More things finished.

Good thing I got the rainbow cardigan finished when I did, as I couldn't focus on yarning for a while.  I did take "emotional support knitting" to the hospital and hospice, but couldn't pull it out.  Part of the time we were busy with details, part of the time I was holding my father's hand as we took turns letting him know we were there.  And then there were all the details afterwards, and exhaustion, and mostly I petted the yarn.

When I could focus enough, I finished a few items:

Hat of sock yarn scraps, knitted in a half-and-half
style with no seams.  Scarf of Red Heart Super Saver
Jumbo Speckle in "Bubblegum", made-up pattern of
mostly alternating rows of single and double crochet
with a fancy granny square on each end.

The hat and scarf were in progress and set aside so that my first FO of the year would be something I was keeping for me.  Both are charity items.  The hat is a solid sock yarn worked with striped or ragg-style scraps.  I made the scarf because I'd ordered White Speckle, and the label said that's what it is - but clearly the yarn is Bubblegum Speckle.  It would not work with what I have and I'm not fond of pink, so charity items it will be!  There's almost as much left in the skein as is in this scarf, so it may well become another scarf in some pattern.

Then my mother mentioned that the wife of a friend needed a chemo cap, and I grabbed the blue ball of yarn and knit one quickly and delivered it - so quickly I didn't get a photo.  So I am showing the remainder of the ball of yarn.  The recipient was grateful, including that I made it while dealing with grief.  Well, having somebody and something else to focus on for a bit helped, for my mother as much as for me.

After this I turned to some items I picked up in the "FINISH ME" rack at The Scrap Exchange.  All were ready except for running in ends and adding buttons and some cleaning.  There was also an item that resembles a bag in royal blue and white, which you see in the bunting's "before" photo.  I'm not sure whether it was meant to be a sleep sac or another bunting or a tote bag.  I thought that if it wouldn't be useable in the current state I would frog it and use the yarn for something else, but the person to whom I delivered the finished items said it would be fine, so it's in the finishing queue.

The bunting was finished except for ends and buttons.
Not sure what the blue-and-white items is; we decided it's a
sleep sack which I will finish, and maybe add shoulder straps.

Bunting finished.  Close-up of buttons below.

I chose very classic buttons.  The only other
ones I have in sufficient quantity and the
correct size are deep blue flowers.

Pink set before.  Needs some sewing and buttons.

Also, an unknown black stuff on the hat.
Luckily, it washed out with a bit of scrubbing.

Pink set finished.  I attached the items together with a piece
of leftover yarn.  Note the strap on the hat, one side has a
button loop but there are buttons on both ends.

Close-up of the buttons, pink with a white flower.

The third set was the most difficult to finish because there was a definite stain on one sleeve, and only one bootie.  I decided to use the bootie to replace the stained bit of sleeve - which meant I had to figure out the pattern and gauge.

The label was on the package at The Scrap Exchange.

The stain, and unlike the one on the pink hat, it did
NOT wash out,  Removal was necessary.

I simply crocheted from the bootie to the sleeve.

I was successful, and found some cute blue buttons to use on this set.  Like the pink hat, I made a strap for this one with a button on the sewn end as well as on the working end:

Finished set with the leftover yarn from sleeve and bootie.
I attached the hat and jacket to each other for donation.

Close-up of the blue buttons - bunches of grapes.

After delivering the items, I received an email complimenting me on the craftsmanship.  I had to explain that I only added buttons, the real work was done by some other person, unknown.

As they say, "Inconceivable......."

I am (mostly) on a yarn diet this year, but a number of months ago I received a newsletter from an indie dyer whose work I enjoy, saying that she would be creating a package based upon "The Princess Bride" and preorders were open for a short time.  She created two mystery boxes, one with yarn and one with cross-stitch supplies, including a pattern.

I know that "The Princess Bride" fandom is huge, and strong, and my love of the film is quieter than most.  There was no way I'd miss this opportunity, even though I skip most of hers because I'm not that into whatever source material is used as the inspiration.  But this time?  I think I preordered both boxes within an hour.  I definitely didn't want to chance missing them!

The mailing was scheduled for early February, and this week I received a package of two boxes taped together.  Carefully I opened them, hoping to preserve the sticker:

One box appeared to have been opened and resealed in the packing, so I have only one intact sticker.  I opened the box from the bottom to keep the sticker intact.  Each box contained the wrapped package as shown.  Each included an informational card, with this on the front and the specific items for each kit on the back:

This is the embroidery kit:

It includes hand-dyed fabric (I chose 36-count linen) and flosses, and a pattern, plus a bunch of goodies.  In the pink heart is a needlekeeper reading "As You Wish".  The black bag contains buttons with a six-fingered hand and a bishop's miter with the word "Mawwidge".  There's a lip balm in "Buttercup" flavour.

This is the pattern:

Many of the additional goodies are the same in the yarn kit:

The nametag boxes are empty; you can put the goodies inside.  This kit includes some needle stoppers that are little hearts, and instead of the needlekeeper the pink heart contains a set of progress keepers and stitch markers, including a tiny bottle of Iocaine Powder:

The yarn colourway is "Humperdink" and it's very similar to her "Flying Monkeys" and an OOAK I purchased at some past point from her clearance section, so I am considering combining the three into something large enough.  I looked online for patterns inspired by the film and found one four-colour multi-patterned shawl, and a couple patterns for double-knit (double-sided) scarves with quotes and images.  Neither right for this yarn, so I will continue to hunt.

I ordered one kit with a flat project bag and one with a gusseted one so I have both styles.

The chocolate-covered almonds puzzled me until I read that they are inspired by Miracle Max's pill.  Since I don't eat chocolate, and there are two packages, they will be a Valentine's gift to my parents who love dark chocolate and almonds, singly or together.

Another one coming

I did my last post during a storm, and we have another coming tomorrow.  So of course I am flying to Florida.  It's not fleeing from the storm; I've had this trip to visit my grandmother on my schedule for a while.  I admit it's a convenient coincidence.

My last post was also during the final football playoffs of the season.  Last Sunday I watched the Super Bowl with friends and their family and neighbors.  Quite a game!  Having more friends in Kansas and Missouri than in San Francisco, I chose to root for the Chiefs.  I missed the first half because I went to a matinee (and was very glad I did so, the show was amazing!) but the second half - really, the fourth quarter - was edge-of-seat playing.  I am glad the Chiefs made the final touchdown, because if people argue about the penultimate one, they still won when you subtract those points.

Work has been busy, so I don't have much more to report on my Resolutions.  These are the scarves I finished and have yet to finish, except one:

Finished:

• Stitch Studio Sweet Dreams in Creamsicle (center row, second from left)
• Patons Lace in lavender and Porcelain (next on the right)
• Browns - Bernat Super Value Stripes in Beechwood, knit, and Caron Jumbo in Chocolate Variegated crocheted on the sides (center row, second from right)
• Caron Chunky Cakes in Trifle (center row, right)
• Red Heart Fleece Hugs in Jungle (bottom row, right)

In Progress:

• Ferris Wheel (top row, left)
• Premiere Serenity Chunky Big Ombre in Walnut (bottom row, left - the yarn was badly snarled and tangled, so much time was spent getting it useable)
• Big Twist Premium in Peacock Stripes (center row, left)
• Patons Lace in Woodrose (not shown)

I will probably have the Chunky Big Ombre scarf finished this week.

I also made a chemo cap for a friend of my mother's who asked for one in cornflower blue:

I also finished the scarf for my niece, to go with her Christmas hat and mittens, and the extra blue mittens.

No idea why the colour is so odd on the close-ups.


On a completely different topic, since it's Girl Scout cookie season, I've made purchases both to donate boxes to the troops and taking them to work.  We had a team leader get a promotion so for his last week, given that we are in the facility of a federal contractor and options are limited, this was his farewell party:

OK, we met after dinner one night at a local sports dive bar, and alcohol was consumed, but for the in-the-office celebration, amusement and cookies were appreciated.  He made off with the boxes that contained his favourites, Do-Si-Dos and Tagalongs.

Resolutions for February

Now for my micro-resolutions for February 2020.  Even though I didn't finish all the scarves I had on the list for January, I made good progress plus finished four (or three, if you count the pair of mittens as a single item) other items.  This month my resolution is to finish an item for Fiberlady to display at Stitches West.  I'll be there helping them again, and they invited a local lady who wrote a book to spend time in the booth and sign copies.  I decided to make a tote bag from the book in Fiberlady's hemp yarn.  I chose it because it looks like a quick and not too fiddly knit, and because I have a bunch of their hemp yarn lying around not turning into anything.

I added another series of resolutions.  Many online reading groups do a by-the-month reading list, and I found one that appealed to me:

My choice for January is The Ballad of Frankie Silver, a past-and-present murder mystery.  Thick book but the story moves even as multiple threads have to wind together.  I was hoping for something smaller but it's the only qualifying book I had at home, I didn't have time to shop, and I don't like traveling with library books.  I still have a bit to finish, but hope to choose a shorter book for February.  While Little Women seems an easy choice, or 1984, I am going to look through my shelves for something less expected.  Stay tuned.

I won a book!

My local library has a summer reading program.  In the Adult division, you can get prizes if you read a certain number of books and write a review.  Normally, I read a LOT of books, but I was working on a play this summer and didn't have as much time as usual.  So I was well behind.  Then I managed to do some catching-up, and when I went tonight to see what prizes I had won, this is what I was given:

Actually, I got to choose them all.  The packages of wildflower seeds appeared to all be the same, but there was a choice of two bookmarks (the other has a stylized coffeecup with "Read" on one side and "Relax" on the other) and three shelves of books, most of them review copies.  I could choose my book.  As you may imagine, that was not easy.

First, I checked the two mysteries, but neither seemed very interesting.  One was from a series set in Maine, the other about a bartender in Milwaukee, and while my connections there made that appealing I wasn't as excited as other people might be that it includes drinks recipes.  I looked at most of the books on all three shelves.  A number of them are ones I either have, or have read, or both.  or they are in my "waiting" queue - usually a book being passed around my family and I'm waiting for my turn.

So I went with a book that I thought I'd be unlikely to take out of the library, a historical novel whose central character is a cook.  Uncorrected proof, so I'm spotting typos in the first two pages, but interesting enough, and I'm sure I can pass it to a friend once I'm done.  I won't be able to sell it to Half Price Books, although I intend to take a carton or two of books and magazine there on Friday.  Just another version of recycling - while they work out my price, I do a little shopping......