Pumpkin Sunrise

I grabbed some cotton kitchen yarn on my way out the door to babysitting and was delighted when the pops of color appeared when I started knitting.  You can never ever have too many dishcloths  if you ask me.  I picked up this skein at a Hobby Lobby when I was out and about with my sister over the Easter weekend.  I've never been in a Hobby Lobby and loved exploring, if I was feeling better, I probably would have spent way more money there. I know you all are asking, 'but Karen!  Where is your sweater?'.  The sweater is waiting for a skein of yarn to be delivered.  I'm kind of okay with the break from the sweater dilemma and the yarn shortage. I also added some inches to my Holly inspired shawl  at work as well. I started a new book a week or so ago, Summer at the Lake, so far I find the characters interesting and it's a slowly evolving romance but not overly romance.  My kindle book is Code Name Verity.  This is my tread...

Yesterday's sunrise was glorious!  I was lucky enough to have my phone with me to snap a photo to share the beauty.  Even though the weekend was 'brisk' (that word is being kind, the wind was brutal!) the vistas are screaming SPRING.  We drove to a neighboring town for a street festival and the rolling hills speckled with farms and houses was delightful. The street festival was too windy to really enjoy.  Vendors were trying to hold onto their gazebo tents and I was trying to keep my hood up and avoid the wind.  Also, there didn't seem to be as many vendors as last year.  We quickly walked about then had lunch at a restaurant to get warm. For months our house has been peaceful and quiet with Holly the cat and Frodo the dog minding their manners.  All of the sudden, both animals decided to switch it up.  Holly is out and Frodo is whining to chase her (or bark at her).  He barked quite a bit at her last night but when I looked at her ...

While with my family over the past weekend I spent some time in my sister's garden and snapped many photos.  I'm sharing just a few.  Whenever my sister hosts a holiday, I end up being the lucky one.  She is one fantastic cook and hostess.  Overall the weekend was fun being with family. At the Easter vigil Mass I was thinking of my mom and how she would have loved seeing the kids all grown up and all of us gathering together.  Ah well, time marches on. I had a dreaded dental appointment yesterday and sadly (so so so sadly) what initially was a chipped molar ended up being a cracked molar.  Yup, I had it extracted by my favorite dentist in the whole world right there.  I gave this dental appointment a lot of brain space of worry for many days and now that it's resolved and finished,  my brain is void of anything important except to think of what is soft to eat. My husband was with me the entire time, God bless him.  I couldn't do t...

My stormy cardigan continues to make progress, I can go on and on and on about how I wonder if I have enough yarn but I won't do that to you.  Let's just say I'm still on the fence and it's going to be close.  It is what it is!  I had to be at work super early (up at 4:30 a.m.) and I had close to three hours before the preschooler was up.  That is three hours of knitting time!  This is my exclusive knit so that I can get to the sleeves. What are you working on this week?

lamby cake! Happy Easter!  How was your weekend?  My weekend:  -family gathering - lots of good food -  a sister outing - more desserts than I could eat - Easter Vigil -  lovely weather - seeing all the kids - car rides - little to no knitting because of the family gathering - How was your weekend? sisters!!!

I've been scrambling around trying to get ready for the Easter weekend.  I've checked off many of my tasks and still have tasks to do.  Isn't that life?  Yup.  How are you?  Are you enjoying some decent weather?  This week has been overall a nice week. I love when I'm driving to and from the gym and I see tree after tree leafing out.  The beginnings of spring are beautiful and remind me of springtimes past. My parents had half an acre of land in a quiet suburb.  We moved to this house when I was 11 years old.  The previous owner planted everything imaginable on that little tiny plot.  The first spring was exciting as we watched many ornamental trees blooming.  I remember:  dogwood, cherry, magnolia and pear trees.  Lilac bushes lined the driveway and underneath were grape hyacinths galore.  The yard was magical and beautiful. We'd like to plant an ornamental tree in honor of my husband's father somewhere o...

The socks are done, I finished them about 10 minutes ago!  Overall I love the mis-matched socks even though I'm a matchy matchy girl deep down inside. The pattern is one that is in my head that is old and memorized and fits my feet exactly.  I love to knit the same patterns over and over again. The Noro sock yarn (taiyo sock yarn) is a lovely long repeat colorway.  Half of the yarn is cotton and that is hard on my hands, I tend to shy away from cottons because of this.  The yarn is tightly spun so while I was knitting it would easily twist up and tangle.  On the second sock I was finishing the short rows and heading to the gusset pick up when to my surprise there was a knot made with green yarn added to the lavender yarn!  (the company did not match up the wool colors).  I was lucky to pull a bit out and continue with the sock with enough of the remaining skein.  Phew! Ravelry notes

How was your weekend?  I spent all day yesterday getting ready for Easter.  I am seeing lots of family and, well, I wanted to create Easter bags for everyone.  My weekdays are so busy I really needed to work on the gift bags on the weekend. I worked more on my never ending sweater and while the realist in me believes I will get by with the yarn I have, the crazy little voice in my head keeps whispering panic thoughts.  I know I will have just enough yarn....really! Yesterday we walked the dirt road with Frodo and enjoyed plenty of sunshine and blue skies. Today it's raining (the drippy drizzly kind of rain).  I have the back door opened and love listening to the rain, such a springlike sound to hear.  This weekend also contained:  -curry dinner - apple crumble -  big salads - episodes of Endeavor - tea sipping and book reading in tandem - cat dog chases that Holly the cat always wins - watercolor painting - The weekend was...

Early spring is difficult for me to capture through a camera lens.  I've been outside twice trying and I've learned that different lenses lend to different captures.  I love learning. No matter what the temperature is outside, it looks like spring and that is enough for me.  Fresh leaves are sprouting and every day is a new development.  I adore the green sheen along the roadways as I drive.  Spring has sprung!  I keep circling back to thinking about making each day the best day ever.  How do I do it?  Well it's a splattering of a few things.  Of course, I have to do certain chores every day.  I try to do them as soon as possible so that the rest of the day can be free.  I tend to usually go to the grocery store on a gym day (ugh), however, I've been stopping at the grocery store on my home after a work day.  My oh my has this freed up time on the gym days.  I guess I consider grocery shopping as work...whic...

Well well well, the panicking over the yarn abundance has settled down, for now.  If I can get to 7-8 inches from the armhole with the current skein then I have enough yarn.  I think I'll be fine - phew!!  The sweater   knitting is fantastic while watching TV.  You know I love mindless stockinette knitting and this project fits that description perfectly.  I've been working on the Holly Inspired shawl  (Holly picked this skein from the stash and when crazy with it...).  I have the pattern memorized and I love working on it.  I enjoy starting with a few stitches and then watching the shawl get bigger and bigger with each row! What are you knitting or working on this week?

My Weekend: -finishing that first sock! -watching Holly watching me -spying deer spying on me -attending my husband's co-worker's daughter's wedding  -enjoying watching young love, good food and friendships -not quite mastering the 'selfie' but having fun -watching Frodo catch (!) a tiny garter snake -the garter snake escaped -Our first photo booth  -three out of four photos are great -last photo is meh Today -I attended Mass, came home then did the laundry  -we are both quite tired How was your weekend?