Finally Finished

I cannot believe it!  Yesterday, was my last day of work.  After over 26 years of working at the College and 47 years of working total, I am retired!  My office was so empty that there was an echo in it without all my stuff.

With Covid, there were not a whole lot of staff in the building, so it made it easier to leave, but I still got some pretty nice parting gifts from my assistant and co-workers on Thursday, along with ice cream for the last afternoon break.

My son and daughter-in-law, also brought some things over.  Do you sense a theme here?

And when I got home yesterday, my dear Knit Wit Sisters had this beauty waiting for me.

It really has sunk in yet, but I imagine tomorrow night, it will start, when I can say, I don't have to work on Monday, or Tuesday or well, you know ever.


I have a list of things I want to start doing and am looking forward to each and every day.

This is the life, now isn't it!!

Peony Season

It's the unofficial start to Summer with Memorial Day weekend.

In normal times, I would be kicking back and starting today with the watching of the Indy 500 and then switching over to the Cardinals game.  But, this year, it is not like any other year, and we will just have to deal with it.

At least the weather is being nice today, we were scheduled for rain for all weekend and into the next week, but for now, it is sunny and blue outside and finally the peonies are coming out.

Peonies bring back such great memories for me, from the Tall Guy's Norwegian Grandma's pronunciation of their names to the nice row of peonies that our old neighbor had at our old house.  What I really like about them is that there really is nothing you have to do to them, they come back every year despite being ignored for most of the rest of the year.

Whatever your weekend looks like, I hope there is some sunshine in it!

Friday Fun

It's the weekend, and have a fun way to start it out for you dear Readers.

In Peoria, our museum has two very huge figures outside towards the river.  Last year, Abe Lincoln was the figure with a particularly fetching cabled sweater on.  This year is this couple, which I don't know what the names are, but I get a kick out of his face attire during the pandemic, but not the woman.

To kick off the weekend, after sitting at my computer all day, it was time for some porch knitting and a cocktail.  Right now, I am just knitting on My Boy Lollipop, when I am knitting on the porch.

Most of my time, when not on the porch is trying to finish Shadows in the Rain.  I am hoping to finish it this weekend, because as much as I like it, I am really ready to move on in my knitting to something else.

What I am really liking right now, is the last group of colors that will be used for the wrap, a hot pink and turquoise, and this slip stitch, well, let us just say, it is a load of fun to work, and I can see using this for something else, hmmm.

I hope you all have a great weekend, and having some fun, even if we are still staying close to home.

Stay safe!

Wednesday Website

I cannot believe how quickly Wednesday has gotten here.  Truth be told, Thursday is my favorite day, because that means we are one step closer to the weekend, but Wednesday is fast becoming a favorite, because we are one day closer to Thursday, which means Zoom with the Peoria Knit Wits and Wine!

But, dear readers you are not here to hear about which day of the week I like the best, you want to know about a cool website that is out there, am I right?!

This week's website is Schoolhouse Press.        https://www.schoolhousepress.com                                                                    Schoolhouse Press is the baby of Elizabeth Zimmermann and which has passed onto Meg Swansen and her family.  Frequent readers know very well, I am worship the hands of Elizabeth.  I first stumbled upon her PBS show, Knitting Workshop, more than 30 years ago.  I remember once I found her show, the next week, I started taping it on our VCR.  It was amazing and now that the shows have been onto DVDs, I can enjoy her over and over.  https://www.schoolhousepress.com/video/knitting-workshop-dvd.html

One of my favorite yarns at Schoolhouse Press is Unspun Icelandic.  It is like pencil roving, so you have to be very careful when you knit with it, you cannot just yank at it, or you will find you spit splicing it.

When I first learned about Unspun Icelandic, there were a lot of basic colors in it, not too many bright colors. A few years later,  a whole bunch of brights stumbled into Schoolhouse Press and, of course, I had to buy one of each.  Let me tell you a secret, I still have this stack and am waiting for just the right project.  But, isn't it so bright and cheery right now?!

I have knit a few things out of Unspun Icelandic, but one of my faves is one of the first projects I knit with it, the Pelerine.  I knit it out of exactly the same colors that the sample was knit out of.  It has sat on the back of my chair at work for several years.  It is the perfect throw on when ever it was a bit chilly in my office and has served me well.

And I knit the iconic Rib Warmer, by Elizabeth.  This one I have to admit back in 2007, took me a bit to get the hang of EZ's pattern writing style, but I was pleased with it when I finished it.  It truly warmed my ribs.

Unspun Icelandic may not be for everyone, but I can vouch that it softens up and is so super warm that you can knit several strands together and can wear it out in the Winter time.  I have several buns in my personal yarn shop upstairs and have some plans for sweaters later this year.  If you have never seen a bun of Unspun Icelandic and it is a treat to see Meg open one up.  You have to check the video out here with Meg https://www.schoolhousepress.com/wool/unspun-icelandic/unspun.html

In 1996, I attended my first Knitting Camp over 4th of July weekend with Meg Swansen.  I went all by myself without a clue to what I was getting myself into.  I came home from the experience with lots of woolly wool and so filled with all kinds of possibilities.

 It would be several years before I could go back, but met up with other ladies about an hour away and ventured up again for another knitting camp.  It was during this camp, that I remember sitting on my bed, and telling my new friend, Julie, that it finally hit me, that with EPS, I truly could knit any sweater I wanted.

Again, it was a few years later, that I started going back every year to 2.75, making the trip with Char, who has since passed away and Linda, who to this day makes the trip with me every year.  We go to camp, full of expectations and coming home with so many great new ideas for our knitting and vowing to wow everyone the following year with our show and tell.  The weekend in July always goes so fast, and we love seeing friends every year that we keep in touch with through out the year.  It is a family reunion with family you want to spend time with...I didn't come up with that saying, someone else did, but it is so true.  These are the best of the best knitters and their knits are unbelievable and always adding to my queue of knits and new yarns to explore.

Unfortunately, this year, Knitting Camp has been cancelled due to this pesky Covid 19, and both Linda and I are sad beyond belief that we won't be able to meet up with our knitting besties and spend time with them eating, knitting in the living room, sharing projects and new techniques, getting expert advice and the best hugs ever from Meg.

But, we know and hope that we will all meet again next year, which surely will mean a turn around for us all.  In the mean time, we will

Happy Mother's Day

The Mailman Cometh

I love a good mail day, but seriously, I need to do something about that mailbox, it needs a good cleaning.  This Saturday, I wanted to share this week's mail.

These weeks of quarantine/stay at home have me looking at a lot of Instagram posts and friends have been suggesting all kinds of products.  Since I have not been out shopping at all, I have done my best to keep the economy going and want to share with you my finds.

My friend, Brenda, recommended these products, for gel polish.  I have never done gel, but I am willing to give it a try.

The color is my idea.

The Wool and Cookies podcast showed this book, and found it second hand in almost new condition. Thought it would be fun to see how it is done, and so far I have learned a bit about the coffee bean itself.

loritimesfive on Instagram recommended this author and it looks like a good feel good book to read at this time.

And to support Maryland Sheep and Wool, last weekend, I got my hands on a Madderroot bag.  It was on my list when I thought we would be actually going to the festival, so I was pleased to not only get one, but support one of the vendors that would have been there.

Hope your mailbox is bringing you some fun goodies this week?

Friday Finds

A week or so ago, I got some DK yarn from Chelsea Yarns in New Jersey.  I follow her shop on Instagram and before Covid, watched her You Tube podcast.  She and Miriam are a hoot, and I encourage to watch the old ones until they can podcast again.  The You Tube podcast is Chelsea Purls.

Anyway, I have wanted to use her yarn for a bit, and I have had a couple of Spring Sweaters that call for DK.  DK it would seem is a pretty hot weight of a yarn right now, and with the exception of a couple of shawl quantities, I don't have a whole lot of DK in my stash.

Well, maybe I do, but not a lot -- don't judge.

Last Summer on a whim, I purchased the pattern My Boy Lollipop.  It was hot then, but I really didn't have any yarn that I could use for it, so I put it in the folder for this Spring and Summer.  When I saw this color way in Chelsea Luxe, it spoke to me and I ordered it for this sweater.

Interestingly enough, after I got to looking at it, I realized that this is a negative ease sweater and cropped.  Two things this body should never wear again.  Upside, I have this yellow jacket that more times than not, I will wear over it, hence the color way I picked up with subtle yellow blips in it.

So, as a knitter can do, I am making some mods to mine, not negative ease and not cropped.  The neck is an interesting construction and a bit wider than I normally do, so I am hoping I have not made a mistake and should have went with  a smaller neck.

I am enjoying the knitting on this sweater  and it is a mindless knit for conference call meetings and Knitting Zooms.

I am hoping that you all are knitting something totally fun this weekend!

Its The Little Things

Woot Woot! My local Starbucks is open now until 4 pm!  I've missed them.

And so this afternoon, I took my lunch break from remote working and got me a big one!  It was fantastic.

Now, tonight I getting ready for Knit Nite with the Peoria Knit Wits via zoom.

And knitting on 6 inches of linen stitch in two colors. Can I just say, linen stitch takes forever!

Maybe wine isn't the best with linen stitch, I may need to knit on something else.

Happy Thursday!!

There Is Nothing Like

sitting on the porch with my knitting

It is a beautiful day after a couple of days of rain and clouds in Central Illinois, although, it is a little chilly,

I've got my porch knitting bag, which hangs over my rocker, just right

A cuppa

A blue sky and trees with leaves to look at 

And some nice green grass, which the Tall Guy just cut.

Ahh, it was nice to just sit out and enjoy a bit of break before heading back into the house, to work remotely on this beautiful Wednesday.

Hope your day is as pretty as mine is today.  Stay well!

Tacos and Margaritas Day

Finally Finished Friday

This past month, I have been into  finishing things.  A couple have been in various states of in progress and one started and restarted.

They have been in sort of time out, because two of them needed to be sewn together, and for me, at least, I have to work up to the whole sewing up thingy.  I really like a good top down or bottom up in the round sweater, with a minimum of sewing up.

But, I figured it was time, and to stop procrastinating with the mattress stitch thing.  Do I love it more now? Nope, but c'est la vie!

Ouzo by Thea Colman - I bought the yarn in 2018 at Stitches Midwest from the Magpie Fibers booth.  I knew from the get go, that I wanted to use the yarn called for in the pattern.  For the most part, I don't really do that, usually subbing the yarn.

For this knit, I chose Solstice DK, in the Bootcut color way.  I thought it would be perfect for blue jeans and it is.

The highlight of this knit is the back with the lace at the top.  It was a pretty simple knit lace pattern, and I quite enjoyed it.

The pockets were intended to be patch pockets, but Susan Rainey knit it and shared her technique for the pockets in both her blog and on Ravelry, and I jumped on her band wagon and did the same for my pockets.

I am love loving wearing this piece right now, even if casual Fridays means jammies. LOL.

Second on the finishing block, was the Claire Poncho.  I bought the yarn, a cotton yarn, Cozette 2, in Naples a couple years back when I was visiting our dear friend.  I planned on wearing it last year over sundresses, but, did not get very far on the needles, so I ripped it back and started again this year so I could use as it points for the ZK KAL we are doing.

Another pattern with lace, but the chart was easy enough to knit on while zooming, as after the beginning and until the end border of lace, it was all stockinette, with a simple lace edge.  I totally enjoyed this knit, and it was another that required a bit of mattress stitch, but I motored through it, and now, it is ready for this Summer and sundresses.

And finally, Dotted Rays by Stephen West

The yarn is La Bien Aimee that I bought for myself directly from the dyer in Paris for my birthday last year.  I love the yellow and the gray mixes and yes, if you look really close, the first color way, Drea, has my signature turquoise in it.

This is a big shawl, but I am going to get a lot of wear out of it and of course, bought a LOGO top to match it!

This is a big shawl, but I am going to get a lot of wear out of it, and of course, I bought a LOGO top to match it.

It feels good to have some finished projects, but now, what's next?  I am itching to keep the finishing going!  Knit On!