Pumpkin Sunrise

I'm happy to report that I'm blissfully knitting the first sleeve of my son in law's sweater .  I'm in heaven!  Wouldn't it be incredible if I finished a sleeve in one week?  I know it's doable but will I do it?  Stay tuned.  My mitts haven't seen much action but I did manage to work a few hours on the second mitt patterning.  So lovely to knit and yet I'm torn between knitting and finishing the sweater or knitting and finishing the mitts.  What a lovely knitting problem to have, right? In reading, I continue to spend some time with Inspector Gamache in the fourth book of the series by Louise Penny.  Also I started Gilead by Marilynne Robinson.  What beautiful poetic writing!  I feel like highlighting paragraphs.  I should get a notebook out and take some notes... What are you crafting these days?

How was your weekend?  Many of you might have tomorrow off as well for Martin Luther King's day.  I think I'm babysitting, but have to text her to confirm.  Today was a chilly day and I was wearing all the knits to combat the weather.  I wore a hand knit sweater, socks, shawl and mitts. That is why I love winter!  I'm carving out more and more time to knit as I juggle the pets.  Yesterday I spent over two hours organizing 2017 photos on my flickr account.  Why do I wait until the whole year is over?  A smart person would do this task monthly.  Let's see if I'm a smart person in 2018, although in my own defense, two hours wasn't that long.  After the photo organizing, I finished all the knitting of the body of the sweater.  Today I cast on a sleeve.  Getting closer and closer to a finished knit. Today was left over pizza from yesterday's dinner.  Holly is free somewhere on the main level and Frodo is on his leash.  We are mingling and living to

olive heather henley  :  I have been knitting the sweater almost daily and for a few hours at a time.  As you can guess, I am seeing progress!  I love tiny needles and fingering weight wool but worsted weight does have a place in my heart.  Today after the gym and lunch I hope to add more inches on the upper back patterning. snowfling mitts  :  Over the weekend I finished the one mitt and casted on the next mitt.  Both mitts are lined with a cashmere blend so I'm only 25% of the way finished with this decadent project.  I love knitting these mitts and maybe, just maybe I'll be wearing them at the beginning of spring?  Dare I say end of winter?  A knitter can hope!! What are you working on this week?

Good morning and it's the new year as well!  I'm sitting at my kitchen table wearing gym clothes and writing up this knitting post.  My knitting has picked up a bit, finally.  I find pockets of time each day to do many rows on the mittens .  Such fun to see the pattern emerge, and I hope that a gentle blocking will ease those bumpy knit stitches here and there (I think it will).  My son in law's sweater is getting to the secret sauce of pattern knitting - JOY!  After all that stockinette, I'm thrilled to be patterning and following directions.  Let's hope I continue to have smooth sailing with this knit.  I've been reading Everything I Never Told You  by Celeste Ng.  This has been on my to read list forever and I finally bought a copy.  So far it's a great read and I'm captivated by the various points of view by family members reflecting on a relative's unexpected suicide.  It's not as depressing as it sounds. I'm also readi

Another holiday knit finished!  I just love these mitts and it'll be hard to part with them.  But knitters who give gifts have to part ways with some of their creations.  I know that the person who receives these mitts will love them! These mitts make me wish for snow :) Ravelry notes are here .

Nicole of  Singing of Hope  blog asked for some test knitters for some patterns she wrote up a while ago, so I thought I'd give her a knitting helping hand.  That's what knitters do!! I dug deep into my stash and unearthed some wool and cast on.  I'm having fun knitting with two colors and with some wooden needles.  I find when I'm dpn-ing (shall we coin a knitting verb?  double pointed needling....)  they are kind to my hands. Ravelry notes are here . As you may have guessed these mitts are for a holiday gift.  Ho ho ho!!

As you read this post, hum the song "Sleigh Ride" by Johnny Mathis, because that is the song that is repeating in my head since I woke up.  I have no snow (sniff) but the spirit of gift giving is alive in my heart. The  cowl , is the last of it's series...I think. I might make one more but it will be for me and not someone else. I fancy casting on a pair of fingerless mitts for me before a cowl. I finish my gift knitting and then start another gift, just because I can and I'm having fun with my quick pick me up knitting projects.  These mitts .....Oh they were such a fast knit!  Now I'll be upstairs wrapping and humming.

As you can see, I finished a few projects and I am thrilled to have them completed and out of my knitting bag.  The gloves  are tucked away for when the fall cool weather arrives-just think I have something new to wear! This scarf was truly a labor of love.  The knitting was a bit fiddly because of the sleek yarn.  The entire time I was knitting, I was thinking and worrying about whether I would have enough yarn.  Oh my, what a waste of time.  Once again, the magic of blocking cured all of the worries!!  This knit blocked out beautifully and you know, I have one other skein in a light gray and might subject myself to more knitting torture to have another scarf :)

I finished knitting these mitts for my daughter a few days ago.  Do you remember this sweater ?  Well I had one very lonely orphaned skein left over from that project.  When my daughter put in the request for mitts, I was already tripping up the stairs to my studio to dig down in my worsted weight basket, snapping a photo, texting her and asking "is this color okay?" Thankfully she said "yes" and the cast on begun.  The pattern is susie's reading mitts  and the ravelry project page is here .  As you know I love to knit with lace weight or fingering weight yarns, but I enjoyed immensely how quickly these mitts knit up because they are worsted weight.  Instant knitting gratification!!

I finished these mitts over the weekend and well, I'm quite happy with them.  The strap and the button detail are my favorite part of the mitt design.  There is a quiet joy rummaging through my button collection deciding on flashy or romantic or unassuming.  I went for unassuming this time around. This project used one skein of cascade 220 , a fantastic basic yarn.  I believe these would make a lovely holiday gift (I know, I know I shouldn't speak of holiday knitting) OR a lovely gift for me.  I have options. Ravelry notes are here .

These days have been quiet and calm.  Snow lays on the ground and there is a possibility of more snow this weekend.  I've been knitting and finished two projects.  While knitting my mind wanders to new projects that I'd love to start, another sweater, another shawl.  Yet I still have a sweater and shawl on the needles.  Ideally I like to stay under four projects on the needles.  Over four and I lose my mind.  Four is the perfect variety for me.  Do you have a maximum number?  Just wondering. I'm  still trying to get used to buying groceries for four people, that is a work in progress.  When they leave I think I'll have perfected the skill, only to then revert back to buying and cooking for two people.  I must say that the fingerless mitts are so wonderful in person.  The yarn is cascade 220 superwash and it is the softest wool EVER.      I hope you all have a lovely weekend :)

I finished the fingerless mitts yesterday for Christmas gifts.  The yarn is moda dea which is incredibly soft and has a lovely feel to knit with.  I am pleased that it is superwash so it will be a breeze to keep clean. The pattern is fetching . This is my go to fingerless mitt pattern, I think because I have it memorized and it's super easy to whip up.  I like to do four cables on the wrist section and three cables on the palm section. On the thumb, I knit 10 rows before binding off.  I also eliminate the picot edging.

I finished these mitts last weekend and now I am just waiting for some cold weather to wear them.  A knitting friend gave me two skeins of lovely wool from England andI knew right away that I would be making something for my hands.  This pattern  has been in my library for quite some time waiting for the perfect yarn to arrive.  I highly recommend this pattern.  The directions are easy to follow and the results are quite lovely.  Dare I say it would make a fantastic Christmas gift?? I had lots of fun with the timer setting of my camera and no one at home thought I was a little crazy.  What we do for photography and a blog post.  Notice the awesome pottery mug--love! The wool is very tweed"y" and I know it's going to be super warm when I wear them. Today was the first morning I turned on the heat.  Yesterday I wore another scarf and it was pure bliss. I am positive in a matter of weeks that these mitts will be worn :)