Marching (reluctantly?) Into Springtime

Springtime in Ohio is a fickle thing. Snow, wind, sunshine, mild and freezing temperatures, ice and rain... all the confusing weather messages, and the daffodils and crocuses coming up... Oh, and Amazon packages flying through the air! (Seriously, Amazon. If it is small and light, or flat and light, pop it into the mailbox rather than leaving it out in the open like a cardboard kite!) For what it's worth, the package we almost lost was recovered, and the wind continued through the end of the week!

In the beginning, Spring always seems reluctant to make a commitment. It is normal this time of year to see a clear, blue sky with 70°F on Monday (Hey! I can still write Haiku!)...

then light, drizzle-y snow and wind by Wednesday, building and building until power goes out at work on Friday (power was on at home, so that's where I went for the rest of the day)!

Thankfully, we took advantage of the great weather last weekend to spend some time at local playgrounds,

and going out to dinner with family...

and I had projects to keep me busy when indoors was the place to be! Look! A second Leprechaun!

Yes, I am so thankful for yarn friends (Irish and otherwise) and for warm, hand-knit socks! These two pair are finished,

and the third, companion pair (in pink!) is well underway!

Now that it is Saturday once again, and we are one, full week past the worst time change of the year, I think it's safe to say that we are going to make it through just fine. Whew! I think I'll do some knitting to celebrate! 

I hope that you have not blown away yet, and that you have some great things to be thankful for! Can't think of any? It must be time exercise that gratitude muscle. Think harder...I mean, you woke up this morning, so I am thankful for that! Oh, and you found an entertaining blog to read...lol! But seriously, I am glad to see you here. The world would be a little less bright without you in it. Sooo,

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Snowy Spring Saturday

Happy Spring, Northeast Ohio! Isn't it lovely that we woke up to a delicate blanket of SNOW this morning? Lol...

It is actually quite beautiful, with the only real hitch being the annual Easter Egg Hunt at church! Despite the white, the egg hunt went on as planned (mostly) with kiddos clamoring for their eggs indoors, rather than in the grass...and everyone had fun. Super yay!

And knitters everywhere in Northeast Ohio are taking up their needles for some cozy stitching to pass the time without getting muddy and cold. Add in a lovely cup of tea, and this weekend will not turn out half bad!

For me, there is also an upcoming birthday, with some grand toy-knitting planned, which makes for a cozy, knitting weekend indeed! Can you guess what I've got up my knitting sleeve? 

Also, it's just one week until we celebrate Easter, so this week will be busy at work. therefore, I'm going to take whatever down-time I can get this weekend...still relishing in a recently-finished project that will make Taylor Swift fans everywhere smile.

This tiny, cabled, baby cardigan is based on my favorite sweater pattern (available as a pattern generator at knittingfool.com), with the cable and twist elements added in. It took about 4 days to knit in fingering-weight cotton, and it's taking about 2 days to dry after its spa treatment (soak and block). Oh, cotton. You love water so...

So, there are socks on the needles, and surprises for the soon-to-be Birthday Boy (our youngest grandson turns TWO next month), and the weekend has provided the perfect weather for knitting. Are the planets aligned, or what?!? 

Tell me something that is going RIGHT for you today! I hope there's more than one thing, but even if things don't seem to be going your way, I hope you can find one good thing to celebrate on this cozy Saturday.

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Kansas, Part I

Even if one starts the week with knitting and quiet reflection, 

(Test knit. I'll link on my Rav page when I can.) 

 
One can't always foresee a change of direction. 

(Flying from CLE to Granddaughter Central.)

JK, we knew there was travel, but nearly missed our connection! 

("Kansas, she said, is the name of her star...")

Still, travel knitting adds to my handknit sock collection! 

And now we can say that we have visited these lovelies in their new home...

...and their parents...and their new puppy!

It's been a whirlwind (IYKYK) and we are having fun, but there's not a lot of time for blogging. Luckily, there are quiet morning moments for knitting, and since Andi asked for a knitting refresher, I have set her up with some practice...

By the way, the kids are doing ".5 photos" now, and I'm conflicted. These photos are great to show a whole room...

But not super-flattering to the nose and forehead! Oh, Alleigh-girl!

Hahahahaha 🤣 🤣 🤣! 

I hope you're having fun in these last throes of summer. These girls go back to school next Friday (!), and I hope they don't grow too much before we see them in person again! Be watching for a photo dump next week...I just can't help myself. 

(Sun catchers to paint! All the crafts!)

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

Soctober is for Socks!

I kindof wanted to start this post with something about struggling through life, because those posts tend to get more reads...and, what can I say? I like to be popular! But today's post is all knitting, and Socks are the theme, for sure! (FYI, I did fall out of bed last night, so there. There's the drama, and I am fine.)

Socktober is the time of year that knitters knit socks. Socktober also has a more noble purpose (click here to learn about donating socks for the homeless before winter), but this post is about the knitting. I's about my knitting, my sock knitting, to be super-specific. I had a goal to do three pair of socks this month, and I am doing pretty well. I finished a pair for Peanut that I had started at the end of September...

...and I knit a second, smaller pair for Sweet Pea...

These were fun, because I had the girls pick out yarn on their last visit, so I know they will both like the colors! Also, we are planning to visit them in the next couple weeks, so I will bring them and actually be able to see how they fit, for future planning. 

My next pair will be fun because these will be my 2020 Christmas Socks! I try to knit myself a pair of Christmas socks every year now, and I only wear these from Thanksgiving through Christmas...so far, I have 10 pair, and this will be pair number 11. I have three yarns to choose from in my stash:

I already have a pair of Poste Yarn socks in this color (Jollyville), and I think I bought it for a hat/scarf/mitts set...but I can't remember if I had patterns in mind. I do have two skeins of it, so I probably had a plan.

The Destination Yarn is Destination Yarn!!!, and I love all her colors and bases. I especially like this one because it is subtle in its Christmassy-ness. I love how Downtown Holiday Lights captures the dark of the sky and the streets as you drive downtown to see lights in December!

And the Cascade Heritage Wave, in color 513 Holidaze, was an add-on to my Jollyville purchase a year or two ago...and it really is not captivating me today. (FYI-I am not sure when the sock yarn drops at Simply Socks Yarn Co, but there is typically a sizeable, group order at the Annual Knitters' Christmas Party the first weekend in December...bwaaahahaha!)

Anyhoo, I chose the Destination Yarn, and look how pretty it is with my morning coffee today...

...and in the sun while I wind by hand! 

...and all "caked up!" 

And now I am ready to cast on! I have chosen a pattern with a traveling stitch that should show off the colors as they play in the variegated skein, and I am excited to cast on my Prairie Spring socks while I join in some Zombie Knitting Network (ZKN) fun on the internet this afternoon. I'll check in with my progress next week, and maybe some drama to up the readership. Lol!

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

Full of Words!

I am full of words. I love to speak them, I love to hear them, I love to read them, and I love to write them! I also am a fan of spelling and grammar, though I generally keep that to myself on social media, where I die a little every time someone uses the wrong your or there. I just want to bury my face in yarn and hide from the world when that happens. 

But I digress... 

I blog because I love words, and I think it is important to leave something behind. One day, maybe sooner than I think (because you just really never know), I will not be around. I will be in a better place, to be sure, so I am not sad about that. But a vain part of me thinks that perhaps my children and grandchildren might want to know more about what made me tick, and why I knit so much. 

In truth, my words are a lot like my knitting. Everything is woven together with a common thread, and the blog is full of my stories and yarns. Each year, I print a hard copy of the blog, and I tuck it on a shelf. When I am feeling nostalgic, sometimes I'll pull a volume down (I have been blogging since 2007!) rather than searching the online blog...if I am looking for a recipe...or I want to remember exactly when that big event happened...or I just want to look at my own words and photos on the page, in black and white (and stunning technicolor!).

It is interesting to me that the yarn and the knitting and my life are all so intertwined. The things I knit are often in response to events in my life, or the lives of people around me, and sometimes my knitting brings to me great revelations about my life. Whether I am working on a simple and sturdy hat, a delicate lace shawl or an intricately cabled coffee sleeve, there is usually a parallel somewhere. Even this morning, while I was reading my bible, I came across Psalm 139...the one that says (among other things) that I am God's masterpiece, knitted and woven together by Him in my mother's womb! God put all my delicate parts together and he knows me, from the beginning, inside and out...and he gave me all the words! 

And I think a cabled coffee sleeve is impressive!

So, if God did that (knit me together, on purpose, infinitely more complicated than any cabled pattern, and gave me this love of words), is it really vanity that says my words are important to someone? I think not. Rather, God gave me something to say, and he knows if there is someone who needs to hear it, whether friend, family member, or complete stranger. As much as I love words, I do not know who will read what I put here, if they will like what I have to say, or whether anyone will really care to keep those books on the shelf when I am gone. Vanity says, "They will treasure your words, Pretty!" But reality reminds me to write for me, even if no one else ever stops by.

But today YOU stopped by, and I am so glad that you did, because I have a message for you: God knit you together, too! And He has also given you something to say! You may express your message in another way...I know not everyone loves words or wants to blog...but the important part is that you do express it. If you are not sure what your message or purpose is, look around, see what God has to show you through his Word, through nature, through the people around you, and take time to decide who you are and what you love most. When you do, I would love to hear about it!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday...

It's not quite wordless, because...while the blocked sweater requires no words...

I really didn't push the contest very hard last week! So, again, here's that beautiful lace (why do I always forget how magical the blocking is?):

and here's the contest:

Have you knit something you love lately? Tell me about it in the comments, along with your contact info, and I'll enter you in a drawing for a Christmas surprise! (If you have trouble leaving a comment, just shoot me an email at PrettyKnittyJewelry AT yahoo DOT com!) 

Deadline for entries is December 1st, and Good Luck! 

Oh, and there's been a bit of Barbie knitting, too. Gosh!, but she is a clothes horse!

Thanks for stopping by, on behalf of Barbie and me, and Knit in Good Health!

You Don't Have Time?

Knitting is fun, knitting is good - 

If you've never tried knitting, well, I think you should!

Lately, I've seen lots of links to articles, like this one and this one, about the health and mental benefits of knitting. For those of you who keep sharing them on Facebook, thank you. Also, have you not been listening to me and my knitting friends? We've been telling you these things for years, as you have said things like, "I don't want to knit," or "I can't knit," or "I don't have the time to knit." To these latter things, I say, "Phthhhbt!"

You can check out the links to the articles, or not. Either way, this is why I knit:

The yarn:

Colors playing together for the sole purpose of making me happy. I like that.

The stitches:

Sometimes cables...

Sometimes lace...

Sometimes I really have to think about what I'm doing, and sometimes I don't have to think about anything at all...just yarn over needles and drawn through loops until I have something pretty!

Love:

Love for  sweethearts, for children, for grandchildren...all right there, in the tangible form of stitches working together to make something soft and lovely (or fun!). Also, the love of creating runs through my veins, and that love of making something from almost nothing just seems to calm my soul...it is magical! Even during the knitting, before I have a finished sweater, watching the stitches emerge from my needles is simply mesmerizing!

Most of all, knitting calms my mind, heart and soul. The simple repetition, the same as it would have been for my mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, etc., is meditative and helps to short circuit the worry I am so very prone to. After all, who can think about bills, or worry about health, or even fret about housework, when her hands and brain are busy creating beauty? Throw in a couple of very pretty buttons, and it's all good...

So, there you have it. This is why I knit. It's good for me! What are you doing that's good for you?

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health (as soon as you have left your excuses behind)!

It's the little things...

It's the little things in life that make life worthwhile, right? Right. Little things can bring great joy, like a baby sweater and hat for no particular reason, especially if there are owls on the sweater...

...and owls on the hat...

Yes, a little sweater and matching hat bring this knitter great joy, especially if they have been cabled with a trendy owl motif or two!

Little knitting always makes me happy. Just like anyone, I do enjoy the occasional bulky afghan or adult-sized sweater, but mostly I think I love the little knitting. That's the only explanation I have for knitting a second hitchhiker, with tiny lace stitches, currently on my needles:

This pool of lace-weight knitting just makes me happy to look at! As a bonus, the yarn is my own handspun, and a double bonus is that this project is past the half-way point, which is good...because I have been looking for my size 3 needles for a week, for a new project. Guess where my size three needles are? Bing!Bing!Bing! You got it...in my hitchhiker! lolz! I'm doing my level best to get that finished now, so I can cast on another pair of endpaper mitts...those were a fun little knit!

So that's it, in a nutshell, for me. I'm knitting little things, and I am enjoying it very much, thank you! What are you knitting this summer? Big things? Little things? Or maybe things that are "just right"? I'd love to hear about it in your comments! :)

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Here's the Story. . .

Here's the story
Of a bag with cables,
That was knitted for a very Skinny Girl

It was knit of wool, in cream,
And then I dyed it -
And took it for a whirl! After spinning in the washer, it got pinned out -
To block the cables flat as flat could be. . . Then I lined it with some very stripey fabric And added pockets here, you see:
Then I hung it on the door to take some pictures
And the Skinny Girl came 'round to take a look,
And we knew, at once, it might get lonely. . .
Can I make a cabled bag for her books?A Cabled Bag,
A Cabled Bag -
Can I make a Cabled Bag for her books. . .?
Well, says Pretty Knitty, this is the third bag I have knitted from this pattern. Don't get me wrong, I love the pattern, but I have grown a little weary of it for now. . .perhaps I have another bag you can take for your books? You like the everlasting bagstopper?. . .I like the everlasting bagstopper!. . .Oh, well! I can always make another one! lol
In other Knitting Knews this week, I have done another bracelet. . .this one in silver, with multicolor beads. I am going to add these to the shop at some point. . .still researching price, etc. What do you think? On the fashion side of things, I have also finished another pair of socks. (You are probably cheering now. . .it means you won't hear about these again in the next blog. . .I have been going on and on for some time about loving this Knitty pattern and the Destination Yarn!)
With all of that said, I now return you to the regularly scheduled baby knitting, hat knitting, scarf knitting, sweater knitting and holiday knitting that is appropriate for the end of summer! I hope you all are having a good one!
Knit in good health!