This Is What Happens

 When you lose all track of what day of the week it is, you totally don't know what day it is and how far you are behind with the posting.

Welcome to Monday, Memorial Day dear Knitters and here is what's been up at chez PJKnits since Friday.

I've started my mornings out on the front porch enjoying the birds, the breeze, the quiet, my knitting and a cuppa.

And a wandering ball of yarn.

I added a square to the scrappy blanket rounding out the last of squares for May, and started another just for fun. 

Watched the Indy 500, which is my go to custom every last Sunday in May since I was like in junior high.

And cleaned out the last of the Tall Guy's drawers, along with cleaning another cabinet out.  The rest of today is going to be knitting, watching baseball and podcasts.

Tomorrow is another day and it will be Tuesday.

The Unofficial Start

 To Summer, are you ready?

Finally, we have sunshine!  And there will be more knitting  on the porch!

The Epic Shawl Is Reborn

 As I talked about in yesterday on my You Tube podcast (yes, I am still calling it podcast), I am a bit bored with my stockinette projects.

Sometimes, you just need silence to listen to the rain and the birds, the quiet of an afternoon, or dark of night.
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I was reminded of a project that I started last year about this time, before everything turned to crap.
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An epic lace project that friends, Denise from Lost City Knits , dear sweet Holly,  Linda and I embarked on.
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But, I put it aside, until now, when an aha moment hit, pull it out when you just want something different to knit on.
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I am loving knitting on it just a few rows today as I listen to the rain and have a cuppa, before jumping into the day.
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My Epic Lace Project is reborn!

And Summer of Shawls is coming next month as well.

Episode 76 So Many Blessings

is up on the pjknits channel of You Tube and you can find it by clicking here

Thanks for sticking with me!💙

What's Up Wednesday?

 I'm going to podcast this week, so I have been doing a little prepping for it. And since it is just me, my Miss Manny can take up residency wherever she wants to.

It's also WIP Wednesday, and this week, I have been concentrating on just a few WIPS, can't wait to tell you about my strategy for WIPs on the podcast.

Happy Wednesday Everyone?  How did it get to be Wednesday?  

I Did Another Thing Yesterday

 I haven't made pancakes in like over 40 years, and then I can't recall if I even did it then successfully.

That was always the Tall Guy's forte, the cooking.

He would make a supply of them and freeze them for me, so all I had to do was pop them in the microwave when I wanted one.

Mine were edible, a little tough, not nearly as fluffy as his were.

Guess I will just have to keep practicing.

We just won't tell anyone that while pouring my creamer into my coffee cup yesterday morning, that I inadvertently started to pour it into the batter.  

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It's Growing

It is Scrappy Sunday and my blanket is growing...this is in comparison to our couch---

 I am working on length for 2022 for each Sunday.

When asked how much larger will I get?  

I've got a lot of scraps and a lot of length to go, so it may go on for several years more.

How about you?  Do you have a scrappy blanket in the works?

Knitting on the Porch

We always loved sitting on the porch, early in the mornings, listening to the birds, having coffee and just listening to the quiet. 

Part of the blessing box that my Tuesday knitting friends gave me a book of devotions especially for my mornings on the porch and this saying on a box that hits it right on.

I sat yesterday out there with my coffee and needed to wrap up in my Half and Half Triangle Wrap.  Early mornings are like that.

Knock Outs

All of a sudden, my complaints of no Spring have went by the wayside.

One of my knockout rose bushes is blooming like crazy.

The Tall Guy planted this bush two years go, and when it did so well last year, he planted another one.  

It's a bit slow to bloom, but I am confident that it will be producing some openings very soon.

It may be time to start feeding the bushes, I am sure the Tall Guy has some food out in the garage, and I'll investigate that another day.

In the meantime, Knit On!

The True Meaning of Scrappy

 Today's post is really quite scrappy.  I am trying to navigate being truly alone today.  I am trying very hard not to think of what tomorrow brings or what I was doing a week ago, this very day.  Regrets of things I would have said or did, if only I had known.

But, life is full of regrets, so all I can do for today is blog about a couple of things knitting related from the last week or so.

First of all, my dear knitting friends from the Tuesday Knitters gave me a blessing box a week ago Saturday.  All sorts of wonderful things to help me what we then thought would be a few months. 

These ladies are amazing and they have been by my side for the last nine months, encouraging me, zooming, and all kinds of moral support when I needed it.

Last Sunday, I meant to post the square for scrappy Sunday, but the kids were here and after, I just didn't get it done.

And this morning, very early, I knit today's square for the blanket.

I hope you dear Knitters are having a nice Sunday!  I'm waiting for the rain here at Chez PJKnits, but it is already cooling down and I have turned the air off, hoping that Spring is returning and Summer is holding off.

Sad News

 My heart is broken. 💔

On Monday, the love of my life for over 46 years passed away after battling cancer the last 9 months. He was a quiet man who loved to cook, a very proud Dad to his sons, and a grandpa who could not wait to see what his grandkids developed into.

He was my Tall Guy and I cannot imagine our home without him.

I'll be back soon...

This Yarn Was Just Waiting

 For the perfect Summer Sweater - 

I am using Stitch Together’s Smooth Sock in Blue Christmas.

And once I get past the neck, I will definitely be doing helical knitting for my body. I am so glad I pulled all of the skeins out and photographed them, otherwise I may have never noticed that one is definitely different.

Do you have a yarn in mind that is just waiting for a Summer sweater?

Swatching for The Lovely Tee

I know I know, Linda P, swatches lie....

But, I'm sometimes a rule follower, and I almost always swatch.

For my Lovely Tee, I swatched on my new Chiagoo Shortie needles, casting on 80 stitches. I started out with less, but could not get around easily so I upped it to 80 sts.

Unblocked my gauge was almost 7 stitches per inch and blocked (yes, I block it too, so I can get a close thought as to how it is going to react after blocking and/or future washings.)

Blocked, it was about 6 1/2 stitches per inch, so deducing and using Cheryl’s theory, I am going with a size 6 for the body.
Pattern gauge has it at 6 stitches per inch.

I am using a method that Cheryl Oberle once told me about for a 30 stitch swatch, deducing what needle size to use when the first try doesn't work.  I have used it in the past with somewhat decent results, and thought for the purpose of this KAL, I would give it a try and share my findings.

Here is the link that Cheryl Oberle posted some years back, if you want to check it out.

Cheryl Oberle's 30 Stitch Swatch 

Stay tuned.

Grab

 Grab a project bag

Grab a pretty yarn from your local yarn shop or your personal yarn shop

Grab a pattern (The Lovely Tee by Kimberly McAlindin)

Grab a super cool stitch marker

And join fellow knitting friend Peggy and myself for a virtual Knit Along 

We would love to have you join us!  Cast on this week.  Don't forget to swatch!

It's May Day!

 I so remember May Days back when I was in grade school!  It was always sunny, and the Spring flowers were blooming as I would walk home from school with my May Day basket we would have made at school and filled with paper flowers we had made as an art project.

No flowers or May Day baskets today, but there is another scrappy square on my blanket for Scrappy Sunday. 

I am finding that lately I want to knit more than one square after I finish the weekly square.  And the Tall Guy keeps asking me if it is done yet and how many more I have to go.  Which I reply, there is lots more to go.