The Line Jumper

So this blog post is about a line jumper - a crochet project that jumped the line - a line of perfectly wonderful knitting projects.  

The things I do for a “pretty face!”

But a bit about the line first.

I recently did a mini reorg of the pending knitting projects.  For the last few years, whenever possible I looked at new patterns that match my current yarn inventory rather than purchasing new yarn.  It just seemed the older I got, the more I worried I would never get to knit with some of my wonderful stash.  I am far from perfect at resisting purchases as yarn fairs are always pitfalls for my wallet.  But they have become small pitfalls as I am pretty successful at keeping limits on yarn purchases overall.

The ‘line up’ in question was created when I buddied up a yarn with a pattern and put them in a project bag. I have many such buddied pairs. And that was the problem.   I forgot what projects I have in those  very cute bags.  Many many forgotten projects because I couldn’t see them in the bag.  So I purchased a box of 2 1/2 gallon clear plastic bags at the grocery store, transferred waiting projects into them, and they are now on a shelf where they are totally visible as I enter the room ... all 20+ of them! (Geez, that is crazy.) When they get picked to start,  they then get assigned to one of my many project bags. The project(s) I am working on gets the attention first because it waited its turn in line.

Along comes a pretty face! A line jumper. A granny square design that I thought I would never see except in a blanket.  Granny squares I planned never to make again after the 1970s.  Seriously, how did that happen?

In November my cousin and sister visited.  My cousin was excited about a new project she wanted to do and wear next summer. At first I thought, “cute.”  Then I noticed, oh cotton!!  I have about 40 skeins of wonderful Pima Cotton in vibrant colors - without a buddy.  Could this pattern be the buddy for some of that yarn?  The pattern is call OMA Goodness Top. 

I looked it up on Ravelry.  A cotton lacy looking top over a white shell in summer.  I checked out the tops made by many others. Before you knew it, I pulled out that box of pima cotton hidden in my closet where all the unassigned yarn lives, and we were happily picking colors, mixing and matching, making decisions, etc. etc. etc. And some of that cotton went home with my cousin.  It was fun. It was also a “win-win.” I reduced the stash some and another yarn got a buddy.

I purchased the pattern, and it would have been fine if I stopped there. The cotton and the pattern would have been dropped in a clear plastic bag and taken its place on the shelf with the other “chosen.”  But no!!  Out came the crochet hooks as well, and I was off and running ... or rather crocheting.

Plans rapidly began to form in my mind as I crocheted.  I would bring the neck in some. (My neck is not my best feature.). I’d make the hem fall below my waist. (At 78 showing a little midriff is just not a good look.)  I will limit my color selections to a few:  2 shades of green and maybe 3 other colors - all on a white background.  Green is the theme that will tie the squares together taming the overall busy look a little bit.  Of the finished projects on Ravelry, the ones I liked best had limited colors or a theme.

Here are some the squares that I have completed.

In the flurry of activity caused by this pattern I ignored the little voices of caution.  Do you now have too many WIPS (works in progress)?  More WIPS than five - and little moves forward to completion for me.  No matter.  I will work out it out later to find out.  Of course, if another pretty face passes my way - I may need to re-think that number.

It's a slippery slope.

( Recently another line jumper - or two *sigh* - is making a push for my attention! Geez.  Six or seven WIPS isn’t too many, is it?)

More on that later.

A pretty face!

Still knitting ... slowly, slowly.

Christmas finally cycled around to the end for us as of yesterday.  We host a yearly holiday party for a group of friends my husband has known for decades and who we see for gaming every month.  Yesterday was that gathering.

Our tree will come down today.  Holiday decorating has been minimized with each passing year so putting the decorations away takes very little time.  But getting the boxes back in the storage closet is what takes the time.  I do a “clean sweep” of that closet as part of storing Christmas away.  It is a pretty large walk in closet that by November is no longer “walk in.”  So a yearly clean out after the holiday seems appropriate.

Over the last year and a half my knitting has been minimized as well.  Surgery, doctor appointments, medical tests, physical therapy, normal household maintenance just kept building into a mountain of tasks ending the year with Christmas prep  ... it really socked a hole in available time and energy.  But now we are in the slow season and medical demands are slowing.  Knitting and blogging should pick up speed - I hope! 

As usual the yarn color is not quite right.  But the bead color is perfect and the beads are exactly
the same shade as the yarn in person.

Looking at the possible works in progress I could pick up - this project seemed like a good place to start.  This is yarn from deep deep stash maybe 20 years ago.  I believe it is Plymouth Yarn - super wash worsted weight wool.  I don’t seem to have the paper sleeve, so I am guessing.  And I may have blogged about the project previously.  

  

.

This yarn has a story.  At least 20 years ago I was traveling to Ocean City, Maryland to visit with family. I researched in advance that a yarn store was just north of Ocean City and since I was early arriving at the shore, I had time to swing by the shop.  

The shop was so congested with yarn you could hardly focus on anything.  A bit discouraging.  But this sandy color did catch my eye.  And it was gently variegated in intensity - as the sand at the shore is dark and light in color too.  So I snapped it up and I found perfectly matched beads for it.  I didn’t have a pattern but the yarn just seemed a perfect purchase for this ocean trip.

And a pattern did finally show up a few years ago.  Set Sail Shawl by Erin Johnson.  It is a pretty simple design but its name seemed to fit the theme.  It seemed to say - “Pick me, I am the one for your sandy yarn!”  When I stopped working on it, I had only about 10 inches out of 61 inches in length completed.  When I found it packed away, again it seemed to say “Pick me.  I am the one to help you return to your much loved hobby, because I am simple to do and as you can see my beautiful sandy shading in this pattern.”  Do my yarns talk to me like this?  Not routinely, but it certainly seemed like a knitting command from the knitting gods. 

I have more to tell with another project in the works - and a fun tracking tool I purchased at a fair last November.  This tracking tool seemed also to be just the right thing to keep me focused.

Next Time!

KNEE UPDATE and hopeful a new beginning for 2026

Here I am 4 months out from knee replacement surgery!  I am very very pleased with this out come even if it isn’t a totally symptom free knee at this point.  And I accept the fact that leg exercises - and many other kinds of exercises will be necessary to recover and then maintain for the rest of whatever years are left to me.

Wow - that last statement sounded down.  It isn’t.  Seriously, I am so very grateful to have made it to 78 with all my faculties and now a renewed energy thanks to medical science.  So the statement whatever “years I have left” are just a nod to the reality that I made it to an older age and a desire to make those remaining years as positive and healthy as I possibly can.

Our Christmas was wonderful!!  My family celebrates on Christmas Eve.  That frees up Christmas Day for my daughter-in-law and my son to visit with her family.  And this year my daughter brought a date - a man she has been seeing for almost a year.  It was a full house and it was joyful.  And, of course, there was my grand daughter.  You can’t be too down when it is Christmas and she is around.  I can honestly say that my typical Christmas sadness (due to loosing both parents around the Christmas holiday) never entered my mind the whole evening.  It was wonderful to have such positive memories to replace the old sad ones that previously lingered through this season. 

Now on to 2026!  I am now focused on a few simple desires for this year.

1. I need to return to blogging.  I miss it when I don’t blog.  Blogging reminds me of all the things in my life I am grateful for.  I tend to ignore gratitude when I am not blogging.
2. I need to cluster our medical appointments better.  My husband and I have a lot of those.  I attend all his because he is blind so everything is double for me.  In the past I would limit appointments to one a day.  Doing that ate up our whole month.  Going forward I plan to group appointments into one week of the month.  We will see how that goes, but it is a goal. 
3. I need to focus on my health overall more - not just my legs.  That includes cooking better options and exercising more than just my legs.  Getting into some kind of walking routine will also be a focus.
4. I need to feed my knitting/crochet/weaving part of my life.  And if I make point #3 happen, point #4 will happen too. 

Notice - these are not resolutions or goals.  It is simply what I desire to do. And actually they are what I used to do before my knee became the focus of everything in my life.  Having harnessed the knee pain has made so many other things possible!  A perfect example?  This Christmas I made Christmas cookies!  It has been years since I did that.  Maybe a decade.

And I have so many fiber knitting plans.  That creative spark seemed to die out earlier in 2025 when so much of my life was centered around pain and how to live with it.  I will put together another post on just those plans.  

Other posts are perking in my brain again.  More to come. Promise.

Thanks to those who return time and time again.  I don’t deserve such faithful readers - but I am totally grateful for them

2025 Reading List - Final

At the beginning of 2025 I saw a book list on a blog that I follow - 5 Acres and a Dream.  

This was the first time I encountered a blogger’s book list. Leigh’s 2024 books list was HUGE.  Suddenly I wondered about my own reading/viewing habits.

My list for 2025 was born. I added a number rating to help me remember my impressions of the author’s work without a wordy review. 

A few notes about my reading list.  

• Kindle books: My Kindle is filled with various kinds escapism fiction obtained through Kindle Unlimited.  Kindle Unlimited is offered through Amazon and is a monthly subscription service.  Many of the titles on my Kindle list are only offered in Kindle versions and frequently are independently released by the author.  While this usually results in less proofing and editing, it does provide many exciting hours of enjoyment that would be missed if you limit your reading to only traditional publishing.
• Audible books: My Audible books are a mix of escapism, best sellers, biographies, history, thrillers, etc. 
• Actual books generally are reference books. And this year there are only 2 titles.  (Much to my surprise.)

It is common for me to have 3 books going at one time - one in each type.  I love long stories so finding an author that provides 9 or 10 books following the same characters in a continuing story is great fun for me.  Although I consider my book choices eclectic,  End-of-the-World, apocalypse, EMP, zombie fiction seem to dominate my reading choices.  Escapism is my entertainment.  Improving my brain is a low priority.  😂

Numbers Rating Definitions:

(1) - Awful:  Didn’t finish - sometimes they are so awful that they didn’t even make the list! God forbid someone see a title that was actually trash - and wondered why I thought there was any reason to start reading it.

(2) - Disappointing:  Finished it but will not follow the author.

(3) - Ok: Probably will not follow the author unless the characters grow on me.

(4) - Very good:  Enjoyable. Fun. Informative. Probably will read other books by this author.

(5) - Exceptional.  Can’t wait for the next book.  Will haunt this author’s works going forward

*********** 

THE 2025 LIST

Actual Books 

Thriving Beyond Fifty - Will Harlow Mac, MCSP, Cert. MA - I follow him on his YouTube and he is excellent. 

In the Shadow of Man - Jane Goodall.  In process. 

Audio Books (mostly from Audible.Com)

Glock Grannies: Cozy Mystery, Book 1 - Shannon VanBergen - (2)

Baskets and Beignets: Miss Fortune Mysteries, Book 27 - Jana Deleon  (4)

The Naturalist - Andrew Mayne (1)

Night Watch - Jayne Anne Phillips (1)

The President’s Daughter - James Patterson and Bill Clinton (3)

Conclave - Robert Harris (4)

Wild Storm - Richard Castle (3)

Big Dumb Eyes - Nate Bargatze (3)

Oracle - Andrew Pyper (3-4)

Oracle 2 The Dreamland Murders - Andrew Pyper (4)

Oracle 3 Murder at Grandview - Andrew Pyper (3)

All or Nothing - Michael Wolf - (5)

Crocodile on the Sandbank - Dramatized Adaption - Elizabeth Peters (5)

Dungeon Crawler Carl - Matt Dinniman (4)

Carl’s Doomsday Scenario - Matt Dinniman (3)

Nobody’s Girl - Virginia Roberts Giuffre (*)

107 Days - Kamala Harris ( * )

America Falls - Scott Medbury - In process

Kindle Books (mostly from Kindle Unlimited found on Amazon)

Chaos Gains: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller, Book 5 - Harley Tate - (4)

Chaos Evolves: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller, Book 6 - Harley Tate - (4)

Hope Sparks: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller, Book 7 - Harley Tate - (5)

Hope Stumbles: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller, Book 8 - Harley Tate - (5)

Hope Survives: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival thriller, Book 9 - Harley Tate - (5)

The Lotus Key: An Eden Black Archaeological Thriller, Book 6- Luke Richardson - ( 4 )

Gravewater Lake  - A. M. Strong and Sonya Sargent (3)

Shelter in Place: Frozen Blackout - An EMP Post Apocalypse Prepper, Book 1 - Clay Wise (5)

Off The Grid: Frozen Blackout - An EMP Post Apocalypse Prepper, Book 2 Clay Wise (5)

The Road Ahead: Frozen Blackout - An EMP Post Apocalyptic Prepper, Book 3 Clay Wise (5)

Neighborhood Watch Books 1-10 EE Isherwood (5)

No Small Caper: A Small Town Cozy Mystery - Cynthia Hickman - (4)

Caper Goes Missing: A Small Town Cozy Mystery - Cynthia Hickman - (3)

A Strange Game for Caper: A Small Town Cozy Mystery - Cynthia Hickman - (3)

Capers Dark Adventure: A Small Town Cozy Mystery - Cynthia Hickman (3)

Caper Finds a Clue: A Small Town Cozy Mystery - Cynthia Hickman (3)

Caper Steals Christmas: A Small Town Cozy Mystery - Cynthia Hickman (3)

Broken Bayou - Jennifer Moorhead (4)

Antarctica Station - A. G. Riddle (5)

Deeper Than the Dead - Debra Webb (4)

After the End - 7 Book Series - Sam J Fires (5)

EMP After the Lights: An EMP Post Apocalypse Prepper Survival Thriller - W. Stone (5)

Not Another Zombie Book - D. B. Randelia (3)

Last Mom Standing - Mary Jane Owen (4)

The Tox Shot: The ‘Z’ Word - R. S. Merritt (4)

The Sox Shot: No Rest for the Bitten - R. S Merritt (4)

The Last Patient of the Night - Gary Gerlacher (5)

The Faulty Bloodline - Gary  Gerlacher (5)

Sin City Treachery - Gary Gerlacher - in process

While these lists aren't embarrassingly short, they aren’t as long as I anticipated.  I think that is for 2 reasons: 

1. I stream a lot of stuff on TV.  After dinner when I am settling down in my chair, I stream movies and TV shows on Netflix and Amazon Prime.    I have a list of interesting selections waiting to be viewed on both streaming platforms. I considered keeping another list of titled streamed, but decided against it.  That list would probably be embarrassing as it might be longer than the combination of my reading lists. 🥹 
2. I probably missed a few titles on my book lists.

(*) Two Books were very important to me this year:

• Nobody’s Girl:  The most impactful and memorable book I read this year was Nobody’s Girl by Virginia Roberts Giuffre.  Assigning a number rating to this book seemed wrong. It raised so many emotions.  It was a riveting story and sad at the same time - knowing that in the end her personal history that she fought so hard to overcome finally caught up with her and ended in suicide.  There is no number that captures Virginia Giuffre’s story. But the words “Fearless Truth Teller” does fit! 
• 107 Days:  Needles to say, I was a supporter of the Democratic ticket in the last election  - regardless of who was running.  I thought hearing Kamala’s telling of her experiences as she tried to gain the presidency in an impossibly short time was worth hearing.  I was so very disappointed when she didn’t win.  But I don’t consider this loss hers alone.  The Democratic Party and Joe Bidden had a hand in her loss as well.  She is a warrior and she did the impossible nearly winning in the popular vote.  

I enjoyed creating this list in 2025, but I am pretty sure I won’t keep it up for 2026.  Things that sound interesting to do in January, often loose their luster for me by June.  I am just not that disciplined any more.  This year, 2026, I will turn 79.  That is perilously close to 80, for gosh sakes.  The only thing I am disciplined about any more is my nightly leg exercises - and that is only because I need those 2 appendages to get me from point A to point B unaided and with the least amount of pain!  I was forced to do 'the cane and the walker thing' for about 1 1/2  years, and it was so very depressing.  Now that I am back on my two legs - I intend to stay that way. And staying that way involves keeping strong legs.

Getting back into the blogging habit is something I hope to do in 2026. 

Happy New Year to all.

                                            

Three Steps Forward - Two Steps Back

I saw the surgeon at 2 weeks post surgery, and he was very happy with the knee.  Healing nicely, great extension and great flexion for this stage of healing.  In fact, I am driving!  I got permission to drive just a little 2 weeks after surgery. Unheard of!  But I was off opioids and my knee function was good.  Just shows what state-of-the-art medical technology and surgical procedures as well as a highly skilled surgeon can do.  I am still icing and using Tylenol and walking with a knee sleeve on. In the condo I do walk without any aids mostly.  But when I go out of the condo - even just for the mail. I have the cane with me. Of, course, I am still in PT.  But I am still in awe of the fact that my new right knee is a perfect match to the left knee I was born with. I thank the Mako company for creating the match - and the Mako robot for helping to make a perfect space during surgery to get that new knee “installed."

But my post surgical progress has not been all sun shine and roses! 

With my anemia, my oxygen-carrying blood cell counts and my iron counts have been below normal since my 2023 kidney surgery.  Just before surgery all those counts had greatly improved - some into the normal range.  I was at the best levels in 2 years.  I was stoked!!  Unfortunately with surgery you bleed!  With this surgery, they dipped rather dramatically again.  In fact they dipped lower than I had been for 2 years.  And my body energy made that evident.  That with a UTI I didn’t catch for a few days and lack of sleep from the nerve regeneration pain taking place in my knee at night, I was pretty much a “walking dead” person! 

My surgeon gave me meds for the night time pain - so that got fixed.  The UTI got antibiotics for 5 days so that got fixed. But the bloods counts still dragged on very low so physically I was dragging myself around as well.  Once it was confirmed by the hematologist that my body wasn’t replacing red blood cells after 3 weeks post surgery - they ordered injections of a hormone that will stimulate the production of red blood cells. That is not a forever medicine - just an intervention to give my body a kick start to handle this process on its own.

So I am moving forward, healing and improving.  The world of possibilities is once again ahead of me.

One of those possibilities is knitting.  You would think with all this rest time that I would be knitting, knitting, knitting.  Nope!  It seemed like too much work to even hold the needles and do garter stitch. (Yes, I was that fatigued. I considered breathing my achievement most days during those very fatigued periods.). But that cloud have begun to clear.  Sunday I knitted a row on a shawl.  It was a very long row and it was just garter - but I did it. Today I started planning a second shawl with yarn I got from Stolen Stitches out of Ireland.  I joined a club
call Seasons.  With each season you got a new pattern and the yarn for that pattern. You also got access to the videos that supported you step by step.  I love, love, love this company.  However, below are the pictures and the tale of the summer season pattern and yarn.

So the pattern was a vest that could transition into a shawl.  A rather ingenious design I thought.
I actually was sort of on the fence if I liked this pattern or not.
But it did have nice drape and it isn’t body hugging which I liked. 
So I cast on.

 

The lace pattern itself was pretty.  But I discovered very soon after leaving the garter insert and
getting into the lace section that this pattern was not going to be for me.  I can fix most simple
mistakes in knitting. But I am not good at fixing mistakes when the lace pattern sits
ontop of itself in every single row.  My brain just doesn’t work like that.
So I pulled out the knitting.

Here is the yarn that I chose for this pattern.  It was one of 3 available to me.  
And it is a beautiful yarn - better than the photos show.  And 
I thought initially that it was a better choice for the
pattern than the one the designer chose - as shown in the pictures above.


And the knitting you see above is actually for the pattern in the next picture.

I decided I would do Holden.  This is a pattern I have done before. And when
I wear it I get a lot of compliments.  I planned to do it one more time, only larger.
And I thought this club yarn would be a good choice for the repeat.  

But I was not inspired doing a repeat this time.  I checked my patterns once again.  Rheinlust
was another pattern I wanted to do and it was not a repeat. I think I have settled on
this pattern for that lovely club yarn.

 So with little to no actual knitting accomplished, the planning for my knitting has begun.  I think that is an indication of energy returned - at least I am not focused on just breathing anymore.  And soon I will frog that small knitted piece and cast on this beautiful pattern that has been in my stack of patterns for years - literally years!

So while there have been some steps backwards in the last month - there has been forward movement - and I think I am gaining ground.  

On the other side

So it is done, right knee is replaced, and I am so tired and so sore.  But it is “fixed."  I am healing and started my first rehab appointment ... so I can take the quotes off the word fixed.

Regardless of my limitations during this healing stage, the hospital experience was exceptional.  Mercy Hospital is run by a religious order called the Sisters of Mercy in Baltimore. It is a large city hospital with an excellent reputation. In fact, although I didn’t shop around for a doctor, I landed in the hands of an excellent orthopedic surgeon. When I was asked by 4 others who was doing my surgery (2 of my specialists, my physical therapist and the hospital intake RN)  all said the same thing.  He is a quiet man, one of few words and a very competent and gifted surgeon.  The RN also said he has a pretty large practice in fixing other doctors’ mistakes from around the state. It is an example of an important consideration in where to live - living close to high value and well respected quality health care services is as important as any other consideration - maybe even more so.  

And my favorite memory is that I got to meet Mako, the robot who shared the spotlight with my surgeon.  In 2023 my kidney was removed by a robot partnered with a surgeon.  I wanted to meet that robot as well, but as I was being rolled down the hall to the surgery, the anesthesia staff had already injected something into my IV line.  I never even saw the doors to the surgery suite. But this time was different.  I was rolled into the surgical suite in a wheel chair. There were 4 or 5 staff there - all gowned and masked up.  They all introduced themselves. That was a first for me.  Finally I asked where was Mako.  I want to meet Mako - and at that very same minute they were rolling her (? him ? ? it ? ) in. I got a chance to meet the robot that already had all the measurements of my knee in its memory banks. She knew things about me that I didn’t even know!! She was the guide and the guardian of my surgery.  Yes, in hind site - she had to be a “she.” 

Now I am suffering from expected post-surgical knee pain which, at some point, will subside - unlike the pre-surgical knee pain which only got worst.  The first night I tried to sleep in my bed without success.  Once again, sleeping in my lounger was the best choice - as it was when I had my kidney surgery. I was prescribed the typical opioid meds as well as some suggested over-the-counter ones.  But there are no shortcuts to managing pain in the early healing stages.  While I can’t get to a pain free level, skipping pain meds is also not a good choice.  Earlier this week, I slept through the night without pain - until I moved to visit the bathroom in the morning.  I was reminded quite profoundly by my leg that I had major surgery on this knee and that skipping pain meds is a bad thing.  It hurt like hell! And playing catch up with the meds doesn’t work either.  If you don’t keep to the schedule and take those pills, you learn quickly that skipping any scheduled pain pills is a mistake. My daughter, who noticed my increased pain level (and after consultation with her brother by phone,) reminded me that she hadn’t heard my phone alarm and she was pretty sure I had a missed a pain pill cycle or two over night.  She gently reminded me to set that alarm and take my meds - even over night. Of course I know this!  It is the same advice I give anyone who is having surgery. Apparently I am good a giving advice but not following it. 😂  And now that I am following my own advice - and taking those darn pills, my colon has decided to go on vacation!  *Sigh* You fix one thing and another thing breaks!!  But that is a story for another time ... maybe!  It is just nice to know that my kids are acting like a safety net - and as a team apparently.  (I must be a difficult person to manage 😂😂😂😂😂.  Who knew??)

My first rehab session was yesterday, and all the pre-surgery exercise work I did - exercises done for years to avoid this surgery - paid off after this surgery. Now, after this surgery, I can still extend my leg to almost 0 degrees - or entirely flat to the floor - which is one of the rehab goals.  The second goal is how well you can bend your knee.  I don’t know the “passing grade” for this, but before surgery - laying on the floor - I could bring my heel up to my butt to within an inch or two inches,  even when it was swollen a bit.  That angle of bend is far above the goal standard.  Now my success rate is much reduced.  My bend is a bunch of inches shy of my previous achievement. Of course while some of it is due to surgery swelling, it looks like there is work to do.  But the PT tech was very impressed with how far I can bend my knee (while I, at the very same time looking at the very same knee, was appalled by at how much bend I had lost.) Mind you, both demonstrations were achieved with considerable effort and teeth grinding on my part. (Apparently I am such a competition “junkie.”)  But it appears that I aced that first PT visit.

So I am finally on the right side of this journey and it feels really good!

Getting my swelling down and producing a poop are my next goals!! (Oh my, TMI?? Maybe, but the simplest things are important too.)

Till next time.

A Shorty

 So here I am the day before knee surgery with only a few minutes to share on the blog. 

 I am definitely not nervous - just eager to get this “fix” done and start the recovery, hopefully, also reclaim some of the physical aspects of my life that I have lost.  

My to-do list for today is still too long - so I better get at it!! See you on the “other side”!!!