It's Wonderful

Let's talk about my favorite pattern for kids' sweaters. As you might guess from its name, it's pretty Wonderful! 

Through the years, I've completed 14 Wonderful Wallaby sweaters for grandkids and other kids, and I started number fifteen just last week! 

This pattern is a classic hoodie, and super simple, though it does have a couple of places where the knitting gets tight. Still, I can't help loving the simplicity of a seamless sweater that is easy for kids to wear...and also easy to put on and take off "all by themselves!"

Quick to knit, I've added custom touches to many Wallabies, and looking back through them (and the kiddos wearing them)  makes me so happy! 

The one I'm currently knitting makes me the happiest right now, and it will have many of my favorite custom touches...such as an actual placket (the pattern calls for just a simple split at the neck opening)... 

...pictures and details in duplicate stitch or intarsia, to make each hoodie special...

...and sleeves provosionally cast on so I can knit them down to the same length as the body. (Bonus: sleeves knit top down are easily lengthened later by ripping back cuffs and adding rows!)

Wallabies are certainly wonderful for the flexibility they offer the knitter, and I will keep knitting them as long as I know kids who love hoodies! 

So many things in life are wonderful, just like the Wallaby...and so many things are not. Let's focus on the wonderful when we can. That's my plan, at any rate. I hope you'll join me. 

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health! 

PS-not compensated by Paradise Fibers at all...I just really LOVE this pattern! 

How About a Little Knitting

Pretty Knitty Jewelry started as a craft and knitting blog. As my last few posts have illustrated, it is often more than a craft blog, but knitting is how it all started. Sooo, how about a little knitting in this post?

I'm currently in a KAL (Knit-a-long) with knitting friends far and wide. Actually, I'm in two KALs...one that requires the use of self-striping yarns, with one entry allowed per month to be entered for prize drawings. This will be my next entry:

And the other KAL is an adventure, with 5 categories to choose from each quarter of 2024. It the knitter can complete a project in 3 of the 5 quarters before the quarter's end, the knitter is entered for prizes! As an overachiever, I have already complete 3 projects in the third quarter, as well as casting on a fourth and fifth!

Bulky afghan, housewarming gift.

Rainbow, balloon dog, worsted weight yarn. 

Test knit, fingering weight yarn. 

Wonderful Wallaby, DK-weight yarn.

Breezeway shawl, lace-weight
(and fingering) yarn.

I've also pulled out the spinning wheel again, and I'm working my way through some mystery fiber that was dropped off with the wheel when Jenny loaned it to me. I think it's going well, especially since my main goal is to simply play and get familiar with the process, again. It is very soothing.

There are plans for two more Wallaby sweaters for boys, some pretty things for the girls and a couple sweaters for Pretty...wish me luck with that list! Better than luck, I think a short post might be just the ticket for this knitter today. That'll leave me with more time to knit!

What are you making time to enjoy today? Whatever it is...

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Cheers!, to the last hurrahs of Summer!

Throwback Saturday?

No storms this week! Hooray! Double hooray because I had a semi-outdoor event to attend last night, and rain threatened but did not wash us out. Thanks to Curt and all who came out for an impromptu, semi-reunion of the Brunswick HS Class of 1986!

This was not all of us, but it's almost everyone who attended the meet-up (minus a couple of spouses and a few who graduated a year or two before or after), and we had such a nice time remembering and making new memories.

Here, I'll confess something I told Dan while we were chatting: I almost didn't go, and I very nearly left before I should have. I didn't know too many of the folks who responded to the Facebook invite that came up just three weeks ago, and so I almost let this opportunity to connect with my past pass me by. But I'm so glad that I stepped on that fear and went anyway. 

I graduated with between 500-600 of my best friends...not! There is no way I would have known all of those people, and when I arrived, I only recognized about half of the faces I saw. But it was still a small crowd, so I grabbed a beer and hung around. As I chatted and listened, I confirmed my suspicion that this was not a crowd I hung around with back in high school. But gosh, They were fun! 

There was a slightly awkward moment when the guy next to me leaned in and said quietly, "I think I might've picked on you in school...," but I didn't even remember that, so I told him so. Just like that he was off the hook, and he was wonderful company during the evening!

Later on I was glad to see a friend I thought I'd miss (Patty knew she wouldn't arrive until later, and I wasn't sure how long I'd stay); and I caught up with a friend I didn't expect to see at all! Larry, I still have three drawings you did for me in high school...

It's good to be a grown-up in an adolescent world. It's good to reconnect with people who remember the way it was for us, before this age of technology. It's good to celebrate the fact that we survived our own youthful foibles and flub-ups to become parents and grandparents. It's great to forgive past offenses, known or not, and forge new(-ish) friendships!

Wherever you are in your journey, friends, be sure to celebrate. Celebrate what you can from your past. Celebrate the right now at every opportunity. Celebrate all of the promises our future holds, and pray that we don't become bitter because the "good old days" are gone. Get together with people you have something in common with and make new memories for tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you are well. Drop a comment, if you'd like to say hello. And, if you knit, Knit in Good Health!

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Psst! As long a we're talking about the 80s, and since this is kindof a craft blog, here's a little something I put together for a friend who is moving. It has a real vintage vibe, no? Lolz...

(Note, she is NOT moving to the
mission fields of Malawi!) 

Storms of Life

Hi there, Blog Friends! I am borrowing from something I wrote a little earlier in the week, and I hope you don't mind. We had a pretty big storm around here last Tuesday, and some of my local friends are still waiting for their power to be restored and storm damages to be cleaned up. 

Everyone is ok, and the Pretties have power, but this is still super relevant:

Psalm 34:4 was the first piece of scripture I memorized as an adult. I still carry it with me everywhere, because I tend toward anxiety. Right or wrong, fear seems to be my default. 

The first time I really understood how calming scripture can be was more than several summers ago. My husband and I had 2 small children, and we had just spent a rainy day at Cedar Point. On our way out of the park, in the dark, another storm was rolling in as we drove along the causeway. I felt very small in that minivan, buffeted by rain and wind and unable to see much in the dark. 

Except when the lightning flashed. Each time the sky blazed with light, I could look to the left and to the right at the churning lake, and at the trees bending over their houses along the road in between the waters. Was there a tornado brewing? Would the wind blow us off the road? How were the kids already falling asleep in the back?

Realizing that there was nothing for me to do as my husband drove us calmly through the storm, I started to pray. Then I started to repeat Psalm 34:4: “I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.” And do you know what? He, the God of the storm, delivered me from my fears. 

The storm subsided in time, or we drove out of it, I really don’t remember which. What I do remember is that God delivered me from my FEAR. The storm was secondary. Praise God!

As our community recovers from Tuesday’s storm, I'm finding so much to be thankful for. I spent 20 minutes in my daughter's basement with toddlers, and we were not harmed. That same daughter was driving with one of those boys, just before the storm hit,  and they were not harmed. I know of folks who lost homes in the storm (there were at least 2 tornado touchdowns confirmed in our area), and they were not harmed. So much to be thankful for.

I am most thankful that the boys did not seem anxious during our time in the basement. I desperately don't want to pass my anxiety default onto them. Thank you, Lord, for keeping us calm in the storm!

What kinds of storms have been happening around you this week? Dysfunctional families, financial  hardship, stress at work and much more can make us all fearful and anxious. If you don't yet know the God of the storm, who is able to deliver you from all your fears, I hope you'll take a moment to introduce yourself. Reading the Psalms in the Bible is one good place to start. Talking with me is another! 

(Psst! If you start with a reading plan on the YouVersion Bible app, it'll even read to you! I like to knit and listen sometimes. 🙂)

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health! 

A nice, calm image for your mind. 🙂

Vacation (all I ever wanted 🎶)

C'mon! You know that song! We all sing it while we're getting ready for a relaxing respite from the rigors of reality. While we are prepping and packing for the funtimes ahead, we all plan for the best and wonder how long until we will tire of our families...

Some of us crafters knit (or crochet) to bring some fun with us,

and sometimes the kids love the new things, yay! (Sometimes they could care less, and sometimes they play different than the plan, still fun!)

We arrived at our location on Monday, and scoped out all the spaces for fun, especially Pop Pop's lap!

Everyone figured out where they were they were sleeping pretty quick. (5 bedrooms in this AirBnB, including bunkbeds for brothers and cousins!)

Then it was on to the fun! Sometimes the fun is in having two sets of grandparents on vacation with you...

...and sometimes it's getting the wine opened, even though you couldn't find the corkscrew! 

While we were in Traverse City, we did some window shopping, and some regular shopping...

...and the boys did what boys do while they wait on the girls. The boys held onto the credit cards!

Besides the shopping, there was sightseeing at Sleeping Bear Dunes...

...photo ops...

...playing in the sand, and running up and down so many hills! 

There were even places to climb and shout to Gramma, while your cousin joins you on the ledge and your ever-vigilant Pop Pop keeps you both safe! (Hold 'em tight, Pop Pop!)

(On trips with Grammy and Pappy, I also love knowing that someone else will be taking photos. Photos of photogs are fun, for sure, too! Thanks, Pap!) 

Other fun outings included putt-putt at Pirate's Cove, where everyone played, 

even the booty-dancin' little guy!

Back at the house, there was swimming (no photos of swimming, phones and pools are not a good combo), playtime, and time to just chill with some of our favorite people! 

I even managed some knitting, cranking out 4 cousin Izzys before the end of the trip! The boys love them, so that's a win! 

The cousins had some yarn play, too, making a "blanket" for Grammy! Hahahahaha! 

In between outings, and in the evenings, the boys also enjoyed rocket balloons, parachute games, and more running! 

Of course there were meltdown moments, but there were lots of smiles! 

These final photos, before we all headed home on Friday (back to life, back to reality 🎶), had us all a little sad that vacation was over...

...but Boy!, it was a great week! Thanks to my daughter and her hubby for coordinating it all, 

and thanks to everyone for bringing their best to our vacation! I wish it wasn't over 😪, but I sure did enjoy sleeping in my own bed last night, and I had sweet dreams of the new memories we all made together. It was so good that even the toys were smiling! 

I hope you have had the chance to enjoy some of your favorite people this summer, too! If not, there's still time...and even if it's just a day-trip or stay-cation, I hope you have so much fun!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health! 

Oh! There was 1 by the pool!