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! 

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...!

Ups ⬆️ and Downs ⬇️

This has been a week of ups and downs, but nothing too dramatic. I've finished up a pair of socks, a test for a friend ⬆️. They turned out really well, even if they aren't as snug as I like, but that's because I was a bad tester ⬇️ and ignored the instruction to use fewer stitches! Lol...

I received a lovely gerbera daisy plant the week before spring break, with pink flowers, and it was beautiful! ⬆️ But I forgot to ask anyone to water it while I was gone...and though I'm trying, I'm not sure I can bring it back. ⬇️

I'm starting to feel a little sad that I'll miss my 40th high school reunion this summer ⬇️, but I'm enjoying rifling through the memories as I chat with our Facebook group! The Muse was a literary publication produced each year that I was in high school. I even had a couple of poems published way back when. ⬆️

Finally, the weather here doesn't feel very spring-like today (except for the rain, which all the "experts" agree will bring flowers next month), it's quite chilly and gray. ⬇️ On the other hand,  there are only 14 days until Summer fun at Cedar Point starts! ⬆️

Whatever your ups and downs may have been this week, I hope you are dwelling on the ⬆️s, and making the best of the ⬇️s, because that's the best way to "just keep swimming" through this life...like my little friends at work.

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health! 

Decisions, Decisions...Birthday Edition

Our youngest grandchild will turn 4 very soon, and my daughter has requested a certain character knit for this fine, young Peppa Pig loving kid! I bought a book of patterns online,

went through all my worsted-weight, acrylic yarn

and determined I did not have exactly the right colors for "Candy Cat," so I went shopping...and now I do. 

In fact, I have a nearly completed Candy Cat in my bag right now!

Trouble with that is that the kid may have a new favorite character now. By our best estimation, that would be either Rebecca Rabbit or Pedro Pony. Referencing the photo above, I certainly have the patterns for both...and I may even have the yarn. Of course, there is the distinct possibility that I'll need to go shopping again, which (let's be honest here) is no tragedy for me! But gosh...I do have some yarn here.

Still, if I can't find the right colors, there will be shopping, and decisions! After all, the party is coming, and I do NOT have time to knit ALL of the characters! (After all, I've "wasted" significant portions of my spring break playing with these hooligans...lol!) 

So, it seems that it is time to make a decision! I wonder what I will choose for this kid...?

Whatever the choice, I am sure that the toy will be well loved, and that will be a birthday-edition WIN, so I'll take it! I hope you are also having some wins where you can, and if it's your birthday soon, I hope you have cake!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Improvisation

Sometimes I just can't find the pattern I want, so I start to improvise. I usually start with a good idea of the shapes I need, but sometimes not much more. This week's projects were no exception... any guesses?

What about this one? 

Do you see Peppa's father, Daddy Pig? Lol...not what I was after, but now I have a sudden urge to knit a bunch of pigs...weird. What about now? 

This time, I see the 1970s "Little People" dad from my childhood...but that's not what I'm knitting either. Maybe the first accessory will give a clue...

or the legs, or the hat? C'mon! Take a guess! 

Did you get lucky? 

You did, if you guessed that this would be a lucky leprechaun! 

Ain't he something!?! And, wow!, was he fun to knit! So much fun that I figured I'd try my hand (and needles) at a semi truck that can drive over a plate of cookies next, because...well, maybe I'm just random that way? Random or not, that was the first pic of the post, and I think I have hit the mark!

What will Pretty knit next? Nobody really knows, and anything is possible. You'll just have to pop back to see next Saturday...I can barely wait, myself! 

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health! 

Has Anybody Seen My Pig?

Grandsons, are fun. A bunch of boys also bring more chaos than the girls ever did, tho. Take my pig, for example. This is the last place I've seen him, and that was last Sunday...just after I finished his new sweater.

The boys delight in hiding this pig, and that was super cute when they hid him on top of the toy box, under a bed (with his nose poking out) or in a closet. As they've gotten older, they've also gotten better at hiding (I think Mommy helps sometimes?), and this is good for their brains and provides loads of fun for them. Yay!

But I want my pig back. Im sure he's not as cold and hungry as I imagine, but I miss him.  If you find him, please send him my way? 

In other news, I have managed to find my Christmas socks, 

and I've stashed my regular socks until after Christmas...

There were a couple of casualties in those well-loved, and oft-worn, handknit socks.

I looked at the hole in that sock when it came out of the washer, then I looked at the darning that had already been done...and I saw that it's mate was heading down the same road. 

It was a hard decision, I loved this "Good 'n Plenty" pair (made in 2015), but sometimes it's just time to let them go. Darn! That was a good pair of socks! Heres a pic from when they were new! 

Just about everything looks better when it's new! Just ask these friends, celebrating their first Christmas season. 

But some of the old standby toys are still looking pretty good...remember the Alphabet Soup from 2012? The boys really enjoyed it on their recent sleepover! 

They also enjoyed puzzles

and Magnatiles

and rock climbing at the Y

But mostly they enjoyed hiding my silly pig! Again, if you see Snonk, please send him home. Thanks. 

Happy Saturday, friends. I hope you have all your holiday [pigs...and elves?] in a row, and that December is shaping up into a good month for you! 

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!