Summer Started with a Finishing Flurry – YOP Week 51

Wow, we’re nearing the end of the Year of Projects, so next week I’ll summarize what I’ve accomplished against what I planned. This past week I made great progress, finishing several projects! Today is the deadline to submit projects in the craft-along for Zombie Knitpocalypse, the knitting conference that starts Wednesday in Rochester, Minnesota, hosted by the Stockinette Zombies podcast. I had some fun activities to kick off summer, but first: knitting!

Stitched or Still-in-Progress

Last week, the pattern I was testing was finally released, just ahead of the Summer Solstice. I’ve seen the design promoted by one online yarn shop, too. What’s nice is this pattern has a lot of flexibility with respect to yarn usage. It’s designed for a main color and ten contrast minis – which could mean leftovers! Or, it would be very easy to knit it with just two colors. I opted for a trio as I had a set of three 100g skeins that coordinate well, and they’re continuing my patriotic theme for the season! I’m sorry the lighting in my photo is less than stellar – we’ve got gloomy weather today. I’m planning to get better glamour shots in a couple weeks.

Pattern: Sunshine on My Shoulders by Lisa K. Ross; yarn: Chicken Coop Dyeworks Foghorn in Singed Red Tomatoes, E Pluribus Unum, and Danube on US4 (3.5mm) needles

Next up is the cute fingering weight hat I started earlier this month, featuring segments of stockinette and reverse stockinette in a slouchy beanie design. I liked using up some of my leftovers from previous projects.

Pattern: PB Sandwich Hat by Shana S. Cohen; yarn: Leading Men Fiber Arts Show Stopper in Don’t Fear the Reaper, and Leading Men Fiber Arts Guest Star in Love Fest on US2 (2.75mm) and US4 (3.5mm) needles – plus a fun knitting tag by Heart & Squirrel

Another project that came together pretty quickly, this shawl grew quickly but each row toward the end felt like it took forever to knit! I had close to two grams left when I was done – not exactly yarn chicken, but there wasn’t enough for another row and bind off. Again, my apologies for the terrible lighting! This one is going to ZK!

Pattern: Simply Riveting Scarf by Megan Williams; yarn: Leading Men Fiber Arts Show Stealer in Hibernation on US6 (4.0mm) and US7 (4.5mm) needles

And my last finished project for the week is the vanilla socks I’ve been working on. I managed to knit basically the entire sock this week since I’d only cast on the toe before I posted last week. Gotta love the matchy-matchy – and with sixteen different stripes!

Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams; yarn: Must Stash Yarn Perfect Must Match in Doctor Who on US1 (2.25mm) needles

The only other project that I worked on this week was the two-color shawl for Camp Loopy. I’m really behind on my progress, but going to a knitting conference means I’ll have a lot of dedicated knitting time to focus. I’ve just reached the 50% mark – with only eight days left to complete it, you can be sure it’ll look very different next week!

Pattern: Lovetta by Ambah O’Brien; yarn: Cascade Heritage in Dahlia and Sleet on US5 (3.75mm)

Grandson Glimpses

The little and I had another grand adventure this week. We made it out to the Columbus Air Show at Rickenbacker Airport (formerly Rickenbacker AFB). The kiddo was super excited, ready to go at 9AM even though we weren’t leaving until about 12:30PM. 🤦‍♀️ This meant that he was ready for a nap at noon, which also meant that he was worn out after about three hours on site.

We still managed to see a lot, and he enjoyed sitting in the cockpits of both a helicopter (UH-60) and a KC-135 Stratotanker (which we called the GIANT airplane!). We also stopped by the Columbus Aviators (UFL team) tent for some swag, and Zayne enjoyed meeting the team mascot, Maverick.

I was most excited about the flight performances, but the munchkin was more interested in the hands-on offerings. While he liked seeing the US Army Golden Knights paratroopers and the initial pass of the USAF Thunderbirds, the show bored him quickly. It didn’t help that he was tired and didn’t care for wearing the noise-canceling headphones I brought for him. He also wanted to use my DSLR camera, and was upset when I told him no. As a result, once the fighter jets landed, we packed up and headed out to my disappointment. I learned my lesson… I’ll be going solo for the next few years, at least until I can give him his own camera to play with while I’m shooting the show. Still, we had a lot of fun, and he was talking all about it the next day, and even this morning. #CoreMemories

Travel Tales

This was a short day-trip, but yesterday I went to Cincinnati with a friend to see the Savannah Bananas play the Indianapolis Clowns in their entertaining version of baseball. This really is a baseball version of the Harlem Globetrotters’ basketball show. We were there early to see the pre-game antics, too.

The Bananas won the game, though the Clowns’ defense wasn’t trying very hard. The whole spectacle is quite the show! Note for next time: ear protection!

Happy birthday to my friend Liz – she’s a baseball fan, making her the perfect companion. Plus, she brought road snacks, some of the birthday brownies she got from our church choir

Movie Moments

I’ll keep this segment brief, but I managed to see a couple new releases last week! Spielberg’s Disclosure Day was incredibly entertaining. While the trailer gives plenty of insight into the plot, the finer details were a delightful reveal. Then I saw Toy Story 5 which was also one I’d recommend highly. I haven’t watched the third or fourth installment in a very long time, but I remembered the characters well enough to enjoy the sprinkling of background folks. And I really appreciate the message of the movie, even if the littles in the theater were a tad much. I also enjoyed the fellow in the audience who laughed out loud at some of the little jokes I enjoyed.

I’ve got a big week ahead, and my car is currently getting a tune up (and a little more) before my long road trip. I should be able to manage some interim check-ins while I’m away – keep an eye out!

Knit on. 🧶