The final month of the year

I know that I should do a review of last month (this post was started on December 2nd, not the first as I try to do with the beginning-of-month posts) and have new resolutions for December, but I really cannot think of anything other than "more of the same".

I forgot to take a photograph of my grandmother's shawl before mailing it as part of her Channukah gifts package, so I don't have that to show.

It's a good thought.

I've been doing my usual posting of Hanukah songs on social media, so maybe once the holiday is finished I'll add the list here.

Resolutions Report

I've decided that since I really don't like the border on the Omega Shawl, I'm going to pull it out and simply do some garter stitch and call it done.  It's long enough, since I'm short, and the yarn is at a black band which I think will be good for the bottom.  Otherwise I'll have to go through the shades and I'm not that interested in hundreds of stitches in stockinette, over and over.  Therefore this UFO should become a FO before the end of the year.

My one resolution to the KnitTalk group was to do the Falling Leaves Cardigan by end of year.  I've had the yarn for a while, I found some great buttons in my stash, now time to cast on.  Of course, I keep getting distracted by other things.   Thirty days and counting down....

Gratitude Part 2

 

Day 16: Thankful to have a warm jacket so I can get an early morning walk when it's 36°F (2°C). Beautifully sunny, though.

Day 17: Thankful to be able to spend the evening listening to At Home... mid-November, a virtual concert by musician Robert C Fullerton "with" my grandmother.  We use technology - I call her, then turn up all the volume controls on my computer so she can hear.

Day 18: Thankful for telehealth, which makes looking after my uncle so much easier.

Day 19: Thankful for the guidance and vision of The Gettysburg Address, which President Abraham Lincoln delivered as he dedicated a national cemetery at the site of the Civil War battlefield of that name in Pennsylvania 158 years ago today.

Day 21: Thankful for live (and virtual) theatre that challenges me to think and presents me with different perspectives.

Day 22: Thankful for colleagues willing to jump into the fray and who work hours just as crazy as mine.

Day 23: As always on November 23rd, I am thankful for my baby brother. He came out all right.

Day 24: Thankful that today I was able to utilize the Early Dismissal at work, and that I got in a bit of a walk on a brilliantly blue-sky (albeit chilly) fall day. Usually it's well after dark when I am done with work. I am also thankful that I have a job I (mostly) enjoy, at a company that appreciates me, and a really good boss - and I know how rare the last item can be.

Day 25: Thankful to all the farmers who work so I can eat. And for the people who drive and pack the food that I don't pick up at a local farmstand, and the ones who do the cooked foods (jams, pickles, cheese, ice-cream, etc.) that I pick up in addition to the vegetables and fruit and eggs. And also for the animals who make edible things or turn into edible things.

Day 26: Glad to have a day off from work, and able to actually take it off from work.

Day 27: Glad to be able to do so many things from home - yoga class, Torah study, and a hangout with people from all over the world "in" an artist's Parisian flat - then make some charitable donations and play Cooky Monster for some friends. Yes, I didn't support Small Business Saturday except with some online orders, and I am OK with that.

Day 28: On the First Night of Hannukah, thankful that I live in a country that permits people to follow their own belief systems and worship as they choose, at least officially.

Day 29: Thankful for autonomy and the ability to make decisions for myself. Also thankful that I am able to help those who cannot.

Day 30: It's #GivingTuesday2021 so I am thankful that I can support nonprofit organizations which do so much to help the world, help people, and spread joy. I am also appreciative of the persons I know who work at nonprofit organizations and sit on their boards and otherwise support nonprofits and their missions.

I am also thankful today for modern medicine and surgery, as my ophthalmologist reminded me that it was nine years and two days ago that he removed my second cataract.  We get them young in my family, so we get them removed at a younger-than-people-expect age.  I'm still awed by how well I see now.  And I received the lovely edict "see you in a year" at the end of the exam.

The first fifteen

Many people I know post Things For Which I Am Thankful in November, because of the USA Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday.  I started doing it, and while some people follow a pattern, at least for the first few days, mine tend to be more random:

Day 1: I am very thankful for my family, and that they keep me.

Day 2: I am thankful that I am able to VOTE!!!

Day 3: Glad that I have gas heat and cooking, when the electricity for my neighborhood suddenly went out this morning. Also that the utility company had things repaired in a couple of hours.

Day 4: Given that our world is mostly virtual these days, I am thankful that I can attend a gala even though work is eating my evening.

Day 5: Thankful that I can ignore the "Black Friday Starts NOW" ads filling my inbox.

Day 6: Glad for a beautiful fall day when I could be outside for a bit. (No photos - I was enjoying, not recording.)

Day 7: Thankful for my online knitting/crocheting/fiberarts community.

Day 8: I am thankful/glad to have a very good and supportive boss.

Day 9: Thankful to have enough of a break for a walk outside - two days in a row!

Day 10: Thankful for the telephone, which allows me to speak to my grandmother and keep up with her even if visiting is still problematic.

Day 11: Thankful to all whom I know, and those I don't, who serve in our country's military. Thank you for your service and your sacrifices. I don't have photos of my relatives who served in their uniforms, but I have a couple letters from WWII.

Day 12: On a stormy morning, thankful to have a solid house with a solid roof.

Day 13: Thankful for technology that allows me to attend the Knitting History Forum Conference 2021: HEADS, HANDS & FEET, then spend an hour in Paris watching an artist work, then sneak in a walk before viewing a film for tomorrow's class on Neo-Noir, which is taught by an Australian living in Scotland.

Day 14: Thankful that my Russian ancestors were able and willing to flee the pogroms in the 19th Century and settle in America.  (Yes, I had ancestors from other places that fled for similar reasons, or other ones, but I attended a program on "Jews of Russia" today.)

Day 15: Thankful that Blue Earth Compost picks up a bucket of kitchen scraps every other Monday and turns them into useful compost for the community.

Mid-Month Resolutions Report

I haven't made progress on finishing UFOs or books.  I'm back to The Agony and The Ecstacy, which is very long and detailed.  So I am reading a lot, but there is a lot left to read.  I did make a shawl for my grandmother for Channukah, and will get a photo before I mail it to her this weekend.  It went quickly, in three days, due to simple pattern, thick yarn, and large hook.  I've also made things for charity, of course - I feel as though I need to fill the box, then once it's mailed I can turn to other things.

Including some more mittens for myself, to wear while I take my walks outside.  It's getting cold, especially in the mornings.  I found my favourite pair but one has a hole that needs darning.  😟

Those who came before.

I voted early this morning.  They were giving out great stickers at my polling location; after I read the fine print at the bottom to the poll watcher at the exit, she said I could take as many as I wanted.  I decided to be polite and just took the biographical ones:

As I left one of the candidate representatives outside called out "Thank you for voting!"  It always surprises me to hear it because I know what a privilege this is.  As the great-great-granddaughter of people who fled their country (think Fiddler on the Roof without the production values) to come here, I cannot imagine why I wouldn't vote.  Especially because these women had to fight for it on my behalf, even though they were fighting before I was born, and gained the right 101 years ago.

For me.  For us.

Tripping.

For the first time since March 9, 2020, I went on an airplane.  I have now been on five, thanks to a connecting flight and a total of two round trips.

The first, and most important one, was to visit family in North Carolina.  I went for ten days, working part of the time, taking off some time to be with the family, running errands, visiting my uncle at his new residence and meeting the administrator, and doing other things.  I saw my brother's new house and land, including my sister-in-law's she-shed and my brother's workshop, and the rooms belonging to their college-aged girls, and the one for the cats.

I didn't take family pictures (we're mostly private) but I did take a number of selfies while I was out walking on some of the days.  I signed up for the Livingston Wong Memorial 5K because a friend works with that organization, and since I often walk 5K of a morning, it's not anything that strains me.  I actually did it three times - once didn't count because I did it the day before the walk week began.  I wore the same shirt for the walks, washing it between of course:

 

 

I am not good at taking selfies.

Then yesterday, Hallowe'en, I zipped down to Baltimore to see a friend.  Southwest has a program where the high-level frequent flyers can maintain their status with two round trips taken in a certain timeframe, as opposed to having to fly many trips in a year.  I used to get the status by July, but not this year!  So I thought of just flying down and turning around, but this was more fun.  As my friend reported it:

You guys! I had such a wonderful day! I have this online-only knit group that I have been a member of for more than 15 years. In the beginning I was a moderator of that group. The group’s owner, Margo Lynn, travels a lot for work, and once, about 11 years ago or so she was blowing through BWI and so we met for brunch. Fast forward to now. Because of the pandemic our group has expanded to include a Sunday Night Zoom, which has become a highlight of my still mostly isolated week. One night a few weeks ago I was knitting on my Silk Garden Santa hat right before the Zoom was supposed to start. And my yarn broke, right in the middle of a cable cross. Grrrr! I was so mad when I signed on for the meeting that night I said the project was going in timeout and that since it had broken in a decrease section on the hat (that is, not actually having to be stretched over my head at that juncture) that I had half a mind to just glue the stupid ends together and be done with it. Of course I was (only half) kidding, but my knit friends would hear nothing of it. I had lots of offers to fix the knitting for me. Margo Lynn even said she could come down (FROM CONNECTICUT!) for the day and fix my knitting and leave. I was like, whaaaat? Really? I had no idea she would really do a thing like that but bright and early this morning there we were, picking her up at BWI! We made a quick run to Starbucks on the way back to the house and my knitting was fixed before 10 a.m. We had a

lovely time

together. I showed her some of my many WIPs that she has only seen glimpses of online. She met Bonny the Cat, who NEVER comes out when company comes, but somehow decided that Margo Lynn must be ok, and we had a wonderful lunch together. By 3:15 we were headed back to the airport, and Margo Lynn was safely home in time for our Sunday Night Zoom. (Oh, and check out this amazing skein of Spun Right Round yarn that Margo Lynn brought me. She said she had found it a few years ago and it screamed, “me.” And she’d been hanging onto it should the day come that we would see each other again. For like, years. How cool is that??) Thanks, Margo Lynn, for a wonderful day, and for creating such a fabulous memory together!!

I was "The Blue Screen of Hallowe'en", and have a motherboard mask but didn't wear it in the photo.

Mini-Resolutions Report

Not much progress.  I took the Magical Miniskeins sock to North Carolina and did nothing on it.  I did get to the lace part of the Q3 MAL shawl and am debating whether to add a few more rows to the body, and thus another repeat of the lace pattern.  I've decided to replace the lace pattern on the Omega Shawl with something I like better, or I may just keep working it as a solid item.

I did finish a book (My Dear Hamilton, which I donated to the library at the clubhouse of my parents' community, along with the other book about the Hamiltons that I finally was able to return), and found The Ballad of Frankie Silver which I think I'll work on finishing next.

I checked the beginning-of-year KnitTalk Resolutions list and I said I would knit the Falling Leaves Cardigan this year.  I guess I should cast on, shouldn't I?

Unseasonably October

The weather has been warm and mostly sunny, so I've enjoyed going out for walks and doing things outside when possible.  We've had some cold and rainy days, of course, and I think more are coming tomorrow or Monday, but most of this week has been very nice and I've gotten a walk outside nearly every day.  One day I was working too much, and with the days getting shorter I wasn't able to get a walk on either end.  The farmstand is winding down the season, though; at the end of the month they close for two-and-a-half weeks, opening for the holidays, then close until spring.

Today was the New York Sheep & Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, and I know many people who went, but I didn't.  I'm still mostly avoiding crowds, plus nobody invited me to join a group.  In the past some knitters from this area went, but I haven't been in town for several years on the correct weekend, then last year the event cancelled.  It was fun to go with a group, maybe another year I'll do it again.

Mid-Month Resolutions Report

No progress on the second sock or the Omega Shawl.  I've decided I don't like the lace design in the pattern so I will do something else.  I've been finishing a number of charity items, so it's not as if my needles and hooks have been idle.  I keep starting things, I need to finish a few that aren't for charity!  My grandmother was raving about the shawls I've made for her, so it gave me incentive to start another.  I've had a cake of Caron's Latte Cakes waiting for the right time, and found a crocheted shawl that uses just one cake, so have it started:

Yes it doesn't look like much so far.  During the week it's easier to do the mindless items; this requires a bit of focus, and not just because of the yarn.  I'll work more on it tomorrow, and hopefully get the rhythm.  The bobbles are the kind of silly touch my grandmother seems to enjoy.

A Texas Tribute

Have I mentioned lately that one benefit of the pandemic is that so many arts events have moved online, or now to a hybrid presentation, that I can attend them even when far away?  I love the Dallas Winds and was only rarely lucky to be in town on performance night since I moved from the area.  This year, I've been able to enjoy a number of concerts, including tonight's extra-special one:

An additional bonus of the livestream is that you get to re-listen (or rewatch) for a day or a few days or a week, so if you really liked something, you get to hear it again.  Which I will be doing tomorrow.

Mini-Resolutions for October

I am making progress on current projects, not on UFOs.  On the KnitTalk list this is "Aftober" nicknamed after a woman who started a number of years ago to encourage people to finish their UFOs before holiday projects take over.  Maybe I'll get the second sock finished before it gets cold enough to wear the pair.

I am continuing to read books, and this being Banned Books Week I looked for a title to read from the most recent list.  It's amazing how many classics appear there:  The Bluest Eye, To Kill A Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, and of course The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  I found an article and video addressing the last one that you might want to view.  And when you're done, go read a banned or challenged book, preferably one you haven't read before.  Or one you haven't read in a long time, if you'd rather shop your shelves or if your local library still has limited access.