50%

Well. Given enough time on my butt and enough "Bar Rescue" (don't judge...), the first sock is done. I can now move my ticker to 50% and I've started on Sock #2. I panicked for a moment, because for some reason, I thought I had less yarn to work with, being as I made such a rookie boo-boo on sock #1, but I'm pretty sure that I'll have enough. There may be less "left-over," which is fine with me. I feel like I have quite a good haul of left-overs for at least 2 pairs of scrappy socks. 

I will point out a few things; take them as a learning experience or leave them - if you've been a knitter for any length of time, I'm sure some sort of "knitting screw-up" has happened to you. 

As you can see at the heel flap and across the ankle, there's a line of purl stitches. That would be because, after an intense spate of baby knitting (see prior blogs), I picked this sock up after a long, long, long, LONG time. The yarn is easily 10 years old, Lorna's Laces, and I think the colorway is St. Charles. I remember because I had hopes of getting a job where St. Charles was concerned. And - as I recally, these were going to be a set of 4x4 rib socks, but I frogged them when I dropped a load of stitches (like an entire needle's worth) and got frustrated. 

Ahem. I digress. What I did here to create that lovely purl ridge, which goes all the way around, mind you, was to ... knit backward. I literally knitted from left-to-right somehow, not quite knowing what I was doing. 

Do I know why I did that? I do not. Why didn't I just frog it? I do not know that either. I think it was me being in a mood and saying something like "screw it, it's just a sock..." 

So I corrected course and started the gusset. And as you can see by the little raised spots, I totally grabbed too many stitches on the heel flap. Now, mind you, the heel flap is a whole 3" because I needed more than the 2" originally in the pattern. I find that somewhere between 2.5" and 3" is better for my heel. Anyway. The gusset went on. And on. And on. And on. I ended up taking k2tog several times as I did the sole, just to tighten it up a bit. 

Again - truly. No disrespect, but it's just a sock. Most of the stuff I screwed up will be in a shoe. 

But then there's the toe. The toe is, totally and completely, a thing of beauty. I believe I've finally found a star toe that I like. It's just perfect. I prefer the star toe mostly because it fits one's foot better. The rounded toe and the traditional "paired decrease" toe can tend, when I'm knitting them, to have "ears" at the sides, and I don't like that. To avoid it? Star toe. 

I have to say, I love the colorway. I love the even stitches. And the only odd thing to me is the really long gusset. I attribute that to the mess-up as noted above. As you see, I don't carry the pattern down the top of the foot. I don't like how it feels. Never have. My own preference. You do you. 

That's the beauty of socks. You can make them yours. 

I think that next time, I'll grab TWO sets of DPNs, and try knitting two at a time. How bad can that be? I mean, at least I'll get a pair finished by the time I'm 70. 

I did start Sock #2 right away. No sense faffing about. Get it going, deal with it ASAP. And hopefully, I won't make the same mistakes twice. I don't need these to match. Though I did play a bit of yarn chicken on the cast on. Gotta have some fun, I suppose. 

End of an Era...

Hubby has been on a cleaning kick. Not just "housework" cleaning, but Swedish Death Cleaning. The city is putting new water meters into the houses, and ours is in our basement. He got a bug in his butt to clean the basement. 

I've been nagging suggesting that he and I tackle that project for....years. We have stuff that's just archaeological by this time. 

So the basement is now 99% organized. There are boxes I need to go through, and holiday decorations to sort. But all in all, it's a done deal. 

Let's just say we'll have a lot of stuff for the upcoming church rummage sale!

Then he moved on to the kitchen. And we finally decided to put Tippi's crate out on the curb. She's been gone 2 years now. I still feel the hole in my heart, but it was truly time. I now have a small shelf there, with the dog treats, various kitchen supplies and a spot where I can stash my purse when I come in. 

Her crate was picked up rather quickly. I'm trying to be ok with it, and it may sound weird, but when you have a dog who's been a part of your life for so long, there's still an absence there. 

Realistically, we won't have another dog. Maybe we might foster, but that's not a decision we can make right now. But I have many good memories. 

Mother Nature...

Mother Nature is having a hissy fit of massive proportions. Yesterday, Hubby went over to mow the church. I texted, "Hey, it's bucketing rain here." Then I texted, "Hey, it's snowing." And then I texted, "Hey, the sun is shining."

All in about 4 hours. My friend in Alaska asked if Illinois got "break-up" and apparently, we do now. 

This was what I had on my radio a week ago. Today, I'm sitting here in a sweatshirt. 

I had actually put on the AC in the studio for class one day, because it was in the 80s in the practice area. Too hot for us!

Today, it's sunny, with a slight breeze, but still - in the low 50s. And next week, it's May. 

I have the sad suspicion that we had spring, about 10 minutes of it, and we'll whomp right into summer. I hate when that happens. 

It's going to be another week of freeze warnings here. And next week is May. In the midwest, we're being told that this is going to be the norm now. Joy. 

Random Picture...

One of the things that many people comment on in our church is our beautiful stained glass. It's in a really different style from many churches, where the figures are clearly depicted in medallions within the entire pane of glass. 

Behind our altar are the angels: Michael, Gabriel, Uriel and one more, who I can't remember! I really love the colors of these windows, when the sun shines through - literally jewel-toned light bouncing around the sanctuary. 

The church itself is black walnut on the bottom of the walls (about halfway down) and plaster up toward the vaulted roof. There's a pipe organ. The church has "homely" creaks and noises. Some say it's haunted, and that's cool. When I go in there, I always mentally say, "Good morning, God and all the ghosts!" 

One organist friend of mine said she felt "someone" come up behind her when she was practicing. She hoped it was a friendly spirit, since she was new at the organ and "I know I was making mistakes!" 

You'd think the colors would be jarring. They look like they absolutely don't go together. But they just ... do. I can't explain it. It just works!

Stripping...

I'm not talking about taking one's clothes off. I'm talking about stripping as in "removing." In this case, the out-in-the-open stripping of rights from women. 

Rights to bodily autonomy.

Rights to equality.

Rights to vote (I'm not kidding - it's being said out loud now...).

Rights to make our own choices. 

Are you terrified yet? If you have a uterus or vagina, you should be. And if you're not terrified, yet?? WAKE UP!! Just because it might not be happening in your area doesn't mean you're safe and sound. 

Crap like this, like venereal disease, will spread. Yes, I went there. The generation of women who are now coming into their own have LESS RIGHTS than I did when I was in high school. And I'm in my mid-60s. 

And I haven't even touched on the area of LGBTQIA+ issues, book banning, voter suppression, and gerrymandering. If women's issues aren't your jam, there are PLENTY of other things we need to get involved in!

Do something. Anything -- preferably something to create action. Call your legislators. Contact groups such as Planned Parenthood or NARAL or Center for Reproductive Rights, or National Organization for Women to get involved on a local level. 

There are so many other areas where you can get involved: Moms Demand Action, ACLU, your local organizations which empower women. Find them. Get yourself a mission and do it. Whether it's a postcard campaign, organizing around voting rights, helping by being an election judge, pollwatcher, or getting involved with a candidate whose vision aligns with yours -- go do that. 

Now, please. The rights of our daughters, grand-daughters and women in this country depend upon our actions. And yes, individual actions count. Never let yourself believe that you can't do something because "it doesn't matter." It does. More than you know. 

Oh, and VOTE!!! In EVERY election, local, consolidated, national... All of 'em. Enjoy the right that your grannies fought for. 

The Ugly Sock...

Well. It's not going to win a prize, but it's coming along. Judicious use of decreases on the "knit around" round helped me tighten up that gusset area. It's not perfect. It's not going to be frogged - I can live with it. 

I'm really at the point of just wanting to get this pair off the needles. I'm not sure whether I should try the "two at a time on separate circulars" thing. I don't care about whether my socks match; I think fraternals are cool. They're "close enough." So to me, (sorry) it's like a waste of yarn to cut a yard or so off just so the stripes match. 

So my task is to buckle down, get skippy, and knit. I've got a couple rows more of gusset decreases, then the foot. I'm doing NOTHING fancy; just a round toe. There are enough "design elements" that ended up in this one sock. Not going to make myself crazy about this.

Now, if I'm being honest,I really SHOULD pick up a singleton. Maybe "Bowties are Cool" - which at one point wouldn't have fit me, but since I've lost a pretty decent amount of weight, maybe it will. It's one of those patterns where, I got it because -- Dr. Who... but there's not much variance in sizing. It also uses Lorna's Laces, and I've got this glorious TARDIS blue yarn. It's a dark-ish navy, but not black-dark. The first sock is actually done and in my sock box. I really just need to get #2 done. 

Petty Harbour is also on the needles; the first one, I think partially down the leg. It's in a lovely tan color - a neutral I kinda love. 

Then there's Sole to Sole - a vanilla+ sock. Meaning, Vanilla with a bit of spark to it. There's a line of ribbing down the outside of each sock. It's a lovely self-striping blue/tan/gold colorway. 

And that's all I have on my mind right now. There are most likely others (just look at my project list alongside the blog...). But hey. Gal's gotta start somewhere, right?

She's Back...

So I was really worried about our Very Weird Winter. And it's not done yet. This week, it was gorgeous. GOR-----GEOUS!!! Like in the 70s and 80s and sunny. 

And Monday, rain + snow are forecast. Of course. 

My friend D wants a cutting from The Monster Bleeding Heart. But I was quite concerned, because I hadn't seen her pushing her way up thru the dirt. And I should have. 

Well, I needn't have worried. She's up and green. Hopefully, the weather won't kill her off. My friend is jazzed. She's admired this Monster for years, and was broken-hearted when I gave her a Bleeding Heart (not from mine, the timing wasn't right), and the lawn service she used mowed the thing down and killed it. 

For those who might be new here... The Monster Bleeding Heart has been in my garden for over 30 years. She's at the northwest corner of my front yard, and she kinda wraps around. On the true north side, she's bordered by lily of the valley and hostas. On the west side, she's got a fountain. Which the birds seem to think is their personal spa, because they empty it at least once daily "taking a shower" so she's well-watered. 

Across from her is the "baseball diamond bed" -- a bed that's shaped a bit like home plate. That is filled with native plants and some herbs - mostly for the hummingbirds, butterflies and bees. Bee balm, Prairie Blazing Star, Purple Coneflower, hyssop, Icelandic Poppy, and a few other things. 

At the other side of the yard is a bed of Brown-Eyed Susans, and that's where most of the feeders are located. 

In the next few weeks (even though I'm itching to do it NOW), I'll be getting at least 4 hanging baskets. I try for, again, stuff that is colorful, hardy (it's a west-facing yard, so it bakes in the summer) and which will attract the pollinators. 

Once upon a time, I had a gorgeous rose garden. I had about 50 bushes, people would walk down the block to see it. And then, our maple tree got a fungus. Bad. 

Two years, and it decimated the roses. I talked to a biology professor I know and said, "What now???" He told me that the roses are done and done. No more roses. I planted some of those for people who I've lost. It took me 5 years to rebuild and renew with the native plants. 

I'm honestly having fun with it, and as things have progressed, people are now walking down the block to see what's coming up. 

I've even got a sort-of plan for the veggie garden. Wayyyyyyyy scaled back. I say that now. Watch this space, because sure as God made little green apples, it's more than likely that I will bring back a few too many tomato plants. 

Random Picture... 

So, funny enough, my phone is nuts. If I grab it the wrong way, I get a screenshot. Which is cool, but in my "photos" app, I have at least a dozen of these... And while I still miss Tippi, it's just laughable that I can't manage to grab my phone without taking another shot.

I still need to organize my pictures, just because I feel like I'm scrambling around to find things every so often. And yeah, everyone says that. I've been saying it as long as I've had singleton socks in the knitting bags. 

Anyone have a decent system to organize them? I have most of them stored on the cloud, because otherwise, my computer's hard drive would be the size of a room. My phone has an Android operating system, and I have to do something to get things into folders, on the phone. On the cloud, I can do it easier. 

I'm open to suggestions! In the meantime, I'm going to go knit some more, and probably will grab my phone once or twice more today and get more pictures of Tippi...

One Ugly Sock...

I've gotta say it: This is going to be one ugly sock. And I'm not really sure I care, because most of the time, my feet are in shoes. 

But I'll try my best to make the other one prettier. It doesn't help when you start the gusset the wrong-way 'round... There are rookie-style boo-boos in this sock, but again. I don't particularly care. I'm just happy to be knitting socks again. 

There are purl rows where there ought not to be, and there are some spots where I'm going to have to do some judicious weaving to close up some gaps. Not like me at all. And on top of it, the tension in this sock is SO TIGHT. I mean, it's like I know I've been under stress, and this sock is going to show it. I hope it fits on my leg and foot. It might not. This could be interesting. 

The yarn is Lorna's Laces, and I believe the colorway is St. Charles. I could be wrong, but this is deep-stash yarn, and the original ball band is...somewhere. Probably stuck in a notebook or in a project bag. 

The leg is my own design. I always do a plain foot, and a heel flap. Not sure which toe style I'll do this time. Crap - I may do something on the heel and toe entirely different on the second sock. Live large, right? As long as the legs match. 

I think I can say that I will never do an 8x8 rib again. What a pain in the rear end... Oh well. In the end, I will have another pair of socks, whether I'm in love with them or not. Just so they're wearable. 

The Heel Turn...

Turns out, a "heel turn" is a wrestling term, too!! Kid #2 wore a shirt that said something about "heel turns," and I asked where I could purchase "this knitting shirt." Well, after a few laughs, I Googled it. Apparently, it is a wrestling term as well as a knitting term. 

I find heel turns (the knitting term, I mean) to be magical. Here's a teeny-baby heel turn on this sock, and then a picture a few rows in, where you can definitely see the short rows at work. 

Which is also funny, because when I see a shawl or something that has short rows in it, I freak out. But I do them in socks all the time. 

And yet, there might be a sweater or something that uses short rows, and I just nope on outta that idea. I need to transfer sock knitting skills to other projects. I have a couple sweaters - or more like t-shirt things, not full-blown sweaters. They're in my to-do list, and I need to be courageous and just do them. It's only yarn. 

As you can see here, my technique is a bit rough. That's what I get for setting these aside for over a year. I have to share a pro-tip with you: Do your SSKs (slip slip knit) purlwise. Then you don't have that obnoxious little yarn carry-over. 

I've taken to writing myself notes to do that, because I don't remember, and then I'm half-way through a heel turn and I have a weird looking heel. Again, not that anyone notices, but I do. And it bugs me. 

Baby Knitting...

So the shower went ok. It was weird not having my sister there, since it was for her soon-to-be-born grandchild. They got some nice gifts. Mine, as usual, was the only one that was hand-made, and I'm not saying that to brag. It's just how it turns out. 

Of course, the afghan is to the left. It was with yarn held double. The afghan and the smallest hat were Bernat Baby Softee. The striped hat and the sweater are Cascade 220 Superwash. I biggened up the sweater, so I think it's going to fit by the time the kid will need it. The baby is due in early May, so while it's my "usual" pattern, it only goes up to 6 months and if the kids are bigger, the sweater will stretch a bit (garter stretches nicely) but it would be a one-time wear... 

The pompom maker worked out well. I did tassles on the smallest hat, and the pompoms on the bigger one. It's not my usual device, because, of course, that one is stuck somewhere in a project bag in the depths of the stash closet. I bought a new one, with two sizes, because maybe you might need a bigger pompom, right?

It took me a hot minute to figure out how to use this one, but once it was in process, it was pretty easy. I was probably more anxious about trimming the balls, because I wanted to make sure everything looked perfect. 

There was an aunt of my niece-in-law's who was inspecting VERY closely the stitching on the afghan. Go for it, sweetie. The kids loved the items, and I was glad to get them done. I hope they got the care instructions (everything's washable in cold water and warm dryer), because it's easy to forget when you're a sleep-deprived parent.

Funny story: My nephew said, "We were told that they may want to induce, so we've had this plan, and a date in our head." I looked him in the eye, and said, "You know that the word 'plan' is now irrelevant, right? I mean, you're gonna have no control over anything for the next 18 years, at least." My mom was snickering, he looked a little abashed, but he also laughed. I told him it was my duty as his aunt to tell him straight... 

Sad story: They made a speech at the end about "people who should have been here, but who are no longer with us." That caught all of us. 

I think that's why my sock is so messed up (aside from just all the other crap going on in life right now...) -- going from size 8 needles to 1.5? Yowza. 

Art or Porn...

Oh dear, the State of Flori-DUH is once again in the news. Apparently, art is now porn. Just as books are "woke," Michelangelo's "David" has cost a school prinicipal their job, because one parent (yeah, one parent) complained that their child was "damaged" by viewing a picture of this statue. 

Yeah. It's not 1540, though since this statue was so well-received in the era in which it was created, that's pretty progressive. But wait. In 2023, some poor little flower saw a naked guy carved out of stone and was shocked. Or something. 

Yes. It's a naked man. No, it's not pornography. It's art. It's a magnificent sculpture that was supposed to be in a cathedral (remember David & Goliath? This is THAT David... who was said to be "...ruddy, handsome, and strong." In the bible. 1 Samuel 16:12, if you care to look. It's in a museum. Nuns, children, old people -- tourists of all stripes -- visit and take selfies. 

It's bad enough that Flori-DUH wants to ban books such as the history of Rosa Parks because white kids might be "upset" that racism is an ugly, ugly thing  -- that still exists "loud and proud," if you will, right here and now -- and parents don't want their kids exposed to certain subject matter. 

Well, that's cool. But what YOU want for YOUR kid doesn't mean that it has to apply to MY kids unilaterally. If YOU get to make decisions about YOUR kids, then -- logically (and I know this may come as a shock, so take a deep breath) --- I get to make decisions about MY kid. 

If parents don't like the education system, there's a quick solution to that: homeschool your kid. There is a small (yet noisy) minority which loves to complain that teachers are indoctrinating or grooming our kids. That same minority thinks that, because they went to school, they can teach at school. Um. No. 

So if they're so dissatisfied, they can take their kids out of school and home school them. Oh, that's inconvenient to you because you work? Well. Then you have a decision to make. Get your head out of your keister and realize that teachers give a large part of their lives, and generally suffer economically compared to other professions so that your kids learn things. Learn to think. Learn to communicate. Learn to work together -- you know, all those "adulting" things that one has to do when one works in the grown-up world. 

Don't like the books in the local library? Here's another easy-peasy pro-tip: DON'T CHECK THEM OUT. Nobody is forcing you to read the entire freakin' library. Though I do agree with Stephen King when he says that when folks want to ban books, kids should run to the library to read them ASAP so they know what they're going to be missing... 

The Hip...

Well, PT is going ok. I'm working on loosening up my hip flexor. I'm finally able to go all the way 'round on the recumbent bike, after a few minutes of loosening things up. I can only do 1-2 minutes all the way, but that's ok. It's a work in progress. 

I'm able to have further PRP shots, and I'm hoping that I can rehab this hip back toward normal. It'll never be "back to where it was," just because of age, arthritis, etc. But I would like to ditch the cane, ride a bike, do my yoga practice, and muck out stalls again. Oh, and walk without pain. That would be nice. 

One of my favorite "exercises," if you want to call it that, is lying on the massage table with my feet hanging off (like just toes and tops of feet off the table so they're not extended so far (even though I can do that comfortably), on my stomach. Eventually, I'm supposed to get onto my elbows, which is a classic "Sphinx" pose. I'm not there yet. But I'm getting there. 

Flo...

So the students at the yoga studio named our new (well, inherited) ficus, and her name is Flo. We repotted her, and while you can't tell in this picture, she has blue Christmas lights on. I was going to remove them, but the students want her to keep them. 

I need to rearrange her lights, because as you can see, she's topping up toward my one pendant light. I might have to add another string of lights to her, as her canopy grows. 

She must like it there; she hasn't dropped leaves like she did at first, and she seems to have lots of new growth at the top. 

Soon, it will be warm enough to get two pots of plants replaced: I'm working on a snake plant, which will be in a lovely pot near the corner where its vertical lines will look really nice. And then a spider plant, on top of the cubbies, because even though it's not going to be a hanging plant, it will still look nice on top there. All of the plants in the studio are there for their ability to clean the air. We do have top-of-the-line air filters in our HVAC system, but it's always nice to have some green in the studio.

Random Picture...

Quinnie seems to like cheek skritchies... I caught this photo quickly, because when she sees the camera, she looks away. Stinker. 

I can tell she's slowing down a bit. She still barks like crazy, but at times, we can have someone walk past the house and she doesn't hear them. She sleeps that "old lady sleep" where it's pretty deep. She loves her pets till she's done with you and then she's done. 

Her face was once fully black. She had a classic Elkhound dark face, with "eyeliner" around her eyes. There's a lot of grey on that muzzle now. Her eyes are still that beautiful liquid brown and can be quite expressive. Especially when she's begging for food...which is always an Elkhound trait. 

She has a hot spot on her tail, thus the Cone of Shame. I can only take it off her when I'm in the same room and have my eyes on her. 

I Really Should be Knitting...

Calendars... Ugh!

For some reason, I had it in my head that the shower was March 19. It's the 12th. Yikes...

So far, I've got the afghan done, the sweater, and a baby-sized hat. Working now on the Toddler hat, just because the sweater is big enough for perhaps a 12-month old. I figured I'd do a 2-row pattern on that - a little more sophisticated, and maybe just do the tan pompoms. 

I biggened the pattern, and I'm mostly ok with how it turned out. It needs refinement, which I will do at another time, with no deadline! I'm doing a "Dagwood." One big button. Funny enough, I don't have a picture of the sweater - yet. I think I'll do the picture of the whole layette soon. As soon as I get my fingers flying to finish the last hat!

I did tassles on the baby hat, and they were cute, but tiny (as befits a baby hat). I have enough yarn and a decent pompom maker device to do bigger ones on the bigger hat, which makes sense. I love this pattern, "Easiest Baby Hat" available on Ravelry. Sorry, there's no link, it's in my library as a download. It's basically a rectangle. You can do two colors, with the contrasting color at the crown. I did that on the baby hat, and it was a bit of a miscalculation, but as I think of it: now it can be worn 2-sided with a larger stripe in front, or a smaller one. The one above is stripes, and I've calculated how long the 2-row repeats need to be before I can finish with the same 4-row swaths and the back cuff. Then, just knit it up the sides. 

The baby hat is in the Baby Softee. The toddler hat is in the Cascade 220 Superwash. The sweater is in the Cascade, so I figure that was a good choice.  

Then there's the packaging. I haven't even gotten the stuff I need to put together the gift, but I can get that next week. I don't have to go "baby," especially if what I find is all gendered. My mom said that at Party City it was all either boy or girl - which is kind of silly, because there are those rare birds like my nephew and his wife. They didn't want to find out the gender "unless it was blatantly obvious on the ultrasound," and even if THEY know, we don't. Which is kind of cool. 

There aren't enough good surprises in this life, right? 

The Saga of the Hip...

Well. I went for my 3rd PRP shot. I'm now scheduled for PT, which I'm taking at a place a few doors down from my studio. It's a unique set-up: instead of a batch of patients assigned to the PT, this person spends the hour on you alone. For those of us who are hyper-mobile, we need supervision! I'm really glad to be able to not only have a place close-by, but also -- let's be honest -- not be exposed to a batch of strangers. I have a mom to be aware of. 

I took a picture of the device that spins the blood down. For some reason, it reminded me of something out of Star Trek: one of those "I'm growing nanobytes" kind of pods. 

The doc was very happy, because I once again was able to produce a large amount of plasma. 

I have to say that while I notice some improvements, this treatment is not for the impatient folks. The changes are incremental, some are pretty subtle, and it's going to take a long time to get to a plateau where I'll be more stable. 

I have some goals: Get back to a yoga practice that's not in a chair; ditch the cane; get back to the stable to muck out stalls; ride my bike. Not feel pain when I get up off a chair, or try to sit in one. Just the basic stuff. Oh, put my own socks on. That would be nice. 

The PT and the doctor assure me that those are indeed reasonable goals, and that I can expect to get near 100% of achieving them in some fashion. Of course, I'll never be "before arthritis." But that's to be expected. 

It seems also that they're more concerned with the arthritis than the torn labrum. I did ask about "blasting the bone spurs," and the doc said, "Yes, but no." In other words, yes, there's technology. And no, it won't fit my situation. Fair enough. I'd rather he be honest instead of just doing something that would mean I'd be back time and again to repeat the process. 

So today is my second PT treatment. I was sore after the evaluation, so this could be interesting!

It's Supposed to Snow...Or Not...

As per usual this winter, it's all weather hysteria all the time. Two school districts cancelled school today, because we were supposed to get "whalloped" with snow - up to 8" if you followed certain weather info. 

Mind you, yesterday, it was 50 degrees and sunny. Today is grey. And not a flake in sight. I'm really not sure what it's going to do today. Snow? Rain? Both? Neither? 

I mean, 10 years ago, we were sub-sub-zero and had 2 feet of snow on the ground. Today, I'm looking at my hyacinths starting to break through the ground, and whispering, "Go back! It's not time yet!!" 

And of course, we could be in California, suffering with feet and feet of snow, in areas where they never usually get snow. I have a friend in Tucson who was posting pictures of the 2" of snow on her car. I honestly have no idea if it has ever snowed in Tucson, but apparently, this was news. 

The weather is totally jacked up, but what's going on in DC? They're banning (or trying to) everyone in the LGBTQIA+ community because they can. They're also trying to ban free speech. They're also destroying legitimate safety nets as fast as they can. Because who needs them? Only the marginalized, and if the marginalized aren't rich donors? Pffffffffth.... be-gone!

And Then There's Flori-DUH...

Seriously. Wanna watch a slide into fascism, let's go to the Land of the Mouse. Dirtbag DeStoopid is hurtling down that road quickly and apparently, there's not much to stop him. Their latest is an attempt to ban the Democratic party. I'm not kidding and it's not on some erzatz "news" channel. 

Digging into the history they're wanting to ban (because we don't want to upset the feelings of little white kids...), they've realized that once upon a time, the Democratic party was the conservative party. The Whigs (a/k/a the present-day Republicans - though not quite as crazy as this bunch) were the liberals. 

So, they decided to ban "any political party which, at any time, had ties to slavery." Neat trick - use the history you deem to "offensive" to teach our kids, to virtually eliminate your biggest political rivalry. THAT is offensive, folks. DeStoopid is making a kingdom. He's paving the way to the biggest opportunity there is, and if he can finagle his way into the White House, we're in big trouble as a country. 

Where are the folks who can do something about this? I'm honestly asking, because if this is allowed to prevail, then our country as we know it will eventually cease to exist. 

And people wonder why I'm actually happy to have no grandkids...

Random Picture...

A student handed this to me. "I know you make your own, but..." -- it's Mexican Vanilla. Hubby says it smells really strong, in a good way. Can't wait to bake something with this. 

I feel humbled to have students who are friends. They've hung in there with me with this hip thing, and they're dedicated to their practice. 

We're hoping to increase our student population. We've got workshops scheduled for March, April, and May. Hoping to get more students to decide that a regular yoga practice is a good idea. 

Covid has been rough. Small businesses are still struggling. If you have a local shop, whether it's a book store, yarn store, coffee place, pub or restaurant -- do them and yourself a favor and patronize them. 

Small businesses are indeed the backbone of communities. We are invested in the area, we want to be able to serve you and your family. And we need your support. 

Often, I hear, "I can get yoga free at my gym." Yes. You can. But can you get personalized attention, do you know your teachers and their qualifications, and do you understand the time we spend making sure that the classes we have fit you and your fellow yogis? Do you know the money we've spent on training - because it's a lot, for sure. And we use that to ensure that our classes are safe, effective, and helpful to each student. Learning about modifications, adapting a sequence on the fly for students, holding specialized workshops for your benefit. 

It's a lot, and we do it for you. So please support us!

Plot Twist!

Well. Lots of news to share, and updates to provide. 

First, I have already frogged the baby jacket. It wasn't working. It's a lovely pattern by Lion Brand, but I ended up messing it up, got frustrated and went back to my "old standby." Figured I'd biggen it a bit, and now I'm in full EZ-mode: THINKING about my knitting and making changes to a pattern on the fly. 

I have never done this. I'm a pattern-follower to the nth degree.

I'm a Capricorn, we follow the rules. To. The. Letter. But here I am, goin' rogue! It scares the crap out of me. And I had to order more of the "latte" colored yarn, because I don't think I'll have enough. 

So of course, I added a few hanks extra, because you know. You never know when you'll need a random hank of Cascade 220 Superwash. I do plan to make a neckerchief/shawlette thingie, but it's nice to have a bit of extra just in case. 

As you can see, the bottom is the turquoise and the top is the latte. So I'm on a search for turquoise buttons now. I had some brown/tan ones for the other version, but now they won't work. And do you think I can find ALL those baby buttons that I bought years ago and "stashed in a place where I can find them again"? Nope. Of course not. That would be too easy. 

So I've got a month to finish this AND two baby hats. The baby hats will be out of the Softee, same as the afghan. It will all get done. I keep saying that to myself. I'm trying to knit faster, but it's garter stitch. It just seems to go on forever. 

Winter Tries to Kill Us...

So awhile back, it was freezing. Like "sub-zero, your face freezes, eyeballs feel cold" frozen. Like "why do I live here?" frozen. And I don't have a garage (long story). 

Of course, we're in Illinois - it's just weather. Stick around, and it'll change. But my car has a nasty habit of the driver's side door freezing. Which it did. Three times. 

So the solution to that is, I open the passenger door, crawl over the seat, open the door from the inside, then crawl back down and walk around the car and get in the driver's side. 

Imagine doing that with a cane, when you can't put a lot of weight on one of your legs. 

Yep. That was fun. 

But the best part was grabbing the door handle on the outside and the thing snapping back at me. I didn't even realize that I was bruised till I noticed it a few days later. My ring finger got whacked. You may notice the lovely color of that part of my finger. I was kind of surprised, but then, not - it's happened before. Hubby said it looked like I'd broken it. No, just the joys of being on a blood thinner and a door that was out to get me. 

Today is sunny; it's 38 degrees outside. Beautiful day. But give it a moment. Winter is still out to kill us. We'll be whipsawing from the 50s to the teens over the next 10 days. Never cold enough, long enough, to kill off the crud, but enough to keep our immune systems guessing. 

Latest Read...

Just finished Jennifer Chiaverini's book Switchboard Soldiers. You need to read this. It'shistorical fiction - meaning that the story is based mostly on facts. A couple of characters were created out of an amalgam of real people, but several are "real people" and their story is amazing. 

Back just before WWI, in the era of switchboards which were staffed by women, and you had to talk to an actual operator to make a call, the idea that a young woman could have a promising career as an operator, or even a supervising or instructing operators. That was big stuff. 

Then, WWI happened, and General Pershing needed operators. The male telegraph operators weren't fast enough. So AT & T (not the AT & T we know now - the one BEFORE all the consolidation) advertised for bilingual French/English operators to serve in the battlefield. 

It's an enthralling, untold story. It's a beautiful read, and would make a great book club selection. 

I'm on to A Murder of Crows, a mystery, and I'll report back when I've finished that one. But for now, go grab a copy of Switchboard Soldiers and learn something!

The State of the State of the Union...

Well. Talk about adults in the room. There was one. And the idiots walked right down the cookie-crumb trail he laid for them. "Dark Brandon" definitely came out, though I can tell you that the Republicans are still bound and determined to cut Social Security and Medicare. You know, those safety nets YOU AND I PAY INTO, and we've paid into them ever since we drew a paycheck. 

I used to say that I'd be grateful enough for my grandma and my parents to get theirs. Well, my dad died before he could draw his first check. My mom is in her mid-80s. She's terrified. And I just hit my mid-60s. And I'm mad. 

Morons in Washington who were and are insurgents and traitors are sitting in the House and Senate because enough voters are idiots (and enough districts are gerrymandered) and those voters don't know or care that these folks DO. NOT. CARE. They want raw power and the squirrel-brained Magats who voted for them will be out on their pasty-white keisters into the cruel, cold world. Without a pot to pee in or a window to throw it out of, as my dad would say (cleaned up, of course!). They think that their little red hats will protect them. 

They're sadly mistaken. 

He led them by their twitchy little noses right into admitting that, "of course" they're standing up for seniors and "of course" they wouldn't DREAM of cutting the social safety nets that everyone has been paying into. Because, why would they do that? 

(Though, to be sure, the subsequent appearances on Fox to state that "obviously" they want to protect seniors fools absolutely nobody. They don't even believe evidence when the smoking gun is set in front of them, so the day they want to vote these safety nets down? They'll swear on the souls of their respective grannies that they NEVER said that they weren't going to do that...that their souls are pure and they're doing this "for the good of the people." To which I say, HORSE-PUCKIES.)

In spite of the shenanigans (or malarkey, if you prefer) of the screeching gibbon MTG and the scowls of Lauren "Food Poisoning" Boebert, the president actually played them like phonograph records. 

Couldn't have happened to a nicer set of sub-human criminals. 

Now, calling the DOJ... Would you PLEASE start arresting the people higher up the food chain? Particularly the Mango Maggot? It's time. It's well past time. You're sending absolutely the wrong signal - that they can get away with saying - and DOING - anything and y'all aren't going to do a blessed thing. 

That would be a tragic lesson for us to learn. And would be another nail in the coffin of decent, respectful discourse and civil behavior. 

Toilet Water...

A long, long time ago, "toilet water" was a lightly scented perfume used after bathing or shaving. "Eau de toilette" was an elegant way of saying "light scent." 

People used base scents, like lavender, geranium, and the like. And it's pretty concentrated, though "light" - about 8% perfume oil, where cologne is more like 3-5%. 

Well. Then there's the OTHER toilet water. 

The other day, Quinn didn't drink after eating, which is her normal pattern. She eats, drinks her fill and is done, so she drinks about 3 times a day. Ok, well, everyone's entitled to a change in pattern. 

I heard slurping and thought that Raisa had been drinking out of the bowl, which is normally in the kitchen. 

As you may remember, we have a "gated community," because the girls don't get along. I mean, seriously don't get along, and while we thought it would get better as they got older, it really hasn't. So for our own sanity and safety, we keep them separated. 

Wasn't Raisa. It was Quinn, drinking out of the "Porcelain Water Bowl." See, in the one bathroom, Hubby leaves the lid up. I am a "keep it closed" kind of person, because first, that's how we did it growing up, and second, I've always had dogs. Never a potty-drinker, but why take chances? And of course, in the days when you used toilet cleaners that were the in-the-tank kinds of things (which I no longer use), the potty-drinkers would've been poisoned!

We have never had a potty-drinker. Till now. 

Gives a new name to "toilet water," and the toilet is now closed. There's a second bowl in the bathroom, and the one time Hubby forgot to shut the lid, Quinn went back to the Porcelain Water Bowl because apparently, that's the vintage of water she prefers. Um. No. Lesson learned. 

The Saga of the Hip...

Well. I totally blew January, as I figured I would. It was a rough month. I was supposed to have the 3rd shot, but I didn't. 

I have now acquired a sore shoulder because I think I've been using the cane wrong, and my muscle tone in the left leg is shot. And of course, the right shoulder being the side I use the cane on -- shoulders aren't meant to take our body weight over a period of time. 

And, hey -- let's throw in me being on the spectrum with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, because my muscle tone has been shot to smithereens, my joints are killing me. There's nothing to "cure" with EDS. All you can do is strengthen the muscles around the joints. Which is what my regular yoga practice was doing. I am literally not practicing...and I mean that in the grammatical sense of "literally." I am not practicing at all. Which has really wreaked havoc on my body. A lot of it was and is the pain. 

And a lot of it was January. The month I lost my sister, a year ago. That was a clumsy sentence, but that's what has been whirring in my mind. It's depression and grief expressing themselves physically. 

It also doesn't help that (a) I've had a lot of work which involves sitting my butt in front of a computer up to 6 hours a day; and (b) knitting is safer when I'm sitting! I'm on a baby deadline. 

I have been exercising as much as I can. But it's not enough. 

I have a plan... I'm going to get the 3rd shot in the series. Then I'm going to ask my doctor to send me to physical therapy. And then we're going to talk about a scope to see if they can blast those bone spurs off the ball of my hip and the socket of my hip. I don't necessarily think they'll do anything with the labrum. For those of us who are flexy-bendy beings, our joints are inherently unstable in the first place -- so trimming or removing any of that labrum is just going to destabilize it further. But -- I'm thinking that if they can remove the bone spurs, that might alleviate a lot of the pain. 

You should hear my hip. It snaps, crackles, and pops. It's not cool. It's kinda freaky. 

So I'm waiting for the doctor's office to call me back to schedule things and we'll move forward. 

Random Picture...

I live in a town next to another town known for its drawbridges. Bridge roulette is a thing here. The canals are heavy traffic areas for barges, and I grew up knowing that if you wanted to get from one side of town to the other, you needed to build in "bridge time."

And all of the bridges are old. Like "we have to hand-make parts" old. We run cycles of which bridge is closed. There used to be individual bridge tenders in their little towers next to the bridges, but now they're trying to centralize and computerize the raising and lowering of the bridges. So one by one, the bridges are now cycling through the process of being upgraded with computers and software. 

A few months ago, I got caught. If you're a "lifer" in this town, you can usually anticipate the bridges, and you know the side roads, and alternate routes, and a way to get around without being caught. 

Well. Occasionally, you lose at "bridge roulette." There's even a high-rise bridge which is known to back up for a mile or two if you don't time it right... 

This was one of the bridges which lies south of the high rise bridge. And it was a beautiful morning. So I sat and listened to the radio while I was waiting. 

Because sometimes that's all you can do. Waiting. An art that all of us who live here have cultivated. Because like time, you can't stop a bridge from going up or coming down. 

That Didn't Go As Planned...

Well. Merry Christmas. And Happy New Year. 

Christmas wasn't exactly Christmas. Or, it didn't go as I expected. I was honestly dreading it, since it was a reminder of the last day I saw my sister alive. 

But...almost simultaneously, Mother Nature threw a hissy fit and a couple of the immediate family came down with Covid, so we cancelled it. Initially, we put it off till New Year's Day - but with the fam having Covid, we had too many of us say, "You know, so far, we've been lucky and we feel like a cat on its 8-and-a-halfth life." 

So my mom pulled the plug, and we'll be doing a porch-drop of the various gifts. We even cancelled our Christmas Eve church service - winds howling over 50 mph, icy roads... I know there were churches in the area who did in-person services, but our own supply priest would have to have come in from north of Chicago. Maybe that was a knee-jerk reaction, but sometimes, you have to take that risk. 

All things considered, I'm somewhat relieved. Kid #2 came down for dinner today, which was fun. I ate some vegan cookies, and they were pretty good! In the larger tub on the left are variations on the ones I've made, and in the bowl on the right are things the Kid came up with. All are vegan, and the Snickerdoodles (a specialty) are delicious - you can't tell the difference between the ones I make (with egg) and the ones here, without egg. 

For some reason, Hubby won't touch them, so I have a whole batch of lovely cookies to myself! Fine with me. 

It's funny - you know when your oldest friend "gets" you. Check out this wrapping paper! She also is a person who can shop for me. I have a new, lovely, burgundy sweater that looks like it's a cowl neck, with a pair of gorgeous hoop earrings. She also gave me some lovely lotion and yoga-themed items. Hubby always rags me about the number of water bottles I have. So of course, in this year's box, was a yoga-themed water bottle. This one wasn't MY fault!

We've been exchanging gifts for a long time. This year, I found a vintage Mickey Mouse cookie jar, and at our church auction, I got a hand-quilted table runner (tones of green and ivory, just like her kitchen) and a set of cream/ivory soapstone candlesticks. I also got her a cosmetic bag, just for fun. She's a "fancy purse" kind of gal, and I found a glittery rose-gold one from the Kate Spade outlet website. It looks like much more than I paid for it! She loved all of it, thankfully. I'm particularly happy that she didn't have the cookie jar - she's got so much Disney stuff that I'm never sure what's what. And I'm not a Disney person, so I can only guess at this stuff. 

New Year's Eve...

In typical fashion, I'm watching "The Twilight Zone" marathon and will be knitting. I'm bummed - I had to change balls for the afghan in the final third of the row. Not cool. I was hoping to get the change done at the end of the row. 

I've prepped Quinn for the upcoming fireworks - which have already started. The diffuser in the bathroom where she sleeps has lavender in it and she got a round of hemp chews. I'll check on her in a bit (fingers and paws crossed, it's been quiet so far) and see if she needs a lavender butt rub. If it gets worse, I'll have to give her a shot of Sileo (vet prescribes it).  I'll have to be up with Quinn till she settles down and I don't have to worry about dragging her out from behind the toilet anyway, so I may as well relax and get comfy. I'm about to go change into my jammies and get situated in my chair. I know that while it's quiet now, around midnight it's likely to go nuts. 

Can you see how thrilled she is in her hat? Honestly, she does like wearing these things, but for some reason, this picture doesn't show her true feelings. Or maybe it does? All I know is that Raisa always looks like she's gonna crap in my shoes when I make her (rarely) wear a headband. 

Thankfully, Raisa isn't bothered by the noise, so she's conked out in the kitchen. 

I'm also praying for rain. Lots of it. So that the fireworks are kaput. It would make my new year nicer. There's church tomorrow, and I'd like to be fresh, since I'm playing a couple of the carols. 

We shall see what happens.

The Knitting...

The afghan, as I noted, is just coming along. It's at that weird spot where it looks like I haven't done anything much. I'm about 17.5" into it, and I've got to get to 35" before I can do the last 20 rows of the final border. 

I found that the turquoise and the taupe yarn balls are slightly off. It's not unusual, because in the factory they have wiggle room for that "5 oz" measurement of yarn. It can be plus or minus a couple of feet of actual yarn. In my world, I'd make sure that they're all even. Heck, I'm happy there wasn't a knot mid-hank - that's happened to me before. 

I have a small ball of turquoise left; and I might go really wild and put a little fringe on each corner. That would be very weird - I'm not normally a fringe gal. But in this case, maybe just a little one at the corners might not be too bad. 

I'm a bit annoyed... I'm not sure how I'm going to make these ends disappear into the afghan. If I could've made it to the end, I could've woven them up the sides. But I was literally 2/3 of the way across the row. Maybe I should've just frogged it back, but it's done now. 

I'm getting nervous about the Baby Surprise Jacket. I think I'm more concerned about getting the gauge right - I'm not usually a gauge person. My "typical" sweater is a knit-and-go because I always use the same yarn and the same pattern. But this branching out is a bit different for me. 

I keep telling myself, "How bad can it be?" So I guess I'll give it a go. It's only yarn. 

I have to get skippy though - the shower looks to be in March, so I suppose I'd better move it along!

The Baking...

Merry Christmas to me... Our old white Kitchen Aid is on its last legs. Hubby already opened her up and re-greased, and re-tuned her motor. And she was still struggling through some basic cookie batters. However, the nice thing about those gazillion pre-Christmas sales is that you can get your mixer replaced at a decent price so you may as well do so. One of our friends has christened her "Big Red." She's a commercial grade Kitchen Aid and I'm still getting used to her. She's a lot quieter than Snow White, but she's got a bigger bowl. Hubby also got me the scraper/beater, which I haven't used yet. 

I did try her out on some casserole bread, and the fact that it was screwed up is entirely my fault. Anyhow, I was surprised at how deep her bowl was. The dough did rise nicely, but I have to adjust my eyes to the depth and realize what's in there.

Honestly, it was the same with Snow White. Her bowl was bigger (went from a 3-qt. to a 5-qt.) and it took a minute to figure out what I could do with her and what she was capable of. 

And Big Red is an 8-qt. She's got some girth on her. 

So we didn't bake a couple of the batches of cookies that we planned. We didn't do the M & M cookies or the date balls. Not to worry - we have plenty of cookies to go around anyway. So I guess the ambitious list was just not going to happen this year. All I can say is that, were we to do those cookies, Big Red can handle them with ease. Snow White was, frankly, struggling with the almond crescents. 

I'm dropping a platter off to my mom. She gives my cookies to her friends, which works for me because then I'm not tempted to pick at them. 

Today, though - not a baking thing, but still... I made my first curry. I have to get more fresh ginger; I had a stash in the freezer, but somehow, it's not there, so I had to use powdered ginger. It was a sweet potato curry with red paste, and served over a rice blend. It wasn't too bad. We roasted Brussels Sprouts and I added some to my dish. They gave it a surprising amount of "crunch." Oh, and it also had garlic, chickpeas, and spinach in it. It kind of made me wish I could taste and smell. 

The original recipe called for a bag of fresh baby spinach, but I used a bag of frozen chopped spinach. That actually worked better because you weren't having to wrangle full-sized wilted spinach leaves. The Kid approved, and Hubby made chili-roasted spud slices, which they enjoyed. 

My commitment this year is to try to eat more veggies & fruit and less meat. I'm not a huge meat-eater anyway. But also I do need to de-junk my habits. I got into a rut with eating after yoga class: a ham sandwich or a grilled cheese... maybe a yogurt. 

It wasn't cool, and my stomach (and blood pressure) can tell. 

It's not necessarily a "resolution," but a plan. I'm setting a goal for myself, and I want to introduce more vegetarian options. I'm told that curries are addictive because they're super easy. Well, ok. Lucky for me, I don't get bored of the same meal over and over. 

The Hip...

So I'm still rehabbing. I'm not sure when I'll be bringing prenatal yoga to our studio, because you can't just teach that from a chair. 

But not to worry; I'm still positive that things are getting better. I have one more shot to do, and I'm going to talk to the doctor about a PT program. 

At first, he said, "all I could do for you for therapy, you can do with yoga." But -- I'm not always motivated. I need a nudge. If I'm tired or hurting, I'll sit my butt in a chair. That's fine, in one respect because it is important to listen to what your body is telling you. But to the point, I do need someone (other than Hubby) to nudge me to do stuff. If I know I have to be responsible to a therapist who's set goals, then I'm more likely to actually get off my butt and push myself a bit more. I would like to get more steps in, and one way to do that is to have a plan to get up out of my chair (at work it's worse!) and walk the hall a couple of times. If I can tour the office, or (weather permitting) take a tool around the building, it'll be good for me both mentally and physically. 

Once I can ditch the cane, I can get back to my yoga therapist. I can feel that it's a lot of muscle rather than bone pain. It's just getting my strength back in the muscles. 

I've taken to talking to myself. "It's just lifting your leg, you can do that." Or "One step at a time." Or all that positive stuff. If I do that regularly, I do see that I'm moving better and feel more motivated. 

Who knew? 

I'm not sure whether I should be bummed or pleased. Hubby got me a quad-foot for my cane and a spike for when Mother Nature gets back to her winter mode. After nearly killing us the week of Christmas, we've had that weird week "in-between" where it's almost been spring. 

No wonder everyone's sick. 

Random Picture...

I rearranged my table. I was given some lovely Lake Superior rocks and I wanted to display them. I also moved my Mary Magdalene icon. Of course, in my opinion, Mary Magdalene was robbed. Her entire story was created by the patriarchy in the church who couldn't stand a powerful, spiritual woman. And so they made her pay for it. 

But I digress. 

Today, after a long while, I decided to fire up the diffuser in the living room. I normally use the one in the bedroom every night, but I'm careful about the one in the living room because Raisa doesn't like it. I've heard about dogs who don't like the oils, even at the most mild, and that's fine. My friend's dog hated lavender, and when she'd diffuse it, the dog would go to the farthest reaches of the house to get away from it. 

Much like people - they don't have to like everything! So anyhow, she was in the kitchen, so I fired it up, using Young Living's "Celebration" blend. I hadn't pulled that one out in a while, because frankly, I wasn't feeling celebratory after this year. But I thought I should maybe try adjusting my own attitude. 

As you can see, I set my rocks out. The round one at the right, Kid #2 used for meditation, so it should be full of good juju. Now I just have to layer my own on top of it. I like to hold a palm stone when I meditate sometimes. Sometimes it's Labradorite, sometimes Shungite or Black Tourmaline or sometimes...it's just a rock. I have some Lake Michigan rocks that I picked up last time I was on the beach and they're just lovely smooth stones with stories to tell. 

I'm also hoping to get back to a regular meditation practice in 2023. Last Thursday, I held a free Metta Meditation class and one of my students said, "My heart feels so light." 

I want that feeling in 2023. What is your desire for 2023? What are your goals? And you know what? It's ok if you don't have any right now.