Rules for Feeding the Stash

Monday, April 27, 2020

Day Forty-Five


Look, a photo!

I think I'm going to scale back to blogging twice a week, probably on Mondays and Fridays. This is something I've been thinking about since last summer, and there's enough going on in my life even without all this Covid nonsense that I think twice a week is a good move.

Anyway, updates: the new sweater I mentioned last week and STILL HAVEN'T SHOWN YOU is doing good. I think I'm about halfway through the sleeves? This sweater is knit flat and seamed and starts with the sleeves (no sleeve island later!), so I'm doing them two at a time because wow, I hate being stuck on sleeve island.

I spent several days this week working on my vest sample before realizing last night that it is absolutely not working as I'd hoped and needs to be ripped back to before the underarms. I also realized that it's going to need four skeins instead of three, so that's a problem. I reached out to the one person on Ravelry who has a skein in this colorway in their stash, and if I hear back, great. If not, I have another idea I could use this yarn for, and this vest will just get shuffled off to next summer's list. I'll survive.

After all the wailing and gnashing of teeth over the vest, I cast on what was supposed to be my second summer pattern, a tank with some lace around the bottom. It has only half of a round so far, as I cast it on at eleven last night, but I'm hopeful that I can catch up on my Netflix queue and start banging it out.

I didn't do too much baking last week, other than a coffee cake on Saturday. I'm hoping to do bagels this week—I've never done bagels before, but I've also only had one really, really good bagel since being diagnosed with celiac disease, so they've been high on my baking list for a while. I've also been craving Eggs Benedict like crazy, so once I get a batch of bagels done, I can make that as well!

I love you all. Your skin's looking great, and whatever you've been doing to your hair is really working for you. You are a beacon of loveliness in a world of uncertainty. Your houseplants are thriving. Your pets are so glad you're home. Remember that I cherish each one of you individually.

Monday, April 20, 2020

Day Thirty-Eight

1. Yeah, no photo today. My house isn't the best place to take WIP photos? And also I've been forgetting until there's been no natural light. I mean, there's a pandemic going on, I'll take photos later.

2. I have started a new sweater with some yarn that's been in my stash for ages. I tried knitting it up twice, but each time I was wrong about what it wanted to be. I think I'm right this time, though.

3. I've read six romance novels in the past two days.

4. I successfully made my first loaf of sourdough last week! It doesn't have any nice bubbles, but it's hard to get bubbles without gluten. I'll experiment more later with adding xantham gum to try to encourage bubbles. I've been studying and trying for sourdough on and off for years, so this success is really gratifying.

5. I think that's all I have for now? Sorry for not blogging for two weeks. I promise I meant to, and I kept forgetting because time is meaningless. But I want to do better. So. Hope you're all doing well, whatever that means for you. Please be gentle with yourselves and your loved ones. Maybe make cookies? I did that last week and it made me feel pretty good. 

Monday, April 6, 2020

Day Twenty-Four: Numbers

1. No photo today. I'm sure I could have found something to take a photo of, but I was tired.

2. Yesterday was hard. I ended up having to scream into a pillow. We're all struggling. We'll be okay.

3. I made cookies this weekend and didn't put enough flour in. I have been using this cookie recipe for over twenty years. This is the second bake I've messed up so far during this pandemic. I suppose if all I'm doing is making some funny-looking but still delicious bakes, I'm doing okay.

4. My sourdough starter might be ready to start baking today. Yesterday it was close, and I decided to give it another day. I mean, I have the time

5. I have been out of chips for four days and it's really hard. Tomorrow morning is the hour at the store for elderly and at-risk people, so I'll be able to stock up for the next week.

6. I also need to get some puzzles. I mean, I have puzzles. But my current puzzle is a 1000-piece Chagall, and my other puzzles are a 1500-piece Van Gogh, a 1000-piece Frida Kahlo, and a 500-piece puzzle that's all black and white. I really need an easy puzzle (well, a few easy puzzles). I'm going to check the store when I go tomorrow for some 300-piece ones or some 500-piece ones that aren't black and white and therefore needlessly complicated. (Also, Puzzle Warehouse is still shipping, just FYI).

I think that's it for today. Please keep taking care of yourselves, kittens. We're all doing our best. We're doing great. I love you all specially and individually. 

Friday, April 3, 2020

Day Twenty-One


Well, I've made it to the end of the third week of isolation. I don't know how long you all have been isolating, but we're doing great. I had a bit of a wobble at the beginning of the week because apparently Pandemic Stress wants to give me new nightmares, but I'm doing better now.

Last week I started knitting Wild Sky, which has been in my queue since Cory released it, and I thought I had the perfect yarn for it in the form of this mystery skein my friend Annika sent me when she destashed a bunch of her yarn. The color is great, it's got great bounce, and I really thought this was going to be an easy project.

Except, of course, there's not enough yarn. I'm three repeats in, of the written four, and that little ball that's left isn't even enough for all the crown decreases, never mind a whole extra repeat before that. I'm super bummed, because I've been looking forward to this project and now I'll have to find another yarn that ticks all the same boxes this skein did.

Looking forward to this project so much and having it not work out because of factors beyond my control feels a bit on the nose right now.

Yesterday I made cinnamon rolls for my sister, who has taken over doing my laundry during the pandemic so I don't have to be exposed to the laundromat. She's also a CNA at our town's nursing home, so she's a champ on many, many fronts, and she absolutely deserves her favorite baked goods.

You all look great. Whatever you're doing with your hair? Is working for you. Sending all my love, etc. 

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Day Nineteen


Well, we've made it to April. 

I finally got hit with a big wave of loneliness yesterday—it felt ridiculous, since I've been on the phone with my mum every day, and we've visited each other outside the past several days, but I just got another wave of how different everything is and it was too much. 

On one of my most recent runs to the store I picked up a big bag of birdseed for the feeder outside my living room window. I figure if Lee Lee and I are stuck at home all the time, at least we can have something fun to look at. Not all of the neighborhood birds have realized it's full yet, but we've had a couple finches visit. 

I've been baking a lot. Baking is always soothing for me, and now I have the time and flexibility in my day to bake a lot. It's a concrete way of remembering that I have an effect on the world around me—I can't really do anything to stop Covid-19 (yes, I know that staying home is the most important thing I can do), but I can make a cake. I can make bread. I can do things. I matter.

It's not just baking, either: I can pull the dead leaves off my plants. I can knit a row on my sweater. I can put birdseed in my feeder so the finches get nice and fat. It's those small but still tangible things that are going to help us get through this.

We're all in this together. We are so strong and creative and resilient. We're doing our best. We're superstars, every one of us. I love you all.