Kninja Knitter

It’s been three weeks since I last posted – and a tumultuous three weeks it has been! Mostly good, but very challenging. And being my last post of 2025, it’s sure to be a long one. Every time I thought to post in the past weeks, it’s felt overwhelming. Anyway, I’ll jump right in:

Stitched or Still-in-Progress

I managed one FO early in the month. When I last posted, I was very close to the contrast cuff on my rainbow vanilla socks.

The other project that has dominated what little knitting time I’ve had has been the rainbow shawl I started at the beginning of the month. It’s been my primary project because it’s my December challenge project in the Down Cellar Studio’s Pigskin Party, using 4+ minis within the item. While I should have had an easy time working on a few rows a day throughout the month, my plans got derailed and my knitting mojo took a break vacation. Thankfully, I’ve had some peaceful time over the holidays to dedicate time to knitting. As of today, I have 58 rows to go, including the bind-off. That’s fewer than twenty rows per day, and I’ve been averaging 24-26 rows since Christmas, so this is quite do-able!

Cast-on Conversations

Once I finished the last pair of vanilla socks, I cast on the next pair – but in all the chaos, I haven’t taken any photos or even created a project page in Ravelry! Because I’ve been so focused on the shawl, it’s slipped my mind completely. I’ll share next week though.

And in addition, I finally received the Advent calendar set of yarn I’d ordered from Yarn Cafe Creations, As You Wish: A Princess Bride Collection. In the wake of Rob and Michelle Reiner’s deaths, this could be a fitting tribute. I’m planning to knit Ambah O’Brien’s ADVENTuresome Wrap, as the set came with a 100-gram skein as well. I haven’t opened any of it yet, but I plan to cast on over the New Year’s Eve/Day celebration.

Grandson Glimpses

I’ll share the biggest news here as it’s related to the munchkin. During December, my house got very full. And this is what really distracted me from posting. On December 10, I invited my grandson’s mother to move in straight away. There had been significant conflict building where she’d been staying, and it broke my heart. While I’d already been planning for them to move in with me, this sequence of events sped up the timeline. And a week later, they went down to South Carolina to retrieve some winter clothes along with my son and their pets.

By the time the winter solstice arrived, my house had grown to hold two more adults, a teenager, a toddler, a dog and another cat. (River is not pleased, but she’d like to get to know my son’s cat – but he has no interest in her.) Adjustments galore.

The little guy still sleeps in my room, as the crib is there. But for now, my son is sleeping on the couch while his girlfriend and her daughter sleep upstairs in his old bedroom. I got new sheets for the twin bed, and the teen is on an air mattress.

Christmas was awkward, and that made me very sad. But last night they all came to visit at the house where I’m dog sitting, and we had a very pleasant dinner. The kiddo has been here before, so he made a bee-line for the “pinano” to play for a bit. He also played with the dogs (mostly the younger one) and just enjoyed being silly. He really enjoyed the ham at dinner – may have even eaten a whole slice when he was done!

There’s a lot of logistics to work out with the family (such as actual payment of rent), but so far they’ve helped a great deal to clean up some of the spaces. Which leads us to…

Environment Evolution

Making room for adults on a long term basis posed a challenge. Thankfully my grandson’s Mama is very good at organizing chaos! Once we turned on space heaters upstairs, she was able to make good progress. I don’t have a lot of photos to demonstrate, but I did manage to grab a couple progress photos to show the improvement in the living space. I also haven’t been up there in a while, but I’m planning to pop up to see where things stand.

Totes have been moved into a single location, holding my yarn and fiber collections. The old entertainment center (on its side here) will also be removed by the city’s bulk pick-up program.

While the upstairs was being tidied, I put several hours of work into clearing some of my office. My son has moved my old wooden computer desk upstairs for his work, leaving me with my adjustable standing desk, among other things. Eventually, I’ll be moving my office furniture into my bedroom in place of the crib. But it’ll be a while before we’re ready for that switch.

I did get a good chuckle at my son’s reaction to seeing the garage space for the first time. He wanted to know who helped me… that would be me, myself and I. 😉

Random Ramblings

I need to wrap this up so I can finally post, but I have one last tidbit to share. I’ll be doing a financial update for the quarter and year end, but that will come later this week. I’ve also been contemplating my overall goals for the new year. My top priorities will remain the same, but perhaps given the new living arrangements, I can get a bit of help to achieve them.

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas holiday, and may the New Year be full of amazing adventures!

Knit on. 🧶