Still Winter Here

I might just finish my Einstein Coat while it's still cold enough to wear it. I'm seaming it now, but it looks like a big cream blob so I'm not going to post a photo.

I did finish my little folk embroideries. They are very cute, but I'm not sure what to do with them. Ideas? (They are 8 x 8).

And while the calendar says it's March 10, my yard is blanketed with snow. My brother is visiting from Virginia and, to my surprise, he walked with me this morning when the temperature was 5 degrees (with wind chill).

I did get a little trip to the tropics Sunday evening. I have a friend who is an exceptionally avid gardener. She grows dozens of elephant ears outdoors in the warm weather. In the winter, she and her husband dig them up and bring them inside, where they place the plants in pots and horse troughs. No, I am not making this up.

As you can see, it's pretty amazing.

Home Again

 My trip to California was great. How can it not be? We drove up to Mendocino, which is just gorgeous. I could listen to the surf hit the rocks all day. (Thinking of you, Kim!)

We stayed in a very vintage cottage. It was adorable, but we were afraid to use the stove, which had no pilot light. We just used the microwave and ate out.

The best part was hanging out with Joni.

We both enjoyed working on the embroidery kits I made up for us.

We were not amused by the antisemitic pamphlets that were placed at homes in Berkeley and six other cities. Scary stuff. 

Sadly, bad news dominates, doesn't it? You may remember that I went to Ukraine a few years ago when my daughter was a bridesmaid at a wedding outside Lviv. My heart bleeds for the country and the wonderful Ukranians I know.

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Hitting the Skies

I was supposed to fly to San Francisco today to visit my best friend from childhood. A couple days ago, I got a text from United advising me that Chicago was supposed to have a major snow storm today and urging me to change my ticket to Friday. I did so. It turns out that Chicago is having a little snow today. Grrr!

Still, I am going to California so I can't complain too much.

Of course, the important question is: What crafts to bring? I'm definitely bringing this one:

It's a design from a book on Kantha stitching. I've wanted to improve my free-style stitching, so I'm looking forward to working on it. 

I started a sock this morning because you can't travel without a sock project.

And, of course, I have my sketchbook. Which reminds me: here is the sketch from my January trip to Chicago. The temps were around 0, so I drew this from photos I took.

And here's a photo:

Now I just have to hope that no passenger attacks a flight attendant over mask regulations!

 

My Quilting Journey

 I've been on a quilting journey. It started this fall when my friend Linda asked if I'd like to take a beginning quilting class with her. I knew I needed to do this, but I had been avoiding it. It sounded so boring. I figured it would be fun if Linda was there.

I really don't t like the pattern that the teacher uses, but it does work well as a learning exercise. And I was happy with the fabrics I chose.

The teacher shared all the "insider" tips that I had not been able to find in books or videos, like how to get the corners of squares to match up. And how to cut straight sashing. Notice I said she taught us these skills, not that I've mastered them!

That gave me the confidence to try a throw-sized quilt with precuts. This one uses Jolly Bars. I still had to square up all my units before I sewed them together. Apparently I haven't mastered cutting or sewing straight.

And now I'm working on the Market Street Quilt. This is a great beginner quilt, and I'm having fun with it. As you can see, I'm trying to get away from pretty but predictable.

I think I'll always like art quilting best, but I do want to build up my skill set. Besides, it's really nice to curl up under a quilt that you made yourself!

Unravelled Wednesday

First the knitting: If you look closely, you can see that I've begun to knit the right front of the Einstein Coat. I'm enjoying all this garter stitch. VERY relaxing!

BTW, a skein of Cascade Ecological is very large:

I'm finally starting on a pair of mittens for Rachel. It's going to take me all year to knit the beautiful Songbird Mittens. The pattern isn't that difficult, but there are lots of long floats, and I'm very slow at catching those. 

I've been on an English mystery journey for the last four months. I fell in love with the BBC Shetland mystery series Shetland a year ago. The series is based on books by British writer Ann Cleeves. So I read her other series, the Vera Stanhope novels. Then I read all the Shetland books, and I just finished the last one:

So, I can tell you that the books are better than the TV shows. All the books are worth reading, though I am partial to the Shetland series.

 That said, the Shetland series is worth watching. Each book is an entire season, so you get an in-depth story. I personally do not like the Vera TV series. Each book gets 3 episodes, so the stories are stripped down. Also, there are a million seasons and only 6 books, so it's an entirely different animal.

Joining up with Kat for Unravelled Wednesday.

 

You'll Never Guess What This Is

 Well?

Believe it or not, it's a sweater! It's the Einstein Coat by Sally Melville. I've wanted to make it for ages, and I was able to nab the perfect yarn (Cascade Ecological) on sale when the Wisconsin Craft Market went out of business last month. I'm really focusing on embroidery, so I wanted a simple but useful knitting project.

Our old house had hot water heat, so our cats have been delighted to discover heating vents. Especially since we keep our house at 64 degrees. 

I'm off to lunch with my mother. I'm bringing food because the dining room in her retirement community is still closed. We are making great progress with getting help in for her, so I expect things to settle down soon.

Care-taking & Finishes

 I don't feel bad about not posting, but I hate falling behind on reading your posts. However, it was quite a week. Keith had cataract surgery on Tuesday (and it was very successful). Then my mom fell and broke her arm on Thursday. She has severely torn rotator cuffs, so I've been helping her with dressing, meals, even bathrooming. I hope to have help hired tomorrow.

I've only been able to finish up some simple UFOs. First was a pair of fingerless mitts for Keith. He chose to go with this color rather than have me buy more yarn. Go figure. The pattern is Maize by Tin Can Knits. If I make it again, I'd flip the knit and purl stitches so it would have more knits.

This hat needed decreases, so it went quickly. The yarn is Eco Duo, which I loved knitting with. Must make a sweater with this! So soft.

And I finished up the drawing of my living room wall. 

I hope to have time this week to catch up with all of you!

Pandemic January

 I hoping to have a photo of my Seth and his partner, Clara, because I spent a few days in Chicago last week. Unfortunately, before I got around to it, both Seth and I got sick. I had the worst GI bout I've ever experienced. And it wasn't fun to be away from home. When things began to subside around 1:30 a.m., I drove home -- almost 3 hours!

I don't regret the trip, though. I had a couple awesome days seeing people and visiting the Art Institute, which featured Barbara Kruger. I had never heard of her, and her social justice themes are perfect for our times:

The temperatures were almost as low in Chicago as they are in Madison, so sketching was out of the question. However, I found an alternative. I know that pandemic life is harder for some people than others. I am a homebody, so I think that I've fared quite well. It seemed appropriate to do a home sketch:

Later on I was warmed up by Kola. I think she missed me!

NOTE: Dane County, where I live, has the third highest rate of Covid in the entire country! It's a good thing I like being home.

Covid and Knitting -- Not In That Order

 I have a finished object:

I have knit sweaters before, but this is the first one that actually fits! It is the Fullerton Cardigan, which was published in the now-defunct Knitscene magazine. It is an easy, well-written pattern that would be a great first sweater. The yarn, Croft West Yorkshire Spinners, is a beautiful, lofty worsted weight. It is pretty scratchy, but it was fine over the turtleneck. I'll soak it to try to soften it up.

There has been a lot of knitting -- all on another sweater, Design 10, which turned out to be a total disaster. It's in time out while I decide whether to try to fix or frog it.

Last weekend I mentioned that I took my mom to the hospital for a colonoscopy. I didn't add that the outpatient surgery center was crowded and there were no Covid safety measures. There were people with masks on their chins and large family groups hanging around.  I knew it wasn't safe, but how do you walk out on your 85-year-old mother?

On Tuesday evening, I realized I had a sore throat, which lasted for a few days. I was also very tired. So, I either had a cold or Covid. I couldn't get a test until Thursday and now, 36 hours later, I still don't have results. I do know that I got it at the hospital because I had been homebound for the two weeks preceding the colonoscopy with a kidney stone.

Here's the worst part: I'm supposed to visit Seth in Chicago on Tuesday. Obviously I don't want to expose him to Covid. I decided that I'm going to go whether I have Covid or not. I'll drive to the Air Bnb, which seems safe to me. By the end of my visit I can go to museums, under CDC guidance. I've been homebound for more than three weeks now, so any change of scene will be appreciated!

Let's Hope for a Better Year

 I usually consider my year to be the Jewish year, but this year I'm going with 2022. The first few months of the Jewish year weren't so great: broken hip for Keith; back injury and kidney stone for me; the death of one of my son's best friends from way back; and a colonoscopy for my 85-year-old mother When does my real retirement begin?

Wisconsin is once again one of the worst states for Covid. Just like we were a year ago. This meant no New Years celebrations for us. Keith went to his parents for X-mas, but I stayed home. I went to the funeral for Seth's friend and it was packed. Even though all those Death Metal kids were wearing masks, I was worried about exposing my in-laws. (Yes, Seth was in a Death Metal band, An End to Flesh. I'm glad he didn't stay with that as a career).

But some things are good, like our loving kittens.

And embroidering my newest design:

And, of course, Keith, Seth, and Rachel. 

There is knitting, but that is for another time.

In The Middle of Nowhere

 That’s where I am. It’s 20 miles to the nearest town and phone service is iffy. But that’s all good if you’re Up North…in Wisconsin, that is. For the few of you who know Wisconsin, I’m between Lac de Flambeau and Park Falls. It took hours to find a cabin that was both in the woods and on a lake. This is what we found:

We’ve enjoyed our getaway: kayaking, walking, and, of course Keith has been biking. And I’ve been reading. On the first day alone, I zipped through Force of Nature, the second novel in an Australian series. She’s the rare mystery writer who writes as well as she plots. The characters are complex and believable. I could not put it down!

Then I switched gears entirely and turned to literary fiction.

I am on page 70 but I can’t explain this book. The back cover describes it as a blend of fact and fiction. It doesn’t seem to have a plot but it’s inexplicably mesmerizing. Akhtar is the American-born son of Pakistani immigrant parents and he provides an incisive picture of what that is like, of the generational conflicts, his mother’s longing for Pakistan, and his father’s transformation into an American. So far I’m liking it.

I read some popular fiction this summer, and some of it was actually good. The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz does indeed have some surprising plot turns. The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian is a tightly written thriller that kept me at the edge of my seat. In addition to being a good story, it describes the hectic life of these folks who give us juice and pretzels in the air. I loved Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny. Focusing on a man,his current wife, and his first wife, it smartly depicts the perils and satisfaction of fractured families.

Then there are the ones I didn’t much like. I finished Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan. It’s a decent beach read but a predictable tale of yet another dysfunctional family. I am perplexed by the rave reviews garnered by Who Is Maud Dixon. The plot is so promising—an editorial assistant pretends to be a famous author after that author dies—but the writing is clunky and unconvincing. I couldn’t finish this one.

Reading is one of the joys of retirement,

There Is Still Knitting

 After all, this is a knitting blog. And I do knit every day.

(BTW, excuse my long absence... the High Holy Days always throw me off.)

I am trying to focus on a few projects instead of being so scattered. I have a friend who is a monogamous knitter and she finishes so many things.  Inspired by her, I've made decent progress on the linen-stitch scarf.

It is very pretty and it will be a cozy scarf. However, I am still quite sure this will be my last linen stitch project.  Too tedious. And it's very easy to make mistakes.

After four unsuccessful attempts, I put the Porto Sweater into time out. Instead I'm working on Design 10. Yes that's it's name. It's an easy cardigan so I should be able to finish this one. Normally I would not make a sweater with only three projects on Ravelry, but I saw a sample at the yarn store in Evanston and fell in love with it.

All the colors are off ... I waited too long in the day to take good photos.

Now for some exciting news: The Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Show actually took place in person.  I went with my friend Suzi, who I haven't seen in a while. She's a retired teacher, too, and it was so much fun to catch up. And, I wasn't too extravagant in my purchases!

A yarn store about 30 minutes from my house is about to start a mitten knit-along, so I purchased two skeins from their booth to make the
Songbird Mittens for Rachel.

I also picked up two luscious indie skeins of DK destined to be fingerless mitts:

And this bag just insisted that I take it home with me:

It was wonderful to attend High Holy Days services in person. Worship really is a community experience. My congregation is a combination of hippie and traditional Judaism that hits the right notes for me. I feel very lucky to have this unusual schul (Yiddish for synagogue) in my life. As always, I was very busy repenting!

On Sketching

 Sketching is one of the things I want to focus on in my retirement. I even went out with a friend when the temperatures were skyrocking.

Here's a photo of the scene. As you can see, accuracy is not my strength -- or even my goal. I like things that are wonky.

Last week, Keith drove me to Baraboo, a cute little town, so I could sketch and he could bike on some different roads. It's the home of Circus World, birthplace of the Ringling Brothers Circus, so there are painted elephants all over town.

I was drawing some of the old buildings downtown there when this man, about my age, came up to me and said, "Someone has a hobby."
"Keeps me out of prison," I joked.
"I did nine years in the big house," he replied. And he did. Told me his entire life story. It's a very friendly town.

But the best part was when a middle-aged woman came up to me and told me she owns an art gallery. She looked at my unfinished sketch and asked if I'd sell sketches of Baraboo at her gallery. Of course I would!

So, here's the sketch. It has a major mistake, but I can trace it onto a new piece of watercolor paper using my lightbox and correct it. Then I'll add watercolor.

Neck update: I got the neck brace off yesterday. They warned me that my neck would hurt for a few days because the muscles are out of practice -- and it does hurt! More worrisome. I have some signs of kidney damage from the mistakes in the ER, so they ran tests. I'm sure I won't hear anything over the holiday weekend.

Sometimes Things Work Out

 My newest knitting project did not start out well. The Piquant Mix Scarf is made with three balls of Ella Rae Cozy Soft Prints. As soon as I started knitting, the balls began to fall apart. Since you knit with all three, this quickly devolved into a mess.

I had no choice but to frog, roll all three skeins into balls, and start all over. Thankfully it was worth it. It's very pretty -- not my colors, though -- and will be a gift for one of my nieces.

I had been planning to have my friends over for dinner on our deck, but my neck injury made that plan too ambitious. Instead, I made brownies and offered up brownie sundaes.

My wonderful friend Richard made two huge bowls of cold soup: watermelon curry and watermelon gazpacho. So, it was dinner after all!

Kola says: "Thank goodness it's cooled off around here." 

And I wholeheartedly agree with her!

Finally Some Knitting

 In attempt to accomplish something -- you can't do a whole lot in a neck brace -- I picked up this Zick Zack scarf that's been languishing for a few years.  I'm using left-over yarns from other projects, and it's been fun deciding when to change colors.

I love the way it is coming out, but I will not make another one. It's a one-row repeat that requires counting, so it is tedious. I think I'm almost done -- I'll have to try it on when I take off my neck brace to wash today -- and then I can move onto something new.

You Are Invited To My Pity Party

In April, I fell down the stairs at school because the elevator was broken. In May, I ended up in the ER with a kidney stone. And now, this:

I was stopped at a red light on a main thoroughfare, minding my own business, when a jerk in a sports car rear-ended me. Don't ask me why I smiled for the photo. The accident was not fun. Eight hours in the ER was not fun. Being given too much intravaneous pain medication wasn't fun either.

I may or may not have a hairline fracture in one of my neck vertebrae. I don't see a neurosurgeon for another 10 days. In the meantime, I'm enjoying wearing this hot, awkward cervical collar that rubs my skin raw. Not.

And if that's not bad enough, my scroll was not accepted for publication. I feel like it was a waste of time.

I'm hoping this next week will be better!

Friday Felines

 I'm missing this cat, who lives with my daughter in Denver:

Vashti is a very sweet, mellow cat. She'd like to be more friendly, but Rachel's first cat, Delilah, hasn't gotten over not being an only cat.

Tiny Needle Tuesday Plus My Weekend

 This is what my tiny needle has. been up to:

It's a small piece of a project that I finished on Sunday-- just in time to submit it to a challenge from Quilting Arts Magazine. The challenge was to make a scroll measuring no more than 40".  I had to cut a panel so that I didn't go over 40".

Here's the finished project:

It's bits and pieces from my trip to Colorado. It will seem very random to the viewer, but my new-to-me fiber group -- the Memory Cloth Circle -- liked it. I'm not sure it was worth the time, but it was kind of fun.

My weekend also included having friends over for dinner on Saturday. I invited my favorite co-teacher, John, and his wife Michele, who is a special ed teacher. Not team-teaching with John is one of the things I'm going to miss the most this fall. We practically had a comedy act going in a long-running debate over which decade had the best music, the 1970s (my choice) or the 1980s (his choice). I hope we'll stay in touch.

Michele is the chairperson of the Union's Subcommittee on Special Ed, so we have quite a bit of history, too.

And Michele made me the best mask ever:

For those of you who aren't massive fans of The Office: The mask features Dwight Schrute, one of the main characters. I gave John a vintage Chewbacca mug, seeing as he is a Star Wars fanatic.

Madison Urban Sketchers met Saturday at a local park, where we all drew the beautiful bathroom structure -- built by the CCC during the Depression. It was a small but talented group. Mine is on the top right:

Last, but not least, I went kayaking on Sunday with my friend Tracey. What is it about water that is so soothing? When my ankle heals, I am going to beg Kathy for a paddle-boarding lesson.

It was a busy weekend for me -- but now I have all week to relax!