by princesshotflash

Long Ago

Remember when I posted more than once every other year. Wow! It’s been almost two years since I’ve been away. I’ve been busy catching up with life, as I officially am a senior citizen. I’m in year two of Medicare. Haha.

It’s pakalana season

I’m not sure what to do with the Chronicles of Princess Hot Flash. It’s probably time to shut it down. Not posting for two years is probably a big sign to close it down. I think I have a few more posts in me. I’ll make a decision after that.

What’s been going on in my life

Life has become more sedate since my mom passed away. I’m trying my best to keep Dad safe and fed. He will turn 98 this July. He is still at it with word finds, solitaire on the iPad, napkin-making from paper towels, and, on occasion, he breaks into a rendition of “Aloha Oe,” which he learned in school many years ago. He had a big fall in February while I was on vacation. My sister and brother-in-law were with him. After a stay in rehab, he’s back with a little more adjustment to his care. He still wants to be as independent as he can.

I went on a winter vacation in February to Yellowstone, Arches, and Canyonlands National Parks. I miss snow, so I dragged three friends with me. We spent three nights at the Snow Lodge in Yellowstone, with snowcoach rides, geyser viewing, wildlife sightings, hiking, stargazing, and snowshoeing. And the best thing was that the park was empty, except for the guests at the Snow Lodge and day visitors on snowmobiles.

Here are a few of my favorites from Yellowstone.

In between the Yellowstone and Arches, we tried our hand at dog sledding. What a great experience. I was standing behind the driver, terrified, and held on for dear life. Eventually got accustomed to the ride. The driver and dogs were fabulous.

I stood behind the driver — I didn’t think I could handle the dogs on my own.

We were off to Utah to Arches and Canyonlands National Park to see the fabulous rock formations. A lot of short walks, rock scrambling, and a couple of longer hikes made up for a stay in Moab. National parks are great in the off-season. The crowds and parking aren’t so crazy.

Me at the Delicate Arch right before sunset

What have I been working on?

This post will be too long if I give you a recap of what I’ve been working on over the last two years. Here are a few of my favorite finished projects.

I looked back at my photos to see what I’ve been working on, and it doesn’t seem like all that. Mostly to get rid of my fabric and yarn stash that could last 3 lifetimes. It doesn’t help that I’m a fabric hoarder these days, especially if it’s vintage and bright. I finished three quilt tops, two baby blankets, and a throw. I need to quilt and bind them off till they are done.

My supervisor, Orange the Cat, is watching me piece together the quilt tops and potholders on my vintage Singer 99K.

I wrote this section when I began this post in November 2025. I included it to show how my projects get done. Haha.

I’ve been giving my hands a rest from knitting and crocheting. They’ve been achy at night, making it hard to sleep. But in the past month, I’ve picked up a couple of old unfinished projects. I picked up my Hemlock Ring Doily Throw that I started in November 2024. I was making good progress and had reached the Feather and Fan chart when I noticed the stitch count was off. Ugh!

Guess what! I frogged (a knitting term for ripping it apart) the whole thing. I just wasn’t in the mood to find the mistake. But I did finish it just in time for our Annual Friends Gathering, and I used it for a door prize.

Hemlock Ring Doily Throw blocked and finished just in time for our Annual Friends Gathering as a door prize

I think I’ve caught you up with life. I hope to do a couple more posts in me. Maybe another hiking one before taking Princess Hot Flash down.

by princesshotflash

It’s been a while

The bougainvillea are blooming in Cora’s garden. I thought I’d share some color with you.

Since Mom passed, life has been more challenging than I thought it would be. The quietness of the house is the hardest thing to deal with. I didn’t realize how much energy Mom brought to the house. I know Dad feels it, too.

Dad and I are trying our best to deal with it in our own way. Dad keeps at his word-find puzzles and exercises with his caregivers. Let’s see if he will be up to doing some holiday drawings.

I’ve been busy trying to finish off half-finished projects and work through my fabric and yarn stash (I have more than I can ever use in my lifetime).

Odd-shaped scrap potholders

scraps for potholders
the odd shape pieces
the inspector
upcycling the binding scrap
adding some hand-stitching
finished

These are scraps from a donated quilt I made. I use as many scraps as possible to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Charity Knit Hats

wrong side of reverse stockinette
view of the right side
finished with pompom

It is one of four charity hats I’m making using the marling technique to use up my yarn stash. The pattern is It’s a Snap from Tin Can Knits.

Scrappy strips basket

building up the sides
the pile of skinny scraps

I’m using skinny strips, white binding (from the donated quilt project), and embroidery thread on this scrappy project.

I’m also working on quilt #8. It is for a friend’s friend, who gave me scrap fabric from her mom’s stash and asked if I could make her a quilt. I’m shooting for the end of November to finish the quilt so I can hand it off when I see my friend.

#8

last square
with batting
the backing
getting ready to quilt
quiltinng
stitches

That’s all for now. My sewing machine will be going out for service, so I will have more time for knitting and crocheting projects.

by princesshotflash

From Cora’s Garden: What a Surprise

While going through old pictures for my mom’s service, I was surprised to find old photos of Cora’s garden in full bloom. They weren’t the best photos, probably from one of those disposable cameras, but the number of blooms was incredible. And I wanted to share them with you (and I guess she wanted to do the same).

Mom with her Honohono orchids

I’m not sure when these pictures were taken. I probably was on the mainland. I asked my neighbors if they remembered the garden filled with blooms, and they said yes. My parents were always in the yard, working on the plants. I wish I loved gardening as much as they did. My goal is to cut back the number of plants in the garden so it is easier for me to take care of them, keep a few of them alive, and get them to bloom again.

In bloom: Honohono, phalaenopsis, daylilies, amaryllis, desert rose

by princesshotflash

Sweater to Blanket

A long time ago, I knitted a sweater for Oat. He wanted a fisherman cable sweater, but he overestimated my knitting skills. He got something more in my realm of technical ability. I got the yarn from a sheep farm shop, Morehouse Farm. I was there for a photo shoot. This was in my distant past when I worked as a book designer. The yarn was squishy and soft. I knitted the sweater in double strands, it was super warm, so he didn’t wear it often. Here’s the sweater on our trip to Prague. It did great with all our walking around the city.

Oat and sweater in Prague

Once I moved back to Hawaii, I decided to repurpose the sweater into a blanket for my dad. Not that dad needed such a warm blanket in Hawaii but there a couple of weeks a year when a cozy warm blanket is appreciated.

I decided on a basketweave pattern with a chunky stockinette border. It was easy enough that if I put it down for a while I could pick right up. I made the blanket wide enough to cover a person and I would knit the blanket till I ran out of yarn.

Well, as expected, I put down the blanket, probably because it was too hot to knit a wool blanket. I think it’s been about at least four years of sitting is a bag waiting for the right moment. And I guess it’s the right moment. I’m not feeling creative to start a new project (I guess it part of the mourning process). And the weather has been cool and breezy. Things have fallen in place to finish this blanket.

Left to right: one of many balls of double-strand yarn, getting bigger, close-up of 3/5 basketweave pattern

It went quicker than I thought. I bought a Japanese floor chair (no legs, seat cushion with a back) to sit on in front of my monitor to watch my shows as I knitted. It took a little over two weeks to finished. There was a bit of yarn chicken at the end. But I won with about 12″ of yarn to spare.

Left to right: just the ends to weave in; I won yarn chicken

The finished size is w. 38″ x 42″. The pattern is a simple basketweave in a pattern of 3 stitches/ 5 stitches with a border of stockinette 8 stitches wide. It makes me happy that I finished a project. Maybe I can move to a new project soon.

by princesshotflash

Sad News

“I have some sad news to share about my mom, Cora. She passed away peacefully at home on February 24, 2024, after a wonderful day spent conversing with family and friends. I am grateful we could fulfill her wish to be home during her final moments.

My mom was a great lover of flowers, and her garden, full of blooms, inspired the creation of my “From Cora’s Garden.” She loved that I shared her garden with you. But now I’m the caretaker of her garden and trying my best to keep it abloom.

I wanted to share the latest blooms in the garden.

Top to bottom, left to right
This geranium was one of her last flower purchases, and it’s enjoying the cool, wet winter we are having. It’s presently in the plastic pot from the shop. My goals is to transplant it into that cement pot it sitting.

Her phalaenopsis abloom. I don’t know what I’m doing right but three them have buds or blooms on it. The one in back is a gift from Christmas and the front, is a save from the distress rack from the garden shop, her favorite place to shop. She is the plant whisper.

The plumeria is from a cutting from one of her caregivers and just started to bloom this year. She wanted a minature plumeria to make it like a bonsai. I still haven’t gotten a cutting to take.

Mom’s bougainvillea plants are always blooming. This one is doing exceptionally well.

Mom always saves her poinsetta from Christmas and gets them to rebloom the next year. She always said to trim it back hard on months that start with an “A”. This unusual bloom is probably from lack of one trim and probably needs and transplant.