Kninja Knitter

Here we are at the first of June – how did that happen? There’s just one month remaining in this Year of Projects! I don’t have any finished objects, but plenty of knitting content to share. And with the conclusion of May, and Mental Health Awareness month, I have a few related tidbits to share there as well. But as always, I’m starting with the knitting!

Stitched or Still-in-Progress

Plenty of projects on the needles, working toward finishes – I am sure to complete at least some of them this month, if not all, particularly since I want to finish as much as I can for the Zombie Knitpocalypse MAL!

This scarf test knit has been a tad brain-straining as my math keeps failing me! At one point I thought I was just forty rows away from starting the decreases, but then I measured again and realized my math was way off! I have about 200 rows to go before the decreases. All good – that means I’ll have more yardage to enter (and grams, for other challenges).

The striped tee got lots of attention this week, as the simple garter stitch is super-easy! I finished the left side completely, and I managed to start the right side before bed last night. The variegated yarn is SO pretty!

And the last of my WIPs from last week are the socks I’m knitting for the Supersock World Championship. I’ll be focusing on this project a lot this week since the cut-off for qualifying is Sunday!

Cast-on Conversations

I haven’t started the Camp Loopy project yet, but that should kick off later today. My grandson just helped me cake my yarn, so I’m ready. (He enjoys managing the electric ball winder.) Since I had some “vanilla-sock” activities planned this week, I had to start my next pair. This self-striping yarn pays tribute to All the Doctors in Doctor Who, fifteen different stripes. Between a movie and a football game, I am more than halfway to the gusset increases!

And my other new project is a shawl that uses an interesting increase structure to create a polygonal shape I don’t think I’ve made before. Since it’s more than semicircular, it should sit well on the shoulders. The design lends itself well to a variegated yarn, and this yarn is yummy!

And on the heels of that last project with a peek at a new project bag, I’ll also share the goodie package I received last week from AdoreKnit. With so many projects in the works, I feel like I can never have too many stitch markers and progress keepers. And, since I was adopted by a black cat, I signed up for this set: 2026 Black Cat Chaos. I previously shared the progress keeper teaser I received, and last week the full package arrived. I also bought the optional project bag (sneak peek above). Beginning today, I get twelve days of treats from the lovely folks at AdoreKnit!

Grandson Glimpses

This week I had a couple extra-special nights with the kiddo. On Wednesday night, we went to the car wash and then the grocery store. We watched Moana for a while (he dances and sings to Maui’s “You’re Welcome), and then crashed for the night.

And Thursday night, I had my son drop him off at church after our choir rehearsal because we had our annual season-ending ice cream social, and one of the women in the choir was eager to see him. Of course, he was far more interested in the construction equipment on site! A decent portion of the parking lot is fenced off for the equipment as work continues in expanding our parish facilities. The excavator really had his attention. And the next day, he informed Daddy that “[his] house” was in this photo, lol.

Football Frenzy

The next-biggest event of the week for me was the final home game for the Columbus Aviators. Unfortunately, they lost the game and ended up in last place for the league. Still, the team made a great attempt and kept the game close for most of the time. Frustrating to me was the fact that the Season Ticket Members, invited to participate in a post-game event on the field, were directed to leave the stadium to line up for the event five minutes before the game ended. That meant several hundred people weren’t in the stands to cheer on the team. I stayed as long as I could, just long enough to see the opponent score a touchdown to extend their lead to eight points – not insurmountable in UFL. But then I couldn’t cheer the team on to hopefully score and come back; instead, the visitors scored again with less than two minutes remaining.

It’s the inaugural season – not an ideal one, but there were glimmers of hope. I attended two of their three victories, all at home, and during the post-game event, I got to say hi to a few of my favorite players. Possibly because the game ended in a loss, a number of team members didn’t stick around to meet their biggest fans. (I’d really wanted a photo with Smoke Monday, who has one of the absolute best player names out there!) A number of the key performers were there though, along with some of the coaching staff.

Book Banter

Last week I finished reading/listening to (I mixed Kindle reading and Audible listening here) the Eve Plumb memoir, Happiness Included: Jan Brady and Beyond. I really enjoyed all the stories she shared! In particular, I appreciated details on a number of her acting roles outside of the Brady Bunch – even looked up a YouTube video of the TV commercial she made with Mark Hamill. I also eagerly awaited the story about the episode that was filmed in Ohio at the Kings Island theme park, and I wasn’t disappointed.

I haven’t had a lot of time to spend reading, but I’ve been continuing with The Wedding People by Alison Espach. One of my readers had mentioned not liking or finishing the book, I’m intrigued with what I’ve read so far. There are elements about the main character’s story that struck very familiar chords with me, both from the mental health standpoint and also the life experience position. I’ll leave it at that for now, and I’ll share more once I finish.

On the audiobook scene, I managed to “read” a couple more books. First, I sped through It’s All Too Much by Peter Walsh, a decluttering and organizing expert. While he didn’t give me any new ideas on the topic, I appreciated his perspective on several “cases” he presented. Real world examples provide unique details. I tried listening to the David Spade memoir, A Polaroid Guy in a Snapchat World, but he was much too sophomoric for my taste. Fortunately, I was able to return that book and get back an audiobook credit. Yesterday I also finished Write Your Story by Allison Fallon. This book is quite inspirational and has my mind churning on ideas that may show up here later!

Movie Moments

I’ve had a lot of movies on my wish list lately, but my schedule has made it challenging to get to the theater to see them. I hope that trend reverses now that my schedule is lightening up a bit for the summer. Still, I didn’t wait another week before going to see The Mandalorian and Grogu! In truth, I haven’t watched all of the Disney+ series, but I’ve seen enough to know about the titular characters to be interested. And the big screen makes movies larger than life (literally), and that’s how they’re meant to be seen! The movie was quite fun, and I was very entertained by, surprisingly, a character voiced by famed director Martin Scorsese! Honestly, is there any actor in the upper echelons who hasn’t joined either the Star Wars or Marvel universe? (Rhetorical question, as I know there are a few, lol.)

Random Ramblings

I mentioned Mental Health in my post title – and this is not just in reference to the character in the book I’m reading! I’m a member of Club Makse in the MakseLife community, and the month of May focused on Health and Wellness. The topic was particularly suited since May is also Mental Health Awareness month, but it was nice that the group’s leaders (life coaches and a licensed therapist) were emphatic in stressing the mental side of Health and Wellness.

In recent months, I’ve been looking for ways to improve my mental health. I subscribe to the Calm app on my phone, and I also really enjoy working in the Finch app to track some simple goals as well as making quiet contact with friends.

But the major step I took this past month was to ideally improve both my physical and mental wellness: I took an at-home sleep study test through Daybreak. For many months (almost six?) I’ve gotten notifications from my Apple Watch indicating an elevated number of breathing disturbances as I sleep. I don’t think I’ve had even five days since I got the watch that I wasn’t in the “elevated” range. And potentially related, I’ve been unable to lower my resting heart rate as captured by my Oura ring, even though I’ve taken several steps to address that biometric measure.

Daybreak offers, in addition to the sleep test, an interesting treatment approach for sleep apnea. Granted, part of my brain was super skeptical when I received the test results following two nights using their measurement device. And yet, the data output corresponded with some of the readings from my other devices. Their treatment program uses a device that fits in your mouth – I took impressions and photos of my teeth and sent them off last weekend – and purports to “relieve snoring and sleep apnea by gently moving your lower jaw forward to open your airway without masks, machines or hoses.

Sleep (or lack of it) has a ripple effect on the rest of our day, each day, both mentally and physically. And sleep apnea puts added strain on the heart, which would explain my struggles with my resting heart rate. While I don’t notice some of the symptoms associated with sleep apnea, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist; it could be that I’ve learned to adapt. Regardless, I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of my custom manufactured device so that hopefully I can take another step toward a longer, healthier life.

Knit on. 🧶