A Very Different Christmas

 This was a very unusual Christmas.

The past few years I've managed to have my decorations up, knitted gifts made, cookies baked, Christmas dinner planned all in time to enjoy the holiday with minimal stress.  Not this year!

We closed on our new house on December 19 and moved in that evening.  No decorations were hung because they were all in a storage unit somewhere, unable to be delivered because of the blizzard that hit the Midwest on December 22-23.  The extent of my decorations were the handful of Christmas cards we received addressed to the new house and a Christmas gnome a friend gave me.

Don't believe the idyllic picture.  This was the only corner of the house that was in order.  The rest of the house was/still is a shamble of boxes and stuff waiting to find its proper place.

I only managed to make socks for Ed and Blake this year.  The rest of the family will receive their knitted gifts later, once I get time to make them.

After we went into contract on the old house, I baked a few batches of cookies.  The kids came over on December 17 for one last meal in the old house and to help bake cookies.  It was a fun evening and a nice way to say Goodbye to the house.  Most of the cookies didn't make it to Christmas though.

After we closed we had the 16' unit that sat at our house moved to the new house.  We spent the evening unloading it.  That night my body hurt so bad I couldn't sleep.  It also didn't help that the neighbors had a bright light that shown into the bedroom window.

On December 20, Ed and I pre-signed the papers for the closing of our old house.  We then went there to pack up the last storage unit full of stuff (12' unit).  A couple friends came over to lift the last heavy things.  It was a long day.  After we got home and I unloaded my plants, I soaked in a bathtub and went to bed.  Ed stayed up organizing his side of the closet.  He said I was snoring.  Usually I'd deny that, but I slept so well, he's probably right.

On December 21, the 12' unit from the old house was delivered as well as one of the 16' units from storage.  I had hoped my Christmas decorations were on that 16' unit, but they weren't.  We got the 16' unit unloaded in time for the company to pick it up on Thursday morning, but with the impending storm, they could not deliver the last 16' unit.  No decorations this year except what is pictured above.

We got the 12' unit unloaded before the storm hit, but it stayed on our driveway over the weekend.  It helped to act as a marker for our unexpected guests on Christmas Eve.  My oldest sister, Mary Anne, and her husband, John, were journeying from New Jersey to Cincinnati on Christmas Eve.  The road conditions were bad and they made very poor time.  Just as Ed, Blake, and I arrived at Kristin's for Christmas Eve dinner, Mary Anne called to ask if they could stay overnight at our place.  The remainder of their trip would be 2 hours under normal conditions, but would probably be at least 4 as it was.  I gave them directions to the exit off the highway for my new house.  They found a restaurant to get dinner while we had our meal with Kristin.

Kristin made a very nice dinner:  beef rib roast, twice-baked potatoes, mac and cheese, rolls, asparagus and salad.  She even had a cheesecake for dessert.  Her house was beautifully decorated.  It was a wonderful evening.  After the meal, though, we decided to get back home and rescue the travelers.  Kristin headed over to her boyfriend's apartment to leave a meal on his doorstep.  He was quarantined at home with COVID, not able to travel home to spend Christmas with his family in Michigan.

Christmas morning our surprise guests ate breakfast, showered, and then resumed their journey.  All of the kids came over to the house for brunch and to open gifts.  After that we got in the car and headed to Cincinnati ourselves to have Christmas dinner at my younger sister's house.  Jameson got to meet many of his aunts, uncles, and cousins on my side of the family.  We drove home that night, grateful the road conditions were greatly improved.

On Monday, December 26 Ed and I went back to the old house for the last time.  We cleaned up everything and left the keys on the counter.  It was sad to say 'Goodbye' for the last time.  We ended the evening by going to a restaurant that we like over there, figuring we won't likely ever go back.

The last storage unit was delivered on Tuesday.  It is now empty, waiting to be picked up.

Now everything is in this house.  It is time to sort through and find a place for it all.  I already know a lot more is going to be donated.  We purged so much, I've learned how freeing it feels to get rid of stuff that you just don't use anymore.  I am not sentimental about stuff.

Once I get this house in some sort of order, I am going to cast on a new knitting project to celebrate the next chapter in our lives.  More details about that coming soon.

My House Has Never Been This Clean

Before the photographer came, I took my own pictures.  This is to document the one and only time my entire house was clean.

November was extremely hard physically and mentally.  Vertigo was not a good start.  Thankfully it resolved in about a week.  After that Ed and I buckled down and got the house packed up and cleaned.  We were up to 11pm the night before the photographer was coming scrubbing the kitchen.  The back issues that I have dealt with over the past few years flared up, making some activities extremely painful.  Somehow I powered through them.  I'm sure stress was a major factor in the back pain.  I'll admit there were a few moments where all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and cry.  Somehow, though, we got everything done.  As you can see in the above pictures the house was as perfect as it could be.

Our realtor posted a Coming Soon announcement on November 23 and then the live listing on November 28. We had a few showings through the week and then an Open House on December 4.  In the end we had two offers, a low cash offer and an asking-price, conventional financing offer.  We took the higher offer even though it means a few more hoops to jump through to get to closing.

We are now onto the next phase, waiting for the inspection and closing. Ed is worried that there will be something that prompts the buyers to back out.  I'm trying to trust that all will work out in the end.

Our new house is coming along.  We are tentatively scheduled to have our final walk-through next Monday with the closing the Monday after that.  The lender for the new house is finishing up the paperwork.  We're keeping our fingers crossed that we'll be able to close on schedule and move in the next day.

I told the kids that I wasn't sure what Christmas will look like this year.  Now that we are in contract for the current house, I'm planning on relaxing this week and focus on Christmas shopping.  We may not have any decorations up, but I hope to at least have presents wrapped for everyone.

Crunch Time

Over the weekend of November 3-6 I was supposed to take 2 classes with Arne and Carlos at Wool & Co in South Elgin, IL.  I drove to Chicago on November 3.  I was staying with a friend of a friend.  Thursday night my new knitting pal, Nada, and I went over to Wool & Co for the Meet and Greet.  Arne and Carlos gave a talk and then sat at a table to personally meet people.  I didn't bring my book that I wanted them to sign because I figured I would as them on Saturday around the classes.  

As luck would have it I woke up on Saturday with horrible vertigo.  It was a huge struggle to get out of bed.  I was nauseous and threw up a couple time.  I called my doctor who reassured me that it was not serious, but I could not drive myself home.  Nada went to the pharmacy to get some motion sickness medicine.  I called Ed, who along with Blake, drove to Chicago to pick me up and drive my car home.  I'm very grateful for the guys doing that.  I'm also very upset to worry Nada and having missed meeting Arne and Carlos.

The vertigo lasted about a week and thankfully resolved itself.  My doctor treated me for an ear infection but doesn't think that was the cause.  I have an appointment with a neurologist (not until February!!) to discuss what might be the issue.

 We are only a few days away from having the photographer come in and take pictures of our house.  We have purged so much stuff.  Most of it has gone to donation centers.  Several loads of electronics went to a store that recycles them.  A carload of books went to a reseller.  Last week was the first time we set out a pile of trash.  It feels very good to not have to send most of our unwanted stuff to the landfill.  We still have things in the laundry room, pantry and basement storage area to go through. Hopefully I can find a place to donate the household chemicals.

Last night I took a break from packing to babysit my grandson.  On my over to Trisha's house I drove by the new house to see how it is coming along.  I was happy to see that as I pulled up guys were taking my kitchen appliances into the house.  They has warned us back in the spring that they were having supply chain issues with appliances.

We were told a couple weeks ago that they were hoping to get the landscaping in.  It didn't happen and the weather is now too cold to do.  I guess we won't have grass until April or May.

The evening was spent snuggling baby J.  He is starting to vocalize and interact.  I start babysitting him during the day on Fridays in 2 weeks.  It's going to be fun watching him develop his personality.

Drowning in Boxes

Boxes everywhere!

We are in the throws of getting this house packed up and show ready.  Over the weekend, Ed, Blake and Craig carried furniture out to the garage.  The stuff near the back is going into pods for storage.  The pieces closer to the door are going to be sold.  I'm letting Ed handle that.  Not my favorite thing to do.

Before all of this fun activity on Sunday, Ed and I escaped to Orlando for a few days.  I really didn't think we had time, but the trip was already planned and paid for before our moving timeline got moved forward.  So, instead of stressing over the house, I decided it would be good for me to relax a few days and sleep as much as possible.  I know I'm not going to sleep well until this house is sold.

Here are the highlights of our trip.

We stayed at the Sheraton Vistana Villa, where we have stayed at least 6 times before.

Even with it being at the end of the season, there were a few flowers still in bloom.

Many critters were about, including an armadillo that didn't pay any attention to us as we walked by.

Thousands of lizards scurried about.

At night the other creatures emerged, like snails.

There was even a Florida soft shelled tortoise.

We spent the afternoons at the pool.

On our last night we took a walk in the moonlight.

The place is beautiful.

I love this picture, with the moonlight reflecting on the water.

We don't look the best but did a selfie by the pool.

We love this particular resort.  Sometime I hope we can have another family vacation down there.

What is that?

Every time grandbaby comes to visit, Squeaks seems very confused.

She just can't figure out what that little thing is that makes squeaky noises like her and smells like milk and pee.

The Purge

Not much knitting going on around here.  We are deep in the throws of moving.  We signed a contract with a realtor to list our house at the end of November.  I have to have this place sparkling clean by November 21 to be photographed for the listing.  Even with interest rates climbing, our realtor thinks we'll sell quickly because we are in a very desirable area.  This house is within walking distance of the schools, kindergarten through high school.  Also, our lot is a bit bigger than most in the neighborhood, we're on a cul-de-sac, have a 3-car garage, big deck, sunroom, and semi-finished basement.  This house is perfect for a family moving up from a starter home.

We had our pre-drywall walkthrough with the builder on September 30.  Everything is looking good.  Our mortgage lender called earlier this week to discuss locking in a rate.  Even though we plan to pay off the new house with what we make from this house, we can't guarantee we'll have the money at the closing.  Therefore, we are taking a bridge loan to get us through.  Our lender is still trying to get us the best rate just in case we need to pay for a couple months.

Our main focus right now is clearing out stuff from the house.  We found a charity that takes old, CRT televisions so the one from the basement went there on Wednesday.

I pulled these gourds out of the flower bed Tuesday night. An animal must have deposited the seeds.  The girls want them for their fall decorations.

Ed took a carload of books to a reseller.  Lots of knowledge being passed along there.  I can honestly say I read at least half of those books.  Maybe more.

In other news, my sweet grandson is still the cutest thing ever.  I got to babysit him last Friday while Trisha went to a hair appointment.  He is wearing an outfit that his momma and aunt and uncle wore when they were babies.  Trisha loved Pooh as a toddler so I kept this outfit.  Glad I did.  He looks adorable in it.

Squeaks is beginning to pick up on the differences around the house.  Things are disappearing.  Furniture is moved.  Ladders are being hauled around.  Big boxes are popping up in rooms.  And occasionally a little human comes.  The last is the most confusing for her.  She can't understand why everyone makes a fuss over him and wants to hold something that smells like milk and pee.

 

Welcome to Autumn 2022

September has flown by.  It marks the transition from summer to winter.

In my mind Kristin's birthday marks the end of summer.  She turned 29 this year.  We gathered at her house to celebrate with a one last cookout.

Jameson finally got to meet his Uncle Blake.  They had a great time together discussing their follicle challenges.

I gave Jameson his new hat.  The fit is perfect.  It won't be long before I'll need to knit another one in a slightly larger size.

The weather has cooled off and he's getting good use of the hat.  Last night Ed and I went to an Oktoberfest with Trisha and Craig.  The little schnitzel slept through all the polka music.

Before heading over to the festivities, we stopped by the house to check on the progress.  The electrical rough in is done.  We'll soon have our pre-drywall walk through.  It is looking like we'll close right in the middle of the holidays.

With the weather cooling off, Squeaks has decided to find a cozier place to sleep.  She's back to using the linen closet in my bathroom.  Instead of laying on the bath towels, she's decided my knitted shawls are perfect.  I probably make a few out of acrylic yarn just to for her and put my good ones away.

I couldn't resist the recent fall mini bundle from Blue Sky.  I'm knitting up a pile of leaves to create a garland.  Aren't they just the cutest little things?!

 

FOs and Current WIPs

Have a few finished projects since my last post.

My grandson arrived on Monday, August 29.  He is absolutely perfect!  I got to see him born.  It was an incredible experience.  Let the spoiling begin.

I gave my daughter and son-in-law an unfinished cradle that I found in my dad's workshop after he died.  My son-in-law added a bottom to it.  I made a little pad for the inside.  Jameson took his first nap in it and gave it the seal of approval.

I finished my Ranunculus.  It turned out exactly as I had hoped.  It is now stowed away waiting for my reunion.  I don't want to wear it until then so that it is fresh.  I'm worried that the mohair will pill.

Football season is upon us.  My daughter and I want to make sure Jameson roots for the Bengals so I made him a little had to wear this season.  I used a basic baby hat pattern and Fiber Optics Kashmir in their Bengals colorway from about 10 years ago.  It was a limited edition yarn that I've had in my stash for quite a while.

There is going to be another baby in the family later this year.  My niece is expecting her first in November.  I started a slipped rib blanket using some Dreambaby DK that has been in my stash.  I have 4 balls.  I'm hoping it will be long enough with just those 4.  After I finish the first ball, I'll measure how long it is and see if I have to order more.  Keeping my fingers crossed that I can find the colorway.  I bought it about a year and a half ago from Webs when I was making a blanket for a nephew's baby that came in May 2021.  I'm not too worried about the dye lot because I think Dreambaby is pretty consistent.

While doing more yarn organizing, I heard the whispers of the Berroco Remix Light I bought a year or two ago.  I bought it to make another Anker Summer Tee.  During a couple very boring days at work, I cast on.  I think I might have enough yarn to make long sleeves.  If so, this will be a nice autumn sweater.

Making progress on my Beeline Shawl.  As mentioned last time, this is not easy TV knitting.  At the latest color change, I made a major mistake and had to do major surgery to fix.  My fix isn't perfect but I think it will not be noticeable once blocked.

While waiting at the hospital for Jameson to make his appearance, I cast on a pair of socks.  I've misplaced the ball band, so I don't know what yarn this is.  I'm trying to do two-at-a-time.  Years ago my friend and I took a class at a LYS on this.  I don't quite remember how we did the heel gusset.  Once I get to that step I'll have to experiment to see if I can figure it out.  Stay tuned to see how I make out with these.

 

WIPs All Around

 Works in Progress is the theme right now.  Grandbaby - In Progress, New House - In Progress, Projects - In Progress.

Still waiting for my grandbaby to arrive.  I'm not feeling as anxious as I felt a week or so ago.  Maybe it is because I know that by this time next week he'll be here.  If he doesn't come earlier, my daughter is getting induced on Friday.  Constant prayers are going up for  a safe delivery and healthy baby and momma.

With working from home I don't get out of the house often.  Ed does the grocery shopping, so my trips out are usually just to church or the gym, which I recently joined and am still trying to develop the habit of going to.  Yesterday I went over to Trisha and Craig's for the day.  We went to an apple farm to buy some produce.  I came home with a big bag of Gala apples.  I also bought a butternut squash.  Butternut squash soup is on the menu tonight.  Yum!!

After I left their place I stopped by the house to check on the progress of the build.  Craig and Trish go by often, but I haven't been there since mid-July.  The framing is done and the roof is on. I really wasn't supposed to go inside, but since no one was working I took a little tour around the house.

This is the view coming out of our bedroom and looking out the family room windows.  You can see the pond in the back.  Across the pond is an area we have been told will someday become a park.  I hope so.  I really want the view to stay like this.  Waking up to this every morning is going to make me very happy!

I have to get myself moving on packing things up.  I think Ed is starting to get a little impatient with me.  He is reminding me that we need to get the pieces of furniture that we aren't taking listed for sale.

I finished the A Study In Pink sweater.  I made a couple modifications.  First, I didn't knit the bottom hem as long as the pattern states.  The sweater was long enough for me already and I thought the wide hem took away from the lace.  Second, I added an inch to the sleeves before binding off.  I don't like showing my fat upper arms.

Overall, I'm happy with how it turned out but there are a few things that take away from this being perfect.  First is the yarn. I used Diamond Sock from The Knot House.  It is lovely yarn but is a bit itchy for me.  Positives for the yarn is that it is well plied and the color is lovely, although I did realize after I was done that one of the skeins was not quite the same as the other two.  I'm pleased with the fit. Because my gauge was little off from the pattern, I knit a size smaller than I would if I had gotten gauge.  It fit through the torso perfectly.  The neck opening is a bit wider than I like, but I can live with that.  If I make this again, I may make the neck opening a little smaller and then increase up to the correct size before the lacework.  But I'm tired of knitting sweaters from fingering weight, so there is no plans at this time to knit this again.

My Ranunculus is coming along.  I haven't been monogamous with this so it's not getting done as quickly as people say this pattern can be made.  I am loving how the fabric looks.  This will be a fun thing to wear when it's finished.

One of my favorite YouTube channels to watch is Arne and Carlos.  I got hooked on them during 2020 when they were doing their daily Sit And Knit For A Bit videos.  Back then I started working on the Astri blanket.  It's a stash-buster project to use up a bin of Knit Picks Palette that I bought years ago.  Last week on their channel, Arne and Carlos announced that they have hit 150,000 subscribers.  To celebrate, they asked for photos of projects that people are making/have made using their patterns.  Here is my submission.  Squeaks had to pose with the flowers.  She's such a diva!

Since I've been packing, I've been organizing all of my WIPs.  Instead of casting on a new project, I've pulled a couple hibernating projects to work on.

The Beeline Shawl was started back in 2020, but got put aside because the lace was complicated and my brain wasn't up to it.  It definitely isn't TV knitting.  I'm trying to get a couple rows of this done each day just to make progress on it.

I don't have a picture yet of the other WIP I am going to work.  It is the Sixty Years sweater.  I started it back in 2019 using some Amano Yarns Puna.  I haven't restarted it yet because I want to finish the Ranunculus first.  Stay tuned for updates on it.

Plans Can Be Changed

The past month has flown by.  My grandson is going to be here soon.  My daughter's pregnancy seems to have gone by much faster than any of mine did.  I am very excited to meet the little guy soon.  My daughter is showing signs that she'll go into labor soon.  Her due date is September 9, but I'd be surprised if she goes another week.

I finished Willum's Overalls and gave them to Trisha for the baby.  I'm worried that by the time he is big enough to wear these, the weather will be too warm.  I might just have to make another one in a smaller size.  Or a bigger size to fit him during his second winter.

While 'packing' for the house, I came across four skeins of linen (Knit Pick's Lindy Chain) that I planned to day with avocado.  I had the avocado pits and skins in the freezer, so I decided that I'd dye up the yarn now to clean out something in the freezer.  After doing a little investigation on the web, I learned that avocado pits have tannin in them so I didn't need to mordant the yarn.  I boiled up the skins and pits to make the dye bath.

The next day I put the linen in to soak.  It spent 24 hours in the pot.

I was hoping for a dusty rose color.  Instead it came out as a pale peach color.  Not what I had hoped, but still nice for summer.  These four skeins are now in the stash while I search for a pattern.  I want a top-down summer tee.  These will have to wait until next year.   My enthusiasm to knit fingering weight is low right now since I did the Rock It Tee earlier this summer and have another fingering weight tee on the needles.

Progress on A Study In Pink stalled after I split for the sleeves and body.  The pattern calls for about 10 inches of plain stockinette before some lace detail and hem.  I found myself distracted with other things (dyeing yarn and other projects below) and decided I didn't want this to hibernate over the winter.  I'm forcing myself to get this done.  I am now almost to the lace detail at the bottom of the body.  A little more TV knitting will get me there.

One of my distractions resulted from receiving an invitation to my 40th high school class reunion.  The reunion is mid-October.  I want to make a sweater to wear to it but didn't want something that would be a big commitment.  Having made one Ranunculus, and have received compliments on it, I decided that is what I'll make.  The nice part of Ranunculus is that it works with almost any yarn weight. And knits up very fast.  Easily can be made in a week.  With that in mind I pulled some worsted weight from the stash and cast on.  

After getting through the yoke detail, I just wasn't as enthusiastic about how it was working up.  The combination of the yarn weight, the yoke detail, and the color just wasn't working for me.  I thought that I would just slog through it, hoping it would wow me once it was done.  But I just kept thinking that a worsted Ranunculus would be better in a color that wasn't so much in your face.  

Just as I was debating about what to do with the Ranunculus, I found a new knitting YouTube channel to watch. One of the ladies on the podcast was wearing a beautiful green Ranunculus made with fingering weight yarn held double with silk mohair.  That decided it for me.  The pink worsted Ranunculus was frogged and the search was on for the right yarn.

Nothing in my stash fit the bill for the reimagined Ranunculus.  I had some yarn but not the right quantities.  I promised myself earlier this year that I would curb my yarn buying, but I gave myself permission to make an exception this time if I found the right yarn.  Thursday I took a quick trip to a LYS and came across the perfect yarn.  This is The Backcountry Knitter Sock in Wisteria held double with Berroco Aerial in Basil.  It isn't the deep, rich green that the podcaster used for hers, but I love this combination.  The photo above is showing more blue than it actually is.  The mohair is giving it a soft sage green halo.   I love it and it will be perfect with my skinny* jeans.

*Side note:  Skinny is a relative term.  I am not skinny.  I have recently joined a gym with the intention to work out at least three times a week.   Hoping by mid-October I look toned and can comfortably wear my skinny jeans.

It has been about 2 1/2 years since I took a week off work.  Ed and planned a trip to the Carolinas, but changed our plans last minute.  Because Trisha is showing signs of having the baby early, I wasn't comfortable being away for a whole week.  Our plan was to go to Asheville, NC for a couple days and then spend the rest of the week at Edisto Island, SC.  After a quick discussion, Ed said he'd rather stay home and fish.  

  We dropped Edisto Island from the agenda but still went to Asheville because visiting the Biltmore has been on my bucket list.  It turned out to be the perfect day.

The house tour was fabulous.  Even though we only toured maybe a fourth of the whole house, it was impressive to see all of the rooms on the tour.

I think one of the biggest surprises was the basement room that the owners painted themselves for a party.  I had to take a picture for Squeaks of the kitty.

The garden was just as impressive.  Being mid-summer, there were areas that were past their prime.  I'd like to return in the different seasons to see how it looks in spring, autumn, and winter.

The coneflowers were absolutely gorgeous though.  I want to have a flowerbed like this at the new house.  I love all of the different colors.  This reminds me of a Monet painting.

After touring the house and gardens, we went over to the winery for lunch and a wine tasting.  We came home with bottles of wine and some wonderful memories.  It was a much needed time away.