Confessions of a Misplaced Southern Belle

Not so misplaced anymore!

A year of Diptychs…so far

This year I decided to step out of my comfort zone and do a weekly challenge on Instagram. I figured it would be good for my creativity. For the most part, I’ve shot during the week specifically to make a diptych, but sometimes I’ve pulled from my archives to put the two photos together. I’ve only missed one week of the challenge, and that was due to being at the TSA State Conference. So why a diptych? What the heck is a diptych? A diptych is a set of two photographs used to tell a story. Below are my entries for the year…so far. I’ve posted the first nine weeks below. You’ll notice that I skipped week 8. If you’d like to follow along, follow #ourdiptychyear over on Instagram/

Week 1 Tombolo Books
Week 2. Neelam
Week 3 Sunrise, Sunset Hutchinson Shores, Florida
Week 4 Paradeco Coffee, St. Petersburg, Florida
Week 5 Orange Blossom Cafe, Bradenton, Fl
Week 6 Emerson Point Preserve, Palmetto, Florida
Week 7 Backyard Views, Palmetto, Florida
Week 9 Into the Deep, Georgia Aquarium

Confession…..

I never watched the original Sex and the City. Several reasons, the main one being that when they were originally, on, I didn’t have HBO. Heck, we barely had cable. The second reason was that I was a twenty-six-year-old mom with a four-year-old, in the middle of Central Louisiana, far from the bright lights of New York City. Heck, I couldn’t relate to that life, or even really imagine what that life might be like. I had barely been out of Louisiana, and even at that point, had only been to San Diego. Don’t get me wrong, over the years I could have watched it as it was released on DVD, but just never got around to it. I mean, I was very aware of it, how could you not, it was a cultural phenomenon!

Anyway, somehow I came across the sequal? Reboot? And got sucked in. In one episode, Carrie had hip surgery and as she was recovering, she had this beautiful knit shawl/blanket thing on her lap. Naturally, someone wrote up a pattern and I’m currently knitting it. I did enjoy that season and am looking forward to the new season. I may need to actually watch the orginal while waiting for the next season of And Just Like That.

The original
The one I’m knitting.

I’m about half way through. It knits pretty fast as it’s knit on size 17 needles, but it does get a bit cumbersome. I purchased a kit from Jimmy Beans Wool, but it doesn’t look like they have it available any more.

My progress

In completed knitting news,I did finish the Christmas socks from the last post. I just need to get them in the mail to my sister. I also decided to do the Souper Sock Club from Coast to Coast Yarns Company My first shipment arrived today. It’s Split Pea Soup in their sock base. I’ve never knit with their yarn before, so I am excited to wind this up and get started. However, with Valentine’s Day around the corner, I think I might go stash diving and see what Valentine’s Day colorway I have.

Split Pea Soup

I’ve also been into some knitting podcasts lately, next post I’ll share some of my faves as well as some of my more recent photo projects. What are you knitting, photographing or up to in general?

Happy New Year I’ve been knitting!

Happy New Year! I know we say this every year, but I can’t believe that the last year flew by. I had lots of personal changes, all good in 2022, which is definitely an improvement from the previous three years. I’ve also picked up my knitting needles again, and knitted this lovely wrap for my mother-in-law. When she was here in May for my master’s graduation, I offered to knit her a wrap. Over the years, I have knit her several things, and the last wrap that I made her, became moth food. She was so upset! I had her pick out some yarn from my stash, and she chose this lovely Madeline Tosh Vintage yarn. I belive that the colorway is Esoteric. The color is more true in the top right photo, but let me tell you, that yarn is a dream to knit with. It’s wonderfully smooshy. The pattern is Anica and I knit 35 repeats instead of 38 as the pattern calls for. My mother-in-law is tiny and this blocked out to be the perfect size for her. I knit this on size 6 needles. I think if I knit this pattern again, I would go up a needle size or two for a looser knit. This is an easy knit, perfect for evening knitting, and great as a first shawl project.

The second thing I started, is a pair of Christmas-y-themed socks. I had wanted to have these knit before Christmas, but I was trying to finish Anica, so I didn’t start these until after I had finished the wrap. The yarn is from Must Stash Yarn in the Reindeer Corn, Michigan’s Favorite colorway.

I love this yarn. It’s self-striping and delightful. I have several other skeins by her waiting to be knitted up. I thought that I’d have time to knit three pairs of Christmas-themed socks…I think I was delusional! These socks are almost finished and are going to my sister when I’m finished with them. I’m hoping to finish them up before I go back to work on Friday. I’ll cast on another pair once these are finished. I have another skein from Must Stash Yarn and then one from Nomadic Yarns. (the sock bag in the photo is also from Nomadic Yarns) I’ve never knit with their yarn, but I’m excited to get those on the needles. I also have the Carrie blanket on the needles that I started in the spring, but as it has been too hot to knit with bulky yarn sitting on my lap, I put it away until now.

Also coming up are two hats. One for Amanda and one for me. We are headed to London and Paris in early March and based on my research, even though it’s early spring, it can be chilly, at least for these Florida girls. When I was in Alpharetta for Christmas, I stopped in a brand new yarn shop called Unwind Knit Studio and picked up two skeins of worsted-weight yarn. I’ll post those skeins when I can get a good photo in the daylight.

I’ve also been picking up my camera more and I will post those next. If you want to follow me on Instagram, you can follow me by clicking HERE.

Hurricane Ian, the aftermath

I don’t know where to begin. Relief that Ian didn’t hit directly as first thought and despair that it slammed into the coast about an hour and a half south of us as a Category 4 hurricane. I saw someone post that Sanibel Island and Ft. Myers Beach are decimated as is Ft. Myers and towns and communities all up and down southern Sarasota County, Lee, and Collier Counties. This storm has also caused catastrophic damage on the east coast as well, including flooding in Daytona Beach.

We rode out the storm at Southeastern Guide Dogs, my husband’s work. He is the VP of Information Management and Captial Projects, meaning he’s responsible for all the buildings and grounds as well as keeping the network up and running. Throughout the day and into the night we watched the wind and rain get stronger and stronger.

If you want to help South Florida recover, click HERE for an article with links to donation points. I would caution you against donating to anything coming from Gov. DeSantis’ office. His wife is in charge and there has not been any info on how that money is going to be distributed.

We are on day six at this point with no power. We are lucky that we have a generator and that the weather has been beautiful. I documented before, during, and after the hurricane.

This storm really bothered me. Knowing that it was headed right for us and at the last minute, shifted south is a weird feeling. Almost like survivor’s guilt.

About the photos: All shot on my Canon 6D with a Sigma 35mm Art lens. I’m really loving this lens and getting to know it. I’ve had it for about a year and haven’t done much with it but am loving the versatility.