Pumpkin Sunrise

                           

One more time, for another cowl .  This one can be looped around twice so it is going to look pretty good once it is finished.  Yesterday I spent some considerable time pondering what I wanted to cast on.  I want to make a wurm hat but could not commit to a yarn in my stash.  There are many projects I would like to cast on for (sweaters and triangular shawls) but I just could not decide for me.  However, picking a knit for my daughter it was easy peasy. This yarn she chose two or three years ago at a fiber festival for a pair of socks.  Which as you can see I never became a pair of socks.  I thought a cowl was in this yarn's future to go with those legwarmers .  I am really loving the simplicity of the pattern .  Watching Harry Potter Deathly Hallows part one was a breeze!! Our son is absolutely fine with less "wisdom", thanks for your well wishes!  It is truly amazing how resilient the body can be.  Of course the milkshakes were probably the best medicine (and

I hope everyone had a relaxing Christmas. This winter break is flying by for me, I think it's because the kids are home and each day takes a different direction on what we are doing.  I've been having fun, but there has been little knitting and reading done this week. I thought I would share a photo of my new cookbooks that I have so far flipped through-that's it.  I have seen some recipes that look really good but I haven't made a grocery list.  I'm okay with that.  I have plenty of time when the kids go back to try some new menus.  One of my goals for 2012 to is change up my eating and steer towards a whole food diet. I am also reading Digging to America which is a really interesting read.  Every chapter is written in the perspective of one of the characters and what they think of the others in the book.  Some of the thoughts are critical but it's based on the person's own values. For knitting, I am still working away on my Cold Mountain Shawl . I

This is our Christmas morning before the opening of gifts.  The two gift bags on the table contained food so of course they had to be placed where our dear Frodo would not find them. The larger gift was for him.....treats, yum!  Each year the presents get a little smaller because everyone is all grown up now.  This year we were reminiscing (this word looks like it should be spelled a different way) about putting together barbie houses and hot wheel garages.  It would take hours but it was fun.  Yesterday we listened to the kids new CDs instead of assembling toys. I think in the next couple of weeks I will be quite entertained with three new cookbooks, many novels, and a new photo editing software.  The software will probably stretch my learning abilities. The cookbooks are whole food based.  The one is dairy free, gluten free, and egg free.  I have two relatives who have celiac disease and I always have a tough time with dairy so I thought it would be fun exploring some new menus

I am ready for the festivities to begin!  Did I finish my knitting goals for Christmas?  Yep.  Am I wrapped?  Yep.  Did I finish the baking?  Not really.  Baking is not my absolute favorite part of the holidays.  It just makes me eat more sugar than I really need to eat. As you know, we celebrated Christmas with my husband's parents in October and then my family during the Thanksgiving break.  That just leaves the four of us during the Christmas break.  I kind of like it.  We have lived away from extended family since our marriage (gasp! 25 years this year).  The Christmas break is filled with watching holiday movies, video game playing, walking Frodo and lots of reading.  Sometimes we venture out and do a bit of shopping.  It really is the only time during the year that we are all together.  I am sure in the near future the kids will be on their own and new traditions will begin. I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday season filled with family, friends, laughter and

Good morning, today  is another blog post and of course I totally forgot to take a good photo during the day yesterday-although there was very very little sunshine.  I am starting to believe we will have a very rainy Christmas...boo hoo. For knitting this week, I am on the second scrap hat.  I finished the first hat and blogged about it here .  So as you can guess I am thoroughly enjoying the decreasing of the sock yarn project.  The hat in the above photo has more odds and ends but I am trying to stick to some color scheme.  I'm happy with it.  My other knitting project is my shawl .  I am on my first chart out of three.  I am on the second repeat out of six.  I have a very very long ways to go. I am currently reading Digging to America  and only just started it last night.  It has been on my bookshelf for quite some time and I have no opinions as of yet.  I finished The Wednesday Sisters  which was a very good book, I just didn't like the ending.  There was nothing wro

I finished knitting a hat out of left over sock yarns.  Yep.  Done.  The very best part of this hat is that my son loves it.  The ravelry notes of my scrap happy hat are here .  I used about five different sock yarns and alternated every four rows.  I just guessed at how much I would need.  I do have some of the colors left over (still).  So I casted on another hat but it will be have more stripes, more colors. I do not know about you, but I save everything, even if it is only one yard.  You just never ever know when you will need some yarn somewhere for something.  Since I am in a hat making mood I might go for a third hat.  I timed myself burying all the threads for this hat and it only took a 1/2 hour!  Why oh why does burying threads feel like a lifetime? I have finished wrapping ALL the gifts.  I am ready for the gift giving part of the holiday.  Still have not made a complete grocery shopping list for Christmas eve.  It is just the four of us so it should be easy, right

This weekend contained: -me ignoring clutter. -me caving in to peer pressure and making this  Peppermint Bark .  Unfortunately (or fortunately) I am unable to eat it because of all the dairy in it.  I tried and felt awful.  Lactaid pills are only so magical for me.  The family LOVES it. -making potato and leek soup that was super yummy! (with homemade bread) -knitting while the kids are playing video games. -doing way more laundry than I usually do. -trying to come up with my menu plans, I was getting very comfortable cooking for two.   Joining Amanda at the habit of being

Joining Amanda at Soulemama

Here are some photos of the Purl Ridge Cowl  that I completed last week.  I have not blocked the cowl yet and I am thinking maybe I should.  Very gently though because of the alpaca and alpaca can be droopy.  I love the feel of this cowl, but I am not thrilled with the curling of the stockinette area. I have been trying very hard not to buy any more purple yarn.  It's difficult because I am attracted to purples and grays oh and greens.   The kids are coming home today.  That means my clean and tidy house will not be clean and tidy.  Let's see if I can relax and enjoy the mess for the three to five weeks that they are home, I promise to try, really!!  I have only just started to menu plan.  I have to wrap all the gifts.   Are you ready for Christmas?

This week for knitting I have been concentrating on a floppy (slouchy) hat for either my son or my husband.  I wanted to use up some of my left over sock yarn from previous sock projects.  I striped four different sock yarns during the ribbing section.  I felt that I might run out so I added a fifth stripe in the body of the hat.  Each stripe is four rows.  I think it looks pretty good.  I will not be happy when I have to bury all the loose threads though. Here is my project page . My other knitting is the cold mountain shawl that I started a couple of weeks ago.  I have barely touched it, but I did knit a row or two this week.  I finished a little baby sweater over the weekend that just turned out wonderfully.  I think gray is my new go to color. This week I am reading The Wednesday Sisters.   This book is a very compelling read.  I am interested in all of the characters and the story flows quite nicely.  She writes about the personal lives of five women and weaves in their cu

And what would keep a baby warm?  Why a cardigan of course.  Not just any old cardigan but the good old standby of Elizabeth Zimmermann's creation-February Baby Sweater!  I decided to do a gray yarn because the recipient loves neutral shades. I decided to eliminate the lace pattern so the two shades would be the main focus of the sweater.  I also could not resist adding a touch of flare with the red buttons.  The details of this sweater can be found on my Ravelry page . Tracey over at Clover is hosting a little baby shower for Amanda from the habit of being .  Hop on over to Clover to see all the lovely gifts for this very special baby to be :)

  (this is me swirling my camera around as I photo the Christmas tree) This weekend contained: -shopping, on a Saturday, with EVERYONE on the planet.....well, it seemed to me to be everyone on the planet. -realizing that I am not going shopping on any weekends before Christmas-I dislike crowds and traffic and tend to lose my Christmas spirit. -relaxing knitting, which means I am not under any deadline, it is a good feeling. -dinner out with my husband! -lots and lots of Christmas music "it's the most wonderful time of the year".......Yay, Johnny Mathis!  I also have the words to "Santa Baby" memorized, it is a selfish song that I cannot resist liking-- a '54 convertible light blue would look pretty nifty. -knitting with my friends-honestly I think we laugh and talk more than we knit.  I always take simple knitting so I do not make any mistakes. How was your weekend?? joining Amanda at the habit of being

Joining Amanda at Soulemama

I snapped these photos around seven a.m. this morning when I went to get the paper.  For as long as I can remember, I have always loved it when it snowed.  I do not think I will ever get tired of it.  Snow covered ground is beautiful and I love to be cold.  (I am a little strange) Many people would say that I would dislike snow once I started driving---nope! It has not happened. I am married to a summer lover.  He is so happy swimming in the pool, while I am grumbling about the heat and my hair (did I mention that my hair looks awesome in the winter?)  So yesterday when the snow started I heard his grumbling and I smiled.  It is my season--I am happy! I believe that this snowfall will be melting by this evening.  The sun is shining and the temperatures are rising.  Today I will keep looking out the window and enjoying the view.  I will make more lists.  Next Thursday the kids are coming home for their winter break.  Our son is off for five weeks and our daughter is

This week for the Yarn Along I have been knitting up a storm on a project I am unable to speak about because it's a secret.  So the gray project in the photo is all I can say about it.  Yep, it's gray and it's a secret.  Now I am thrilled to announce that I finished my husband's sweater over the weekend!!  He has already worn it once and because it's 100% wool and it is not cold out, he had to take it off.  I told him it could be a coat if one wanted a warm garment.  I am still working on the Ridge cowl .  I love this project because the yarn is heavenly to hold - so so so soft!! For reading this week, I chose A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.  I have read this many times and I still enjoy Scrooge's transformation.  You know, the Grinch has a similar transformation only his heart grows bigger.  Scrooge just gets to see what a crummy guy he has been.  Everyone should contemplate their past, present, and future (without the scary ghosts!).  I am on the

I finished my husband's sweater this weekend.  It was a lot of knitting (two sleeves and neck) but I did it and I am overall quite pleased with the results.  For the edging of his sweater, I did a 4 x 4 broken rib (the purl was replaced with garter stitch) pattern so it would not be too wavy.  I finished the bottom of the body and the sleeves with five ridges of garter stitch. I am not thrilled with the neck line but he wanted a VERY short vee neck shaping.  I think it should be a deeper vee neck.  Whatever-he is very very happy with it.  I also decided to make the neck line overlap so there would be more elasticity.  I am notorious for making neck bind offs too tight and always ripping out.  I succeeded in doing this neck ribbing one time only :) I really liked this universal pattern , however I wish they would give a standard raglan measurement.  I was supposed to measure one of his raglan garments for the number, guess what?  He does not own any!  So I did t

My weekend contained: -a Christmas dinner party with husband's co-workers.  (read that as no cooking!!) -frantically knitting like a demon and finishing a project.  But I will not tell you which one until the next time I blog....gotta edit some photos. -starting another project that is super super secretive....ssh.... -receiving my *free* skein of yarn from eat.sleep.knit -I won on the yarn lotto card :) -receiving a lovely gift from Emily (thanks!) in the mail, it really made my day. -waking up on Saturday and having very little evidence of my cold.....I was thrilled that all of that tea drinking did me some good. -playing with my ipod touch camera with some camera apps, hence the photo above! -lots and lots of smiles reading comments with everyone asking about the glue on the gingerbread table from Friday 's post.  Yes there were TWO activities (so so silly)  and no the glue wasn't intended to be eaten but I do believe Elmer's glue is non toxic.

Joining Amanda at Soulemama

This Advent Calendar was made by my mother in 1990 and every year I pull it out I have wonderful memories of her and past Christmases.  When the kids were little they would fight over who was first to start the calendar.  It was valued to be the last so you could place the gold star at the top of the tree.  Now it is just me and every morning when I place an ornament I think of the kids.  I know when they get back from school for the semester break one of them will take over the duty.  Probably without the arguing. I am so thankful that I started decorating the house last Saturday and finished on Sunday.  I used to be able to decorate all in one day.  Now it takes me two days, I am a little slower. I am okay with that.  The reason I am thankful especially this year is because I finished before my tiny cold started.  Now I am sitting with hot cups of tea staring at the tree. My mom made the fabric tree, placemats and and the cross stitched table cloth!  She was quite the