It was Australia Day yesterday…
…and Maddy officially became a citizen!! She is now a dual citizen. I’m so happy for her!
I have inquired but haven’t had a reply yet about what Viv is holding — I think it’s eucalyptus. A little googling reveals that new Australian citizens often receive a native sapling at their citizenship ceremony. Love that.
We had a nice, relaxing weekend in the UP. There’s so much snow up there!
Our Airbnb cottage was on a very small, very quiet lake… there were other people around, but I didn’t see them.
A few inches of snow fell while we were there. There was never a big flurry, just very lightly falling most of the day (or at night when I wasn’t looking).
The roads were mostly snow-covered from Escanaba north…
…and sure made a mess of my car! This was my Subie’s first road trip & she did just great, though!
We discovered that The Up North Lodge was only a few minutes away, so we headed there on Friday night. Food & service were both great.
There was a huge, curved, custom bar featuring cuts of “Woods of the Up North.” It was so cool, but I was only able to see a very small portion of it (without being rude). Alas, a good enough reason to go back? I think so.
We went up to Marquette on Saturday for much of the day. I dropped Rusty off at a book store while I went on a mission to Alley Kat’s Quilt Shop! I’m sure that’s no surprise.
Needing some sort of direction, I printed a simple color wheel & tried sorting my FQs that way — it really helped, and also made me aware that I have enough for another two or three projects. Anyway, I found a few cuts at Alley Kat’s to help fill things out (or give me some choices). (I also had a couple of cuts from a local-ish Etsy seller waiting when I got home.)
I commandeered the table for our most of our stay! Once I figured out where I was headed & got things sorted, I started pressing & squaring up my fabric.
For a relatively cozy cabin — and even though Rusty & I both immediately thought about how we’d have arranged it all differently — there was a lot of room!
There was a lot of wood, a definite duck theme, and lots of plaid!
Rusty made a little watercolor on Sunday while I ironed, trimmed & cut fabric.
I made my first block at last night’s class! I had time to cut my pieces for next week’s block, too.
Anticipating… a few days in the UP (Upper Peninsula) (of Michigan) because we’re…
Celebrating… our 41st wedding anniversary next week! (Sheesh.)
Junah celebrated his golden birthday on Monday!! Can you believe it? They went on a little trip to LEGO Land in Chicago. I’d hoped to see them before they left, then when they returned… but we’re busy & they’re super busy (besides school & homework, think dance classes & wrestling) (Davy’s wrestling!). I think we’ll be able to get together next week. (And I really want to go watch Davy.)
Cooking… I’m cooking a lot more lately because just after Christmas our personal chef drove off with a car full of stuff (and her dog) & temporarily relocated to the Arizona desert.
Excited about… meeting said personal chef in Albuquerque for a long weekend next month as she begins to slowly make her way back to Wisconsin. She’ll be back by early March because that’s when Maddy will be here!!
I have two cousins (sisters) in ABQ, so will also try to meet up with them.
Wondering… if Kai will be excited to see me in Albuquerque! It’ll be interesting — it will be almost two months since they departed and we’ll be in a completely new & random place.
Hoping… just holding on to hope.
Knitting… Since the holiday knitting bonanza is over, I’ve been back to working on a little Sophie-esque scarf — only a few more repeats until I begin the end shaping. Then, I’m…
Looking forward to… getting back to my Farfalle cardigan! Both of those projects will be accompanying me to the UP. I need to pick that back up & get back into the rhythm I was just starting to feel. And, yes, the Family Temperature Blanket is also still awaiting some attention.
Practicing… patience.
Reading: Pages… No Time on My Hands by Grace Snyder. I bought this book in Nebraska & it’ll fit nicely on the shelf with all my other books about pioneer women & the west. This one also happens to be a memoir & quilting features prominently, so it’s ticked a number of boxes.
Reading: Audio… I haven’t “read” an audio book in quite a while, but I have the release of George Saunders’ Vigil noted on my calendar and I cannot wait!
Planning/Sewing… I’m not at the sewing part yet, but I had my first quilt class this week. I’m still very much in the planning stage, as in choosing fabrics, and it’s hard! I’m trying to mostly use fabrics that I already have. The quilt uses about 15-17 fat quarters — and I have a lot (by my standards) (though not as many as I did a couple of months ago), most of them randomly collected so I’m trying to find The Thing that pulls it together. The main Things that I’m considering are color, pattern & scale… and it’s hard to focus/decide. It doesn’t help that I’m using mostly Kaffe Fassett fabrics again (because that’s mostly what I have) and so many of them defy categorization… but also he’s all about color & breaking rules & doing what makes you feel good. What makes me feel good? haha. I’m bringing the contenders on the trip & hopefully making my choices for the first block… which we’ll be sewing at the next class.
Thinking… that maybe I just need a good neutral/solid in there somewhere! Yeah, I’m thinking too much. If I really can’t land on a combo myself, I’ll haul it into the shop for some guidance.
Wondering… what’s up with you right now?
I’m joining Kat & the Unravelers for Unraveled Wednesday!
KNITTING:
Normally, I’d just share a photo or two of a recently completed project, but today I’m also sharing this image of my Ravelry project page, which shows all the projects completed in 2025, because FIVE OF THE EIGHT weren’t even on my radar until a week before Thanksgiving!
That Musselburgh Beret for Ginny was just too cute & was quicker to knit than expected, so I had to knit another one for Malina.
And, y’know, if I was knitting something for each of the girls for Christmas, I really felt like I needed to knit something for each of the boys! I already had Ali ask all the kids for their favorite-color-of-the-moment, mainly to know Ginny’s, so at least I had that info for all.
I previously wrote about getting started with Davy’s mittens — I actually knit two pair (one slightly larger than the other) — and was just about at the point of felting. That went pretty well, and I propped them in front of the heat vent in the kitchen to hasten drying.
As they caught my eye the next morning, I thought to myself… Kai might be interested in those, maybe I should move them.
Famous last words! That little hole could probably be patched — I think I have a felted slipper in the repair pile, too — but not right now.
(discontinued)
that I knit in 2005 & 2008!!Sarah’s blog post, along with a cautionary note about the cuff sizing that she made in a comment, were extremely helpful.
That left Junah to knit for — his favorite color right now is purple (“like crayola marker purple”), so I pulled out all my leftovers (and even some not-leftovers) to knit a hat! It turned out really great, except that it was a tad too small, so I made another one — purple is still the base color, but it didn’t shine as well. Oh well.
Handsome dude…
You can’t see his very fine fade under that hat, though. I took him to the official? unofficial? barber of the Green Bay Packers, including the head coach, for a New Year’s Eve haircut! Yes, it was a little $$, but look at him! Worth it (maybe not every time, tho… his hair grows fast!).
Anyway, also in the finish column for 2025 — the amazing Hexie Love crocheted blanket that I gave to Addison for graduation, and my first two Hitchhiker shawls!
I continued working on the Family Temperature Blanket — it’s all seamed up, and I’ve begun to knit the border. The first corner was not to my liking, so I tore it out and that’s where we sit. I started a couple other projects & I’ll get back to those as soon as my wrist recovers, because…
QUILTING:
I FINISHED MY QUILT YESTERDAY!!! I sewed (by machine) the binding on at Ann’s a few days ago when I spent the day doing laundry. Yesterday, I folded it around to the front & sewed it on. There was a lot of folding & pressing & pinning & clipping & fiddling… way more “hand work” than I expected. But, it’s DONE & it was on the bed last night.
My 10-week quilting class starts on Tuesday, so I’ll learn how to do it for real!
Just as last year, the kids were here. And, just as last year, Junah stayed up until midnight Eastern (11 Central) to watch the ball drop on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve — and so did all the other kids!! And then we all (except for Davy, who faded out with just a few minutes left) stayed up until midnight Central to watch the celebration in Chicago, which looked pretty amazing from the drone shots of the river & fireworks from multiple bridges. In the words of Ginny: “Yeah, New York could have done better.”
While we watched, I finished my last knitting project of 2025!
Another SNAP hat for Junah — the first one was just a bit too snug (but will fit the girls). I haven’t blogged about that… stay tuned for the next installment of Unraveled Wednesday!
Today, we just relaxed…
…this kind of vibe. The kids went home after lunch. I took a nap. It’s been a PJ Day, and I’m just fine with that. I’ll rejoin the rest of the world tomorrow.
Happy New Year!!
