Pumpkin Sunrise

Since arriving home from my beach vacation, I've spent the week playing catch up.  The days leading to the vacation, I prepared and gathered items that were needed.  Once we returned, I have to put everything back.  My house is almost tidy.  Of course the camera only shows you the tidy sections. I want to continue that vacation feeling through out the summer.  This morning I wrote down how I felt and reflected upon the large spans of time where I felt uninterrupted.  I know I sound silly but the media (me seeking the news feeds) really puts a damper on my focusing and productivity. Frodo in his thoughtful spot I was chatting with my sister (daily, on the phone) and she's looking forward to a week off from work and she's scheduling in peaceful activities to make sure she captures the vacation feeling during her stay-cation. You know, that is something I'm going to do as well!  As I say goodbye to the last day of June and welcome in July....

As promised, I'm sharing some photos I snapped on my Cape May vacation from the Nikon camera.  I find I like the portability of my iphone but you cannot compare those photos with the Nikon.  I carried the big camera at least one during the day. My husband and son had the epic paddle ball volley on the beach - 402 times, never to be beaten the rest of the vacation.  I am the one who sits and watches.  Staying out of the sun under the umbrella, I read my book or people watch.  The old people aren't as old as they appeared when I was in my thirties.  I hope as I age I can walk briskly on the beach like them - and look healthy. We stayed at the Victorian Lace Inn  and I adored their porch.  I spent many hours sitting and knitting (and sheltering from the sun).  My next house will have a porch - it must!  I have a patio and it's not the same. I added inches to the dress length and I'm close to the edging linen stit...

Guess what!  I've been in Cape May, NJ since Wednesday and tomorrow morning I'm going home.  If you know me at all, you know that going home is the best part.  I miss Frodo, my house, my coffee maker, my bed, my internet speed and gosh....just my regular boring life. We were lucky that our son came with us on this mini vacation (I missed my daughter and son in law who could not come).  This is a much needed vacation since my husband's job was stressful last year.  Now that he is back to being a professor, stress is slowly ebbing away. Thanks to this dutiful blog, I was able to figure out that the last time we were in Cape May was in 2011 with both kids.  I have wanted to go back since but school schedules of three people made it impossible. We had fun saying remember when, checking out stores to see if they were still in business and remembering all the previous summers spent here.  I love Victorian history and even did  trolley/es...

We finally put in a garden only because my farmer's market had a two for one dollar sale on plants.  I scooped up peppers, a few tomato plants, a zucchini and some basil.  Let's see what grows!  We do not fence around the raised beds, so the rabbits, the groundhog (a fat well-fed groundhog) and the deer all will feast if they desire. Since my monetary investment is minimal, I'm fine with the wilderness nibbling. Frodo has been loving summertime.  He sits outside for hours on end, who knows what he is thinking about.  Sometimes, he gets bored so he places his frisbee in the pool then barks for me to get it.  He thinks it's great fun, so do I.  He is one of the very best ideas we've had in our marriage.  He will be eight years on in the fall and his puppy capers are over. Sometimes though, he acts silly and we smile and remember his youth. Since summer is my least favorite season, I'm trying my best not to wish it away or com...

I promptly cast on this little dress when I arrived home with the yarn.  The pattern is from Purl Soho and was released a few weeks ago (maybe months...my time perception is warped).  The little girl I baby sit wears 12-18 months size for length (she's a wee one).  The largest size in the pattern is 12-18 months.  So I went up from sport to dk weight to make the dress slightly bigger. As you can imagine, I'll think 'this is too big' then I'll think maybe it's 'just right'.  I wish I could try it on her!  But surprises are for keeping secrets and the mom doesn't know I'm knitting this. This secret is killing me.  I want to send in progress photos!  Share size measurements!  Measure that little chest! Instead, I'm telling all of you.  Anyways, I think this will fit her for late summer, fall and probably into winter.  So all is good, right? The yarn is mostly acrylic with some cotton and it's machine washable.  My...

This weekend was all about some retail therapy, and it was NOT in a bike shop!  My endless hours in bike shop after bike shop with my husband was rewarded with a day trip out to eastern Pa doing my stores.  I shopped two yarn shops and of course, bought something at each one. While my husband has yet to buy a bike (window shopping forever?), I managed to buy a 'bike' on a cute project bag.  I've been wanting a new one for quite some time.  I love that I now have the best bike that will make me happy. berroco weekend dk The delicate pink dk weight cotton blend is for a sweet little dress for the little girl I watch.  Super excited about this and hopefully I will have some progress and photos later this week. fyberspates vivacious 4 ply  The silver bronze sock yarn really looks like forest green to me, and those three skeins will be another sweater for me.  I wish you could see the tonal colors in person, beautiful. freia fine han...

Good morning!  As you can tell by my photos, this morning is cloudy and bleak.  I guess it's going to rain?  Maybe.  Every day cannot be sunny, but it's nice when it is :) Anyways, my top down cardigan is swimming along after a tiny hiccup of dropping an end stitch and ripping out four rows to fix the dropped stitch.  The yarn is squishy and the stitches 'stay' in place making the ripping out easy.  I am two thirds of the way through with the raglan shaping.  Then we get to the fun stuff, separating sleeves and body knitting. My white out shawl is making steady progress.  I am still contemplating whether I like the fabric with the size four needles.  I keep returning to the idea of dropping a size.  However, when I pull the fabric out for a fake pre-look blocking, I love how it looks.  So I keep on knitting.  Dropping a needle size would make the finished shawl smaller and I definitely don't want that. Our local l...

Well now, I finished another shawl this week.  I am on fire - so hopefully I can keep up this momentum.  This shawl is a Christmas gift and I hope the recipient will love it.  Instead of wool, this shawl is 100% cotton, perfect for summer evenings with a light breeze or in transitional weather. Even though this was cotton, I did not have any hand aches from the plant fiber.  Whenever I'm working with lace weight or fingering weight, I am okay no matter what the content. I will be knitting this pattern again, the beginnings were memorizable as well as the lace eyelets.  All in all, this pattern would make a great beginning shawl if you know how to increase and decrease and basic knit stitches. I am not a fan of a picot edge (cannot explain why) but I thought my intended recipient would enjoy the delicate edging. Ravelry notes are here Now to cast on something else :)

My husband and I seem to be going to neighborhood garage sales whenever one is held on the weekends.  Around here in May and June, almost every weekend has one.  Sometimes the neighborhoods do it 'big' and have food vendors.  Every time we are out, I am reminded at how nice most people are and how lucky I am to live in a friendly area. We saw the chifforobe and fell in love with it.  Do I need a chifforobe? nope.  Do I have a place to put a chifforobe?  nope.  So we bought it.  The piece is in excellent condition and yes, I've already replaced that ugly knob with a pretty metal one. While contemplating on the purchase, I dreamed of placing all of my shawls, scarves, mitts, hats and cowls neatly inside and organized.  Originally my knits were stacked high up in the tiny hall closet.  That system was okay but this, well this is like a special place now! I spent the better part of this morning hanging up my knits. ...