Tag: Florida

Happy New Year 2026 and Time to Cast On

A new year means a brand new knitting project to begin. What will you be making?

Believe it or not, this unfinished post has been sitting around for a year! I had to change the title for 2026. Talk about being behind!

Last January

We went camping the beginning of January 2025 (pics below) and I wore my Calliope 2 sweater. It does get cold in Florida and it is a damp, nasty cold. Sometimes we even have ice! The hand knits that sit in my closet and under the bed for months and months, finally come out and get some use. We had fun camping last January, even though we had to bring our cats!

In the photos below we are camping in north Florida at Mike Roess Gold Head Branch campground. I love this area for the hills and trails. Bike riding is a challenge (for this old gal), but lots of fun. The campground is expansive, with lakes and three separate areas for RV and tent camping.

wearing the Calliope sweater in gold
Winter camping, sweater weather- yay!
Campsite at Mike Roess Gold Head Branch state campground in north Florida.
Our campsite – January

Plans for This January

We are not camping. The past two years of camping in winter made me re-think it. In Florida it can be nice in January, and it can be downright cold. This year we are skipping the January camping trip. That means it will probably be a beautiful and temperate month…LOL.

I will stay home and knit instead. We do have some fun planned, which I may share – we’ll see how it goes.

January 2026 and a New Cast On

I like to begin the new year with a special knitting project. I’ve been thinking about knitting a cable cardigan for a while. Cables are time-consuming to accomplish, and I knew the project would require the best yarn combined with an awesome pattern.

After much thought and lots of searching, I hope to be casting on for the ….. Book Club Cardigan.

Sari Nordlund is the designer and I see her knits on Instagram all the time. Usually I feel like they are too difficult for me to manage. But, she assures us (right on the product page) that this cardigan is easier to knit than it may appear. It is seamless – meaning there are no pieces to sew together. Often a cabled cardigan is knit in pieces and then the pieces have to be attached. This pattern is not like that. I’m looking forward to it.

I just need to buy some yarn.

After completing the Simple Stripes sweater and a beanie, time got away from me. Already it is New Year’s Eve! And I don’t have the worsted weight yarn for the cable cardigan.

Do your New Year plans include a new knitting project? I ‘d love to hear about it. Thanks for reading!

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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!

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