Well, that was unexpected

Just before 6pm (local) today, the largest earthquake I have been through since probably about 1989 hit Idaho.  Reports are saying it was between 6.3 and 6.5.  Honestly, it rattled me a bit.  Son walked into the living room to ask what the heck was going on.  Husband and I told him to head to a door frame in unison.

Nothing even fell over, though the house moved rather a lot.

On the upside, the cat slept through it.

Grocery Shopping was Surreal

The area where we live does not have a populace who seems to really believe that they could get sick or worse yet, get others sick.  Despite a state stay at home order, there were rather a lot of people still out and about, almost none bothering with any actual precautions.  Most panic buying seems to have subsided, though that may be due to lack of product on shelves more than anything else.

Since Husband has a background in biohazards and public health, we have been carrying hand sanitizer since the end of January.  We also tend towards overly cautious in the current situation. Masks and gloves, already stocked in our house(yay for woodworking supplies), are worn for all errands and only removed once back inside the house. Showers are taken immediately following a store run.  The clothes worn for errands are put directly into the washer.  We live in a neighborhood that has quite a lot of folks in the retirement age range, so better safe than sorry, for our neighbors and their grandchildren.  It's not just about us.

The store local to us also serves the higher end suburbs of Boise.  People were taking almost no precautions at all.  Not being respectful of space.  Staring openly or pointedly avoiding acknowledging us.  A few even giggled. Gloves are fairly discreet, you can't hide a face mask.

Things mostly looked the same. One lady loudly bought out a type of bacon at the butcher counter, while standing way too close.  For us, it was a slightly larger than usual grocery store run, but with Easter coming up, that isn't actually out of place.  The conversations in grocery store parking lots as we load the car, of thankfulness that we are able to buy a little extra at this point and remembering the not too long ago times we couldn't, are unusual, but decidedly heartfelt.

Costuming for the Occasion

As someone who has spent quite a lot of the last couple of decades keeping myself entertained, (thankfully my kids are waaaay old enough to entertain themselves now), I feel like I have a rather uniquely suited mind-set for the current situation.
My latest focus, aside from the slightly manic organization of...well everything, is the appropriate outfits for this occasion.  It's been a favorite hobby of mine for years, though the ensembles have rarely been horribly practical.  Current events demand practicality, which in my head, means as many pockets as possible and something I can wear with my boots, combined with a semi-subdued color palette.  My brain dubbed this sartorial concept, Rosie the Riveter meets Sarah Connor.
Hence, my purchase of cargo pants:

The colors of said pants will surprise absolutely no one.  They need to be tailored slightly, which I will likely get to this evening.
Now to go with said cargo pants, one needs tank tops of course!  I have the supplies to make a few All Tied Up Tanks, as well as the  non-wool yarn to make a few other in an even simpler design.
My Little Secret Crop also fits the bill, so progress continues:

I did realize that at some point sleeves would likely be needed so a couple of Knot Front Tees are also on the to be made list.
What accessories to put with this?  Stylistically, simple is best.  Something to cover ones head would be good.  Happily I finished the first of three Lisbeth hoods already!  The yarn is Malabrigo Silky Merino in the Bosques colorway.

There will also be a few of the Ivy vintage-style faux headwraps done shortly, (they don't look like much on the needles).
But what about my hands and arms you ask?  Especially with them exposed courtesy of the tank tops!
Apocketmitts to the rescue!  Yay extra pockets!

The yarn is Blue Moon Fiber Arts Single Silky Targhee in Say Nevermore. 

I may be slightly over enthusiastic about this particular look.  Though with as easily as I was able to put this all together, it was just a matter of time before I managed to put the pieces together.  Or had the gumption to wear it.

So.....how are you?

The current situation is quite horrible, especially for all the folks who are social and work outside their homes, (I know that is pretty much everyone).  Please know, I am worried about y'all.  Every. Last. One of you!
Around here at Chez JuneyWoollyThinker, life proceeds almost as usual.  While there is no popping out to the store or job interviewing going on,  I continue to knit.  It's Spring now, so there is gardening to be done.  I may even manage to pull out my sewing again.
On the knitting front, I cast on My Little Secret Crop last night, about 10:30pm after pillaging my yarn hoard for appropriate yarn.  I'm about half way through the body (I'm adding just a smidge of length) and am already plotting a second one.  The yarn is Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Sport in the Aurora Heather, it's been in the hoard for years.

We'll see how fast I can finish it.  Wool tank tops seem rather sensible for Spring weather in Idaho.

With the start of the gardening and the putting out of the seedlings comes the War with the Squirrels.  There are rather a lot of the fuzzy little bastards around here.  They left my pea seedlings alone:

But for some reason the bean seedlings were to be dug up, sat upon, and in one case, eaten entirely:

The conspiracy of ravens that has been frequenting our house, as well as a local hawk or two (occasionally even sharing a tree) seem to have slowed them down today.  Honestly, I am completely okay with it.  I really don't want to have to keep re-planting.  Cayenne pepper and neem oil will be used liberally as deterrents as long as my supplies permit, combined with physically chasing them off and shouting, "Oi!"  Hopefully, something will work.

Stay safe.  Be well. (I still can only think of Demolition Man)

Updates and Not Knitting Bits

This evening we found out that Husband's classes will all be online for the rest of the Spring term.  Our new plan is for us to just hang tight and indulge our very introvert type selves for a couple of weeks.  We are a bit of a...wary lot (mostly due to Husband's public health background), so we have been slowly planning and setting up for this for a good couple of months.  (Not in the absurd, "buy all the toilet paper" way, thank you).
Happily, gardening season is starting, I have a garage that needs re-organization, a pile of needlework projects, new novels to read and a hoard of yarn.
My seedlings are doing well.  It should be warm enough soon to for them to go outside:

I put together a seed mix of sort of similar, older seed out of my collection:

Quite a lot of the mix is edible plants, including some random lettuce.  It will be a surprise to see what sprouts.
Then there is the vintage lace that finally got washed up.  My plan is to use some of it in a necklace.

In the process of digging out the lace, I came across some buttons that were ideal for the A Bit of Funk cardigan I have been planning.  I think they pair well with the lace I had already bought for the project.

Please, don't panic, take care of yourselves as best as you can, and listen to my sheep friend with their (slightly) modified message from Subversive Cross Stitch.

The Current Theme is Apparently Green

Despite the weather deciding to not be amenable to my Spring mindset, I continue to push forward in anticipation of warmer weather.
My garden starts are making their first appearances.  I may even be able to put them outside in a few weeks.  Mainly, peas, cucumbers and melons.

I pulled a cross stitch pattern from the top of my pile from Subversive Cross Stitch and got to work.

I cast on a giant color work shawl, the Boho Texture Triangle  Not my usual style, but in a forest themed color palette?  I am smitten.

I finally broke down and bought mesh produce bags.  They are quite good.  I also purchased some microfiber cleaning cloths/towels.  Yes, they are synthetic, but if I don't have to keep buying plastic wrapped paper towels?  I will call it a win.
I got some vertical planters for the mass amounts of salad I plan to grow this season.  They are heavy, well made pieces I will reuse for quite some time.  There may also be a half dozen other large planters in my front room.  I can't put in raised beds where we are at right now, so I plan to be Queen of the Container Garden.

The emergency radio I bought for our camping gear box?  Totally bought it in green.

Spring Prep

Spring seems to be starting to show itself around here.  This of course means that the Seed Hoard I've been steadily adding to over the last six months or so has been brought out for perusal.

Mostly salad greens and flowers of various types.  Peas and beans as well.  A couple of short season melon varieties to try out as our growing season isn't overly long.

I threw together some melt and pour soap, nothing fancy, though the mixes are minus the ingredients I have found make me itch, so worth the minor effort.

Of course I used Halloween themed molds.  What else would I use?

My votive candle molds are awaiting use:

The wicks I need show up next week.

While out wandering locally, I came upon some distinctive cookie cutters that I felt needed to be added to my collection:

Llama, octopus, clover, moose, sloth and a wine glass. 

Some yarn did come in for a few summer tank tops I plan on making, in between the other three dozen projects on my "to make" list.  I haven't taken photos of the yarn yet.

Lately, it's been about cleaning house and re-stocking the pantry for Spring, accumulating gear to put in the camping gear box, and trying to decide on a rational number of plants/seeds to get started.  That last one being the most difficult, as well as oddly time consuming, of the lot.

Now for a bit of Cassandra's Soapbox.  Current events are....Not. Good.  This is the consensus of our household with our unique background in the Not Nice Stuff.  Please listen to the nice doctors and scientists and clever people who actually know what they are talking about. Be sensible about things.  Take what precautions you can.  Expect that you will likely have to help others at some point.  Don't Panic.  It won't hurt to have a plan, you have them for natural disasters and things right?  Take care of yourselves, darlings...I worry!

I told myself I had enough yarn....

And technically, I did...until Husband saw that the Geek Along Blanket theme this year was D&D.  I did not have yarn for that, though now I've made a start.

In my digital yarn wanderings I may have also found out that Blue Moon Fiber Arts has an Esme Weatherwax colorway

The other big skein is Clothos, from the same collection as Esme.  The small green and yellow one is called Tree Toots (how could I not get that?!?!)   The other two skeins are Oola Pikka for an Elfmail sweater.
Yarn for the Kawakawa Shawl was found in the yarn hoard,(I am afraid it is no longer just stash), in the Toad colorway.
Two patterns that came out really recently, the Indira Cowl and Buffalo Check Please? Throw were purchased immediately.  Yarn for the throw may have already been purchased.
Another two patterns, both from the same designer, are patterns I have swooned over for ages and finally decided that if I had the patterns, I could at least contemplate what yarn to use.  Adventurous and All the Lights are my favorite kind of cardigan style covered in glorious cables.

In the swirl of yarn fumes, I realized that I also wanted to start making beeswax wraps.  So I bought some dedicated fabric. Not overly exciting right?  Then I put the fabric with the yarn I bought to make a few kitchen towels. Only to discover I was accidentally color coordinated.

I already had easily thirty (which I really need to take proper photos of), probably more like forty, items of various craft types I wanted to make this year, and have quite recklessly added at least another dozen.  ( I may have heard a family member was extolling their love of cashmere recently.  Plans are being made.)  Which is why I went into the room that houses my hoard, grabbed the multiple skeins of bulky weight Bernat Blanket in the Gathering Moss colorway (it's a rather ishy color, but super soft yarn) and cast on one of the half dozen blankets I apparently think I am going to finish this year.

If I manage to clear all my works in progress off my needles and out from around my sewing machine, I feel like I will still be behind, albeit surrounded by handmade everything.

None of this includes any of my gardening plans.  So. Many. Seeds.

Happily, I can knit and read at the same time so at least I can get through my stack of unread books!

Happy 2020!

Confession:  I really enjoy January.  It's the month where you are actually expected to stay home while recuperating from all the holiday shenanigans.
I am especially appreciating it this year, as the visiting and socializing started in mid-September around here, continuing at a steady pace of one event (at least) every two weeks till the end of December.  This whirlwind of socializing (for me at least) culminated in a 2200 mile (round trip), ten day, road trip to visit my in-laws over Christmas.

Today is the day to start putting the house back in order, to plot and plan the crafting for the year, and randomly, popping ice out of the mail box so it will close. Yay Idaho!

My list of knitting projects to finish this year has about forty items on it, my announced goal is twenty-five projects.  I managed twenty-nine completed projects last year, my goal was fifteen.  I actually got mad at myself for a minute for not hitting a full thirty projects completed (200% sounded far better than 193% to my brain).
The supplies for all this knitting, except for the yarn for this lovely cloak, are kitted up and ready to go, (or already on the needles).
The sewing projects list has a dozen things on it.  Quite a few of those projects just requiring details like hems or patch pockets.  This list is flexible, especially since I have been contemplating another attempt at corset making.

The real goal for me this year?  Work with the supplies you have.

One of the first things likely off the needles will be the first Lisbeth set, which was fabulous travel knitting, when I had time to knit:

The yarn is Malabrigo Silky Merino in the Bosques colorway. 

Please remember that a little bit of kindness goes a long way! May good things find you and yours this year!

Taking a Pause

Sitting in a nice hotel room, balcony door open, listening to waves crashing on the shore.  The sensation of not having to do anything or be anywhere, alien and welcome.

This year started with great stress.  The year before that was rather a lot as well.  

Being able to pause, take a breath, and maybe regain a little balance before the new year begins seems like a really good thing.

I am incredibly  grateful for it, (it's  my third  vacation-type excursion  in twenty-four years).

May you also manage  to find some breathing space. At some point.  Eventually.  Far more often than once every  eight years! ;-)

Happy Winter Solstice!

Because festive bats should totally be a thing!  May your celebrations bring you joy!