The Knitting Goes On...

So the "secret project" is coming along nicely. I'm over 50% done, which is a good thing. No picture yet; perhaps when it's done? Definitely when it's been given to the recipient. 

And I (or Hubby, actually) went into The Box of Sox...and pulled this out. It's Baby Regia, which is technically sock yarn. BUT... I'm wondering if I should instead make a shawl out of it from the Ukranian patterns? I'm thinking the Water Glare (pattern here). It would be pretty. I don't have a shawl with that much blue. Well, technically, I do, the Sally Melville "Wings" in the alpaca laceweight, but this colorway might be a good addition. "Wings" is a very pale blue, sort of like that sky with the ivory clouds in a bit of a haze. I love it because it's just enough to wrap around my neck and tie it. 

I just think that if the yarn says "for babies" and "socks," they're not thinking someone like me should walk around in them. I'm hard on my socks. And, I have lots of yarn left in The Box of Sox. 

As I'm knitting this Secret Project, I'm altering the design as I go. Maybe that's the reason I should have done a test run, but this is going to be a one-off and done. The nice thing is, even though Hubby doesn't knit, I can ask questions, and he's got a good enough idea of garment structure, etc., that he can give good suggestions. 

I know that I probably shouldn't have had him pull the yarn. I've got 3 singletons that I know of off the top of my head that really need mates. And I have some yarn sitting right here next to me that I frogged and re-started for another pair of socks. And I have a shrug/sweater thing from Expression Fibre Arts that I really need to get going on. And the linen t-shirt I had started. Long Sands, (pattern here) that's working up in a beautiful pewter linen yarn. That can be a 3-season thing, because I'd wear a t-shirt under it; it's a loose enough knit that it's more of an over-the-top kind of item to wear. And I do have long-sleeved t-shirts that I wear in the fall. 

It's a Stretch...

So yesterday, I did something rather out of my comfort zone: I took a workshop on integrating Qigong into yoga sequences. Qigong, as you may know, is similar to Tai Chi, except that Qigong can be an isolated movement or movements to affect a certain part of the body, such as "gathering the sun" or "combing the body." Tai Chi would be a whole sequence, like yoga but...not. 

Anyway, I'm intrigued and I want to learn more. And somehow, something happened to my hip. It's crazy, because we did a 20 minute flow of moves, and none of them were extraordinary. We stood in one place. OK, we did bounce a bit, and I could've landed wrong. But I don't think I did. 

And that evening? I was walking with a cane; my hip felt like it was going to collapse out from under me, which for me is extremely odd. 

What I found interesting about it was the intersection of some Yin principles with Qigong, in terms of energy meridians and how they affect the body. 

And something definitely affected my leg...I ended up using the cane in the house, which didn't thrill Raisa at all: she looked at it as if it was going to bite her. And Quinn? She just walked around me! 

Luckily, I'm heading to the doctor on Monday to see if I qualify for an experimental treatment. Of course, it's not covered by insurance, but it should prevent an eventual hip replacement. I cancelled my regular Yin class tonight; I wanted to do a whole "Spring Yin" thing, but not if I can't get up and down off the floor. 

Last night I used my far-infrared pad to "cook" the area. Today I used ice. I'm not using the cane today, but stepping out laterally is still a bit tricky. We shall see how Monday plays out. 

Orchids in Bloom...

Well, the 8th orchid has bloomed. We have only one which is just shooting up a flower stalk. It'll be a month or so till that one does anything. 

We've never had eight of them in bloom. Heck, we've never had eight of them SURVIVE... Hubby's got a dab hand at growing them. 

He said today, "No more!" (Which is like me and yarn...if there's a unique enough orchid he finds, it'll probably make its way home!) Our shelf is a bit crowded. Two of them need re-potting and one needs splitting, so I may have to find the split part a new home. 

The whole table is just beautiful and one of the pink ones has a scent. I can't smell it unless I'm on top of it, but it's just a nice thing to look at when I'm "cooking" my hip. 

The Reading...

So far, I'm taking a trip down Memory Lane with my reading: Elizabeth George's "Inspector Lynley" mysteries. And the description in the book is about 180 degrees from the guy who stars in the series. I think the guy in the series fits the character better. And Havers is different, too, in the series, at least physically. I'm also still working every day with the book of meditations on grief, which I referenced a few entries ago: "Healing After Loss," by Martha W. Hickman. 

The Lynley books are typical English mysteries, and I really like how they're written. I've seen most of the series, and I've enjoyed it. Picturing it in my head while reading the books is maybe a bit of a cheat, but that's ok. They're fun to wind down with at bedtime. 

The Garden...

Well, we still haven't planned much in the garden. Hubby took the top layer of dead leaves off today; which I think is a bit early, but I'm only reading it in the garden section of the paper...

We've still got the native plants in the front gardens; I do want to add some sunflowers along the south side of the house. The dirt there needs augmentation, though, and I'd love to put a border or something like that along that side of the house. I have to get to the local museum because they have seeds for local plants. I think I might have room for a few more plants; you never know!

Random Picture...

When I was out with my friend J the other day, I picked up some beads. I've dabbled, I confess. But she's an expert and does some beautiful work. So I got these, and made two bracelets. My original thought was one blue, one yellow, but I alternated the beads. 

Yeah, it does jack diddly for Ukraine, but it's a measure of solidarity in a very minor way. 

We're planning a day where she can help me fix some bracelets that, over the years, have broken. It's something to do over a cup of tea, so why not use it as a way to get together and spend some time? She doesn't knit or do yoga, and I don't arrange flowers or make jewelry -- so it's something we can do together till I can walk well enough to get back to taking strolls around the neighborhood. 

Need a tax deduction? How about the Elizabeth A. Morman Memorial Scholarship? It's in honor of my sister, for non-traditional women who are coming back to Joliet Junior College to study nursing. Non-traditional students are those who are older, often coming back while working or in other situations. We're giving one scholarship ($1,000) per year to a student who meets specific criteria which is on the website. 

Looking for yoga? We're open! Masks are optional. Check our schedule here at Just Breathe Yoga Studio for drop-in classes, series classes, workshops and more. 

Zoom classes are available if you're not quite ready to come into the studio. Private sessions aer available, as are small group classes. Many classes are available both on Zoom and in-studio. Call or text at (815) 546-2770 for more info, or email at info@just-breatheyoga.com if you have questions about whether a class is appropriate for you. 

Hold My Beer...

As if doping in the Olympics wasn't enough? Vlad decides to take back Ukraine as if he actually owns it. And then has the blazing balls to say, "There will be trouble if they try to stop me." 

Looks like Vlad is getting the trouble... And also, my personal opinion is TFG needs to be OFF the airwaves. He needs to shut the pie hole and the press should be, I dunno -- over him? I know it's all clicks now. It's not even "if it bleeds, it leads," but "if the GQP says more outrageous crap, we get more clicks" rather than, perhaps noting that the jobs are up in January. And the pandemic, while not over, is getting to a point where the death counts aren't so high anymore. Though there's another variant, so we shall see if we get to have our masks off for a red hot minute before all the chickens come home to roost. 

I went to Ravelry (yeah, I know all the stuff about access and all that, and I should've done something different, but there you are). Sought out a Ukranian designer, picked 3 shawl patterns, and ordered them. I know it's not a ton of money; there are folks signing up for Air BnB in Ukraine, and donating that money to the owners of the houses. You have to pick houses owned by real people, not a real estate company or the like. And the owners of the homes are grateful -- and in many cases, can probably get the money to where it's needed quicker than my shawl pattern designer will get her money. Especially if the internet gets locked down. 

It's something. I've got an event coming at the studio which will raise funds for refugee organizations. 

I'm honestly glad to see that we're not using Russian oil and gas now. It was only a few percentages of our entire dependence on everyone else's oil, but it makes a point. 

Today, I gassed up my car and it was $4.29/gallon. I bet by tonight, it's closer to $5.00. But then again, we're not getting shelled, and we have intact homes and functioning hospitals. So. Complain about the gas prices at your peril. 

And no, Biden DIDN'T raise fuel prices. No president in the history of this country, no matter which party, can affect gas prices. It's a commodity. It rises and falls according to the market. And the market is susceptible to the whims of forces beyond a mere president. 

The Knitting...

Well, one down... I finished the blue striped socks. Last night. Wearing them today. I'm glad they're finished, even though for some reason, the toes don't quite match. But I'm fine with that, because the toes on my feet don't match...

They're on 64 stitches, and I should have done them larger. I have to find a sweet spot. 72 stitches is too large, even with my biker calves. And 64 is, let's say, a tad snug. 

At least now the toes mostly match, the foot length matches, and the heels not only MATCH, but are a decent length in the heel flap. I know most heel flaps are around 2.5" but I like mine a bit longer. I also pick up way too many stitches in the gusset, but that's ok. You can see how the edge of the heel is a bit longer, and the decreases are many. That also fits higher arches. So I just keep doing what I'm doing. 

That's the best thing about socks -- you can totally customize them. One of these pairs, I'm going to try an arch support at the underside. I'm going to go back to the Box in the Closet, and have Hubby pick another bag.

What's the "Box in the Closet?" you ask... Well. Many years ago (yeah, MANY), I set myself a challenge, which got sidetracked by baby knitting. The twins I was knitting for are now 8 years old. Ahem. 

Anyway. 

I put 12 brown paper bags into a tote. In those brown paper bags were 12 balls of sock yarn, one per bag. The idea was to knit a pair of socks a month. 

Normally, this is do-able if you buckle down a bit more than I was doing. Did you know that if you carry your socks around with you all the time, you generally get a lot more knitting done? Well, I wasn't doing that for a number of reasons, one of which was the knitting for said TWINS... 

I know I have several singletons, but I also have kind of a case of start-itis, brought on by a number of things, and I know that deadlines will be pressing upon me. But that being said, I'm looking forward to diving back in to the Box of Sox. 

Next up is my "secret project," which has had its deadline moved up a bit closer than I thought it would be! 

I am quite literally keeping this one hidden till it's done. It's a design I worked out myself, so I'm not sure how it's going to work. We shall see... But for now, I'm just going to beaver away at this and get it done, hopefully, by the deadline imposed upon me by circumstance. 

I'm also hoping to finish at least one more pair of socks, by making the mate, and maybe finish up the Copland shawl I started 2 years ago. Especially since the colorway is now, apparently, in fashion, being black and brown. The brown is hand-painted, and it's glorious. The black is also hand-painted so while it's black, there are layers of black, if you can imagine that. That shawl got set aside for Kid #2's afghan to finish. I'm not sure when I'll have more baby knitting to do. 

This will be my year to learn cables, too. I keep telling myself this. I keep procrastinating. This is the year. I'm going to do it. Honest. 

Gardening in General...

We're not quite sure what we're going to do for the veggie garden. I do want to plant sunflowers (not

solely because of Ukraine -- I've wanted sunflowers for a while now). At the local museum, they're selling native plant seeds, and I may pick some up to add to the wildflower garden in the front. 

I think our "old favorites" will return: radishes, romaine, carrots. Rosemary is a standard. I think I'd like to do celery this year. Last year, we got a taste of it, and -- much like carrots, it was good!

Inside, Hubby's orchids are going nuts. NUMBER SEVEN has bloomed. We seriously have SEVEN plants in bloom right now. We have nine total, and it looks like two will need re-potting, which means we have to figure out where to put two more plants. Our space is compact, to be kind. One more is budding, and ready to pop in a week or so. 

One of the cattleyas is blooming, the pink one with a scent. The one big phal is blooming and the other is the one ready to pop. And all the mini phals are in bloom. It's crazy. And beautiful. 

And we need that beauty right now. 

I have to remember what that little plant is behind this pink-and-white mini-phal. It's kind of like a succulent, and its purpose is to attract the little midgies which like to congregate around the orchids - like a Venus Fly Trap, it draws them in and ... eats them? Anyway, the flowers remind me somewhat of violets, and the greens are like hens-and-chicks but not as rigid. I had the paper that the orchid place gave me. I just don't know where I put it. 

Random Picture...

My studio is located in an old plaza and recently, we've had some pretty vile winds. The awnings over the suites were looking pretty care-worn, and two wind storms later? They were just trashed. Our landlord is very good at keeping the property up. He had all the awnings taken down and a week or two ago, they were returned, brand-new. 

He also put LED lights around the roof parapet, which is nice - the parking lot is well-lit anyway, but this adds more light. I teach night classes, and a little more brightness in the lot isn't going to be anything I'm going to complain about. 

Actually, we're talking about lighting at our house. A week ago, a neighbor's garage got tagged. We all realized that the area around 2 blocks was kind of dark. So we're all chatting, figuring out who has cameras, talking about whether we need to talk to the power company about the utility poles in the alleys, fixing lights atop them to light up where we park. 

I've lived here a long, long time. It feels weird to have this problem. 

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The studio follows Illinois Covid-19 policies and mandates; all are masked coming into and out of the studio and social distancing is required. We practice mask-optional; teachers use hands-on adjustments at their discretion. 

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Picking Up... Stitches & Pieces

On Monday, it'll be a month since my sister's passing. I must've gotten over 50 cards, and I truly feel the care and thoughts of everyone. 

I can't tell you how many times in the past few weeks I've picked up the phone to call or text her. I saw a mug with a nursing theme, and thought, "Oh, Betty's Christmas gift!" Well, no. 

I feel like I'm not 'grieving' enough. I have no idea how to grieve; logically, I know there's no "right" or "wrong" way to do it. I just feel inadequate.

Some days I can go a while without ruminating about everything. I can't help but think that, when I saw her in September, and we went antiquing, while my hip was giving me fits, I noticed that she was hacking and her breathing was a little rough. She passed it off by saying, "I'm trying to stop smoking." I thought that made sense because other people I knew who'd tried or succeeded in quitting told me that the first few weeks, it feels like "you're hacking up a lung."

If only I'd pressed a bit. I did tell her that I was proud of her quitting. To me, though, that's small consolation, because I believe in my heart that she had the cancer then. And she did tell me about the "bug bite" that wouldn't go away (which turned out to be one of the tumors). She was always afraid to worry me; she was concerned that my heart would act up, but honestly, I'm not a shrinking violet and my heart is as strong as that of a mule. She could also be prickly about her own health issues. 

Hindsight is indeed 20/20.

All of the rose petals are dried. In the next few weeks, we'll send them off. And my nephews are reviewing the scholarship documents this weekend, which is exciting. It's coming together. 

But I still wish she was here. 

I think this weekend, I'll be taking the cards off the table and packing them away. They'll go in my drawer where I can pull them out when I need them. 

The Knitting...

I finished the second sock, and frogged the first one. It was weird clipping that toe and ripping yarn. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and I finished the heel flap last night. 

Turning the heel is still magic, thanks... and I am now working on the gusset. In order to start the gusset, you have to pick up the stitches along each side of the flap. I have kind of a unique way to do it. 

When I first learned, Sonda told me, "You can use a crochet hook, but you won't need to." Well, I need to. I always have, since she showed me. It's just that now, my crochet hook is smaller. 

Normally, you'd use your needle to pull through each stitch, and you'd do about 16 or so stitches on the heel flap. I do a 3" heel flap, just because I like it. And so I'll also often pick up 20 or more stitches, regardless. 

Sonda told me that, too. "There are no knitting police, and if you think it's a little "holey" then pick up a few more stitches!" Also, I pick up two extra when I get to the instep, so that there's no hole in that area. 

With a crochet hook, since I'm "bi-craftual," I'm pretty comfortable picking up those stitches and putting them on the needle. Of course, sometimes they're twisted, but that takes about two seconds to switch while you're knitting it up. So this also means that my gussets are kind of long, but that also works in my favor because I have a high arch. The longer gusset seems to fit my foot better. It can get a little odd looking, like a foreshortened foot, but honestly, nobody but me sees the foot anyhow. 

So who cares? Sonda was actually pretty fascinated at how quickly I could pick up using the hook. It just made sense to me. The other way, with the needle, was a little harder for me and I kept either dropping the stitches or splitting the yarn. 

I will admit it's a little cumbersome on the 4th needle (the SSK side), because you have to pick up the stitches along the heel flap before you get to the stitches left from the heel turn. 

I'm zipping around this part of the sock and it should go quickly. 

I have to figure out a project for an airplane... In June, it looks like I'm going to Baltimore for a conference. Of course, I'll have to check the TSA regulations, and I'm assuming that I'll be able to go -- Lord knows what with Covid and the newest variant. 

The airline folks get twitchy with socks using double-pointed needles, in spite of what I've read in the Yarn Harlot's blog...and I don't want to take a shawl because that can be too bulky. I usually try to take something that can be done on circular needles, because so far, they've allowed those. I have a bias scarf that I could probably take; it's been my "forever" travel knitting project just because it's mindless. It's from Churchmouse, and called "Before and After" because it looks like heck till you block it! It's lace-weight on a size 7 circular needle and there's beading on either end. It's quite long, and mine is done in a "peacock" colorway for the first one, and a yellow-green (which is odd, but it does go nicely with the peacock) for the second one. I haven't quite finished the first one, but I hope to be done with that one by the time I get on a plane. 

If you think about it, it's the perfect project to wear when you're on a plane, or in a conference room where you never know what the AC is going to be like...

I've been considering what to do for the next thing after these socks. I have several WIPs to finish, as well as...more socks. Several singletons still need mates done. 

I'm leaning toward finishing "Copland" from Expression Fiber Arts, or finishing my February Lady Sweater, which is top-down in a luxurious silk/alpaca blend. I also have the most adorable pewter buttons for that. 

I wore my sawtooth shawl to church the other day. It's an asymmetrical one, and Hubby had to help me style it. Asymmetrical shawls are fun to knit, but a pain to wear. I don't have a lot of panache and so I don't "randomly toss it over the shoulder." I want the thing to stay in place. 

We decided to drape it like a cowl, and stick a shawl pin on the right side, catching both ends underneath. It worked. This is one of those Lion cakes and I didn't want another 6-foot garter stitch scarf. I don't even remember this pattern. The yarn, acrylic, is actually surprisingly warm. I believe the pattern was in a website that had patterns suggested for these cakes. 

I bought "The Complete Surprise" book by Cully Swansen. It's a compilation of the variations of Elizabeth Zimmerman's Surprise Jacket. I could maybe also take a "Baby Surprise" along on the plane...it's a masterful piece where you just knit and make this "blob." Then you fold the blob and voila! A baby jacket! I can always use a baby jacket in stash. 

I think that's half the fun: figuring out what to do next. But I have to start wearing the things I'm knitting (aside from socks; I do wear the socks!). My jobs now are more casual, so I don't have to "get fancy." I have a couple shawls that are out of sock yarn, so they may go into my suitcase for the trip in June. 

The Olympics...

Doping. Seriously. Russia was banned from competing, so they "re-brand" and call themselves "Russian Olympic Committee" -- big deal... Banned = banned. Period. 

For the skaters to even be there is ridiculous. And for a 15-year-old to be abused by her coaches is just cruel. The doping by the Russians is legend. It's just that now they're getting caught. 

And let's talk about the skating. From the few routines I saw, it's all about the quad jumps. There's very little artistry anymore. It's just "skate to the next jump." Which is pretty boring, to me. I saw Nathan Chen's routine, and he was amazing. I don't mind that the guys are more "athletic" in that they're all doing quad jumps, but he still managed to bring artistry and a sense of joy to his skating. But it seemed like the only woman skater who enjoyed herself was the young woman from Japan. 

Speaking of young women, I believe there should be a minimum age of 18 to compete. Much like the gymnastics teams, when they say "women" and the kids -- actual kids -- are the ones competing? It's not only harmful to the kids physically, but also emotionally. Imagine a young woman being "washed up" once she starts developing, if she hasn't screwed up her system. Many of the young women don't even have periods because of the rigorous training. 

I was pleased this summer to see the gymnasts on the US team because they LOOKED like women. They had muscles. They weren't just barely teenagers. 

I hope the IOC grows a spine. But I'm not holding my breath. 

Random Picture...

I bought some blueberries the other day - they were ENORMOUS! And of course Quinn was there. Blueberries are her favorite. She doesn't care if they're fresh or frozen. She kind of likes the crunch of the frozen ones, if I'm honest. But she won't turn her nose up at a fresh berry. Or apple. Or orange. Or banana. She loves her fruit. 

Raisa likes to try to "kill" them, but I didn't feel like cleaning up that mess. So Quinn and I shared a few blueberries. 

It took me several tries to get the picture; she can be kind of a "snatcher," but she's working on her "easy" command. I didn't want to toss them, because they were fresh and quite juicy. 

I guess I was lucky to keep my fingers! 

Looking for yoga but not ready to come into a studio? 

We have Zoom options. 

Contact us at info@just-breatheyoga.com or text/call (815) 546-2770 to find the class that best suits you. 

If you're in the Will County, IL area, we're starting workshops again! Yoga 101 is in-person, starting Wednesdays in March for 5 weeks. This series will give you the basics and you'll be ready to step into a basic class with confidence; 6-7:15 p.m. 

Yoga Nidra is a Karma class. We're collecting donations for the Elizabeth Morman Nursing Scholarship being established at Joliet Junior College. 

Friday, March 25, in-studio, check our website at www.just-breatheyoga.com to register. 

Private sessions (in-person or Zoom), small group classes (in-person or Zoom) and all our classes are open for drop-ins. 

 

Reading and Cooking...

I need to get my act together. I need to get serious about getting healthy, particularly in light of the re-do of the PVI (pulmonary vein isolation, a/k/a cardiac ablation) and my hip injury, which has seriously impacted my physical activity. 

I spent about 3 hours yesterday listening to the replay of a workshop that I missed (what with my sister and all...) on hip labral tears. It was really interesting, and I'm eager to know more. 

And it's not that I want to go vegan. I love cheese too much, honestly. But I think if I can "partially" vegan it all, that might help. I do feel lighter when I eat less meat. 

I asked Kid #2 for the recipe for the bean salad we had when we were in Kentucky. Wrapped in sprouted or whole wheat tortillas, they were a great on-the-go lunch with an apple as we traveled. 

So here's my take on it. Vegans, feel free to add all the red/green/yellow peppers and red or yellow onions you want. 

THE BEAN SALAD:

1 (15 oz can) EACH: Garbanzo beans, kidney beans, black beans (your choice, but have at least 2-3 kinds)

1 (4 oz) can Yellow corn

3 stalks celery, chopped fine

1/2 cucumber, peeled and sliced into chunks

1 small can EACH: sliced bamboo shoots and water chestnuts

1 bunch spring onions, chopped white parts and green parts

Penzey's Sunny Paris & Mural of Flavor spice blends, to taste

Salt & pepper

Field + Farmer Lemon Garlic Basil dressing (or your favorite vinaigrette)

Drain the canned veggies and rinse. Dump into a large bowl (I used a Rubbermaid bowl with a lid so I could shake it all together). Chop the celery fine, slice the spring onions, with the white part, and about 4-5 green ends chopped for spice and color. Add them to the bowl with the cucumber. 

Drizzle vinaigrette on the salad, add the salt, pepper and herb blends to taste. If you're using a lidded bowl, put the lid on and shake, shake, shake. 

NOTES: Refrigerate for best taste blending, but you can also eat this right away. Think about light and dark red kidney beans, canelli beans, Great Northerns, black-eyed peas, pinto beans...the combinations are pretty endless. 

Mushrooms: I had sauteed mushrooms, so I added them to my wraps.

Dressing: Don't drown this!!! Go light on the dressing and remember you can always add a teaspoon more. You can't take it away...at least not easily!

Original Version: The Kid uses red onions, yellow peppers, chopped parsley, sometimes chopped mint. Homemade vinaigrette, too. You could toss some previously cooked tofu in there if you have it handy. 

Tomatoes: I wouldn't, unless you have several people eating this. I'm the only one, so the tomatoes actually have too much water in them; by the time I get thru this salad, they'll be mush. 

Cheese or avocado: As you dish this up, chunk up an avocado and add it to the wrap, or if you're inclined, sprinkle on some shredded Asiago cheese. 

Other veggies: Go nuts... add leftover chunks of boiled potatoes. Add cooked rice, farro, barley, quinoa - whatever you have. Get spicy and try different peppers: yellow banana peppers, a jalapeno if you're feeling brave... Cut up olives and add them. Shred carrots (they'll be better and easier in a wrap if they're shredded), canned or fresh peas. Add fresh parsley or basil, in season. Sliced radishes would be amaaaaaaaaaaaazing in this dish!

You can even cook up spaghetti squash or regular pasta (your choice) and then top it with this salad as a wonderful single-course meal. Technically, except for the cucumber, you could warm this bean salad up. Serve with some crusty bread and then maybe some berries as a dessert, and you're good to go. 

Anyway, I know that here it's still cold, the snow remains on the ground, but the object was that I'd have something easy and relatively light to eat after teaching my evening yoga classes. I don't like to teach after I've eaten, because I don't just stand there and call out poses. I was getting tired of eggs (one can only eat so many), I've been trying to avoid deli meat (inflammation, sugar and all the preservatives), and was kind of over yogurt and the original PBJ...

I remembered how much we enjoyed these wraps, and while my wrapping skill is minimal, I'm ok with practicing. 

Orchids blooming...

One of the cattleya plants is blooming. The other one has a flower stalk with buds, but it'll be a while. And we have three of the phalenopsis in bloom. 

The cattleya does have a scent, but I can't smell it. It seems that the return of my scent was only temporary. I have about 50% of it back, but it was only 100% after that huge dose of steroids and antihistamines, and it lasted about a month. 

I can't remember what color the next one is...We have the pink one here, a yellow one, and ... my mind is blank! Anyway, that should be about 3 more weeks till that one blooms. 

The Chicago Orchid Show is on now, through the end of March. Hubby and I decided the temptation was too great. We try to avoid going to the local orchid house, because we don't have a lot of room for the plants. 

The Knitting...

Not much to report. I've started the toe on the blue striped sock. Not much to look at right now. Just round and round. I can tell you that the crazy-tight tension is kind of a pain when you're decreasing,but I can't manage to loosen it much. 

Knitting always tells you how you're feeling, regardless of what you tell yourself. 

I should have that sock finished this week, and will be able to start frogging the finished one shortly thereafter. That one should go quickly. I need to remember that I did Eye of Partridge heel, so that the heels match! Though I've done socks before with mis-matched heels. Maybe I can start a trend? 

Even though the "about-to-be-frogged" first sock has an absolutely perfect star toe, I chose a regular round toe for Sock #2. The toe instructions I pulled had the needles in a different order (the #1 needle was one over from what I had) and I didn't realize it...so I re-wrote the instructions. It wasn't too hard, except I had to remind myself:

SSK = left-leaning decrease

K2TOG = right-leaning decrease

It's important, because you don't want to put the toe decreases on the top of the foot and the bottom (hey, it happens!), and you don't want your lefts to go right, etc. It won't look right and likely won't feel right on your toes. 

The Reading...

I'm currently reading "Pastrix," by Nadia Bolz-Weber. She's fantastic. I've watched many of her videos, and honestly, I can hear her in the words on my Kindle screen. In my recent experience, it's pretty rare to read someone's autobiography and hear them as they actually speak, if I've had the experience of seeing them in person or on the computer. They tend to get more formal when they're writing, which to me stifles their personality. 

She doesn't. It's right there as if you're watching her on Facebook. I love that. 

My vicar gave me Martha W. Hickman's "Healing After Loss," which is organized in a calendar year; you can literally pick the date you want to start reading this. I got it a few days after my sister died, I started my journey with this book on her death date. I'll work through the year. 

And of course, I couldn't ignore Thich Nhat Hanh's books, "No Death, No Fear," and "How to Live When a Loved One Dies." I haven't cracked those, having actually just had them delivered today. 

In the week we were waiting for her wake, I downloaded true fluff... Literal romance novels. I occasionally indulge in this stuff as a "brain cleaner." I tried some new authors. Some of the romance scenes were totally overwrought, but what do I know? All I knew at the time was that I wanted to read, and it had to be pretty much nothing I had to think about. I couldn't even concentrate on my beloved mysteries. That was too much. 

Random Picture...

This is Frozen Niagara in Mammoth Caves. It was one of the hikes we took. I'm a bit claustrophobic, but it wasn't too bad, considering!  The lighting was a bit weird; they didn't want us to use flash, because of the tiny critters who live in the caverns. 

There was lighting there, which was compatible with the tiny critters, and my phone camera did a pretty good job. I did carry the bigger EOS with me, but didn't always have time to haul it out of the bag while we were in the caves. The rangers kept us moving along pretty quickly. I mean, you got to experience the caves, but they weren't dallying. I was able to get the big camera out for the Rotunda pictures, because they let us spread out in that vast space. I got all tingly hearing them talk about how they held concerts (pre-covid) in the space at the holidays...Wow...

I tended to use the EOS for the outside shots. The only time I didn't was when we took that mis-matched hike to Eagle Falls...the one labeled "moderate" that was really "advanced." Kid #2 is still going to pay for that one! 

This trip was one of my favorites...it was a quick one, but we did have fun. 

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Numb...

 Seriously, I sat here and said, "Self, you have to write a blog about your sister's death."

And....I already did. My mind is numb. My heart is closed tighter than usual. My brother is also having the same problem. Yes, it's grief, but it's also shock and for me a bit of despair. 

I had gotten my sister a "twin" piece of jewelry; one for me and one for her. We share a birthstone. Hers is a bracelet and mine is a ring (because delicate bracelets on me are a lost cause...). She wore hers in her casket. I had my BIL take it off and will give it to her granddaughter. Or my mom can wear it for a while; she's got a small wrist. I have my dad's bones - man-hands and large wrists. 

They're garnets, set in rose gold. Hers are marquise-cut, and mine are oval cut. I was hoping we would share the joy in these pieces, but they are, now, what I would call "mourning jewelry." 

Mourning jewelry often has connotations of brooches, hair braids, lockets, etc. And there's a whole subset of jewelers who specialize in this, as well as antique dealers who have the Victorian market cornered. In our family, this is not a tradition. Or at least it hasn't been. I guess it is now. 

So at her wake, I didn't spent a lot of time near her coffin. Frankly, I wasn't impressed with the "job" the mortician did. She didn't look like herself. Of course, there's a flattening of features, a lifeless quality to the person, because, of course, they're dead. But I have to say, my dad looked more alive than my sister did. And he died over 25 years ago. Techniques should've improved in that time. Anyway, there were tons of flowers. We had the wake from 1 - 4, and thankfully, my BIL didn't want a funeral "luncheon." How would one time that? For the hours BEFORE the viewing? Certainly not after. And in their small town, there wasn't a restaurant capable of holding everyone without the event becoming a late-pandemic super-spreader, which is the last thing my sister would've wanted. 

I baked her favorite cookies. My mom said, "What if you can't bring them in? There may be health department issues." Not if you walk in assuming you own the place and don't give them the option of refusing...and not in a small town with lax mask requirements. If, in the midst of a global pandemic, their attitude toward masks is "meh," then they're not going to turn their noses up at homemade cookies. My dear friend also made triple-fudge brownies. My sister actually disliked chocolate, but the brownies were scarfed down...The funeral home staff was showing me around and said, "Here is our little snack area, and some snacks (consisting of maybe 4 granola bars and some saltines...) -- as the ladies who where there were unboxing my cookies. 

There were her ABSOLUTE FAVORITES, M & M cookies (and I realize the irony of her not liking chocolate, but loving these cookies), vanilla spice cookies, no-bake oatmeal cookies and my version of CPS Butter Cookies, using two very large vanilla beans, scraped into the batter. All that beautiful bean caviar...Yummy, if I do say so myself. 

I had to laugh (one of the few I've had, honestly) because her funeral baking threw a wrench into my vanilla production. I have some of the "old" double-fold vanilla, but my "new" stuff is only from July, 2021, so it's nowhere near being done. That's the Mother Jar where I fished out those 2 beans. So technically, I had to use some Penzey's vanilla. A decent vanilla, to be sure, but my "old" stash is getting slim, so I had to be careful to hoard it a bit till the "new" triple-fold is ready. So baking outside of the "Christmas Rotation" has tossed my carefully-planned system into a bit of disarray. 

But it was worth it. 

The Knitting...

I finally drew a template of my right foot (the larger of my 2 feet - check, because yours aren't the same size, either!). I marked it up for socks, so that I'd have the measurements and not have to keep referring to obscure notes or re-measuring every single time I knitted a sock. 

The blue sock is just about at the toe, probably another 12 rows? I have to get to 7.75" or 8 -- close enough either way. I'm going to do a rounded toe, even though the one I have to frog back has an absolutely perfect star toe. It's coming along in fits and starts. I was plugging away at it for a while, but I just stalled. It happens. This is a bit of an older picture; it's closer to the ball of my foot now. 

I have to remember to not do socks at 64 stitches...I need 68 or 70. When I do 72 stitches, that's like a men's medium, and they're a bit slouchy, even for me. But 64 is snug. Of course, I started this one when my sister got sick, so I'm pretty sure the tension is crazy-tight. 

I have FINALLY found a way to SSK and K2TOG that makes both sides look decent. Usually, my SSK (slip, slip, knit) side was a bit raggedy, while the K2TOG decreases were just beautiful. I came up on a video that confirmed what I was doing in the first place... I slip the first stitch knit-wise and the second one purl-wise. That makes the SSK lay nice and pretty. 

It was so good that I wrote it in my Sock Knitter's Handbook, for posterity. Long after I'm gone, if the kids haven't tossed all my knitting books, someone will benefit from that bit of annotation. 

It's a little hard to see the way these lay unless you increase the size of the picture. But I'm tickled. Seeing the other sock, it's a 100% better method. I'm jazzed and I'm looking forward to doing more socks, just so I can do this again. 

I have to find my notes on Petty Harbor; I have a partial of one sock, and I can't quite lay my hands on the directions. I think I need to finish those next. They're a plain tan sock. I have to find more plain yarn. 

While I love some self-patterning, and I have a bunch of socks that need mates (Petty Harbor being one of them), I need to maybe make some plain ones; that way I can use some lace on the leg, or maybe even a cable -- I don't need the yarn to fight the pattern. And I'm sick of ribbing.  

"Ribbing is like February: it's not really that long, but it takes forever." I modified that quote from something else comparing February to something that seems to have taken forever -- but I can't remember what it was!

Random Picture...

The tradition in the family had been to make rosaries out of the roses from funerals. The
Mantellate Sisters close to our town do this ministry, and there are a bunch of other places that have taken that over. I mean the "keepsake" business. 

Hubby asked if I wanted a diamond made from a bit of my sister, but...no. Sorry. Ick. 

I'm drying the flowers; even though I don't pray a lot of rosaries lately, I have options. So Hubby and I laid these out on newspapers on my office floor. He really wasn't aiming at a design; this just happened as I handed him roses. 

I think it's beautiful. 

Six Weeks...

My sister, Liz, is dead. She died on Friday at 2 a.m. 

I bought a birthday card today and thought, "I can send this to her..." but I can't. Because her birthday will be Monday; she'd have been 63.

She died of a rare and aggressive cancer. 

We're heartbroken. She didn't have time to say goodbye to anyone. We didn't have time to have one more visit. I feel like I didn't have to tell her what she meant to me - first off, we're not that kind of family. Second, she knew. And I knew. And that's all that matters. 

It was 6 weeks from diagnosis. She had several rounds of chemo and radiation and then, apparently, all heck broke loose, and what was at first deemed "rare but treatable," turned to "rare, and aggressive."

There's not much more to say right now. 

The Club Nobody Wants to Belong To...

Do you know what I'd want for my birthday? What would be the absolute best gift? It would be for the doctors to say to my sister, "This is treatable, and you'll be fine."

I'm not sure that's going to happen. We were supposed to get together last weekend, and we were told, "Nope." She hasn't answered a single text of mine. 

Don't they look pretty? Pretty evil...cancer cells under an electron microscope. Makes them look almost like works of art. I'm not sure if these are what's in my sister's body. 

All we know right now is that her cancer is "rare" and "aggressive." BIL wants to take her for a second opinion. A relative has offered to fly them to Mayo Clinic (about a 45-minute flight as opposed to a 10-hour drive). My sister is said to be considering it, and I would agree, if she was asking me. Even if the news is the same, a second opinion in this kind of situation is something that I think is valid. 

The plan is to visit at some point, but I'm not sure when. She's scuttled a few visits already, and what's troubling is that I'm not sure we have a lot of time. 

It's not a situation I've ever wanted to manage, but in several instances in my adulthood, I've had to be the "Angel of Death" and tell people the absolute worst news. I don't like being in that situation, and I'm hoping that I don't have to. I just don't know. 

The Kitchen...

So, one of the best tools to have in your kitchen? A ruler. A standard, plastic ruler. I've used it when I've made Japanese Milk Bread. I've used it time and again to re-measure a pan. I've used it for tons of things. It's so helpful, and we don't often think of it. 

I've seen fancy measuring devices like silicone sheets you roll dough on, the board scrapers (only about 6" of length there, and I don't often feel like adding!), those strips you put on either side of our rolling pin... Nothing beats a 50-cent plastic ruler. 

Easy to clean, easy to use. Comes in lots of colors! So technically, you could have a green one for pastries, and a red one for meats? Why not? 

Made chicken soup the other night; and I added some dried seaweed to it. Aside from the mineral benefits and a bit of salt, it added a nice crunch to the top of the soup. It also adds a nice green bit to a soup that can be kind of "beige." 

I used a standard recipe: dice up a chicken breast and saute till lightly browned, and remove it from the pan. Then saute some chopped carrot, stir around on med-hi heat for about 5 minutes, add chopped celery, stir another 5 minutes. Cover your pan and lower your heat. Stir occasionally for another 6-7 minutes. Then, remove lid, add chopped leeks and a couple cloves of garlic (diced) and stir that around for a few minutes, just so the garlic gets golden. (NOTE: Nothing worse than burned garlic!).

In the meantime, have a soup pot ready, with about 6 cups of water in it. Add a Knorr Veggie cube for every 2 cups of water, and start it boiling. Add your meat & veg. Add some fresh ground pepper, add a bit of thyme, maybe some marjoram if you have it. Parsley, for sure, either fresh or dried. Let it come to a gentle boil, then add half a package of No-Yolks egg noodles, bring back to a boil and let it cook for however long the noodle bag says - about 6-9 minutes. 

There you go. Easy soup. 

The Knitting...

Still working on the blue striped sock. Told my yoga class that I had to rip the other one, and there was one student who said, "Wow, that would fit MY foot!" We all laughed. I think she might've been serious. 

I guess if I was ambitious enough, I'd have them all trace their feet and measure their shins. But I'm not that ambitious. Washcloths, maybe. Not socks. 

As you can see from the picture here, I'm using a silicone blister bandage. It lasts for about 3-4 days, and keeps me from puncturing my index finger, which is my "pusher" finger. It works better than just about anything I've found. And it's not obnoxious-looking! So I can wear it for a few days, and it doesn't get grimy. 

And as I pulled out my knitting to settle in with episodes of "A Place to Call Home," I did...just about what I do every couple times I knit socks. I pulled out the WRONG needle. 

No picture of the ACTUAL incident -- I was busy stuffing the live stitches back on the needle. Thankfully, the wool was "grippy" enough to not drop down a bunch of rows! It happens regularly enough that I don't freak out (as much) but I still react kind of quickly so as to not lose the stitches. 

As you can see, the top needle was the one I planned to pull out to start knitting. But...I pulled out the bottom one. 

I can tell you the first time it happened. I was working on a sock in a gorgeous fall-like colorway, from Lorna's Laces. That yarn? Stunningly smooth. Not grippy. And thus the downfall. As the NEEDLE slipped out of the stitches (this time, I didn't pull the needle out - it FELL out!), the little buggers droped as I was watching them. PLINK, PLINK, PLINK...(at least that's the sound that they make in my head, rather a gleeful sound, as as my heart makes a sound like THUNK, THUNK, THUNK...while it drops faster than those stitches do) By the way, I frogged that entire sock, stuffed the yarn into a bag and put it in time-out for a while. 

Funny thing happened at the oral surgeon's office. I had to go get some paperwork to drop off to my dentist, and it was a bit of a wait. Apparently, they couldn't find something...so I sat there knitting. After a while, one of the techs said, "Oh, look, knitting!" and I commented that I was also wearing hand-knitted socks. This tech literally lifted my pant leg (I was in the chair already), and petted my sock... I was a tad taken aback. Nobody has ever asked to pet my socks. 

All the girls at the front desk then wanted to see the socks I was wearing, as well as the ones I was knitting. That was probably the most fun trip to the oral surgeon ever!  The picture to the right is the pair I was wearing and the ones I'm knitting. 

Incidentally, the pair I'm wearing in this picture to the right? They're about 5 - 7 years old. Opal yarn. Wears like iron. Now, I just wish they'd come out with some variegated, like they used to. I love the self-patterning, but I'd like to get back to the variegated like these pink + green ones. Sometimes, you don't want a lot going on. You just want a plain sock that's sort of mindless. I mean, obviously, the blue stripe is mindless - I'm just knitting and letting the yarn do the work. But with a variegated yarn that changes colors every so often, it just seems simpler. 

I bought myself a birthday gift... Yarn. Of course. I bought Expression Fiber Arts North DK and I'm making the Gofleidio shrug/sweater/cardigan pattern. I'm not sure what you'd call it, but I know that I can knit it, and that I'll enjoy wearing it. It's been years since I've knit a sweater. 

So I changed up the colorway a bit. I kept the grey tones: Penguin, Midnight Snowfall, Peaceful Hush... But I changed out the pinks. Instead, I did Enchanted North (dark blue), Wintering North (medium blue) and Solstice North (yellow). Yeah, I don't normally wear yellow, but that as a "pop" with the greys and blues? I thought it would spark it a bit. I've always liked grey with yellow, and blue with yellow. So hopefully, that will work out in this garment. 

Random Picture...

Well, it's January. And strangely enough, we've had an insane amount of ice. Including sub-zero temperatures, so that the icy-melt stuff doesn't work. 

We live where there are alleys. You drive up the alley to get to your respective parking area and then you drive down the alley to get out to the street. Very few houses have front-loaded driveways in our neighborhood. It's older, the streets are narrower, and there's just not a lot of front-yard space. The houses are long, rather than wide. 

So it was pretty nasty getting into and out of the alleys for a few days. Mind you, the sparkly layer of ice on the snow, the glassy finish on the sidewalks -- beautiful. And so incredibly dangerous. Even trying to use Yak-Trax, people were sliding all funny. Folks walking their dogs cut straight through yards, because it was safer than trying to walk on either the sidewalk or the road. Nobody minded; it's easier to pick someone up off your lawn than off a sidewalk so slick that you'd never gain footing. 

Finally, after almost a week, it began to melt. Thankfully. I'm a big fan of winter, but ice? I don't bounce like I used to. 

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