First Finished Objects of 2026

 In my last post I showed the grey bear I made for my new grandson.  I intended on having that bear and two more for the other grandkids done by Christmas.  As usual, I overcommitted myself and didn't get them done.  Today, however, I finished the bears for Jameson and Olivia.

The cream one on the left will be for Olivia and the tan one of the right is Jameson's.

I used CrochetObjet's Chunky Benji pattern.  Since I had already made one of these, I decided to modify the pattern a little.  The pattern calls for you to make the body with holes left for where the legs and arms go.  After completing the body and head, you go back and pick up around the holes and crochet in the round to the end of each limb.  I found this a bit annoying, having to rapidly rotate the body to crochet around.  For these three bears, I reverse engineered the leg and arm patterns and made them first.  Then when I got to the places where the holes were to be made, I attached half of the limb stitches as I crocheted the row. After a few rows, I went back and sewed the other stitches to the body.  It worked out rather well.  

My only worry was that I might run out of yarn before I could finish.  With the first bear I made back in August, I only had inches of yarn left.  Luckily, I had plenty.  Here is what was left of the cream and tan yarns.  Pencil and stitch marker included for size reference.

This Sunday I am taking a Knit to Fit class with my LYS.  During the class I will make a Felix Pullover.  The yarn for that is purchased and ready to go.  This should be a quick knit.  I'm using Bulky yarn and US 10.5 needles.

I am also slowly working on my Candy Corn sweater.  I have the front and back pieces finished and the first sleeve started.  There's no rush for this.  Just as long as I get this done for next autumn.

A few weeks ago I also cast on a Cumulus Blouse.  I have some Drops Melody that I thought would be nice for that.  It's working up very fast on US 10.5 needles.  The gauge is altered to accomodate the yarn.

Lastly, a Pressed Flowers Shawl is on the needles.  In April I will be going to NashFest with a friend and her sister.  They attended last year and made matching sweaters for the event.  This year they decided a shawl would work.  Since I'm tagging along I'm joining in the knit along.

That's all for now.  Time to get a glass of wine and pull out some knitting.

New Little Ones In Our Lives

As mentioned a couple posts ago, we lost our beloved cat, Squeaks.  Our hearts were shattered.  We decided to have her cremated.  We now have her ashes, as well as a paw print and clippings of her fur.  We'll always remember her and know we'll never have another one like her.

As the days went by, though, we felt the house was too quiet.  It didn't take us long to decide to adopt another kitten.  We wanted another tuxedo so I started looking around at rescue agencies.  We settled on a little guy that we have named 'Buddy'.

He just turned 8 months old. I looked up what his age would be in human years and it said he'd be in his early teens.  His behavior is right on par with a teenage boy.  He is a bundle of energy, getting into things that he shouldn't, climbing and exploring, and always hungry.

We are all still adjusting to each other.  He is more physically affectionate than Squeaks was.  He purrs very loudly and doesn't mind being held, usually.  I do have a few scratches from when he hasn't been in the mood.  Like Squeaks, 4am is the preferred time to wake us up and demand ear scratches.  Needless to say, the house isn't too quiet anymore.

We have another new little one in our lives.  Our oldest daughter, Kristin, and her husband, Michael, became first-time parents on December 22.  Henry was born at 6:20am.  Kristin needed to have a C-Section because he was breech.  Fortunately everything went smoothly.

He is absolutely beautiful and doing great.  He's eating well and is adjusting to the outside world.

This was the best Christmas gift.

Here he is wearing a little bear hat that I knit for him.

I also made him a Chunky Benji bear.  Two more are in the works for the other grandkids.

I also made him a stocking for our fireplace.  I need to still make stockings for my son-in-laws.

2025 was a very busy year.  I didn't do as much crafting as I had hoped, and as a result, I didn't post as much here on the blog.  I'm hoping to be better about both in 2026.

With that, I'll sign off now and wish you a very wonderful Christmas season and Happy New Year.

First Fractal

 Just a quick post about my first fractal spin.  I think I got this roving from my sister.  My spinning skills are a bit rusty.  The twist and thickness aren't the most consistent.  But it turned out very lovely.  I haven't bothered yet to figure out how much I have.  I'll do that when I decide on a project for it.

Squeaks, You Were The Best!!!!

 At about 7:15 am yesterday morning, Sunday, November 30, 2025, we lost the most precious, sweet girl.  Squeaks was sleeping in bed with us, made a few strange noises, and then passed away.  We are heart broken.  The vet said it sounds like she had a heart arrythmia that went undetected.  She was only 7 years old.  Far to young to be gone.

Here are highlights of her favorite things.

Havinug her belly rubbed.  She's lick my hand to show her love.

Watching the birds outside

Napping in bags and boxes

Watching nature shows

Looking beautiful for the camera

Helping her mommy with sewing

Inspecting the latest yarn acquisitions

Keeping an eye on the squirrels and chipmunks

Staring off into space, comtemplating life

Using mommy's laptop

Watching knitting podcasts with mommy

Deciding which yarn is best for a project

Making sure mommy is keeping on track with her crocheting

Comforting mommy when she wasn't feeling well

Making sure mommy was never alone

Napping in the sunshine

or in front of the fire

We hope she passed happily to kitty Heaven.  She was active the night before with her usual evening zoomies.  She played with some toys.  Had treats,  Slept in front of the fire while we watched football.  And then crawled into our bed when we went to sleep.

I'm doing a lot of searching to see if there had been signs of an issue.  Looking back there might have been, but as my niece who is a vet told me they probably weren't strong enough signals to prompt a call to the vet.  What she thinks happened is something that goes undetected in many cases.

We had Squeaks for not quite 7 years.  We loved her completely and we are grateful for the love she gave us.  We wished we had had at least 7 more years with her.  We adopted her, or rather she adopted us, on March 9, 2019.  She has been the joy of my life since then. I miss her intensely and can't stop crying.  She was the best.   

Rest in Peace, baby.