Pumpkin Sunrise

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in my house.  Call me crazy but this time of year is my kind of season.  I love to be cold down to my bones, I love the cozy feeling of an early morning and evening both in the dark and of course the anticipation of the holidays. I am very lucky that both kids will be here for the holidays and they will overlap each other's visits during the Christmas week.  As long as I can remember, I have strived to get most of the shopping done before December so I can enjoy December.  I don't like crowds or pressure.  This year I might be done within a week or so. My mom was a fantastic gift giver.  She would ask us for our Christmas lists in September.  At the time I thought she was crazy but now that I know how long it takes to knit gifts, she was a sane person.  Not only did she knit clothes for my kids and my nephew, she would sew clothes for all three kids as well.  I miss her. So far Holl...

To be honest I haven't worked on my sweater for over two weeks, but to keep the blog info current, I'm throwing in a photo.  Let's pretend I've knitted a stitch or two, okay?  If you remember, I ripped out the first try and now I'm down a garment size and starting over.  I'm nearly caught up on the big rip out though. This is hat number THREE out of four!  Yes, I'm over half way over and I work on the hats every single night.  I predict that I will be done with all four hats by the end of November.  Phew!  They will be ready for tags and wrapping and stuffed into a Christmas stocking for my adult children. This sweet cowl has seen a row or two, but not much.  I'm saving this for holiday visiting coming up because I can knit and talk at the same time and not make a mistake.  That is valuable during the holiday season. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow if you are celebrating!! What are you working on ...

do you see the deer? This weekend was full of extraordinary goodness.  Our son is home for his Thanksgiving break from Penn State, more than likely the last one since he is graduating and applying for professor jobs (praying he is close by!!).  We won't know until early to mid spring if he has job interviews or offers. I've been working on my to do list for the Thanksgiving event.  Everyday I've listed something to do so that I get it all done in a timely manner. The sunrises have been brilliant and beautiful.  I love waking up and taking Frodo out in the early morning light and witnessing nature. Speaking of nature, it SNOWED.  Yes!  I don't think it was even in the forecast and we got about 2 inches of beautiful snow.  It usually snows around my birthday, so I consider this snowfall a belated birthday present from Mother Nature. I decorated the house for Christmas, except for the tree.  I will put that up next weekend.  I...

I finished the first hat out of four hats for my adult kids.  Three more to go (assuming my math is correct ha ha).  I made a mistake when telling you about this hat, the pattern is the March hat  and it is a free pattern as well.  I have no idea why I thought I was knitting the October hat... Of course I cast on the second hat immediately. This week my mind is in a 'hurry hurry hurry' mode, so I'm counteracting my frenzied thinking with 'slow down, slow down, slow down' mode.  It isn't easy for me,  but I've been successful in my slowing down. I celebrated my birthday (yay!) and I was graced with phone calls from family and friends not to mention many birthday cards in the mail.  I am truly blessed!  Every day this week, my priority was to enjoy whatever I was doing while doing the task.  I fail on Babysitting Tuesday for some reason working one day a week tires me right out and makes my intentions waver.  My daily goal ...

I finished the little cardigan for the preschooler over the weekend.  Overall I'm happy with the results including the automatic striping.  Hopefully this will fit her (she currently wears size three and I made a size four). I'm disappointed that when I bought the yarn I thought  it was machine washable.  It is not.  My mistake and I put a tag inside instructing the preschooler's mom that it is 'hand wash".  My reading skills were lacking while I was enjoying the pretty subdued colors. Ravelry notes

How was your weekend?  Mine was somewhat productive, overall.  I had a blissful two days at home wrapping some gifts for extended family that I will be seeing soon.  I feel like I'm on top of my game, right now. Saturday morning I witnessed a beautiful sunrise and also the moon still peeking as the day slowly started.  I will never tire of early mornings and the silence that surrounds me knowing that the whole day is ahead of me and I can do lots. Sadly, I ripped out the hat and the sweater .  Yes.  Both were too big (who does gauge???).  I am very happy with my decision and know now that I am on the right track with both projects.  In my defense the sweater is a drop shoulder design which I haven't knit in decades....so I'm going to blame my rustiness on that.  The hat, well I have no common sense when I started a large knowing full well it was a large amount of stitches to cast on for a hat in worsted weight.  I have no ha...

This past week I've worn a lot of hand made sweaters and it was glorious.  Being wrapped in wool is one of delights of cold weather.  I know many of you prefer summer and lots of sunshine but I thrive with chilly dark days.  Along with the shortened days I've been contemplating on how to decorate the house while having a two year old cat.  I think  she might leave the tree alone but I'm not sure.  Last year, I put up the smaller tree with ornaments that were safe and not sentimental.  My mom made a slew of ornaments that I treasure and since she isn't with us anymore, I cannot replace those treasures.  So I'm leaning towards doing the same thing this year, my reason being is that the smaller tree is easier to pick up if she knocks it down.....and she did last year. This week I've plotted out what needs to be done from now until the holidays.  I prefer to do a little bit every day rather than waiting until the last minute to do ev...

When I finished this hat last week, I was excited to know that I would be able to wear it during this latest cold spell.  The pom-pom was a gift a few years ago and I pondered on what hat to make.  When I saw this pattern trending on Ravelry I knew that my pom-pom would have a future home. I used left over fingering-weight wools from stash to make my hat.  Whenever I use deep stash yarn I feel like the project is 'free'.  I know I know, I bought the yarn at one time so it isn't technically free but you get the feeling I'm talking about.  I am using up scraps! My alterations were few.  I made the brim four inches instead of one inch so I could fold the brim over and have a slightly slouchy fit for the pom-pom. Ravelry notes

I fell into two delightful rabbit holes this weekend.  Both of them were not the internet kind of rabbit hole so I felt the time was well spent. Saturday morning I decided to put away all of my wool that was previously displayed before Holly marched into our lives.  Sadly she 'plays' with wool and throws it about all willy nilly.  So each beautiful basket had a towel over the yarn and tucked around. I sorted and stored all those yarns in zip bags that comforters come in.  Then shoved that into my walk in closet. Sunday I decided to pull out all of the walk in closet yarn and re-organize it AGAIN.  I fondly remembered my mom as I came across some 'vintage' wool that was hers.   My epiphany was I need to shop my closet before buying yarn.  Seriously!  I also balled up two different fingering weight wools for future projects.  The purple wool will be a sweater for me.  I haven't decided quite yet what that delicious appl...

Since Michelle is hosting a gratitude week, I thought I would list mine today. -for all the sunrises I witness each morning and for the time change that makes the mornings a bit brighter for now. -for the first frost last night and evidence of a snow flurry -for the cold air so I can wear wool -for all the knitting, past-present-future, that fills my heart with joy.  For new favorite mugs and old favorite mugs and the green tea I drink. -for phone calls from the kids and hearing what they're are doing -for dinner dates with my husband, lunch dates with friends -for the preschooler who is delightful, funny and sweet as can be -for Holly's bravery as she tries her best to sidle up to Frodo.  This is Holly and Frodo being together  in the photo above.  Frodo is under that ottoman to the right. -for Frodo who sees the glass half full because he really really thinks he can catch Holly.  This will never happen, she is too fast! -for ne...