warm wishes

 

 

 

I knit this cozy light blue hat for myself last winter, and Erik (aged 3 at the time) promptly claimed it for himself. And it just about fits! We had a hot cocoa date on Sunday after our photo session at the tree farm (brrrr!). It was snowy and gorgeous, but cold as can be. December has been a whirlwind -- Nature Tots at the Belle Isle Nature Zoo, Grosse Pointe Park's Winter Social, all the hubbub of getting ready for the holidays. With any luck I'll finish Erik's North Shore pullover by Christmas...

 

Wishing you and yours happy holidays and peace and joy in 2018.

November musings

  

I've missed this space. Still knitting, reading, cooking, editing, and chasing after my beautiful small children who are truly coming into their own.

We celebrated their fall birthdays with homemade cakes and something to wear/do/read (2 and 4! no babies anymore, which is bittersweet).

 

We road-tripped across the Upper Midwest to visit family and have felt the hard march of time as our loved ones become more frail and fragile. Life is full and beautiful and sad all at the same time, and much of the news seems unbearable, with a new disaster each day. Almost inconceivable. But I'm working on a new crazy scarf, and we have each other and a warm house and food on the table and cozy handknit sweaters and cowls, and we just keep on keeping on as best we can.

dog days

Busy times and utter chaos this summer -- I'm embracing the dog days and looking forward to crisp autumn days, cozy cardigans, and fall colors. My older brother had a stroke and has been in rough shape this summer -- a month in the ICU, life support, pneumonia... I've been traveling back and forth to Minnesota a good deal. The upshot? More times with family and friends, progress on cleaning out my parents' old house, and best of all, my brother has really turned a corner and is on the upswing.

 Sugar enjoying "my" reading chair in our new Craftsman bungalow

 a good book and the start of a North Shore pullover for E

 cocktails at Grey Ghost in Detroit

 my neighbor's cheerful zinnias

Thank goodness for fenced yards, water tables (busy, happy kids!), and sparkling rosé. The bag is from Better Life Bags, a neat company based here in Detroit. You design your own custom handbag either in the store or online, then each bag is hand cut and hand sewn by women facing economic challenges here in Detroit, a city where resources and opportunities can be pretty tough.

crafting on with Nicole et al.

powder blue

Life has been chaotic lately. We just bought a cozy 1922 Craftsman bungalow and we have been busy fixing it up a bit before moving in at the end of this month. I'm knitting a powder blue sweater vest for B in size 2T -- how did the time pass so quickly? She's getting so tall and learning new words every minute. 

 

Those pink roses may not look like much to a seasoned gardener, but they're a real triumph given the state of the garden at our rental home when we moved in a year and a half ago. Nothing feels as good as giving things new life.  

I found this sweet vintage dollhouse at a rummage sale and am looking forward to fixing it up for the kiddos. Also, where can I order a lifesize chalet like this? So charming!

 

 

 Kayaking at sunset on the Detroit River near Belle Isle state park.

 

My constant companions, looking like bookends.

texture and test-knitting

reading Texture and test-knitting a new hat pattern for Thread & Ladle

I'm not sure if I can post spoilers, but I'm using Brooklyn Tweed Shelter for the first time for testing Beatrice's new hat pattern. Lovely yarn, nice pattern.You can never have too many handknit hats.

 

a girl and her cat

 

Chouette is one of my most well-received handknits. Erik loved it last winter, Bridget even likes to wear it in the house. A quick knit, warm and eye-catching, lots of compliments.

I am reading Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders, too -- terrific! Too bad it's overdue at the library. Must. read. faster.

yarn along: beloved + after you

 joining the yarn along with Ginny & co.

 

I just started After You and just finished knitting a Beloved hat for Erik.

 

Moxie cat, hard at work helping me knit

 a happy customer

 new knitting books to peruse

yarn along: knitting from the north

So many wonderful new knitting books and magazines these days... Knitting from the North is what I'm currently perusing. I'm knitting a simple hat for Erik out of this amazingly cozy and cheerful yarn made right here in Michigan -- Stonehedge Crazy. No skein is the same -- Erik had so much fun picking out this yarn. I'd love to do a blanket with oodles of different colors!

joining the yarn along with Ginny et al.

yarn along: between the world and me

reading: Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates

knitting: Strokkur (still)

An important book to read at a historic time. I'm alternately hoppin' mad and heartsick these days.

 

B wore her Chouette hat for our local Women's March. I wish I had broken out the pink yarn, but I spent time writing letters and calling congresspeople instead. 

B wearing her Little Buds cardi (so sweet -- the silhouette makes her look like a smock-clad French painter)! Real life around here -- potty chair in the background, Matchbox cars, the kids' new toy mop and broom (which they love -- they "clean" far more often than the grown-ups do!).

I'm joining Ginny for this week's Yarn Along.

indecision

yarn along

knitting :: strokkur

reading : making no. 2 / fauna

color combination no. 1: teal with "straw" and "truffle hunt"

Far too many minutes have been spent mulling over color combinations for my strokkur pullover. I'm stymied.

Here's Ysolda's pattern photo:

What do you think? Color combination no. 1 above? Or one of the choices below?

 combination no. 2: teal with blue and natural

 

combination no. 3: teal with straw and blue

combination no. 4: teal with straw and natural

new year knits

 joining this week's yarn along

reading: Kazuo Ishiguro's The Buried Giant

knitting: Strokkur, by Ysolda Teague

I'm still sorting out colors for the yoke of my Icelandic pullover. I paid a long visit to a lovely yarn store in Royal Oak, Ewe-nique Knits (oh, knitters and their puns!), and vacillated over a beautiful array of yarns. I came home with two shades of Brooklyn Tweed's Shelter, then promptly set them aside as I rummaged through my yarn bins.

Bridget, looking sprightly and saucy in her Morpheus sweater.

 The holidays flew by in a blur. We did a Midwest road trip yet again, and as good as it was to see family and friends, I long for the year when we spend Christmas at home. Erik's gnome stocking is hanging on the mantel, but Bridget's stocking is still on the needles.