Back Home, Catching Up, Yarn, Audio Books, and Exercise

 

The blue afghan grows, inching closer to a 2nd white section.  I've worked on this a few more days.  It's very light weight and as it grows; I like it more and more.  Left the blue blanket at home so only worked on it the last few days before I left town.

The colorful corner to corner blanket has grown 4 more colors...from blue to orange, to green, and currently light gray.  It measures almost 40 inches a side, and in the green section I've started the decrease; so less than half the blanket left to finished.  I worked on this while we were out of town; but still a bit too large to work on it while on the plane.

So this Buckeye Asymmetric Scarf was what I worked on while traveling to and from Hilton Head n the plane.  Smaller items are best for plane travel.  It's growing nicely and might be done fairly soon.  It now measurers 49 inches long and is 10 inches wide as it's widest point.

I started listening to this book, but ended up returning it early...2 fold.  I had several books on my shelf at the time and wasn't going to be able to get them all finished in time and this one called out to me the least...however, I may check it out a 2nd time.  This novel is a recollection of The War in Burma.  It's not a part of the war I know much about.

This was one of the other books I had on my shelf at the same time, and I really enjoyed Kelly Rimmer's other book, The Things We Can Not Say, so went with this one.  A story inspired by a real-life heroine who saved thousands of Jewish Children.  Elzbieta is drawn into what happens in the Jewish Ghetto's by her neighbor Sara.  Let me know if you've read this.

Exercising....mixed bag.  In January I planked 13 times, only 5 during Feb

I did Yoga 3 times in January and only once in Feb.

I went for a walk 5 times in January and did better in Feb 8 times.

Went for a bike ride 6 times in January and 5 times in February.   

February is a shorter month, plus 2 days were travel days, but still...you can see a downfall from January.  January I walked 119.9 miles and 115.95 in February...so that difference isn't too bad.  Gotta see if I can finish a bit stronger in March.

Knitting, and Walking Help Keep one Sane

 

Making headway with the corner to corner blanket/afghan.  In fact made more headway after taking the photo.  Did a section of the blue you see and now have moved onto an orangey color.  When I measured it as you see it, the sides were about 32 inches.  May do about 45 inches per side and then begin the decrease.

Have made more headway also with the scarf, but didn't take another picture, it doesn't look that different.

Crossing The Borders of Time by Leslie Maitland.  The author, an investigative journalist was interested in his mothers stories of escaping Nazi Germany.  This  book,  like many about WWII, tells of hardship, love and lost...as you would expect.  Interesting to me though was learning about camps set up in Cuba for escaping Jews.  Put this book on your list folks and see first hand how one overcomes betrayal, even within the family.

Back out of town where the weather is nicer, and so have been able to get some walking on the beach; though not the distances I really need to get rollin again with steps and miles.  Planks have sadly taken a back seat for the time being.  There's always next week.

I've uploaded this photo as my banner on Facebook, and this picture as my profile picture.

I don't want WWIII, but feel like Ukraine needs a helping hand in it's fight to save it's own country from the monster Putin.  Such troubling times.

***Knitted on the plane, knitting here, knitting helps keep me sane, especially after reading the news.

 

More Color Play, Gnomes, Wordle and Audio Books

 

Start-itis!  It's a disease among knitters and crocheters...perhaps other crafters as well. When you have multiple projects in the works and instead of working on one of WIP (work in progress), you grab yarn and start another project.  These colors should look familiar...scroll back for the blanket of many colors with diamonds.  Still had plenty of all these fun colors and decided to make a basic striped ghan/blanket...but working on the diagonal is more interesting, I think; so, working a corner to corner until it gets the size I want then will start the decrease.  This is currently about the same size as the blue baby blanket (scroll back).  This has 151 stiches on the needles and measurers about 37 inches a side.  The weight of this yarn is slightly different than the blue blanket so it probably won't measure the same with the same number of stiches.

No new pictures of the blue baby blanket, or the Buckeye Scarf; as they remained unchanged since the previous picture and post.

The next audio book, a novel by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White.  This book blends WWI, WWII, and the turbulent 60's.  3 Women experience love, and betrayal.  A heiress, a Resistance Fighter, and A Widow and The Ritz in Paris.  Lots of intrigue, mystery, and some history.  Check it out.

I've continued to walk, do planks and until a week ago rode a bike.  Being out of town with warm weather makes getting outside to exercise easier.  But, back home now...so no good weather and no bike rental...so, we'll see how it goes.  Hubby and I took a walk today; which felt good after 2 days sitting in the car for the return trip.  This picture is from a walk through the neighborhood I took last fall while it was still nice.  Another cute little Gnome Village.  I've posted a few pictures of interesting things I see in my walks. Fitbit says my 28 days average (starting with Jan 31st) is 4.17 miles per day, which is up 17% over the previous 28 day cycle.  However, I've not yet counted the days I've done yoga or planks...feel pretty sure it's less than last month.

Not a current Wordle, just a picture I found.  A different form of exercise.  Are you familiar with it?  Are you doing it?  Do you enjoy it or find it frustrating?  I've only been doing it a few weeks and find it rather frustrating.  Seems the bulk of the time I'm only getting the word on the 5th try.  For practice, I started doing a couple of the archives; doing a bit better with that.  I've made hand notes of words as I think of them and or when I type them in, for reference, but.......when I typed a google spread sheet today from my hand notes; sorted them in alphabetical order and tried to print...I can't print.  Any clue why I can't print a PDF file from Google Docs/Sheets?

Knitting A Baby Blanket and Scarf, World War II Audio Books, and Horses!

 

The Blue corner to corner baby blanket is growing.  The white section is now done, and blended into light blue which has blended into the darker blue currently.  It now measurers 30 inches a side and 48 inches in diameter while on the needles (that often changes a bit), and has 154 stitches on the needle.  We're not yet at the decreasing point...not sure how large I want to make it...it's an eyeball thing for me.  Most people that make baby blankets go for about 30-36 inches.  Mine are always larger, more a crib size or afghan size vs "baby size".  Only time will tell.  I'm happy to see the shading changes.

The Buckeye Scarf (bottom in the picture), has been waiting in the wings for a while.  I started it just around Thanksgiving, then put it aside when I was started working on The Blanket of Many Colors.  Decided it was time to bring it out again, and I like to have projects to switch back and forth between.  As I mentioned above size to me is an eyeball thing.  This Buckeye Scarf will be a gift for a friend who's an avid Buckeye Fan.  I knew it wasn't currently large enough but wanted to compare to a scarf I made myself awhile back with the same pattern.  I like these asymmetrical scarves.  More fun to make than a regular scarf; and perhaps a bit dressier when worn.  The wing measurement is currently 37 inches (the previous one I made is 56 inches), it's 8 inches at it's widest part, while the completed one measures 10 inches.  The width of The Buckeye Scarf will probably be a bit wider on completion, as the yarn is a bit heavier.

Still in WWII mode....this book, "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand is hard to put down.  The book was a best seller and has in fact been turned into a movie, though I've not seen the movie.  This is a true story of Louis Zamperini, his participation in The Berlin Olympics, joining The ARmy Air Force and being a downed pilot.  The courage, hope, and endurance of men against severe conditions and horrible brutality is a testament to the human soul.  I highly recommend this book.

 One of many scenes I've enjoyed these past couple of months as I walk and or ride my bike.  The loop is just over 3 miles through beautiful Sea Pines Plantation in Hilton Head.  Hubby and I have really enjoyed our time away from The Ohio Winter.  I've not made a counting yet for my planks, bike rides, walks, or yoga for the current month of February to compare to January, but my gut feeling is it's less.  We've had some super windy days with cool temps which have lessen my exercising.  I need to pick up the pace with just a week left here before heading back to cold Ohio.

 

Blanket of Many Colors, TaDah!! American Spy in World War II

 

AND.......it's done!  The blanket of many colors has been laundered and is almost dry in this picture.  I debated about adding a 4th row, in fact had the colors selected to do so, then decided since the diamonds are squares...I would stick to keeping the blanket a square vs making it rectangle which adding a 4th row would have done.  It's about 43 inches square so works well as a lapghan, or a childs blanket.  I've not totally decided if this will be a baby gift or donated.

I've pulled out the Blue corner to corner project (intended for said baby blanket).....I've added about 12 rows since the last picture.  It now measures 34 in diameter and you can see quite a good bit of the white.  Not sure how much will be white, though you can see some still on the large ball of yarn.  I will continue to work on this and then make a decision about which to gift....but probably this one.  It's lighter weight and maybe looks more babyish?  More traditional?  What do you all think?

Obviously, this is not a recent picture.  But, one day after I returned from my walk back in the fall, I found 2 squirrels very busy eating my little pumpkins.  Each hanging onto the pots where I put the pumpkins.  These pumpkins grew in my flower bed on their own accord.  I didn't plant them, volunteers they were.  I had about 20 or so 4 or 5 inch pumpkins.  It's my understanding that's the type of pumpkin they were.  The lasted about a month with the squirrels having quite a feast day after day.  I enjoyed watching them eat.  Problem is...wonder how many places they spread the seeds they didn't eat.  Will I have pumpkins growing in odd places next year?  

Continuing to try and walk, or ride a bike, do planks, and yoga most days.  Fitbit tells me I walked 290,387 steps in January, 119.9 miles and burned 53,851 calories.  February hasn't started out very well, I think.  We've had some rain days, and some days with LOTS of wind keeping me inside knitting...so we'll see how the exercising progresses.  But, we must keep trying.

If you read no other WWII book, you MUST read this.  If you've been told woman are the weaker sex, read this!!  "A Woman of No Importance" by Sonia Purnell deemed the best book of the year by NPR and so many more.  The list of credible agencies calling it the best of the year is LONG!  The story of an American Baltimore Socialite, Virginia Hall.  1942, The Gestapo sent out an urgent transmission, "She is the most dangerous of ALL spies.  We must find and destroy her."

Blanket of Many Colors, WWII, Spies, Gnomes

 

Making good headway with the blanket of many colors.  In the previous post, I only had 1 square done in the 3rd row, and now all 4 squares are completed and joined to form the gray diamond block, plus 3 squares of rose colored diamond above it.  Plan to wait until I finish all 3 diamonds on this 3rd row before joining; as I might rearrange again.  Originally had the gray block on the bottom right, but after the rose diamond there will be a purple diamond and thought perhaps it was better to have the gray between the rose and the purple; but will decide once they are complete and I can play a bit with them.  That's both the fun and the challenge of not planning out the color arrangement before starting on the project....but, that's not my style.  I'm more of a seat of pants let's see how it flows persons, lol.

Another good WWII read for you all.  And who doesn't like Ken Follett?  While this is not exactly a true story, it is based on lots of real facts of the time and the events.  Reading some of the reviews it seems most people couldn't  put the book down.  Some watched the movie and then read the book, but most read the book first which is recommended....even by some reviewers who saw the movie first.  Do add this to your list.  The spy the object of the most desperate manhunt in history it says.

Continuing ta walk, or bike ride and working on planks most days.  Plan to make a file/tab here to note monthly totals with the hope that recording it will aid me in trying to do more.  This was taken awhile ago on a walk through my neighborhood.  Isn't the little Gnome village cute!  In addition am trying to add in some yoga a few days a week; but have really gone downhill with that.  Am so much more stiff than I was when I was doing it regularly.  Hard trying to get back into it, but trying.