Day 269 of 2026

My fast finish is improving. 

I completed the foot of sock number two last night,

 and then my needles that were supposed to arrive tomorrow

 arrived today. 

I was able to start and finish the first toe with the new needles 

tonight during the Indiana football game 

with the exception of the grafting.

 If all goes well, I should be done with this pair of socks

 sometime this weekend.

 

Day 268 of 2026

Today's puzzle setup was a little unconventional. 

 

Day 267 of 2026

Yogurt mustache.

 

Day 266 of 2026

I took a little time this afternoon 

to assemble the tree in my current puzzle. 

I guess I should have led with the fact that I got out my pick

 for the next puzzle to work last Thursday, 

but today is the first time I have actually worked on it.

 

Day 265 of 2026

Well, my fast finish is not going as quickly as I had hoped. 

I have been having trouble lately 

with stitches dropping off the end of my needle. 

Once I notice it, it takes quite a while to fix 

as the pattern is not easy to decipher

 when the stitch continues to unravel. 

I have tried to use the 9" circular but my hands cramp

 making it impossible to proceed with that method. 

I am not a fan of magic loop knitting but I may try two circulars. 

I think that may stop the dropped stitches but not bother my hands. 

I need to order several needles to finish this pair

 and to be ready for the first SAL pair M and I will be starting soon.

 

Day 264 of 2026

Breakfast: 

hard-boiled eggs, avocado, Italian dressing and strawberries.

Fireball opted for lunch.

 

Day 263 of 2026

This is the best example of what it means to be a team. 

Runners cheer on one of their teammates 

who was injured but continued to run. 

As soon as he was close enough, 

they all ran on the inside of the track 

alongside him until he finished the race.

 

Day 262 of 2026

I went into my studio to find something. 

I found a suitable item. 

I set it aside and then promptly started categorizing these books

 as they have gotten quite mixed up. 

I have more in stacks around the room

 so I plan to make some decisions on what to let go

 so that all the ones I'm still interested in will fit. 

Now, of course, I can't find the item I had gone here to get. 

I may have thrown it back into a bin of similar items, 

but for today I will just have to do something else that doesn't require it.

 

Day 261 of 2026

I finished cutting out a new quilt today. 

It has been my nap time cutting project for a couple weeks now. 

The stack in the back will need to be sorted and put away. 

To the right of the fabric stack is my colorful pouf. 

That's where the unusable bits are going.

 

Day 260 of 2026

It's time to bring the red socks back out. 

I think the last time I posted about them here was in May. 

I am at the straight foot part of the second sock. 

I am motivated to get them done

 so I can begin an informal sock along (SAL) with M. 

I think I'm going to give myself

 a minimum number of rows or repeats

 to do each day for a fast finish.

 

Day 259 of 2026

You might think that G#6 is examining his tongue, 

but he is not. 

He immediately went closer to lick the mirror.

 

Day 258 of 2026

Last load of the day.

It's been a rough one. 

I had an eye treatment today which I was expecting 

based on my vision and the time since the last one. 

It really zapped my energy today, though, 

which has not been the case lately.

 

Day 257 of 2026

A trip to Home Goods helped me find 

just what I was looking for.

 

Day 256 of 2026

Penrod Arts Fair was today 

and the weather was all over the place. 

It was cloudy for a bit, it rained off and on, 

and it finally got sunny and very hot and steamy. 

To prepare for all this, R wore her rain boots. 

Later we discovered that she matched some of the artwork.

 

Day 255 of 2026

My birthday was a few days ago. 

Upon request Fireball got me a tilting and rotating

 puzzle board with drawers for sorting. 

Then we got a new puzzle to go with it.

 

Day 254 of 2026

Following yesterday's theme, it's also choir season, 

which is pretty much the whole school year.

 It will kick up significantly in the spring

 with show choir competitions 

with two GBs participating this year.

 

Day 253 of 2026

It's cross country season again. 

Due to many weather cancellations, 

today was the first completed meet this year.

Day 252 of 2026

I can't really call this done yet as you can see 

I still have ends to weave in, 

but I did get the fancy bind off done today.

 

Day 251 of 2026

Time to let a few more things go.

 

Day 250 of 2026

GB#6 and the bubble machine

 

Day 249 of 2026

Lots more work in the closet happened today. 

There is still so much more to go

 but it is definitely looking better. 

There will be a lot of labeling to do once I have finalized 

the locations of the items I decide to keep.

 

Day 248 of 2026

We have a flurry of birthdays this month. 

GB#4 is the first. 

She becomes our newest 12 year old.

 

Day 247 of 2026

The sky tonight was amazing.

 

Day 246 of 2026

GB#6 is curious about the puzzle. 

Teach them young.

 

Day 245 of 2026

I'm out and about downtown for lunch with Fireball. 

I've taken this picture before but can't seem to find it. 

If I come across it, I'll link it here so we can compare. 

I finally found it. Click HERE to see it in 2015.

 

Day 244 of 2026

I just finished the second row

 of my two row repeat of this blanket

 only to realize 

that there is not enough yarn for the next row, 

let alone another repeat. 

I am not too broken up about it though. 

It means I get to start the next color sooner. 

 

Day 243 of 2026

To end the weekend, Fireball and I spent some time before dinner

 looking for more clothes to donate. 

We managed one full bag and one very full bag. 

 

Day 242 of 2026

Newest color.

 

Day 241 of 2026

Early this morning at 12:12 

was the peak of a 96% partial lunar eclipse.

 It was visible here in Indiana.

 Shortly before midnight 

it occurred to me to look up how to photograph it. 

I took quick note of the equipment I needed and the settings to try. 

I went to the driveway and set it up. 

I got two photos that were fairly clear. 

I'm happy with my quick try.

 

Day 240 of 2026

USA State Flowers. 

The puzzle includes a list of each state and what the flower is. 

The puzzle itself it so beautiful. 

I have had my eye on it for years. 

I finally saw it at a sale price I've never seen before.

 

Day 239 of 2026

I was hoping to finish the puzzle tonight,

 but I did not make it before my deadline. 

I did get it finished about 45 minutes later. 

Full picture coming soon.

 

Day 238 of 2026

It was a quick trip to the store after dinner. 

We only came home with a couple extra things. 

No, seriously, just two things - tomatoes and bananas. 

It would be hard to make a BLT without tomatoes.

 

Day 237 of 2026

I like to work my puzzles by color or specific area or subject. 

I started with the reds and dark pinks. 

I'm now moving through the blue/purples. 

The pieces here are a bit washed out because 

I had to get out a daylight lamp in order to pick out the pieces I needed. 

This room does not have afternoon light, 

and you know my left eye needs lots of light to see. 

I'll try to get a true to color picture when I finish it.

 

Day 236 of 2026

It feels too early for mums 

but if they are not purchased soon after they appear in the store, 

they will be gone. 

I get them at Costco and they are about twice as big

 as any others I have seen for the same price.

 

Day 235 of 2026

Fireball and I had a good day. 

One of the things we accomplished was filling five bags

 with clothes for donation. 

Neither of us is done yet, 

but this is a good start and gives us 

confidence and momentum.

 

Day 234 of 2026

Puzzle update: 

I have sorted most of the pieces by predominant color. 

Right now I'm working mainly on red portions.

 

Day 233 of 2026

I'm using up the rest of the strawberries from another meal. 

Tonight they will become the topping for strawberry shortcake.

 

Day 232 of 2026

It looks like the last puzzle I did was in September of last year. 

Feel free to check out the "puzzle" label in the sidebar.

It's time for a new one. 

It may take me a bit longer than usual 

as I will be trying not to work on just the puzzle all day. 

I can't wait to show you this one. 

It's so pretty.

 

Day 231 of 2026

Our neighbor got a new roof today. 

 I really like the color they chose.

 

Day 230 of 2026

Sometimes it's necessary to tear something down

 in order to build something new.

 

Day 229 of 2026

I was hoping to finish color number 5

 before my cutoff for today's picture. 

I didn't quite make it but only have one repeat (two rows) left.

 I'll finish them before I go to bed. 

I am officially more than halfway done with this blanket.

 

Day 228 of 2026

As always I get inspiration 

from the color combinations I find at IKEA. 

While I found plenty in the textiles today, 

this one is calling to me

 for my changing of the dishes this fall. 

 

Day 227 of 2026

I have several project bags that have a different project in each. 

It occurred to me today that if I put a small tassel

 of the yarn used in the project on the zipper tab, 

I can grab the right bag without opening it

 or second guessing myself.

 

Day 226 of 2026

We had thunderstorms for the third day in a row. 

The hydrangeas don't seem to mind.

 

Day 225 of 2026

GB#6 and I just got home before it started raining again today.

 

Day 224 of 2026

We had very strong storms most of the afternoon. 

We lost power for 5 1/2 hours. 

I couldn't cook dinner. 

Here's the backside of a bunny.

 

Day 223 of 2026

I was not able to attend Flock Fiber Festival this year

 as it was too close to our San Diego trip. 

It would have involved a one day layover at home 

before flying back to the other side of the country.

M agreed to be my personal shopper 

and grab some things I had my eye on 

and to pick what she thought I would like

 when there were options.

 My happy mail arrived today 

and I am very happy with my haul. 

M is a great personal shopper.

 

Day 222 of 2026

What is summer without baseball? 

It was really hot but fun, and as the song goes, 

we did root, root, root for the home team, and they did win. 

It was a good day.

 

Day 221 of 2026

A day at the museum.

 

Day 220 of 2026

I need to make the shape at the top

 out of yarn but much smaller. 

Here's how I'm going to do it. 

I have traced the original (too large) shape. 

Per my calculations,

 my new shape needs to be 40% of the original size. 

I have calculated what the vertical 

and horizontal measurements should be in inches. 

I wrote that down on the original paper. 

Since my original size is bigger than one sheet of paper,

 I marked a cutting line and added diamond marks to line up later. 

I cut my original in half and made copies of both halves at 40%. 

Out popped my tiny copies which I will tape together 

using the diamonds for matching up. 

I will use my now reduced hand written dimensions

 to check for accuracy. 

All that is left to do is make my little yarn piece 

using the tiny pattern to check the shape and size as I go. 

Expect progress pictures.