Brother's Hat 2: Electric Boogaloo

Good news, my mug shelves are still secure! Bad news, I keep having bad dreams about them collapsing again! Hopefully my subconscious accepts that the shelves are secure now and finds something else to worry about!

I got pictures of my brother's finished hat! I love it just as much as I did the first one, and I swear the next time I knit this pattern it will be for myself.

 

I spent all day Saturday deep cleaning my apartment, which really needed it. It's much nicer now, and it's been warm enough the past couple days to have a couple windows open to air out from winter. The temps are still swinging back and forth a bit, which makes my bones ache, but hopefully things level out soon.

The grocery store in my neighborhood has asparagus for $1.99 a pound this week, so I got four bunches. I rinsed and chopped three of the bunches before freezing them in baggies so I have them on hand to throw in packet risotto. Asparagus is probably my favorite vegetable, and fresh asparagus is one of spring's few redeeming qualities. I'm looking forward to eating lots of roast asparagus over the next couple weeks, and I'm glad I thought to put some aside for risotto once asparagus season ends.

Mugs and Trains and Socks, Oh My!

Great news, my mug shelves are back up and secure! It ended up being a five-day ordeal, as it took me two tries to get the right drywall anchors, then I needed to get different screws, and THEN I needed to move all the shelves down an inch and drill new holes because I absolutely made a mess of one of the initial holes and couldn't move that one shelf without moving all of them. But it's done now, and fingers crossed that nothing precarious ever happens to my beautiful mugs ever again.

The last weekend in March there was a model train show in town. I didn't find out about it until that Saturday, but I went over on Sunday and really enjoyed myself! There were some really cool setups, and even a club that ran miniature steam engines! While I don't have room for a train setup in this apartment, I've always wanted one, and I picked up two cars to start my collection.

Knitting wise, I finished my brother's hat (unphotographed), and I also finished a pair of socks (Ravelry page) for myself! Aside from the worsted weight house socks I knit myself for the GAL last year, I haven't finished a pair of socks for myself in over three years. Carpal tunnel surgery has been an absolute game changer, and I'm so pleased that I can handle knitting on 2.75mm needles for longer periods again. I've also been making progress on my green sweater: both sleeves are done and I'm about six inches into the body.

The end of last week I had to go out of town for a conference and Coleslaw got to go to camp. It was a little rainy, but that didn't stop her from climbing all over the playground equipment! I am glad to be back home, though, and as much as Coleslaw loves camp, she's definitely been catching up on cuddle time now that we're both home.

Mugpocalypse

This weekend I had to go out of town for work, and when I got back on Saturday evening I was tired, sore, and desperate for some Coleslaw snuggles. And then I noticed a couple of the mug shelves were sagging.

 

They seem to have come down with a case of "Kat should have paid for better drywall anchors," so now the mugs are covering every surface in my kitchen while I wait for the new anchors to arrive. Fortunately there was no great collapse, which I am so, so thankful for, but it's certainly not convenient, and it's exactly the kind of stressful situation I don't want after traveling. 

(On a lighter note, I made quite a bit of progress on my brother's hat and joined the second ball of yarn yesterday. Since we're past the halfway point now it looks much more like a green blob than a hat, but hopefully the next ten or so inches will fly right off the needles.)

(As far as the mug shelves are concerned, I have invested in Toggler brand drywall anchors and they should arrive within the next couple of days, so hopefully I'll have my counters back soon!)

March So Far

I honestly don't know how it's been three weeks already, but here we are halfway through March! 

My dad came for a quick visit the last week of February and we hit up the antiques mall, where I picked up a new doll for my collection and a new quilt, which was promptly claimed by Coleslaw as soon as it came out of the wash.

We also popped into JoAnn to take advantage of some of the clear-out sales, and I picked up backing for my friend's baby quilt (which is nowhere near as far along as I'd like!) and I stocked up on Americana quilting thread. I also made the following completely unnecessary purchase, but, in my defense, mushrooms!

On March 1 was the Fiber Fest in Bloomington, IL, and I went over with a couple of friends from knit group. Miraculously, I stayed exactly on budget, and I'm super excited about the skeins I picked up. First is this skein of SW Merino, which is totally my colors. This is from Ewe2Me2You and the colorway is "Cathedral Mountain."

Next is a skein of SW Polwarth from Noumea Hand Dyed Yarn and Fiber, in the colorway "Sunflower." I love the yellows and oranges in this skein along with the black flecks, and I can't wait to see how it knits up.

I didn't know ahead of time that my friend Heather from T&H Fiber Works was going to be vending, so seeing her was a happy surprise! I haven't seen her in a few years, and while I still have several skeins from her in my stash, I picked up two more of her "Heather's Favorite Sock" base. The pink and orange is "Tequila Sunrise" and the multicolor skein is "Fall is for Lovers."

 

I also finished my Laphroaig scarf this week! I wanted to use as much as the yarn as possible, so I did have to rip back and change where I started the edging a couple of times, but it's worth it. I'm so pleased with this, although I still need to weave in the ends and give it a bath.

Right now on the needles I have a few old pairs of socks, the sweater I mentioned back in January (which looks exactly the same as it did then), and another Musselburgh for my brother. The one I knit him for xmas last year accidentally went through the wash, so he's getting an exact replacement. I'm almost halfway through now, and it's been a great project to keep on hand for meetings and webinars. Now that the scarf is done, I'm really hoping to make some more progress on the sweater, and I'm also jonesing to pick up my old sock projects now that my hands have recovered from surgery.

A Pile of Baby Knits

I have finally finished all of the knits I'd planned for my friend's baby, who is due in just a couple short weeks! I need to get these all bundled up and dropped at the post office soon—hopefully the weather cooperates so I can get downtown!

First we have the Duck Feet booties, which I've already showed you (Ravelry Project Page). These are so cute, I cannot get over them, and I'm looking forward to seeing them on my friend's baby.

Next I knit up a Snug As A Bug Sleep Sack, which I haven't shared here. I love a sleep sack, and this one was a mindless knit. I love this green color so much! (Ravelry Project Page)

 

Then was a pair of Elizabeth Zimmermann's Baby Leggings, which I also showed you before. These were also a fun knit, although that i-cord drawstring seemed to take forever! (Ravelry Project Page)

I started a Newborn Vertebrae shortly before my first carpal tunnel surgery and finished it up in mid-January. This is such a great pattern, and I'm honestly surprised I haven't knit one before now. (Ravelry Project Page)

Finally is a pair of Pip Socks by my friend Annika. This was actually one of the first patterns I picked out. I used leftovers from my mum's xmas socks, and these are just so darling. The drawstring is supposed to be i-cord, but even months after finishing the Baby Leggings I'm still i-corded out, so I elected to make braids for drawstrings. (Ravelry Project Page)

I'm still working on the baby's quilt, which I'm hoping to finish this spring and not drag out for months and months yet. I haven't been sticking to the schedule I originally set myself, which in hindsight was a bit too ambitious, but I'm ultimately pleased with the progress so far and I'm utterly charmed with how it's stitching up.

One More Baby Knit

This week I cast on one last knitting project for my friend's impending baby. My friend Annika's Pip Socks (Ravelry Link) had been at the top of my list since I started planning baby knits for this kiddo, and they're the last project I need to make before I can package up this bundle of baby knits and send them to my friend. I'm using leftovers from my mum's Christmas socks, and they're knitting up so quickly. I love the drawstring around the ankle on these, so they're a little tougher for baby feet to yank off than regular socks.

I also finished the top garland on the baby quilt! The pattern has one of these three-flower garlands across the top and the bottom, and then the center is a three-by-three grid, so this is excellent progress. I've also been making some good headway on the first row in the grid—the flower on the right-hand side of the image above has been almost completely filled in since I took this picture! I haven't knit much during the week, but I'm hoping to dive in this weekend and make some decent progress (without overdoing it).

I'm also hoping to clean my apartment this weekend—I did a deep clean the week before my first hand surgery, but I haven't done a real cleaning since then, but my hands are finally up to the task. My kitchen counter has gotten especially cluttered, and I'm really looking forward to actually managing that instead of just pushing piles aside to deal with later.

Ending January

Gosh, this week has felt long, but it did have a lot of good moments in it. On Sunday I went to knit group and there was a good group there, and it was nice to be back in that space with those people. I've almost made it to the halfway point on my blue scarf, and I'm looking forward to starting the second ball soon. After knit group I took the bus down to one of the local thrift stores, and while I didn't find any of the things I was looking for, I did find an elephant humidifier! I've always loved this model, and with the air in my apartment as dry as it's been the past few weeks, I was super excited to come across him in the home electronics aisle. 

I also went to my favorite thrift store after work on Thursday. I haven't been in a few months, but I'm so glad I made the trip out there, since I found the raincoat of my dreams! I've been looking for a quality raincoat for probably at least a year, and while I really wanted a classic yellow one I was prepared to be content with any well-made raincoat. I'm so thrilled, and I'm actually looking forward to the next time I have to run errands in the rain.

I haven't made much progress on the baby quilt this week, but I'm definitely planning on putting in a few hours over the weekend. I only have eight more episodes of GBBO to catch up on, so I'm going to have to figure out what to queue up next to keep me entertained while stitching!

A New Project

How come a four-day week after a long weekend always feels longer than a normal week? We've had a couple of super cold days here, and the air in my apartment is so dry that I'm shocking myself every time I touch a light switch. I have two pots of water going on the stove to try and get some humidity, but it hasn't reduced the static yet.

After banging out a bunch of knitting last week, I've slowed down a lot this week. I'm mostly focusing on the scarf, since I need the needle it's on for the body of my green sweater, but I've reached the point in "long rectangle" where it's hard to get in a good groove and make significant progress. I'm well over halfway through the first of two balls, so it is coming along, just more slowly than the first foot or so.

Part of the reason knitting has slowed down so much is that I've picked up a big non-knitting project with a deadline! I did quite a bit of knitting for my friend's baby, but I knew since their pregnancy was announced that I also wanted to make a baby quilt. I found this cross stitch quilt kit at the secondhand crafts store back in the fall, with a beautiful pattern of sunflowers and bees. I put it in the quilting frame on Monday and started stitching, and while I wish it was going quicker, I've been able to stitch enough every day that my progress is definitely noticeable. 

Part of me imagines that I'll get this finished before the baby gets here, but the smarter, more realistic part of me realizes that this is a big project to finish in less than two months. It's fine, it's not like the baby will know if it wasn't finished by their birthday.

Back in the Saddle

Happy Friday! I got my right hand stitches out on Monday, and my hands are doing well. It's still easy to overuse them, but I'm taking it pretty easy (and also doing my OT exercises). As I thought, I'm able to knit again, and oh boy does it feel great to be back. I finished the Newborn Vertebrae that I started for my friend's baby back before my first surgery, and I cast on a scarf and a sweater for myself.

(I can't believe I've knit this much of a sleeve in three days, it feels absolutely wild.)

My best friend brought me this yarn from Ireland when she went there in 2014 (!!!!) and it feels so good to finally be knitting it up. I've had a few false starts with this, but I'm so pleased with this pattern and I'm actually really enjoying knitting it.

I also busted out a quick hanging basket for some of my office squishmallows. My desk was Too Cluttered, so I looked up instructions for how to make a granny square, finally figured it out, and one skein of kitchen cotton later (plus some extra in a different color to tighten up the edges because my gauge is all over the place), these guys have a new home on the wall by my crafting bookcase. I've never actually managed to make a granny square before, despite trying every couple of years, so this was really satisfying to whip up!

I'm looking forward to a three-day weekend here. I'm especially excited to go back to knit group after over a month and a half away!

A New Year

Happy January, friends! I had quite a busy end of 2024, so lots of catching up today!

Firstly, my left hand carpel tunnel release is healing very well, and much more quickly than I anticipated! It'll still be several months as the scar tissue settles down and the nerve endings around the incision settle down, but I'm very pleased with the results so far. The incision site itself is still tender, especially when I'm resting that part of my palm on something, but I am massaging the scar tissue and am hopeful about its continued healing. I had my right hand done last week, and much to my surprise the recovery has been easier than the left side! Usually the dominant hand is worse, and I don't know how much of this has been just knowing what to expect, but I've been very pleased with how smoothly this recovery is going. I get to take off the surgical dressing tomorrow and I'm very excited to get the stitches out next week. 

I finished my mum's Christmas socks back before my first carpal tunnel surgery, and they were well received! She and I both love the colors in this pair, which I knit up just using my plain vanilla formula:

I went out to my mum's for Christmas, and the whole family was together, which was nice. I took a Greyhound, as it was significantly cheaper than flying, and the experience made me really hope that next time I go back I either have my own car to drive or money to fly! It wasn't awful, and most of the time I did have two seats to myself, but it's still almost 21 hours each way in a narrow bus seat, and even overnight the bus stops and the lights come on every couple hours to let passengers on and off. Fortunately, a few nights in my own bed fixed me up, even if my poor sleep schedule took over a week to re-regulate.

I got back home in time for the third night of Hanukah, so I decided to (very halachically) just light the candles for nights one through three back to back. Coleslaw even got her own Chanuka gelt from my sister!

I did manage to do a little bit of knitting for a couple days in the week leading up to my second surgery, so I'm feeling good about being able to start knitting again in another week or two. I tension my yarn with my left hand, so as long as I can hold a needle in my right hand I'm not too worried about the strain on it, but I think at this point I might just wait to get my stitches out, just in case. I've been missing knitting, and while I have a couple quick projects to finish up for my friend's baby, I'm itching to cast on a sweater project for myself.

Since I haven't been knitting as much, I've been doing lots of puzzles! I'm hoping that I can keep my table clear this year and have puzzles going more regularly, because I do enjoy working on them and I miss having them out when my table is covered in doom piles. 

In a surprise to no one who actually knows me I absolutely over-prepared for my carpal tunnel surgeries and my freezer is still chock full of prepared meals and apple cake! I always think it's better to have more of what I might need rather than risk running out of something, so I'm not too upset.

Last Friday was my sixteenth "diaversary," and I can't believe my diabetes is old enough to drive now! Longtime readers of the blog might remember that my diagnosis anniversary is a sort of second birthday for me, and I always have cake to mark the date. Two years ago I bought a frozen cake because I was in the middle of moving, and this year, for only the second time in sixteen years, I also had frozen cake since there's no way I can bake with my right hand in stitches. I had planned on getting cupcakes from the gluten free bakery, but they're still closed for the holidays, and I was lucky to find one gluten free chocolate lava cake in the supermarket so I didn't miss the occasion!