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That’s life

First of all, Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Secondly, Happy 18th Quit-iversary to Me!!

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(I wish you could see that Ginny is wearing the 5 Point Bomber!) I had a great day last Friday at the kids' school for "Special People Day," including a visit to each of their classrooms, an art fair throughout the halls, lunch, and a performance of the all-school musical. Having missed the Christmas concert because everyone was sick, and overnight snow on Thursday threatening cancelation of last week's events, I was incredibly happy to be there… after a 2-hour snow delay! The show must go on!

They were all so happy to show me everything and, boy, they sure do love being there! They've had Spring Break this week but they're ready to go back… Ali sent a photo this morning of Ginny & Malina playing school at home.

Anyway, I took the big kids home with me on Friday for an overnight.

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It was chilly, but not windy, and the sun was strong enough to melt/dry the pavement, so the girls spent some quality time chalking up the driveway!

On Sunday, I buckled down and got a grip on the bookkeeping/taxes. Still buckled in and ready to get that all over with.

Monday morning, I started my car and immediately the tire sensor thing came up… clockwise, from the front driver's side, I read (something like) 37, 36, 36, 1.

"ONE?" I said to myself. "That must mean it's flat!"

Sure enough. As flat as could be. I called work, called the tire place but they don't open until 7:30/8, while Rusty used my handy air compressor to get a little air into the tire. Usually, I'd have just taken Rusty's car, as his habit is to walk to the studio, but he had to go to Sturgeon Bay for an event. Finally, my brain cells started working and I remembered that Ann & Brian have a vehicle a few blocks away and are very happy for us to take it for a spin now and then. That meant that I could put off our repair until Wednesday, my day off — much more convenient (and way less frantic) for everyone.

It was another screw. I swear, my tires are magnets… I've never had a vehicle in for so many tire repairs, and it's always for something like that.

I have finally been felled after months of warding off every illness that the people around me have had! I felt it come over me on Wednesday afternoon. Sore throat, stuffy head, runny nose… negative Covid test, anyway! I'm fine but I'm looking forward to the weekend… hopefully to wrap up taxes, but mostly to sleep in!

I hope y'all have had a great week, and wishing you a great weekend!

 

Unraveled Wednesday / Knit & Read

Unraveled Wednesday: It’s just the normal noises in here

I'm joining Kat & the Unravelers today for Unraveled Wednesday! After last week's off-the-chart excitement, things are back to normal around here, and I'm…

KNITTING:

A blanket.

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More like a throw.

My Temperature Blanket is on hold while I whip this up! I've been posting about it on IG/FB — I even took it to Mexico — but I've been cagey about saying exactly what it is… because the recipient, a certain young man who graduates high school this year, follows me over there and has "liked" most of those posts. Just wait until he finds out it's his!

When I learned that his favorite color is blue, I knew that I finally had a use for the bagful of mini skeins I'd purchased… in 2019. They were test skeins for someone working out dye formulas, so each skein is a slightly different color, but they all "go." I decided to split them into lights & darks, and I'm riffing a bit on Kay Gardiner's A Light in the Window (Rav) pattern. I wind a skein into a ball, knit until it runs out (usually), knit between one & five garter ridges of natural/undyed yarn (there's sort of a pattern), wind another skein into a ball (alternating light & dark), knit until it's time to make a "window," then carry on… using the remainder of the previous light or dark ball to start the next square.

It reminds me, in a very abstract way, of indigo tie-dye, and if that isn't one of the most perfect unintended happenstances for a project ever, I don't know what is!

So, I'm halfway through the fourth row — each row has five squares — and I'm hoping for six rows altogether! Seven would be great, but I'd be OK with six. I have a few more skeins of light than dark, so visited a new-to-me yarn store when we were in Fond du Lac on Saturday in search of supplemental yarn. (Be Prepared!) Knitty Gritty Shop is a very nice store, dangerously located right off the interstate, but not at an exit which makes it just a little bit less perilous. heh. Eventually, I'll knit a border around the whole thing (supplemental yarn may come into play there, if not in the squares).

READING:

I'm still reading The Miracle of the Bells, by Russell Janney (only a couple chapters to go!), and still listening to A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders. Thankfully, I just finished "The Nose" section of the Saunders book and hope there aren't any more stories like that! Just over three hours of listening to go.

What can I say? Life is busy.

Pretty sure I'll be watching The Shipping News again rather than reading it for the upcoming discussion…

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I looked up after taking the blanket photo in the Garden Room this morning and just had to take another! It'll be dark again next week at leaving-for-work time but, as I recall, it won't be for too long. Don't forget to "Spring Forward" this weekend!

 

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Artsy Weekending

Rusty was in Sturgeon Bay Friday night — doings for a current exhibit at the Miller Art Museum. (Looks like he'll be going back on Monday… I better remind him!)

When he got back on Saturday, we jumped in the car and headed down to Fond du Lac's Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts for the Wisconsin Visual Artist's member show (which he forgot to enter!).

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There were a lot of great pieces but this one struck me in particular… maybe because I'm starved for flora & fauna at the moment! It's a mixed media piece called Summer Bearer, by Kristin Gjerdset.

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Unfortunately, I did not get the details on this piece, but I can show you a detail of what it's made of…

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…stuff that others might put in the burn pile! The textures are incredible. I have no idea how that was transported! 

By Sunday afternoon, Rusty had the pieces marked and the stretcher frame all put together at the studio. I went up to do a "test hang" and am delighted to report that we're right on the money.

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It's going to be great! Next step is packing up all the pieces & hardware and get it shipped. It's still over a month until we return to Mexico, but it can take a few weeks for parcels to arrive, so the sooner the better.

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I had forgotten that Sharon made him a crock for his paintbrushes. It's been in use for a while!

 

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Mission accomplished

Well. Yesterday! Wow… there's my "hard reset"!

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Shared on IG by both Modern Daily Knitting & Holli Yeoh, along with friends and other folks (and me!). It was so satisfying to read the comments here and on the MDK post… THANK YOU!! I may have basked a little. haha. I did! I basked in the limelight!! (Because why not? It fades fast!)

I was smiling all day… for real, I think, and big, not even realizing it, because everyone I saw yesterday immediately smiled back at me. (I'm still smiling.)

Are you curious? I am…

  • There were FIVE TIMES the normal number of page hits here
  • My 5 Point Bomber on Ravelry went from one like to 51!
  • Holli's 5 Point Bomber pattern is (at this writing) at #5 on Ravelry's "Hot Right Now" page (and I saw it as high as #3 last night – when I thought to check) (falling fast because… fading limelight)
  • Holli updated the pattern to include the COLORING PAGES
  • I sit on the MDK Contributors page between Jillian Moreno & Mary Jane Mucklestone on a page full of actual knitting rock stars (I am actually fan-girling!)
  • Some IRL people/friends found out that I've had a blog for almost 20 years

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High praise from my little sis on FB! Haha. This is so funny. (She binged on Yellowstone when they were here.) She even left a comment on the MDK post.

AND… my washer was fixed yesterday for only $200. I've never been so happy to spend $200 in my life. Kudos to the experienced repairman who asks pertinent questions and anticipates the possible problem, who brings the part with him so, if confirmed, it can be installed right away! I'm a fan.