I spotted the loveliest, softly colored clouds in the sky when I opened the blinds this morning.

_ _ _ _ _

Kate & I were getting the apartment ready yesterday for the current guests and, from that vantage point, noticed a few twisted & broken branches HIGH up in the trees. We'll never be able to reach them! There are plenty of branches and twigs in the yard, and our push mower is very sensitive, so yard clean-up is high on my weekend to-do list. The house painters have finished with their part, so the coast is clear (and the house looks nice even if some of the shrubbery does not).

Both our previous and current Airbnb guests are here, in part, for EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. This is the 50th year in Oshkosh, and I'm pretty sure my dad took us to the very first one. He had a small plane when I was very little, and occasionally rented a plane on weekends when we were older... I can say that I "flew" a plane!

Anyway, before our previous guests arrived, I added a few albums to the current selection. It's an eclectic musical mix up there, from Men At Work to The 5th Dimension to Eurythmics, and...

I never noticed which Frank Sinatra album I added to the pile, but couldn't miss it, front & center, as I was leaving yesterday. COME FLY WITH ME! How appropriate, and what a happy coincidence!

These folks will leave on Sunday, and then I have a few days to prepare for our month-long tenants arriving on Thursday. I am really looking forward to that "break." I'll launder the towels & linens once a week, but I'm otherwise off the hook until Labor Day. Then we have our guests from Australia, and then it's football season! The apartment is booked for all the Packers' home games, which reminds me, Training Camp has begun and the sweetest tradition in pro football continues. What a thrill for those kids!

My little city is looking at purchasing some new holiday decorations and have a display of snowflake options on the poles in a downtown cul de sac, and we can go online and vote! I noticed them the other night (and voted).

_ _ _ _ _

My house feels like it's in utter disarray. Busy life + visitors + Airbnb guests + vacating for a weekend + right back to work = MAYHEM. I feel like stuff just got stacked and shifted whenever it was time to eat or the Bananagrams and cribbage board came out. I did keep up with dishes, so there's that. Ha. The kids pulled out all sorts of blankets and pillows to make a fort... and I'm missing one of my favorite chair pillows and the shawl I wrap 'round my shoulders in the evening. I really need to tidy up and get my house back! So, in addition to yard & garden clean up this weekend, the house is also high on the list... as is sewing! I need to get back to Ginny's dress and Junah's vest for their upcoming photo shoot. Gin's should go pretty quickly because it's already cut out. I haven't touched my Alabama Chanin stuff in a week, either.

Wish me luck with all that, eh? And... HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!

In addition to heightened hoopla on the weekend, I was technically on vacation on Monday and completely forgot about Macro Monday.

I spotted this on my way to the car this morning:

Happy Wednesday! I'm working, which is not usual for a Wednesday, but still getting that "hump day" vibe and looking forward to the weekend (already)!

As I left for work last Friday, I chuckled when I spotted a giant poop emoji balloon rolling around the neighborhood. That's super random, right?

Storms were predicted in our area for Saturday and, indeed, there were. They decided to close down the farmers market an hour early, and I decided that I'd better get out and run my errands before the initial wave hit.

My first weather alert -- a flash flood warning -- came at 10:49 a.m.

At 11:03, while in the drive-thru at my credit union, I received an "extreme alert" for a tornado warning! A block from home, the county warning sirens began to sound.

At home, I poured myself a bowl of cereal and thought I'd sit down and turn on the weather channel to see exactly what was happening.

Before I even turned on the TV, another tornado warning alert arrived at 11:22, and I looked outside (instead of at the TV). I exclaimed out loud, "Holy shit!"  and ran downstairs with my bowl of cereal.

A few minutes later, a wide-eyed Ali arrived with the kids, and Rod joined us a few minutes after that. He was able to button up the coffee camper, but was concerned because he hadn't been able to hitch it to his vehicle... and he had visions of it rolling end-over-end. (Thankfully, that did not happen!)

Holy cow, though! We were able to watch the action through the windows in my dye studio, and it was crazy out there -- the wind, the rain, the sideways rain!

The kids sat at the ping-pong table and enjoyed second breakfast through it all.

After the first wave passed, and we came back upstairs, I went around the house and looked out windows to assess damages, and what do I spot in the back yard from my bedroom window?

Luckily, we never lost power, and our internet was down for only a couple of hours. As we speak, one of my coworkers is still without power! Many area businesses were also without power for lengthy periods -- thankfully, the coffee shop was not one of them. It was amazing to see posts on social media from businesses not affected by the storm inviting the public to come in and enjoy their air conditioning while they charge their phones (no purchase necessary), and others offering to share their freezer & cooler space.

The trophy!! I forbade its entry to the house... "It's wet!" But mostly, I just don't want a big poop in my house, even if it's only made of plastic and smiling. We also acquired a nice soccer ball. Thankfully, the second wave was just a bit of rain.

Turns out, there were 9 14 16 confirmed tornadoes in Wisconsin between Friday & Saturday, including an EF1 (85-110 mph winds) in Central Wisconsin that left two of my aunts without power on Friday, and the EF0 (65-85 mph winds) that had us ducked into the basement. along with two others very close by at the same time.

The boys helped me clean up the yard a bit, and we decided to carry on with our plans for a quick trip up north to my uncle's cabin. We made sure our Airbnb guests were welcomed, checked in and settled (they had quite the committee with all the kids playing outside), and then Kate & I made our exit.

I'll probably post more, but this image pretty much sums it up our 36 hours in the northwoods:

It was time to head home way too quick!

Joining Carole & friends for Three Things on Thursday...

Today I'm sharing three patterns by three new-to-me BIPOC designers. Most of these are not new designs, but they appealed to me and I'm hoping that by adding them and the designers to my Ravelry Favorites, I'll begin to see more. I've always enjoyed similar blog posts of others -- we all love knitting and even if we're not actively searching for a possible project, it's always fun to be inspired!

1 - Jiminez Joseph | @jimiknits

• VESTival! "Inspired by the bohemian fashionistas at music festivals, VESTival is a sleeveless top, worn as a relaxed overlay."

You probably didn't know that I have a thing for vests, and I love this one. It's knit sideways, for the most part, as are many of Jimi's sweater designs. I can see this layered over a dress or a flowy skirt.

• Buckshot. "BUCKSHOT is an over-sized, medium length sweater with bracelet length sleeves. It has an all-over textured stitch pattern that looks as if it’s riddled with bullet holes! A relaxed fit for comfort during any occasion and versatile for any wardrobe."

I love the texture on this boxy sweater, and the deep V-neck. So wearable.

• Aggregate. "Aggregate is an arrowhead shaped wrap/scarf. It is made using 2 colour skeins of Heavy DK/Worsted weight yarn. It is knitted from the top-down with short row wedges and arrows that form a distinctive Left side/Right side mirror effect."

I've been avoiding that shawl shape in recent months, but the striping in this one is pretty cool, and I love all the variations/ideas in the featured photos.

LUCKY DAY ALERT: As part of her birthday celebration, Jimi is offering 20% off of her patterns on Ravelry with coupon code: birthday. Discount code is good through midnight BST on 19 July 2019.

2 - Tina Tse | @tina.say.knit

• Blooming Texture Shawl. "A triangle shape shawl playing with different combination of stitches, exploring lace patterns and color textures to bring a fun experience while knitting!"

This is the type of triangular shawl that's appealed to me more of late. I love the combination of texture, stripes, and lace, and it looks amazing in two colors with a lot of contrast. But there's a low-contrast photo in the middle of the pack (which I think is possibly a b&w photo and more contrast-y in real life) that stopped me in my tracks! INSPIRED!

• Deauville. "This relaxed top is worked from the bottom up, in the round, before separating the front and back to work the armholes and neckline. A 3-needle cast off is used to join the shoulders, so there’s no seaming involved."

In-the-round is not my favorite, so I'd have to make some changes, but I'm a sucker for stripes and this sweater looks so wearable!

• Gradient Fade Cowl. "Colors blending in and out of each other creating new colors and possibilities, that’s what birthed the Gradient Fade Cowl. This cowl is meant for color exploration."

I really love the possibilities with this cowl, and I love wearing cowls in the winter.

3 - Noma Ndlovu | @biggerthanlife_knits

• Black Berry Shawl. "This shawl is knit using a combination of merino singles (fingering weight) and kid mohair. The garter and lace sections are separated with mohair stripes. The shawl is an easy to knit project perfect for TV knitting and traveling."

Yes to TV/travel knitting! I've really loved long, shallow crescent shaped scarves the last couple of years and I love the possibilities with this design.

• Colour Block Shawl. "This lovely shawl is easy to knit and caters for all skill levels."

So many possibilities with this shawl, too, and an interesting overall shape!

• Protea Cable & Lace Scarf. "The versatile scarf is worn either as a scarf or cowl."

I keep coming back to this one... cables, lace, and the styling! I don't think I've ever worn a long cowl with one loop pulled through the other like that. GENIUS! 

On one hand, I'm astounded that I've never heard of these designers nor seen their beautiful designs; and the other hand is slapping me! >>>EXACTLY<<<

I plan to make this a regular feature -- maybe once a month or so? 

Now all I need is a helluvalotta more time in my day in order to knit some of these.

I'll let the photos do most of the talking...

You're never too young to love office supplies!

A discerning shopper.

The loot! There was a TON of stuff that was put back or never even made it into the cart... too expensive, not right now, LET'S LOOK OVER HERE...

She said, "Mommy buys me whatever I want!"

That was news to Ali.  :)

The fashionista! Not shown, new Moana underwear... because we're finally there again!!

We had lunch -- kids' meals at Culver's include a scoop of frozen custard!

She said, "Mommy always lets me eat ice cream first!"

That was also news to Ali!!  ;)

The we came home and painted nails, hands & feet were opposite colors!

This is one of my favorite photos of the day.

What a fun day!

I had the day off of work today! I prefer my 3-day weekends to be Fri-Sun instead of Sat-Mon... but I guess I'll take what I can get.

I didn't want to, but I mowed the lawn this morning. Yesterday would have been a much better day for it, but I was otherwise occupied... Kate & I had our shopping/lunch date with Ginny. I know a few of you saw my IG stories about that. She was a HOOT! I'll do a separate little post about it.

I also had a meeting with the house painter this morning.

Otherwise, I've been sewing! I cut all the pieces for the girls' dresses and have been sewing a little bit each day. Plus I hemmed a pair of jeans for Kate last night. I finished Malina's (except for a button) this afternoon. I thought some sewing-related macro shots would be appropriate.

I bought a new machine a few months ago, and I've finally gotten around to actually sewing something. It's a Baby Lock Jubilant. There's a bit of a learning curve, as it has quite a few more features than my old Husqvarna -- I have to look up how to do every single thing -- but I like it so far and it has some great features, such as self-threading and a drop-in bobbin under a see-through plate. I have wound a bobbin and threaded the machine once or twice now without having to look it up, so that's progress!

Nice, even stitches. The machine has a speed control, so if it's on SLOW, it'll only go so fast (or slow, heh) no matter how hard I step on the pedal. That'll be great if & when the kids want to learn to sew. I can also forego the pedal altogether and just use a start/stop button... but that seems so weird!

I used one of the overlock stitches to finish the edges of the flutter sleeves. It's so cool to be able to do that!

I sewed one of those sleeves three times in order to get the flutter placed in the correct position, right-side up. Ugh! The sewing directions were similar to the ones you see in sewing where you knit a thing and then they tell you to knit another one but reversing the shaping, or whatever. Yeah.

Ginny's should go a bit quicker, now that I've done it once and know what to look out for. The pattern is Violette Field Threads' Ruthie. I might actually do a strip of velcro where the button should go because this is a size 2 (the smallest available) and Malina is a bit shy of that and also not a super-pudge like her brother & sister were! Or maybe one buttonhole and two buttons.

I think it was official on Wednesday, but I still had a reminder on my calendar yesterday for 100 (+/-) days of stitching!

Two finished sleeves and current state of back panel underway.

Back in April, I'd committed to at least :15 of sewing each day on my Alabama Chanin Car Jacket! I think I stitched on about 95 days, and a few of those days were spent on the A-line re-do, and there were just a few when I didn't stitch at all -- two or three at most. Most of it was documented on Instagram: #100daysknitorious2019

There were quite a few days when I worked significantly longer than :15, but even conservatively, I've stitched for a total of 25+ hours since April, mostly on my jacket!

All in all, I consider it a wild success!

Same general area on each sleeve and the design choices that make them the same but different!

Ditto! This is the June's Spring stencil.

I have two sleeves completely done and the start of a body part (with three more in the wings, plus a collar, two pockets, pocket flaps -- just keeping things in perspective). There is WAY more done now than I had 100 or 101 or 102 days ago!

I am looking forward to continuing the process with almost as much diligence. Part of the problem is that it's sort of monopolizing the main portion of my work area and there are other things that I need/want to get done. The trick is to put it away, but not so far away that I forget about it or it's too much of a chore to regroup.

A good workroom clean-out would probably help overall! Well, except for a shopping trip, I have a fairly clear weekend ahead...

Have a great weekend, everyone!!

Joining Carole & friends for Three Things on Thursday...

Since last we met on a Thursday, it's (mostly) all quiet on the walnut front, the catalpa flowers are finished, and three very badly located hornet/wasp nests have been taken care of. Yahoo!

This week, I have three random things to share.

1 -- The Giraffe in My Car.

I got rid of a lot of unnecessary items when I moved from the old car to the new, but not my little giraffe. He sits in the pocket of the driver's side door. Isn't he cute? Do you have a driving companion?

2 -- MDK Waving Rib Sock.

I turned my first short-row heel on this sock the other day and, other than having to adjust my numbers due to the gauge difference, it was A PIECE OF CAKE!

You don't even have to knit the wraps. I tried it on last night and it both felt & looked GREAT!

3 -- Let's Go Shopping!

This was Ginny the other day, delivering a formal request via Snapchat video, for a shopping date with Nona and Auntie Kate! She said that she wants to shop for bracelets, pants, a shirt, more bracelets, a headband, and plants. All delivered with the sweetest little lisp. I think it might happen this weekend, with lunch. Isn't she looking grown up??

Kate & I hopped in the car on Friday afternoon and drove over to Algoma for the opening of a show at James May Gallery.

Mother + Artist

This exhibition includes women who are both artists and mothers. Although all the work may not specifically be about experiences in motherhood, each participant manages some degree of an art career while also mothering. Featured are women who dedicate a significant focus to the creation, promotion, and exhibition of their work with multiple works by each artist making up the exhibition.

Featuring work by:  Amy Soczka, Katie Martin Meurer, Maria Amalia Wood, Jamie Lea Bertsch, Kendra Bulgrin, Megan Woodard Johnson, and Mindy Sue Wittock

The hostas are blooming!

Kate took this great photo on July 4th. Junah directed our fireworks show, with an assist from Ginny, and Kate was our pyromaster. They're not even the star of this photo, but the hostas (and ferns) are definitely hard to miss, and the showstopper (Blue Angel) can't even be seen from this view. The ferns are almost monstrous this year! I've never seen them so big and full.

These were taken with my phone (Samsung Galaxy S9) in the front bed pictured above on Saturday when Junah was over "helping" me for a few hours. He essentially watched me pull weeds in the back yard for :05, declared it boring, and went up to the house and occupied himself with an old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle car (missing pieces but still intriguing and fun) that we found at the antique mall, aka Nancy's. It's super fun going to the antique mall with him! He's getting to know the lay of the land, his favorite booths, the "shortcuts," and it's fun to see what catches his eye. Nancy lives just down the street from me and she gets a kick out of it, too.

I hope you had a great holiday and a wonderful weekend. I have been knitting, sewing, dying over all of the Revolutionary War airport memes, and celebrating a Women's World Cup victory!!

Joining Carole & friends for Three Things on Thursday...

Here are three things happening in my natural world (aka, the back yard)...

1 -- Walnuts. Baby walnuts.

Last Friday night there were a couple of hard PLUNKS on the roof above my bedroom -- a metal roof. PLUNK.PLUNK ... PLUNK.

On Saturday night, there were a LOT of hard plunks at irregular intervals. PLUNK.PLUNK ... PLUNK (roll) PLUNK.PLUNK.PLUNK.

PLUNK.

Gah! It woke me up, kept me awake for hours, and even drove me to find the earplugs in my travel bag. It was nighttime so I didn't have my glasses on, but I stepped on something weird as I opened the cupboard outside the bathroom. It turned out to be a *%#&%*@% cricket (I had to bend down -- too close -- to identify it).

We had Airbnb guests... and my roof is right outside the upstairs bedroom windows. OMG, it was AWFUL!! (They never said or acknowledged anything, so maybe they slept like rocks. I hope.)

Overhanging the roof at the back of the house is a walnut tree and these little guys, hardly bigger than a marble -- but heavy & dense -- were raining down on my roof in the wee hours, surely having been dislodged by raccoons or squirrels.

I called a guy on Sunday, and he said he'd be happy to come over, take care of the critters, and collect $500, but that he'd surely be back in a week to do it all over again... and again and again. He suggested trimming the walnut tree. I got a quote for that yesterday... YIKES!!

Meanwhile, we have nature-loving Airbnb guests this week (newlyweds... it's practically a honeymoon) and this is what I wrote to them on Monday, prior to Tuesday's arrival:

There's been some on/off partying in the walnut tree and roof at the back of the house in the wee hours -- raccoons, squirrels -- Friday night was so-so, Saturday night was raucous, and last night was next to nothing. Hopefully, they got it all out of their system and have moved on... just wanted you to be aware. There is nature happening literally right outside your window.

Keeping fingers crossed, but Saturday seems to have been the big party night -- maybe there was some territorial scuffling going on -- and it's been so-so or better since. Sheesh.

2 -- Catalpa trees. 

There are two in our yard, both volunteers. They're weeds and not in the best locations, but I have a couple of soft spots for catalpas.

1. I never noticed or knew what a catalpa tree was until I spotted a huge one in the park across the street from where Sharon lived in Milwaukee 30 years (or so) ago. She was working as a City arborist at the time and was pretty knowledgeable.
2. There was an equally huge catalpa tree between our neighbor's and their neighbor's years ago, which surely provided the seeds for ours. My neighbors at the time wanted to relocate their garage and driveway, but their neighbor's tree was in the way and would need to come down. It was agreed and the deed was done. My neighbor knew that my dad turned wood and made lovely bowls & things, and asked if perhaps he'd make one from the wood for their neighbor. It was a nice gesture, and their neighbor happened to be a delightful retired school teacher (my brother's kindergarten teacher) who, at 90 or so, still wore her long hair in braids criss-crossed atop her head, and she'd sometimes chat with us from the upstairs bedroom window while she braided and pinned -- I loved that sweet woman -- so was happy to tap my dad for the job. Unfortunately, the sweet woman who was their neighbor died before the wood could be cured & turned, so now the catalpa wood bowl is mine... and I treasure it.

I thought I'd show the long view(s) from whence the most recent Macro Monday view came. I stood on the pergola bench to take the close-up photos.

On the way back up the stairs, I spotted a nest under the top step.

3 -- Things that go buzz. And that sting.

The nest is similar to this one that I spotted from the bedroom window the next morning. That's under the eve right off the end of the back porch.

Both are in areas where the kids play. Ugh. So, in lieu of both large pest control and tree trimming, there will be small pest control. They can't come until Wednesday, so that gives me time to assess the entire perimeter of the house (which is scheduled to be painted soon). Last year, I had a problem with similar getting under the siding. I've never had so many pest problems before! (I'm not even mentioning the tiny ants... oops, I guess I am!)

_ _ _ _ _

Happy 4th of July!

It's been rainy, it's been hot, my back yard is like a jungle, and my entire city was steaming this morning.

This was the the view from the end of the driveway... I wish I could have taken more photos along the way, it was even thicker in some areas, and the air was so still and HEAVY... I could barely breathe.

_ _ _ _ _

Joining Kat & the Unravelers today!

KNITTING:

I discovered last night, as I reached the point where I'd start the heel flap, that the sock I'm knitting for an adult... is not going to fit an adult. Somehow I screwed up my numbers. So I'm going to start over... literal unraveling will be happening this evening.

And, as long as I'm starting over, I'm going to take my inspiration from the latest MDK Field Guide No. 11 - Wanderlust! I'm not sure exactly how or what, but I'll have plenty of time to think about that as I'm... unraveling and rewinding. Heh.

READING:

There has been little progress except for adding to the TBR pile. Joining Lincoln in the Bardo, two books have been added to my Audible queue in the past week:

• Our Harlem: Seven Days of Cooking, Music and Soul at the Red Rooster by Marcus Samuelsson (includes a PDF with the recipes!)
• My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem

I loved listening to Marcus Samuelsson's memoir, Yes, Chef, so I thought "Our Harlem" would be a good one (plus food & drink recipes!).

"My Grandmother's Hands," is... timely right now.

The Summer Walkers is still on my nightstand, with The Bright Hour in the wings, thanks to Bonny's recent rating/recommendation.

SEWING:

Thankfully, there's been a change in the photo shoot schedule, so I don't have to rush with the kids' outfits.

I stopped at Joann's yesterday, anyway, and will have some time to test my theory... or come up with another plan!

Meanwhile, I'd recently picked up a few things for the kids at rummage sales, including this top for Malina:

AWESOME, isn't it? When I was folding the laundry load, I had an A-HA moment and realized exactly WHY this top was so awesome:

Very Alabama Chanin-esque, wouldn't you say?? I guess my subconscious is in tune. Haha!

As of 4:00 there are 4 days ahead and who knows what will happen... well, if you're in the USA, you know that fireworks will happen! I may or may not pop in, so...

Have a great weekend!

I can hardly believe it's July! Now's the time that summer feels like it might be slipping away, especially because we've hardly had any summer weather to enjoy... so.much.rain.

It certainly was summertime hot & humid over the weekend, with more of that in the forecast (along with more rain).

I've whittled the Macro Monday photos for today down from 10 (that I processed) to four:

There's a small stack of shells on one of the pergola benches... randomly stacked by one of the kiddos (I'm guessing Gin) and it's been undisturbed for days. I love the subtle colors!

Our young-ish catalpa trees are LOADED with flowers this year!!

And there are plenty of buds yet to open. So pretty.

So, naturally, our Airbnb guests arrived early on Friday and we were last on the list for appliance delivery... so that was less than ideal. The appliance guys arrived about :20 after the guests, but they were really great and the whole process went SUPER smooth! Had our guests arrived at regular check-in time, I'd have just been finishing up... just as I'd mentioned in my heads-up note to them. I'm really happy with the new fridge!

The thrift shop hop in Green Bay was fun on Saturday. Kate made a pretty good haul; I bought a pair of wine glasses and some sewing needles. Obviously, lunch was the highlight for me! We checked out Copper State Brewing Co., which is related to Copper Rock Coffee Co. located in Appleton. Kate had some pork tacos with a lager, I had a burger with an IPA and a half. I caught whiff of a hamburger on the way in and couldn't shake it...

I finished my Alabama Chanin A-line Tunic re-do! I found a back-side photo from June 2017 when I finished (the first time) to compare:

The difference in stitching is plain to see! I've popped it in the wash to even it all out (the equivalent of blocking knits). (Obviously, red is my preferred color for toenails!)

I did some #100daysknitorious2019 stitching on my Car Jacket, and also started some projects for the kids. By that, I mean that I mostly printed and taped and cut patterns pieces (so time consuming!). I'm making matching dresses for Ginny & Malina and a coordinating vest for Junah. I'm using some "Nana" fabric... a white embroidered cotton that were originally cafe curtains that my mom had made for the coffee shop (skirts of the dresses and body of the vest), and a floral Ralph Lauren sheet that was a favorite of my mom's (flutter sleeves, straps & bands on the dresses, welts & possibly facings on the vest & bow tie). We've been wanting to make something from that curtain fabric for a couple of years now, so finally... but it really needs stabilizing. I've ordered some fusible stuff and keep your fingers crossed that it's shipped sooner rather than later because just minutes after I did that, Ali sent me a message about a photo shoot for the kids on July 8th and it would be SO GREAT to have these projects finished. I could get away with adding another layer to the dresses, and maybe even to the vest... we'll see. I have a couple of days to think on it all.