I'd Prefer Boring

When last we talked (and by "talked," I mean I wrote something and you read it), I was getting ready for an uneventful weekend. We didn't have plans other than dinner with my side of the family on Friday night, and I was excited that Saturday we were going to get a break in the rain. And then, of course, things got more interesting than I'd like.

Do you remember when the Mister had a run-in with a tree branch while bicycling back in 2020? Well he had a bike outing planned with a friend on Saturday and I didn't hear anything from him while he was gone, so I was surprised that when he got home in the early afternoon, he was having a hard time walking. It seems that he had slowed down a bit to wait for the friend to catch up while on an incline on a bridge, his bike wheel got caught in the paving seam, and he didn't have enough momentum to carry him over it, so he keeled over sideways. He had only a little bit of road rash on his arm, but his main complaint was that he had terrible pain in his upper thigh/hip area. He put ice on it and took some Tylenol and hung out in bed for the afternoon. We'd talked about going out for dinner, but as he could barely walk, that wasn't happening, so I managed to cobble together a meal of leftover salad and some pizza from the freezer. He said that if it didn't get better, he'd get it checked out, but it was clear to me that he shouldn't wait, so I told him to make an appointment at the urgent care center on Sunday morning. The good news is that they took x-rays and nothing appears broken, but of course he's still in pain and can't walk. They told him if it didn't start to improve to go see an orthopedist. He's working from home today, and as he can't do much of anything physical (we still had my crutches from when I broke my foot, so he's been hobbling around on them when he needs to move), that means I'm doing everything -- I did the grocery shopping yesterday, I'm on cooking and cleanup duty, I changed the bedsheets, etc. Life is always exciting, isn't it?

But hey, this is a knitting blog. Here's some knitting -- a finished but still badly in need of blocking hat:

And I've got yarn all wound for the next one, because having mindless knitting on hand at all times is useful when your husband seems to be trying to injury himself all the time.

I'll leave you with a bit of lightness -- a photo of Ruthie playing with her friend Finnegan, whose owners and I refer to as Ruthie's "Kentucky cousin." Finn is also a rescue who came from Kentucky, and we think the two dogs look alike. They certain play the same way!

Here's hoping this week is a lot less eventful! I will be back on Wednesdays with some more knitting and some book reviews.

Return to Routine

All vacations must come to an end eventually, and so today it's back to work. It helps that I had a pretty relaxing weekend. Though the Mister was working from home, I took Friday off as well, which gave me time to pick Ruthie up and get the house back in order. And she was ecstatic to see me -- I even have a bruise on my arm because she was jumping on me so much that she left a mark. She even made it almost all the way home before getting a little carsick (seriously, we were about half a mile away!). The dog sitter reported that she was good and had no stomach issues while we were gone, so clearly whatever she had was fast moving. It had been a while since she'd been away from us, though, so I'm not surprised that it's taken her a little bit of time to settle back into her routine and trust that she's not being left behind (in other words, she's been barking in her crate in the morning). For the first day or so, she was practically attached to me, but now she seems to be back to only her normal level of attachment. This was how she looked Friday afternoon:

While we did have some plans over the weekend -- we had some friends over for dinner on Friday night, the three of us went out Saturday, and we went out for Chinese with my in-laws last night -- much of the weekend was spent relaxing. I did check my work inbox yesterday morning so I wouldn't get any bad surprises first thing on Monday, and it looks like I didn't miss much and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that no one has been waiting until 8:30 this morning to dump something on me.

This week should be pretty typical, though it's supposed to get hot again, which means I will likely be showering twice a day again and probably taking Ruthie for shorter walks. As I did over the weekend, I'm planning to spend my evening crafting time at my spinning wheel and perhaps have a skein of yarn plied by the end of the week. And after a weekend of disruptions, I am keeping all my fingers crossed that our internet stays on -- working from home is a little difficult without it!

I will be back on Wednesday with an update on my projects and my reading. In the meantime, let's all hope this Monday passes easily and swiftly!

So Much for Plans

I had fully intended to get a post ready yesterday afternoon to go up this morning, but it seems the heat is wreaking havoc on everything. Yesterday this poor baby got sick multiple times, and I suspect the heat is the culprit.

She slept overnight but was barking shortly before 6 and had been sick again a little in her crate and it looked like there was some blood. And when I took her out, she didn't pee. She seems mostly like herself, but it's clear something isn't right, so now I'm just waiting until the vet opens at 8 to see if I can get her in to be seen or if we need to go to the emergency vet. Please send good thoughts! I'll try to update later today once we have a better idea of what's going on.

Update: We have a vet appointment at 9:45. Fingers crossed it's nothing serious!

Update at 11 a.m.: Just back from the vet. Ruthie had x-rays taken and bloodwork done. No obstruction was spotted and she doesn't have pancreatitis, so the vet's best guess is that she picked up a virus or bacteria on something on the street. She was given an anti-nausea injection there and we were sent home with more in pill form for the next several days (as needed) as well as Pepcid (to turn off the stomach acid) and bland food. The vet said we should be fine to proceed with our vacation plans as long as she improves in the next 24 hours or so. Phew!

Half and Half

As usual, the weekend did not last long enough. We had a gorgeous day on Saturday, with blue skies and slightly lower humidity. Ruthie was happy that the recent storms that had gone through the area left behind some great sticks for her to discover on our walks.

She was miffed that I made her leave this one behind.

I had a lovely afternoon of reading and knitting while she dozed, and we had a slightly later-than-usual dinner after Molly got back from her driving lesson (the instructor was impressed with her, so I guess we've been doing something right!).

Yesterday was cloudy for much of the day and we had some light rain in the morning and storms in the evening. Not as nice of a day, but the rain is welcome, not least because it's bringing much more comfortable weather to start off the week. And I didn't mind so much being inside because it helped me finish a book and make a lot of progress on my hat in the afternoon:

Thank you, gloom, for this bad photo.

This is going to be a short week for me: We already had Friday off for Juneteenth, so I decided to take one of my remaining personal days on Thursday and give myself a three-day week followed by a four-day weekend. I'm not going to do much that's different from my usual schedule other than not be on my computer all day, but sometimes even that is enough. I'm hoping that because I won't have to worry about my work inbox, Molly will spend some more time with me -- I am increasingly aware of just how little time we have left before she goes off to college, so I want to take advantage of all the days she's not in school!

Thank Goodness

We have made it to Friday! I don't know why, but this has felt like a very long week. The weather's been all over the place, our schedule's been off a bit, and everyone's been stressed out. So I am more than ready for the weekend. Molly is going to a charity gala with a friend on Saturday night, so the Mister and I are going out to dinner, and then Sunday we're going to the annual Mother's Day brunch at my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's house. If the weather were going to be nicer, I might spend the day getting the garden somewhat put together, but it's supposed to be cool and rainy, so I'll settle with reading and snuggling the puppy.

Speaking of which:

Ruthie would like me to remind you to put your screens down and relax! Have a good weekend, friends!

It's Friday!

Here's hoping the day goes quickly and we can all fly into the weekend like this silly pup!

(I have no idea what was going on here. I was making dinner in the kitchen, and when I turned around, she was like this.)

Have a good weekend, all!

Gotcha

One year ago today, Ruthie joined our family. Can you believe it? It's been quite a year. There were the early weeks of sleeping in the family room with her and taking her out at all hours, when her most comfortable place was curled up in my lap and when she was so scared of everything that sometimes when we'd go on a walk I'd have to pick up her and carry her home. Then she made friends with other dogs in the neighborhood and learned the pleasures of picking up sticks on walks. We've been through vet visits, puppy kindergarten, several days when she was left home alone with the Mister, and the two weeks she spent boarding in December.

I still remember the day we brought her home and how surprised we were by how tiny she was:

Our lives have changed a lot, especially mine, but for all the lack of sleep and accidents to clean up and vet bills to play, I wouldn't change anything. She's my velcro dog, my best buddy, and my napping companion. Happy Gotcha Day, Ruthie!

A Mixed Bag of a Weekend

How is it already Monday again? And why do weekends always go by so quickly, even when you're not doing much? (And why don't dogs understand that weekends are for sleeping in?)

My weekend started early -- at 4:50 a.m. on Saturday. Ruthie is still having some occasional tummy trouble, and I guess that's when she needed to go. (She's now getting daily probiotics and some pureed pumpkin with her meals. Things seem to be getting better.) It was a much earlier start to the day than I'd hope for, but there is something kind of fun about being the only one awake and having a slow start to the day, particularly if there's a puppy curled up next to you while you nurse your coffee. Because that first trip outside was so early and because Molly and I were going out to lunch with my mother, we got an extra walk in during the day, and I don't think Ruthie minded one bit!

Before I passed out early for the night on Saturday, I managed to finish up my mother-in-law's socks:

I used my usual sock recipe for these, worked over 68 stitches with a US 0/2.0 mm needle, but I worked the entire sole in 2x2 rib after picking up stitches for the gusset. Years ago I knit a sock pattern that had ribbing on the sole, and those socks always felt like a bit of a foot massage. My MIL has neuropathy in her feet, so I thought these might feel good. The yarn (Lorna's Laces Solemate) also uses an engineered fiber that's supposed to regulate temperature. It's exciting enough to have finished the socks, but do you know what's extra exciting? This skein was the last one from the stash enhancements that came home with me from SSK last summer. (We'll ignore the fact that I still have some yarn in my stash from my very first SSK in 2017, right?)

Now that I've got finished pairs of socks for both my mother and my mother-in-law and it's only mid-March, I though I'd knit two more pairs for my sisters-in-law so that all the moms in my family can have a new pair for Mother's Day. I've already cast on the next pair, using a skein of Fibernymph Dye Works that only recently came into the stash, as it was the "reward" skein for completing the FDW component of Lisa's make-along last year. The colorway is called Wishes for the Journey, and as you can see, it has an unusual stripe pattern.

These are such happy colors that feel so appropriate for the first days of official spring, just as flowers are starting to bloom and green is appearing on trees.

I've got a busy week ahead: It's the start of commencement season! I still plan to keep my usual blogging schedule, but I will likely spend much of this week reading lists of names rather than reading books. The upside is that Molly is on spring break this week and next, so I'll get a longer stretch of quiet time in the afternoon (while Ruthie naps) because I won't have to leave to pick her up at school. She's also promised to bake some cookies this week, so I can have a treat for finishing all that tedious work.

This weirdo hopes you have an easy start to your week!

"Spring" Break

I am officially on vacation today as it's "spring holiday" (faculty and staff always get off the Friday of spring break week), though it doesn't feel much like spring today. We had a truly wild day of weather on Wednesday. It was raining when I got up, it rained on me when I went for my run (despite the radar being clear and the sun shining at the same time!), and then we had a tornado warning at around 2 p.m. (despite it being completely calm outside; seems it was only radar indicated)! Ruthie got good use out of her new raincoat on our walks:

Yesterday we woke up to temps back in the 30s and windchills in the 20s, so I had to get out my winter coat, hat, and mittens again. Even though everything is blooming and greening up, it's a good reminder that technically it's still winter and anything can happen for a while yet.

Even though I'm not working today, I'll still be keeping roughly the same normal schedule. I'll try to run this morning, then come home and clean the bathrooms, and likely do a couple loads of laundry. Molly is staying after school to attend a flag football game, so Ruthie and I can enjoy a slightly longer afternoon snooze time, during which I hope to finish up this sock:

I decided to try some ribbing on the entirety of the sole, thinking it'd provide a cushy bottom for my mother-in-law, who deals with neuropathy in her feet. You can see that I did get a bit of pooling at the gusset, but it's really only obvious if you look for it.

I also measured my swatch in full daylight yesterday and determined that I am close enough on gauge to go ahead with my sweater. I'm getting 26 stitches over 4 inches rather than the called-for 25, but I'm willing to bet that when I'm working on a much larger piece, my tension will ease up a bit. I'm going to make the second size (finished bust of 40 inches, for 5 inches of positive ease), so even if my gauge is a bit tighter, it's not likely to be a problem. I hope to have some progress to share on Monday!

We've got a number of things on the social calendar this weekend, mostly for Molly, but the Mister and I have a bat mitzvah to go to tomorrow night and we've been told it's cocktail attire, so I have to go through my closet and find something to wear! There will still be plenty of time for reading, knitting, and puppy snuggling, though.

I hope your weekend has time in it for all the things that bring you joy -- and be sure to embrace that joy, friends! We need it now more than ever.

Unraveled, Week 10/2026

Hello and happy hump day! I am bracing for some strong storms coming through later today and hoping I can still squeeze in a run before the rain starts. But first, time to join in with Kat and the Unravelers!

I had a delightful birthday, in part thanks to all the lovely messages you left on my post on Monday. I started off by running farther than I've managed before without having to stop and walk: 7 miles! The weather was gorgeous all day, I got a free drink at Starbucks, and the Mister came home with Bundtlets for dessert so I didn't have to bake myself my own cake. My father also sent me flowers; I think he felt bad that he was out of town.

I also started swatching for my sweater, which is still in progress (fingering weight sweaters take time, so naturally so do their swatches!).

I'm hoping that by the end of the week, I'll know if I can cast on using the recommended needle size or if I need to swatch again.

It's been another good week of reading, with four finishes!

If I had to pick one word to describe I Am Agatha, it would be spare. There are few extraneous details, minimal background given on the main character, and not much in the way of plot. That is not to said, however, that these are drawbacks. Rather, they are fitting for a main character inspired by an artist whose work is all about minimalist lines and grids.

Agatha Smithson (the fictionalized characterization of artist Agnes Martin) is an outsider in New Mexico, living in a primitive house she built herself after fleeing New York City following some sort of mental breakdown. When she arrives in New Mexico, she falls in love with Alice, a widow slowly fading into dementia. As Alice's condition worsens, Agatha is determined to move her to Agatha's home, a step complicated by Alice's unwillingness to leave the backyard grave of her daughter, Lorna, and by Alice's son, Frank Jr., who wants to move his mother into a care home. Agatha is stubborn and determined, however, so she enlists a young neighbor boy who is always eager to help her in a plan to move Lorna so that Alice will feel at home. Alice is missing as all of this is happening, though, and soon it becomes apparent that Agatha isn't the only one keeping secrets in this small town.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Agatha is abrasive and bossy, and she's not afraid of hurting people by doing what she thinks is best for them. But she is loyal to those who are important to her and unapologetic about who she is. I gave it 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for providing me with a digital ARC of this book in return for an honest review. This book will be published March 17, 2026.

I was reminded recently that I'd wanted to read more by Valérie Perrin because I enjoyed Fresh Water for Flowers. Forgotten on Sunday was actually her first book but was only relatively recently translated into English. This novel tells two stories that intersect. First, there is Justine, who is in her early 20s and working as a nursing assistant at a nursing home. She grew up with her grandparents and her cousin, Jules, after their two sets of parents were killed in car accident when they were both children. One of the residents Justine cares for is Hélène, a woman in her 90s whose life story -- and love story -- Justine is recording for her family. We soon learn that there are secrets in both women's pasts and that love can be very complicated. This was a beautiful story that I very much enjoyed listening to, although I was annoyed by the narrator's inconsistent skill with French pronunciation (it took me a while, for instance, to realize that a character's name was Rose because she kept pronouncing it "Hose"). This might be better on the page for that reason. In spite of these annoyances, I gave it 4 stars.

Liar's Dice is a debut novel. For all of their young lives, Dolores and Mita have been alike, and not just because they're identical twins. They seem to be able to read each other's thoughts and even have a secret way of communicating. But then Mita begins having seizures and starts losing control of her body, leading to doctors' appointments and time spent in hospitals. And then one day she is gone -- much like many of those who speak out against the regime in early 1970s Brazil. Dolores is told that Mita has gone to live in a children's hospital in their father's native England, but she isn't so sure. Now she is alone at home and lonely at her new school, where she's struggling because she hasn't yet learned to read. But a new friend who, like Dolores, is a native Brazilian and isn't wealthy, and a caring teacher help her to find her way, and she becomes determined to earn enough money to fly to England and see for herself whether her twin is still alive.

Dolores is a sympathetic character, and I felt her sadness at the loss of her twin and her frustration with parents for their unwillingness to discuss her sister and moving on as if she never existed. I did find some of her activities in the seedier parts of Rio to be a bit hard to believe, but without much knowledge of Brazil in the 1970s, I can't say whether they were realistic or not. My biggest complaint in reading this novel is the amount of Portuguese used without a translation; it wasn't until I finished that I found a glossary in the back. Perhaps I would have enjoyed the book more if I had more background knowledge of the history of the setting, but all the same I admired Dolores's tenacity and loyalty to her sister. I gave it 3 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for providing me with a digital ARC of this book in return for an honest review. This book will be published April 28, 2026.

Finally, if you are an American concerned about the current state of affairs in this country, I'd highly recommend On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. This very short work of nonfiction (I read it easily in an afternoon) offer 20 concrete ways to fight against tyranny by illustrating how tyrants and dictators took power in the 20th century and detailing how fledgling democracies failed. The bottom line is that there are things that even the average person with no political power can do to fight this kind of extremism and to contribute to saving the democratic ideals envisioned by the founding fathers. This is one I know I'll come back to for encouragement. I gave it 4 stars.

As I continue to very slowly make my way through The Odyssey (I haven't even made it to the poem yet -- I'm still in the introduction!), I've also gotten a new ARC I'm very excited about and just started yesterday.

What are you making and reading this week?

I'm Not Saying Anything

Last week I may have tempted fate by saying I was planning a quiet weekend and ended up with a sick dog. This week, whether it was related to that or she ate something, she had some pretty bad tummy trouble; at least this time around, when I heard her barking and crying at 12:30 a.m., I figured something was wrong and went downstairs to investigate. That ended up being one of two trips outside that night. Thankfully she did not need to go back to the vet and I was able to swing by to pick up some prescription food and a probiotic. Both of them have helped immensely, but two nights of interrupted sleep plus extra potty breaks have made for an exhausting week, so I'm happy to see the weekend arrive if only so I don't have to worry about work on top of everything else.

Aside from getting through the days without losing my mind, my main accomplishment over the last couple of days has been finishing up my Melt the ICE Hat (Ravelry link):

I used some HipStrings Buoy DK leftover from a sweater and, because I wanted the hat to be a little smaller, size US 3/3.25 mm needles. My only other modification was to add about an inch of stockinette above the ribbing before starting the decreases. Once I actually followed the pattern for said increases, rather than assuming I knew better, everything worked out fine. The hat is currently blocking, and I'm hoping that helps with that weird rippling you can see in the pre-blocking photo above.

I'm on the last repeat of colors in my cowl and finished up the ribbing of my hot pink hat yesterday, so things are moving right along. Maybe next week I'll get back to the sweater I cast on weeks ago!

This weekend we've got a birthday party to go to tonight, Molly has her school semiformal tomorrow (the Mister and I are having a date night while she's there), and I think we're having dinner with the Mister's side of the family on Sunday. Other than that, I'm planning a Costco run, some walks as the weather allows, and naps with Ruthie. I'm hoping to finish reading Anna Karenina this weekend, too -- I have less than 10% left! I'm hoping for only the usual amount of excitement. Fingers crossed!

Did I Jinx It?

For a while now, I've been writing up blog posts the day or evening before and setting them to publish the next morning, so often they're not quite as up to date as they sound. When I put together last Friday's post, for instance, I thought we were in for a calm, uneventful long weekend. And perhaps by putting that in print, I tempted fate a little too much.

Ruthie started barking at about 3 a.m. on Friday. It was annoying, but I didn't think much of it; sometimes a noise outside will spook her, and there's been a lot of heavy snow falling off the roof above the room where we keep her crate, so I figured she'd been startled awake. When I came downstairs shortly after 6, though, I realized that was not the case. She'd been sick overnight, and I found a piece of thin plastic (it looked like a piece of a disposable cup) in her crate. Clearly she'd eaten it and it had upset her stomach, and the barking had been her way of trying to alert us that something was wrong. Thankfully I was able to get a same-day appointment at our vet practice, where they gave her subcutaneous fluids and some anti-nausea meds. Though she was still wary of the other people in the office, she was a real trooper and did so well while we were there, which was a big relief. I'm happy to report that she was totally fine after that, though clearly the whole ordeal was a lot for her because she was very slow on our midday walk and then crashed and took a long nap when we got home.

I'd like to say that she's learned her lesson, but she's still trying to eat anything that looks like it might be food that she encounters on the street, and as the melting snow has revealed all sorts of nasty things, I am being more vigilant than ever.

On the plus side, it was still a quiet weekend, and Saturday was really gorgeous. Because of all the Ruthie drama, I didn't get to exercise (other than walking her) or even shower until bed on Friday, so I went for a run Saturday morning. It was sunny and downright warm -- we hit 51ºF for a high, I believe -- so the snow and ice were doing some major melting. There were a lot of people out running, some of them doing marathon training. Ruthie and I had some good walks and ran into some other dogs, and we had a relaxing afternoon. The Mister and I are now well past the point where Valentine's Day is a big deal. We exchanged cards and he got me some chocolate, and that was it -- and that was just fine with me. Molly had one of her friends sleeping over, so we got some pizza and I made a salad, and we had some brookies that Molly baked on Friday for dessert. Our Saturday evening was spent folding laundry and making our meal plan and grocery list. And I put in some time on my second cowl sample:

I'm on my second repeat of the color sequence, and I think it'll go a little faster now that I've settled on the colors and the order.

Yesterday wasn't as warm and was a bit rainy, but it was still a quiet day. I made a barbecue brisket for later in the week, and she napped while I read and worked on my Melt the ICE Hat.

All hats now must be measured in Ruthies.

Molly is home with me again today, and other than taking her to a dentist appointment and work, I've got nothing else on the schedule. We're all hoping that this week brings better things. At the very least, it's going to bring some more warm temperatures, so perhaps the rest of the snow will leave us! 

Sweater (and Socks and Hat and Scarf) Weather

Brrrr! We are waking up to the coldest weather yet of the season. Yesterday we had rain showers on and off, and it was supposed to turn to snow overnight (as usual, I'm getting this post ready the night before, so I can't yet confirm if it did indeed snow). I think the ground is still too warm for any to stick, but it's cold enough for it to come down. Time to switch from the fall jacket to the winter jacket (but not the long winter jacket just yet)!

Ruthie's new harness arrived on Friday, and I'm happy to report that it works really well. If she pulls, it tightens, making it extremely difficult for her to slip out of it.

It doesn't quite match the collar and leash, but we can live with it.

On top of my to-do list this weekend was sending off quite a large number of charity hats. I've been collecting the ones I've been making for about a year, and Molly made a ton using up scraps and leftovers, so Saturday morning I boxed them up and sent them off to two collections:

Yesterday I made a big vat of vegetable soup, which we had for dinner along with some crusty bread, and Molly gathered up the M&Ms from the Halloween candy, supplemented them with some chocolate chips, and made us some cookies (using this recipe, which I highly recommend):

I'll add that she did everything -- all I did was empty the mini packets of M&Ms, tear the sheets of parchment paper, and cleaned up the dishes. They were fantastic!

And there was knitting. With apologies for the poor lighting, here's where my WIPs stand:

I've finished the gusset on the second sock for my sister-in-law, and I've officially passed the halfway mark on the wrap. 

I expect it's going to be another busy week at work, but we've got two more weeks until Thanksgiving. Molly is off school all that week, and it turns out that I've reached the maximum on my vacation time, so I decided to take Monday through Wednesday off as well. I think I can get through the next two weeks knowing I'll have an entire week off after that! I hope your Monday is as gentle as possible and you're staying cozy. Time to break out those hand-knit sweaters, friends!

Ups and Downs

This past weekend was mostly good, but with some scares I didn't anticipate. First, after it had rained all day on Thursday, it cleared up on Friday, enabling me to get in a run and complete my first-ever all-running 10K here (I've done it a couple of times in Florida, where the route is totally flat). It's also the first time I've managed it since the broken foot, so that felt pretty darn good.

Molly went trick-or-treating with a friend, so the Mister and I stayed home with our Costco bag of candy -- and handed some out to exactly three kids. I knew all the activity would be tough for Ruthie, so I waited until the end of the official trick-or-treating period to take her out for her last walk. Even so, there were still a lot of people out, and she got spooked by some kids in costume running at her -- and slipped her harness again. This has happened a couple of times on our street, which has been scary enough, but this was even worse because we were several blocks from home and across several streets. The kids who scared her chased her, even after I yelled at them not to, and of course I ran after her. At one point some random guy told me I'd never catch her on foot and I should get in his SUV so he could drive me. Of course I refused -- who gets in a car with some guy they don't know at night? Eventually, with the help of some neighbors and other kind people who were out -- and despite SUV guy trying to get her and making her run again -- I managed to get close enough to her to grab her. She'd basically run back the way we'd come and fortunately stayed away from major streets. SUV guy then yelled at me for not thanking him for his help (what help?) and added that I was a horrible human being. Thank goodness for the kindness of the others, including a young man who had been helping out at a tent set up at the church along our route who immediately got into his car and was driving very slowly in the direction Ruthie had run (and did not, I should add, demand I get in the car with him). One of the people happened to be the pastor at that church, and she told me before she entered this profession, she was a vet tech, so she knew what she was doing. The whole experience was rather traumatic, for both of us -- Ruthie slept in until 7:30 the next morning! Needless to say, a new harness has been ordered that is advertised as being escape proof, and I'm looking into getting private training for her to get her over these fears.

I'm happy to say that that was the low point of the weekend. From there, everything got better. I finished up a charity hat (obviously it still needs to be blocked):

I wound yarn for my next cast-on:

And yesterday, I finished a book, baked banana bread, and made Ina's chicken chili.

This week is likely to be another busy one at work, but we also will be electing a new mayor tomorrow and Molly will be home with me on Friday while her teachers work on finishing up grades for the first term. Here's hoping there is no further Ruthie drama in store!

Less in 2025: October

It's been a whirlwind of a month, so it's probably not surprising that I completely forgot that yesterday was the last Monday of the month and my day to check in with my One Little Word. So a day late, a dollar short? Thanks to Kat for hosting our monthly link-ups!

This month, there has been Less of many things -- free time, daylight, warm weather, etc. But what stands out right now is less patience. Ruthie is now 10 months old and firmly in her adolescent phase, so she is constantly testing me. In the last several weeks, she has starting getting very nippy and demanding, especially when we're trying to eat a meal. True to her terrier DNA, she's always been a digger, and now she has starting "digging" under the cover on the couch, usually while I'm trying to cook dinner. And when we go on walks, she often tries to jump on passers-by or leap out into traffic at cyclists. I'm trying really hard to focus on positive reinforcement, but I'll admit that at the end of a long day, it's really hard not to yell "No! Stop!" repeatedly. So far I've only had to put her in her crate once to keep her out of trouble while I finish cooking, but it may very well be necessary again. I keep reminding myself that these days won't last forever and that we will keep working on the good behavior. And she's already come so far from just six months ago.

On the plus side, there has been much less early morning barking! I think she is finally understanding that I will come down around the same time every morning and she doesn't need to announce that she's awake. Occasionally there's a yip or two, but I think that may be due to her hearing something outside or dreaming. Getting enough sleep is certainly helping me be calmer!

Fall Color

And just like that, it's Monday again. We had a nice weekend, though the weather was strange. On Saturday, it was warm and sunny, more like summer. I took advantage of the sun on Saturday to take a 6-mile walk, and the Mister went for a bike ride. On Sunday, it was still warm, but then it got windy and rain came through. It held off until after our brunch yesterday for my father's birthday; we were inside, but it's always such a pain to get a bit dressed up and then get wet going to and from the car.

It's supposed to get cooler again this week, more like normal fall weather, and though we should be seeing the leaves changing color and some are, a lot of the trees in the neighborhood have just dropped their leaves because of the lack of rain. So I am making up for it with a very bright new cast-on:

One of the special challenges for the Pigskin Party this month is a pink challenge in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It'd also been a while since I last knit a charity hat, so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone. I had this bright pink skein of Fibernymph Dye Works tweed DK in my stash and the pattern (Ravelry link) already in my library, so all I had to do was wind the yarn and cast on. It's been a little slow going because of the ribbing and the cables, but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to finish it up by the end of the month.

My other colorful project -- my sister-in-law's socks -- are getting close to being done, too, so perhaps it will be a multiple FO week!

I'll leave you with a puppy pic because I don't have any other knitting photos to share. This is from Saturday afternoon, when Ruthie took a long nap. She would like you to know that although she was naughty and slipped her harness again on Friday night (thankfully staying to our street and away from traffic until we could lure her into the house with a cookie), she was a very good girl on Saturday and Sunday, when she slept in until 6:45 and 7:05, respectively!

Have a good start to your week and see you back here on Wednesday!

Joy Bits

Today I'm taking inspiration from Juliann and sharing some things that have brought me joy this week.

The Weather
After more dry days and a good stretch with highs in the 80s, we finally got rain again on Tuesday. It never rained very hard for long but rather was a gentle on-and-off rain all day that was slow enough to actually absorb into the ground. We actually have a little green grass on our lawn! Sadly at least half of it is dead, so we'll do some reseeding and fertilizing this fall.

The rain also brought with it a cold front, and it was a brisk 41ºF when I took Ruthie out first thing yesterday. We are under a frost warning (or advisory? something) this morning, so I'll be getting out the wool socks and maybe even a sweater later.

New Shoes
I have been wearing Dansko clogs for more than two decades, since I first discovered them when I was in grad school and was spending a lot of the day on my feet when I was student teaching. These days, they're the fastest thing for me to put on when Ruthie needs to go out. It's been years since I bought a pair, so when I happened across a thread on Ravelry about there being a new knit print, I decided to treat myself.

Should you need your own pair, you can find them here.

They were pricey (the cost has gone up $40-50 since I last bought a pair), but I know that they last for years and they're good for my feet and knees.

Weekend Plans
Tonight, we're going out to dinner with my in-laws. Tomorrow is Molly's homecoming dance (she's just going with friends, no date), which means that the Mister and I can have a date night. And on Sunday, my aunt and uncle from Michigan are coming to visit on their way down to Florida for the season, and we're having a big family dinner because Monday is my aunt's 80th birthday. This is the aunt who taught me to knit and likely is responsible for my love of reading because she sent me and my brother a book every week when we were little kids. There will be lots of good food and good company!

Finally, this sweet girl has been challenging this week, but she always brings me joy:

No, mom. I'm not ready to go to bed yet.

Have a great weekend, friends, and be sure to look for joy!

That's a Wrap

Even though it messes with my schedule when the High Holidays fall in the middle of the week, it is nice to take a day off from work and only have to come back for Friday. So today it's a wrap on the work week and on the big holidays. I'm still recovering from fasting yesterday (not eating isn't so hard, but not drinking is a challenge when I'm used to having my big bottle of water next to me). Fortunately we had a beautiful day with warm sunshine, and after services Ruthie and I took a long walk and then curled up on the couch for a few hours until it was time for break fast.

Not a whole lot of knitting has gotten done in the past couple of days (for obvious reasons), but while Ruthie snoozed yesterday, I finished reading a book and got through the heel turn on this sock:

Molly, my mother, and I might go to see the Downton Abbey movie tonight, so today's goal is to get through the gusset decreases so I have movie theater-appropriate knitting.

It looks like the weekend is going to be beautiful and warm, and we've got a trip to the orchard/pumpkin patch planned with my brother's family for Sunday morning. Saturday Molly is going to see the Taylor Swift album launch movie with a couple of friends, and the Mister is taking her to the theater and waiting there to bring her home -- and because it's right next door, he also offered to do a Costco run for me (who says the romance is dead after 18 years?). That means I'll pretty much have Saturday to myself, which works out just fine because I am scheduled to donate blood this afternoon. If I'm successful, that'll be my fifth donation for the year and will have time for one more to make it to the maximum of six, which was a big goal for me this year.

Although we're still having summery weather, I took a peek at next week's forecast and it looks like sweater weather is on the way, with highs only in the 60s. I can't wait to wear some wool!

I hope you've got something fun planned for the first weekend of October, and I'll leave you with this photo because this week's posts have not featured any Ruthie yet:

Life is exhausting and there's a lot of bad news out there, so try to find your inner puppy (or kitten, if you prefer) and forget your troubles while you take a rejuvenating nap.

Good Things to End the Week

I am very happy to see Friday come around again; it's been a busy week, even with (or perhaps because of) the day off. I thought I'd wrap up the week with some happy things, because don't we all prefer and need happy things in our lives?

First good thing: Ruthie is free of all her post-op restrictions and is back to being her normal rambunctious self. We have some behavioral things to address (like the fact that she's suddenly started biting us to get our attention), but most of the time she's a good girl. And now that she doesn't have all that stuff she has to wear, she's resumed her second career as a cinnamon roll:

Second good thing: We got rain! We had a wet start to spring and then a long stretch of mostly dry weather and heat for the summer, so we were actually in drought conditions until this week. You might even say that the start of the new year brought rain, as the first downpour occurred during our Rosh Hashanah dinner on Monday evening. Thankfully the heavy showers have been brief and we've mainly had light but persistent showers for the past several days; I think by the time it moves out, we will have gotten between 2 and 3 inches this week, and apparently it's been enough to put us at an above-average total for the month. I don't think our front lawn is likely to recover, but at least there's some green on it now, instead of the brown it was.

Third good thing: I am nearly finished with a pair of socks!

I was maybe being a tad ambitious in declaring that I might have them done by the end of the week, but really I am very close. I'm past all the parts (save the toe) where I really have to pay attention, so I can pretty much go on autopilot until I'm ready to decrease.

This weekend all three of us are running the Great Race 5K. I'm not sure I'll match or beat my time from last year, but I will be able to run it, which is saying a lot given that less than a year ago I couldn't walk without pain. Afterward, Molly and I are going to get our COVID shots -- I figure that after running a race and getting a vaccine, we will be totally justified in loafing the rest of the day.

I hope there are some good things in your life this week, and I hope you can find some more this weekend. I will be back on Monday with my One Little Word reflection (yes, we are almost at the end of September!).

It's Friday?

Good morning, friends. I have a confession to make: Since Ruthie joined the family, mornings have gotten a lot more hectic, so I've been writing my blog posts ahead of time. Maybe some of you thought I was awake enough to put together a post before 6 a.m., but the reality is that even though I'm usually awake before then, I'm rarely alert enough to form coherent sentences until I've had at least one cup of coffee. So writing the day or evening before and setting the post to publish the next morning has been working well -- at least when I remember what day it is and when I need to write a post. Yesterday I completely forgot. And this morning when I came downstairs to let Ruthie out of her crate and take her outside, I discovered her donut was extremely deflated, which required taking it off, re-inflating it, and then getting it back on in addition to getting her harness and leash on. You can imagine how much she enjoyed all that (not). All of this is to say that my usual posting plain failed me and I'm flying a bit by the seat of my pants.

It's been a bit of a weird week, not especially busy but just enough that I've felt like I'm running behind schedule. Nevertheless, I did manage to finish a sock:

The toe wrapped up at an ideal point in the stripe sequence to enable me to make the second sock match without having to wind too much yarn off, and that felt like a win. We're still having summer-like weather here, but cooler temperatures are surely coming, and I'll be happy to have fun new wool socks to wear when they do.

Another win this week? After not seeing one for a while, I found a praying mantis in the garden:

They are such weird-looking creatures, so finding one is a bit like finding an alien in the yard.

The weekend ahead looks relatively quiet, though there's Rosh Hashanah prep to do (the holiday begins on Monday at sunset). I've got a second batch of challah to bake, and because we're hosting the big dinner on Monday evening, we've got a lot of cleaning and setup to do. Ruthie would like to remind you that it's important to get your rest, so whatever you have planned, remember that naps are always a good idea.