Life of a Single Married Lady

We all thought COVID would be over by 2022. We know masks reduce viral spread, the vaccines are incredibly effective...and yet here we are. So from my family to yours, mask up, get your vaccines and boosters, and stay smart, safe, and healthy. Maybe this will be our year. COVID finally hit me, and I feel like I lost a competition. But since I'm back to work in person, I suppose it was inevitable. I've been symptomatic for nearly two weeks but thankfully it hasn't been serious, and I'm on the mend now. In the meantime I've been bingeing Marvel movies, walking the dog in my new Carhartt overalls (best purchase of the annual Santeiu Cabela's trip, hands down), and knitting all the things.  So have a couple more pictures of yarny things and stay safe out there.  Progress on the eternal Star Wars scarf A finished object! Tank top with lace detail, cotton yarn. Various other works in progress

As fall 2021 marches toward its end, I thought I'd summarize my summer and fall activities. Unfortunately for all you readers, I'm very boring ;) In May, we went to Utah for two weeks and explored the beauty of the American west. In June we got a new hutch for the cost of transportation. We also started a little hydroponic herb garden. We love both additions to the family. In July, I finished a wedding gift for my new sister-in-law and played around with indigo dyeing. In August I took pictures of the great outdoors and met a very fancy spider when I went back to work in person. In September I attended my college roommate's wedding, the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival, and my brother's wedding (in that order). John's wedding was a ton of work for me but I'm so, so pleased with how it went overall. Thank you to everyone who helped. In October we attended a third wedding, fall arrived, and Kaiser had a photoshoot on our newly purchased 4.75 acres. We're land

Spring has sprung here in Wisconsin, and then it went into hiding for a while. But it's mostly back and we're all jazzed about it! See below for how jazzed we are. This is Kaiser's happy face. Spring has me thinking springy thoughts, and the yarn dyers I follow are thinking the same. I follow one wonderful company that always produces something gorgeous, but the yarns they sell all have animal fiber. I'd like to make an item for someone who can't wear wool, so I decided to attempt a recreation on cotton yarn. This called for more than my previous adventures into dyeing with food color, which I still recommend if you don't want to buy pots and pans for dyeing. Food color is food safe! Rit dye , on the other hand, is not. But it does wonders for plant fibers. Just make sure you have some gloves and materials you can dedicate to dyeing. I started out with an undyed cotton from Wet Belly Fibers . This stuff is delightfully soft, and didn't feel too dry on my han

It's been three months; can any of you guess how devoted a diarist I was as a child? (Answer: not very.) Since it is Friday and I'm tired, I'll just give you a series of pictures that describe the past few months. I hope you are all all healthy and surviving isolation! Keep your spirits up because someone (me and probably lots of other people too) loves you. Also, make this soup . Hello! From me! I'm very proud of my curly hair! Thanks Dad, Mom, Wil, and The Sow's Ear for this lovely sheepy birthday present! Perhaps my most exciting outing - a piano concert that ended up candlelit because of an electrical failure. It was wonderful. Because who doesn't want to see this cutie? Catching a colorful sunrise one morning. I thought it would a good experiment to make my own sauerkraut. I have now realized that I don't know what good sauerkraut even tastes like so it's coming home with my at Thanksgiving to be judged by the experts. This year's first frost, a

Happy July (almost August)! I can't believe we've been in Madison for 4 months already. I've got real work now, not just training, and it seems to be going well. The biological scientists of the world are doing even better, as evidenced by the great news coming out about vaccine trials. In the meantime, I'll remind you all to wear masks when out in public, wash your hands and avoid touching your face, and socialize responsibly. Those are pretty easy actions to take when you remember that, by doing them, you're expressing a great respect for life, both yours and those around you. Keep up the great work! We haven't been doing much because...pandemic. Wil took a road trip to visit his family in Missouri, and we've been spending a lot of time outside to stave off cabin fever. Luckily there's a state trail right behind our apartment, and we're on the outskirts of the Madison area so it's easy to get out. Appreciate this lovely picture. I sacrificed a

It's been a while! I hope you are all healthy and safe. Even with restrictions lifting, please stay cautious - wear a mask, wash your hands, try not to touch your face, and remember that your actions affect everyone around you too. What have you been doing in quarantine? I've been working from home and going through a lot of training, but I do try to decompress. We've been taking Kaiser on so, so many long walks, and it is so lovely to be outside, no matter the weather. Nearby part with connections to the Ice Age Trail Military Ridge state trail that backs up to our apartment Walking the trails around Epic Again on the trails around Epic Besides cooking, the only other thing I've really been doing regularly is crafting, and excitingly, it's been finishing  projects! So here's a combination of long-overdue finally finished things and other things in progress. Working on a scrappy granny blanket Completed Talida stole with a luxuri