On making ourselves happy whatever excuse we need.

2020?!

Am I right? Whew, what a year. The year no one will want to remember. So like most folks I've been trying to look on the bright side and do what I can to make myself and those around me happy. I've learned and grown. I have learned how easy it is to make freezer meals when you're home all the time. I have fallen in complete love with my crock pot and bread machine. 

I love working from home. Especially now that I can call these two my coworkers. We've put on some Covid, Mom's home to dispense food, and Burt's smart enough to demand food, weight. We have also figured out that Burt will run down the stairs chasing treats. Guess where Momma's desk is? Yep right by the stairs.  So that weight is going to go away in 2021. We could all stand to lose a bit here. So it is written so it will be done. 

My coworkers taking a wee nip break.

My broken ankle started stay at home orders earlier for me than the rest of my world. We ordered my medical equipment and some easy to get into and out of clothes and not much else for the first part of the year. 

Then restrictions eased and I had a long list of things that I wanted to have for the next lockdown and I got busy supporting my knitting habit. I saw yarn stores close up and thought I could help some people and myself.  I bought knitting needles, stitch markers, tools, storage containers and yarn. 

My first Jimmy Beans Wool order.

I bought my favorite needles and tried out some new ones, then I bought more like the new ones because they worked well for me too. And stitch markers I bought any kind that I thought looked interesting. I had bought some cat ones from the local yarn shop that closed and wished that I had bought more. I sought out more and now they live with me too. I bought DPN tubes to protect my knitting needles from my bossy boy that figured out the sure fire way to get Mom's attention is to grab a knitting needle in his teeth and run away. DPNs slip out of stitches very easily. Bad Burt gets what he wants. Not anymore BB, they are protected and you no longer have an instant food machine!

Yarn babies from CeCe's Wool

I "attended" another Rhinebeck. I wish I could have gone to NY and seen my friends like we had talked about last year, but at least we're doing ok and can still love to look at each other's yarn. I know I can ask for yarn advice and opinions and get asked the same while many mile separate us. 

Beautiful neutral Valley Yarns fingering weight.

I found out that I have loads of color in my stash but needed some nice neutrals in case the colorwork shawl patterns keep attacking my brain. I have at least one of those to show you.

If I get more tools and stash I need another project bag right? I fell in love with this bee print from Phoenix Yarn. Such a perfectly pressed, beautiful bag. Honestly I was looking at the honeycomb pattern and did not even notice the flower garden bottom till I received the bag. It is a bit bigger and less stiff than other bags I have which makes it all the more unique in my collection. 

Urth Uneek Sock from Blizzard Yarns. 

And just in case you think all I have been doing is supporting yarnie people I will tell you that I have knit up this yarn into beautiful stripy hubby socks that he's getting for Christmas. So he can dazzle and pop his way into the new year. Who doesn't want socks for the new year? 

Remember to be kind and take care of each other. Wear a mask and stay home and safe as much as possible. We can stop Covid spreading.

Missing picking apples

Back in 2014 I bought some fantastic tweedy yarn in pinks, greys and a touch of light green dyed by Fiber Stash. The colorway name was Bushel, hence the apple picking idea. So I knit some of my favorite socks from the yarn. It always made me feel a bit fancy when I wore the socks. I can remember wearing them in the hospital back when D had his accident, and showing them off to his nurse when talking about hand knit socks. Soon after that I realized the soles were wearing thin. I tucked them safely away till I had the time to repair them. 

I'll let you in on a little secret repairing things is not as fun as knitting things for me, so they stayed tucked away for quite some time.

See how pretty that yarn was? I mean really how could you not like happy yarn like that?

Last winter I pulled out the leftover yarn an knit a wee sock just in time for Christmas. I took it into work and hung it next to my name. I received a few comments that I really did not expect much for Christmas gifts. Yeah I have hilarious coworkers. Doesn't every office have at least one?

I made sure it came home with me after my accident and I used it as a pen holder a couple of times. Mellie just wanted to make sure my feet were warm enough. Good Girl Mellie.

Since I had used the leftover yarn up I thought about tossing the socks. But why they still make me happy why not just finally fix them. If the doc can fix my ankle surely it is worthwhile to save a sock too? 

I formulated a plan, since I don't like fixing holes and I'm not very good at it why not just knit a new foot/toe? I tossed the leftover stash and came up with complimentary bits of yarn.

Only one sock was holey so only one had to have surgery. Now they are back in the sock drawer rotation. 

And I have a "new" pair of socks and some old friends all at the same time. 

It is good to be a crafty knitter!

 

FO Friday

If my blog has been lagging at least my knitting and picture taking have not. Ok fine at least they have not been lagging quite as much as blogging. I wish I could be more like my friend Adriene and come up with beautiful and thought provoking posts, but I am still plain spoken me and that is OK. At least I knit beautiful things.

Today's post is brought to you by my past knitting FOs. FO is shorthand for Finished Object, for you random non knitters out there. 

Honestly I have been knitting and even taking pictures. At least when I remember to gather it up and have the Ipad in hand. Sometimes it is a long time before the picture makes it here. I am changing up my blog a bit and keeping more notes and pictures here. I miss blogging and this is one way of getting a bit of my mojo back.

First up my Zombie Mittens. These sassy mittens were knit out of Dragonfly Fibers Damsel yarn in the Zombie Apocalypse colorway. And I still have half a skein of this bright yarn leftover to knit something else or more mittens since you know I have lost entire mittens before. I bought the yarn at Rhinebeck back in the day. Shh Rhinebeck was virtual this year, I "attended" another Rhinebeck this year. Those yarnie pictures are coming later. I may have to go take them after this post. 

Back to the knitting stats, I used 3.25 mm needles to get a reasonably tight gauge without making them stiff enough to be weapons. I'm pretty happy with them and they definitely make cold steering wheels and overcast weather look better. Started November 1 2019, finished November 23 2019. Not a bad turnaround time when I can't even say monogamous knitting without giggling. I wonder how many things I was working on at the same time?

Now these lovelies started out as Christmas yarn from the hubby and were knit during my ankle recovery. I put the first one to good use while I was still in the splint and boot.

This yarn is Blazing Fibers Fingering Yak Blend in the Crystal Coma colorway. The yak makes them so warm and plush. I thought maybe socks were not the thing to knit but hey why not? I am the boss of my knitting. I get to do what I like. I started knitting these January 5 2020 and finished April 4 2020. Initially I did not like the way the colors were pooling so I ripped back and used my 2.25 cubic needles that seem to give me slightly different gauge which is just enough to make me like the pooling. Love the muted colors.

I love eye catching socks and these are my newest favorites. Knitted Wit Victory Sock in the Unbowed colorway. This was one of my last purchases from The Knitting Bee in Portland. Knit June 14 2020 to August 21 2020. Plain old socks to show off that lovely colorway, bold and beautiful. Plus they coordinate with my basket. 

 Boy I did not realize how far I have fallen off the blogging train. I just went back to link some of the FO's to work in progress posts and I could not find any. Life gets in the way and it is better to live it than record it but I like doing both so why not? I'm off to take more pictures and may even get next Friday's post ready too, since I have pictures.

Happy knitting everyone!

Casting on all the things

 I am not a monogamous knitter, I've told you all that a few times now. I like having a bunch of projects on the needles so I can knit various complexities. I like the feel of different combinations, yarns needles, where I am in the process. It is all good.

Every once in a while the stars align and I end up finishing several projects around the same time. And sometimes the stars align even further and I don't cast on something new I just go on to finish another thing. I can remember the concern that gripped me one day when I realized I only had a second sock on the needles. I had not cast on anything after several finished projects. Oh the horror of only one thing that was soon to be zero!

Recently I knit down to a few things on the needles and had a big old cast on weekend. And that was so fun I cast on more the next weekend.

Currently I have three first socks, three shawls and a curtain on the needles. See the problem is one of the socks is patterned and I need to pay attention to it so it sits there next to my knitting chair while less involved things get knit on. I am about a third of the way through a shawl that I am going to love wearing but actually don't like knitting. By the time I stop making mistakes and stop reknitting rows I will have knit it three times over. Quite frankly I am a bit beyond frustrated with it. I finally put in stitch markers and managed to finish a section. Now I am starting a new section and either the stitch count is off, impossible I have checked it several times, or the stitch repeats move from one section to the next which is the reason all my stitch markers are now in all the wrong places. But I just cannot face knitting and moving them all only to find out I will have to do it all over again. Sigh I really do like knitting.

Oddly enough the curtain is my most joyful thing right now. A friend sent me yarn that can only be accurately described as confetti cake in yarn. Bright and neon colors on a white base. Shh lean in I have a confession, part of me thinks having an undyed white base for yarn is just an half finished job. I know the skill to dye speckled yarn is a skill too, it just feels lazy and unfinished to me. I know, I am working on myself but the first bit is admitting you have a problem.

But this yarn is just making me smile. I knew I could not knit socks from it because of my problem. And our front door has a window in it that I have never known what to do with. I hate that some tall people can see right into my living room with me living on the couch.

So why not make one of my favorite shawl stitches into a square curtain with my happy confetti yarn? Something bright light and airy. I tried a couple of stitches like cat's paw but it was not happy fun knitting so I knew it would not work. Instead I remembered how much I love Feather and Fan or Old Shale. Now I have a project that is making me smile and happy. No driving around neighborhoods trying to spot my happy curtain when it is done, OK?

Yarn on parade

The sky is filled with smoke and some days it just feels like everything weighs more. Today is one of those heavy days.

To counteract that today I have some little slices of happiness, or rather yarniness. I have some more new yarn to show you. 

I placed my second time ever yarn club order back in June. After I received my order from Teal Torch Knits I signed up for their Good Place (love that show) yarn club for July and August. Both skeins arrived safe and sound in one shipment. The top is A Little Bit Chowder and the bottom beauty is IHOP, Interdimensional Hole of Pancakes.

You can tell I am a bit more excited about the IHOP one. I think it is because I am loving having more color in my world now. My first order from them was mostly in the blue area so seeing what they can do with color is great. 

 

I have bought from Boss Kitty a couple of years now at Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival. While looking through the vendors for this year's missed festival I remembered how lovely their yarn is. After much debate with myself I finally ordered Teatime for the Soul and Murder Mittens. Ok fine I will admit that I like the colors but I really loved the colorway names.

You know how it is when you debate over something and finally order it, and sit impatiently by the mailbox waiting for it to arrive? Even if it is only five minutes since you placed the order? Oh come on I cannot be the only one that does this... Anyways my order was delayed by a few days and I kept beating back that little voice in my head telling me to reach out and ask when it would be shipped. I figure we should really be giving people at least a week to ship stuff especially in the middle of a global pandemic. I kept shushing my whiney impatient voice. I told it to stop being a grabby child, especially since I had dallied about placing the order for over a week myself. Inner voices can be such pushy voices.

I'm very glad I did not inquire about the order since I received an apology note from Boss Kitty seconds after I received my shipment notification, well within a week of my order. They had an urgent matter that had delayed my shipment. Talk about good customer service and a lesson in how to be proactive in calming shipping worries during a tough time. Thanks Boss Kitty, hope your world is improving.

Anyways back to the yarn. I usually by sock yarn with every intention of knitting it into socks. I know that comes a quite a shock from a self designated sock knitter like me. But once I took a picture of the two Boss Kitty yarns together, they started whispering to me that maybe they should ba a shawl instead. I don't know if they would have enough contrast between them but I really like how they compliment each other. We shall see what the knitting decides. 

I seem to be on a shawl knitting trend now anyways. I'll show you those next time.

Keep on trying to be kind to each other.

And speaking of nice things.

I picked up a couple of lovely notebooks in Czechia last fall. I think I already showed you one. Here is another, and even prettier with my pink pencil. You know my obsession with school supplies. Once I found my perfect pencil I buy all the colors. What better place to keep pens and pencils than a Burt kitten pencil bag. 

Mellie prefers the real Burt. She has made an excellent supervisor while I work from home. At least she does while she is awake.

You'll forgive my bad photo but once things started to loosen a few months ago I put in an order for some new tools. I had plenty of time to think about what I use most and wanted more of and a few new to me things that I wanted to try out.

I have managed to finish a few things too, like these socks. And today I finished a shawl on a very hot day. No pictures since whew not today. This was yarn I received from a blog drawing a while ago. I kept thinking I needed to find a perfect pattern for them but changed my mind and am happy with plain knitting.

Like I said I had plenty of time to think about getting some new things. Since all the festivals are canceled, I've been doing a bit of online shopping. The bottom right yarn is already on the needles, yes new needles from above too. 

Keep on trying to be kind to each other.

Not a Rubber Chicken

The other night we looked out our back window and thought a plastic bag was caught on our fence or tree. Still it looked full and odd, so my intrepid hubby went out to take a look. It was a chicken roosting on our fence and mostly protected from view by our tree. Smart bird.

Then I thought what if she is sick or dying? We just left her there in peace because there was no blood or random feathers. She looked smooth and calm.

The next morning she was still there till she hopped down and had a nice bug breakfast in our yard. She made the best TV show my kittens seen ever! Mellie would not move from the patio door. TV even got better when she came up and bawked at Mellie through the window.

We think she is a new addition to our neighbor's yard. But she is welcome to come over and roost with us. She came back last night too.

My inner farm girl is very happy with this situation. All of the fun, none of the responsibility.

I'll try to get pictures when I can.

Partial Sock Parade

The other day I counted up my WIPs (Works In Progress) and came up with two pairs of socks and two shawls on the needles. I then corrected the socks to three pairs, then to four. Yeah I cannot even spell monogamy when I am knitting. Good thing I am loyal in other areas of my life where it really counts or else my hubby might just want to have a talk with me.

So far two of these are for him and two are for me. But I never really know till the toe finally appears which one of us is the winner. OK fine he usually gets the boring brown ones and I definitely get the lace ones. But still I am never certain.

These all seem to be languishing a bit because one of the shawls is garter stitch and I just love knitting garter stitch. It is so soothing to my mind and soul. And don't we all need a little extra comfort right now?

Finding Happiness

I know that money does not buy happiness. I'm a saver. I didn't have an affluent childhood so I tend to over analyze purchases, and then not buy things. My needs are weighted heavily against wants. If I don't NEED something I tend not to buy it. There is nothing wrong with this, it helps me feel safe. 

But sometimes it is enough to want something, buying something is not a guarantee of happiness but it can make you happy. One of the tricks is to find balance. 

While staying home for the past four months, yes four months, remember I started staying home before staying home was cool. In those four months I have had plenty of time to spend with my stuff and find ways to admire it anew.

One of the first things that I looked at and thought I am still happy I bought, is this basket at last year's Black Sheep Gathering. Honestly I always thought the people buying baskets at Rhinebeck were a bit silly. Possibly because I was on the receiving end of a basket thwack too many times.

Turns out I had just not met my compatible shape and size baskets. Plus look at those gorgeous colors.

While we were in Czechia last fall I had the opportunity to visit a couple of book shops. I love book shops even when I cannot read the language. One in particular had a school supply/stationary section. And we all know I how much I love school supplies. On my last day there I decided I needed some nice graph paper notebooks for my knitting. Look at how lovely that book is. This brings me happiness too. It is a great help to me to rewrite some patterns. It helps me visualize and understand them better.

Happiness can be found in finding the right pattern for a yarn color that you never would have looked at when you first started knitting. I hated orange and yellow, now I don't. I appreciate color so much more now that I knit beautiful things with it.

And speaking of finding happiness, it helps when you have two fantastic felines to guide you to a comfy chair to look around and appreciate.  Oh look my basket is there to be appreciated too.

So take some time to gaze about you for something that brings you joy and say and extra thank you to someone.

Diving into the Stash

Like so many others I've taken the opportunity to take a walk down memory lane with my stash. My stash holds more than yarn, it holds memories. I used to be able to tell you where and when bought each skein. Now it is mostly remembering it was a Rhinebeck or that's vacation yarn. Since I bought most of my yarn at Rhinebeck it made it pretty easy. What can I say I like buying yarn at festivals.

While I was ankle deep in my stash, see what I did there? I found these two and thought they would make a great shawl. But which shawl? la-mer or Ilo or Tokerau? I don't know either...

Yesterday I was texting back and forth with my knitting buddy trying to figure out the opposite side of the dilemma for her. She had a pattern and was trying to figure out the yarn. Buying yarn online is so hard. Plus I think we share the trait of not mixing yarn brands in a project. Maybe she got over that but I have not. Guess that's why I've never made scrappy socks or anything else with my leftovers. And yet one pattern designed to use leftovers has called to me forever. Maybe it is time to buy that one too and start knitting.

Wait what about that other two color shawl you've been dreaming about for years, you ask? Well it turns out that simple knitting was all I could manage for a while after my accident. It is always nice to dream but I don't like beating up my yarn. So that one is still waiting for its moment. I do believe this could be its year though... I did manage to finish two year old socks, and I am pretty proud of that.

So yeah I've been knitting and dreaming about knitting quite a bit this year. Maybe next time I can show you something on the needles.

Keep calm and take some refuge in your stash if you want.

A Sock Tale

A couple of years ago on our anniversary I started a pair of anniversary socks. We were on a lovely trip to the Oregon coast and it seem like a good time to start a special project, so I did. I cast on Nancy Bush's Anniversary Socks from  This was the year I would finally knit them. 

You see I knit a lot of plain socks because... I enjoy knitting them. I have knit enough that I just to round and round and round, you know how the world is supposed to be going?

Every once in a while I think that I should finally knit some special fancy socks. You know from one of the many sock knitting books that I own. But there's the rub, you have to pay attention to fancy socks. Nonetheless I cast on to mark our anniversary.

Lovely right?

I had trouble memorizing the pattern till I figured out that I need to rewrite patterns for myself. It is almost like winding up the yarn you're going to use, it is part of the getting to know you process of a project. Once I did that boom zip I had a sock and the start to another one. Mind you it took me a year to figure this out. A year of this special project staying in my mind and on my needles just not being active with either. 

But then I got suspicious, and received confirmation. I ran out of this fantastic red yarn. Then I broke myself and I let it sit. 

But hey I have the same yarn in this nice blue color. Red and blue go together, and even if they don't I don't care I like special socks remember?

I thought about just adding the blue and going plain just to be fast and finish it up. But that's how you get Frankensocks so I stayed fancy. 

I think Burt approves.

Happy anniversary hubby these socks are for me.  

Let's talk knitting at home

With all that is in the news, I waffle between Keep Calm and Carry On and Yikes, Yikes, and oh man more Yikes. So I guess this post will be about the former because it is really all we can do. So let's talk about knitting at home. 

I finished some socks and even remembered to take a picture of them. You know the best thing about being laid up with a broken ankle? When you finish a sock that's all you need for the moment. So I started wearing this pair when it was only a single. I tried them both out at the same time last week. Turns out compression stocking + wool sock + boot keeps a lot of heat on the foot. Way too much warmth. So I am back to singles for the time. 

Once those were off the needles I realized I had no socks on the needles so I had to cast on. I dug out one of my beloved Zauberballs. Hey they are already wound up and ready to knit, and it is not like I will need this ball for easy travel knitting anytime soon.

I'm very glad I bought that nice stash bag on my last trip to my LYS. It is a nice sturdy canvas tote. Nice to have a treat once in a while.

The next day I cast on more socks because really we need upstairs and downstairs knitting on the go.

Burt would like you to know how to deal with that annoying coworker that always tries to take the best chair.

He says it is not really a solution if your coworker doesn't care if you sit on them. He got up before she even budged. It was probably her best Burt scenario.

Try to remember to Keep Calm and Carry On.

Knitting through trauma

OK fine I admit it. When D was laid up with his break in 2016, I thought once or twice to myself, "If that was me I would get so much knitting done." 

Wrong, wrong, you're so wrong past me! Turns out trauma and then surgery trauma does not equal good knitting time. The week prior to surgery all I did was get myself to and from the bathroom, try to find a comfortable position for my leg and fret about my first surgery. Knitting peeps D was very clear on who has dibs on the stash. Although he said he would keep some as a reminder of me.

When I went to the hospital I did not even bring knitting with me. I know you should always have an emergency supply with you at all times, but it seemed like I had so much stuff. I didn't pack a suitcase. I just had an over the shoulder bag that D brought back from one of his New Mexico trips. This thing is my new best friend. I should show it to you one of these days. 

But honestly you're so focused on just healing and what comes next that you don't have any brain power to spare. And lord knows all energy is spent on knitting bones, not yarn. 

Then I had a week post op that went well but really I just had yarn near me that I could pet and look at but knitting? Meh. I know I was a bit worried too.

After that week my brain fog started to lift and I finished a couple of first socks that were almost done to begin with. Then I thought about finally knitting some vacation yarn into a shawl. I searched and searched for a good pattern. Something easy for my brain to not concentrate on. Sure enough I was knitting again. And it felt good, ever so good. 

I saw the doctor again had my stitches removed and got a fancy boot. I was feeling bad about how much time I had taken off. I went back to work part time. Whew, going to work is hard. Trying to balance recovery and work expectations is hard. Then a pandemic finally got to us. Now I am working from home and much more comfortable. I would never have wished this on the world but it did make it just a bit easier to do my job. I am safer and happier at home. 

I wish this pandemic had not happened but I hope all of us can learn from it and make ourselves stronger because of it. I hope the devastation, loss, and hopelessness leaves us quickly. I hope that we can pick up our knitting and be happy once again.

Recovery Shawl

Well I finally have actual knitting content. Whew how good does that feel? It is crappy pictures but of a knit item. 

I cast on My Recovery Shawl after my surgery. I had bought this Kauni color changing yarn when we visited Vancouver Island in 2016. Don't you just love vacation yarn? It has marinated in my stash since then. I thought I found the right pattern for it a couple of times but each time I ripped back. I wanted something to show off the colors and finally decided a nice simple pattern would do just that and allow my brain to relax after surgery. I'm still amazed at how unfocused I was. Trauma really does a number on the brain. So I knit and purled part of my way through recovery. I'm so happy with the way it came out. It is not as big as I like my shawls to be these days but it is warm and pretty. I expect it I would have left it out one of the cats would have snuggle in soon. Hey it might be big enough for both to snuggle in on...

In other news I have very thankfully started working from home this week. My feline coworkers have been trying to be supportive, but mostly they demand food breaks then nap. It is tough taking care of Momma! Burt is very disappointed that I am not sticking to his purr therapy schedule. Very disappointed Momma!

They also decided ages ago that the top level of my Ikea cart makes a pretty ideal kitty condo/penthouse. They have graciously allowed me to store knitting stuff in the lower two levels. You know one of the many reasons I bought the cart.

Whole Lotta

There is a whole lotta taking care of Momma going on, here at Yarnkettle Cottage. Helping Momma heal is painstaking overwhelming work. 

Burt feels it is best to direct his focus to my foot area. Melissa has been assigned the task of keeping a watchful eye on Momma. She may decide she needs to pee in the middle of a cat therapy session.

I am continuing to heal and even feeling well enough to get a bit of my knitting mojo back. I found it hard to find and stay in comfortable positions. I did experience some brain fuzziness and concentration issues. But each day is getting better.

I finished a pair of socks for D, in some 70s appliance colors. 

I also may have finally found the right shawl pattern for my Kuni yarn I bought a while ago.

I tried a pattern I love the look of but my make one's were really not right. Guess I just love a yarn over instead. This is Half Circle Shawl by Jennifer Jones. While my post surgery brain was not firing on all cylinders, I found this a bit confusing. But working through it, it is a nice simple concept and repeat. Once I got going it is almost as easy as my plain socks to knit. Just what my brain requested.

I think the plain simple pattern will show off the color changes nicely too.

And Still Recovering

I am a person that is happy to stay home. I am very comfortable being alone. Wait, I have cats I am never truly alone at home. I am rarely bored because I learned long ago how to entertain myself, and I amuse easily.

The last few weeks have been very frustrating. Everything takes more time, planning and awareness. I am not able to stay comfortable longer than 10 minutes or so. At least that is what it feels like. The cats are frustrated because every time they get comfortable on my lap, I have to move. I swear I can feel at least two screws. OK fine I probably can't but it does feel that way.

On the plus side we have not wanted for people feeding us. Meals have been arranged and delivered. The food has been flavorful as well as plenty and easy for Hubby to prepare. I have a great safe environment, even if it looks a bit same every day.

My husband has been loving, kind, understanding and encouraging through the whole event. He really understands what I am going through even if it is different than what he went through. Seriously he has done more than I could have ever hoped for. We are a team.

So Yeah I may be frustrated and a tinge bored, but I am well cared for and safe. Hubby will even have a new pair of socks soon.

Recovering

So my world has gotten rather small. I had my surgery. It went well. I am so happy to be on the road to recovery.

But... the changes are astounding. Everything needs to be figured out over and over. How do I do things without hurting myself further? How can I make something into the easiest most efficient process? And most importantly how do I feed the cats?!

It took a few days after the surgery to even feel human and somewhat competent.  Now I have moved into the I should be doing more stage. Oddly enough I really want to be doing household tasks! I want so badly to feel productive. I am just a bit obsessed with laundry for some reason.

I have been knitting and doing some exercises, but mostly my time is taken up with sitting uncomfortably and trips to the toilet. My world exists in two rooms.

I am safe. I am cared for. I am healing.

But I feel like I should be more me. I just have to tell myself I am super busy knitting myself back together.  I am productive. I'm growing bone. I am where I need to be, doing what I need to do.

I'd say give myself a break, but... that's how I got here in the first place.

dreaming of shawls

I have wanted a Catkin shawl since I saw one at a fiber festival. Or was that several? It was never a trendy pattern like some others but I loved it nonetheless. I didn't buy the pattern till several years later at Rhinebeck. I finally admitted that I could make something so complex, one day.

And more time went by knitting other things. When we moved to Oregon and I had a little time I was busy exploring the new yarn stores. I thought to myself finally I am going to make my Catkin! I spent some lovely air conditioned hours gazing at yarns. Remember it was over 100 our first few weeks here, I looked for any excuse to dally in AC!

I finally picked out two complimentary colors that I thought I could wear with just about anything, blue and grey.

I diligently knit up a swatch, making mistakes, ripping back and learning the way things should look.

Isn't it pretty? Then I let life take over. I was busy settling in, bringing Burt home, finding a job, handling D's very serious accident and rehab. Life it just keeps going on. And I am very thankful for that.

But the shawl is no closer to being a real object than when I took those photos. Sigh...

Now that I've had my accident maybe I should dust it off and make myself a shawl of ? Healing? Good Thoughts? Gratefulness?

A shawl that I love?

Never brag

Especially if you brag about never having broken a bone. Looks like D will be taking care of me for a while. Burt is all for sitting in the comfy chair with me. Mellie has decided Momma can go to the bathroom by herself if she insists on taking crutches with her.

Time for a nice complicated shawl of healing right?

Ahoj knitting content

So do we talk about new year's resolutions or can we just skip that part and say I am always working on being a better me and sometimes I am not as successful as I would like. We good?

I did pick up some new habits that I will be carrying into the new year. Want to hear about them? Of course you do!

I finally pulled out a nice thick journal I had bought a while ago and started writing in it. Maybe to compensate for not writing here? Maybe, I've just wanted to start working through some things and journaling is something I've wanted to try for a while. Plus it is a covert way to fill my school supplies love basket. 

I made a few entries and they confirmed that one of the things I really wanted to do was start exercising regularly again. This time I instituted a guilt free and recordless plan. I tend to beat myself up a lot and I wanted to get out of the "shoulda" way of thinking. I shoulda did this, I shoulda done that. Now I just go do it for however long I want or I take a night off. There are no rules or goals other than checking the box or not. Personally it has been rather freeing. 

Another thing I identified as a priority was catching my knitting journal up. I was a year and a half behind at one time. I am proud to say that I ended 2019 caught up and ready to do better. I realized how much I missed writing up my knitting when I saw how much was sneaking into my new journaling habit. That's fine I can still talk about it over there too. Heck my old knitting journals worked as my first journaling endeavor anyways. I can split them, I can join them, I can do whatever I want with them. No guilt!

And speaking of doing what I want I made a couple of ornaments with leftover sock yarn. Though I only managed to snap a pic of one of them. My little pink one is at work hanging by my name plate.  It is super cute too.

I finished up some socks by the end of the year too. I started these the first time D went to Czechia and they sat and sat. When I went to Czechia I made sure they came with me. I ripped back the few inches I had, and turned them into my Czech Monkeys.

I just love the look of Monkey socks. It is one of those patterns that seems written on my soul. They look lovely but are not too hard to knit and easy to memorize.

One of the things I found in Czechia were cute little graph paper notebooks. I bought this one first then allowed myself to go back and get a bigger one and one more like a school notebook. See I told you I love school supplies. I have learned that it is easier for me to rewrite a pattern. I love the little squares but don't always need to count them. I have figured out a way that makes sense to me and will most likely be rewriting more.

These socks are just the splash of color I need mid winter. Even when my winter is no longer white, I love some funky colored socks!

This my languishing project that will be getting attention this year. Bouncy squishy handspun yarn, that I need to learn from. I want to make mitts or mittens from it but I need to write out the pattern for the gauge I'm getting. I have Ann Budd's handy book of projects at multiple gauges that I need to narrow down to my specific gauge and write out. See I knew those little notebooks would be handy.

So now that we're caught up I have some new yarn to take pictures of so that I can post here. Yeah I had a nice time in a yarn store yesterday. I even logged it into Ravelry the same day! I am winning!