I just checked to see when I posted last and it was in March! Oh well, they say time flies when you're having fun! Although they also say once you're over the hill you pick up speed. 👀
It seems like just last week it was Easter, and now here it is the middle of June. What have you been doing? I don't know about you but it doesn't seem like I've done much, until I start writing it down.
I joined the YMCA with Silver Sneakers and I'm going there three times a week. I found two classes that I really like and that aren't killing me (eye roll here if you like!). I'm doing senior yoga twice a week. There is no getting down on a mat, as many of us would need a crane to get back up. My knees will not tolerate much abuse anymore. But doing the exercises from a standing or sitting position gives me just enough stretching and balance to challenge the muscles without pain.
The second class is called Silver Sneakers Circuit. Why it's a circuit I'm not sure, but we work all the major muscle groups while moving to upbeat music. Our leader is great at keeping us moving without hurting anything. She always says 'do what you can do'. Great advice at any age! I already feel better and both classes are benefitting my left knee which had a meniscus repair three years ago, and my right that need something since it's nearly out of cartilage!
The Y that I am frequenting is newer, large and very clean. There's a day care for parents who are working out, and multiple rooms and pools. I'm not yet brave enough to put on a bathing suit, so just floor exercises for me. It'll be interesting to see whether my A1C goes down... fingers crossed!
The knitting is going well. I am signed up to teach a class next week on a very cute baby sweater.
It's called Norwegian Fir. It's a paid-for pattern you can find on Ravelry. I was drawn in by the cute raglan increase rows that have the look of branches on a fir tree. It's not hard but the pattern is many, many, many pages due to the way it was written. It took me a bit to figure out the system the designer was using. I ended up making a spreadsheet instead of using the written directions. Good old Excel!! Never lets me down. That's my math brain speaking. I'm making another one in this lovely dark teal.
I also made some knitted bangle bracelets. That's a free pattern on Ravelry. They take about 4-5 grams of yarn and are made on small double pointed needles, kind of like a sock. They're worked in stockinette stitch so they naturally roll up into a tube, and you can make them in about 18 1/2 minutes!
I found the pattern for this cute sailor sweater in an old knitting book from the early 1990s. I made it for a friend who's gifting it to a little girl who's just turned two. It was very fun to knit and I learned the technique for making that rolled sailor collar on a v-necked sweater. Also the color work was fun. Those are small anchors along the bottom.
Our group at Church made two quilts for the preschool with their Letter Q handprint blocks. Every year the four-year-olds go through the alphabet and when they get to Q they make a hand print on muslin to be made into a quilt. I made the one on the left and my friend Gretchen made the one on the right. They get auctioned off for a special project for the school. They made the sign that calls us the famous Loving Hands Quilters. LOL! You can't miss with cute handprints!
The group also made many other quilts. We recently donated the four quilts above to the Silent Auction for Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. The proceeds benefit the synod mission efforts, planting and supporting churches and programs in many places around the world. The top two are adult sized and the bottom two are
The auction starts on June 12 and can be viewed
HERE if you'd like a peek.
In May I went to the grand opening party for the Nancy Zieman Productions Quilt Studio and Museum in Beaver Dam WI. I went specifically to see the evening presentation from the Midwest YaYa Sisters, Rita Farro and Mary Mulari. Unfortunately Mary had to miss as she and her husband had just been diagnosed with Covid, but Rhonda Pierce from Schmetz Needles was there to help. Here she is modeling some of Rita's Frankensewing, as she calls it when she makes a 'new to her' garment from several that may not fit her. Isn't this one fabulous!
Rita's had a tough year. She was dealing with her husband's illness and planning a move to a more adaptive home when he died. She says sewing saved her life and sanity. It was good to see her again. She's in my prayers, as are many of my friends.
I made a cute bug pillow for a local nonprofit group. It was a free pattern that required five fat quarters. I changed the pattern to have six legs instead of four, because bugs have six legs and some child with a literal mind or an interest in science might notice! It was fun to make, and I plan to make one or two more.
Wow, that's enough for now! It's time for lunch. Hope you're having a great summer.
