Geeze O Pete

July 27, 2019Leave a comment

Current Knitting Project

Half-Pint Hoodie by Bonnie Evans

So, those of you who are knitters. I have one extremely important question for all of you.

Why in the world do you not buy all the yarn before I get onto the internet every day? Huh? What is with that? Why are you leaving yarn out there for me to buy? Will I live long enough to knit with all this yarn?

Maybe I should start selling some off and start a yarn IRA or CD or some kind of investment fund. Are there yarn companies that sell stock? I could trade my WW stock and buy yarn shares. No. I won’t. I hardly paid anything for my WW stock and it’s doing rather well at the moment. Thank you Oprah.

What else have I been up to? I’m a grandma to fraternal twin boys now. They arrived one month early on June 26th. Their due date was July 25th but, hey, why wait? They tried to get them to change their minds but they weren’t having it. Both boys are home with Mom and Dad now and doing rather well. I haven’t visited them since the were reunited but will be this coming week unless they are still under strict house quarantine. They’re still tiny so visitors are limited to none or just Grandmas or Grandpas. That’s a crowd in itself.

Keep stopping by. Who knows? Maybe I’ll write something every now and then. I warned you, didn’t I?

June!

June 5, 2019Leave a comment

2019 Temperature Table Runner

I pulled this out on Sunday and managed to add four days worth of stripes. That brought me up to February 24th. Yes, it’s a little bit behind in progress but, we can’t finish these until after December 31st anyway. No worries. It will be done in a timely manner, promise.

Other actions going on around here are varied. I’m working on my vegetable garden and am thinking of expanding the size for next year. When I mentioned that to my husband he said “go for it”.

We finally found someone to work on our house so yesterday the porch on the east side was almost done with the ceiling painting. After the tongue & groove is done then the beams are next. All of us failed to put the work request/quote together properly to include the porch on the west side which is identical to the porch on the east side. No worries. It’s just more time and money and we’ll get it done. After the porches are done then it’s time to move to the trim boards up on the second floor dormer windows. All eight of them rotted where they come in contact with the roof. The house is 14 years old now so some things need to be done.

I’m knitting. The baby shower was Sunday so all those baby things have now moved to my daughter’s house. There are more in progress for colder weather wear that they will get after the boys are born and going forward as they grow. I’m updating all the photos of the finished sweaters on my Flickr and in Ravelry.

Right now I’m working on Same But Different by Anketstrick (Fallmasche) which is a variation of Walnus (spelling?) It’s a top-down project which requires more concentration if you ask me. If you miss something it makes a really big difference. I’m below the armholes now so there’s shaping and design elements going on at the same time. The yarn that I’m using is a recycled 100% alpaca that I purchased from a seller on eBay that buys sweaters and unravels them. This yarn is so soft and would have cost me a whole lot more than the $20 something that I paid for it.

I’ve also got a Shakerag top in progress for those times when I don’t want to concentrate so much. I’m using two cones of laceweight yarns that I’ve had for close to 30 years. One is silk and the other is linen – both in the same shade of sage green. They were purchased from Robin & Russ Handweavers for probably around $5 each. The yardage is non-stop.

We’ve got rain coming again and could be here any time now. They say by 7:44 it’s going to be in the town that southwest of here. Since I didn’t go buy the stain for the porch beams I’m hoping for a day of reprieve between the paint and stain.

Have a great Wednesday!

Are You Knitting?

April 11, 2019April 11, 2019Leave a comment

Sunshower Shawl

I’ve been knitting and I know a bunch of other people who are knitting so, in my mind, everyone knits. Not so, you say? Get to it. It’s good for you.

The Sunshower Shawl is a current Ambah O’Brien/Jimmy Beans KAL and it goes on all year long. This is how mine looks after Month #3. After I committed to knitting this I wondered how I could get myself into a 12 month project. Hey. I did that last year with the 2018 Temperature Blanket and again this year with my 2019 Temperature Table Runner. That’s sorta lagging behind but it’s quick to catch up with that one.

Yesterday I started another KAL after I told myself and others that I was done with those KALs. The new one is through Mason-Dixon Knitting and is using the designs from the Field Guide No. 10 Downtown. Field Guide No. 10

I’m cruising along but am now in a mini procrastination on the current round since it has a stitch manipulation that I have never experienced before. It’s going to take a long time to get around all these yoke stitches with all this slipping and passing over. I’ll share a photo sometime along the way after I take one.

Speaking of KALs and challenges. My #19 of 2019 for the Vogue Knitting Ravelry group is done. I’ve been downstairs in my basement several times today and keep forgetting to bring it up with me since it’s been blocking for two days now and has to be dry. On my trips down I’ve done three loads of laundry and rode my bike on the trainer. If I had my phone and some music with me my ride would have been longer than five minutes. Since bike riding without traveling doesn’t track on my Garmin Vivoactiv I’ve learned to hook it to the velcro on my shoe. It adds up the pedaling as steps. Ha.

It’s Going To Be a Windy Day Today

February 24, 2019Leave a comment

Wind Alert!

I just thought I’d try a color to add extra excitement to the words. They say the wind gusts might get up to 60 mph and these old trees in our woods don’t need that. A couple weeks ago when we had the ice storm I was sitting here talking to my mom on the phone. As I was looking out my window I actually witnessed the tops of two of my neighbor’s trees break off and fall over. How often does that happen?

This morning the creek is really flowing and I could hear it like there were waterfalls in the woods in front of the house. It’s also nice and warm out there in the upper 40s. Here in the Mitten we don’t often get Nice and Warm and Calm with Sun all in one day this early in the year. It seems like we get nasty wind on sunny days or it’s super cold on sunny days or super hot. Do we get nice calm 70° degree days anymore?

I’m knitting right now. Clue #2 for Wave Ripples was sent out on Friday. I picked up the stitches along the right front of the wave panel last night. As we knit we increase at the neckline to shape towards the shoulders. Huh? How come I’m short 3 stitches? Doesn’t matter as long as I do the same for the left front side. It will all work out. You’ll see. I’ve been knitting long enough to know that, unless I go around telling everyone, no one will even be able to tell that my neckline will be just a little bit lower than the original design. Since my neckline will be lower I’m going to alter the neck ribbing anyway to make it more like a mock turtleneck. I like a higher funnel-neck on a wool sweater for cooler weather wear.

You’ll see. It will all be OK.

I need more coffee.

Hang on out there, stay out from under trees and power lines and don’t go out driving your high profile SUVs.

It’s Icy Out There

January 16, 2019Leave a comment

If you’re here in the United States you’re probably experiencing something less than pleasant weather-wise. Do you have a plan to stay safe? I do. I’m going to stay home and knit. Did you suspect it would be anything else?

The 2018 Temperature Blanket is complete. When I tried taking photos to share it was next to impossible to get the whole blanket so I just put it on the floor. You see, it was immediately claimed by Carly.

I have moved on to my next project already. I started the cast on for the 2019 Temperature Blanket but decided I didn’t want to go through that again. This year it’s going to be a Temperature Table Runner and I’m using the Linen Stitch instead. Photos to come after there’s enough to show progress. It only took me one hour to catch up. 2019 Temperature Table Runner

At the same time, I have a Close to You scarf/shawl in progress to give to my mom. She saw mine and asked if she could have one. I’m using KnitPicks Chroma in pink and purple. I don’t think those are her normal wardrobe colors but, at the age of 86, she could branch out every now and then. Close To You This is designed by Justyna Lorkowska.

I promise to be back more often. Seriously, I do.

I discovered an easy way to share my photos of my work. You can always find me over on Flickr.

KALs & Other Challenges aka Torments

December 1, 2018December 1, 2018Leave a comment

after kaleidescope.jpg

Ever feel like you’re going round and round and it’s all your own fault?

Just this morning I joined yet another knitting KAL as if the 2018 Temperature Blanket wasn’t enough. Then, I have to remember the 2018 Vogue Knitting challenges that I joined on Ravelry.

Did I explain the VK challenges yet? There’s the #18 in 2018 which is any project from any year that is #18 in the issue. I’m working on that one right now. I’m knitting #18 from 1988 which also covers the Any project from a year ending in 8. Then, there is the Then and Now. My Then was a cardigan from 1959 and I also finished another Then from 1988 and another from 1986, I think. I’ve got pretty much the entire challenge completed except the Now. I need to go through all four issues from this year and pick one. I’m thinking it better be an easy one at this point. To meet the requirements all I have to do is cast on and it doesn’t have to be finished by the end of December.

Then, there’s that Temperature Blanket. Yes, that’s a photo of my blanket up there. I was playing with photos for my Secrets of Better Photography course that I’m finishing. Lesson 12 was about editing photos and the assignment was to get creative if you wanted to. So, I did. Right now my blanket is on 7/18/18. I’m over halfway there. Many knitters are behind but, we don’t care. I do need to order more yellow which is for the days in the 70s, orange for the days in the 80s and some pink for the 90s. Who would have thought Michigan would have been consistently that warm. They did say on the news the other day that scientists are showing that we are averaging higher temps every year since 2013. I’m planning on a 2019 blanket to keep using this yarn so I’m thinking those higher-temp colors will be used again next year. Stay tuned for photos.

My latest KAL is from Ambah O’Brien and it’s the ADVENTurer Cowl or any of the Adventurer series patterns. I’m choosing the cowl since it’s a lot smaller than the wrap. I found a yarn to use in a short amount of time which was so surprising. I thought I’d be lost in my stash for days.

Requirement #1 is to cast on today on December 1st and stay tuned for updates from Ambah. Will do. Final photo posting can be any time before a date in February.

Where Have I Been?

November 17, 2018Leave a comment

I Was Here

Where is that? Up North at an awesome place called Canada Creek Ranch. My husband and I are members here. Since I no longer work my time up there is more frequent than his. On this day we had snow, obviously, and it was also my knitting group day. One of the ladies took a photo of me wearing my Antler sweater, my new gloves and my matching hat. Maybe I’ll share it here after she shares it with our group.

I’m home now. I could have written while up there but it seemed that being there for two full days and just a few hours on the other two just didn’t get me in the mood to spend much time on my laptop or the internet in general. Pretty much all I did was delete e-mails so that all those Black Friday messages weren’t piling up into the millions. It seems that we just celebrated Labor Day and now all this snow makes us feel like it’s Christmas time and we’re hopping and skipping right past Thanksgiving.

My 2018 Temperature Blanket is on my lap right now and once I finish the row I’m knitting May will be completed. So, it appears that I am just a few months behind, right? Some simple math would tell me how many rows to knit each day or week to catch up. Right.

There’s a pair of socks on my needles and another sweater. The sweater is #18 from Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 1988. This one is to meet the #18 in 2018 for the Ravelry challenge. After this one I need to pick a design – any pattern – from 2018 to meet the VK 2018 in 2018. I’ve completed a Then, an any design from a year ending in 8, am working on the #18 then just the current. The current project can spill on over to early next year as long as I have it started.

There’s barking going on behind me. The joys of being owned by a Rat Terrier.

It’s Thursday

November 9, 2018Leave a comment

What’s so exciting about a Thursday? If I was still working that would mean that tomorrow was Friday and then the weekend would be upon me. At one time the weekend wasn’t any better than the rest of the week since I was on a six or seven day work schedule. The joys of working in the auto industry in the maintenance department. The work never ends. If you want job security maintenance is the place to be. It’s also a lot like working retail during the Christmas holiday season. There’s no rest.

This morning I finished my gloves and posted a photo on Ravelry. Gloves

Not ten minutes after finishing the gloves I started a hat using another free pattern from Drops. Hat Mine is going to be in black and white to match the gloves. So far, I’ve got 4 rows of the ribbing done. I’ve been winding yarn, doing laundry and dog walking today so not a whole lot of knitting was going on.

The auto industry you ask? Yes, I was a contract supervisor in the auto industry for just about 15 years between GM and Ford. My time was spent at GM’s Warren Transmission for about a total of 3 years and at the GM Tech Center for about eight years and was responsible for just about every building at one time or another. After my GM years I moved on over to another contract company and spent five years at Sterling Axle. When they wanted to move me onto afternoon shift I decided it was time to go. It was just about on schedule anyway. Our goal was for me to work until I turned 59 so I was about 4 months ahead of schedule. My boss thought I was his age and still had 4 years to go since I had already told him of my plan. He was surprised.

I don’t miss it. The paycheck but not the rest of it.

November 2, 2018 – Still Raining

November 2, 2018Leave a comment

It’s A Rainy Day Again

It did actually stop for a while but started up again as soon as I got my hiking boots, camo pants, coat, hat and gloves on and reached for the door handle to go out. We still walked partway down the driveway towards the mailbox where yesterday’s mail is still waiting.

Normally our creek is about 6″ deep. This morning it’s just about 5′ deep. Our culvert is 4′ tall which I know for sure since I can walk through it while bending. I’m 5’1″. I’ve been in there recently to clear out sticks and uck that was blocking it up.

Speaking of blocking the creek. Look way at the end of the water beyond the two trees that fell across the creek. There’s a man made dam there that’s the reason behind all of this flooding. I was home from work the day they brought in all the equipment and put in a pile of gravel and a 1′ culvert. With all of the culverts north of there being 48″ and they put in a teeny tiny one, we’re all experiencing floods. It’s annoying and our woods is always wet, muddy, and full of mosquitoes in the summer.

What else is going on today?

Not a whole lot. I woke up around 3:30 a.m. and don’t think I ever fell back to sleep. You know how all those silly thoughts pop into your head when you’re trying to fall asleep or go back to sleep? One that I need to just take care of is to get the dining table moved back to where it belongs. Yes, that was one thought in my head. It was moved back in August so that a pre-made kitchen pantry cabinet could be brought into the house and it hasn’t been moved back so it’s not in the right spot and one of the chairs has been relocated to the wrong spot over next to the peninsula. We all know that dining chairs do not work at a counter top bar unless you stack up a whole lot of phone books or use a booster seat.

After that thought popped in then the cats started pushing the pizza box around on the porch. You know that a dog never misses the sound of something moving around outside the house in the middle of the night. After the pizza box shoving stopped the cat fighting started in the woods just to the north of the house. I gave up around 6:00 a.m.

Antler by Ankestrick

Just to let you know that I do actually have some knitting going on around here the link right there above this sentence is to the sweater pattern that I’m just about finished with. I need to knit one more row of stockinette stitch on the second sleeve then on to my 8 rows of garter, bind off, weave in ends then off to some washing and blocking.

Oh, what to knit next?

A pair of legwarmers was one thought along with a pair of gloves with all the fingers and a matching hat using the rest of the black and white yarn that I’m using for my Antler. I’ll share photos here or you can just check out my project page on Ravelry. I’ll help you get there.

My Antler

One Day on Facebook

Yesterday I shared the link to a song that was played during Chicago Fire this week at the part where Kelly Severide’s (not sure if that’s how it’s spelled) dad passed away from a stroke before he could have further conversation with him and was still having bitter feelings towards him and feelings that he had let him down all his life. The song is “The Living Years” by Mike and the Mechanics. You may know it from the late 1980s – 1988 and 1989 in particular. The single was released right around the same time that my youngest daughter Karen was born in October of 1988. My father had passed away on September 12 which was the day we were going to have my oldest daughter’s 2nd birthday party. Dad was supposed to come home from Harper Hospital that day to spend the rest of his time in hospice at home. Laura’s birthday is September 8th. When she was born in 1986 Dad was already starting to feel like something was wrong but he was still working and going about life as if it will all go away if he ignored it.

That wasn’t working. Mom insisted it was time for a physical. We all know that dads tend to avoid physicals. Two of his older brothers had passed away from the Big C and one was just that same year. Uncle Bill committed suicide when the C entered his brain. He had endured enough for one lifetime so he went into the garden shed after sending Aunt Betty shopping.

It took weeks for the doctors to figure out what Dad was dealing with. When the Big C diagnosis came about we realized we were all fighting with him. The tumor couldn’t be found at first since it wasn’t in a lung but hanging around outside of it right behind the breast bone. During the fight it went away, came back, went away, came back then refused to relinquish to all the chemicals and radiation.

During this fight I was pregnant with Karen after thoughts that an additional grandchild on the way might be encouragement for Dad to overcome and, at the same time, hard for him to accept since he was always telling me he’d be there for her birth but that he wouldn’t be there so I needed to take care of the child that was on the way.

Karen was two weeks late. When she was born on one of those miserably hot and humid days in October of 1988 we all saw what Dad meant and why Karen was late. She was waiting to meet Grandpa. When she was born she was not all wrinkly like a newborn. She was all happy and looked just like bald Grandpa and, to this day, 30 years later, has his easy-going spirit in life.

Laura

If I had thought that my first experience was an omen, Karen wouldn’t have been born. During my pregnancy with Laura we lost another Grandpa. Laura’s dad’s father, Walter had told me the previous week to take care of the baby on the way since he wouldn’t be around in September. I told him he was talking crazy. A week later we found out that he wasn’t talking crazy. A massive coronary took him. Walter missed out on meeting both Laura, Karen and Amy and Nick who were born to Michael’s (my first husband) sisters.

Laura is another part of my life that keeps me awake at night. After our divorce we were OK and she and Karen would spend weekends with us. Now, she works at avoiding me and is distant as if we don’t know each other when I do see her. I’m not sure what I did that caused this behavior and those who suspect that they know will not say. One told me that she took something that I said in the wrong context and, if it’s what I think it was, it was a comment on Facebook. There was a conversation about having children. My comment in the thread was that I had thought about not having children once, then I changed my mind. There were actually two times that I had thought it might be the wrong choice. The first was after her father’s rendezvous with someone else before our third anniversary and the second time was when my dad was fighting cancer.

Since she causes me anxiety I often wonder if I should just let it go and hope like heck that she doesn’t live up to the lyrics in The Living Years.

November 1, 2018 Post #1

November 1, 2018April 1, 2019Leave a comment

Yarn

There is a whole lot of yarn around here insulating this house. If I fell out of my chair right now there would be yarn to cushion my fall. Do you think my home owner’s insurance policy could be lowered due to all the cushioning going on around me?

Why am I here?

Why start a new blog or website on November 1 of 2018?

For the past 10+ years I have had two blogs over on blogspot and there have been webpages that were built and maintained after completing two webpage building courses. Those are long gone after the hosts decided that they wanted to start collecting money to allow me to appear there. My blog over there on the other location will probably be removed when I get around to it since it was mostly aimed at my Etsy shop which is also just hanging out all empty due to my own disinterest.

Who am I?

I am a 60 year old born and raised in Michigan yarn-addicted knitter. My knitting days began before my double-digit years after my mom and her mom took a night class through one of the local libraries. They didn’t knit long after that so I took over the book, yarn, and the needles and it’s been on-stop from there.

There’s more to me than just knitting but we can get to that since I’m planning on being around for a few more decades. Sharing personal thoughts and feelings are usually not my forte on the internet. It could happen.

Writing has always been one of my favorites and during my school years several courses in various types of writing lured me in and I thrived in the creative writing courses as well as the research and expository writing courses. In my past life becoming a writer or a reporter were dreams of mine. The closest I came was to be an in-house reporter for two companies that I worked for and a reporter for my high school publication. Recently, my mom found copies of those and they are now here in a file right next to me.

November is my Birthday Month.

The special offers have started to arrive in my inbox this morning and I’m still waiting for the ones for the free yarn. So far, I’m being offered free shipping and discounts. Each year I do take advantage of a free dinner from Rochester Mills Brewery and a free Blizzard from the Dairy Queen.

Stay tuned………………