Pumpkin Sunrise

Hello!  Oh, my knitting productivity has been grand, partly because the knitting projects are mostly short and sweet.  I also think I'm motivated by the beautiful fall weather.  I wish summer made me this happy but I guess I should be grateful for autumn and all of its glory.  The top photo is another finished hat  - I am finished with this hat pattern and using up the wool stash of odds and ends, for now.  Knitting for others creates joy and happiness in my heart. The purple hat  is finished and will be given to my sister for Christmas.  I do love this pattern (made three last year!).  If you are familiar with knitting in the round, want to try cables and try double pointed needles for creating the decreasing at the top of the hat, give this pattern a try.  Oh, there is chart reading too. The shawl is making steady progress, hopefully all the riot of color will even out when the lace section starts.  I do love gr...

How was your weekend?  I only just arrived home a few hours ago from visiting my husband's family up in London Ontario.  The drive feels longer and longer the older I get, yet it's a bit faster now that more highways connect where we go.  Go figure. We had excellent traveling weather and even though it rained all day Saturday, we still had a great time seeing everyone, especially 'just because' visiting.   We were up in early September for my father in law's grave side service.  I'm glad we went up once more to establish some happy memories. Whenever we are visiting, we go to Chapters book store, I think they are now all Indigo owned but the Chapters sign is still outside so I'll stick with what they have advertised.  I love to find books that are in paperback in Canada but are still hardback in the US.  I picked up the latest Kate Morton's book, The Clockmaker's Daughter. I ate out way too much and need some boring home cooked food...

 I'm enjoying the colors evolving slowly on the new shawl I cast on.  I add stitch by stitch, row by row loving the greens and purples.  This is my meditative morning knitting at the toddler's house while I wait for her to wake up.  I love how knitting this starts my day to be awesome. Speaking of awesome, my week has been pretty good, even though I was under the weather at the beginning of the week.  However, a quick doctor visit for a minor infection has me feeling better and grateful for my health providers and for modern medicine.  I tell you, if I'd live during the pioneer days, I would have been dead by the age of eight without the invention of antibiotics... Thank you Alexander Fleming for finding penicillin. trying to capture the nest all week I managed to fit in a gym visit and a training session.  All good for me and my RA joints.  I don't like to exercise, but I do love how exercising makes me feel strong and healthy....

hat project page My needles have been extremely productive, I'm loving it!  All of the hats are the same pattern called strib hat .  The pattern is easy to knit and lends to all color combinations.  I have been knitting from my odds and ends bag of worsted weight wools.  hat project page The hats are for gifts and I'm excited to see if the recipients like their hats. hat project page  Sitting with odds and ends of wools, planning out the striping, getting creative when the wool length was skimpy, made this knitter happy.  Best of all my scrap bag has been thinned out considerably.  I still have pinks and purples left over and maybe I'll make some more hats, just not now. I have other gift knitting yet to do. hat project page What have you been knitting and crafting this week?

a little blurry but a great beginning of a hat How was your weekend? About an hour ago, I picked up my Mac and foolishly clicked the 'install a new operating system' button and then had to wait a whole hour to write this post.  Gah!  Yesterday we drove to State College to visit our son and have a lunch out.  I did not take any photos of that, so you'll have to imagine us together.  It was nice to see him and spend the afternoon with him.  The best part of the day trip was all the knitting I did in the car.  I am making serious progress in my project finishing.  More on that later on in the week. Today, I did some cleaning and laundry, trying to put things back to where they belong in this house.  Vacuuming the house is a challenge with the dog/cat situation.  Neither animal likes the noise but I don't want them bumping into each other since Frodo loves to chase Holly still.  So I keep the cat in one room while Frodo runs...

Thank you for all the wonderful comments on my blog post on creativity    I enjoyed reading all of your experiences with fostering creativity in your daily lives.  Don't you wish we could all get together, sit and create?  That would be neat. Today's post is feathering out that creative post.  Adding more details and exploring what inspires me.  As a knitter, I have been the kind of person who buys yarns because I like them.  I consider them my 'palette' to choose from when I am making new projects.  I rarely buy a pattern then seek a yarn, it happens but not very often. I tend to enter a yarn store and see what strikes my fancy.  I love fingering weight wool and lately I've been stocking up on DK wool  I tend to pick indie dyers or locally sourced wool when I'm on vacation.  I go in spurts when I purchase yarn - definitely more so in the fall and winter because those are the seasons for wool wearing. I have at my fing...

The last cowl has finally dried and now I can post a photo for the three of them.  I'm only creating one project page on Ravelry.  These cowls are delightfully soft and lush.  100% Alpaca wool is something to feel in the hands while knitting.  Also, the alpaca will give a nice drape when the cowl is worn. I know I swore off this pattern, but I have two more alpaca skeins that are begging me to make a fourth cowl.  I also need to make one more in pink for a holiday gift for my dog groomer/dog trainer friend (mother of the toddler).  You've been forewarned. I started a new shawl this morning, yet another holiday gift.  I needed a super simple knit that needs minimal attention or notions in the bag for my work days when the toddler is napping.  I picked the spindrift shawl , which I knitted before and loved the pattern.  Last night, I started a hat with larger needles and hopefully I'll have a bit more common sense on sizing....

I would mark this weekend as the perfect weekend ever.  Let me tell you all about it! The weather was fantastic.  Low humidity, somewhat sunny skies, a distinct chill in the air and yes, the heat is on instead of the AC.  Also, the new heat pump is pretty awesome.  I'm gaining understanding that this new system is variable, that means it's magical and can tell what I think is comfortable. Also because of the new system, we both realize how crappy the 16 year old system was performing.  Now to see if there is a slight reduction in my electric bill, I can dream. I walked two days in a row, with a fleece jacket......and a woolen hat!  I told you this weekend was a banner weekend.  I did a little knitting, a little reading and I also did some sketching.  A tiny bit but those baby steps will lead to something bigger. Thank you for telling me about your creative processes and what you learn.  I've learned I'm not alone and there i...

I've created a habit of taking Frodo outside for a walk about in the yard and I grab the big camera to accompany us.  Same yard, over and over.  I marvel over how even though the yard is the same, through a camera lens I find exquisite details that I would not even glance at as a scurry about my days. My camera yields to a meaningful pause in my day to stop and 'see' nature's beauty.  How sad at times that I allow the busyness of the world, the eternally changing news feed to infiltrate my creativity. And yet, I don't.  I do take time out of my day and take a break from the world to walk around my yard with a camera.  I need more of this habit and less of my other habits that do not support creativity. I walked about the yard feeling so fresh and happy!  How nice to see Fall arriving in leaps and bounds.  I drive into my driveway daily and I don't think I even notice the details of the leaves changing.  Or the way the light angles are ...