Once again I missed my #MarkItMonday target posting, but I spent a good part of Monday recovering from the past week. My knitting has been very focused still, but I also had a lot going on outside of knitting!
Stitched or Still-in-Progress
I’ve been pretty diligent in working on my two bigger projects for the month. I was very pleased to get through the first section of my Camp Loopy shawl fairly quickly. The second section has a consistent stitch count, so there’s one less thing to worry about – but the shawl spine is now migrating towards one side, creating a fun angle in its design. The navy and violet shades aren’t well differentiated here because the sun was still making its way to my living room on Monday morning. They’re both deep, rich tones; I’ll be sure to light it better for the glamour shots!
And the cardigan is moving right along, too! I finished the center back lace panel and got moving on the left side lace panel, joining front to back and then the sleeve. I did have to rip and rework the side panel early last week because I wasn’t paying attention and had twisted the front section before joining front to back. But it’s looking lovely now! I also added in the final skein on Sunday – a sign that I’m closing in on the finish line here! Once I finish joining the left sleeve, I’ll repeat the lace panel on the right side (being careful from the start not to twist it, lol) followed by the collar. By focusing on just the two projects, I should have no problem finishing this by the end of the month!
Financial Finesse
Just a quick note here – I was very pleased to be super-productive early in the week to manage a few DoorDash shifts. Because my grandson was coming to stay with me for the weekend (or part of it), I paid close attention to my delivery counts – Platinum Status makes some things so much easier in this gig, so I need to keep my count at or above 100 deliveries in the past thirty days. I banked so many jobs, I was able to take extra time off! the weekly paychecks are helping me to move ahead on those debts, thankfully!
Grandson Glimpses
As promised – I had a delightful time with my grandson! He arrived Thursday evening with his parents, and my son ended up staying overnight as well. On Friday, we had a generational portrait session at my son’s request. The munchkin started off being very agreeable but got really bossy as the session went on, lol. Once again, the photographer managed some adorable shots!
After the session ended and purchases were made (my son ordered a collage canvas, and I used a number of credits I had for free sheets), they hit the road toward their destination. The munchkin and I went home to rest a bit before paying a visit to my friends who would be babysitting for me on Saturday. They have two small dogs who don’t have any real experience with little ones, so we wanted to give everyone a chance to meet and see how it went. All went perfectly fine!
On Saturday, we had something of a lazy day, though I did manage a load of laundry while the munchkin played guitar and danced to his favorite videos. After lunch we headed back to the friends’ house so I could get him settled in before going to church. Because I had a commitment to lead the music for the vigil Mass, having friends to help was a tremendous blessing. Z did very well! When I arrived to pick him up, he was in no hurry to leave, lol. They had played with his toys, pet the dogs, and even played some piano.
His parents arrived late Saturday night after the little guy had fallen asleep. I found it very sweet that he said my name in his sleep, too. They packed his stuff up and they were gone to continue their return trip through the night. Hopefully he’ll be back in a few weeks!
Environment Evolution
While my son was here on Friday, I recruited his help for a bit. He mowed the lawn for me, something he hasn’t done since high school! And then he spear-headed the effort to move a large cabinet out of my garage to the roadside for Bulk Collection to retrieve next week. While he was mowing, I had started a bit of decluttering so that it could be extracted, and that marked the first time in more than twelve years that I could access both sides of my car comfortably!
While that work on Friday was very exciting, I had to wait for the munchkin to leave before I could build momentum. And boy, did it build!
Following a quick run to Starbucks for a tasty energy boost, I started off in the garage. In some respects, I wish I’d taken more photos. But the place has just been an ever-growing mass of junk for years. I’ve been able to park my car in it all this time, but that doesn’t mean all is well. Oversized cardboard boxes have gone here to die along with some of the styrofoam packaging they contained. A friend had given me her old computer desk when she upgraded hers, but it’s too big to be manageable in my office. There are a few things waiting here to be donated to Goodwill, like my old window air conditioner, too.
Based on the action plan I’d mapped out the night before, I worked for 45 minutes out here, and that was enough to wear me out and leave me super sweaty. I moved the computer desk and a broken computer chair out to the road, too, for Bulk Pickup. Because I didn’t want to burn myself out, I moved on after the 45 minutes; but I’ll be back out here as time (and temperatures) allow – the two-car garage will be quite spacious when I’m done!
Back inside the house and the cooled air, my next target was the kitchen table which had been collecting clutter for a few months. The mantra of the day was “get it out!” I managed to remove trash, recycling and donations from this space, giving me a functional kitchen table again. There’s still work to be done since so much is still living under the table, but I’m celebrating this big win and moving on to the next space!
And my final morning session was spent in the office, reducing the pile of clutter that had built up after the All-Day Declutter event in April. I’d shifted a bunch of stuff in here from the living room which was downright silly! Once again, I got a lot of stuff out of here! A couple boxes of donations were filled up plus a lot of recycling and a bit of trash. Honestly, the recycling topic has been my Achilles heel in decluttering – I don’t want to throw things in the trash if we can reduce the amount of materials sent to the landfill by instead recycling them. And it’s not like recycling here is even hard – we have a weekly collection schedule! It’s something I continue to work on – but it starts by getting this stuff out!
Following the three hours of effort to this point, I needed a longer break. I stopped the work to get some lunch, and then I loaded up my car to drop off a good chunk of the recycling. I was a little nervous as I made my way to the center because I couldn’t see out of any of my back windows! Thankfully the worst merging traffic spot was very light on Sunday early afternoon! I felt so much better to have it all gone, too.
Once I got home and had a few minutes to recover from that adventure, I switched to the living room where I had two small areas to focus on. Because this space is generally decluttered already, I turned my attention to a couple key hot spots. The bookcase where my printer/scanner currently resides is also home to my primary collection of church music. The top of the unit, however, had become a dumping ground for miscellaneous stuff! I removed everything, pitching trash & recycling, which was most of it, and added to my donation box. Once the space was clear, I could put the binders of church music that are on loan temporarily as I continue as interim director for the choir.
And the last space I tackled was the living room table where my WIPs-in-waiting live along with the knitting supplies I don’t need at my fingertips on the couch. I’ve donated a bunch of my older Boye and Addi circular needles, among other things, and there was a bit of trash here, too. More work to be done as with everything else, but this is so much better!
Random Ramblings
I have just a couple more things to share here this week. First, I’d shared last week about how I’d put an hour of effort into weeding my front landscaping the week before. Unfortunately, this had some ugly repercussions throughout the past week and beyond – there’s poison icy in there. 😬 And in my gardening inexperience, I totally missed it until it was too late. I want to continue improving that space, but I’ll have to do so with greater care moving forward!
And lastly, a key motivator for me to accelerate the decluttering activity this weekend is that I’m getting a “roommate” this week! On Thursday I’m adopting a cat, my first pet since 2009 – stay tuned for more on this!
Knit on. 🧶
Kninja Knitter 
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