Happy 5th of July!

I hope all of my US friends are recovering well from yesterday's fun! What's your favorite part of celebrating summer holidays? Mine is the people and the decorations, which are sometimes combined...

Red, white and blue glitter on Pop Pop (and most everyone, lol!), banners out by the s'mores station and accidentally matching grandmas were a highlight of yesterday's 4th of July fun! Also a highlight: the food! 

Our Jess throws a pretty fun party, and this is her biggest "to do" of the year,  including cousin time, 

Photo cred: Tom Apathy

water balloons, 

splash pad fun,  

corn hole,

and even a piñata, full of fun! 

Even the new puppy had a visiting puppy pal cousin! She was so excited to play, she was "crazy eyes" excited...all. day. long! 

 

It was a warm and wonderful day to enjoy family and friends, and to try and find shelter from those water balloons!, 

There were cool, (relatively) quiet areas for adults to "set a spell," 

and plenty of spaces to try and step away from the crazy for at least a moment...well, unless you're Pop Pop!

Uncle Allen amd Uncle Drew even provided us with some fireworks before the day was over! 

Happy birthday, America! , and I hope everyone had as much fun celebrating yesterday as we did.

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Photo cred: Tom Apathy

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! 

It's Been Everywhere, Man

On March 21st, I mailed a box to my son and granddaughter. There is a birthday gift (it's silly, not valuable) and a Taylor Swift inspired scarf (handknit, priceless) in the box. 

Let's say that the box is headed for somewhere in Kansas...which it still is, by the way. I realize that Kansas is far from Cleveland, and I probably didn't mail it early enough, but the original estimate of arrival was March 25...just 1 day late for the birthday. Oh, well.

Except for the fact that the actual travel itinerary for this box, priority mail and so far, has been Cleveland to Akron; Akron to St Louis, Missouri; St Louis to Kansas City, Kansas; Kansas City to destination? No, Kansas City back to Columbia, then St Louis, MO; St Louis to Hebron, Kentucky (!?What?!); Hebron to St Louis again; St Louis to Kansas City, KS again...and, although the estimate says that the box will be delivered today by 9pm, I am not confident. So, cross you fingers and say a prayer (if you are the praying kind) that the box will, in fact, arrive today.

I guess I have to laugh, although I am frustrated. This is a first for me, and it is more angering to watch it travel back-and-forth in my notifications... But maybe I should just be glad that this scarf has had an adventure? 20 years ago, I would have simply wondered where it had gone...today, I know a part of its story. Yes, it has had quite the adventure!

To keep calm, I have carried on with the knitting (shocker, right?!?), working on some giftie things. A few dish cloths, here and there, and gifts for a soon-to-be birthday boy! 

This guy will be 2 next month, and he loves Brown Bear, Brown Bear...can you start to see the characters in these blocks?

I've knit 4 bases in a week, and there are 9 animals, so I'm going to have to hustle to get them all done, but I think I am up to the task! 

Before I can keep knitting today, I'll need to get the bread and potatoes going for tomorrow's Easter dinner. Dough is currently rising, and I'll cook potatoes as soon as I sign off...

Whether you are observing a holiday or not, I hope that you are able to enjoy some time with family this weekend. I'm looking forward to celebrating that Jesus is alive with my family and church tomorrow! 

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

No Secret Knitting

For the first time in a long time, there has been no secret knitting for Christmas. There was knitting for Christmas, to be sure, but it wasn't a secret. This knitter needed input for cardigans and pullovers, requested by granddaughters who wanted something just so. The hoodie is so far behind schedule, that it has become a birthday gift! (It will also be late for this deadline, but I have sent pics to the nearly-nine-year-old, and she knows how close it is!) Tonight, I am down to the "duck details" on this Psyduck hoodie...wish me luck!

Oh!, and the after-Christmas, rainbow Yoshi is well underway...

The other thing I thought I might tackle in the new year is a closet declutter. There was a group to join on FB, and I joined the parade straightaway, as though I were one of the little people at our grandsons' house...

It sounded like a really good idea, until I got in there and realized that I had just done this last February! 

So, the closet looks pretty good. My apologies. Lol.

The yarn room, could use some work, but I'm not ready for that...still creating the collection in there! Instead of the yarn, we tackled the taking down of all things Christmas over the long weekend. Well, most things Christmas...the gnomes 

and my light-up snowman still stand, but the tree is gone, and we have moved the furniture around a bit. I like it!

But, as with any rearrangement, there are things you find that just aren't necessary anymore. Like this.

This is the bouquet from our wedding. It has survived multiple moves, vicious vacuums, and curious cats through the years...and I could hold onto it for the next 13 years, until our golden anniversary...or I could save myself from my pack-rat tendencies and toss it this year. I think I'll go for the latter. It's dusty, the ribbons are yellowed, and some of the flowers are just...gone. It may be time. 

As sad as it can be to let go of things, the memories these flowers invoke are still strong. Two crazy kids, who barely knew what life was about, diving into the weird adventure that marriage is some 37 years ago. It's been a wild ride...sometimes better, sometimes worse, most times unpredictable...but we are still buckled in, so yay!

So, Happy New Year to you and yours! As you can see, I don't have many resolutions, I wonder if you have? Yes or no, take a moment to say hello in the comments, if you like! 

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

And watch football with your Pop Pop, if you can.