I have a heart! (But lost at yarn chicken)

A friend announced that she would become a grandmother (or "Gigi", as she chooses to be called) this year, and I decided to make a blanket for her to have at home for when the wee one visits.  I thought he was due in September, but it was July, so I am behind getting the gift to her.*

I began work, decided not to take it traveling as the pattern is a bit complicated, and when I worked on it upon return, learned that I have miscalculated on the yarn needed:

Another ball of the purple is on order.
Sparkle yarn and these colours suit the grandmother.

Because I have never done a C2C (corner-to-corner, usually crocheted) anything with a design worked into it, and because I used the free version which does not contain a diagram, I worked this on faith.  I added the two-square border to use less of the purple (and also thought about doing a purple heart on red, but decided I prefer it the other way) so for most of this I was working with five ends of yarn.

For the other C2C project I am working on, I've sewn the strips together.  I added to the two short ones and all six matched, but somehow, when I sewed the strips together:

Bottom left corner - I thought a corner would
be easier to infill and less obtrusive.

Yep, one strip is shorter than the others.  And that is the starting edge, so I couldn't just unravel it and add more.  Instead, I worked a small panel into that corner, so texture-wise it matches, even if the colour pattern (more accurate in the photo above) goes a bit wonky:

Now a row of double crochet around the edge, which you can see starting along the righthand side, and done.  

* In my religion, you don't give gifts before the baby is born.  I have attended a couple of pre-birth baby showers for people of other faiths, but one of the babies attended as he was born a couple of months early.  So I believe in superstition.

Another cake for history.

For the final presentation of the History SIG (Special Interest Group), I decided to make a pecan cake based upon this recipe:

The substitution is simple:  10oz of slightly toasted pecan pieces in place of the black walnuts.  I think that pecans must be lighter than black walnuts, because that is a LOT of nuts in the batter.  It resulted in two pretty cakes, plenty for whoever is at our closing session.

And once again, I didn't stop for photographs, although I took one of the circular cake after it cooled:

My mother and I went to Chicago for a week, spending time seeing relatives and old friends (including all three of my remaining godparents), and I was too busy enjoying people to photograph the food.  Except this, my dessert one night:

The "Amarena Cherry Panna Cotta" - 
vanilla panna cotta, amarena cherry gelee,
compressed cherry (a bit alcoholic), pistachio

Of course we ate plenty of Chicago specialties, such as deep dish pizza, Chicago-style hot dog (my mother and I split a footlong at a White Sox game, which they sadly and badly lost to the d@mn Yankees, but ended up splitting the series with them - then the Cubs began a series with a close loss and a solid win, before another close loss), Irish soda bread from the Hearts & Flour Bakery tent at the Daley Center Farmers Market, true bagels and lox at a family brunch, and lots of excellent meals at friends' favourite restaurants around the city.  We brought local chocolates to the neighbors and are still nibbling our way through the cookies a friend gave to my mother.

Fiberuary 1-7

In the past, some people have celebrated February as "Fibruary", with adventures in all things having to do with the world of fiber: dyeing, spinning, knitting, crocheting, weaving, and so on.  Or, posting about things you're doing with no specific requirements of a craft.  I haven't seen any prompts or challenges for this year, so am making my own record of fiber-related activity.

1:  Finished the scarf for Carolina Fiber Fest's Crochet Craft-Along.  Many, many ends being woven in require bright light because the colours are Red Heart Super Saver in "Turqua" (turquoise) and Big Twist Value in black, my only yarn purchase in January.  Started a Melt-the-Ice hat for bestie in Patons Classic Wool in "Bright Red".  Online meeting of KnitTalk people.

2:  Continued work on bestie's hat.  LOTS of 1x1 ribbing, and it's a work day, plus the first day of a mini-MBA program.  Not much time for knitting, but I managed to get the ribbing to 5".

3:  Ribbing on red hat to 6.5" and two inches of the top part done.

Finished hat.  I used twisted ribbing instead of plain
so it twists a little.  Hat was photographed unblocked.

4:  Red hat for bestie finished, and mailed.  Started a second hat, about 1.25" done during SciFi book club.  I am using a different pattern for this one, but flipping it because I didn't want to do something fiddly during book club.  By bedtime I'd finished 2" of ribbing and started on the plain part.

5:  Second red hat is past the 6" of body and I did the second round of decreases (every fourth row) before bedtime.  I also found a skein of handdyed yarn to wind and knit at the Twisted Threads Guild meeting on Saturday, since I feel awkward working on acrylic items there.

6:  Second red hat done but I'll have to get a photo after it's out of the wash.  I keep faffing about deciding on a yarn to use for the Carolina Fiber Fest knit Craft-Along pattern.  I thought I had a good yarn, a tonal instead of the multi used for the model, but it's rather dark and then I decided it coordinates well with a DK sock set from M1 Yarns so........

7:  I located the UFO sweater!  And wound an extra hank of yarn so I could start alternating.  At the fiber group meeting, I realized I'd fastened (with a safety pin) the end of yarn on the body, so I could work the sleeves then use the remaining yarn for the body.  I started and about ten rounds in I realized the colour was spiraling on the sleeve, so I decided to alternate the two balls and see how it goes.  Less obvious.  So I will continue, and maybe make bracelet-length sleeves.  I also realized that while the sweater fits nicely across the back, there is a gap at the front, so if I want it to close I'll have to add bands to each front,  I'll see how much yarn I have after making the sleeves.

Of course, while looking for the sweater I kept finding other yarn possibilities, and want to start other things, but other than the replacement hat I'll try to keep focused on the sweater for a bit.

As I mean to go on.

Goals, not resolutions.  I may be resolved to accomplish at least some of these, but we'll see how the year goes.  Quoting Marcus Aurelius:  “If a thing is humanly possible, consider it within your reach.”

So here are my plans for 2026, beginning, of course, with Reading.

The poster is from the Library of Congress'
Works Project Administration Poster Collection
in the Prints and Photographs Division, and
is from Illinois!  The Chicago-based WPA
Art Project, between 1936 and 1941, by Hazlett.

Again I'll plan to read 18 books, starting as I did the last two years with this one:

It seemed appropriate to read before my New Year's yoga class.  I found a radio show with guidance about living with unresolved questions that links into the teaching, and also to some other goals.  Next up is the book for January Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club.

Second, yarning.  Knitting, crochet, spinning, weaving, embroidery, sewing, whatever.  All of them.  And once again, attending Carolina Fiber Fest, Maryland Sheep & Wool, and DFW Fiber Fest.  Plus having some other fiberous and yarny adventures.  Hopefully finishing some UFOs.

Third, charitable works, which for me often involve yarn.  I plan to give another 100 hats to the Charter Oak Cultural Center in honor of Carol Fine, a woman from my congregation who died last summer and was always making hats for them to hand out to children in the after school programs and other people.  We often saw each other at programs, each working on some item for charity.  I'll likely do a bunch of other things - and maybe finish a blanket for Warm Up, America!  Or at least make progress.

Fourth, cooking, and since the column I've been writing has shifted to alternate (odd-numbered) months, I may get back to documenting some work on historical recipes.  There are a few I've wanted to make, and I might try one of them, or a variation on it, today.  After eating the obligatory hoppin' john, of course!  I made a potful and took half to my parents yesterday along with a small bottle of sparkling cider, since they aren't champagne people.

Fifth, new learning and adventures.  Every month I will do one new thing, whether a class to learn something new, or trying some very different recipe, or going to a new restaurant, or something of that sort.  I've lived in the new place for a couple of years and there are so many places I've wanted to explore and haven't gotten to yet.  In the last week, I went to two: a coffeeshop with a library attached, and The Scrap Exchange.  I probably won't count visiting local yarn shops, since that's part of my job as a Guild officer.

💥😍💥👍💥👀💥👎💥😍💥👍💥👀💥👎💥😍💥👍💥👀💥👎💥😍💥

How did I start 2026?

• Reading
• Yoga
• Eating hoppin' john
• and cookies
• Drinking Diet Dr. Pepper®
• Watching videos by some of my favourite YouTubers
• Knitting (the cardigan for me)
• Long walk outside
• Baking bread
• Eating bread with cheese
• Listening to music
• Crocheting (something for charity)
• Eating ice cream!
• No nap, but going to bed "early" - with a book.  😉

💤😴💤😴💤😴💤😴💤😴💤😴💤😴💤😴💤😴💤😴💤😴💤😴💤😴💤

Back to the beginning: Classical Wisdom offered three ways to achieve your resolutions (or goals) from the ancients:

• Admit your ignorance  (Socrates)
• Don't just talk, take action  (Marcus Aurelius)
• Realize that you are capable of change  (Aristotle)

And now for 365 possibilities stretching ahead.  Onwards!

A friend posted this wish for the New Year to his friends.

Five in (about) one.

Last night was a "wintry mix" event with all sorts of things, including the Triangle Fiber Guild holiday party, cancelled or postponed.  So errands didn't happen.  That meant I had five or six to accomplish today, and at most a 90 minutes timeslot in which to achieve them.  Could I manage all the errands in an hour?

Not quite, but I tried.  Part of it was maximizing the route:

• First to the library, to return a book and drop off a couple jackets for the Welcome Baby collection.  As I did and turned to leave, I heard a happy "thank you, dear!" and over my shoulder responded "Absolutely!"  The guard and I then wished each other a happy day.
• I thought that if there was a close post office I could shave a bit off the route, and the car's navigator claimed there was, but after following the directions I didn't see one.  It could be that the gas station or another shop on the strip mall next to it had a postal kiosk or a courtesy station, but I wasn't going to spend time looking.
• Instead, I headed to the Durham Rescue Mission to deliver a duffel bag of mostly clothing, plus a lot of unused wallets that could be likely holiday gifts.  I wanted to be sure they would arrive as early in the month as possible, and we'd just located them during a drawer-cleaning.
• Then to the post office, and the automated machine was available and working!  Package was quickly postage'd and in the big rotating slot.
• Off to Kohl's to pick up another couple jackets, the result of rolling Kohls Cash credits.  While waiting for the item I realized I'd forgotten to grab my knitting, so I checked work email and dealt with a few things.  Which is how I noticed that a meeting was just beginning, less than an hour after I'd left.  Ooops!  A new addition to my calendar.  I joined, apologized, accepted the bag of jackets, and headed to the loggia where a bench waited in a sheltered spot.  Luckily the call was quick and I could continue on my route.
• Stop at the pharmacy for a prescription and an OTC ear-unblocking spray recommended by my PCP that I use before flying this week.  I have until tomorrow afternoon to figure out how it works.

So it took a bit over an hour, almost an hour and a half, but I think there needs to be some adjustment for the meeting and of course the stupidity penalty whilst hunting the snipe of a post office.  And a lot of extra slowness and stoppages due to construction on or next to the roads that took them to one lane in places.  So I came close.

This is the current knitting: I reached 99 hats for the big collection I've been doing (some were made by others, which I figure balance the ones I made and donated to the Blue Elves and otherwise) and stalled over the weekend for the final hat.  All the yarn was too thin, or too pink, or already used in other hats and I didn't want to make one more for this year, or........  So I started the scarf:

I knitted the first ten inches of the scarf in a knitting group
online gathering on Sunday.  Garter stitch moves quickly.

Then yesterday, a box arrived that included some mystery skeins, and one immediately spoke to me about turning it into a hat!  So I am doing that and may have it done before I leave tomorrow.  If not, it will be quickly finished when I return, then THAT box can head out too.

Some people may ask why I used hand-dyed yarn for charity work instead of cheap acrylics.  Well, I can afford it; the purchase helps a small business indie dyer; I get the pleasure of making something with the yarn; and somebody gets a warm and unique hat.  Wins all around!

Cool Licks for Hot Days.

Not of the frozen treat variety, but the musical variety, while the temperatures are triple-digiting:

Too Darn Hot  (Cole Porter)

Summer in the City  (Lovin' Spoonful)

Summertime from "Porgy and Bess", and Joplin's version.

I planned to post more songs, but it's hot and I didn't.  😁   Also, I went to Dallas for some plays, and back again.  It's also really hot there - but surprisingly, not as hot as the east coast is suffering.

"Slave Letters" at MBS Productions

"Cry Havoc" at Lakeside Community Theater

"Curtains", a musical, at Allen Contemporary Theater

And of course, masks with quotes and facts:

  

  

Knitting with a Bear.

Adventures happen when I decide to venture out for theater and knitting.

I have a friend, Trish, up in Baltimore, whom I have visited on occasions.  Her son is a talented performer, and having graduated from college in December, was in his first professional show this month.  It's the Elton John and Tim Rice version of "AIDA", and he played Radames, one of the leads.  The major roles were double-cast, so Steven was in only certain shows.

Back in October, when Trish announced that he had been cast, I said I'd come to a performance.  At the time I didn't realize they would overlap the opera last weekend and Passover this one.  So the only date that worked was Friday night.  Luckily, Baltimore is a quick flight, and I could get a room in a hotel near the airport, and a flight worked between my usual (and added) Friday meetings.

Weather was terrible, and it was Friday rush hour, so we ditched plans to go someplace else for the Cracker Barrel across from my hotel, then to the performance venue.  We had a slight wait for the doors to open, but that gave us a photo op.

Trish's favourite colour is purple, so I dressed accordingly.

The show was fantastic and I was really glad that I came.  Afterwards, a photo with Steven and the girl (a student) who played Aida, and also will go far in theater if she wishes.

Then Trish and her husband dropped me at my hotel, where I enjoyed a hot shower and a long sleep.  Next morning, I did my usual Saturday stuff and they picked me up at checkout to go to brunch.  Afterwards there was still time before my flight home, so we decamped for a nearby mall.  The first available van accessible parking spot was in front of Bass Pro Shops, and we thought we'd go through to the food court or some other sitting area, but it turns out they have a lovely one just inside the doors, and nobody minded us sitting and knitting for a couple of hours.

Trish has been knitting on the scarf/shawl for a while, and
asked if I would add a few stitches.

Poor bear, stuck forever in a store by the door.
He seems to be smiling a little, wearing the scarf.

I did some knitting of my own, another lengthwise garter stitch scarf for when I wanted something that didn't need attention, such as when we were waiting for food or at the show.  And I've been making progress on the Tour Eiffel Shawl, which may or may not be finished before I go to Paris next month.

It doesn't look like much although I'm on the 
fourth repeat of the main pattern.  Ball 1.

Fiberuary - Week 4

 

Day 22 - On The Road

My mother had surgery on Friday, and I went to pick her up on Thursday.  That's my current "car scarf", a simple item (sometimes a "car hat") that I can work on while waiting, or taking into a location in case there is a queue.  The one shown is now finished and I have started another.  I didn't notice until looking at the photo later that the house flag is nicely framed above my knitting.

Day 23 - Self Care

I wanted to have a photo of one of my favourite shawls, but didn't take one before going to my parents' house (I stayed through the weekend to help them while my mother recovered) so had to make do.  It's crocheting and knitting and a wee bottle of a really nicely scented hand lotion, which is the "self care" part, especially as the yarn I am knitting is a scratchy wool.

Day 24 - Memories

Top right is an afghan crocheted by the great-grandmother I never knew, and which I repaired many years ago.  It's very heavy, single-crocheted wool in panels with a lacy connecting stitch.  Bottom right is the aran-style blanket my grandmother knitted.  At left is the last gift I made for her, a lap blanket that I gave to my grandmother on her final birthday.

Day 25 - Handmade Gift

Technically, many gifts - I have a friend who loves to knit socks, and for many years she gave me a pair each year.  These are not all the ones she made for me, just the ones I could grab most quickly when I had a few minutes today to take the photo.

Day 26 - Where in the World

Some of my yarny souvenirs from travels - Argentina, Austria, France, Germany.  Possibly others, I would need to check notes from past trips.  I couldn't quickly locate yarn from New Zealand, and I didn't buy any in Thailand (although I did knit a scarf on that trip that I treasure as a memory), and there are some other yarns that became items I did not include.

Day 27 - Sip and Stitch

Too late I realized I should have taken a photo of my knitting with the drink (tonic water) I was sipping on my flight to Dallas.  Sip & Stitch at 37,000-ish feet up!  This was after I landed, and settled in "my" room at the friends' house where I usually stay when visiting.  They stock Diet Dr. Pepper® for me.

Day 28 - Gratitude

Two friends donated lots of yarn of all kinds to the Urchin Street area at North Texas Irish Festival, with the only requirement that none of it returns home.  The ladies in charge were delighted to receive it and to pose for a photo that I posted so my friends (who could not attend this year) could experience their gratitude.

That concludes my Fiberuary for 2025.  Will I do it next year?  Maybe.  It was a nice distraction this year.  But it's also a challenge - I know, that's the idea - to find a subject each day.

Fiberuary - Week 3

 

Day 15 - Cozy Corner

This is Judy's sunroom.  I thought it makes a perfect location for "cozy", with the addition of crocheted (not by me) afghans and a mug of tea, and my knitting.

 

Day 16 - Reading/Watching

I knit while watching the opening of the Maria C. Vallejo Lace Collection, and during class (but no photos), and then knitted and read on my flight home.

Day 17 - Monochromatic

I almost forgot to take a photo, then thought I might have to re-use something and I want these to be unique as much as possible.  As I was trying to find something else I noticed the piece of felted wool I'd purchased at last year's Carolina Fiber Fest, to use for shoe insoles and padding.

Day 18 - Twos Day

Photo shows the in-progress scarf to match a hat I knit last year.  I had two skeins of yarn in different colourways and decided to work them into a set.  First the wedge hat, and the rest for a scarf.  I tried to do a scarf in wedges also, but it was more of a challenge than I felt like managing.  So I changed to this pattern, in which I started with one colour, added the second, and when the first colourway ran out, finished with the second.  Bottom photo shows the finished set, which I didn't complete on Tuesday.

Day 19 - Wear It Wednesday

It was a cold and snowy day, so wearing a thick handknit sweater was perfect.  I've seen baby and toddler sweaters with the leaf pattern at the yoke and wanted one in a grownup size.  When I found one, I was very happy that some well-aged yarn in my stash would work nicely.  Lower photo is a better one of the sweater; in the selfie I am at the storm door but the glare prevents you from seeing the snow.

Day 20 - Fiber Friends

I have many photos of people I met through fiberarts, and groups and events I have attended.  Many are just of two of us; this is of the DFW Fiber Fest board and guest teachers from 2011.

Day 21 - Now & Then

The Sock Yarn mittens that were in one of my first blog posts also appear in the "Favourite Things" photo for Day 13.  One has a moth hole I need to repair.

She loves them.

My best friend and I used to see each other frequently - when we lived in adjoining towns, I could almost walk to her house.  After they moved to Florida, I'd visit when I dropped in to see my grandmother for a weekend, which my traveling job allowed about once a month or so.

Then they moved to New Jersey, and while there was one visit before I moved, none since.  This is a very long time to not see each other!  So we worked out a weekend for a visit.  It turned out that we were the only two people in the house, and the weather was drek, so it was just us for the weekend.

Thursday night her husband picked me up on the way home from work, and it was late so after brief visiting (mostly to show me where the guest room and bathroom are in the basement) everybody to bed.  He left early on Friday morning, and she went to work, and I worked from the guest area and sitting at the breakfast bar in the auxiliary kitchen so I didn't have to deal with the cat.

Then my bestie came home, picking up way too much vegan kosher Chinese food on the way, and after quickly prepping a slow cooker and the Shabbos hotpot for water, we lit candles and had a slow supper, and visited a bit, then to bed early.

Saturday was somewhat lazy.  My friend had baked a pumpkin cake - with fresh pumpkin she'd harvested - and we had slices for breakfast.  And fed the chickens, and talked and did a puzzle (we both love jigsaw puzzles) and had a nap, then the crockpot stuff for lunch, and finished the puzzle, celebrating with cake and tea, and petted the bunny.  Eventually it was sunset, and we did havdalah, then had leftover Chinese food for supper.

There was some reorganzing of spaces (she was impressed with my visual-spatial acuity) and we watched the films for my class on Sunday.  Since my bestie lived in Senegal and speaks several languages, she understood the film without the subtitles and told me when they didn't match.

Eventually, to bed - except that I stayed up for a bit watching videos and working on her surprise gifts.  On Sunday morning, after a trip to a local bagel bakery for much takeout, we had bagels with cream cheese and onion and cucumbers and avocado for breakfast.  Then talked more, while I finished the hat and ran in the ends on the hat and mittens.

She likes to fold back the mitten cuffs.

I had been worried because the items looked really big when I was knitting, but they fit perfectly and she is thrilled to have them.  Many years ago, on a trip back to Connecticut she'd visited the farm and brought the yarn to me - two hanks of white, two of brown, slightly different weights and no yardage or other information.  Except the names of the animals: Marshmallow and Charlie.  I decided that they should be a gift for her, but living in Florida there wasn't much need of heavy items.  When they moved to New Jersey, I saw the opportunity - and couldn't find a pattern that I really liked.  I wanted to do more than stripes, and considered a houndsooth as fallback, then saw a new pattern that I realized would be perfect for her.  And they are, plus there's a lot of the white and a bit of brown that I promised would become something for me.

As scheduled, we took the class (with bestie as a 'guest expert' giving information about the language and culture and comparing to how things were when she was there - thirty years or so after the films, and not much change!), then watched the Center for Knit and Crochet's launch of the Maria C. Vallejo Lace Collection.  And did another puzzle.  And had more cake, and Chinese food.

We kept watching the weather, and I was tracking both my flight (showing on time) and departures from the airport (dismal).  We left with some extra time to get to the airport, because I said that I'd rather spend the time at the gate than have to run.  And good thing, because first I couldn't find my driver's license (accidentally slipped into a pocket of my suitcase when I was packing), then TSA was a nightmare of closing and opening lines and just the number of people trying to get through.  And of course mine was one of the furthest gates.  So I was very glad to have the extra time!

After that, the trip was uneventful (I knitted and read), and I got home, unwound, and most of a night's sleep before my work week begins again.

Yet more rerouting.

I made it to Dallas, and had adventures, and came home, but the return was re-routed due to storms.  At least I got to see the show I really wanted to see, and it was FANTASTIC.  Plus I saw a LOT of friends.

This included travels on Saturday to Fiberlady, where I dropped off the two Sleepy Kittens I knitted:

No yarn acquired, a good accomplishment!  Then to a local yarn group, which had been rescheduled from two weeks ago.  There was a "please take it box" and all I took is a mittens pattern.

I made good progress on the sweater, and started but left there a garter-stitch scarf that I will pick up and finish on a future trip:

It doesn't look like much - top-down raglan.

Before going, I'd finished four crocheted banners, making up patterns, and as you can see, two need a bit of blocking to be triangular instead of shell-shaped:

Sunday was return travel, and I had carefully scheduled so I would be at the airport (arriving a bit early for my flight) for my cinema class, then get on the plane.  Except that the flight was delayed.  And delayed.  And delayed.  And moved to another gate..........

At that point, I would miss the connection, so I spoke to a gate agent who reticketed me (and managed to get my checked bag to match!) which would get me home much later - but home!  So I got some gelato, and did some work, and one flight taken, worked a bit more on the long layover, second flight watched the playoff game, and finally got home quite late last night.

Masks (I didn't write on Friday's) from the trip:

Sunday's - Bessie Coleman.

Appropriate for "The Shakespeare Conspiracy"