Hello!! to all you hangers-on to what seems to be a fading way of logging one's adventures. I still love reading blogs, but I'm quite aware of the hypocrisy of how little I write on my own anymore. So how goes it? I'll be honest. The first two months of the year were a bit of a struggle for me for no good reason. I'm sure you're familiar--your head seems to be in a fog, you're going through motions, you're just not yourself. I was not fun to be around. I was mopey, I didn't care, I needed caffeine like I never have before just to make it through the work day. And then I happened upon a book ..read more

In my stash, I had a ball of practically-neon green yarn that I didn't use for a project and had no idea what I would ever use it for until Little Nephew (A-train) was talking about his favorite video game Minecraft. The color reminded me of those creeper thingees that lurk around (I know less about this game than I do about rugby), so I thought I'd put those onto a hat. I couldn't find a pattern for exactly what I wanted, but I did find this one for the colorwork part (which is really all I needed). I like the look and feel of a double-thick brim so I started off making that (using the same ..read more

After knitting this sweater, I had a TON of yarn left over (in everything but gray). And after knitting that sweater, I felt like knitting only small projects. I enjoy knitting hats, but there's only so many hats one person can have (I know, that's an arguable point, but as a person who generally does not wear hats it seems nonsensical to keep piling them up). For some reason, I rarely make things for my nephews. I think it's because they have that "growing boy" thing going on for so long I worry that they'll outgrow what I'm making before I finish. But hats? They stretch. A lot. So they'll la ..read more

Um...hello? <tap tap> Is this thing on? Isn't it funny how almost four months can go by without a post and you don't even notice it because time flies, and then one day it hits you that it's been ALMOST FOUR MONTHS since you last posted, and how does that happen and what have you been doing with yourself anyway? It's the first year I haven't posted anything Christmassy, or gone on and on and on about how much I love Christmas lights, or how I can't believe how big the nephews are, and so on and so forth. But I very recently gifted a sweater to someone, and thought "I must remember to bl ..read more

While I do love simple, fast projects, when it comes to knitting I prefer a little oomph. Whether it's self-striping yarn or new techniques I've never tried, I like having something different to look forward to as I work. My knitting goal for the year (is that a normal thing to have? Do other people set those?) is to become...I'll call it functionally literate...at color-work. And the Fimmel Hat was a great project for this (as long as we ignore the strands of yarn that kept wanting to get involved with each other instead of minding their own business). The pattern for this was available on ..read more

When I went on a knitting retreat back in October, I bought some beautifully squishy yarn. Due to other projects, and certain unforeseen circumstances, it took me a really long time to cast it on for the pattern I had bought to go with it. But now it is finished, and blocked, and the first day of appropriate weather I'm wrapping myself in this and strutting around. Disclaimer: this color was nearly impossible to photograph accurately. The pattern is called 'Broken Waves.' I bought a paper pattern, but it's available on Ravelry as well. It's a looooooong triangular shawl, predominantly stit ..read more

I made this wreath a while ago, and every time I walk by it I think "Yep, must share that" but I always forget. But today I break that streak. Last year I bought a kit for a shawl, but didn't really love it, so I used the one set of yarn for this blanket, and then used the remainder to make this wreath, as when I looked at the colors I could think of one thing and one thing only. Hydrangeas. I found a pattern online (I think it was this one, but it was a while ago so I'm not entirely sure), and just stitched and stitched and stitched until I ran out of yarn (which is Scheepjes Catona, b ..read more

My youngest sister follows  a butt ton (an actual measurement, mind you) of local artists on Instagram. She is very much a fan of the various local arts that are trying their darndest to regain a foothold in Philadelphia (at one time Philly was huge in fashion and textile manufacturing, as well as many other things, but those industries left some time ago). At some point, she happened across local artist Ron Nicole, and began...I'll call it stalking...her social media pages for announcements of workshops. When she saw one, she asked if I'd be interested. I love trying new things, even if ..read more

Well. Long time no...write. It's funny how it just gets away from you. I've been working on the same shawl for a bazillion and seven years (I didn't like how it turned out following the pattern instructions, so I frogged the whole thing and redid it my way). I've been devouring books for some reason (I love to read anyway, but have been doing more and more of it lately). And I finally managed to get my hands on the object of my Barnes and Noble stalking. I used to have a Mollie Makes subscription, but ended it a while ago as it ended up seeming like a waste of money. However, I follow them on ..read more

Back in...maybe January...ish...I bought an issue of Mollie Makes that came with a really cute embroidery kit. It was supposed to be for Valentine's Day, but I didn't get to it. And then when I had big plans to do it, it had to wait a little longer. A couple weeks ago, I spent a Saturday afternoon happily stitching and drinking tea so I could cross one more thing off of my to-do list. This wee little bit of embroidery made me quite happy (mostly, because after a million years, I FINally mastered the French knot). I had a stinker of a time getting the pre-printed fabric into the hoop. It's s ..read more