Kninja Knitter

At long last, college football season has begun! I enjoy NFL games as well as the spring UFL games, but nothing can beat watching my beloved Ohio State Buckeyes on the gridiron. More on that later. First, let’s talk knitting!

Stitched or Still-in-Progress

As expected, I managed to finish up my Camp Loopy project for August early in the week. I was quite motivated, not to mention excited to see the finished product. I’m thinking about gifting this piece to a friend as my shawl collection is pretty full.

And last week I’d shared that I knit up a sock in three days (test knit) and then started on another test knit for the same collection from this designer. It took more than three days, lol. I finished this one in four days. Last week I shared the cuff on the top down sock, so here’s the toe.

I also managed to get a bit of knitting in on my other shawl project, particularly once I’d finished that sock. I did switch project bags for this one since the previous bag will earn bonus points in the Pigskin Party. 😉

Cast-on Conversations

Because I finished that green test knit sock, I got to cast on the next sock in the collection from Paper Daisy Creations. These patterns will be released later this year, so I’ll be able to share the full pictures when that happens. But here’s the start of this latest toe-up pattern!

I’ll keep plugging away on this sock (making my way up the leg now) and the ZK shawl while waiting for Thursday to arrive! When the Down Cellar Studio Pigskin Party begins, I’ll going to have something of a cast-on party!

Environment Evolution

The garage has been a major focus for me this weekend, and that’s spilling over into the new week. On Friday, I made runs to Goodwill and the recycling center to drop off donations to one, and a carload of cardboard and styrofoam to the other. Then I went to work on decluttering, mostly tossing trash and setting aside more recycling. On Saturday morning, I ran another carload of cardboard to the recycling center and hauled the rest of the cardboard out into a pile alongside my driveway. I was stunned when I realized there were a couple boxes out there that were 20+ years old. Honestly, this has been one of my biggest challenges in decluttering. I want to be responsible in disposing of things, and that means recycling whatever I can rather than sending it to the landfill. But jumbo boxes won’t fit in the recycling barrel outright. Now that I know where to take oversized boxes, I can get past that hurdle, but it’s still an investment of time.

I’m still working my way through the piles, and my trash barrel is full already. Still, I was thrilled to set up the freestanding shelf unit along one wall. Bit by bit the clutter is coming under control. My car now fits comfortably with space in front and behind. An unexpected surprise as I was sifting through a box: the last birthday card I received from my mom, nine months before she died. I’m expecting to have a fair amount of stuff to donate to Goodwill in addition to trash.

I’ll be very glad when I can get those barrels and the lawnmower against the wall. I still have the boxes in right foreground of the second picture to go through as well as the piles on the left. Getting there!

Grandson Glimpses

I was disappointed that my grandson didn’t come up to visit this weekend, but that DID mean I have more time for working on the garage. But My “consolation prize” was FaceTime fun with the kiddo twice!

On Friday afternoon, his mom texted to ask if I was available because he was asking about me. And Saturday, just as I finished up my last DoorDash delivery for the evening, I got a FaceTime call in my car. I couldn’t see a whole lot during the first half of the call as I was driving, but we still had an entertaining conversation. Munchkin likes to climb into an empty kitchen cabinet from time to time, and he “brought” me in there this time. 😂 I joked that we were hiding. Eventually, I got the story: the kiddo had climbed up on the couch and grabbed his mama’s phone, announcing: “I’m gonna call Grandma.” 🥰 He should be able to visit next week… 🤞🏻

Football Frenzy

As I mentioned, it’s my favorite time of year! My favorite season weather-wise is summer, but it doesn’t compare to watching the Buckeyes play ball! We had a couple extra treats this weekend with the start of the season – not only were the reigning National Champions hosting the pre-season Number One team, the Texas Longhorns, but Lee Corso was making his final appearance at the ESPN Game Day road show in town. I watched the ESPN special, “Not So Fast, My Friend,” a touching documentary spotlighting his lifelong involvement with the sport, and portions of that show were shown throughout the broadcast on Saturday.

The game that followed this pomp and circumstance was quite the battle. But it was a joy to watch! Denying Arch Manning and the Texas offense two scores from inside the ten-yard line was particularly exciting! The Buckeyes ultimately won 14-7, so I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the weekend!

To those in the US, I wish you a very happy Labor Day – I’ll be enjoying my time away from the computer very much, only doing work that leads me toward my personal goals. I haven’t yet looked at my financial status for August, so that update will come later this week. And knitting, there’s sure to be lots of knitting!

Knit on. 🧶