Tag: Florida

Year-Round Camping in Florida; Enjoying Nature While I Knit

The peaceful days of camping in the wilderness go perfectly with knitting. What could be better than having coffee outside, with knitting on my lap? We camped twice in the last month and here is a look at the knitting projects I took along.

I live in Florida where we can camp year round. We take our travel trailer north to the Ocala National Forest and enjoy the natural springs, or old Florida settings which are free of traffic and commerce. Sometimes, out in the woods, the internet is sketchy or nonexistent.

As an older woman I am perfectly able to live without access to the internet, at least for a short time. I do work online, but it can wait a few days. Camping for me means relaxing around the campfire, bike-riding, and knitting. Usually my two cats don’t go with us, and that is a form of freedom in itself!

red dirt bike with rider

During this trip, my son took off on his dirt bike, and I worked on my recent knitting project. I’m knitting a fun, little project with wool, which I will use when we camp!

knitting project, seating pad, in colorwork with black cat
Seating pad project and Fontana my cat

The item is meant to keep your bottom warm while taking a sitting break in winter. The SkiBUM Felted Seating Pad comes with a color-work graph. I began by following it, then changed to more simple designs. I do a lot of knitting while riding in the truck. The bumpy ride makes it difficult to follow a chart.

My wool chair pad will be used when we camp. My folding chair has no padding. During cool nights around the fire, my butt was cold! I was using a little foam seating pad for some insulation. The wool felted pad will also be used when eating at the picnic table. I’m sure I can use it year round on our trips. This project is perfect for using up some wool stash! I’ll be writing a post about it soon.

Two Weeks Before This

We also camped on the days following Thanksgiving. During that two day trip I worked on my cotton top (Knus Light) while enjoying the grassy woodland view from our campsite. I saw a lot of Woodpeckers and heard Carolina Chickadees. From over by the lakes, the calls of the Sandhill Cranes could be heard all day long. Lots of deer crossed our path while bike riding. This area is full of wildlife.

Mornings were a little chilly, so I wore my fingerless mitts (Stellar Parallax pattern). I LOVE it when I can wear my hand knits.

Our campsite for 2 nights
Knitting in nature while wearing fingerless mitts.
Knitting the Knus Light top

I really enjoy this cooler weather. Getting outdoors, without sweating, is such a treat. It won’t last long.

Advice For Knitting on the Go

Be sure you have all the items you may need! Needles and yarn of course, but scissors, a crochet hook (for those dropped stitches), stitch markers and holders, and embroidery needle, in case you finish and need to weave in some ends. I like a simple project for the ride, and maybe one other for day knitting. We always have more than one project on the needles, right?

Thanks for reading. Here are more knitting stories.

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Winter In Florida, Wearing My Wool!

On a recent morning my i-phone said it was 42 degrees, I dug out my hand-knit woolies and went outside to feed the birds! It was the perfect time to get some “real life” photos of me wearing a sweater, hat and mittens!

Florida backyard with me wearing my hand-knit woolies.

This is a cold temperature for Florida, but it’s been worse. I’ve lived (off and on) in Central Florida since 1979. I’ve seen freezes, rolling blackouts, and ice on trees when sprinklers are left on. Forty-two degrees is not exactly freezing, but I loved that I could dress up and pretend!

It was fun to dig through my knitwear and don my Triple-patterned watchcap, Woolfolk cowl, Farfuglar sweater, and Clacks mittens. All items were knit by me.

wearing hand knit sweater, mittens, hat and cowl

I remember how long winter months can be from my time living in New Hampshire. For all of you who live in the really cold winter climates, remember that Spring – and green – is right around the corner.

Green field and rustic roadway through tall trees of green leaves.
Ukraine forest – image from Pixabay

Please Keep Reading!

So Glad I Knit, What Have You Been Up To?

This post is a bit about my current knitting and the happenings in a life spent at home during a Florida summer.

It’s summer in Florida, and that always means two things for sure: Afternoon thunderstorms, and hurricanes on the horizon. Hurricane season picks up in another month, but the afternoon storms are here. The ditches fill, power goes out, the cable goes out (along with the AC) and I sit and wonder – Maybe getting an automatic generator IS a good way to spend my meager savings.

Yesterday a lightning bolt hit close by and the power was out for a couple hours. So what did I spend my time doing? Knitting, of course! There was just enough light, once the storm clouds passed, to see my brownish yarn on my green needles (not a good combo). I finished knitting my son’s watchcap.

Homemade Granola For Healthy Snacking

Yesterday, before the power went out, I baked up some granola. It’s been a while since I made granola, but it’s been on my mind. All this sitting around makes me munch, so it may as well be healthy munching.

If you are interested, here is how I made mine: Mix the oats (2-3 cups), nuts, coconut, sunflower seeds, etc., with oil (coconut) and sweetener (honey and / or real maple syrup), then bake for 20 minutes at 300 degrees, stirring halfway through. After it bakes to a crispy brownness, mix in dried apricots, cranberries, and raisins, or any dried fruit. Store tightly covered and eat within a few weeks.

It is yummy. I eat it on my Greek yogurt too.

Mixing fruit into my homemade granola
Basics of making granola with fruit

Knitting Little Quick Baby Hats

Also, in the knitting department, I have been having fun knitting little baby hats for my BBF’s new granddaughter. She (the new baby) lives in California, but I was told it gets cold there, so why not send hats? I made up these little hats, and didn’t like the first one. Tiny hats use very little yarn, so if the end result is not that great, move on and do another. I knit these with 9 inch circular needles, until the top, where I needed DPNs.

knitting baby hats
On my fourth hat

Gardening and Bird Watching

I do have a job, and I spend a lot of time in my bedroom at the computer doing that job, and I can see the bird feeder just outside my window. Birds in Florida don’t need to be fed, but with the green spaces being torn out right and left, maybe they need a little help. Plus, I love watching birds. This is a leftover habit from living in New Hampshire when I fed birds all winter.

As far as vegetable gardening in Florida goes, my fingers are crossed that something will grow well enough to give me fresh veggies. It is unlikely. I let my straggly garden grow because the birds love to hop around in there in search of bugs and worms. I have one little squirrel who eats the seeds as well.

Feeding the birds and a squirrel
Summer green

Fair Isle Graph Book Gift to Myself

I’ve been wanting the Shetlander’s Fair Isle Graph Book for a while, but it’s out of stock in many places. I broke down and ordered from the UK, and spent more than I would have liked, but I now have this book which is full of old (1940’s) colorwork knitter’s graphs.

This book is pretty cool. Some of the graph pages show through behind my yarn photo below. I can’t wait to get started on a new Fair Isle project and try out these old designs.

Beautiful wool yarn
Wool yarn

I do love the Rauma, and Jamieson & Smith wool for knitting fun colorwork patterns. The yarn was bought for mittens, but I never used it for mittens, only for hats. (See Katie’s Kep) Then I found a good place, with good prices, to order the wool, and added to my stash. (If you buy this type of yarn, check out Fairlight Fibers.)

Since I have given up knitting shawls or socks, for the time being, I’m not buying “sock yarn”, except when I come across a beautiful hand-spun. The striped baby hat, in my photo above, was knit with pink and yellow (two different skeins) handspun.

Newly Ordered Yarn

I’m still not a connoisseur of yarns, and sometimes it’s hit or miss. My list of favorite yarns is growing, but that only happens when I take risks and try new yarn.

Yes, I still order yarn, but this yarn has a purpose. I am getting a head start on Christmas gifts, which will mostly be … hats! Big surprise.

  • Quince & Co. Lark (worsted) – Knitting the Skiff Watchcap and not too sure about this yarn. Review to come. (I already knit the Skiff Beanie)
  • The Fibre Company “Acadia” – hasn’t arrived yet.

What About You?

I’d love to hear what you are up to while sitting around at home – if you are. Are you controlling your yarn purchases better than I am? Have you begun Christmas knitting projects? Would you share your own favorite yarns list here? What have you knit lately? Have you spent some time organizing that stash?

Thanks for reading.

Florida standing water lawn palm tree
Florida

Begin The Day With Movement, End the Day With Calm

I’ve been following the Keto Diet plan since August 2020. (Read about my Keto experience here.) I’ve been walking regularly for a couple of months and I should have done that sooner. Begin the day with movement to get the juices flowing. End the day with calm and relaxing activities like knitting and watching television. These are my goals.

For most of my adult life I left the house to go to work. Most of my jobs meant standing or walking around for long periods of time. I was a bank teller, cashier, florist, teacher’s assistant, substitute teacher, and at-home babysitter when my own kids were little. Like most mothers, there was not much time for me.

Now I work from home, and have been doing so since 2007. It means long hours in front of the computer – sitting. My knitting hobby also keeps me sitting for long periods of time. Sitting is not great for us so it’s important to find something that keeps us going.

What’s Your Reason For Improving?

My number one reason to continue to eat well and get moving every day is the fact that both my mother and my sister have had, and currently have dementia. My mother died of Alzheimers and my younger sister is suffering with dementia. No relatives ever had these problems.

Long story short, after much searching for an answer, I am convinced that good health begins first with eating correctly. Second to that is getting daily exercise. I won’t be in good shape if I don’t move, and at my age, it will be lost quickly if it’s not used. Old age is tough. Our bodies are not cooperative. In fact, I think my body would love to be in a chair all day. We must fight ourselves to keep going!

Florida oak trees
Oak trees with Spanish moss in my Florida neighborhood

I don’t like where I live, and I would love a few hills to climb, but whenever I get out and take a walk, I try to enjoy the scenery. My neighborhood has some very big and beautiful oak trees. They are not like the New England oaks I knew, witch had huge leaves that dropped late in fall for me to rake. These oaks are filled with Spanish moss and have long, crazy limbs. Those are called “Live Oaks”. But Florida has many types of oak, and I am not familiar with them all.

New Hampshire roads are where I’d love to be walking. The photo below was taken on my trip and I had walked up this road past huge, beautiful farms and homes. Walking here is so much better. The air is clear and the views are sweet. But for now I deal with what I have. Moving is the most important thing, so I need to go take a walk.

View of mountains while taking a walk in New Hampshire
New Hampshire