Sometimes Monday | 3.11.24

Sometimes Monday | 3.11.24

Welcome to the Mondayist Monday… the Monday after the Spring Forward time change. Are you all back on track yet? I am better than yesterday but still not feeling “right”.

Yesterday, Old Man Winter reminded us all that Winter Is Not Over. We had wild winds and white-out snow squalls that popped up through out the day. I found it curious that 30°F feels a LOT colder after a string of 60°+ days… and with the wind chill I was bundled up like I was heading to the Arctic Circle for Sherman’s walks yesterday. (In sharp contrast to my insane neighbor who was sporting a t-shirt and shorts when he was outside!)

There was no “Oscar Watching” here yesterday…it might have been fun, but honestly I was struggling to stay awake after dinner and was counting the minutes until bedtime!

There was a big moment that occurred last week though… on Thursday I hit Day 50 in my 100 day Journey! Yes, I am half way through this journey… 10 pages done and I am still having so much fun!

Halfway there!

And with that I will get back to my “usually” scheduled Monday Tasks… See you all back here on Wednesday!

Sometimes Monday | 3.11.24

Sometimes Monday | 2.19.24

Is for processing the weekends thoughts and ideas!

You all provided an abundance of food for thought with your comments last week…thank you so much for your input!

Yes, I have been thinking LOTS of thoughts about that Great Cabled Disaster of a Sweater… starting with the painful thoughts of ripping the entire thing out.

And while that is a very real possibility for the sweater, I also considered a simpler starting point… buttons to see what that might do. I did not buy new buttons, rather I went to my button jar and pulled out 5 matching buttons and stitched them on. It helped… the tiniest bit. After sewing those buttons on, I am still not at all sure what the designer wanted with the button holes that she wrote in the pattern. Quite simply, they do not work… I managed to jam two buttons through two of the holes and if this sweater is not frogged… they will need some improvement. At the current size it also needs an additional button to snug up the collar.

Next on the adjustment list… the sleeves. The cuffs are just all.too.much. They need to be less bulky… and quite a bit tighter. It might not be too difficult to cut the current cuffs off, put the sleeve stitches on a needle and knit new, tighter, less bulky, better fitting cuffs. Still… this is a lot of work for a sweater that the scale is tipping more and more towards frogging.

I also did a bit of Ravelry searching over the weekend which might be the tipping point for this disaster of a sweater.

So after all this “thought processing” I am pretty sure I know where this sweater is heading… now I just need the right “binge watch” to get that process started!

Happy Monday all, I will see you all back here on Wednesday!

 

Sometimes Monday | 3.11.24

Sometimes Monday | 2.12.24

needs a bit of humor…

Yes, we have departed the Fool’s Spring and have arrived at the Second Winter portion of February. Sigh. The snow onslaught begins overnight…

Staying in the Land of Humor… I finished the seaming of the sweater. It might be a trifle big… okay, more than a trifle… more like the Entire Box of Chocolates Big. I am debating in my head the options for said sweater. Stay tuned.

See you all back here on Wednesday where there will likely be LOTS of unraveling!

Things I learned this week | 2.9.24

Things I learned this week | 2.9.24

Happy Friday!

Yes, February is moving on… rather rapidly! (too rapidly?) I am thinking that our little run of gloriously sunny days might be the reason why… because the normal sunless winter we usually get… well, those days just seem to drag, don’t they?

But this week was for learning… and learn I did! So let’s get started!

I had no clue that I really needed a Fast Car duet coupled with a rousing rendition of Both Sides Now… every. single. day. The most delicious ear worms. Who knew that songs from what feels like a lifetime ago, suddenly have new life in my head!

I had forgotten how much I enjoyed Foyle’s War… I needed a Seaming Companion this week and Christopher Foyle and dear Sam were just the ticket! Two episodes “done” and I have just two seams to go on my sweater! The seaming will end soon (today maybe) but I think that I will be spending a bit more time with the Foyle Crew!

And speaking of seaming… I had forgotten how magical mattress stitching is! Although sleeve caps remain one heck of a challenge! They are the Main Culprit for my Seaming Angst. But down the “straightaway” … well, it might be the most fun of knitting!

In the ongoing search for “Horse Books” for Genevieve, I discovered Elaine Heney! (and there are LOTS of books by her to grow Vivi’s library!)

And there you have the things I learned this week… Happy Friday, Everyone! See you all back here on Monday!

 

January… or April… a RIFF | 1.26.24

January… or April… a RIFF | 1.26.24

It has been a topsy-turvy week here… we went from having temps in the teens on Sunday… to this morning an unbelievable 63°F. It smells like spring outside… and the birds must be thinking so as well because there was so much singing as Sherman and I trekked out this morning. The best thing might have been CLEAR SKIES!!! Those clear skies afforded me a glance at a Wolf Moon that was slowly setting.

So with a topsy-turvy week, my thoughts are sort of topsy-turvy as well… but an every once in a while you just need a good Friday brain dump, right?

Wolf Moon in pink skies…

Re-thinking —

This week Bonny posted about The Barbie Movie… which I have not seen. Then Kym sent some more encouragement my way about how I just might enjoy it…  because it is fun! And then the icing on the cake came this week with the Oscar nominations… of course Ken was nominated… Which seems to me to highlight life for women… we do all the hard work, make all the things happen (and generally on time) and our reward is… no notice at all. So, this weekend I will be tucking in with my Great Cabled Sweater and watching The Barbie Movie with thoughts of solidarity for women everywhere.

Impetus (reignited) —

Speaking of that Great Cabled Sweater… well, I fanned the flames on it a bit yesterday and cruised through the button holes and made a LARGE dent in the shawl collar… I have a few repeats of increases and then a tiny bit of straight knitting before arriving at the Short Rows Portion of the collar. I am thinking the other band will go much quicker as I won’t have to make button holes… and I am thinking that The Great Seaming will happen in early February!

(a mighty) FINE (sewer) —

One of you asked earlier this week what I was going to do with my “pages” when I am finished sewing them. When I went to pull fabrics for this 100-day journey… I stumbled across all sorts of bits of fabrics from things I had sewn for Heidi’s kids… things that no longer fit (as happens with growing children) and I thought that putting them all together for her in a sort of a memory book would be special to her. Page one turned out so well… and page two is looking mighty fine as well (of course, I am biased) but I think it fits for Heidi’s “farm!” I am having so much fun with this project… most especially the timeframe… 15 minutes a day. It is a wonder what you can accomplish in just 15 minutes.

Days One and Two… and I think you can see my faint pencil lines of where I am heading later today…

Finding (answers) —

There has been a mystery that has puzzled me for a few months now… at first I thought it was a “one off” and the toilet paper scoring machine was having a moment. But then the next package had more of the same strange scoring on the TP… waves… ripples… not straight. (And honestly, I thought it was because we bought our TP at the Costco… so I thought they might be getting the “imperfect” lots.) But no… that is not the case at all! Leave it to Slate to uncover the toilet paper perforation mystery!


And there you have it… I am itching to get back outside in this unbelievable January April weather! See you all back here on Monday!

Sometimes Monday | 3.11.24

Sometimes Monday | 1.22.24

Is so random!

Here in the ‘Burgh we have had winter for a hot minute but all that changes this week as we are looking at temps soaring into the 50’s… sigh. That means all the snow we got will melt… we had some melting yesterday which turned the steps to get outside an icy danger zone… that was so delightful for my jaunts outside with Sherman… NOT! More ice chipping will be happening shortly to hack back last nights re-icing.

I have baked two higher hydration (85% hydration) sourdough loaves and the results have been delightful. Yes, higher hydration dough is stickier… but it is not unmanageable… especially when you dip your hand in water! Yes… dough won’t stick to a wet hand. It’s an ingenious trick for baking! The crust is thin and so crisp and the interior dough is soft! I think 85% is the “winter sweet spot” for baking… so I’d like it to remain winter for just a bit longer! LOL

Yum!! I wish you could hear it singing!

The other great thing about sourdough is having an ever-replenishing supply of sourdough discard… and last week I stumbled upon the PERFECT discard recipe. (Thank you, King Arthur Bakers!) I made Sourdough Crumpets twice last week and oh my gosh! So so so good! Added bonus… so so so so easy! You do need Crumpet Rings… or something similar. But really… all you sourdough bakers out there… you must try these!

I also want to share some incredible wisdom from a post that Ailbíona McLochlainn shared in her newsletter last week. I wish this was advice I had heard decades ago (long before I stopped worrying about “being in fashion” and just began dressing how I wanted… what I liked… how it made me feel…) but her words are so spot on. And… I think that adorable vest might be my next project once I have the Great Cabled Sweater finished.

Finally… I have a new project that I started last week, one I am doing in connection with my word this year. It is a 100-day project… which intrigued me when I stumbled upon it last year in the midst of the hundred days. I began last Thursday and the idea is that I will spend no more than 15 minutes a day stitching on my pages. Day One I spent a bit longer than 15 minutes (20-ish) because that appliqué “pot” was a bit of a challenge to get stitched down. Rather than just “free stitch” along with Ann, I signed up for her Stitch Club, which just might be the best part of all! As you can imagine, it is an international community of very creative makers who share, encourage, and inspire. I am enjoying the 15 minutes of additional stitching each day… and I am really enjoying the community!

It’s is amazing what one can do in fifteen simple minutes a day…

And with that, I bid you a very good Monday! I have ice to chip and laundry to wash… see you all back here on Wednesday!

 

Pin It on Pinterest