Pumpkin Sunrise

  How are you? How are you doing as we lead up to the holidays? I am getting things done bit by bit aided my a very detailed to do list. I finished my granddaughter's hat a week or so ago and forgot to show you! This project was a fun quick easy knit. Below is a photo of my husband's hat that I would love to finish before Christmas. For incentives for me to finish on time, I started placing a marker before I start knitting for the day so I could see my progress. It appears I knit one inch or so a day. As of today I am confident I will meet my goal. Lastly, I restarted a pair of mitts for myself with some lovely wool my daughter gave me for Mother's day. The original pattern I chose was too hard for me to see the stitches to do the cabling and there were mistakes in the pattern that I knew needed to be corrected before knitting. I can do both but I just didn't have the mental bandwidth to do it. The older I get, the harder it is to see dark wool in the evenings even w...

  Hello! How are you? I am doing great! I have an ultra detailed list of what I want to do each day so I can be 'ready' for Christmas. I also do not want Advent to fly right by without enjoying the season of preparing. So during my busy 'to-doing', I have space to enjoy the the days leading up to Christmas. I've been missing Frodo, but not missing his round the clock medical care (and the endless worrying). I am so grateful we have Holly (the cat) who is thoroughly enjoying Frodo NOT being here. She loves being number one!! I am glad she can be number one now. It's been seven years since I found her as a little kitten on the side of the road (half dead, half alive) as I was driving home. We named her Holly because it was early December.  My sister bought me this beautiful wool mini bundle collection for my birthday which was a few weeks ago and I've had fun pouring over the hat pattern possibilities which are endless. I hope to start something soon but it wi...

  Good morning! Boy have I missed you guys. I had a fantastic visit with family and spent some quality time with the grandkids. They left yesterday morning and I put my house back together again once more. They will be visiting again shortly after Christmas for an extended period of time. I am so lucky! My knitting was non-existent while they were here. I continue to work on the second Musselburgh hat for my husband who sees me knitting it but doesn't know it's for him, ha ha ha. I've been feeling under the weather but I am convinced it's my auto-immune disease, so I've been taking it easy, hydrating and keeping my fingers crossed. So far this plan is working! What are you working on this week?

  Let's call this year, the year of the hat. I am in hat knitting mode and loving it. I whipped this little hat up for my grandson in a week. I altered the amount of brim and changed 1 x 1 ribbing to 2 x 2 ribbing. I'm hoping that this hat will last since the brim can easily fold up. I have already started one for my granddaughter. What are you working on this week? Happy Thanksgiving for all who are celebrating. I will be back to this space next Wednesday - we have family visiting us once again!!

  I celebrated my birthday this week! What a great time to be alive, I am so grateful. I received many calls from my family. While yesterday was not my birthday, it snowed! I felt like that was a gift from Mother Nature since I love winter so much. We went to see the holiday lights at the conservatory and they were lovely. I had a difficult time being thoroughly immersed in the displays because right before we walked into the foyer we were pummeled by high winds and drenching rains. My husband and I were soaked through and were so cold down to our bones. Glass houses are not heated, lol. All I thought about was getting home and changing my clothes and drinking hot tea. Yesterday was a delicious day at home. I got caught up on the computer with 'stuff' and did my readings for the week for two classes. Below is a photo of a hat for the my grandson. I am not sure I have enough yarn so I am winging it. My years of experience say there is enough yarn but the pattern I chose says the...

  Good morning! I am so excited that we might get some snowflakes tomorrow, but first I have to weather the rain today. My fingers are crossed! I finished my hat and I love it. I made the extra large size. For my second hat, and there will be a second one, I will go up a needles size and down a hat size but add more length. I'll let you know when I cast on.  What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are you?  My oh my, did I have a busy long weekend but more about that later on in the week. My knitting halted when my kids and grandkids were visiting. As soon as everyone left on Monday morning, I was digging in my knitting bag returning once again to my newly cast-on  throw that I decided to do with three skeins of yarn from stash. I have since changed my mind and am using scraps as much as possible for the throw with the light pink skein as a base. I'll let you know what I think as I go along. The uncertainty of wool amounts have me questioning this decision but I'm up for the mystery and the challenge I guess. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning to you! How are you? I'm excited about my hat that I've been knitting enjoying the sea of stockinette stitches. When I first started the hat I thought it would be too small, now I wonder if it will be too big. Gah. I will find out soon I guess. I wish the photo about showed how beautiful the colors are in real life, you'll have to trust me on this! Below is my next knitting project, the habitation throw . I will definitely use the pink and gray, I'm still not sure about that purple, I might have a look-see in my stash and do another ponder about that color. I chose this pattern because I can use up some of my stash and I adore Helen Stewart's patterns. What are you working on this week? Also: I will probably not be posting this Friday and the following Monday because of my family visiting. I hope to be back next Wednesday (unless I change my mind).

  Hello! How was your weekend? My weekend was filled with cleaning the house which set off some allergies but I am recovering. I guess when you rarely dust, then dust, you're going to go through some things. Will this make me dust more? I doubt it. Are you wondering why I'm cleaning? We have the kids (both of them) coming this coming weekend and I have tasks to do every single day leading up to Friday in the hopes that I am not doing everything the last minute.  On Saturday and Sunday, we had beautiful weather and I walked the neighborhood enjoying the blue skies and endless sunshine. I read some, I knit some and I tried to make the weekend feel like a weekend. We even ordered pizza! On Sunday after Mass, I wrote out a detailed TO DO list so I do not get overwhelmed.  I spent a ton of time on Ravelry, trying to decide on my next knitting projects and failed. I have some ideas but nothing definite. I find patterns I like but do not have the yarn, I have yarn that I like bu...

  Good morning! How are you? I forgot to take a photo yesterday of the little sweater I made for my granddaughter. You know I love fall and winter the most but there is an advantage to having more daylight is spring and summer for photoing my knitting projects. This sweater zipped on and off my needles! I did a lot of car knitting which led me to finish knitting the bulk of the yoke and body of the sweater. Once I got to the sleeves it was all downhill. I do love top/down construction just for that aspect. I knit this pattern last year for her holiday sweater so I decided to make it once more in a bigger size. I'm pleased with how it turned out. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How was your weekend? Oh mine was deliciously cold, brr. Sadly there will be another warm up this week but hopefully that warm up will be brief. I've been loving this chilly weather and the colors changing on the leaves.  My sister had a craft show over the weekend and I helped out (moral support really). I thoroughly enjoyed seeing family, friends and meeting some of my sister's friends. I had a good time and of course got a lot of knitting done.  I've been spending lots of time knitting my granddaughter' sweater - I have to dig around and find the perfect buttons today.  I noodled around Ravelry some more looking for a new project to cast on. Maybe a shawl? I just don't know what I want to knit. But I guarantee you I will be knitting something! How was your weekend?

  Hello! How are you? I am back at my ordinary life and playing the big catch up after taking some time off to be with family. We had a great time and loved seeing our grandchildren and spending time with them. Before we saw the grandchildren this weekend, I finished my grandson's holiday sweater and I had to wait for it to dry before I could take its 'finished' photo after I returned home. I love how knitting projects on size eight needles go fast! This flax pattern is a wonderful sweater that comes in many sizes. I also love knitting for little ones, the projects just fly off the needles. What are you working on this week?

  Hello! How are you doing? My knitting progress has been fantastic. I'll admit the cool weather helps motivate me immensely. First off, I finished those socks and am now done with sock holiday knitting. I like the way they turned out and will probably not knit socks until mid December for my husband, but never say never. Below is the progress of my grandson's holiday sweater . I am thoroughly enjoying this project, the yarn is divine and the pattern is easy-peasy. I hope to finish the first sleeve today. What are you working on this week?

  Hello, how are you? I'm doing pretty good, trying my best to keep busy and fill my days with the last bits of warm weather activities while anticipating the cold weather activities. Although later this week the temperature will be back into the low 70s, the next few days will be chilly. I love when fall breezes in and ebbs back out. Each time we are closer and closer to colder weather. My husband and I walked the local park over the weekend, I wanted to see the trees changing before they are past peak. As you can see, we are still early for peak colors. We were lucky because they closed the road down for some tree maintenance and that eliminated car traffic (yay!). We had a beautiful walk. Holly continues to be brave and bold since Frodo left us in August. She still checks his spot on the loveseat but doesn't look terrified when she does. Her progress has been steady. I love when she drinks from his water bowl which we have kept out for her. Gah!!  Over the weekend, I was kn...

  Good morning! How are you doing today? My knitting news is quite thin, but I am knitting every day and I'm so very close to finishing these  socks which are a holiday gift. I'm confident I will finish them tonite. I've been enjoying knitting socks lately and this pair is turning out so nicely. I love the simple seed stitch bands in between the stockinette rows. (four rows seed stitch, six rows stockinette). I love anything repetitive and easy to break up the monotony of endless stockinette stitching. Also it makes it super easy to match the socks exactly without measuring. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are you doing?  As you know, I have scaled back on my holiday knitting and have implemented a slower pace of knitting gifts to protect my hands and wrists. Last year I had an arthritis flare up knitting gnomes which caused a self-imposed knitting ban until I recovered. Knitting is such a lovely way to handle stress and to relax for me. So I've been mindful of what I knit, how I knit and to rest more often all with the goal of always knitting and to not be in a self-imposed knitting ban.  I'm pleased with my progress! I found these little stars on Ravelry and decided they would be a wonderful little gifts for my family. They use up little bits of scrap yarn and you could go wild with the color combinations. I enjoyed knitting them and the pattern was easy to memorize after one little star. What are you working on this week?

  I finished a sweater !! Honestly I'm thrilled with the way this turned out especially since I'm not knitting nearly as much as I usually do. How nice to have a finished item to wear when the weather gets chilly! Now I will be watching the forecast wishing and hoping for that autumnal breeze. What have you been working on this week?

  Good morning, how are you doing?  I am fully recovered from our trip last weekend. I spent a little bit each day catching up on chores, going to my classes and resting. I love being home! Maybe I have more gratitude towards my home life only by going away?  I spent most of yesterday afternoon on my back patio knitting away for hours (with breaks of course!). I enjoyed being by myself, listening to the birds and watching my resident chipmunks and squirrels scurry around. I was joyful and fully present.  I finished knitting my sweater! Today I will dig around for the perfect buttons and weave in those pesky ends. After that will be the great blocking spa treatment.  As you can see by the photos, fall is inching its way in and squeezing out the summer days. I am so ready for cooler weather. Most exciting of all, they are predicting some much needed rain. We have had no rain for 11-12 days and everything is looking kind of sad from it.  How do you get into a ...

  Good morning! My knitting news is very scant this week. I did not knit over the weekend I was so exhausted each day and even on traveling days I was too nervous to focus on my knitting or even read a book. However, I am home and I am once more knitting in the evenings. The above photo is the last pair of socks for a Christmas present (first sock). I've mentioned this before, but I've scaled back my holiday gift knitting significantly so I wouldn't be 'stressed' out and I wouldn't initiate an arthritis flare. So far this is working out for me! I am in a lot of classes this first half of the fall session. In mid October my schedule will ease up a bit and then I can dive deeply into knitting. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How have you been? How are your projects coming along? Even though the warm weather is trying to edge in, in my heart I am knee deep in autumn. No one can stop me! I'm on the second sleeve of my sweater, making great gains and enjoying the process. I thought the sweater might be a bit off in sizing but I tried it on and I think it's going to be okay. Also blocking does wonders squeezing out a bit of wiggle room. Phew!