Kninja Knitter

Given the prep work I’m doing for my planned podcast (targeting to launch in July, assuming I can figure out how to post!), here are my planned segments along with detailed content for most topics from the past week. I’d love to hear thoughts on this style of presentation as well as my alliteration attempts!

Knitting Know-How

This section is for my works-in-progress (WIPs) and finished objects (FOs). This week has been very busy with non-knitting time, so I only have progress to share, but I should have an FO or two next week! fingers crossed

This tee sweater is pretty close to completion. I have 25 rounds of yoke remaining, followed by some short rows on the upper back, and then the bind off (i-cord). I’m planning to use my new i-cord tool for the bind off, though I have to practice with it first!

The leg warmers should be done by next week, which is good! These are my entry in the June challenge for Camp Loopy, hosted by The Loopy Ewe, a three-month challenge with varying yardage requirements. This will be my 400-yard entry. News for July is coming later in this post.

June’s edition of the Tenth Annual Desert Vista Dyeworks Monthly Sock Club had a late start. I’m fairly confident that I can complete them before the end of the month, but it might be tight. Knitting them two-at-a-time (2AAT) makes it a little easier. I opted for a six-stripe colorway inspired by the movie poster for Close Encounters of the Third Kind plus a dark gray contrast (from my neutrals set of minis) for the toes, heels and cuffs.

Cast-on Conversations

This topic covers my future knitting plans! With the next Year of Projects term starting next month, I’ve been spending a lot of time on this subject.

Note: pattern links are to Ravelry pages.

Up first in July, I have two projects to complete during the month, my DVD socks and the Camp Loopy project. For the former, I’ll continue using the SHaGs pattern, as I love the fit and I have the pattern memorized. And for the latter, my yarn arrived on Saturday! I’m going to knit the two-color shawl, Laurelie, which has been in my queue since I bought the pattern in 2019.

Movie Moments

This topic is broader than the segment title suggests as it would include television shows. But it’s about what I’m watching. My AMC A-List membership gives me plenty of opportunities to see movies on the big screen, so that’s the primary material. But I also enjoy watching movies and TV shows to knit by!

This week I only made it to the theater once, and that was to see The Garfield Movie, with voices by Chris Pratt, Samuel L. Jackson, Ving Rhames, Cecily Strong, and others. The trailer liked to point out that Snoop Dogg voiced a cat in this movie, too. It’s a very cute movie! I loved seeing all of Odie’s antics in the background, reminding me of Snoopy, lol. I managed about ten rounds of sock knitting during this movie. I usually get further, but it was a 3D movie, so I couldn’t easily check my stitches unless I swapped my 3D glasses for my readers.

I also caught up on the full season of Tracker, starring Justin Hartley, and Star Trek: Discovery, with its series finale. I’ve got a ways to go to catch up on The Equalizer, Queen Latifah’s series inspired by the original. All three are streaming on Paramount+. On Disney+, I’m doing a couple watch-alongs through another subscription offered by KaiiElle, my favorite movie/TV reactor on YouTube. I’ve been bouncing back and forth between season one of Agents of S.H.I.E.LD. and season one of Daredevil. The latter has been especially enjoyable, reminding me of my photo op from December with Charlie Cox, which doubled as an FO pic for my Jessica Jones cowl.

Bookish Banter

As if it wasn’t obvious, this is the segment on the books I’m reading or listening to. I enjoy listening to audiobooks while I’m driving and walking. I’m currently listening to Band of Brothers; E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagles Nest. And with the 80th anniversary of D-day earlier this month, it’s been particularly poignant. (I have 1 hour 20 minutes left in the book) As for books I’m reading, I have a few in progress. To accompany my debt pay down journey, I’ve been focusing on financial books. David Bach’s Debt Free for Life has provided a couple nuggets, and Suze Orman’s The Nine Steps to Financial Freedom is next on my list. I’d read one of Suze’s books directed at women a couple years ago, so I don’t know if I’ll glean any additional tips from this book, but I’m always looking for something more.

Grandson Glimpses

Guess what this segment is about, lol. Since my grandson, affectionately known as The Munchkin (or Monster, depending on the day), spends most Friday nights with me, I get to see him grow gradually. He’s pretty darn smart, which is a little scary at times, but we have to remember that he’s still a young toddler. He’ll be 18 months old in a couple weeks (July 4th, woot!), but he’s tall for his age. This Friday, I had the afternoon off, and his mom was exhausted, so she was glad to have me pick him up early. We went to the Columbus Zoo, utilizing another of my memberships! By the time we got there it was late in the day, and it was rather hot (~86F), so some of the animals weren’t out. But Z got his first glimpses of lions, cheetahs and ostriches in the Heart of Africa exhibit. We also saw a couple Arctic Foxes and one sea lion before we made our way out of the park. The Munchkin had as much fun seeing the other park goers as the animals, and he waved and smiled at anyone who made eye contact with him. The flirt. 😂

On Saturday morning I had to work, so I put Miss Rachel on the television which was periodically engaging, but he spent as much time in my office as he did in the living room. I had to pop over to the OrangeTheory studio briefly for an InBody scan (more on this later), and Z joined me. He loves to dance in the lobby! And the coach for the class in session popped out to see him, gifting him with a Pride flag before we left. Never a dull moment with the Munchkin!

Exploits in Exercise

This segment has a few topics to include. I’m continuing on my fitness journey, started in 2021 when I turned 54. As my parents had developed Type 2 diabetes in their 50s, I was motivated to change my lifestyle to prevent (or reduce my risk of) following in their footsteps. My pre-COVID blood tests had indicated pre-diabetic conditions. I asked my son for input, as he had written a paper as part of his master’s degree work on the topic of exercise to manage diabetes. He was also an OrangeTheory coach at the time. I recently celebrated three years with the studio, and I’ve attended over 450 classes. With the introduction this year of the Tread 50 template, I’ve been working on improving my endurance. In a 50-minute class, I’m able to get around 2.5 miles, sometimes more, depending on the template.

My general schedule these days is one 60-minute 2G class, incorporating treadmill, rowing machine and weights on the floor, and two Tread 50 classes, spent solely on the treadmill. One of those should switch back to a Strength 50, spent entirely on the weight floor, once my back settles down. Last week I took the standard three classes and earned 48 splat points while covering 6.17 miles on the treadmill and 1022m on the rower.

As I mentioned before, I also had an InBody scan done as part of OTF’s Push 30 challenge, a four-week challenge to focus on healthy habits. To complete the challenge, we need to take a minimum of twelve classes and track three daily goals related to fitness (e.g., 2L of water, 7k steps, no alcohol, etc.). The InBody scan provides a snapshot of my current physical composition, showing my overall weight and estimates of my fat and lean body mass along with a segmental lean analysis (essentially estimates of muscle mass by body segments of left arm, left leg, torso, right arm and right leg). I’ve also had a few DexaScans done that give similar data using x-rays (InBody uses bioelectrical impedance). I’ll have another scan done after the challenge to (hopefully) see improvements thanks to the changes in habits. I had a couple scans done for the Transformation Challenge in Q1, and unfortunately my numbers did slip a bit since March, but I was glad to see improvements in my muscle mass. While I can see visible improvement in my physical form, it’s nice to have concrete data to support it!

Random Ramblings

My last substantive segment on my past week – I mentioned at the beginning that I had a lot of non-knitting time this week. Last Monday I had the day off because I was singing for a funeral at midday. I made use of the time off to get my oil changed, and I grabbed lunch while I waited. I tried to knit at the restaurant, but my attention was fragmented. That evening we had a year-end celebration of the 2023-24 season of the Gahanna Community Chorus. I was able to touch base with a couple people, but a number of them were busy discussing their plans for the trip to New York City many of them were taking that week.

Because my closest friends were on that trip, I spent three days at their house to take care of their dog. I’m glad I’m able to dog sit for friends, as I’ve been pet-less for fifteen years now. Every time I think about getting a dog or cat, I remember that I have big travel plans “coming up”. Once I get through my bucket list tours, I’ll start looking at shelter pets. But in the meantime, I have plenty of pets to visit!

On Saturday, I put in a bunch of volunteer hours to benefit the chorus, staffing a draft beer booth at the Creekside Blues & Jazz Festival. It was a long shift, but it was fun. Plus, we were stationed across from the Jazz Stage (one of three key performance venues at the event), so there was good music throughout. I was pleasantly surprised to find out the last band of the evening was Urban Jazz Coalition, a group I’ve seen a couple times, as I know their keyboard player from years ago. After the event, I had a one-mile walk back to my car (fitness goal ✅) and then I delivered our tip “jar” to our board VP who was one of the volunteers on Sunday. I got home about 12:15am – having gotten up at 6:15am for work!

On Sunday I directed our choir. Then I went home and took a nap! My Oura ring (future news on this will go under fitness) indicated that the nap was exactly what I needed!

Et al

The other segments that I plan to periodically cover are:

Soundscape Sessions – stories about my work with the aforementioned community chorus, concerts I attend, stage performances I see or perform in…music and theater topics.

Travel Tales – pretty self explanatory, maybe I can mix in some reflections on past travel experiences as well as the ones I have coming up. I’ve been to 41 of the 50 US states, so visiting the remaining nine is on my bucket list, along with more international adventures!

Financial Finesse – I mentioned I’m on a journey to eliminate my debt, and that landscape looks pretty good at the moment (knock on wood!). Sharing my experience here might be helpful to others, as it’s been a rough road until relatively recently. I may also share affiliate links here as I’m in a couple programs that give cash back for participating, and bonuses for referrals.

Again, I’m very interested in feedback about this format- blog posts are likely to be split up to cover just one, two or three segments each, at least until I actually launch the podcast. And then I’ll summarize the podcast in the post so the details would be shared audibly. Until next time…

Knit on. 🧶