Pumpkin Sunrise

Hello!  This was my first week back to babysitting and while I was excited to get back into my schedule, the newness of the schedule along with my anxiety exhausted me.  I am glad to be back to work.  The Toddler Girl and her family moved further away so my drive has changed.  Look at the view above outside the living room - what brilliance!  She is exercising her terrible two-ness, I do not miss that developmental age at all. The Toddler Girl calls me Miss Karen (unless she's mad then it's just Karen).  Her non-stop talking is delightful and most of the times I understand what she is talking about, other times I just pretend to know what she is talking about.  She was afraid of the grasshopper (I don't blame her) so I snapped a photo for her to look at closely without being close.  She likes to ride her tricycle and collect sticks.  She doesn't know what she wants when she is tired. On my drive to work, I pass a gorgeous sun...

I finished my top and guess what!  It fits pretty okay.  I swear to you I was fretting all the way to the end when I measured and remeasured again and again.  Now the best part is I haven't blocked the top yet so maybe I'll smooth out another 1/2 of wiggle room, maybe. I need to block out that yoke :) This pattern, night sky, was a ton of fun to knit.  I'd say you would have to have lots of experience to knit this sweater.  I also liked the nettle yarn - it was soft enough and I'm assuming once the top is soaked and washed there will be more softening. In other news, I am currently babysitting full days Tuesdays and Wednesdays and will be posting my knitting news on Tuesday late afternoons (unless I forget).  I worked today and I'm exhausted!! Ravelry notes are here

searing pink is delightful Hello! How was your weekend?  Mine was pretty good.  Thank you all for the well wishes you sent my way.  Just knowing there is a community out there thinking of me makes me feel better.  I am a feeling a tad bit better. yarn glorious yarn! One of the tricks I use for when I'm obsessing over a worry that I am not in control of is to create a contest of sorts.  So today, I dug through the yarn stash and have decided that many of my family and friends will receive a hand-knitted cowl for Christmas.  I have a lot of cowls to knit! I'm excited to be casting on something new.  I'm excited to be productive while I worry.  At least I'll get something done. this is a good book Besides knitting and reading, I've been back at solving sudokus (I always do crossword puzzles).  I only to the hard ones and my they take my full concentration and I relax.  I do love that. the only chickens I'll ever o...

Can it be?  Are there some serious signs of the fall season arriving.  August is a month of changes, usually the weather stays hot and humid but the leaves start to fall as well as the acorns.  All little promises of a lovely season. In the afternoons while I sit in my knitting spot, the sunlight angles just so and gives off a wonderful fall-like feel to the day. The beginning of my week was blissfully ordinary.  Oh how I wish I could pocket the ordinary-ness of those moments.  I love when my mind is mostly blank and my stress levels are low to non existent.  Bliss beyond bliss! Right now my anxiety is high. I don't want to go into details just yet and write about it because writing about it makes it more real.  I'm filled with worries about what if this happens. I'd appreciate any and all prayers you could send my way.  (although I am writing about it in a way....hmm)  I wish I could be one of those people who are 'chill' n...

I am swirling with doubts about the above sweater.   My gauge is off (and yes I did gauge before starting).  I am just not sure about how this will fit.  I think I'll be okay but ....what if?  I just keep going as I think about this knit.  So while I was excited to knit and make progress, I'm now doubting my decision. I'll be remeasuring again today.  Sigh.  This is why I prefer top down construction of a sweater.  Bottom up has all the knitting done by the time you get to the armholes.  (and yes, I should have thought of this sooner but you know experts do make rookie decisions it's the spice of life) Worst case scenario --- I rip it out.  I'm not there as of yet. My other knit which is new and not contingent upon gauge is a Christmas gift for my mother in law who has vision impairments.  This bright pink can be seen anywhere and I thought she would love it.  She does like pink but I'm not sure how bright a pink s...

I mentioned on Friday's post that my family was arriving.  This weekend was full of fun and socializing.  I remembered to take photos of people!  Seriously -  I frequently forget to get my camera out and this time I did.  I probably remembered because my aunt was walking around taking photos to share with her family back home. So my aunt and sister arrived Friday afternoon and we sat by the pool chatting (my sister was in it).  My husband was focusing on fixing that darn bear fence.  My son arrived just in time for dinner and dessert. My daughter and son in law arrived in the evening completing the family gathering. Saturday after dinner of turkey burgers and corn on the cob, we celebrated our son in law's birthday!  Yay!!  We sang, ate cake and of course there were presents. selfie madness and 'where is the button....'  Just like the way they arrived, my family staggered their leavings.  I've been doing all the...

Ordinarily I'd start writing about the weather, but I'm tired of this weather.  We had record local flooding in near by towns, I lost my electricity for 3 hours on Monday night (thank goodness it was only 3 hours!)  and now it's raining, again after 48 hours of sunshine.  From now until mid-September, I find myself in an anti-summer state of mind.  I started a new book,  Sing Unburied Sing,  and the first chapter captured my attention and I'm immersed.  The content is hard to read at times but so worth the read.  I know many of you have read this book.  I finished Pachinko, which was a fabulous multigenerational novel. I highly recommend adding the book to your reading list.  I learned a lot about Japan and Korea and realize my knowledge of world history is lacking. I wrote a to-do list for my husband and placed it near his papers.  He's been doing the tasks and crossing them off.  I might have write more lists like t...

Well, well, well.  It seems to me that when you focus and knit on one project exclusively, that said project gets completed in a timely manner.  I worked on this knit daily for two weeks and knitted more than what was already completed before my knitting marathon. Those progress markers work. I enjoyed this knit and the mindlessness of a 12 row repeat (I think 12 rows).  I created this shawl out of my own imagination and used a Barbara Walker pattern dictionary (the first book published).  The cloverleaf stitch pattern was a delight to knit. What made this stitch pattern nice was the simplicity and repeatability of the design and I could knit and watch tv at the same time.  I would definitely recommend the yarn, Manos del uruguay Marina .  This single ply yarn was soft and lovely to have in my hands. Ravelry notes are here

Happy weekending, assuming that is a word.  How are you?  Did you have a great weekend?  Mine was lovely.  Yesterday was bliss.  I'm currently fighting a sinus infection with modern medicine (yay) and decided to stay home and do 'nothing' except rest.  My husband left early in the morning to drive up to Boston to get our son and then drove back on the same day.   I was thrilled to not go because a) my back is good but not great and car riding just ruins any progress.  b) I tend to be a huge buzz kill when there is work to do and get a little too bossy in the process.  I believe my way is the best way and there lies the problem.  Some people (husband) thinks his way is the best way. Anyways I stayed home. a good book, you should read it!  I read my book, then I knit a bit, then I got up and did laundry -stretched my back, did back exercises and started all over again.  I didn't cook either, I dug around for left ove...