Pumpkin Sunrise

This morning the silence of the snow was magical.  I never tire of winter and how beautiful the snow looks especially at daybreak.  Poor Frodo, he's not tall so walking through the snow is a challenge for him.  He loves to follow the deer tracks, burying his furry face deep in the snow. The past few days have had a quiet rhythm.  Phone calls from the kids, so happy to hear our son kept his electricity during the blizzard in Boston.  He is west of the city and I think those miles inland helped. January days are filled with dreaming of new projects to start on the needles, reading books, planning menus and fitting in more fresh salads.  Trips are thought of but not scheduled.  My sister will be visiting in mid March and I'm  looking forward to that.  Also a girls outing to NYC is being chatted about with my favorite Aunt, sister and cousins. The wedding plans are lulled a bit.  I'm excited that family who live far away ar...

This week's knitting has been fast and furious.  I finished a pair of socks and posted yesterday all about them.  I also finished knitting my shawl which is drying in the guest room and I'll be doing a photo shoot some time in the next few days.  The orange sweater is making steady progress with no mistakes.  I love knitting the body of the sweater, I only have to remember the decreasing and increasing and a button hole.  Easy peasy. I am nearly finished with The Book Thief   a couple of pages to go.  I loved the book a second time around.  I'm also glad I saw the movie before re reading the book.  There are changes that I wonder why they felt it was what should be done in the film.  Books are always better than the movies.  I love having my own visions of how the characters look and the settings. Next up to read is a book I've seen here and there on the internet.  Fingers crossed it's a good one!! What are you knit...

Yesterday I finished a pair of socks for my husband, phew!  It was a close one.  If you have a sharp eye you can see that the tippy toes do not match.  I ran out of yarn following the colorway on the second sock.  I decided to not match the toes.  I know he doesn't care and I wanted them done.  The color repeat was a long one! The pattern is the one I've had memorized in my head for more than ten years, tried and true.  It's autopilot knitting and super gratifying!  I love to knit on double pointed wooden needles and zoom along.  No fancy pattern for me :) Ravelry notes are here

Weekends are for memory making,  relaxing and enjoying quiet moments of our days.   If you would like, please share your weekend moments    in the comment section with a link to your blog.  My weekend in list form: Snow snow snow Adopting books from the public library book sale Dinner out with my husband Walks in the neighborhood Spying deer prints Seeing a deer rest at the edge of my woods until mid morning Nearing the end of two knitting projects Hoping there is enough yarn for the socks! Enjoying a peaceful Sunday afternoon  How was your weekend?

To my delight, winter has returned.  The snow started on Wednesday late afternoon and steadily fell through out the night.  On Thursday, the "storm" left two inches but delightfully the flakes fell slowly and danced in the air. January snow is my favorite but really any snow would be my favorite in that moment of time.  Heavy snow with large flakes that fall straight down and melts upon walking.  The frigid snow which squeaks a crunchy squeak.  Snow that never stays idle but blows in drifts and circles, as an arctic air blows wind.  Oh I love them all. Yesterday's snow squalls were gentle, lilting, and ever so light.  While I was outside capturing the beauty I listened to the squirrels chip chip away in the woods as well as spied shadows in the distant trees of deer walking and waiting for me to leave. I've mentioned before that when I grab my camera, Frodo dances and twirls in excitement knowing that we are going outside and we are e...

This past week has been a good knitting week overall.  I successfully re knit what I ripped out last week and divided for the armholes as I knit my way down the body of the sweater .  Once the decreasing is finished for the waist shaping, I'll be finishing the sweater in no time at all.  I get a little giddy when the armholes are set aside.  The knitting is much faster. The Book Thief continues to be entertaining and I am enjoying the easy reading.  I finished The Scarlet Letter which was good.  However, I think if that novel was mandatory for reading while I was in high school, most of the plot would have gone over my head.   What are you knitting and reading this week? Joining Ginny and Frontier Dreams

Weekends are for memory making,  relaxing and enjoying quiet moments of our days.   If you would like, please share your weekend moments    in the comment section with a link to your blog.  My weekend was a do nothing weekend mixed with a shopping outing.  I find the month of January to be one of the worst shopping months.  I'm overtaxed from the holiday shopping so I tend to window shop. I did find a dress for the wedding, unless I find something even more thrilling...but let's say I've matched the dress to a shawl I'm knitting.  Hard core knitter here :)  If my shawl is too matchy matchy with the dress, I'm going to knit another shawl in another color. I have until July to decide. I chose a knee length, navy blue dress with lots of sequins on the bodice and lots of swishy swirl in the skirt. I must say there are MANY dresses that look good on a hanger, but jeez,  once I put them on reality sets in... I felt frumpy ...

Yesterday I walked by the front room and stopped to admire the sunbeams on the sofa.  These days seem to be filled with cloudy days.  Day after day they arrive and stay, leaving me feeling ho hum.  To my delight, the sun peeked and changed the way I felt.  There was a spring in my step and a smile on my face. Our walk in the afternoon was a sunglasses wearing walk AND a non long john wearing walk.  What a treat!  Frodo enjoyed not being cold as well.  How funny that 28 degrees feel like a heat wave, but it did :) Over all, the week has been tranquil and peaceful. I've had a bit of anxiety but so far I'm firming squashing it.  I'm eating healthy, I'm walking and yes, the tiny bit of yoga I do each day helps.  When I'm proactive, I feel powerful.   Have a good weekend.  Get outside and breathe some fresh air!!

You might have noticed that my sweater is the same size as last week, well I hit a tiny snafu.  I forgot to do some crucial increasing on the back portion of the sweater which resulted in ripping out 20 rows of knitting.  I'm happy I found my silly error and even though ripping out is a sad event, I'm happy to be back on track and making up for lost knitting time. I finished one sock and cast on the other.  I have never had second sock syndrome.....I love starting the second one because the first one is patiently waiting for its mate.  I'm curious, do you have trouble starting and finishing the second sock?  Or are you a two at a time sock knitter? I finished my book from last week, The Maid's Version, and enjoyed the plot over all.  The author unfolded the story by revealing bits and pieces to a mystery. The writing style was similar to Faulkner but with punctuation and a little more sense.     I started The Book Thief , which I have rea...

Each day I knit at least 12 rows and sometimes I knit 24 rows.  I've hit my groove now that I've done the main chart three times, only four more to go :) Ravelry notes here

Weekends are for memory making,  relaxing and enjoying quiet moments of our days.   If you would like, please share your weekend moments    in the comment section with a link to your blog.  This weekend I: -went for walks with Frodo and my husband, bundled up with scarves, mitts and extra socks-all hand knit-instant happiness! -shivered during the walks, I was still cold -pleasantly skirted the cooking detail.  Dinner out Friday night, left overs Saturday and my husband cooked curry today (yay) -lots of knitting on my orange sweater, feeling giddy as I approached the sleeve separation -lots of UNKNITTING, 20 rows!,  on the same sweater because I forgot to do much needed increases--sigh. -giggling as my husband commented with a straight face "I thought you were an expert knitter, what happened?" -I had no response, just glanced over my glasses and r-i-p-p-e-d -chatted with my daughter, the wedding plans are coming together! -cha...

I've been easing into a new schedule during these January days.  The sun shines brightly and I enjoy the extra daylight that occurs with each passing day.  January has never been a favorite month for me in the past but there is something magical about it.  The snow crunching and squeaking underfoot.  The sun angles and shimmering snow.  The walks are brisk, cold and invigorating. As my husband and I walk, I ask "would you rather be freezing cold or super hot with bugs biting your arms and flying into your eyes?".  A tough choice, but I know without a doubt, that freezing cold wins.  Our walks are shortened, poor Frodo is cold as well.  However, we all love the fresh air and the reentering of a warm and toasty home. Since the start of the New Year, I've focused on reading more.  I now read a mere half hour before cooking dinner.  That half hour sometimes turns into an hour and I love that I have carved a slice of my day dedicated t...

The knitting has been prolific these January days.  I hop from my socks , to the scrap blanket , to the shawl and this sweater .  I love having many projects on the needles and choices when I sit to knit. This sweater has a lovely top down construction, a must when I knit a sweater. I finished my book from last week, Me Before You by Jojo Moyes.  It was good, really really good!  I think many of us have read it, but if you haven't maybe you should put it on your list.  My daughter finished this book,  The Maid's Version over the holiday break, she wasn't thrilled with it but she thought I'd like it.  So I started last night and of course, I cannot opine as of yet. What are you knitting and reading this week? Joining Ginny and Frontier Dreams

Each day I knit one to two hours on this delicate shawl.  The pattern is interesting but my oh my am I having trouble seeing this dark blue yarn!  So I knit only during the day.  Slow and steady wins the race, even if there isn't a race. Some time has lapsed since I've knit a "meaty" chart filled shawl and the first repeat of each chart had me brushing up on some rusty thinking skills.  Yesterday was the first day I felt a little relaxed while knitting. Ravelry notes are here

Weekends are for memory making,  relaxing and enjoying quiet moments of our days.   If you would like, please share your weekend moments    in the comment section with a link to your blog.  And just like that we are down to two humans and one little dog with spunk.  This weekend started off with our first Saturday in a while of being just us.  We drank lots of coffee in the morning without a second carafe brewed, read the paper, knit (well that was me) and read books.  I'm starting off strong with my "read more books" for 2015. When I sit and knit, I am staring directly at my beloved rabbit that my sister created for me and a lovely painting from my daughter for my birthday in November.  I love to create focal points and take great pleasure in soaking up the beauty.  I do not miss the Christmas decorations a single bit. Today was Mass, the Epiphany.  However that cute baby was sitting in right in front of us an...

a jade plant that I'm trying to nurture back from over/under watering Happy New Year!  One day late but still my wish for all of you is the same, may your 2015 be a happy and healthy one. Yesterday, I spent the day packing away the decorations, moving furniture back to their designated corners, welcomed wide open spaces and said goodbye to our daughter.  Today, my son left early this morning to catch his train back to his home.  The family visit was fun, full and busy.  Oh the cooking that I did and the baking.  I am eager to return to preparing meals for two! Do you do resolutions?  I guess I do in a way, but I'm not hard core.  I like to think of what I'd like to change or accomplish and if I do, great!  If not, I tack those missed neglected goals onto the following year.  I write them down and refer to them often, sometimes a goal takes many tries to become a habit.  I like that resolutions require effort, thought and change....