Kninja Knitter

I’m just stunned that we’re in the last week of Q2 already! Here’s my updates for the week (and a new section heading title, based on reader feedback!).

Stitched or Still-in-Progress

My #MarkItMonday updates… I have an FO (Finished Object)! With two projects due this month for time-boxed challenges, I finished one. The Loopy Ewe runs Camp Loopy during the summer months, providing yardage goals to meet in June, July and August, letting the knitter/crocheter choose the goal for each month from the choices of 400 yards, 600 yards and 800 yards. For June, I took the “easy” option of 400 yards, knitting these leg warmers which used 530 yards:

I made good progress on my fingering weight sweater, too. The beaded yoke is complete, and I followed the instructions for short row shaping to give it more of a crew neck shape rather than the original boatneck design. All that remains to complete the sweater is an i-cord bind-off and joining body to sleeves in the underarm.

My other project that has to be done this week is my pair of Desert Vista Dyeworks socks. I made really good progress this week, and managed to finish the heels this weekend.I’ll be able to work on the legs at the movies this week, so I don’t expect to have any issues finishing them by the deadline. This pair will bring my total to six of six for the year, earning me a free skein of yarn in the colorway of my choice.

Cast-on Conversations

I’m continuing to consider my plans for the next twelve months of crafting projects since the Ravelry group Year of Projects is wrapping up year 13 and preparing to kickoff year 14. I reached a point this week where my WIPs weren’t interesting enough for me, so I started something new. This is the first of several sweaters planned from my Irish store purchases this spring. My hope is to finish this up by early September.

I started off with the tubular cast on using the smallest needle just to start, switching to the US5 needles for the knit/slip pattern for two rows (four passes) before starting the k1-p1 rib pattern. The pattern does call for twisted rib, but that’s a little harder on my hands. I’m almost ready to switch to the body pattern!

Bookish Banter

This week I finished reading/listening to Stephen Ambrose’s Band of Brothers on my Kindle. I really appreciated the final section walking through the where-are-they-now stories for all of the men who came home from the war. They’re not all heartwarming stories, but some are. And the camaraderie they experienced in their three years together has given them all a true family.

Beyond that, I’ve been splitting my time among financial advice books from Suze Orman and Ramit Sethi and an intriguing audiobook by Dr. Joe Dispenza called Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself. And with the start of the weekend , I started listening to Eruption, originally written by Michael Crichton and then finished by James Patterson following the former author’s death. I have a few other novels waiting in the wings, including a couple written by people I know. I’ll share more on those when I get back to reading them.

Soundscape Sessions

I’m thrilled to share the video of the local season-finale concert of the Gahanna Community Chorus, held back on June 9th in downtown Columbus. Some of the group took the show to New York City the following weekend where they performed in a couple large churches there. I’ve been with the GCC since its inception in 2019, and I’ve been a member of its board since 2020. I’ll be sure to share more about the group as we go forward!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Oc1lgi_3cYE%3Fsi%3DTdXgRwP99hymyDum

Another music topic I can share involves my church. I’m in my 18th year in my current parish, and it was the music ministry that drew me in. Over time I’ve established myself as a singer, musician (guitarist) and a leader. For a long time I’ve been the assistant director of our Sunday morning choir, an SATB choir of about 10-25 people given the time of year, plus acoustic guitarists, a pianist and one or more “pit ” instrumentalists, with our primary player covering flute and clarinet and sometimes violin and/or alto sax. Shortly before COVID, I also took on the leadership of another smaller group, leading the music one Saturday a month from September through May or June, primarily playing contemporary Christian music. Both groups have their blessings and their challenges, but the leadership also comes with some compensation. That helps with my next topic…

Financial Finesse

This section title is somewhat facetious as I’m still sorting out my financial situation. But I am working diligently to pay down my debt so I can potentially retire in a few years. I had a bit of a windfall this spring that allowed me to pay off one of my larger loans, freeing up a decent amount of money to focus on my remaining debts. With the help of a debt reduction calculator, I’ve begun an “avalanche” plan with which I should be able to pay off all of my debt including my mortgage in less than two years.

The “avalanche” pays off debts with the highest interest rates first, in contrast to the “snowball” plan which targets the smallest debts first. And as each debt is paid off, the money that had been paid on it as added to the regular monthly payment for the next focus debt. I’ll have two debts paid off by August, another in November, and then I’ll be focusing on one of my biggest, the loan I took out late last year for my new HVAC system (which I really appreciated this week!). I’ll be paying it off almost two years early! And the mortgage should then be paid off five years early.

In addition to the calculator, I’m using my digital planner to monitor my progress on this huge goal. It will take a few more months before that’s worth sharing.

Random Ramblings

Again, I was very grateful to have a functioning air conditioning system this past week. Much like most of the US as well as other places on the planet, we had ridiculously high temperatures, though I don’t think we hit 100 degrees here. With the humidity, it was much like a sauna outside; so I stayed in most of the week. Having not had sufficient cooling in the past, I’d often go out to places like Panera to stay cool on summer evenings, but that also meant spending money to justify taking a table. Staying in now saves some money, though I also recognize my electric bill could pose a challenge…at least I’m on a budget plan, so the high cost of summer is spread through the cooler seasons.

Time for me to wind down for the evening, so I’ll sign off. Hoping to share more throughout the week…

Knit on. 🧶