Pumpkin Sunrise

Over the weekend I casted on another shawl .  This pattern was originally written for DK weight yarn and I'm using fingering weight yarn.  I wanted lots of garter stitch (my main obsession) with any kind of edging. This shawl has a ruffle edging.  I am doing some guess work on when the ruffle is started because of the yarn substitution but that is how I get my excitement :D  The yarn is madtosh merino light , so very soft and wonderful to knit with. I am pretty excited because I've ordered my first yarn from Quince and Co. :D  I have been having shawl envy for this pattern on Ravelry.  Can you believe that I did not have anything in the stash to cast on?  I'm so excited for the yarn to arrive! I started reading  The House at Riverton  last week and I already knew I would like the book because her other two books were fabulous.  What was an extra surprise is the servant girl story line.  It is so Downton Abbey-ish so far, I love it!  If you haven't read any of K

Over the weekend I snapped some photos of my wurm hat.  I have worn it twice and it is very very warm!  I think because it's slouchy?  I really love it and I recommend the pattern.  It's fun, easy and goes wonderfully with TV knitting. The yarn is by Cosymakes .  It is a DK weight wool that's soft and a joy to knit with!  I'm thrilled to report I also have plenty of left over yarn to knit up a pair of matching fingerless mitts. I think next time around when I make this hat again, and I will, I think a wool blend would be fun.  Maybe with some alpaca or bamboo or silk, something to give it a bit of drape so it slouches even more.

This weekend I realized that I do not kill all plants.  My amaryllis that fell over from over watering survived its extreme conditions and blossomed.   This poor poor plant fell over again from being so top heavy and yet keeps on blooming.  Mind you it is propped up in the corner of my kitchen window sill, balancing gently on the sink edge. We went into town to the used cd/dvd/gaming store to shop on Saturday.  We saw some very interesting graffiti on an alley wall.  The artist aimed to write "gangsta" but instead penned "gangtsa" ......so sad.....Why oh why did I leave my camera?? Also yesterday was Chinese food (and today!)......so so good! I started a new project yesterday.  I also made a big mistake.  I am pretty good at dropping the stitches and working them back up.  Not this one.  I had to unknit about four rows....grrrr.....I was quite disappointed in my skills at that moment.  However it's fixed and I'm over it. Today was filled with: qu

Joining Amanda

Mr. Frodo and I took a walk about the yard today and I grabbed the camera.  It feels and smells like spring out there.  Very earthy.  The birds are singing and the air is fresh.  Lovely to be out and having the sun beam down on me. The first week of March is around the corner and our daughter will be home for her spring break.  The following week our son will be home as well.  This winter (which really is not a winter) has flown by for us and I'm amazed it's almost half way through their semesters. There will be shopping trips and dinners out.  Frodo will be beside himself with happiness.  Ever since we did the mattress switching we have removed the baby gate to the upstairs....trusting him.  Every day he runs up there and walks around and then comes back downstairs. Both of the kids live outside their suitcases during school breaks and....ahem....most of their clothes lay on the floor.  I have visions of Frodo finding and carrying around an odd sock waiting f

For knitting this week, I finished my shawl and blogged about it here .  I am so thrilled with how it turned out.  I am still working on my wurm hat it, should be done in a day or two.  It is a really easy pattern and it is great to work on while watching TV or talking.  I bought a generous amount of yardage so I could have the full slouch effect from the pattern.  The yarn on the right is madelinetosh merino light.  I am thinking of a triangle shawl but not sure which one as of yet.  So today I will enter the endless sea of patterns on Ravelry and stalk the ideas :)  Of course, while I am reading everyone's blogs for the Yarn Along! I have maybe ten pages to go on Rebecca --I know that it has taken me forever to read this book.  It will be finished today, promise.  I am glad that I've re-read it.  I must say that I continue to be a tiny bit disappointed in the heroine's lack of a back bone but it was written generations ago.  Maybe women with backbones was not the &

The Periwinkle Frost Shawl is done.  I finished knitting on Friday night but it took me a couple of days to get around to soaking and blocking it.  Busy days! The yarn is Madelintosh Lace .  If you like to knit lace, I highly recommend this yarn.  The subtle tonal colors are beautiful and it is oh so soft!  Once it is soaked, it blooms a little and is a treat to hold. The pattern is Cold Mountain  and has three charts to follow along.  If you are familiar with chart reading then this shawl is a piece of cake.  There is a rhythm to the first and last charts because of the repeats.  All the wrong side rows are straight purling, what could possibly be better? Now to begin wearing it!!!

This weekend was filled with lots of shopping.  Now the shopping might be boring for some but maybe not.  We were on the search for a new bed.   There is a small furniture business that we have bought from previously.  They were hit with the flood last September (five feet!!).  A handy coupon and flyer arrived this week to persuade us that we need a bed :) While we shopped the beds, there are many to choose from, I felt like Goldilocks......this bed is to hard, this bed is to soft etc...after selecting and paying they delivered the bed on Saturday (did I mention excellent customer service?).  My husband insisted we keep our old set and we place it in our daughter's room.  The rest of the weekend was bed switching, vacuuming, and rearranging. Today we went to church, and I hope I don't sound like a broken record but AGAIN the people behind us were coughing. sniffing, and clearing their throats (different people). Sadly, I forgot my hand sanitzer.  So during the sign of pe

Joining Amanda

I wish I had a baby here to model this sweater.  A borrowed baby that is.  I finished knitting this sweater on Sunday but then had to find buttons and bury in the ends.  I made this sweater before and posted about it here .  I will probably be making one more before winter is over.  Seems to be a baby season. This little sweater is for my husband's previous graduate student.  He and his wife are expecting a girl.  I do not know when and my husband probably doesn't remember either.  So hopefully my dear husband has an address so we can ship off the gift close to the baby's due date.

While I was visiting my sister and being bombarded by delicious yarn at the knit and crochet show, I was on the look out for some DK weight wool.  I tried very hard to be open minded on color and dyeing technique.  I tend to be so specific of what I want in a yarn that I never find it.  Above is the yarn that I discovered and immediately when we got back to my sister's house I nagged her to help ball it up with her winder and swift.  I am making the wurm hat for me!  The yarn is wonderful and it is made by cosymakes .  It is quite soft and the color is beautiful! I also have on my needles the never ending periwinkle shawl  that should be done next week.  At least I hope it will be done.  My sweater  has been woefully neglected this whole week. Rebecca  continues to adorn my nightstand and has entertained me overall.  I do not think I am loving it as much as I did when I read it as a teenager.  I think because the husband, Maxim, can be quite insensitive at times.  Funny, I