Kninja Knitter

Alright, counting down now – nine weeks left in the Year of Projects. I’ve made great progress on a couple projects and continuing to plot my remaining efforts through the end of June. I’ve decided that the cable-knit sweater is going to hold over to the next YOP cycle, though I might cast on before this one ends. A few non-knitting goodies to share, too.

Stitched or Still-in-Progress

I’ll start with the easy one – the black & rainbow shawl – I’m closing in on the end of the third section, so I need to wind my sixth color before the weekend.

Then I’ll jump to the vanilla socks. I hadn’t started the ribbing yet a week ago, but I was close. I finished the ribbing and bind-off, then cast on the toe of its mate so I could knit at the movies.

As usual, I put a significant amount of time into the lacy cardigan I’m knitting from a cone of fingering weight yarn I bought in Ireland. When I went to bed Sunday night, I had just started the ribbing section at the bottom of the body. With my spare time today I was able to finish the ribbing and bind off. I also wound off the remaining yarn which I’ll split into two cakes to work the sleeves. Y’all – there’s over 190 grams of yarn left. I shouldn’t have any trouble with yarn chicken!

And my last project on the needles is the other sock project I have in the works. I had no trouble finishing the self-striping instep last week, and I opted for a solid color deep-stash remnant yarn to use for the toes/soles/heels of the project. That will allow me to work a reasonable leg on both socks.

While I am contemplating my upcoming projects, I’m trying to focus on these four for the time being. Perhaps next week I’ll share more about my plans!

Grandson Glimpses

It really would be hard to top last weekend’s Touch-a-Truck event, right? There will be more such events in the coming weeks, and I’m planning to take the munchkin to a couple other fun activities soon. This week was low-key, though. There was one evening when I took him to the car wash and then the grocery store. And while he often would insist on pushing the grocery cart, this time he wanted to “help” from the front of the cart. Well, that really slowed us down, as you can imagine. But as we were making our way to the registers to check out, I suggested an alternate activity for him – I wasn’t going to permit him to ride inside the cart (unless in the child seat), but he could stand on the lower rack and hold onto the cart. Mind you, I was very cautious and monitored his grip, particularly as we approached any kind of bumps. He seemed to like it, and the self-checkout monitor was also entertained by his antics.

Another time this week, he came across his Halloween costume from last year – Chase from Paw Patrol. Naturally, he had to put it on – and then he was very insistent about having his “Chase face” as well, so Grandma was happy to oblige.

Speaking of Chase, I realized (finally!) this week where my grandson’s “you’re safe” declaration came from. I believe it’s Chase who says it to a turtle hatchling in the opening scene from Paw Patrol: The Movie. But the funniest line the kiddo has latched on to in recent days is an exasperated, “ I just can’t handle this right now.” (Remember: he’s three!) Also, he made a big show Sunday morning of checking my giant Squishable Arctic Fox’s hind feet, looking for (and supposedly finding) “toe jams.” You can’t make this stuff up! 😂

Environment Evolution

Saturday was a pivotal day for me at home, having the whole day to devote to whatever I prioritized. First up: I spent an hour decluttering in my bedroom, while listening to one of the sessions from an “All Day Declutter” event in the Take Your House Back course. (Note: the course is on sale right now as the next All Day Declutter event is this coming Saturday!) I’ll be heading out of town early on Saturday, so I was glad for the opportunity to make progress!

A key motivator for decluttering the bedroom was to get the garage door opener that I bought in March. Once I achieved my goal of floor space in the bedroom, I got started on installing said opener, replacing the old Craftsman that had been in place. It certainly helped that a lot of the hardware was compatible (primarily the chain drive and its mount plus the wiring to the opener button and door sensors), but I still had some serious struggles.

I was able to enlist my son’s help to complete that project, and while waiting for him to get home to help, I managed to do a load of laundry, too. The new opener is quieter, and I was particularly interested in utilizing its Wi-Fi connectivity through MyQ – I used to have a MyQ hub connected to my opener, but it was no longer able to connect with my opener properly. Being able to have Amazon deliveries deposited inside my garage was a key driver here, so I’m thrilled to have that feature available again.

The last tidbit on the home front is that my teenage “tenant” (my grandson’s half-sister), in addition to mowing the yard, put in nearly five hours today into mowing, trimming, and then removing English ivy from the foundation of my house. She managed to cut down a lot of the overgrowth (grass and weeds) in the backyard, too, though she has more work to do there. I forgot to take photos before she started, but the results are dramatic. I have more chores for her to do this week, as she unfortunately was suspended from school for violating a rule. She’s learning a skill though, so I hope she’s better for this experience.

Soundscape Sessions

I’m going to blur a few lines here since my interests have been quite varied this week. I’m actually blogging very late on Monday because I spent a lot of time listening to an audiobook – I finished listening to What’s Next: A Backstage Pass to The West Wing, Its Cast and Crew, and Its Enduring Legacy of Service. I was listening while delivering for DoorDash yesterday, and a couple of the latter chapters had me crying profusely. I was very keen to finish the book, so I made that a priority today, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Since I’d been making my way through that book again, I also started listening to The Martin Sheen Podcast, and on Friday I was stunned and impressed to hear a couple things he shared in Season One, Episode Four, entitled “Take Action.” The stories share there along with the stories of service from the book are truly inspiring and have me thinking about what I care most about to see where I can step up to be of service. (I’ll share some of those thoughts next week!)

I need to get back to doing my month-end review as well as setting goals for the coming month (how is it that May begins on Friday?!?), so I’ll sign off for now. More to come while I’m away from home next week!

Knit on. 🧶