Author: Vikki Lynn Sorensen

By day, I work a fulltime job in corporate America. By night, I'm a fulltime couch potato. I love to read, write, embroider, crochet and watch British mysteries. When I do leave the house, it's to either go to church or to buy yarn and books. I'm a firm believer that buying books and buying yarn are hobbies on their own. I'm also the single mom (happily divorced for more than 15 glorious years) of two fabulous young women, rescue mom of one dog and rescue grandma to one black cat. My older daughter, Shelby is high-functioning autistic and an avid gamer. My younger daughter, Emilie, is married and lives with her husband about three hours away from me and is an avid baker. Both love Jesus fiercely and in their own way.
Posted in Moments and Musings

Move With Me: 6 Weeks to Go

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

Six weeks to go.

All the lasts are starting. Last time I’ll see the lake transition from winter to spring. Last time I’ll see baby geese toddling around (even though I hate geese). Last time I’ll see Grandmother Willow sprout her buds. Last time I’ll witness the emergence of tulips as they line the pathway to my building.

I was reminded again not to rush to the end of this season. One year ago yesterday, my baby girl moved out. Earlier this year, I started a new position at work. So many blessings. I don’t want to miss even the little ones I know are still coming as these last 46 days start to wind down.

The apartment is in disarray. My organizational system has broken down somewhat and I have stuff from every room packed away. All the wall hangings are down. The curtains, with the exception of some sheers for privacy (my apartment faces another building so there’s no privacy at all!) are all down. It’s looking less and less like a home each day and I’m starting to feel a little sad.

I realize, with this move, comes the end of my independence. These last five years have been the only time I’ve ever had my very own place. Maybe I’m being repetitive but then it bears repeating. I’ve gone from living with my family to being married and living with my husband (no place with him ever felt like home to me) to living with my mom. These last two apartments were the first I ever chose, decorated, etc, all on my own. I’m proud of myself.

But all good things must come to an end and I’m so glad this great season is giving way to an even better one. I can’t wait to feel more like part of a household again. To have people to talk to, cook with, dream with….I’ve missed that since Mom passed. Not that I haven’t been able to do that with my girls – I have done all this with my girls however, it’s different when there’s a generational difference.

I feel like I’m saying this all wrong but I’m sure someone out there understands what I mean. Haha!

So, I’ll reconstruct my organizational system and get back to packing, ever so grateful for God and His goodness and all  He’s done in my life and all He’s about to do.

As my pastor is fond of saying – my story doesn’t end here.

Photo by Phil on Unsplash

Posted in Moments and Musings

Out of Darkness and Into the Light

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

We made it! Daylight savings time has begun and this girl doesn’t even mind losing an hour of sleep for more daylight.

Like many others, I tend to suffer from some seasonal depression. I had hoped to head it off at the pass by doing some extra holiday celebrating, watching my diet, being more active, journaling – I had a whole laundry list of things I planned to do to stave off the winter blues.

It didn’t go so well.

I did do some extra Christmas celebrating but much of the season was spent alone. Sometimes, I think I go through this stuff to give me perspective and create some empathy. I’m not very good at keeping in touch with people yet I know there are folks who also were lonely during these past holidays and I did nothing to alleviate that. Perhaps, I’ll do better next time around.

I did watch my diet….go right down the drain. Boredom drove it. Too much alone time begets too much boredom time which begets the consumption of way too much chocolate. All delivered by multiple Walmart delivery drivers who, I’m sure, gathering in hushed places to pray against me putting in another order.

I did journal. Some handwritten scribbles in a small journal that I keep. Each entry ended with the number of days until the next exciting event in my life.

Oh, it wasn’t as bad as all that!

January brought us some nice snow storms and an ice storm, which was fun. I learned the new meaning of anxiety driving in those.

Speaking of…when did I get to be so afraid of driving in the snow. I’M FROM CHICAGO!!!! I learned to drive in the snow. I managed my first ice storm driving from the north side of the city to Schaumburg. It took four hours but my mother sat alongside me and coached me the whole way. Somehow, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve understood the financial impact accompanying the phrase “car accident” and a few drops of moisture on the road means this girl stays home.

Thank God I work from home!

February started out really icy. I mean double digits below zero icy. Lots of tea and hot chocolate were consumed. Lots of coffee, too. I went into sort of a hibernation, on the couch, underneath covers with only my hands free to type enabling me to keep my job.

But then it got warm. Really warm. Not turn-my-AC-on warm (almost, though – if only I wasn’t too lazy to clean it!) but warm enough to turn on my fan and pull out a pair of shorts and a tank top. I wasn’t ready for this! I mean, I still need to mow down the winter forest growth on my legs that kept me warm all winter! Percy, my little canine heater, couldn’t understand why I didn’t want him sleeping up against me.

Too warm for February!!

And by the way, people in the north who cry over cold weather and snow in February should have their heads examined – it’s February. Winter! It’s supposed to be cold and it’s supposed to snow! What it’s not supposed to do is get up to 70+ degrees!

Sheesh!

Even the tulips outside the main doors to my apartment building began emerging from the ground. I wanted to throw a blanket over them and say, “wait, little ones! It’s not time yet! Too early!” but they continued to wriggle their way into the world.

They’re half grown now and I expect buds any day.

February’s exit confused me. The unseasonal warmth brought too much hope and too much wanting for Spring. The bright, sunshiny days lifted my seasonally dreary spirits and I began to think strange thoughts like, “Today is great day for a nice long walk”. Well, strange for this couch potato body, anyway.

Ah well. One thing I did do well during this dark season was create. That was on my list. I made blanket after blanket after blanket. I tried new recipes, some were hits and a few were misses. I journaled ideas and plotted and planned and even rediscovered my love for embroidery.

So the season wasn’t a total loss.

If I’m being serious, it wasn’t a loss at all. All this quiet time and alone time has given me perspective. To say the season was a loss would mean I’m ungrateful which I’m not at all. Everything has a reason and a season and I always love to see what God does through and with it all. He’s just the best ever!

However…WE MADE IT!!! Daylight savings is here! Light is here! Days are longer! Tulips can grow! And yes, I’ll shave my legs before I put shorts on again and I will take that long walk!

SPRING FORWARD!

Photo by Jitendra Sharma on Unsplash

Posted in Crochet

Lake Mist and Seashells

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

Amidst all the packing going on here, I managed to finish this C2C crochet blanket. I’ve been obsessed with these colors ever since I saw this yarn. It’s by Caron and it’s called Lake Mist. Fitting since these colors remind me of water. I was thinking more sea or ocean but I guess “lake” works well also.

I’m making a sister blanket using Caron yarn called “Seashells”. I can’t wait to see them both side by side.

Posted in Moments and Musings

Move With Me: 7 Weeks to Go

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

While my closing date is 3/22, my moving date will be slightly delayed. My two sisters will move into the house immediately after closing but we need extra bedrooms for Shelby and myself to be constructed in the lower level of the house. Plus, we need to live out our lease here in our current apartment.

Nevertheless, the packing has begun!

We’re seven weeks out from our tentative moving date of 4/27. This date is special because on 4/27/18, I lost my mother unexpectedly. This year will be the 6th anniversary. Typically, my sister, Kathleen, and I would go to her grave with some water and paper towels. We’d clean off her gravestone and then pull any weeds surrounding it. Just make it nice and pretty.

I wanted to remember this day with joy instead of only sadness and grief so we’re going to have a new beginning of a different kind – a joyful kind.

At this point, the purging is almost complete. That’s step one in this long process that will most likely go by much quicker that it will feel. I really do not want to pack stuff that I will then unpack only to donate.

If it doesn’t bring me joy now, out it goes!

I did most of the kitchen last week. I have no clue why we ever owned so many coffee mugs! Shelby doesn’t drink hot drinks at all and Emilie only drank tea on occasion. Yet, we gave away about 20 coffee mugs! I also gave away two stacks of small dessert dishes and a set of pudding bowls.

I also did a purge of my books. What I didn’t want went to Half Price Books. I made $39 dollars, which I used to treat Shelby and I to some dinner and Dairy Queen. But my books are packed along with my Build-A-Bears.

Yes, I collect them. They’re adorable and it’s the of the few things I can share with Shelby.

So once the purging is complete, the goal is go through each room and pack what I don’t need to see or use for the next 7 weeks. And that’s the challenge. There’s something inside of us that feels a little panic-y when we put something in a box and seal it all up. I have to remind myself that I WILL see it again.

Weird!

Purging is hard, however, even for someone as non-sentimental as me! After so many moves in my life, I’ve learned the value of letting go of stuff while holding onto the memory or the feeling it gave me.

My mother also helped. By the time she passed, we had a whole basement full of stuff she wanted to keep “just in case” up to and including information from houses sold long ago. Boxes of paperwork from a business she hadn’t had in years and years….so much stuff! In the midst of loss, it’s overwhelming to have to go through that much stuff. So I’ve learned to make memories. And crochet a blanket or two to wrap those memories up in.

I did pack 90% of my yarn!! We’ll see how that goes. The real test will be not buying more yarn these next 7 weeks.

Decisions, decisions!

Posted in Crochet

Vintage Baby Blanket

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

As soon as my daughter told me her sister-in-law was expecting a baby girl, I immediately began to look for a crochet baby blanket pattern.

I love vintage-type colors. I love color combinations that go beyond a basic “blue for boy and pink for girl”. So when I stumbled across this combination, compliments of Pinterest, I knew this was it.

For this blanket, I used Caron One Pound yarns in rose, succulent and off white. I did a simple continuous granny square with a single crochet border. Very simple, easy and quick.

I typically make my blankets bigger than normal as I like for them to be able to use them as toddlers. I remember when I was pregnant with Shelby and some kind soul made a blanket for her. She slept with that thing until she was 10 years old! It was her “pink blankie” and she loved it to shreds. Literally. It was beyond repaid when we finally laid it to rest.

So whenever I make a blanket, I like to give it some room to grow.

Do you have any favorite color combinations that are a little outside of the box?