Day 41 of 2026

These hearts are usually hanging above my kitchen sink. 

I took them down in order to hang snowflakes in December.

 The snowflakes have been put away with the other holiday decorations, 

but I just noticed the hearts today in a neat little bowl in the kitchen. 

I think I'll hang them back up tomorrow.

 

Day 40 of 2026

White popcorn in my blue bowl.

I also fixed my Crock-Pot lid with a new handle 

which makes it better than new, 

but that picture wasn't as colorful as this one.

 

Day 39 of 2026

Happy mail. 

Actually not mail, but a delivery none the less.

 

Day 38 of 2026

GB#3 has come to spend the night. 

To wind down before bed 

we decided to watch some ice dance pairs competition. 

To my surprise, he was quite engrossed.

 

Day 37 of 2026

Is anyone else going to try to catch some of the 

Olympic Winter Games?

 

Day 36 of 2026

Years ago my quilting group made felted wool pincushions. 

I have many scraps from that time.

When shapes are cut from a larger piece

 it is no longer a neat piece.

 There are always these weird shapes sticking out

 that make the wool quite messy.

I recently found a bag of felted wool pieces. 

I decided to trim them up and cut as many little shapes

 as I could from the messy bits. 

These will go in a separate place for future appliqué projects.

 

Day 35 of 2026

The cuffs of both socks of my next pair are finished, 

marked and ready for the leg pattern to begin. 

If you remember this post, I can tell you that this is much closer

 to the actual color of the yarn and I am really loving the combo. 

I did the research I talked about in that post

 but ultimately decided not to change

 what I have already been doing on my socks.

 

Day 34 of 2026

There was a school function tonight. 

We left home right after Fireball got home from work. 

We arrived just in time.

 We were not the only ones. 

There was no parking. 

It was a very cold walk from our car. 

At least the sky was fabulous...

and the event was good.

 

Day 33 of 2026

Oops! 

I was just trying to put my crock pot away 

and the lid handle shattered. 

Now I am charged with research and phone calls 

to see what my replacement options are. 

Hopefully it will involve a new handle, 

but I suspect a new lid might be my only option.

 

Day 32 of 2026

My mother and my mother-in-law passed away 

seven and four years ago, respectively. 

It has been very hard to summon the courage

 to go through their purses. 

I'm not talking about their checkbooks and wallets 

or other time sensitive items. 

Those were dealt with right away.

I'm talking about the pens and notebooks, 

phone numbers and nail files, 

mending kits and mirrors, 

and one plastic rain bonnet. 

I finally did go through the two purses 

and kept just a few meaningful items. 

I am discovering that as time passes 

and I look through things again, 

I always find some things I can let go of 

that I previously thought I needed to keep. 

Progress is slow, but progress is progress.

 

Day 31 of 2026

We got to see GB#2 perform with her show choir today 

to start off the spring competition season. 

 

Day 30 of 2026

I have successfully ripped this back

 to a plain purl row prior to my mess. 

Since this picture was taken I have 

put the stitches on my needle, 

oriented them correctly, 

figured out where I actually am in the pattern

 and knitted a few rows. 

My center line has stayed in the center, one of my former problems.

 

Day 29 of 2026

There is a lot to say about this piece of knitting, 

but most of it will have to be for another day. 

Today I will only say that tomorrow 

I will need to see if I can successfully rip it back

 to a preferred spot without a lifeline. 

Wish me luck.

 

Day 28 of 2026

 

Today's sort through was a box labeled "Old Books."

I have reduced the number of books I'm keeping

 to about one quarter of what I started with. 

It seems it was common to write one's name and the year in books. 

This one was my grandfather's. 

He saw fit to write all the pertinent information on the cover. 

What struck me most though 

was that the year of his high school graduation 

was one hundred years ago.

 
 

Day 27 of 2026

These are the adorable crocheted items I told you about on Saturday. 

From the small pot on the right the "succulents" pull out and become coasters. 

 

Day 26 of 2026

Now that the snow is on the ground, 

the temperatures are going to stay very low for a while. 

The positive side of that is the beautiful frost on the windows.

 

Day 25 of 2026

Final result tonight after it finally stopped snowing. 

9 1/2 inches on the patio table on the deck in the back yard. 

Everything is shut down tomorrow. 

 

Day 24 of 2026

Fireball and I went to the Home Show today before the snow started. 

This is a new featured exhibit I didn't expect. 

There were many tables set up in a specific area, 

each occupied by a young person selling their hand crafted items. 

We bought a couple of adorable, very well-made 

crocheted items from one of them. 

 

Day 23 of 2026

Back on Wednesday when I cleaned out the hall closet, 

I decided to move the box on the top shelf to another location

 so I could keep all our luggage together. 

I moved the box today and put it in its proposed new spot. 

Unfortunately, it won't work there but also can't go back where it was. 

I have stopped trying to figure that out today 

but will come up with a solution soon. 

What's in the box, you say? 

It's my wedding gown which my mom made for me. 

I know you cannot see it all here, 

but it is a long dress with short puffed sleeves

 and a separate lace pinafore. 

Mom did the embroidery on the neckline 

and more secret stitching on the inside portion of the hem. 

I did not unseal the box so I can't tell you exactly 

what is stitched there but I do know that 

our wedding date is part of it. 

If you've been here for a while, 

you've probably seen the dress in a post. 

Here is the link to the photo. 

Use it for general shape and design. 

The details don't show in this picture.

 

Day 22 of 2026

My candy canes from Christmas are almost gone

 so I am savoring my peppermint hot chocolates while I can.

 

Day 21 of 2026

Do any of you remember when silk ribbon embroidery was a big deal? 

I took a class in which we learned how to embellish a jacket. 

While decluttering a closet today, I found my jacket from that lesson. 

I still love it even though I haven't worn it in a long time. 

I'm not ready to part with it yet so it will go back into the closet. 

Maybe at some point I will take lots of detailed pictures of it 

and let it go, 

but not today. 

Plenty of other items did leave.

 

Day 20 of 2026

I have changed the dishes. 

I've skipped right by my preferred winter colors

 to make sure I didn't get busy or distracted

 and forget to change them for Valentine's Day. 

Colors used: 

Peony, Flamingo, Linen, Sky, Scarlet, White

 

Day 19 of 2026

Indiana University wins the CFP National Championship! 

Cignetti smiles!

 

Day 18 of 2026

The last of the holiday cards will go out tomorrow. 

On to other things.

 

Day 17 of 2026

I have done a lot of sorting

 through the holiday decor and ornaments this season. 

I am finally packing it all up to put away 

and now have at least three empty containers

 due to the reduced amount I have kept. 

I have also reduced the total number of containers

 and boxes going back into storage even more

 by putting some of the boxes into existing containers

 that now have more room.

These two boxes are no longer needed but contain lots of memories

 so a photo was in order before they go into the recycling bin.

 

Day 16 of 2026

Where am I? What is it? 

It appears I am about 3 or 4 behind 

on answering the Where am I? and What is it? questions.

 I'll wait until the end of the weekend to give you some time to answer 

and then I will answer all of them 

and link back to the original questions.

 

Day 15 of 2026

Another January evening sky.

(photo taken 1-15-2026)

 

Day 14 of 2026

I have selected the yarn for my next sock project. 

That didn't take long.

Unfortunately, by the time I got the yarn wound

 it was dark outside so the color is not true. 

As soon as I cast on and knit a bit of each color, 

I'll take a picture in the daylight

 for a better representation of the actual color. 

I wanted to cast on tonight, 

but I have been researching stretchier cast ons instead. 

I think it's a good investment of time to learn something new

 that may result in a better product in the end.

 

Day 13 of 2026

Morning walk with a friend.

 

Day 12 of 2026

Ta-da! 

More pictures on More Curiously.

 

Day 11 of 2026

Gone swimming. 

Ta-da tomorrow.

 

Day 10 of 2026

I'm almost there. 

I checked the fit and length of the toe, 

have made some adjustments per a consultation with M, 

and will make an effort to finish the second sock tomorrow. 

After that is blocking so I'm hoping I can share a picture

 of the finished pair on Monday.

 

Day 9 of 2026

How about another very interesting sky?

 

Day 8 of 2026

While I ordered my advent box this year, 

I took the empty box from last year 

and surprised Fireball by filling it with goodies for him.

 He really enjoyed opening our boxes together each night.

 

Day 7 of 2026

This zipper pull had come off the track and 

I was asked if I could fix it. 

The process involved unstitching, 

replacing the pull, adding a fabric pull stop, 

stitching the main fabric back to the zipper tape, 

stitching the lining back to the zipper tape 

and redoing all the topstitching. 

Because the spaces were awkward, bulky and not at all flat, 

all stitching was done by hand.

Whew.

I have to say though, I am pretty happy with the result.

 

Day 6 of 2026

I can always count on my trusty Betty Crocker's Cookbook

 (©1969, 1974 reprint) to quickly give me the right proportions 

for the medium white sauce for tonight's casserole. 

Oh, in case you needed to know, 

Cheez-it crackers now come in a gluten free version in the US. 

Yes, they are also in my casserole.

 

Day 5 of 2026

Two in a row. 

This one featuring the color orange.

 

Day 4 of 2026

Today's pink January sky.

 

Day 3 of 2026

I did the Stitch Supply Co advent box again this year. 

This is the first opportunity I've had to share what was in it. 

This is the entire haul with the exception of the pillow case fabric 

which has already made it to my studio. 

It was fun again with some perennial favorites

 and lots of new, exciting items.

 

Day 2 of 2026

I'm going through knitting books. 

These are a few that I thought I would be able to part with. 

I was wrong.

 

Day 1 of 2026

Fireball and I went outside to see the first sunrise of the new year. 

I think we may need to make this an annual activity. 

I'm excited for another year of pictures. 

Are you?