published a book about sharks intended for a non-scientific audience. Our families have known each other for a long time, and I've known David since he was a little kid (I'm a few years older), so it was pretty cool to hear him speak and joke about how he is the number-one critic of Shark Week. I knit through the whole thing. After his talk, we stopped briefly to visit the red pandas (Rainbow's favorite at the zoo) but didn't stick around too long because it was a nice day and the place was packed. In the afternoon, Rainbow had a self-defense class at a local karate studio with some of the girls in her Girl Scout troop. I didn't know I'd need to stay for the full class until we were on the way there, but once again I had my knitting on hand. I had only shoved a sock on the needles into my small-ish purse, so I did not have a measuring tape with me and had only my foot to gauge the length. I stopped knitting a bit before the end of the class because it looked like I might be getting close to the toe -- these are Rainbow's socks, but her feet are now less than an inch shorter than mine.

I measured when I got home and the foot was exactly the right length before the toe, so I am glad I stopped when I did.

Meanwhile, I got the front of my brother's sweater back on track over the weekend, and though I'm not quite back to where I was when I discovered the problem, I'm very close. I should be back to where I was when I ripped by the end of the day.

What I mainly focused on yesterday, though, was finishing up the singles I've been spinning. Fine singles do take quite a bit of time to spin, particularly if they're being spun worsted, but the fiber left to spin was maybe a foot and a half long. And I did finish last night, though it was after dark and a bit too late to take  photo to do the colors justice. I really needed to wait for sunlight to share this:

I will likely start chain-plying today or tomorrow, which will take much less time than spinning the singles. I'm excited to get this spin finished up and start pondering what I will spin next!

Today, if you can believe it, is Rainbow's last full day of sixth grade. Tomorrow she has about two hours of school (their closing ceremonies assembly, with a graduation of sorts for the eighth grade). I can't believe that tomorrow I will have a seventh grader on summer break!

The Weekend I Needed

Happy Monday, friends! I'll admit I was not terribly happy when my alarm went off this morning, but right now the sun is shining and I'm coming off an enjoyable weekend, so I'm trying to put a positive spin on it.

Last weekend, if you remember, I had big plans for getting the house back in order after our trip, but obviously that didn't happen, so my plans were pushed back to this past weekend. The weather cooperated a bit  -- it was cold and damp, and we even had some snow and some wintery mix, so it was a good weekend to be inside. I cleaned all three bathrooms that get regular use, did laundry, paid some bills, and did some shopping for needed items. And I did some knitting, too, of course. Take a look at this!

Barring any work emergencies, I should have a finished first sleeve today! I finally sat down and did all the math to figure out how many stitches to pick up, how many I needed decrease, and how often I needed to decrease on Friday, and I made fast work of it. I would be pretty amazing if I could knit up the second sleeve before Thursday, which would mean that I'd knit this sweater in less than four weeks. That might be a bit ambitious, but I think it's an achievable goal. Of course, it figures that the weather is supposed to get warm again right around when I should be finishing this, but I can't say I didn't expect that.

I also finished up Rainbow's socks yesterday afternoon:

If they look a little wonky, it's because she put them on as soon as I showed her they were finished; I don't necessarily believe that socks have to be blocked, but I usually like to wash them after I finish them to get everything to even out and settle down. I'd say they're a success if she didn't give me the opportunity to do that because she was too excited to wear them! These use my SOHCAHTOA heel pattern, as requested by the recipient; she says they fit her heel perfectly.

I hope your Monday is off to a good start. See you back here on Wednesday!

Showing Love with Wool

It's a snowy Valentine's Day here in Pittsburgh. After unseasonably warm temperatures on Friday (which we're supposed to see again midweek), we were back into single digits when we got up this morning, so I guess winter isn't done with us just yet.

The weekend was fairly calm, and that meant getting a number of things done, among them a new pair of socks for Rainbow:

At her pediatrician appointment on Friday, we learned that she's grown almost three inches in the last year, so I made these with just a bit of extra length so that she wouldn't outgrow them instantaneously. Though you can't see from the photo, they're shorter socks (two inches of ribbing and an inch of stockinette for the leg only), and I used my new heel at her request. The yarn is Hedgehog Fibres Twist Sock, a superwash BFL/nylon base that felt pretty sturdy as I knit. I won this skein in a giveaway a number of years ago and have been saving it ever since, and she has been so enthusiastic about the colors that it was absolutely the right time to use it.

Speaking of enthusiastic, I officially gave her the sweater and she insisted on wearing it on Saturday. I don't think she took it off until it was time to change for bed, which is saying a lot for a kid who runs warm.

We don't really make a big deal about Valentine's Day in this house -- we exchange cards and sometimes small gifts and enjoy some treats -- but I really can't think of a better way to show this girl how much I love her than to cover her in wool. And she gives me no better gift than accepting my hand-knit gifts with excitement and wearing them.

Too Much Drama for One Weekend

I had hoped that this past weekend would be a relaxing one. We didn't have much on the calendar, and the weather was supposed to be very cold on Saturday and rainy on Sunday, so it looked like a good weekend for staying in.

And then all hell broke loose.

Rainbow was online last week for the first week back at school. Her school did this last year as well, and I thought it was a smart way to allow those students who might have traveled to isolate at home for a bit without having to miss any school. They asked everyone to get a COVID test prior to returning in person, just to be safe. So I took her to get a PCR test on Thursday afternoon, and I got one as well, as it was easy and I figured it couldn't hurt. The wait for results was longer than the last time we went, but I got my negative result around noon on Saturday, just before we left for a field trip at the museum with her Girl Scout troop. Rainbow had had some allergy-like congestion but felt fine otherwise, so we just assumed she'd get a negative result as well. I think you can see where this is going. Saturday night, as I was keeping her company while she was in the shower, her positive result came in.

Before anyone gets worried, she is fine, though clearly upset. We figure she had to have caught it when we were coming home from Florida, because before and after that, she hasn't been around anyone but immediate family. I am sharing this news, with her permission, because I want you all to get a sense of just how contagious this new variant is. As you know, she was only recently fully vaccinated, having gotten her second shot just about a month ago. When we traveled, she was double-masked with a surgical mask and a cloth mask (because the N95 masks we had on hand were too big on her). I've ordered some child-sized N95 masks, but they're going to take some time to come in. This new variant, though, is so contagious that I'm not sure even the best mask can stop it. So be careful out there!

As Elizabeth Zimmermann so wisely advised, "Knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises." And that's what I've continued to do (though I've been spinning as well as knitting). I am getting very close to finishing up my combo spin singles; I'm convinced that these last few bundles of fiber are taking the longest of any part of this project to finish! There are three more to spin after this one.

I've also put in quite a few rounds on my May(be) Queen, and I'm not that far off from the end of the body.

I know the needles flipping up is making it hard to see exactly how the fabric is laying, but the back of the sweater is in fact longer than the front thanks to a series of short rows that are worked every now and then along with the fake increases and actual increases and decreases to shape the side panels.

I hope that your weekend was much less dramatic than mine. Stay safe out there!

A Week In

We are officially a week in on this new year, and my view out back is drastically different from last week. This is what we woke up to this morning:

That flat surface you see is the roof of the little shed we had built this summer to hold our garbage and recycling cans. I'd say we got maybe an inch and a half of snow, not terribly much compared to other parts of the Northeast, but it's bitterly cold outside. I'll be bundling up in a winter coat and boots this morning for my walk instead of my usual activewear jacket and sneakers.

Yesterday I finished up a little project that I'd started last month. It was something I cast on mainly to have something to do with my hands during meetings, so I never even mentioned it on the blog. But now I have a new way to keep my ears warm on those rare days when it's cold enough to want them covered but a bit too warm for a hat:

Embracing my inner Kym with a real me, no-makeup selfie

Sorry for the blurriness of the photo, but the coffee hasn't fully kicked in yet. I used up some Fibernymph Dye Works leftovers from a pair of socks I knit Rainbow a couple years ago and had just enough -- maybe a yard leftover. What's a little hard to see in this photo is that the fabric is doubled; I knit it as a long tube. I still have some adjustments to make (like I added a twist that I don't think is needed), but it's certainly functional. Rainbow has asked for one, so I guess I'm knitting another.

Speaking of Rainbow, it's going to be a big year for her. If you can believe it, she will have her bat mitzvah this year, just a couple of days after her 13th birthday. Last night we had our first meeting with the rabbi to talk about this major right of passage. And tomorrow I will be handing off two skeins of handspun yarn to a friend who is going to weave a piece of fabric for her tallit. You may recall that last year, I spun up the two skeins that I thought would be used only for Rainbow to tell me (rather late in the game) that one of them was too colorful. Thankfully she found something else already in my stash that would work so I didn't have to rush to spin a replacement, and while I'm a bit surprised by her choices, I'm happy that she is satisfied.

The darker skein, which will be used for the warp, is Polwarth from the now-defunct Crown Mountain Farms. The bright blue, which will be the weft, was spun from Merino dyed by what was then called Scarlet Fleece and now seems to be known as Sweet Tree Hill Farm that I hand-carded with some undyed silk sliver. The silk is pretty subtle and a bit slubby, so I think it will add just a hint of shine and some texture.

I hope the first week of 2022 has treated you gently and that you're staying warm in wool if you've got cold like us. Have a great weekend!

Unraveled, Week 50/2021

Week 50?! Unbelievably, we have only two more Wednesdays left in this year, which is totally bonkers to me. But having posted every Wednesday so far this year, I know it's the truth. This week, though, is a pretty special Wednesday. Why? Well, it's my last workday of the year, for one, but it's all this kid's 12th birthday:

It feels like just yesterday that I woke up on that day in 2009 -- my due date! -- uncomfortable and upset that she hadn't arrived yet. Little did I know that by dinnertime that night, I'd be holding a tiny person! She has grown into a caring, thoughtful, hardworking young woman, and I'm so thankful I get to be her mom. We've got a pretty low-key day planned (she's still in school and actually has a test today, which she is not pleased about), but she got French toast for breakfast and will be having spaghetti and meatballs and garlic bread for dinner. We told her we'd take her to Florida for her birthday. ;-)

Knitting has been almost nonexistent this week; aside from the fact that I'm trying to finish up my combo spin singles before we leave for our trip, I've been super busy with work because everyone is trying to fit things in before we shut down for the holidays. That's had an impact on my reading, too, though I did finally manage to finish a book that's been sitting on my nightstand for months:

I think I'm probably the last Louise Penny fan to finish The Madness of Crowds, but I'm honestly glad I savored this one because now that I'm caught up with the series, I'll have to try to be patient while I wait for the next installment. I enjoyed this one, even though having finished it I'm still not sure if I understand who the murderer was or how the case resolved, but I think at this point I'm less invested in the crimes in the series than I am in the characters and their development. This book is set in an imaginary post-pandemic world, one where the virus has been completely eliminated by the vaccine (how I wish it were reality), but one where the value of all human lives is being questioned, and that felt very timely to me. I gave it 4 stars.

I am currently reading A Gentleman in Moscow, which has been on my TBR list for quite some time. I'm finding it a little hard to get into, but I don't know if it has a slow start or if it's just the fact that I've only been able to read it for short periods at a time. I also just got a notification from the library that The Guide is ready for me, and I'm thinking about which physical books will be packed for our trip. Once today is over and vacation starts, I'm sure my reading pace will pick up again.

Thanks to Kat, as always, for hosting our weekly Unraveled Wednesday link-up! I'm looking forward to hearing about what you're making and reading this week!

Finding Joy on Friday

All day yesterday, I was convinced that it was Friday; it's just been that kind of week. Work has been busy, my "extracurricular" life has been busy (Zoom meetings for Girl Scouts and my synagogue board), and of course Rainbow has been home all week for school. A couple of days ago, after notifying the whole school community about a couple of additional COVID cases, the school announced that everyone would be moving to online instruction next week (the last week before winter break) and for the first week of January. I think this was a smart move; even without COVID to deal with, it's a germy time of year, so keeping the students at home prior to and after the end-of-year holidays will limit their exposure to people outside their households. I'm certainly appreciative of it, because our trip to Florida is about a week away and I don't want anyone getting sick before we leave! But the general public health situation is concerning and depressing, so today, I wanted to focus on a few things that are bringing me joy. Finding reasons to be happy in spite of the state of the world has become part of my daily journaling practice, and I'm convinced that it's helped me to maintain my sanity during this strange time we're living in. So here are some things making me happy, in no particular order:

1. First of all, later this morning, I'm taking Rainbow to get her second vaccine shot! She was unable to go for her scheduled appointment last Saturday because of quarantine, and while the school was able to schedule a make-up clinic for the students in her class who couldn't go, it's not until the middle of next week, and I wanted her to get that second dose as soon as possible so she has the most protection possible before we get on a plane next Saturday.

2. Yesterday was a great mail day for me, with a bumper crop of books coming in:

These are four of the six Louise Erdrich books I've ordered from ThriftBooks, most of them for the Erdrich-along that Mary is hosting next year (I ordered an extra title that I've been wanting to read in addition to the titles we'll be diving into), plus Amanda Gorman's debut collection of poetry that I preordered from my local bookstore way back at the beginning of the year. It was delayed from its initial publication date in October, but when it finally arrived at the shop, it took only a day to make its way to me. I'm really looking forward to digging into it!

3. Including today, I have four days of work left this year. One of the perks of working for a university is that we get a long break at the end of the year in addition to our paid time off (i.e., these are extra recess days that the university is closed and that we get paid for but do not have to take our allotted days off for). Usually when we go away, I tack on some extra days at the beginning and/or end. This year and last year, though, as a way to thank all employees for working throughout the difficult times of the pandemic, we were given three extra days off -- this year, December 20, 21, and 22. Those just happen to be the days I would have requested off for our trip and then didn't have to, so because I have enough vacation time stored up that I would have reached my limit and been unable to accrue more if I didn't use some of it this month, I decided to take off next Thursday and Friday. This will give me some extra time to get ready for our trip and to generally relax and get into vacation mode mentally. Rainbow will be off next Friday as well (they were only going to have a half day that day anyway and were going to hold class holiday parties that morning, so they just gave all the students the day off with the move online), so I'm sure we'll find something fun to do that day.

4. Finally, especially for Vera, I want to share my favorite holiday decoration in the neighborhood:

This family's Halloween display was up well into November, and I guess they just decided to keep some of it for their Christmas display!

I hope you've been able to find some joy in your life this week, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

A Collaboration

Phew, it's been a busy start to the week! Work was a bit busier than usual yesterday and included the news of an unexpected immediate resignation in my group, so I'm hoping for a calmer day today.

We had a really nice weekend, even if it went too quickly (as it usually does), and it was highlighted by a party for my nephew's birthday -- he turned 2 last week. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law recently moved into a new house that has a nice backyard, and the weather cooperated to allow them to have a small gathering of family and a few friends outside. Everyone there was vaccinated, too, other than the handful of kids who are still too young (Rainbow was by far the oldest one there). The highlight was probably a massive water balloon fight that started out being for the kids and ended up with most of the adults involved in trying to soak each other.

We took some more traditional gifts (toys, a book), but Rainbow really wanted to give her cousin something handmade, and she asked me to help her with it so it would be done in time. She had dug through one of my stash bins and pulled out several partial skeins in shades of blue -- including one that was from a cardigan I knit for her when she was little and that she has since passed on to my nephew! I helped her get started on a "solid" granny square, and she asked me to make an amigurumi animal head to attach to make it a lovey or woobie or whatever you want to call it. I think it turned out very cute:

I used the head of a bear pattern from Zoomigurumi, one of six books in the series that I won in an Instagram giveaway. I opted to embroider the face to make it safer for a kid who is still putting almost everything in his mouth but otherwise followed the pattern exactly (or at least tried to -- I'm still new to this and likely made a mistake or two!). After I had stuffed it and closed it up, I sewed it on well to the center of the blanket. I can identify most of the yarns used here -- from the outside in is Madelinetosh in Robin's Egg, Well Water, Betty Draper's Blues, and Lapis, and I think the darkest blue at the center is Cascade 220 Superwash Paints in Sapphire Seas.

When my nephew opened this gift at his party, he was nonplussed, but that was pretty much his reaction to most if not all of his gifts. My sister-in-law said he'd love it, though, and reported the next day that he slept with it that night. And then yesterday my brother-in-law texted us this photo:

I think it's safe to say that it was a successful collaboration and a great gift!

The Extremes

Good morning from the tropics, or so it's seemed lately! We seem to be following a pattern here where the temperatures vary wildly from week to week. In April, we had snow every other week. Now we seem to have moved to having the heat and needing wool sock one week and needing to blast the air conditioning the next. This weekend we had highs in the upper 80s, and we're supposed to have on-and-off rain and thunderstorms all this week. The good news is that as of yesterday, all the roofing work is complete! The roofers just need to come back to attach the gutter to the back of the garage and finish cleaning up their materials. And then as soon as the "Turdis" (our nickname for the port-o-potty in our driveway) is taken away, we'll be able to put the cars back in the garage and truly feel like the project is over.

In another moment of "how did this happen already?" this kid finished fifth grade yesterday:

We were worried right up until when she got to school that she wouldn't make it for the last day after she had a terrible allergy attack over the weekend and was still dealing with an annoying cough; as part of the COVID protocols, she has to pass a health screening every day, and a cough is one of the symptoms that would keep her home. But the school nurse said it was fine for her to be there because we knew it was an allergy-related cough, so she was able to see her all friends and teachers one last time.

A lot of knitters might view summer as a time to put away the big wool projects, but that's not me -- I am always freezing in the summer and welcome the chance to have my lap covered in wool! So I've been working quite happily on my Threipmuir and have made some good progress since you last saw it:

The body was finished on Sunday during my weekly Zoom call. I am now working on the first sleeve, still alternating skeins. Lest you worry that I don't have enough yarn to finish, let me reassure you that what you see attached isn't all the yarn that's left. I used up the first skein of blue shortly before starting the ribbing on the body, so before I started the first sleeve, I took what was left on the second skein and divided it in half. The third skein of blue looked a bit lighter than the other two, so I wanted to be sure to blend it with what was left of the second skein as much as possible. I'm not sure if what's left will get me all the way through each sleeve, but if not, I'll at least have alternated two skeins for most of the sleeves and, I hope, avoid pooling or an obvious line. I have Zoom sessions tonight and tomorrow and plan on knitting my way through both, and it would be amazing if I finished this sweater up this week. That might be a bit ambitious, but go big or go home, right? As long as I finish by the end of the month, I'll be happy.

I hope to see some of you tonight for the Read With Us discussion of Shuggie Bain, and I'll be back tomorrow with a big reading update!

Sometimes Monday ...

needs a special FO post!

I don't normally post on Mondays, but I skipped yesterday's Spinning Sunday post (on purpose -- I just didn't feel that I had much to talk about) and I have something special planned for tomorrow, so today's the day to share some FO photos and details!

Pattern: Little Boxy (Ravelry link) by Joji Locatelli, size 10
Yarn: Ex Libris Fibers Solnit (75% superwash merino/25% nylon) in Spruce Lane, 2.11 skeins (977 yards/893 meters)
Needles: US 4 (3.5 mm) and US 2.5 (3.0 mm)
Started/Completed: January 2/March 4
Mods: lengthened the ribbing and the sleeves

This project was a long time in the making. Rainbow picked out the yarn at Indie Knit & Spin back in November 2019, and I really didn't plan to wait more than a year before knitting the sweater, but of course 2020 happened and obliterated all my plans. Thankfully Rainbow is still on the petite side and I had plenty of yarn.

The last Little Boxy I knit for her was completed less than two years ago, which surprised me given how much wear she's gotten out of it. I'm hoping the same happens with this one. I certainly don't have to worry about her level of enthusiasm -- she's absolutely delighted with it and has been wearing it every chance she gets, to the point where I've actually had to tell her to take it off because I've worried she'd get ketchup or some other staining food on it. She says it's incredibly comfortable and a perfect fit, truly a relief, because we had a brief moment of panic when she tried it on when the body was done and the neckline was a little snug. Blocking helped immensely in that respect.

The yarn was lovely to work with though definitely on the light end of fingering. It's a hand-dyed yarn, so I alternated skeins as I always do. One of the three skeins I worked with was a bit darker than the other two, which made alternating all the more important. If you look closely, you might be able to see that the upper part of the back and the shoulders are a tad lighter than the rest of the body and the sleeves; those sections were done with the two lighter skeins. I would have run out of the darker yarn entirely had I tried to alternate it throughout, so I consciously decided to use it more in the bottom sections of the sweater so that I'd get a very subtle gradient effect if it was obvious. I can tell by looking for it, but I don't think it's the kind of thing that will be obvious to anyone who doesn't know about the difference in the skeins and isn't purposefully looking for it.

The only modification I made to the pattern was to lengthen the ribbing at both the bottom of the body and the sleeve cuffs and to make the sleeves a bit longer than called for. Joji only instructs you to work a small number of rounds of ribbing on the body, which I did for my Boxy, and it's really not enough to keep that hem from flipping up. For this version, I did a full inch of 1x1 rib. Rainbow also requested longer sleeves. On her first Little Boxy, I knit them to the specified length, and she's complained that they hit right at the bend of her elbow and can be a bit uncomfortable as a result. This 3/4 length, she says, is perfect -- long enough to keep her a bit warmer and not restrict her, but just short enough that she won't risk dragging the cuffs through her food or getting them wet when she washes her hands. I think the sleeve length also makes this an ideal spring sweater; somehow having that little bit of arm exposed keeps the sweater from being too hot.

There's quite a bit of yarn leftover, and I've told Rainbow that if she likes, I can make her a matching pair of socks with it.

I have to share this photo as well: On Saturday, when the sunshine made for perfect lighting for an FO photo shoot, Rainbow received a package in the mail that she was really anxious for.

If, like me, you really enjoyed Michelle Obama's memoir and have a young reader in your life, then you should know that last week she released the young readers' edition of Becoming. Rainbow couldn't wait for her copy to arrive (she even held off on starting a new book the day before it came because she knew she'd want to start it right away), and she's been reading it before bed for the past couple of nights. She also started keeping a reading journal (of sorts) this year, and I love that I officially have another Readers -- capital R! -- in the house!

Three Reasons to Smile

It's Three on Thursday time again! Thanks as always to Carole for hosting. Here are three things giving me a reason to smile today:

1. The VP visited Fibre Space yesterday.

If you're on any social media and follow people in the fiber community, then you no doubt saw this everywhere yesterday. I found it particularly exciting because I actually know Danielle, the owner of Fibre Space! She is originally from this area and is good friends with Amy of Ross Farm, and we had dinner with her and her family several years ago on my first Rhinebeck trip.

2. Vaccinations are ramping up.

We were all happy that a third vaccine was approved last week (no one more so than Rainbow -- she's hoping that the first one available for her age group is one that only requires one shot!). Yesterday our governor announced that the state will be getting more than 94,000 doses of the J&J vaccine in the coming weeks and will be designating those doses specifically for teachers, child care workers, and school staff. One of the things that's really irked me about all the people whining about their kids not being in school is that they seemed to completely disregard the safety of the people teaching and looking after their kids. Rainbow's school has done an excellent job of keeping everyone safe, but I'm really happy that my state is looking out for her teachers.

Also, my parents have their appointments for their second shots next week (they both got the Moderna vaccine)! They are planning to stay in Florida for two weeks beyond their second doses for the full effect and then plan to come home.

3. If all goes according to plan, Rainbow will have a finished sweater by the end of the day.

I just did the last decrease on the second sleeve, so now it's just a matter of adding enough length. I'm down to 42 stitches in the round now, peanuts compared to the almost 300 in the body!

I hope you have some reasons to smile today and find some more this weekend!

Now We're Talking!

Happy March, friends! We had a mild weekend with a fair amount of rain, which means snow melt, which means flooding in the area (thankfully not affecting us). On Sunday, I wore only a light windbreaker over my workout clothes for my walk, and I was thinking we might be in for an early spring. But Mother Nature is reminding us this morning that it's not spring yet -- it's very sunny but also frigid outside this morning. So clearly there's still plenty of sweater weather left. And that's a good thing, because I'm getting really close to a new finished sweater for Rainbow!

All that's left to do is the sleeves. She wants them to be on the longer side, but the number of stitches in each sleeve is minuscule in comparison to the the number in the body. I am really hopeful that I can get get this finished up in the next few days. I had her try it on yesterday, after I'd finished the shoulders and connected them, and the fit was good. We're counting on blocking to give a bit more drape, but she's generally happy -- and very excited that it's almost ready for her to wear. I am likewise very excited to have it off the needles (and ready to move on to finishing up another WIP).

I'm looking forward to chatting with some of you this evening for the Read With Us book discussion, and I'll be back tomorrow with an update on the other WIPs and my reading (spoiler: I'll have a big finish)!