Celebrate Good Times, come on!

To kick off the celebration of my favorite guy's birthday (which is today) I met friends at Cedar Point yesterday and let him have some time to himself! (Fair warning to future friends: If you leave early, you will be photoshopped in...perhaps poorly...and it will be hilarious!)

That's right, Sweetie was not there. He's not a big Cedar Point fan, so his gift was that I did not invite him. Because yesterday was his birthday eve, I did kindof ask if he minded that I go right after work. I don't remember his answer, but I wore jeans, good walking shoes, and my fanny pack (with glasses strap inside) ya know, just in case. When Amanda texted that a bunch of friends were going, I was powerless to resist!

I didn't ride much, and took fewer pictures. I'm kindof smacking myself for not taking any night photos, since we closed down the park waiting in line for TT2! But I did take pics in line, 

and I pilferred photos of funpix...

Gosh! My friends are way cooler in these photos than I am...I've got my hands in the air and a full, toothy grin the whole time. I love being on roller coasters!

Oh, and Amanda got this video of that last ride, at 10:37pm! You can't really see us, but it's a pretty cool 11 seconds either way! 

Psst...don't tell my family. I'm not sure they support my coaster habit...but the doc said no restrictions after 3 months, and it's been nearly 6...and I've been doing a little at a time, adding in coasters that don't seem too intense, and staying away from the ones that are most likely to dislodge something...I'm looking at you Blue Streak and Steve! Millie's pretty gentle though...and last week, I didn't ride any coasters at all, but I still had a ton of fun with some of my favorite riders and smilers!

Today has already been a little lower key, spending time with the birthday boy, finally moving my daffodils to their proper place...which you can't see, because the bushes are too big with their summer growth...lol!

Knitting on my next pair of socks and summer decor for my office...

and our grandson's baseball game this afternoon! Is there anything as entertaining as first and second graders playing baseball? 

Photo Cred: Tom Apathy (aka Pappy) Photography 

Later, we may head to one of our favorite, not Cedar Point, parks for a walk. Last week, we saw a great blue heron,

tons of tiny toadlets,

a pretty good sized snapping turtle,

and dozens of ducklings and other birds of many varieties!

I wonder how many of them would have enjoyed this worm for their dinner?

Summer is really shaping up here, and we are certainly celebrating these good times! I hope you are as well.

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Flash of the Stash - Sweet 16!

So here we have it, from the 16th annual (for my knitting group anyway) Woolapalooza, a *Bonus Post* to include the ⚡️Flash of the Stash acquired yesterday! 

More than some years, less than others, and a little more neon than usual. I wanted to get this posted early, so you can be motivated to get out to the Wayne County Fairgrounds yourself...it's still on today! There are vendors you don't want to miss, like Destination Yarn (my crew always heads over to see Jean first)...

...those deep purple, one-of-a-kind skeins are hers, in the luscious DK base,  Souvenir. <drool, but not on the yarn>

And a new favorite for us, A Little Loopy! The neon minis are from Kayla (thanks for introducing us, Alice!), and I see some tiny toys in their future! Also, she is really good at selfies! 

The little dish has MAGNETS EMBEDDED IN THE BOTTOM, too, to hold your needles and clingy stitch markers. Brilliant, Clementine!

Beautiful, self-stripers from Baah Yarn...we spent a LOT of time choosing,  and three of us came home with these same two skeins...lol! One is brights with a black stripe between, and the other is solid amd specled brights! So fun! 

Oh, and I finally found some micro-mini skeins for tiny knitting projects at Cornbread and Honey...now where did I put those 5-0 needles I bought a few years back? 

Gosh! We had fun, as we usually do! Even the drive was fun! 

Now I've got to sign off, because soon I'll be heading out to Cedar Point with the boys! The fun just keeps funnin' this weekend! I hope you're having fun too! 

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit (and Ride!) in Good Health! 

Woolapalooza 2026!

Hey Pretty!

What're you gonna do, now that you've knit three pairs of surprisingly similar socks? 

I'm going to Wooster! 

Lol... that's right! It's time for Woolapalooza at the Wayne County Fairgrounds once again (aka The Great Lakes Fiber Show), and that's where I'll be for a good chunk of the day, with my knitting peeps...a knitted X marks the spot! 

Will I see you there? There's so much fun to be had, so shout out if you see me, and we'll grab a selfy! (Bring an umbrella this year!) Details and stash flash coming to the blog soon! 

Until next time, thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health! 

What Becomes of the Broken-Armed?

Knamma is what my middle grandson calls me, when his tongue is too lazy for the "gr" sound...lol, and I am a knitting knamma! As you (and Taylor Swift) know, knitters gonna knit, knit, knit, knit, knit...and I've been knitting for the grandkids from the beginning. It started with sweaters for their little, baby bodies before it moved into toys, and these three monsters were one of the first toy adventures for the boys' house, in 2019:

Now that the boys have a dog, sometimes toys are caught in battle situations. While I am no Doc McStuffins, when I saw this poor guy's arm last week, my heart broke a little: 

So, as a knitting knamma does, I mustered the troops (actually a small collection of rubber duck nurses), and readied the operating arena and surgical tools...

You may not know this, but this type of prosthetic surgery is typically done with no anesthesia, so it was really no surprise that the patient wanted to try out that new arm before I was even finished with the procedure.

In the end, the hardest part of prosthetic surgery turned out to be matching skin tones. Just like flesh, yellow yarns come in many shades, and even though I got close(-ish?)...we will always be able to see where I mended that broken heart...errr, arm. (The "nurses" seem quite impressed with my work, yay!)

At least toys are easy to fix. I've come across three broken-heart situations in the last 6 months that I'd fix if I could, but there just isn't enough yarn in the world. Instead, I have prayed for the families of two young dads (Tony and Erik) and one young mom (Mandy), terminally ill and/or taken from their families far too soon. Their stories are not mine to tell, and I only knew one of them personally, but I have agonized through my prayers for friends at the pain these losses have brought.

I've also been reminded that this life is full of uncertainty and things that are out of my control. I am glad to know that there is One greater than me who is in control, and I have prayed that He will watch over these families, weaving his love through their broken hearts and surrounding them with the love of family and friends who point to an eternity of hope. 

If you have lost a loved one recently, or too soon, or ever...I pray that you would lean into faith, call on the name of Jesus, and trust that He is enough. The Bible tells me that He has prepared a place for me, and that there will be no more pain or tears in heaven. I lean on this when I have pain and tears on earth, and I remember that answering his call is something I must do daily...hourly even. 

And now, celebrating like it's the end of a major sporting event for those gone to heaven (some far too soon in my mind), I lift my John 3:16 sign and remind you that "God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." 

Physical life is fleeting, but spiritual life can be an eternity of joy. I hope you will reach for that joy in all things, especially if you are feeling broken-hearted today. 

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

A Little Fishy?

Sometimes I plan well for birthdays and other occasions. Other times, I wake up on the morning of the party thinking (with my pointer finger lightly tapping my pursed lips and my eyes searching way up into my own brain), “I know what I can make before 5:30!” I’m not sure where my reality check is during these moments, but it certainly is NOT in my brain, and its failure to provide that check often leaves me scrambling to finish a gift as I walk out the door! Something's fishy there, for sure...

Enter this little shark, knit for a friend who LOVES shark socks, shark movies, shark jokes, shark week, and…well, you get the picture. As I sat on the sofa, the morning of the party that I had agreed to attend at least 7 days earlier, I searched available patterns for sharks on Ravelry, and I found a little one I thought I could finish in time. So, I started to knit…and I finished my shark just before the party, true to form.

Also true to form, I amended the pattern as I went, because I cannot ever leave well enough alone (especially not on a deadline)! As I amended, I realized that this had become a new pattern, so I published it. No testers, no editors, and only one prototype, so be warned. I'm sure it is not a perfect pattern, and I am also sure that you will have something fishy if you follow it...lol. If you would like to give it a try, you can knit a cute, little Teensy Great White of your own. Here's the free pattern on Ravelry: Shark Pattern HERE

Not on Ravelry? It's free to join, and if you make a lot of things with yarn, it's a great way to keep track of them! (Not a sponsor, just a member with roughly 1220 projects logged there since 2007.)

By the way, it was a really fun, shark-themed party last night! Thank you for having a birthday (with Karaoke) Ann...and thanks to Erin, Amanda, Nicole, Marcie, Jill and Jason (otherwise known as "Moms of Grace, and Jason" for the trivia game) for letting me join your table for a super fun evening! (We won! Yeah! Woo! Hoo!) It was so good to see everyone and have fun together!

Thanks also for some extra photos on my phone, Erin, which was left unattended for a bit...lol!

If you have friends, treasure them. If you have yarn, knit fun things. If you're invited to a party, start thinking about what you might knit for the guest of honor...preferably well before you are on your way to the party! Or not, I mean, who am I to judge? There's really nothing fishy about last minute knits...I think we all do it from time to time, and there are far worse things to procrastinate about. After all, I am sure most of us have bigger fish to fry on a day-to-day basis, so don't sweat the small stuff (or the small knits).

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

PS, if your mom is still around, wish her a happy day tomorrow. If she's not, I'm sorry, and I hope that you have fond memories of her to treasure. If you do not, I'm sorry, and I hope your Sunday does not stink. Mine won't because my grown kids have given me this shirt. Yes, I DID do a great job...YOU are both awesome! Wait...something seems fishy about that sentiment...hahahahahahaha...!