Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Mid-February Smorgasbord

First, a shout out to my fellow bloggers who manage to post on a regular schedule, or even every day. I don't know how you do it, but I love reading your posts. Thanks to everyone who reads and comments on my posts as well! I do love this little blogging world we've all nested inside of.

Remember when this was a knitting blog? Hey look, I knit something!


The pattern is the Midnattsol Hat and I used Knitpicks Gloss which is merino wool and silk. I do love colorwork but the pattern had many rows that used three colors (it's usually just two) and it was difficult to manage the yarn. I kept having to stop and untangle the giant mess. The pattern ended up looking really nice but I probably won't knit it again. The soft and squishy hat went off to live with my cousin, who has been a grateful knitted hat recipient in the past (he even took one mountaineering in Argentina), and who is dealing with some pretty serious health issues right now. I also knit a hat for his wife, because in Chicago everyone needs multiple hats, but I didn't take a picture of that one. It was that hat you see everywhere, you know the one with the horizontal ridges alternated with 1x1 ribbing, and a faux fur pompom on top.

A word of warning about faux fur pompoms: one of my coworkers was out walking and a hawk dive-bombed her because it thought she had a dead rodent on her head.

A three year old became a four year old. Three definitely had its cute and fun moments, but four is when kids get easier. We are all breathing a sigh of relief around here. 


So I'm pretty much an idiot and I bought Mary one of those teeny tiny dollhouse kits for Christmas. It does look adorable, but it is ridiculously tiny. RIDICULOUSLY. You have to build everything almost completely, and an 8 year old approaches the project by just dumping every teeny tiny part into a (teeny tiny) pile, and half of it rolls off and disappears down the heating vent. Fair warning to anyone who falls for the cuteness of these kits. In case you don't believe me about the teeny tiny claim, here's a stick of deodorant for scale.


Jason and I escaped for one night to Annapolis. It was fairly cold and we didn't have much time, so we just walked through the city, which was not that big. It was worth it though, to have coffee, dinner, and breakfast while sitting down the whole time, never having to get up to bring anyone milk or tell anyone to just STOP IT. There are boats there. I am not sure what else one does in Annapolis, maybe drinks and eats crabs?




I also read a couple of good books. I loved Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce, which had been on my list for some time and I finally got around to requesting from the library. It's a book that sounds a little weird from the description, but ended up being an exciting, endearing story. A middle-aged woman and her mysterious younger sidekick go exploring New Caledonia in the 1950s in search of an elusive, undiscovered golden beetle. It was both funny and heartbreaking. I had never heard of New Caledonia before and I assumed it was made up, but nope, it's an actual place!


I followed that up with The Guide by Peter Heller. This book is set in Colorado, and the descriptions of the West really got me. We lived for awhile in that part of the country, and Heller manages to capture the beauty of the place. It ended up being a weird mashup of literary fiction, thriller, and dystopia that made for a quick read. Also there was an extra line between every paragraph which I couldn't really figure out. Was that just to make the book longer?


I am now about halfway through Matrix, which I was so excited to read because I love Lauren Groff. But... I don't know if I can do it. If you've read this book, you know what I mean. Where are the quotation marks? I'd debating if I should abandon it - the parts about 12th-century life are pretty interesting/horrifying, but I don't know if I can slog through more religious visions to get there.

We're now halfway through February, and daylight savings time starts in less than a month! The increased light has had a huge impact on improving my mood and energy, and I can't wait until spring.

17 comments:

  1. Ooooh happy birthday! What a fun age. Also, that dollhouse is adorable but holy, those are small bits. I am not super handy so I feel like that would be disastrous in my house.

    Gorgeous photos of Annapolis! What a lovely sight to see in February! Also, great job on the hat.

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    1. I loved how the seagulls were slipping and sliding around on the ice and looked like they were walking on water. Jason and I are the masters of off-season vacations so we basically only go to nautical places when it's cold. Less people!

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  2. I am with you on those bloggers who post on a regular schedule or every day. I could not manage that at all. I do seem have gotten into a groove of posting on a Wednesday of late, I am not sure how long that will last, Tuesday is a quiet day for me so it gives me time to compile a post.

    Your hat is glorious the colour combination is wonderful, I think if I was knitting with three strands of yarn I too would be tying them up in knots. I am sure there is a more efficient way of doing colour work but I have not found it yet. I remember seeing a really old film of Scottish knitters walking around knitting colour work items, they could do it without looking at what they were doing and they were not tying themselves up in knots! Amazing.

    Belated Happy Birthday to your little one and yes that wee doll house does look very fiddly but lovely with it too.

    Hope the rest of your month is filled with lovely things.

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    1. I've seen those Shetland knitters that you are talking about - their fingers had minds of their own! I have never been able to get away from using a chart, ever, but I've heard of mystical knitters who somehow memorize patterns. Crazy!

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  3. The hat is lovely! Pictures like this make me wish I knew how to knit. Maybe a goal when the kids are older.

    I completely agree about 4 being a great age (age 3 was definitely tougher than age 2 for us).

    I just went and put the Miss Benson's Beetle book on hold at the library! It looks sweet.

    So glad you got away!

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    1. 1 and 3 were difficult - but I love 4. They are still sweet and lovey but the tantrums have dramatically decreased. It's a few years before the older kid attitude kicks in, too. I hope you enjoy the book!

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  4. Happy birthday to your little one! That cake looks amazing!

    That dollhouse is adorable... but I can completely imagine the scenario you described playing out here. Teeny tiny dollhouse materials everywhere. Down the heating register indeed.

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    1. Grocery store cake for the win! I gave up years ago baking my own. Sometimes I wonder what is down inside the heating vent, maybe diamonds, or gold? I'll have to check it out.

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  5. I am, as ever, totally in awe of knitters! Beautiful hat!
    You aren't kidding... that miniature house is seriously teeny! Are these part of the same series that includes a florist shop, a bookstore? My son gave me kit, and I am not sure I have the capacity to manage all of the tiny pieces, assemble it!
    Happy 4th birthday! I miss those days. It's all good, the stages and phases. Four was extra special, I think.

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    1. Knitting does seem kind of magical when you don't know how to do it! Yes, those are the same series as the little bookstore and greenhouse - the books are the size of a fingernail. I had a hard time handling all the tiny pieces, and my hands are pretty small to begin with. I was tempted by the bookstore before doing this, but once I saw how small it was, and that you have to fold all the books individually... never again.

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  6. Hi Sarah, thanks for stopping by my blog! Your hat is fabulous - as a fellow knitter I know how hard it is to get stranded stitches so perfectly even - especially with a three colour row. Hats are probably the biggest project I'd attempt in fairisle - just imagine the scope for tangles in a whole jumper knit that way!
    Even with the stick of deoderant for scale I can't quite get my head around how tiny the little house is - I would have loved something like that when I was 8 - probably still would at 58!

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    1. You know what they say - blocking fixes (almost) everything! I have made fair isle hats, mittens, and cowls, but I probably will never do a sweater. It would take me years! It's also not the relaxing form of knitting for me because I have to look at the pattern the whole time.

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  7. What a lovely catch up! Thank you! My hold on Matrix finally became available this week, so I'm looking forward to starting it. It's on audio, so I won't have to worry about the lack of quotation marks. Sometimes that style bothers me and sometimes it doesn't. I don't know why!

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    1. (I'm a totally inconsistent reader.)

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    2. I have the feeling that this book will be much better in audio, depending on who the narrator is. I think that the writing is objectively beautiful but sometimes I'm not in the mindspace for literary fiction. I switched over to a mystery and that's been the perfect thing!

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  8. That is a very lovely hat but I know what you mean about all the yarns getting twisted up.
    The dolls house scene is lovely too. I haven't done anything on my very large dolls house for ages maybe this will motivate me to do a bit more on it this year.
    Take care x

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    1. I think a larger doll house would be much more manageable! I bet having creative freedom would be fun, getting to choose all the colors and wallpaper. I hope you are able to pick it up again!

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