11.26: Unraveled Wednesday… It’s Beginning

November 26, 2025November 26, 2025 Vicki7 Comments

I’m joining Kat & the Unravelers for Unraveled Wednesday!

KNITTING:

Welp, my Farfalle Cardigan has been momentarily set aside for some inspired holiday knitting — and that has a deadline! I don’t always get caught up in the holiday knitting, but once in a while it’s hard to resist.

How about you?

First up: a Musselburgh Beret ! This pattern is part of Ysolda’s Knitworthy 9 collection.

Close-up of knitting in progress with teal yarn on needles, a stitch marker attached, and a decorative holiday tree in the background.

I’m knitting this beret for Ginny, who would like to visit Paris someday. It was inspired by a book that I found in The Joslyn’s gift shop — This Is Paris, by Miroslav Sasek (originally published in 1959, updated for modern times). Lord knows I love a good museum gift shop! I also love a good theme, so I’ll be finding a few other French-y things to round out her gift. I’m using Rowan Felted Tweed in one of the color-changing Kaffe Fassett colorways that I have yet to document.

Next up: a Mystery Project.

Close-up of a partially knitted Musselburgh Beret in a blue-green yarn, resting on a stone tabletop with a Christmas tree in the background, adorned with lights and ornaments.

Details will have to wait until after the holidays!

It looks like I’m decidedly in my blue-green era… haha, I’ve always loved blue-green.

I would love to knit a bunch of other things by Christmas — for the kids (grand & otherwise), for Rusty, for my sister, for my nephews…

…for Cara @january_one (IG) to take to Delaney Hall in Newark, NJ, to help bring some warmth to people waiting to see their detained family members. It’s worth a wander over to scroll through her feed (bonus: dahlias). She’s collected & delivered items from all over the country, which is so wonderful. I don’t have the time for knitting.all.the.things, so I Venmo money instead… for HUMANITY (which is what I write in the memo)… with which she buys & distributes various gift cards! I hope you might consider a donation of some sort, if you’re able. (I vouch for her without reservation. Cara is one of the most trustworthy people I know).

READING:

I am mere pages away from the finish of World Travel: An Irreverent Guide (Anthony Bourdain)!

IN OTHER NEWS:

It’s snowing. And, we have our first winter storm warning of the season!

Uncategorized

11.25

November 25, 2025November 25, 2025 Vicki6 Comments

This month — the one before, too — has been such a weird mix of emotion & activity… all of it at warp speed! I promise I’ll pick up the couple of threads that I’ve dropped (Nashville, Omaha).

Right now, I just need to get started again, and the easiest way to do that is with what’s current.

On Friday, while Ali took the boys to the Polar Express at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay…

Two girls standing in front of a green door decorated with gold accents, each holding a door handle. One girl is wearing a black jacket and colorful leggings, while the other is in a colorful coat and striped leggings.

…I took the girls to see Wicked: For Good — and they stayed for a sleepover! I’d never seen Wicked, in any way shape or form, but we ended up watching it on Saturday morning, so now I’m caught up!

A grandmother sitting in a chair, watching two girls, one in a colorful skirt and the other in pajamas, as they gather around her in a sunlit room filled with plants and cozy furniture.

Rusty took this photo as we were hanging out in the Garden Room on Saturday morning (I’m in my usual morning spot).

Two girls engaged in a morning activity; one is eating cereal from a bowl while the other writes in a colorful booklet titled 'When I Grow Up'.

Same scene from my point of view.

I sold my car to Kate last week and have to get going to find a replacement, which I’ll need by the end of next month, for sure, when she & Kai take off for an extended period away — starting with a few weeks in Arizona.

I won’t be test driving anything today, though. We’ll be shopping for our traditional/non-traditional T/thanksgiving meal, depending on how you look at it. It’ll be fairly low-key day, as we’re in the midst of some major cleaning, reorganizing & rearranging — all in hopes of getting the tree up in time for Ali & the kids to come help decorate sometime over the weekend.

A handwritten grocery list on a notepad, featuring various food items including pine nuts, fresh gooseberries, mushrooms, and ingredients for a Thanksgiving meal, placed on a colorful book cover.

Anyway, we’re big fans of chef Sean Sherman — his restaurant, Owamni, in Minneapolis, and his cookbooks: The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen and Turtle Island: Foods and Traditions of The Indigenous Peoples of North America. Turtle Island is a brand new release. It’s a gorgeous, very readable book about history & tradition, and Sherman is an engaging storyteller; the recipes are organized by region. We’ll have some challenges sourcing some of the ingredients, but he usually offers options, and we’ll do the best we can! That’s tonight’s mission!

I’ll be back tomorrow with a knitting update.

#whirlwindarttripwithkate · 2025-Omaha

11.11

November 11, 2025November 11, 2025 Vicki7 Comments

We’re going to An Evening With Jeff Daniels at The Grand Opera House in Oshkosh tonight, and then hitting the road tomorrow morning on another #whirlwindarttripwithkate. This time we’re headed for Omaha, Nebraska! I haven’t been that far west (on a road trip) since the early aughts when Sharon lived in SW Kansas. I drove through/around Omaha a few times in the early ’80s when I drove out to Oregon for visits, and then to move there (and, eventually, move back), but have never stopped. It’s not much further west than Kansas City, which was the last big #WWATWK road trip, but it feels like it, and it’s making me yearn for a real long-haul trip! (One of these years.)

A scenic view of an empty highway at sunrise, with streaks of clouds and a colorful sky. The landscape features greenery on both sides of the road.

The main event is Dripping Earth: Cannupa Hanska Luger at The Joslyn Art Museum on Saturday; we’ll see the exhibit & attend a lecture.

We’ll also be going to Lincoln to visit the International Quilt Museum and the Sheldon Museum of Art, and a few other stops & points of interest in/around/on-the-way. I have stopped in Lincoln before, at least once, to hit the hay on one of those I-80 trips to Oregon, but the Holiday Inn or wherever was the extent of my visit. And maybe McD’s for an Egg McMuffin to fuel forward progress the next morning. This will be more intentional & interesting.

I am really looking forward to getting outta Dodge, as it were, and recharging.

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11.6: 6-7

November 6, 2025 Vicki7 Comments

Little did I know that my birthday this year would be a meme & dictionary.com’s word of the year! You should have seen the girls’ eyes light up when I told them how old I’d be!

Sorry, that video has some advertising, but it’s a pretty good “explanation” of something that’s inexplicable! haha.

And, yeah, turning 67… that’s inexplicable, too! The year ahead is already shaping up, so bring it!

Unraveled Wednesday / Knit & Read

11.5: Unraveled Wednesday

November 5, 2025 Vicki7 Comments

I’m joining Kat & the Unravelers for Unraveled Wednesday!

KNITTING:

I’ve begun sleeve-swatching the Farfalle Cardigan . I’ve done the ribbing for both sleeves using the “new” Magpie, and have proceeded in pattern with the yarn that was my sister Sharon’s along with the new Noro Ito.

Close-up of a knitting swatch featuring a mix of textured stitches in dark burgundy and earthy tones, illustrating a floral-like pattern.

It’s taken a while to find my groove, and I think I did, until I read… (famous last words…)

“AT THE SAME TIME”

I’d actually seen those words but it just didn’t register that there was something I literally needed to do at the same time, so focused was I on other aspects of the project. And, to be honest, very preoccupied with other aspects of life.

So, while I’ve actually knit well beyond what you see above, I’ll be frogging back to about that point to get back on track with the sleeve increases. While the pattern is charted, the increases are not, so it’s taken another few days to align the written directions with the chart & repeats and I got that figured out last night. It’s good to have something else to focus on?? There’s no deadline for this sweater, so it takes whatever it takes.

READING:

I’m still reading a bit of World Travel: An Irreverent Guide (Anthony Bourdain) every night. Great bite-size chapters.

We’ve had an incredibly mild autumn… barely a frosty morning & definitely not a killing frost yet, though that will soon change.

A garden scene featuring colorful flowers, including pink, white, and red blooms, surrounded by autumn leaves and a wooden trellis.

A scenic outdoor view featuring a set of stairs leading down to a garden. The scene is highlighted by vibrant yellow autumn leaves on trees in the background, with a few remaining green leaves and a potted plant visible at the bottom of the stairs.

Rusty’s maples glow on the hillside. There are huge catalpa leaves strewn all over. Zinnias are still blooming!

I am so very sad to report that my friend’s son died… and I spoke too soon last week, as he did indeed die late in the day on her birthday. It’s as devastating as you might imagine. The service is on Saturday. The sadness will last forever. Hug your people.