The New Year

 Welcome to my 2026 year of the continuing decluttering efforts.  I have started going through my old knitting magazines.  Still seeing if I want to make the projects contained in the magazines.  One sweater that I dearly loved only comes in one size. For a 34 inch bust line.  Could I adjust the pattern to fit me, yes. Will I take the time and effort? Absolutely not.  I figured it would take me about a month to make a workable pattern to fit the not size extra small size me. By the time I had finished doing the math and making sure my numbers matched the yarn, I would be so over it with nothing to show.  So it is leaving the house.  

Other magazines had stitch tutorials that were very helpful to a new knitter in her 40’s. Now not so much so they are leaving for a new knitter to find.  

Projects that I absolutely had to make. If I do not love them they are going too.  The aspirational lace patterns, I know me as a knitter much better now. Can anyone truly see me knitting an Orenburg lace shawl.  If you said yes, first let me stop laughing so hard I just fell on the floor.  Yes, technically I have the ability to knit Orenburg lace. Do I want to follow a tedious pattern to complete a very fragile shawl? Absolutely not.  

Now it’s time for everyone to join me in clearing out those old aspirational projects in magazines and books. Pass them on to new knitters, put them in the free Little Libraries around town.  Just be kind and only put in one or two at a time. Let’s finish January with a cleaning spree so we can spend the rest of the year knitting, crocheting, spinning and weaving or whatever craft you are currently delving into at the moment.  

Getting my Sumo Citrus Home

 There is something to be said about old fashioned keys made of metal that fit perfectly into a lock. First and foremost is that they never run out of energy leaving one’s self stranded for want of power.  That little battery that runs out of energy at the wrong moment. Take today for instance.  I had just finished grocery shopping and had a fresh supply of Sumo Citrus which are in season and they are a must eat one or two a day. The season is short January through April. Along with some grapes and oatmeal. Thank goodness that nothing was perishable. The bad news is the car did not recognize my car key. So was it the car key battery that my husband just replaced a few months ago or was it the car battery that still has 2 more years under warranty?

If I would have had an old fashioned metal key, I would not be stuck in the Sprouts Market parking lot.  Yes, keyless ignitions are all well and fine, however I just don’t see the need for them. Especially at this moment.  

I called my husband and he was sure it was the keyless fob.  So I walked down the hill to the Brake Max Oro Valley on Oracle just south of Sprouts Market.  It took about 5 minutes and there was no charge. The Service Technician just said have a nice day.  

The walk up the hill was taken very slowly and I was out of breath by the time I got back to my car.  The car started and I let my husband know that I was on the way home.  I put almost everything away.  I made a small plate for lunch of a Sumo and grapes to eat while I wrote this post.  

I am still tired from walking up the hill so I think it’s time to turn some music on and take a nap.  

Shopping

 I took part in stress shopping tonight. No yarn was bought.  I have not done that in a long time.   Enough said.  Sweet dreams everyone.  

Row 10 Completed

 After taking the basic Tunisian Basic Crochet class at Birdhouse Yarns  with Lori of Aklori Designs a couple of weeks back, I decided that tonight was the night that I would try out my new skills.  I have been practicing some of the stitches on a scarf.  I do admit it was not smooth sailing. I took out rows 9&10 one time each.  I am working on the Tunisian Quick Crescent Shawl.   As I get ready to call it a night I am very happy with my progress.  

I am hopeful that progress will continue to happen. My wish is for a slightly faster pace with the caveat that I am fast enough to make positive progress and slow enough not to have to rip out entire rows.  

The First Project Finished in 2026

 My first knitting project for 2026 was finished last night.  Amy first charity project is a scarf. For one of my favorite kids charity projects.  The Flowing Wells School District Clothing Bank. This is a scarf for a teenager. It is 100% cotton knit in a broken rib pattern. 

Now how many more UFO’s can I finish this month? I have about 19 to go. 

Walking Away

 Sometimes I just have to know when to walk away from a project for the night.  I dropped a stitch on my fade shawl tonight and it took off running.  I know we have all been there.  I personally find when I drop a stitch close to bed time it’s best to try to fix it right the first time.  If I can’t fix it right the first time, I wait until the next day to fix it.  Preferably at a table.  I find that if I continue to try to fix it, I tend to make more of a mess of things.  

I am using the pattern Grandma’s Summer Shawl on my Ravelry pattern. I am using a fade set from Lanier Aimee yarn out of Paris France. I purchased this yarn sometime ago and I find it a delightful knit. You can find la Bien Aimee yarn at the link.  Right now they are having a sale and the prices look decent.  If you are in the United States they are currently using UPS for shipping and UPS will collect the tariffs. I really do wish they were using Federal Express for shipping because they have the tariff thing down pretty good. Fortunately, for my husband, all the 4 color fade set in the colors that I like are sold out. 

More things are leaving the house

Today’s to-do list was simple enough. First get my doctors and hospital to send paperwork to another provider. That seems like a simple enough task. It took me over 30 minutes to figure out how to do it because it was deeply hidden in the application. Then I had to email them with a complete list of what I needed and where it needed to be sent. I thought it was all done so I thought I’d do a bonus chore of going through books and deciding on which ones I didn’t want to keep. My goal was five books.

At book number three out of the five I get an email back saying that I needed to fill out another form. They sent a PDF so I couldn’t fill it out online. So that was printed out, fill it out and then I had to take a picture of it. Then in the reply email, I added the picture as an attachment and send it back. Back to picking out more books to leave The house. 

The first bag I picked was a bag that would hold the five books. I got that bag filled very quickly. Then I got another larger bag and added more books. By dinner time I had 15 books that were ready to go to Bookmans. After dinner and TV time I decided to try to get pick out five more books to make it an even 20. I figured even with a basket 20 was all the books I could carry in without tiring myself out. 

In the 20 books, there were books that I picked up because everybody said you had to read it. After the books have been on the shelf for more than eight years, it was time for them to go. I obviously wasn’t interested in the have to read book from eight years ago. I also took out books of things that I would no longer knit and other crafts. 

After all was said and done, I forgot to do my 46 minutes of exercise. I guess it was a squirrel kind of a day. Maybe tomorrow I’ll be more organized. I don’t think I should get that optimistic this late at night.

So I am still counting this day as a win because I finished 2 out of 3 things on my task list.  With a bonus of 20 out of a goal of 5 books leaving the house.