Yopping Update #18 - Trio completed

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Let's get right to the finishes. (Afterall there is still a pumpkin that needs carving).

 
 Presenting - The Beatrix Potter Trio

Jemima Puddleduck, Peter Rabbit, Mrs.Tiggy-Winkle

Had to show the rear view - loving Peter's Cottontail!

Then I decided to tackle something that has been on my Yopping list for a couple of years. It took me three tries to get this mini Elizabeth Zimmerman sweater to work.  I tried twice to scale it myself:

hmmm.  top part too small

bottom better shape, but top still too small

Then I realized the new book I got last week had a formula for the sweater based on finished size.  So I drew up a pattern that was two inches around the chest with 1/2 inch width for sleeves. and Voila!  it worked.  I don't know why I didn't look in the book - but it was an interesting afternoon of math and knitting and frogging and knitting and frogging and knitting until I finished.  I was happy to find the perfect button in my button jar to finish it off. 

The rest of the week was spent on my Portwenn socks.  I am on clue four which is one more pattern and then the toes. 

It was pouring rain all week, but finally on Friday the skies cleared.  Amid more raking we took a trip out to one of our favourite beaches yesterday to winterize our camper, go for lunch and walk in the wind and waves. 

view from our picnic table

lol - he needs a toque (or a hair-tie)

glad to have on my gansey and matching toque

Tonight is Halloween so I am off to carve our pumpkin and get the yard set up for the wee trick or treaters.  I am so glad that it will be a clear night for them.  

Halloween has already happened where my daughter and her family live so I will leave you with a picture of their celebration. 

Someone is getting into character for tonight's festivities here at home!

BOO!

Yopping Update #17 - Surprise!

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My week got off to a grand start as I met the newest Marine Biologist in my life (ok, the only Marine Biologist in my life) and gave her the Planaria Gansey.  It fits!

As Peter Rabbit and his friends were still waiting on the KnitPicks order I finally sewed the buttons on my Gansey Cardigan.

And then I finished my Catharine Macaulay socks.

\

Still no Knitpicks order so I cast on my latest socks (also gansey style) called Portwenn

Then...ta-da, yesterday my Knitpicks order arrived so last night I got to work on Peter Rabbit's body, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle's head/ears and paws, and Jemima Puddleduck's bonnet.  I also went to Michael's in the afternoon to get more stuffing and some yellow pipe cleaners for Jemima's webbed feet.  I'm all set for the putting together portion of the program. 

In order to get free shipping I also bought this book.  I have made three or four surprise sweaters by Elizabeth Zimmerman and I love making them so this book is a delight to have, and I will be making something from it as soon as Peter and his friends are all put together.  Currently they are just a basket of bits and bobs!

making a mini version for my Christmas tree is on my Yopping list for this year too!

I also bought a set of 6" double points in small sock sizes.  I have a set of 5" needles, but often they aren't long enough for some of my gnomes and/or toys. That's my story and I am sticking to it.

Of course some sock yarn jumped into my cart by accident, 

the single ball is grey, not sure why it is photographing purple

as well as a row counter I can wear on my finger and quickly advance the rows with a tap of my thumb.  I have something very similar for counting laps when I swim. 

So it has been a retail therapy kind of week - and I am so pleased with all my purchases. 

I have been playing Wingspan a few times this week - sometimes solitaire and once with my dh. (He got the highest score! Hmph).

It has been very rainy and windy here all week and the low barometric pressure meant yet another migraine.  Sigh.  I have been keeping a food diary but so far no clues.  My stomach hasn't been so great all week and all I have been wanting to eat are chicken breasts and brown rice.  Could be worse I suppose.  We got our flu shots on Friday so that is a good thing.

I did make chocolate chip cookies yesterday.  That was my daughter's fault as she was making them in the morning and as a co-worker of my dh's said 'It done flung a craving on me!'  

My grand-daughter has called a few times this week.  Today she was painting with her momma, and yesterday she was riding her two-wheeled bike (with training wheels).  Every time I see her she seems to have learned something new to share with us. 

Nature is putting on quite the show these days.  The fall colours are stunning. 

backyard maple showing off

I hope to get out for some walks this coming week - time to get the rain gear out of the closet.  I joined another Conqueror Challenge - The English Channel - and I am logging my swimming distances there while I continue to log my walks on the Ring Road in Iceland.  I hope to be done the Ring Road before the end of the year, and the English Channel by then too.  Then I can start two new challenges in 2022 - one for walking - The Kruger safari in Africa - and Macchu Pichu for swimming.  I like these challenges and the medals are very beautiful!

Raking the yard of ALL the cedar will have to wait - 

It  is pouring again - and the barograph indicates storm 

so I am staying in and will continue on my Beatrix Potter trio.  I only have Peter's arms/legs and jacket to go and then I can start assembling. 

My novel  sales are slow and steady.  I am going to explore the cost to also do a limited run of paperback copies.  Stay turned.

I hope all my dear readers are staying warm and dry.  Time for tea and a cookie I think.  

Update 66 - What?

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This is suppose to be a Year of Projects update, but an important event has preempted Yopping Update #16.

Because...

Today is my birthday!  I am 66.  Sixty-six!  As my dear friend said today - you have 39 years to go!  

I am planning to live to be 105 so, yes, 39 years indeed.

Yesterday I swam my birthday lengths - 66 lengths - in 59 minutes, and then I went to a hair salon for the first time since February 2020 for a trim.  I felt brave and now my long hair feels so much healthier. 

This morning I was greeted with my grand-daughter wishing me a happy birthday, and then a group video chat with my son and daughter, and they sang me happy birthday with my dh accompanying them on guitar.  

Then my sister phoned with another happy birthday song, and I got to open my presents from her while she was on the phone - what fun!

More wishes from my younger sister and brother and a dear friend.  I am blessed indeed. 

Yes, another migraine earlier this week, but I am moving forward - one day at a time. 

On the knitting front though (can't resist updating my fellow yoppers) I have finished my cardigan, and it is waiting to be blocked.

so happy with buttons I found in my button jar(s)

I have knit all the little pieces I can for my Beatrix Potter trio.  I am waiting on the light and dark browns I need for Peter Rabbit and Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle. I am hoping my KnitPicks order arrives this coming week. 

I started a pair of socks which I am knitting two at a time and I am 8 rows away from turning the heels.

Catharine MaCaulay from the Bluestockings collection by Kate Davies

My dh gave me the board-game Wingspan for my birthday and so today (which is a very rainy day) I am going to learn how to play it.  When my son was out in August he brought his game and we played it and I LOVE it.  Any birdwatcher/birdlover would enjoy this game because there are 170 bird cards with beautiful illustrations and information on their habitat/feeding behaviour/nesting habits etc.  It is enjoyable just to read all the cards.

set-up and ready to roll

I have been organizing all my knitted shawls, and I am washing and re-blocking nine of them to give away to friends.  

I mean really, how many shawls does one woman need?  

And don't even get me started about my sock drawer!

I have been in jeans for 19 months, but I always have colourful feet!

I will leave you with two pictures. My dear grand-daughter:

her Ta-ta is a brilliant photographer

and my motto for the coming years:

Warning - Shameless self promotion - My first novel, White Rabbit, is on Amazon as an ebook.  I have self-published it under Mary-Anne Burton Taylor.

Yopping Update #15 - Getting Organized

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I have been MIA for the past few weeks.  My mental health has taken a downturn, probably due in part to a series of migraines that have kept me more homebound than usual. 

I think the clouds are beginning to part.  I did finally catch up on reading three weeks worth of blog posts - something that just seemed too hard until Friday.  

I have been stalled in my knitting as I wait for a yarn order, but while I wait I have been organizing my patterns and projects. 

My Knitting Ganseys book was falling apart and trying to tape the pages together wasn't working so I ordered some sheet protectors so I could put the pages into a binder.  It was easier to order 100 sheet protectors so once I had the Gansey patterns safely in a binder I decided to go through all my other paper patterns and to organize them, and throw out any patterns that I would never make.  That was an epic fail - I think I only threw out three patterns!  

It didn't take long to use up all the remaining sheet protectors

I did finish my gnome KAL yesterday and I think I can post a picture now because all the clues have been released. 

Gnorwen and her ice-cream cone (which looks more like a wee baby)

After she was finished I didn't feel like casting anything on so instead I organized my sock stash and matched it up with patterns so I have seven project bags with the appropriate yarn and pattern all ready to go.  

Now to pick one and get knitting

I also wanted to start knitting a Beatrix Potter trio of Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-duck and Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle.  I didn't have the right colours for Peter, or his jacket so yesterday I HAD to make a Knitpicks order to rectify that.  Well, we all know how the story goes - I had to get free shipping so an Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern book, some needles, and yes, some more sock yarn hopped into my cart.  

I have started with Jimima because I have the correct colours for her.

I think because of my low mood I have been doing more than my fair share of retail therapy.  I am currently waiting on two wool orders and also another long legged swim suit for winter swimming.  Oh...and also a box of chocolate treats!

I received Kate Davies' BlueStockings book in the mail a couple of weeks ago.  I have already made one of the patterns and two more are ready in the above mentioned project bags. 

The book has wonderful illustrations and articles on the women involved in the Bluestockings Group of the 18th century.  I am enjoying reading their biographies immensely. 

self portrait of me while I knit - lol

Walking this week I saw this driftwood - doesn't it look like a hummingbird?

Fall in my front yard

My grand-daughter has been happily casting spells - "I turn YOU into a frog!"

I got their Christmas parcel into the mail last Monday.  I hope that this year it makes it before December 24th! Maybe I can ask her to cast a spell about that!

Cuteness overload

The other news of the week is that I did publish my novel on Amazon as an ebook.  You can read about the launch here.

So there it is and here I am.  It is Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend so today my dh and I are making a roast chicken dinner.  I am blessed that my family is safe and healthy.  I really cannot ask for anything more. 

If you want to follow other bloggers that are involved in this Year of Projects group you can connect to their posts on the top right-hand side of this blog.  

Yopping Update #14 - Better late than never

 

I am here.  A little late (ok a lot late) but never-the-less a quick update.

I have, in fact, lost yarn chicken with my cardigan. 

Such a shame that I had to order more yarn to finish the sleeves, and lo and behold by accident, on purpose, I ordered another 1000 gms that just jumped into my cart!  It is already shipped from The Net Loft in Cordova Alaska and I will soon be able to 

a) finish my cardigan, and

b) start another gansey!

In the meantime I have gotten a wee bit behind on my KAL gnome.  I have a hat, and a nose and some odd bits that I was told to knit but have no idea what they are for. 

I am still dealing with migraines - which sucks - so my swimmng and walking are both on the back burner.  

On the front burner I have got my novel to the publish stage.  Stay tuned - there should be an announcement in the next few days. 

Nature has been putting on quite a show lately. 

I do love the fall

I spent the weekend Christmas shopping and wrapping in order to get my daughter's Christmas parcel in the mail last Monday.  Yes, it takes that long to get to Croatia from Canada!

Speaking of Croatia...someone was camping by the river this past weekend.

Surrounded by love