Visitors

 Nature provides the most interesting things.  It is amazing how something as fine and invisible as a spider's web can hold droplets of water many times larger in diameter.

Hundreds of droplets are visible but the web cannot be seen.

Like a string of pearls magically suspended in air.

Each droplet refracting the deck railing behind.

This past month has flown by.  In fact, this year is going very quickly.

I'm enjoying watching the birds that are coming up to our feeder, or in some cases, below our feeder.

A momma duck brought her babies up to the house to eat the seed that was dropped to the ground.  She started with 11 chicks, but sadly only 7 made it to the fledging stage.  They are now all grown and moved away.

A wide variety of birds frequented the feeder this summer.  Some acted like we were the intruders when we went out on the deck.

One night in July, after Ed went to bed and I stayed up to knit, I noticed the back security light kick on.  Peeking out to see what triggered it, I noticed this guy also under the feeder.  I don't imagine he was eating the seed.  Maybe helping to keep the insects at bay.

We had an unexpected visitor stay with us for a week.  Last Tuesday when Ed went out into his garage, he found a racing homing pigeon sitting there.  The bird had a couple bands on his legs.  We determined one is a tracking device and the other was an ID tag.  After getting the numbers off the second band and doing a little internet investigating, I found who he belonged to.  After a week of taking care of him, his keeper was able to come down from the Cleveland area and claim him.

While he was here we gave him food and water and let him hang out in the garage.  We left the garage door open in case he had the urge to fly home on his own.  Unfortunately, he seemed to like it here and stayed.  One day he even started following me as I left to go down to the mail box.  I think I have imprinted him.

He's gone now, back to his loft.  We are hoping he recovers his strength and becomes a champion racing pigeon.  We have a mess in the garage to clean up.  He was not a tidy house guest.

I will admit, I am missing him.

Missing someone is something I'm going to have to deal with more.

When I worked my previous contract at another state agency, I had the priviledge of working with a wonderful young lady named Rathna.  Rathna and I became quite close.  She called me her American mom.  We haven't worked together since 2021, but we have remained in contact.  In the fall of 2022 Rathna married a wonderful man.  They bought a house. In May of this year they had a beautiful little girl. They were settled into a nice life here. Unfortunately, as they say, all good things must come to an end.  Rathna has stopped working because she had a very difficult pregnancy.  Her husband's work engagement ended at the end of June and he has not been able to find another contract.  Because they are both here in the US on work VISAs, they are required to go back to India by the end of August.  They hope that someday they will be able to come back to the US.  It's not likely that they will ever be in my area again.

My heart is broken.  I'm not sure if I'll ever see her again.  We've promised to keep in touch.  We'll do video calls so that I can watch my adopted grandbaby grow.  As a going away gift, I made this Chunky Benji.  I'm giving him lots of hugs so that he can share them with Rathna after she's gone.  I'm meeting Rathna and her family on Friday to say 'Good-bye'.  It makes me want to cry just typing these words.

I always knew in the back of my mind that this might happen someday.  It doesn't make it any easier though.

Besides Chunky Benji, I've been working on a couple other things.  

I started a Summer Vibe Tee, but it is now in timeout.  It is a simple pattern, but I just kept making mistakes or dropping stitches.  It was frustrating me too much so it is put away until next spring.

I cast on the Harrisburg Pullover.  I bought this yarn a couple years ago at one of my LYSs.  I'm calling this my candy corn sweater.  If I work a few stripes each night, I'll have this done in time to wear this fall.

Competing for my attention are baby knits.  Grandbaby #3 is due on Christmas Day, so I've begun working on things for him.  First up is the First Impressions Pants.

There are a couple other babies joining the world soon that I should make something for.  But my new little guy gets top priority.

Almost 6 Months to Recap

 No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth.  Life has just been very busy.  I can't believe 2025 is over half over already.

At the end of February I managed to crank out a few quick projects for my grandbabies.

Swirled Ski Cap from Knitting For Peace.

Garter Be Kidding Me by Katherine Young

Small Rabbit by Julie Williams.

The rabbit is staying at my house as a toy.  I'm not ready to give him up yet.

March included a trip to Cincinnati to celebrate my birthday with Ed and Blake.  Blake took us to The Precinct.  I had a lovely cocktail with dried roses pressed on the side and an orchid floating as a garnish.

The birthday dessert was a piece of funfetti cake.  Honestly, I would have preferred something else but this was the complimentary birthday dessert.

March ended on a very happy note with Kristin and Michael moving back to Ohio

April began with a few visitors to our yard.  There were 8 deer roaming around the pond.  Several were does and the rest were yearlings.

Easter was a beautiful day.  My brother Joe was here along with rest of my family except Michael.  He was in Germany for a business trip.  Jameson didn't hunt eggs this year.  This year he got to hunt tubs of Playdough.

I managed to make a baby sweater for a friend's daughter's second baby.  This is My Gift To You by Taiga Hilliard.  I used some stash Lion Brand Wool Ease in the color Blush Heather.

May's big event was Kristin and Michael's wedding on May 10.  They chose to be married on top of a mountain in Tennessee.  It was absolutely beautiful even with a very, very light drizzle and an earthquake in the morning.

I made the cake that Kristin and Michael cut at the reception.  The cake is my grandmother's strawberry cake recipe.  I used the Sugar Geak's Easy Buttercream for the frosting.  This is the reason I have been absent.  I spent a lot of my spare time practicing my piping skills.  I think it turned out beautiful if I say so myself.

After the wedding, I needed a rest but that didn't happen.  I had my brother visit the very next weekend and then Ed and I got busy with the basement.  My sewing room project is still not done.

Mid-June our front door got absconded by a robin.  She built her nest right on top of my wreath.

We had to wait four weeks for the 3 eggs to hatch and the babies to fledge.  They finally left the next on July 1.  The wreath and nest got tossed in the trash because it was a total mess.  Along with the front door and porch which I had to scrub.

Also in June, I decided to rip out my Yume sweater that I made last year.  I loved the fabric but it was too big for my liking.  As a result it never was worn.  I'm going to reknit it one size smaller.

I'm making slow, slow progress on my Astri afghan.  This is the halfway point for attaching the flowers.

I cast on a Summer Vibe Top using Knitty McPurly yarn I have in my stash.  Knitty McPurly is having a summer top KAL running through August 15.  One entry for prizes for each completed top and an extra entry for using her yarn.  Squeaks was giving me advise on what order to place the colors.

Sourdough has been an on/off project for me.  I have two starters that I've managed to keep alive.  My original whole wheat starter, named Edna, is on the right.  Marge, on the left, is made with all purpose flour and starter I retrieved from Kristin's when I babysat hers back in March.

During the past few months I finished 4 projects. I can't remember exactly when I finished them so I'll do a big photo dump here.

The Riptide Slipover from JST Designs.  This was made in &Make DK in the Soft Love colorway.  I like the pattern, but the armholes are too deep to wear without a top underneath.

Nila by Natasja Hornby made with Purl Soho Linen Quill in Crocus.  This had been in hibernation for a while.  I love how this turned out.  My only complaint is that the yarn is pilling under the arms.

Funnel Neck Pullover by Churchmouse in Jody Long Alba in the color 19 Winter.  This was yarn I bought last fall on our Canadian Maritime cruise.  I ended up losing yarn chicken and having to order another ball of yarn.  The knitting gods were smiling on my because the ball I ordered from a shop in Michigan was the same dye lot as the yarn I bought in Canada.  YIPPEE!!!!

Bernat Baby Blanket using Bernat Softee Baby (Sport DK) in color 0200.  This was a deep stash yarn.  The blanket went to the baby girl of a young lady I used to work with.  I consider her my adopted daughter.

I also made a cover for my iPad but didn't feel that it's worthy of a photo.  I just used some leftover stash yarn and self drafted pattern.  

In total I've finished 10 projects so far in 2025.  Let's see if I can make 25 in 2025.

I'll sign off now with a picture of the cutest little patriots and the news that they are going to have a cousin by the end of the year.  I'm so excited to be Omi x3!!!

Poco A Poco

 It is already more than halfway through February.  This year is flying by.  We've been very busy.

Ed is working on my craft room in the basement.  This picture was taken several weeks ago when he was working on the framing.  He is now putting up the drywall.  After that he'll install the lights, finish the electrical work, and install the floors.  At that point I'll need to paint the walls.  I haven't decided what color I want yet.  The rest of the house is a light grey.  A color appropriately named Knitting Needles.  I may just make this the same so that I can use the leftover paint we have before buying another tub.  We'll see.  My one daughter says I have too much grey in the house.  Since this is the basement, I might make it a little brighter just to not make it feel like a dungeon.  After my craft room is completed, I'm going to have the Herculian task of organizing my fabric, yarn, and books.

Before starting on the basement, Ed made me a dropzone next to the entrance from the garage.  It is nice to have dedicated spots for shoes, hooks to hang my purse and coat, and shelves to store odds and ends.

At the end of January/begining of February Ed and I escaped the cold for a long weekend and spent time at our favorite resort in Orlando.  The weather wasn't as warm as we had hoped, but it was nice to get away for a little while.  Honestly, I could have spent a few more days there.  We took walks every day and even spent a couple afternoons by the pool.  Next time I'm going to suggest we do a whole week.

This has been the winteriest winter we've had in years.  It'll go down as one of the coldest in decades.  The pond behind our house has been frozen over the majority of the time.  We'll have a few days where it warms up enough to thaw out, but then drop down below freezing and glaze over again.  We are in the middle of an 8-day stretch of temperatures well below freezing.  

The geese have been ice skating on the pond.   This picture was taken over the weekend.  We got some snow on Sunday and are predicted to get more tonight/tomorrow.  According to AccuWeather, once we break out of this cold spell over the coming weekend, we should have daytime temperatures above freezing through the rest of the winter season.  I hope it's true.  I'm ready to resume my walks.

My first, and only so far, finished object of 2025 is a Sophie Scarf.  I started this scarf last January when we were heading out on a cruise.  I got bored with it and tossed it aside after we got home.  It went to Florida with me this year and I finished it up in Orlando.  I made this out of 2 balls of Rowan Alpaca Soft DK that I had in my stash, leftover from my trip to Chicago in 2022 to take a class from Arne and Carlos.  Because of a sudden illness, I was not able to go to the class.

Side note, I see Arne and Carlos are going to be touring the US again in March.  I'd love to try again to see them, but my schedule just won't allow it.  Maybe next time.

I have many other WIPs, some new projects and others long term ones.

Nila is a sweater that has been on the needles for almost a year.  I worked on this last summer and then tossed it aside when the weather got cooler.  I'm finishing this up now so that I can wear it during the upcoming wedding festivities for my oldest daughter.  Nila is being knit out of Purl Soho Linen Quill.

Last September when my husband and I took a cruise through New England and the Canadian Maritimes, I bought yarn to make the Funnel Neck Pullover.  I started this project on New Year's Eve. This is going to be a big oversized outer layer.  I am currently on the third ball of the 4 I bought from a shop in Nova Scotia.  I'm hoping I have enough to finish, but am getting a bit concerned.  I'll work on the sleeves next with the yarn I have.  Hopefully it will be enough.  If I have to get another ball, I'll use that for the funnel neck.  May even get a different color.  Other people have done that.  Stay tuned for updates on my yarn chicken and finishing decisions.

I also started Glenfiddich on New Year's Eve.  I'm using some deep stash Plymouth Encore for this sweater.  This will be a long-term project because of the heavy cabling.  I have to concentrate to make sure I'm working them correctly.

I have a couple quick knits going for my grandkids.  The baby is going to have a handband with a bow and the grandson will get a spiral hat.  Hope to have these done by this weekend for them.

I have a few other non-knitting projects in the works

For years I've thought about a temperatur blanket, but never could motivate myself to tackle such a large project.  After seeing a few things on Facebook, I decided to do a temperature cross stitch.  This will be a tree with each leaf the color of the high temperatur of the day.  I'm outlining the leaves with the low temperatur.  The outline will be subtle but will give a little depth to the leaves.

I've been seeing a lot about English paper piecing and decided to give it a go.  I bought a kit from Kate at The Last Homely House for an EPP project bag.  I like hand stitching, but not completely sure if I like this technique.  I may try a small table runner after.

I have a few crochet projects in the works also.  The Astrid blanket is still getting a little attention now and then.  I'm also using some stash fingering weight yarn to make squares for what I hope will be blankets for my kids.  My goal is to have them done by next Christmas.

As usual I think I have overcommitted myself.  My goal for this year is to burn through some of my stash yarn.  If I get those crocheted blankets done that will make a good dent in the stash.  In the words of Fr. Mark-Mary 'Poco a poco'.  Little by little.