Pumpkin Sunrise

  How delightful to see the oak leaves falling. On my daily walks with Frodo, I've been soaking in the changes of the seasons. Entering into Autumn never disappoints and this time of year is when I think about new knitting projects and writing projects. All the books I want to read stare me down and I rethink my priorities of what I really want to focus on.  Surprisingly I picked up my paints yesterday and dabbled a tiny bit in my creative journal. Weeks have gone by since I created anything remotely related to art. Just like knitting, my interests hop around and one form of creativity over takes another form of creativity.  The older I get the more I allow grace and ease in my days. I have goals, but the goals are fluid and open-ended in a specific time frame. (I always do what I HAVE to do). My holiday knitting goals are lofty and maybe delusional but I know what I can do, what I might do and what can wait til next year.  My non-credit classes have been such fun. I...

  I finished this sweater last week and once I was finished blocking the sweater, it took forever to dry. Well, it felt like forever. Boy, did I eke out the yarn usage of this project. I only had five skeins of the main color which was wool bought by my husband when he was in Italy in 2018 (??). Why I thought five skeins would be enough yarn for a sweater is a big mystery because he called me from Italy while in a yarn store to make sure I had enough. I blame it on me! I used a skein of knitpicks palette to stripe in at the body of the sweater and for extra measure I used another 'mystery yarn' that is nearly an exact match to the main color. I have about 100 yards left over of the main color (phew!). Now all I need is some cold weather because this is a WARM sweater. What are you working on this week?

  How was your weekend? Thank you so much for the well wishes, I am feeling much better. Modern medicine has yet to fail me.  My weekend was fun! On Saturday, we had my sister and brother in law over for dinner and dessert. I made chili, cornbread, salad and a pumpkin pie. I celebrated fall.  On Sunday, we drove to southeastern Ohio for the day for our granddaughter's baptism. Afterwards we attended a little luncheon. We had fun seeing everyone and being with family. Our grandson was great fun, full of smiles and hugs. Our ride home was slightly delayed due to a major accident on the highway, my family in another car was stuck in that traffic jam due to the highway being shut down for over four hours. I am grateful I was home by dinner time and felt awful for my aunt and cousins who didn't get home until 9:30 - 10:00 in the evening. I worked on my grandson's Christmas sweater  in the car and had a wonderful time knitting a short project.

  How are you doing? Around here autumn weather has been showing up. The nights are cold and daylight is dwindling away, I love it and I'm all in for the change of seasons. I'll be surprised if there is one more heat wave. Even if there is one, it will be the last one.  Yesterday my husband and I went out to lunch at a local restaurant that has outdoor seating overlooking a pond. We each ordered a salad and enjoyed our views. We did a little shopping as well. Earlier this week, I had an intense arthritis flare (ouch) that had me calling the doctor for medicine. I am so grateful that my doctor and her nurse responded quickly and I was able to pick up and take the medication by dinner time. I'm thrilled to report that I am feeling a bit better.  It's difficult for me to take it easy, but that is what I am doing.  I should be finishing up the sweater today! I'm excited to get it off the needles and blocked. I am already planning out the next knitting projects (holiday ...

  Well lookie see, I finished the last hitchhiker shawl last night. This is the third hitchhiker shawl from my summer knitting series and it is the last one for quite some time to come. I enjoyed this knit as all the other shawl knits but I am looking forward to not knitting a shawl for quite some time. It's time to start knitting for the grands for Christmas. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How was your weekend?  Mine was relaxing. After we returned home on Thursday from seeing the grandchildren in Indiana, my Friday was a catch up day. Saturday and Sunday were completely relaxing.  Saturday I fiddled about with organizing my online photos for 2020, 2021 and 2022 (yes woefully behind but done!). I still have to save some photos on this computer to save to a flash drive yet. Isn't it silly to be virtually organizing? Remember when we had physical copies of everything and would place the photos in photo albums? Saturday afternoon, I read books and worked on the last hitchhiker shawl (still not done). Sunday after Mass, I did laundry and cleaned the house somewhat. I read some more and knitted some more. That last hitchhiker shawl is taking forever but I am so close to being finished. I'm sure we are still going to have hot weather but honestly it's been refreshing to be cold in the mornings and see the changes in the trees. Fall is rushing in a...

  This week was fabulous, my husband and I traveled to Indiana to see our grandson and to meet our new granddaughter. Our grandson is at a wonderful age, he's beginning to talk ( A CAR!) and understands most of what we are saying to him or at least pretending to understand. He loves to tell stories that are unintelligible except for the occasional word here and there, delightful. My husband read many books over and over again. I marched around the house singing while he gleefully followed along laughing and giggling. We took long walks at the local park. Our little granddaughter is perfection. She loves to snuggle and be bundled up like a little burrito. She is using all the blankets I knit for her and for her little brother.  Our travels to and from Indiana were smooth and uneventful and now I am back home trying to catch up with all those pesky chores. Later this morning, I'll take Frodo for a walk and catch up with all of your blogs.

  I whipped up a pair of mitts for my daughter in law, super quick. I used acrylic yarn and after I bought the yarn I discovered that it was aran weight instead of worsted weight, rookie mistake on my part. So I dropped down 2 needle sizes to make the size that I wanted. What are you working on this week?

  How was your weekend? I had a fabulous one. Nothing much happened and I guess that is what I like most of all, nothing happening. I did a lot of knitting and a  lot of reading. Friday evening we went over to my sister and brother in law's house for dinner. After dessert and a quick board game, she gave me a tour of her beautiful garden where I captured some pretty photos. Saturday was all the knitting and reading and then back to knitting, so so so good!! Sunday we went to church and I did a bazillion household chores. (I'd rather be knitting or reading!). I tried a new shampoo and my hair is all over the place. I can't decide if it's a win or fail.  While I was walking Frodo around the house, I spied this maple leaf wishing me good things to come. I don't care how hot it gets or how humid (and it is humid = hair all over the place) I know and you know that FALL is coming and there are signs of it's arrival. That is all I need.

  Good morning! Isn't Holly funny in that photo? She snuck into the 'dog' zone while Frodo was snoring away beside me in the afternoon. I looked up and there she was, surveying the room - she is always shocked he is sleeping right there beside me. Her adventurous spirit never ceases to amaze me. We have discovered that Holly hates thunderstorms and quietly hides somewhere in the house. Frodo, bless him, is deaf and cannot hear them anymore which is wonderful since he would tremble so! We close the blinds so that he cannot see flashing light from the lightning just in case that upsets him. We had a wonderful day of rain, thunder and tiny bits of lightning yesterday. Such a refreshing change of weather after the heat and humidity.  I've been enjoying my classes so far, especially Tai Chi (which is using different muscles than my yoga!). The instructor is fun and the class members all have a willing spirit.  I've been bitten by the knitting bug, in that I want to knit ...

  I did some fast knitting in the last few days. I started and finished this Christmas Stocking for our granddaughter and now my hands are sore. I know that my hands are the happiest when I knit with wool. When I knit with plant fibers or some acrylic yarns, I have sad hands. The stockings that I have made thus far for my son's house were made with cherry red wool that has since been discontinued. I faced the dilemma of ordering a replacement wool online knowing that red (and purple!) are two colors that computer screens can mislead as true colors.  A while ago, I spied redheart supersaver in THE red that I know is very close to the discontinued wool color so I bought lots knowing that my hands would take a beating. I cannot wait to see how close I  matched the reds. (My hands recovered quickly!) What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! I'm popping in here for a quick hello since the weekend is still going strong today because it's Labor Day. Yesterday, we had lunch at my dad and stepmom's house along with my sister and brother in law. The food was delicious and the flowers were beautiful!  On Saturday, my sister and I went shopping and had great fun. I bought more yarn even though I swore I would not buy more yarn and would faithfully knit from my never-ending stash. I swear the purchases were 'necessary'. I am hopefully finishing a Christmas stocking today for our newly minted granddaughter. The yarn is acrylic, so my hands are very sore. I cannot wait to return to my sweater knitting.  How was your weekend?

  Can you believe that we have arrived to the glorious month of September? I know that summer is still blazing away and fall is inching slowly towards us but flipping the calendar page to September brings me joy. My mom would demand a Christmas list by September first believing she could knit all the things and have them wrapped up for the holidays. She would start asking for the list in August. As a young adult, I thought she was crazy and a bit over reacting. September? Christmas? Jeez! And here I am, starting a Christmas stocking for our granddaughter. My mother is looking down from heaven with an 'I told you so' smirk on her face. However, I am smirking back at her and telling her that I have started knitting for the holidays at the start of this year.  I do not ask for a knitting wish list from my family. I knit what I want when I want and give the items freely away, if I don't meet my virtual 'to knit' demands, no one knows but me. My self-imposed timeline is ...