Pumpkin Sunrise

  How are you? I am officially wishing for FALL. I gave up, the weather is too soupy out there to enjoy.   I finished this scarf ! Yes that is me shouting with glee. I've been working on this scarf for a long time, so  it's nice to be cast off, blocked and after I post this - wrapped up to be gifted in the fall. I enjoyed the pattern but I knew I would get a little bored in the middle, I always do on a scarf - with a shawl or cowl I'm okay with the middle, same with a sweater.  What are you working on this week?

  Good afternoon! How are you? How was your weekend? Ta Da! I pulled out some paints and I painted a tiny picture over the weekend - I felt creative and Frodo approves of my skills. Also this weekend I worked on the lace shawl and am so close to the end.  We didn't do much this weekend, at Mass I nearly passed out because it doesn't have AC (this is my childhood church that is very old) so I guess we are going to an AC Church until the fall. No one else looked hot, even the priest with all of his garb. So it's me and my autoimmune condition. Heat and/or sun are just awful for me.  I've been enjoying sitting on the back patio and some quiet time there. 

  Good morning! The past two days have been cool enough to enjoy the weather outside but the heat is coming back. Lucky for me, I have lovely knitting projects to keep me company. The above photo is a pair of mittens , surprisingly for me! My daughter and son in law gave me the wool for Mother's Day. I'm having a hard time seeing the rows because the yarn is so dark but I'm having fun with the pattern. The below photo is the lace scarf that I finally memorized the stitch pattern, this took me nearly half of the scarf to do so. The middle stitches are easy to memorize, it was the bordering stitches that continuously stumped me. I am enjoy this knit! What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are you? My knitting has been on fantastic. I continue to limit how much time I spend on my knitting so I avoid and prevent a wrist flare coming back. I have been quite successful. Since I'm limiting the amount of time I knit, my progress is slow. The socks are coming along nicely. Today I should be at the heel flap and once I turn a heel the rest is down hill for me. I swore these were the last pair of socks but I will be making more just not for my husband. I a few people I could knit socks for the holidays. I'm still thinking about it. The lace scarf  (which is a holiday gift) is growing! I love to sit and do a few repeats each day mid morning. I cannot do anything else since it's lacework so it's meditative for me. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! I started this scarf at the beginning of April and it is a Christmas gift. I had a spare skein of malabrigo yarn lace and according to the directions I should have enough yarn. We shall see! I have to concentrate while knitting this so I only work on it a few times a week while I still have non-credit classes to attend. I will be having a few weeks off before the summer sessions start so hopefully I will have more time to knit! What are you working on this week?

  How was your weekend? I'm on a roll with having quiet weekends and this one was really restive. The only event that caused some hiccups was the crazy windy rainy weather that knocked out power for moments at a time. We held our breath waiting to see if it was permanent and luckily it was not. Phew. On Saturday we went for a country drive north of us and did a little bit of shopping (one was a grocery store so that wasn't exciting but they carry things I cannot get locally). We enjoyed seeing the greening trees and spring bursting everywhere. Sunday morning, we attended Mass and then the rest of the day was laundry.  All weekend long I was either reading or knitting. What a great way to spend a weekend. The top photo is a scarf and the bottom photo is a never ending hat in K1 P1 ribbing. How was your weekend?

  Earlier last week, I finished this Diversion scarf  and it took a while to dry since it's winter. I was finally able to take some photos and share them with you today. Remember when I said I would NOT buy any more yarn to finish the scarf? Well, I bought more gray yarn. A whole skein of sock yarn for 81 yards. I tried to make do with another color and I didn't like the way it looked at all.  I can easily use the rest of the gray yarn for other projects. Overall I'm pleased with the way this scarf turned out! What are you working on this week?

  This morning my husband and I were planning a trip to Indiana to attend our sweet grandson's first birthday party. I wasn't feeling that great last week and early this week went to urgent care for a salivary gland infection and am on meds. The healing has been slow-going (I'm extremely impatient!). I'm seeing a specialist next week thankfully. Anyways, whenever we travel my dry eye and dry mouth symptoms (due to Sjogren's syndrome) are worse. I can only guess it's something to do with the long car ride and the dry air circulation in the car. Besides not feeling the best, I knew the car ride would not help me continue to recover. So we canceled. I haven't done much of anything this week except drink lots of water, finish reading a book or two and of course put in a few rows of knitting here and there. 

  Good morning! How was your weekend? After last week mentioning the endless rain, I'm happy to report our weather switched to snow. It's pretty to look at and it's a nice change.  My weekend was a socializing one. My husband and I attended our grand-nephew's second birthday. He was sweet to watch with a room full of people celebrating his big day. Of course there was cake and tons of family to catch up with.  Afterwards some family came to our house to continue the socializing. We had pizza and played a board game. Seeing family on a regular basis is one of the reasons I moved here. Sunday afternoon I had an art date with my sister and I started on some Valentine Cards. We drank tea and painted - these watercoloring sessions filled my creative heart.  During the entire weekend I feverishly read (but did not finish) Stephen King's book Fairytale . I'm over half way through and it's captivating. I also worked on the scarf that is getting closer and closer to...

  Day after day has been cloudy, dreary and rainy . Yesterday the sun peeked out briefly which had us scrambling outside for a walk and to soak up the sunbeams. A few hours later, the clouds were back. Today there were teeny tiny snowflakes. So goes January. How are you? How's your weather? How's your January? My grand-nephew will be celebrating his second birthday this weekend, I'm excited to gather with family and enjoy the festivities. Our grandson will be one year old in February! Crazy how time flies by. I've been chipping away at the scarf in the evenings while reading books during the day. I have maybe 2-3 repeats remaining on the scarf and then it will be done. I'm still not sure whether I have enough gray yarn or not and I'm at knitting peace with the dilemma. I will either fudge it with another similar gray color or just end the scarf. I'm resolved to not buy more yarn.

  My super secret project is finished, well within the deadline and I'll talk more about the project with details next week. All will be revealed. This week I've been mainly knitting my Motta Hat which I adore working on. I could have manically worked on this project so that it was done for today's post but I'm enjoying and savoring the slow knitting along with the slow January days. I'm respecting the 'no goal' knitting vibe that is decadent (except for the super secret knitting project, that was manic and frantic!). Next up is the good things scarf . The knitting has been minimal but the thinking has been non-stop. I do not have enough of the gray wool to keep the pattern going as I had initially planned. However yesterday I thought more about it and there's a chance I have enough if I end the scarf with gray. I'm still thinking about it. I have rushed out and bought mini skeins here and there and do not want to rush out and buy a whole skein of g...

  I've been mainly working exclusively on two projects this past week. First up is the Good Things Scarf that is easy to knit and fun to knit. I'm using some mini-skeins as well as a gray sock yarn in between the mini-skeins. The other project is the purple socks for my husband - I love to have socks on the needles because I can talk and knit without many mistakes, never say never though.  Then in my imagination is a soon to be hat for me. I haven't started it, but I have been thinking about it!! What are you working on this week?

  How are you?  I've been mighty fine these days. The knitting frenzy continues as I am working on the sixth gnome! I am getting more crazy with the color combinations and chipping away at some half skeins that I know I will never use again. The gnome journey has been so much fun! The above photo is the scarf that I am making for me that I haven't worked on since gnome number two or three. I'm working on it today, it's a lovely pattern that is fun to work on. After a brief warm up in the temperatures, we are getting back to chilly air. A cold front blew through and the winds knocked down so many tree leaves in the neighborhood. Delightful! Frodo and I love to see the fallen leaves all mixed up on neighborhood properties. We have our fair share of leaves mixed together in our front yard. After a summer on NOT feeding the birds because of a raccoon family, we are back at it. The birds came right back! Hopefully the raccoons do not. My bird feeder is squirrel proof but no...

  It seems that I get sidetracked in many ways. Above is a delightful array of mini-skeins of lolodit sock yarn and a skein of tough love sock by sweet georgia yarn that will be a good things scarf  I've been blissfully thinking of all the combinations I can do with what I have in my stash. The possibilities are endless.  So while I knit and mull over this multi-yarn scarf design. I am knitting up many gnomes. I'll be posting a photo soon, they are Christmas gifts and I need to think through who sees what. I believe I can post here with minimal viewings by my family. I've been sketching daily in October except for the last two days which were 'busy'. So now I am three days behind that I'll catch up over the weekend, hopefully.  The weather has been glorious this week. Lots and lots of blue skies, the air is crisp and the mornings are cold. Not only that but a cold front is coming through. yay! October has been inspirational for my creativity and my motivations ...

Well, well, well.  It seems to me that when you focus and knit on one project exclusively, that said project gets completed in a timely manner.  I worked on this knit daily for two weeks and knitted more than what was already completed before my knitting marathon. Those progress markers work. I enjoyed this knit and the mindlessness of a 12 row repeat (I think 12 rows).  I created this shawl out of my own imagination and used a Barbara Walker pattern dictionary (the first book published).  The cloverleaf stitch pattern was a delight to knit. What made this stitch pattern nice was the simplicity and repeatability of the design and I could knit and watch tv at the same time.  I would definitely recommend the yarn, Manos del uruguay Marina .  This single ply yarn was soft and lovely to have in my hands. Ravelry notes are here

I've decided to focus mainly on the above project in the evenings.  Each day I place a new marker to see how much I can knit and feel like I'm not swimming in endless knitting.  This technique works for me (you should try it).  I've added more than 12 inches in one week.  I'm determined to finish something soon. Once August shows up and back to school sales are popping up (paper, pens oh my!), I become wistful for the fall season.  I've made a resolution to not wish away any season.  However, I'm challenged every single summer season. My mother used to get the 'winter blues' at the end of February, she'd exclaim her hatred to winter, snow, the dark days etc.  I would be in my glory, loving the snow, the dark and yes all the wintry blah-ness. I have the 'summer blues'.  I'm tired of wearing capris, sandals and being hot.  My sinuses hate going from heat and humidity then AC.  (But God bless AC!).  In complete defiance I ...

I am not feeling like there is much progress, but with this shawl  I started placing a pin marker every time I work on it so I could SEE the progress.  I remember when I started this in mid - May and my excitement to have a light and airy lace weight knit that could be easy to take with me on summer adventures.Now, I want to have this knit finished and sooner than later. I need to start knitting Christmas gifts in September.  So the self imposed deadline is looming on all of my projects. I love knitting this summer top .  I finished the waist decreasing and have about 3-4 inches until the armhole.  Easy peasy stockinette knitting is bliss! My son's blanket  is over a third of the way completed.  I have the pattern memorized and so I just dedicate an hour a day to add to the length.  I wish I could cast on something new but I'm resisting the urge until one of the above three projects is off the needles.  Wish me luck! ...