Knitting & Shenanigans 6.12.21 M

Where I am: I’m enjoying the beautiful upstate New York spring with the birds chirping early in the cool air of the mornings, the warm afternoons, and the stars at night. My husband and I live out in the country where the nights are dark and quiet, with crickets and frogs our evening chorus. The lightning bugs seem to have made an early appearance, and the mosquitos are holding off for now, so cocktails on the back deck at dusk are perfection.

What I’m reading: I’m between authors right now and would love some recommendations! I recently enjoyed Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate and was excited to see that she’s a prolific writer, but now I’m two more books in and, while they’re well written and interesting, the plots are becoming redundant. I mean, who doesn’t love a great story of a newly-divorced single mom who moves to a picturesque setting and falls in love with the rugged game warden? Or a newly-divorced single mom who moves to a different picturesque setting and falls in love with her son’s nerdy biology teacher? Anywho, I’ll be spending some time on NYPL this afternoon looking for inspiration, so bring on the suggestions!

What I’m knitting: I’ve joyfully returned to working on my Scrappy blanket in the evenings as a break from sample knitting. It’s gotten too big to travel with, so I leave it in NY when I go south for the winter, and it was wonderful to bring it out again when I got home in May.  Reviewing our Knitting & Shenanigans from May, I was “supposed to” finish a Jessie Mae tank that’s been on my needles for over a year, but that hasn’t happened yet. Shocker. Right now, sitting at my desk, I have 2 partially completed socks – one with a complex heel that I’m painstakingly designing; a coordinating hat with a complicated crown; and two other samples that I can’t talk about yet.

What I’m listening to: Honestly, I’ve been preferring the quiet sounds of nature lately. There’s enough music at the gym to last me the rest of each day – at home I prefer the birds. Except for the killdeer who is guarding a nest she made right on our driveway. We’re being very careful of it, but man, does she make a racket!

What I’m drinking: Coffee, water, and Nuun, mostly. Nuun is a great electrolyte plus caffeine (from green tea) tablet that dissolves in water – I drink it after workouts, alcohol, or if I feel just generally run-down. It doesn’t cure anything, but it seems to give my body a bit more get-up-and-go. In the evenings, I generally go for Captain Morgan and diet Coke – it’s the “house cocktail” here and I only seem to drink it with my hubby. I like the burst of caffeine in the evening. Caffeine seems to be the overwhelming theme this week…. 🙂

What I’m working on: It’s proofing time again! That means that Becky is working on the magazine layout for issue ten : texas, and I’m editing each proof as she makes updates. Re-reviewing each pattern, making sure that any corrections from the test knits made it into the final copy, finalizing the biographies of the dyers and designers, and re-testing the cocktail to be sure we made the right choice (we did!). While that’s going on, I’m also organizing the designers and yarn support for issue twelve – it’s going to be amazing!

What we’re talking about: The NK Summer KAL is running in our Facebook group, Knit the World. I’m horrid at keeping up with posting and sharing, so I’m grateful to all of you who post your beautiful projects! Becky and I are also holding each other accountable to daily exercise, so we’ve been encouraging each other to get our sneakers on and get out there. I joined a gym where I take a class three days a week, and then I swim at the local YMCA two days a week. I’m still in the “weekends off” phase, although I try to be somewhat active on at least one of the days. Knitting counts, right?

Have a great weekend, everyone!

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