What Are You Celebrating?

It's your weekly check-in from Pretty! How's everybody doing out there? We are hangin' out,  hangin' in and hangin' on around here! As part of our coping with the general chaos, treats were purchased from the ice cream truck just yesterday...

As part of my personal coping, I'm having a Summer Fling (yarn available on pre-order now!) with a Springline Tee in Destination Yarn, and it's coming right along...

I'm also spending time checking out what my friends are up to on social media, so I hope you're all posting your good times! 

Are you climbing trees with your Pop Pop?

Knitting on your patio with friends? 

As I peruse social media, I'm sad to see that there is so little regard for kindness, especially online. For example, I saw this pic posted in a couple places, and I was a little dismayed to discover how sad it made me. Well, the photo didn't make me sad, but some of the hate-filled comments below it certainly did (and I will not repost any of that)...

While I have some issues with the organization that created this collection of images and words, I've always loved a rainbow, and rainbows generally signify positive things to people all along the spectrum...but lately, I've seen the rainbow spurning hate.

Let me be clear: By blogging this pic, I am neither declaring full agreement with all of the words added by gotquestions.org, nor hate for any individual or group. Regardless of your personal stance on God, religion, relationships or reality, rainbows can signify something beautiful. At the very least, a rainbow is a thing of beauty to witness, marvel at and celebrate!

Despite our differences, any rainbow can signify beauty, sacred promises, new beginnings and unconditional love. Can we all agree on that? I hope so! 

Personally, I believe that the rainbow is a reminder of the promise made to Noah, by God...a promise that God will never destroy all of His creation through a similar flood in the future. This is a promise of God's love for all of creation, without exception. He even loves mosquitos! So, if God can love all of creation, and if I profess to love God, then the least I can possibly do is to practice kindness. 

I can be kind in my words (written, spoken and implied), even when I disagree. I can be kind in my actions, and I can be kind in my thoughts. Am I gonna mess up sometimes? I will, but that won't stop me from trying. I'll keep trying, and I hope you will, too.

Hey! I think I see a rainbow! Yay!

I love all the things (and people) on my fridge!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health! 

Coming Up...Purple?

Everything is not exactly coming up purple, but I have much planned knitting that will incorporate purple in the very near future, because guess what??? No, I mean it...really, you guys! 

GUESS WHAT?!?!?

Sweetie got me tickets to see DONNY OSMOND for my birthday!!!

Gahhh! So excited that I am having Deep Purple dreams and planning to knit purple, sparkle socks to celebrate! I may even get myself a purple jumpsuit to wear to the concert (which isn't until July, so maybe a swimsuit instead?)...but first, socks for sure...

 

Then perhaps I'll knit socks for Donny, too! I mean, he was known for his purple socks back in the 70s, so why not now, too? I could not be more excited for this concert, it was a great surprise! Thank you, Sweetie!

Another surprise was this fairly spectacular
travel mug and cake from Jess! Wow!

It was a good birthday, and in other Knitting Knews, the scarf finally arrived at its destination in Kansas! The Girlie loves it, yay!

I am also knitting away on a very involved birthday gift for a cute grandson who will soon be two! Here's a progress shot, 7 of 9 blocks complete, ready for arms, legs, faces, fins and tails...

See the purple block there? That's going to be a cat! The last two blocks are more complicated, involving colorwork and texture, and all nine will be  the animals from Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? I am currently working on the body of the goldfish, then the sheep will be last. Super fun!

After that, PURPLE SOCKS AHOY! 

The other yarn in my "happy mail" photo from Leading Men Fiber Arts (one of my fave dyers!)  is for a Christmas vest or colorwork sweater. I have not decided which yet, but this fairly neutral green, the color is called "The Grouch," is pretty spectacular!

So many possibilities, and the 5-year-old is still asking about the Super Mario Bros.U Deluxe sweater he would like me to knit him next...but first, purple!

Oh, and did I tell you that I'm going to see Donny Osmond in July??? Gah!!!! And super yay!

What's bringing you joy today? Whatever it is, even if it doesn't include purple, I hope you have lots of it in your immediate future!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Get to the Point?

Cedar Point, our local amusement park, was a big part of our plan to wrap up the holiday weekend, and I couldn't be happier about it! I've told you before that it is one of my favorite places to spend a summer day, and last Tuesday was no exception! 

As a bonus,  it looks like I have a new ride buddy! Although the baby was not super impressed with the hot sun and noise of the park (even when grandmothers paired up to take him on the carousel),

and the middle kid only consented to a couple of rides,  

This boy right here? He had the time of his life! 

From waiting in line to going really fast,  he just kept saying,  "This is the best!," and, "Gramma, this is so awesome!," usually followed by,  "Can we do it again?!"

He had fun on all the rides, and I had so much fun joining him on all the round-and-round rides we both could stomach!  Not many pics of that, but here's a shot from one of the little coasters I rode with him 3 or 4 times! 

He put his hands up on his own, I didn't even have the chance to suggest it...and even Pop Pop rode a couple of rides, which was awesome! 

And everyone feel asleep on the ride home, so you know we got the most out of that day! 

Sooo, season passes next summer? Maybe! I think that would be fun,  and hopefully the brothers will learn to love riding, too! Even if they don't, a day at the park is a great time to show of your favorite hats, right boys? 

Right! Maybe a second trip could be in the cards for me and my little buddy, too? Time will tell, and until it does, I'll just keep knitting... because although summer has only just begun, we all know that winter will return eventually! 

Do you have any fun plans this summer? Drop a comment and tell me about them! 

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health! 

Hairy Choices...

Every year, at this time, I start to think about two things:

1. Woolapalooza, Babyyyyy! (Today is the day, friends! Whoop! Whoop!), 

and

2. My Hair. Most girls will tell you that hair is part of who they are. Mrs Maisel has a signature style, and my daughter tells me that I have a signature "swoosh." I suppose she is right...I mean, whether it is long,

short, 

or in between, 

I part it on my left, and Swoosh! There it is! It just falls that way, and most of the time, I really love it. Oh, I do have the occasional bad hair day, same as anyone, 

but by the time I decide to "just chop it all off!," it usually starts to behave again. Yes, I've good good hair, and I know it!

And I like it long, and I like it short, and I tolerate the in between pretty well, so there you have it. But the other day, as I was getting ready to take a shower, I noticed that my next haircut will likely bring a significant change. 

I mean, I know I am going gray, because I am 55...and I have eyes. But this pic just brought it home. Those auburn ends, swooshed and swept up from my shoulders, showing off against the gray on top...they made me think twice about the annual haircut. 

I'll probably get it cut anyway, because summer is coming, and it will grow back...but those ends. They will not grow back, will they?

They will not. And that's ok. Sometimes you just have to cut it off, mourn the loss, and wait to see how it grows...with hair and some other things in life, too. So, yeah, I'll get a haircut soon...and I'll check to see if anything else needs a little pruning. Chances are good that I will NOT prune my yarn stash though, because (see #1 above) today is WOOLAPALOOZA, Babyyyyy!

If you're headed to the Wayne County Fairgrounds for the Great Lakes Fiber Show today, look for me! 

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

So. Much. Hair.

Is It Really Over?

It's the last day of the year, and I'm not sure how to feel. The excitement of Christmas is almost over (we have one final celebration this afternoon), and the tree is put away, so things are right where they should be on the holiday timeline... but I'm feeling a little "blah."

Last weekend brought the excitement of Santa and presents, 

Holiday food and family, 

and we'll have some of that today, too. But the weather warmed up a bit, the sky is crying, and it just feels a little weird to have rain in place of snow for December 31st in Ohio. 

There's still plenty of Christmas decor in the house, which I'll probably tuck away tomorrow, 

and it'll be nice to have the house back to normal...but I think these guys are hoping we'll get at least a bit more snow this winter. To be honest, I'm hoping that too.

When I wake up tomorrow, what will be different? What will 2023 bring? What do I want it to bring? 

I'm still figuring that out, and if you're doing the same, maybe we can figure it out together. My main goals for the next 24 hours are to find some joy, eat something yummy and maybe cast on a selfish knitting project. 

I think I can, 

I think I can, 

I think I can... 

Now, because I probably won't be up until midnight, I'll end the blog here with a Happy New Year to all, and a Knit in Good Health!