Pattern: combination, see below - Yarn: Caron Big Cakes in Cherry Compote - Hook: 6mm
During everything else we had had going on we checked on a leak over the breakfast nook. We got a plumber out to fix it. When I first saw the text I got excited because it said "Jonathan" but it turns out Cardinal Plumbing had more than one.
We were told that our county has hard water and that we should get a whole house filtration system. They found another leaking pipe in the basement.
It's getting warm out again, so I've been looking at bucket hat patterns once again. I have been meaning to make the Crochet Quick and Easy Bucket Hat Tutorial by Bag-O-Day Crochet. I liked the body of the hat, but thought the brim was only okay. I then saw the tutorial for the Appa Bucket Hat from Avatar by DayannasCreations. Between the two patterns I worked a row of half-double crochet working the other way from all the other rows so I could work into the front two loops and get the brim to sit more outwardly.
We got home from Route 7 Brewing a few weeks ago to find we had no power. Twice the power came back on, went off, then we heard a Thunk Thud. When we were trying to put Miss Spud to bed a large truck that I assumed was from Dominion showed up to try and get us back online.
Since Bill's truck is in the shop, I had to make sure to get my oil changed and my car inspected before we could take it to the cabin. The last place I took it to didn't impress me, so I'm trying a new place.
While waiting I overheard some funny things:
• One guy was talking about getting new chairs, the other guy was talking about getting barely used chairs, and the first complained that he'd be the one to get a stained chair if they got the used chairs
• The third guy at the counter needed a certain car part the same day. He used DoorDash to get the part delivered to him
While I was there some pre-teen girls were waiting near me while their mom checked in to get their car. When they were leaving, the one with striped socks said she liked my worms. I asked if her and her sister wanted one and let them pick out what color they wanted. A minute or two later they she came back in with a crochet plant and gave it to me.
There were quite a few milestones at this last Rocky showing. We celebrated the fact that there has been a cast at the University Mall Theater for 20 years now and that The Transylvania Concubines as a cast are turning 18.
Back when we were in college, Bill knew some people on a cast up in Ohio, so that's how I was first introduced to it. I remember going to see the show at University Mall back in 2007 after graduating from college and seeing how different the callbacks were at times between the two shows. However, we started going more regularly around 2017. Enough time had passed, and it didn't feel too different anymore.
I was just thinking about how crazy things could have been if things had just gone a bit differently. If I had gone to college closer to home and known about the show as a general thing, there is a chance I could have been there when they first started performing at University Mall. I've been going to the theater since the 90s and I went to go see other movies there frequently enough that I remember when a car drove into the front of it. I wasn't there for the event, but it was a big deal.
The energy at the show was great and I loved it. There were some technical difficulties, like the computer they use to play the movie didn't want to work at first, and then one of the stage lights I use went out, but we all had so much fun. It's great to have regulars in the audience because then I'm not the only one trying to do most of the callbacks with cast helping when they can. Someone had printed pictures of various years of the old cast, and everyone had fun looking at those. Some of the alumni have performed since their time being regularly on cast, and it was fun seeing them again.
I have been unofficially part of the cast since 2021, but now I'm a signed member in 2023. It'll be interesting to see what happens as the years go by.
Bill and I recently celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary at The Bourbon Boulevard a day early. We had gone there previously to celebrate my dad getting off chemo. We got a tomahawk steak and it was really fun to see them wheel it out and cut it in front of us. The fingering potatoes were very good as well. The bread pudding was very smooth, which Bill really liked, but I like mine to have a bit more texture. I joked with Bill that now we have had the tomahawk steak here, we need to try it at other locations to compare it. See who does it the best.
I think this describes us pretty well. A burrito bowl from Chipotle and some wine. This is the dinner we had on our actual anniversary. It doesn't feel like it's been 10 years. We've been having a great time so far, and here's to hoping we keep it up.
My mom and I tried out a new place that has soup dumplings. Since neither of us was overly hungry we got an order of the pork soup dumplings and another dish to share. I picked out the intestines over rice with egg and pork. Our waitress asked if we knew what it was, and we assured her we did. The cook who brought out our food looked shocked and asked if we really did order that dish because "usually only Asian people like it". I thought it was all very funny, similar to when I order things with durian in them. Both were really yummy, and I want to go back very soon.
I ordered a bunch of pom poms. I like the way they look on hats but don't like the price tag they usually come with or having to sew them on. While scrolling through Instagram I saw a short video on how to use Pom Pom Buttons. I did a search for some pom poms with elastic and found a lot of them for a good price on Amazon. I got the more neutral ones because they will go with a larger range of yarns. If I like these, I can always order some more exciting ones.
I have been having a lot of fun designing doll clothes. The crochet ones all turned out how I wanted them to, but the knitted ones aren't quite right. I think I would have had to go down to a size 4 or 2 knitting needle, but I was excited to get started and could only find my size 6 needle.
Bill has been in a cooking mood lately and we decided to bid farewell to 2022 with a deep-dish pizza similar to one you can find at Lou Malnati's Pizza. The recipe told him to put salt in the sauce, but we think we are going to leave that out next time. It was a pretty good way to end the year.
It looks like my dad won't be getting his view of the helicopter pad back for a few reasons. He'd had some hallucinations in his new room while they were still putting arsenic in him until two weeks or so ago, but he'd been talking fine and eating a bit more than he was before. Only the chemo nurses can give the drugs but they also have someone there checking everything before they do it. The buddy system is never a bad idea.
He had been walking, but did also fall a few times. At one point a nurse had to sit with him to watch him, until they could get the Big Brother camera in his room. There aren't many of them in the hospital and it's hard to get one. Before when he was on an insulin drip some of the doctors from the Woman's Hospital came over to see how that worked.
He's now in a rehab center. He's been doing some laps and found out that showering is considered an occupational therapy. He's complaining that the food here isn't as good as the hospital and that he misses the smoothies from the hospital.
We went for the Father's Day event. The guy they brought in to play piano was good at getting the room to join in. There was a group of ladies who knew some songs and sang along with the guy at the piano for most of them. They were having a great time. I've started referring to them as the Gurl Gang.
There is no real time frame on when he will get to go home, but he's been working on doing stairs which he will need at home. He had a walker, but is mostly using a cane currently. They are guessing another ten days, but it isn't set in stone. He has had someone already bring him a beer, so it's not too bad there.
Pattern: based off Crochet Showtime Hat by The Crochet Crowd - Yarn: Caron Simply Soft Traditions in Bone - Hook: 5mm
I'm going to have to think of a name for this soon. I have everything I did typed up, I just need to format it and get a few more made for yarn weights.
I first saw this little RV on the way home from knitting on March 30th. I tried looking online to see if I could find the person who owned this so I could follow them on social media. I didn't see any lights on at all on the inside, like a flashlight or phone light. There weren't any cars parked nearby it and I'm too socially awkward to just knock on the door.
I drove past it on April 12th when going to Trader Joe's to get some Peanut Butter Puffins. I saw that it looked vandalized and become worried that it was abandoned or something. I don't know where the items that appeared on the outside came from, but I did notice that one overhang in the front had been moved a bit.
After knitting on April 20th I saw that some of the smaller windows and the vents at the top were open, so that means that someone is in there. The door and windows look fine, so I assume the owner was the one in there.
I saw on May 23rd that the things around the outside have been cleaned up and a new "note" is on the back. I'm guessing maybe the owner was possibly adding the spray paint to the sides? Maybe they know how to get it off easily and do this often.
Then on May 30th I saw that it was gone. I'm hoping that whoever owned it has just moved on and that it didn't actually get towed. I had kept trying to catch a car being parked near it later in the day or seeing someone walk up to it, but I never did.
I made two options for Steven and took the one he didn't pick to dinner with us. We went and saw Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness before going to Hawk and Griffin for dinner. I got excited that I got to get a Pimm's Cup. I got the Cottage Pie, Steven got the Bangers and Mash, and I didn't pay attention to what Bill got. We had also gotten some appetizers and dessert, but the worm wasn't interested in those. He must have wanted my mushy peas.
Shane's worm also went for his food. Though his also helped to pick out a hat and see some art. They really are good at getting into everything.
They have my dad up and walking to try and get his strength up. He's been retaining some water, so there is a bit of a set back, but they said that this is a normal reaction. He has his laptop now, so at least he's less bored than before.
Pattern: Not Quite Ribbed Hat - Yarn: unknown - Needle: US 8
This past weekend I got thrown into something I have never done. There had to be a bit of last minute moving around because the person who normally does the mag-lights for the Transvanian Concubines called out on the same day as the show. That meant that Bill was now going to do that and since the guy who usually does the light-board also wasn't going to be there, I got to do it. As Ryan was doing his makeup we had The Rocky Horror Picture Show playing at 1.5x speed in the background. He was telling us light cues and Emmy was taking notes for me.
The show was a success and I didn't do the worst job. I had been hoping to take pictures because it was the pride show and some people had different costumes or accessories. There is always next year.
I found this fancy shower chair for my mom to use. I had to put the legs all the way down for it to fit in my small car. My dad thought that it was going to be too big for the shower, but once they got it in, it worked out really well. The back lets my mom lean on it and the width allows for the shampoo and body wash to just be there within easy reach. She can also turn off the water without having to reach too much. It was a very good find.
I got to hang out with Steven again on Friday for dinner. It was a lot of fun because it's been so long since we've seen each other. I was able to finally give him his Christmas present. Bill and I had even seen a movie with him on Christmas, but I had forgotten it at home. He's one of the few people where we can just talk about whatever for hours and easily lose track of time.
I had planned on finishing that hat for the hatathon but didn't make it. I'm still waiting to see the final numbers for each team. I don't know if they are going to count the 1/3rd of a hat I posted on the last day or not. I hope all the teams got their numbers, but I also hope my team made more hats.
I was one of those people taking a selfie while waiting for my 15 minute observation time to pass. I felt fine the whole time and on my way out of Target I got a Kiwi Starfruit Refresher in lemonade, a sandwich, and a bag of cheddar & sour cream ruffles to sit on the couch in case I start feeling sleepy and hungry at the same time.
My arm hurt a bit on the way home, but about the same as it probably would with any shot. The sore muscle feeling got worse near bed time and persisted through the next day and some the day after. I didn't get very sleepy or feel out of it. I did get a bit more thirsty than I usually am, but I probably don't drink enough water anyway. I guess I just lucked out during the whole thing.
Mine was the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which I mostly only got because that was the only option when I went to sign up for an appointment. Bill got one of the two part options. This means that now there is a greater chance of one of us developing super powers or being in the group to turn into zombies. No one can say that this kind of thing isn't the perfect start to either of those stories.
I was also glad that my arm didn't hurt too much because then I could keep knitting. I'm mostly done with the first brioche hat, I just need to cut the extra yarn and weave in the ends. Since the pattern is reversible I will have to take a bit more care when weaving them in, in case the person who owns it wants to wear the other side out. I'm also all packed to start the second on the train but I'm not going to worry if I don't get a lot done. More about the train coming soon.
I love going to the Lion Brand Event at the Crochet Guild where Shira talks about all the new yarn from Lion Brand. You might not think they listen, but they really do. There are now more blended fiber yarns from them because enough people said they were getting tired of the all-acrylic yarns.
Since I don't belong to the Guild itself, I was not part of this big surprise, but I love how much she reacted to it. This is why you don't question the power of a group of knitters/crocheters. We can get things done and they can be done in a big way.
You can still make hats for the #HatsNotHate project. They don't have to be a specific blue or even a solid blue. The color blue was chosen because that was the color that anti-bullying organization they first teamed up with used.
It isn't the best solution, but this will have to do for now when it comes to blocking. It won't work out too well for anything that might need more than one day to get 99% dry, but for most things it should be fine. Tank doesn't like it because I have to shut the door to keep him out. As much as I know he likes helping, he isn't as absorbent as I would like him to be if he were to lay on the items.
This little shawlette is one of those projects I found when going through my yarn. It was bound off and only needed the one end woven in. I did it to see what it would look like to mess with increases a little.
I kept going back and forth on this one. I wanted it to be a bit wider so I could still use all of both skeins of yarn, but I also really liked how the colors were coming out at this width. I kept knitting as I was debating and some people even commented that they liked really long scarves. Before I knew it, I was at the end of the second skein and so decided to leave it. I have more of the same yarn, so I can always make a second in a wider width.
One of the problems with updating as infrequently as I have been starting to do is that I don't remember what I have or have not mention on here. While I need to make sure to fix this problem, it also means that I need to go back to older posts or just risk mentioning something again and acting like it is new.
This is the hat I started on Assateague Island and finished not too long after. I wasn't sure how I wanted to do the decreases at the top and went with my first idea. While it doesn't look bad, I wasn't really a fan of it. I liked how the first half of the decreases were on one vertical bar and the second was done over the other set. I didn't want to take all of that out and re-do it since I didn't think it looked bad. I just knew that I could do better.
Here is where I made a slightly smaller hat and tried another way of doing the decreases. While it is not as cool in some regards as the first one, I definitely like it a lot more. I just have to write it down and also figure out how to do the decreases if you finish at another point in the pattern and it will be all ready for testing.
I'm not sure why I decided to do 2x2 ribbing on the bottom of this one, since I knew the finished pattern would only have a 1x1 rib. That means that I will need to make another one to be able to use pictures of it for the pattern itself.
A friend of ours recently moved in. They brought their cat, so soon you will be reading some fun stories about how Tank is trying to become best friends with Fiona. However, it also means that I need to figure out a new place to block my work. I used to use the guest bedroom, but now that it has been claimed longer than an overnight stay, I will have to figure something out.
The first night she was here Tank would not leave her alone, even though she was feeling pretty overwhelmed. He has decided to back off some since then, but he does try and be near her as much as possible. It seems to be working because there is a lot less growling. There was even one point where Fiona was on the bed with me and Bill and when Tank saw her up there he jumped and didn't know what to do. He also stood up for himself at one point when Fiona could pass by but started growling at him because she had to get a little closer to him.
Since I won't have any blocked items to show you for a little bit, here are some pictures from when we went camping on Assateague Island. I was so excited because I have read Misty of Chincoteague a million times. Talking about it makes me want to read it again.
The ponies are way too smart and I'm pretty sure that they know that people aren't supposed to approach them. They will go right up to anything in your camp area and help themselves.
We were there in the middle of foaling season, so we got to see a few young ones. The group that wondered through our area only had one with them.
It took a dust bath while mom was off munching on grass and looking for people food to get into.
We didn't know what this was that had washed up on shore. It was dry and looked kind of hollow.
I actually got some knitting done! It's a hat based on the latest Knit Block Of The Month class I taught. It's a weave pattern with seed stitch as a background.
While you aren't supposed to approach the ponies, they sometimes get close to you. I know the Park people just don't want visitors trying to treat them like domesticated horses which are used to be interacted with by humans. It would be easy to forget that they are wild animals who don't understand that you just want to pet them and be nice.
They will open any coolers without latching lids and shake any trash bags until they can find out what is inside. The Park people suggest you keep any food you are not using in your car and if you can't, under the bench on your camp site.
Ponies also like bacon. We were going to use those bacon grease soaked paper towels to light the fire for lunch. We didn't start it soon enough before the ponies make their daily stroll through the area and this one helped itself to the goodies. This was definitely not good for it, but it shows that they will really go for almost anything food-like.
The little one liked to lay down and take some light naps while mom was doing her own thing.
There were a lot of these large beetles around at night. They were interesting. They would fly around and dive bomb you when trying to land. Without warning there would just be a beetle hurtling past you or you would feel this thing land on you.
I did not like the giant mosquitos, but overall it was a lot of fun. I liked standing on the beach and letting the water bury my feet in the sand while I watched the waves break. At one point I just stood there and watched it for over an hour. I would really like to go back at some point, try and see some more little ones, they are just so fluffy.
I had planned on talking about each weekend in their own posts, but time slipped away from me when I was done with the first and then getting ready for the second. You might need a snack for this one.
Saturday 4/29
It was a nice day and we got done with the New Member Orientation in a good amount of time. Time for the beer festival!!
I really like how they gave you this little jar to take with you to get samples. No worries about small cups tipping over and not very much waste. I kept mine and plan to use it again, so mine was zero waste. This was a VA apple cider.
I was very bad at keeping track of what I had from where...this was a yummy, but I don't remember which one it was.
This one is also a mystery to me. I remember they were right next to the cider people and the lady who poured it was very nice. There were also a few that didn't get a picture taken of them. Only one of the ones I actually tried wasn't something I liked. There was a bunch I did like.
Some of the places had really cool covers for their coolers.
I really liked their pear lager. I would definitely have that again.
A lot of them had really cool handles. It makes sense for them to do this, that way when you walk into some place you can see if they have your favorite quite easily.
Sunday 4/30
My mom had debated a while on if she wanted to go see Geraldine or not. I knew I wanted to go and we decided to meet there.
There she is in all her yarny glory! It was so interesting to see once you got inside.
They had many things to distract you before you even got it. Do you see those lovely baskets growing from that tree over on the left? The yarns hung there are also dyed especially for them. If you see one you like, you better get it, or learn how to dye yarn yourself.
This is what the inside looked like. Every where you turned there was something new to see and squish.
I was thinking that I wasn't going to buy anything, but then I went in and took a closer look at the basket of stitch markers. Even their logo is too cute to not take a closer look at.
~picture~
I wanted to get all the cat themed ones, but I thought that was a bit much since they were more than I would usually pay for stitch markers. I managed to narrow it down to two cards. I couldn't decide, so I just went with both of them.
Saturday 5/6
We tried to go to the Virginia Gold Cup last year, but it didn't work out. I forget why at this point, but I was determined to go this year. The weather forecast said there was a chance of rain in the morning, but it should clear before too long.
I woke up to cloudy skies, but it didn't look like much was happening. When our friends got here it was drizzling a little. We took that as a good sign since the storm was supposed to be moving from where the cup was towards where my house was. It was raining on the way there, but lightened when we were almost there.
When we got there it was drizzling, so we set up the table and brought the coolers down. We did some browsing while we were waiting for the races to start. They also had some terrier races, but they were on the other side of the field and they didn't cast it on the giant screens they had. The one in green won.
As we waited, the rain would start to lighten, then get heavy again. The wind was also making it really cold feeling. I got some fun pictures and we got to stay for one race. I was hoping to see a second since I knew the path they took, but there is a really long lull between the races. It makes sense because the race itself was only a little over four minutes, and the lines for betting were insanely long. They want to let as many people as possible hand over their money.
Here is the video I put together of what I got to see. Feel free to go view it on YouTube.
Sunday 5/7
The plan had been to go to Holi DC with a friend, but because of all the rain, we were worried about mud, and there were reports that it might rain again. So we decided to stay home.
When Bill first found this and showed me, my first thought was wondering if that stuff was peanut butter. Nope, those would be eggs. This would make sense why the ants wouldn't leave us alone, even when the desk was clean for weeks.
We got those magazines and stuff outside with as many as we could. Of course, when Bill started to move them, they panicked and tried to run off with eggs. This makes sense, but isn't too convent for us. He says that as long as none of the eggs they managed to make off with were a queen, we should be okay.
Not a lot of knitting got done since what I'm working on is very cable heavy and I spend a lot of time looking at the chart. I also still have no idea what to take on our trip later this month!
Much to do, but for now, bed!
