Back Again

 Back again ... as promised.

The lull in our health “adventures” seems to be holding.  The carnival game of “Whack-A-Mole” - (where you have a rubber hammer and you whack down a wooden mole who keeps poking his head up through the holes in a flat board) - that “life game” we have stopped playing for now.  Modern medicine - while it cannot cure our ailments - it has provided scientific measures and medicines that are keeping us - most importantly - my husband, well for now.  

One non-medicinal coping mechanism I used was knitting - a sort of escape hatch.  This knitting  time was different from other stressed filled periods in my life, because I didn’t drift away from knitting like in the past.  Rather than stop knitting, I  doubled down into it. I also did a lot of stash management.  I performed another sweep through my stash to donate some yarn to the local thrift store.  My sorting criteria was - will I be disappointed if I never get to knit with this yarn - rather than - do I love it.  Through my 70s the years are pressing me to discard stuff that just adds weight to my life.  I also gave in to purchasing many new patterns and yarns - probably more yarn purchases than yarn donations (*sigh).  I really didn’t have to buy yarn, but it did give me the opportunity to explore other yarns I have never used.  I also spent time getting my Ravelry account current - no pictures of knitted projects, but all other areas are up to date. Now when I look at Ravelry patterns, Ravelry automatically pairs up items from my current stash that others used for this same project. This is a time saving feature.  If a project has a 1,000 finished objects, I can be connected quickly with only those projects that used yarn I have in stash.  That pairing of stash to patterns is a remarkable Ravelry feature I previously ignored because my stash inventory was so wrong. 

Actual knitting, however, was limited to just one project - and I am still working on it.  Last winter I started a project called Stockinette Tee by Svetlana Volkova.  

 

It is probably the first close-to-the-skin project I have ever done - not counting socks.  I’ve done shawls and sweaters that are worn over other clothing, toys and blankets. But in over 30 years of knitting, I never knit a garment called a tee or a blouse. What I discovered is that close-to-the-skin garments are a little more demanding when it comes to fit and gauge. 

My first yarn choice for the Stockinette Tee was from stash and it was the blend of 2 yarns to obtain a worsted gauge.  One yarn was a fingering weight called Silk Road by Kiparoo Farms - a blend of silk and wool - that was soft and drapey (top left).  The second yarn was a lace weight by Unplanned Peacock called Whisper Lace - a blend of Alpaca, silk, and cashmere. (right) This combination (bottom left - biggest ball) was not only exceedingly soft but the colors of the Silk Road (the multi-shaded one - top left) were muted somewhat in the fabric it produced - reducing any pooling concerns.

All the edges are rolling.

I started that darn Stockinette Tee about 5 times.  It is a top down garment that begins from the very first row at the neck with stockinette - actually one of the features of this tee that I thought was very nice.  As any knitter knows, however, stockinette curls.  I falsely assumed it wouldn’t curl because the designer's picture shows no curl.  She would explain how she did that, and all would be well!  But after looking at the pictures others took - I suspected my assumption was wrong.   Almost everyone’s curled. I didn’t like the look.  One knitter gave the pattern poor marks for not explaining how to achieve a cast on that didn’t curl.    I almost abandoned the pattern before it had reach row 5.  At some point I switched to my own version of a neck line (a hem neck) that was acceptable.  

I reached second major hurtle with this tee.  I got past the arm holes and joining the body, but then decided that the arm holes were not big enough.  I extended the arm holes by another inch - risking the chance I might run out of yarn for the sleeves.  If it didn’t fit, I wouldn’t wear it so I extended it.  I closed up the arm holes and barreled my way down the sweater with simple stockinette. At some point I stopped and tried it on.  Crazy, but the sweater was now too big.  Part of the problem was that although I got stitch gauge, I didn’t get row gauge - which never mattered in other projects I did because I would just extend the pattern to where I wanted it.  In this pattern, row gauge is important. 

Frustrating.

I went onto Ravelry and checked the yarn the designer used.  Drops Air - found it was an inexpensive option - purchased that yarn (because you know I was in a buying mood) - and cast that on.  

BIG DIFFERENCE!  No, the Drops Air was not as pretty as my Silk Road blend but the gauge was spot on and it seemed to settle comfortably into the pattern.  It also is knitting up faster because the row gauge is bigger.  I decided that the raglan sections would start at the very top of the neck and the non-raglan sections would be garter.  It is sort of like a very wide rib.  Once it is blocked, if it looks better than the picture it will stay.  Otherwise if will get folded down and sewn in place. 

I still haven’t made up my mind if I like this Drops Air fabric, but it is a very warm, very light weight option - good for the winter.  I will finished the Drops Air tee, block it and then see how it fits.  If I decide it isn’t for me, I will donate the finish object, and consider it a learning exercise.

And the Silk Road blend?? I ripped it all out recovering all that lovely yarn, and it is now in a ball (the big ball in the top picture.)  And I think I found the perfect pattern for it - and I will cast that one on soon.  Pictures to follow on that in the next post.

So what have I learned from this 7 months of knitting focused on only 1 pattern?  

• Check row guage.  In fitted garments it makes a difference.
• Don’t force a beautiful yarn into a project just because you want to use both together.  After I balled up the Silk Road I felt relieved that I hadn’t wasted this wonderful yarn on a project that didn’t seem to fit it well.
• The Silk Road yarn is just gorgeous in person.  It requires the simplest of patterns - just something that will allow the yarn to take center stage and shine all my itself.  And since the dyer of that yarn has died this past winter, all her yarn (of which I have other colors) has now become very precious.
• And finally, but most impactfully - my body is not as slender as the model’s body.  This little truth trips me up all the time. :-)  What looks good on a slender person (who could probably wear a potato sack and look smashing) doesn’t always look good on an elderly round body.  

I’ll post the finished Drops Air version of the pattern when it is blocked.  

That is about all I have a present.  What I am really hoping is that as I re-learn all the stuff I used to know (and now seem to have forgotten), future projects won’t take me a year to complete.  Seriously, I can't believe how long this is taking ... and I have sooooo so many projects and yarn lined up waiting to be started!!

Solid Progress - short update!

Without sounding too confident, I think things are settling out in our lives and especially in my husband’s health.  No more new unexpected surprises.  All conditions are being medically managed and he is feeling better.  In fact, yesterday, he and I went out for a 15 minute walk around our community, and other than being tired, it was a huge improvement for him over the last time he walked.  That time was before his hospitalization in May, and he definitely was struggling then.  Now the only struggle is keeping our daily walks going consistently.    

We both saw our primary care doctor this past week.  She was especially happy with my husband’s  progress.  

Then she moved on to me.  “And how are you doing?”  Seriously, now-a-days my mind goes blank regarding my health issues.  I can quote “chapter and verse” on any aspect of his care, but I sort of loose the thread of the discussion when it comes to me. I said something to the effect to her right then.  After a few (like one) condition update, I paused.  I thought for sure she might mention my weight gain.  I have gained 10 pounds in the last 4 months and more than that since my knee surgery last September.  So before the physical exam began, I brought up “the elephant in the room.”  (That phrase certainly felt appropriate in the moment.). I noted the weight gain and before I could finish saying anything about how I  got this weight gain (sitting too much, eating too much, eating the wrong foods,  etc. etc. etc.) she looked at me and said one word.  “Stress.”  It stopped me in my tracks. “Yes, Stress.  I noticed you gained 9 pounds since I last saw you.”   She went on to say the last 6 to 7 months have been filled with nothing but stress.  "It is normal that a weight gain would occur,” she went on.  “You can start to focus on you now - and we can see how you are doing in November - say before Thanksgiving, maybe??”

Have you ever had someone tell you something that was so observant and so non-judgmental ... and so true, yet for some stupid reason you couldn’t seem to admit that truth to yourself? You just blamed, blamed, blamed yourself for letting things get out of hand. 

I can tell you that not one doctor I have had before did more than say ... “try cutting out the cookies.”  Yes, that actually was said to me previously.  

I could feel emotions starting to fill me up.  So my response was limited but also grateful.  “Ok.”  

On the shopping therapy front, I made one more purchase yesterday from Purl Soho for some yarn I have had my eye on for maybe 10 months and it was 25% off now.  God knows, I don’t need any more yarn, but I did it anyway.  Now for the yarn diet to start.  Taking care of myself includes putting the break on these kinds of expenses.

Anyway, that is where we are right now.  The next post will be yarn and knitting focused!  Promise.

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up!

February is when I last visited this space.  I am not even sure why I am here now except that I still have a few kind readers who are left and maybe wondering - is she still with us?  I am.  And my husband, thank the Good Lord, is still with me as well.

The winter and spring has been bumpy to say the least. My husband began to feel poorly starting in October or November.  On New Year’s Eve had an aphasia event - a brief inability to put his thoughts into words.  No other symptoms, and although I did check him for a stroke the episode, it passed quickly. I decided that a trip to the ER on New Year’s Eve was probably not needed.   That episode, however, was later diagnosed as a mini-stroke or a TIA, so maybe we should have gone.  ERs are not healthy places to be during the winter - well maybe not anytime.  Once the diagnosis was made, however, it launched an avalanche of doctor appointments and diagnostic testing over many specialists.   

Initially it began with a visit to his primary doctor and a neurologist, but then expanded to a cardiologist.  The cardiologist’s testing and findings lead to establishing care with a pulmonologist.   

He now has COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, emphysema and chronic bronchitis) due to smoking earlier in life.  He quit in 1985 but the damage is done regardless.  Now he is on various inhalors.

And in April he had to have one of his surveillance EGDs with the Gastroenterologist.  That test came up negative for the return of cancer,  thankfully.  But he couldn’t have it done until he got clearance from the cardiologist, neurologist and pulmonologist.  His next surveillance EGD this fall, we need to get the same 3 clearances, but now we add his Oncologist - but I have gotten ahead of myself in this story.

We thought by the end of April he had exhausted his list of new doctors and new diagnoses. Unfortunately we were wrong.  He started having weight fluctuation - which we were tracking at the cardiologist’s request.  We suspected fluid retention.  He also had trouble sleeping because he was "focused on breathing". He never said he was short of breath - in fact he insisted he wasn’t short of breath. So we waited to see his primary care doctor. That was a mistake.

That appointment was on May 4th.  She recommended that he go straight to the ER.  He needed urgent testing with stat results and that is only obtained at the ER.  When we got to the ER the place was packed (normal for our hospital).  I thought we would have a long wait.  We didn’t.  They took him right away.  They promptly checked his oxygen levels and he was critically low.  He was started on oxygen and admitted, and stayed in the hospital for 7 days!!  (Yikes! They don’t keep anyone for 7 days anymore.) At first they diagnosed pneumonia, but later settled on fluid build up around his lungs - due to heart failure. They were also tracking abnormal blood work that his Oncologist was also tracking. In conjunction with his Oncologist’s review, he received 2 blood transfusion in the hospital and at discharge (the very next day) the Oncologist saw him. While anemia was known since his chemotherapy, it had not resolved.  So a bone marrow biopsy was done and the test results came back - a type of blood cancer.  As explained to us, it was a very slow growing type of cancer and was probably already there when Chemotherapy was started.  But Chemo sort of jump started the progression of this condition.

At this point in the story, my husband and I had become sort of numb to all the bad news.  He was off oxygen, he was feeling good again, eating and drinking well - feeling “cured” so to speak, and yet the health discoveries continued the mount up.

Believe it or not, there is a fortunate ending to the story. If you look for the positives, you usually can find some.  All of his diagnoses have treatments that allow him to maintain a “normal”  life again.  Even the blood cancer has an injection that prompts the bone marrow to make new blood cells and thereby avoid blood transfusions.  

I have said this over and over again.  Living in this time - and this place - (because we live near medical centers that provide state of the art medical care) - we are the luckiest people on earth. Great doctors, prompt medical care, exceptional treatment options ... you can’t ask for more than that as you approach 80 years of age.  My husband’s 80th birthday is this August.

He is doing well.  Of course, we take daily weight, blood pressure and oxygen checks to capture any change in his status.  Best to adjust things before being hospitalized for them.  We also keep oxygen in the condo - although he hasn’t needed it since a week after discharge.  But all is well right now in this household, so I guess that is why I felt I could write this post.

Will I be back to this blog?  I honestly don’t know.  I have been doing a lot of knitting, (A LOT) so I could probably do a post on that... and I have also been doing some yarn and pattern "retail therapy" (shopping you do to make yourself feel better).  My yarn stash is at a pretty high level right now.  

It either is me buying too much yarn  or the yarn is reproducing on its own. I think it is the latter. 😀. 

At least we can both breathe freely once again.

Knitters, Your Mystery Awaits

 The idea of knitting with others is as old as knitting itself I would guess.  The evolution of a Knit-Along where everyone knits the same item became popular with the evolution of online groups and websites like Ravelry in the early 2000s.  A Mystery Knit-Along (MKA) is yet another younger evolution born from previous knitting groups.  In a MKA, the participants initially know limited information about a project (like it is: shawl, or sweater or scarf), yarn suggestions, knitting needle sizes  and guage. But nothing about the actual pattern is available until the first “clue” or segment of the pattern is released. Further clues are released on a regular schedule until the finished project is revealed.

In 2025 I joined my first Mystery Knit Along created by Stolen Stitches - a knitting vendor out of Ireland.  The designer and business owner is Carol Feller.  This site has it all: yarn, patterns, on line classes to support most patterns offered, several free instructional videos and a robust community website that houses the classes you have purchased and networking opportunities to interact with others who are working on the same pattern as you.  Last but not least, (at least in my mind), you get to listen to Ms. Feller's lovely lyrical Irish accented English on the video classes.  

The colors in these shawls are truer than in following pictures.

The Mystery Knit Along (MKA) for 2025 was a shawl.  I made two of them. The blue one is made from yarn I selected for this pattern from Stolen Stitches.  The white one is made from yarn I had in my stash.  I really enjoyed making both of them, but I made some rookie errors in the blue shawl which I felt compelled to correct them in the white one.   

The main error was size - I like larger shawls.  And since I used the wrong needle size, I got a shawlette.  Lovely but not what I wanted.  This was not the fault of the designer - but of a knitter (me) who has been at this for about 30 years - and used one size smaller needle thinking it wouldn't make THAT much of a difference.  Well, it did.

Onward to 2026!!

My yarn for the 2026 Mystery Knit Along. I am such a fan of greens!

The 2026 MKA begins tomorrow, February 10.  I enjoyed the first MKA so much that I signed up weeks ago for this one.  I have the right yarn and the right needles.  My yarn for this project has been spun into cakes. I am ready.  

If you join a group and purchase the yarn from Stolen Stitches, a lovely drawstring canvas bag 
comes with your order.  If you sign up for the event, but use your own yarn from your stash,
you are considered a digital member - you get the pattern only.  That is
a nice option if you have a yarn that is appropriate.

PS:  I get no compensation from Stolen Stitches for all the nice things I said about their business.  I am happy to promote businesses that exceed my expectations. But be aware, in our current political climate, products shipped to the US are fair game for the Trump “tax” ... I mean tariffs.  So everything costs more. 

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