Kninja Knitter

Many thanks to those who left comments last week. I was not in the headspace to respond, but I did read each one. I’ll share an update later, but my title hopefully gives you a clue. Here are my updates for the week.

Stitched or Still-in-Progress

As expected, I managed to finish my Advent wrap early in the week, and I blocked it straight away. It took a couple days before I got a beauty FO shot, but it was worth the wait. We’ve had some bright sunny days lately, which is unusual for February, lol.

I have one other finished object this week – the bandana I had cast on the week before. Once I understood the stitch pattern, my speed picked up as I didn’t have to reference the pattern constantly. I picked this pattern to earn bonus points in the Zombie Knitpocalypse make-along challenge.

Lastly, I put some time into the vanilla sock project, but I’m disappointed that I didn’t finish the pair for the Down Cellar Studio Pigskin Party that wraps up today. C’est la vie – life got too lifey and it just didn’t happen. I did get through the heel turn, so I can hopefully get to the movies this week where I’m sure to make progress. I did make headway on the leg during the Super Bowl yesterday, too.

Cast-on Conversations

Since I wrapped up two projects last week, I decided to take on another larger project next. Being KAL-minded, I picked a project that will qualify for a couple different events. Laura Nelkin hosts a challenge in Q1, so I picked a kit of hers. This will garner a fair number of points in the ZK2026 MAL, too, and bonus points because the yarn is from one of this year’s vendors. Lastly, I started the project on February 6, so if I can finish it in the next couple weeks, it can be submitted for Ravellenics, the Olympics-themed make-along hosted on Ravelry. I like that this would mean I can wear it before the end of the month, since it’s a good February garment (poncho). I will note that this project required pre-stringing over 550 beads onto the working yarn before I cast on. Unfortunately, I lost focus a couple times, and there are three misplaced beads in the project. I’ll break those beads later, and when I get close to the top, I may have to break the yarn to add more.

Grandson Glimpses

The household dynamic has improved significantly which is a big relief. Both my son and Mama have prompted my grandson to visit with me, though they also spend a lot of time out of the house. Anyway, the munchkin does hang out with me from time to time. This week one of my Paw Patrol orders arrived, so he now has all of the pup-driven vehicles in the main show. Skye’s helicopter was the final addition – I’m waiting for Ryder and his ATV to go on sale to truly round out the collection; but I’m also aware of the container limit! The vehicles and pups are usually stored in an old Lego bucket. The helicopter won’t fit given the number of other items he has in here – so I’ll be looking for a creative option to store the entire collection so he can keep it contained from time to time. The helicopter has been “living” in the car for the time being, so we have time to address this.

I don’t recall if I’ve shared this before, but it still amuses me so much. My grandson has been calling me Daddy, and he usually follows it up with the proper Grandma address. I find it interesting that he never finds it funny, like he made a mistake and said the wrong name. Then similarly, he’ll address my son as Grandma, followed by Daddy. Not quite an identity crisis, but an interesting behavior.

Football Frenzy

Last night was Super Bowl 60 (LX in the Roman way 😉) – I was thrilled to see Ohio State represented on the field throughout, though only one former Buckeye gets to celebrate the championship. And Jaxon Smith-Njigba is also continuing to celebrate the honor as the NFL (AP) Offensive Player of the Year following his franchise record 1,793 receiving yards which also led the nation. His interviews in the past couple weeks have included props to his time at Ohio State, often referred to as “Wide Receiver U,” given the foundation his tenure there provided to set him up for success in the NFL.

In other sports news ( widening my interpretation of this category), I’ve been watching a number of sporting events from the Olympic competition in Milan & Cortina, Italy. I’ve particularly enjoyed watching the U.S. mixed doubles curling team, Korey and Cory, in their round-robin games. They’ve clinched a spot in the playoffs ahead of their final round robin game vs the Italian team this morning (lost), and they’re currently playing Italy again in the semifinals. I also watched some of the figure skating team competition, some freestyle skiing, and I saw Lindsey Vonn’s spill in the women’s downhill event. A broken leg is the latest in her string of injuries – so sad for her.

Environment Evolution

I have a few updates to share here… first, I was stunned to get word last week that my new windows are expected to arrive next week! That’s about twice as fast as I was told. This means I had to get cracking on decluttering in the office and my bedroom. The upstairs space is my “tenants’” responsibility.

I spent hours this weekend working on the office. The effort shows, though there’s still so much more to do! Here’s the best photos showing my progress to date. I’ll have a lot more to share next time. The desk needs to move to the opposite wall, and it’s quite the puzzle game to make that happen. The bookcase that had been behind the litter box is now in the closet, which was cleared out to make space for three things: yarn/knitting projects, electronics not currently in use, and photos. A lot of the photos will be eliminated when time permits.

The other big update is in the kitchen. I’d been frustrated once we moved the hutch to the northeast corner because it’s so far away from the refrigerator/freezer and sink and pretty much everything. I’d like to get a smaller microwave, but at least this new baker’s rack will give us a closer station for using it. This also means I can get the recycling bin off the floor. I assembled this (or started to) during the Super Bowl halftime show. We also need to secure it to the wall, but I’m not rushing into that effort just yet.

Random Ramblings

I’ll share a couple things here. First, on the mental health topic, I got very frustrated with the EAP system – supposed to be an employer-sponsored program to address short-term mental health matters for their employees. Unfortunately, the program pays very little to the providers, so very few of them participate. I scheduled a session with a therapist only to receive a reply that they no longer take EAP patients, but she’d be happy to help through my regular insurance. Sigh.

That person is not part of my insurer’s network. And the closest local provider is a twenty-minute drive away. I selected a therapist who works exclusively through Telehealth (video) sessions. We met this morning, and I think it went well. Of course, the initial appointment is chock full of back story, and I had plenty of back story to share. I think it went well, but I’m looking forward to her input. As with an EAP, I don’t expect this to be an ongoing relationship, but perhaps I’ll change that opinion over time. I’m glad we established a solid connection at the start though, as that hasn’t always been the case when I’ve met with therapists.

It also helps that the household dynamic improved a bit over the past week. My son is doing well as a DoorDash driver, so he’s going to begin paying his share of the housing costs per our agreement. I have to be cautious about spending money in my head before the cash is in hand. I’ve learned that lesson the hard way! There’s still some work to be done concerning communication, but it’s better than it was.

And my last tidbit for the week – as I’m working through decluttering the office, I’m finding a random sampling of photos from over the years. I inherited my parents’ collection of photos, including the family collection as well as albums my grandparents had and more. Just for fun, I’ve been scanning a few to share on social media. I started off with this one:

I shared this image on social media and learned that one of my grade school classmates may have been at this event. I didn’t know her yet, as I was only three at the time. 😊

Knit on. 🧶