Pumpkin Sunrise

We had the opportunity to attend the fair this past week.  Ah, nothing like the sights and sounds of excitement.  I grew up without a fair since I grew up in the city.  I love the rural life I live and never tire of the blue ribbons awarded to gardeners and crafters.  I did not enter any of my knits, I never do. Truth is I'm too lazy to drive them there and pick them up!  However, I can appreciate other people's talents and I can get some nifty ideas. The downsize of attending the fair is the after effects of eating non-healthy food.  Sigh.  I need a salad, I crave a salad!  Thank goodness this event only happens once a year.  My body requires a year to recover from the decadence. If you know me at all, you know I gravitate to the barns to see the animals.  Sheep and goats are my absolute favorites.  My husband would love to own some farm animals - I just like the daydreaming portion but I doubt the reality of tending farm animals would be easy and carefree.  I belie

my mom made the pumpkins years ago and I have no idea where she obtained the pattern :) Good morning!  I am in the midst of stage two of family visiting.  My brother in law and sister in law who arrived on Friday left yesterday morning.  I did the usual cleaning blitz of the house.  Last night we picked up our son in law (yay) and so now we wait for the movers to notify them when their belongings will be delivered.  They are excited about their new opportunity! Even though we've had lots of busy happenings, I've had oodles of time to work on the sweater .  I finished one sleeve and I'm half way through the second sleeve.  I threw the hat in the photo but to be honest, I might have knit a solitary row. Every row counts, right? My knitting list grows by the day but first we have to settle these newly transplanted east coast dwellers into their new home, the specific date to be determined.  Thank goodness knitting is portable :)

How was your weekend? Mine is still going strong.  I still have company here until Tuesday morning, then on Tuesday evening our son in law arrives in town.  Maybe every day will be feeling like a weekend around her.  We are in some kind of weird heat wave - it's not pretty my friends.  So a day or so ago, I documented the fall sightings.  They uplift my soul to see Mother Nature doing her thing in spite of hot weather. My weekend:  daughter home and healing - carrot cake! - dinner with the table full of family - laughter - endless busy days - lots of talking - lots of knitting too - late nights and early mornings - loving my family. I'd love for you to share your weekend in the comments if you're up to it.  Anything fun? or new?

See all that knitting up there?  I bet you a shiny new penny that will be my progress when I next blog.  Why you ask?  Well......she's here!  Our daughter arrived late Tuesday night after my husband drove to the philadelphia airport to pick her up.  She is here for two-ish weeks and my son in law arrives next Tuesday after finalizing the moving arrangements in California.  We will help them move to Delaware some time in the beginning of October (no definite dates...). My brother in law and sister in law from Ottawa are arriving today, as well as our son.  I will have a FULL house!  I am writing my lists and checking them twice.  A carrot cake is in the oven as I type this post, and once the timer buzzes, I'm off to run some last minute grocery store buys.  I might be ready then.   Maybe.  We'll see.  not in the mood for a photo but she was happy for this one!  The house is clean (sort of) and I have a menu plan (sort of).  See, I'm ready. I babysat twice th

Ah, the joys of self photoing.  I thought you'd enjoy the creative process of me taking photos by myself.  I kind of had fun in a way though.  Trial and error but not too bad overall, thankfully a DSLR camera has a delete button. I finished a hat !  The first holiday knit of the season- I feel on top of the world with my to do list that is mounting with what I'd like to knit for presents this year.  I'm coining this season 'the year of the hats'. This pattern is from Quince & Co , a fantastic online store.  I've bought many of their wools - their costumer service is impeccable and I highly recommend you try out a skein or two.  I loved this hat when it was first released. I knew I had various yarns in my stash to knit from so I refrained from buying their suggest wool, but boy oh, that was a difficult resistance.  I'm still toying with buying a skein but not right now. The wool I chose was dromedary by juniper moon yarns .  This wool

How was your weekend?  Mine was productive and relaxing.  Yesterday we stayed home and I knit my little heart out while watching episodes of Dr. Who.  I don't know what it is about the show, but I love it.  The quippy talking back and forth, the silliness and yes even the sinister evil opponents.  Escapism is glorious. I finished a book!  I read Fatal Grace by Louise Penny.  I adore her simplistic writing and the quietness of her stories.  Maybe the way she describes a Quebec winter?  Love it - and the mysteries are not graphic if you are sensitive like I am.  Also, I do love the tiny plot twists, sometimes I see them and sometimes I do not. I finished a hat!  However, that is for later on in the week for me to tell you all about it. Our son was visiting this weekend and we had a great time together.  He'll be back again next weekend to see his sister.  Our daughter is arriving on this Tuesday night and our son in law arrives next Tuesday.  My house will be full for

I have been spoiled with fall like weather all week long, crisp cool mornings are now replaced with late summer humidity and yes, even some warmth.  On my daily walks, I'm mentally tallying all the changes I see in nature and memorizing them.  With the seasons changing, my knitting progress is renewed.  I eagerly sit and knit speeding through my hat on the needles so I can cast on another hat. In defiance of the warm weather,  I'm wearing jeans every single day. My daughter (who continues to make great strides in recovery) will be here on Tuesday after searching for a place to live in Delaware with her husband.  She will stay with us while my son in law flies back to the west coast and takes care of the rest of the relocation tasks.  He will return here at the end of the month and both of them will stay here for a few weeks holiday before starting his new job. We also have family visiting next weekend and of course my son will be visiting the next few weeke

My knitting progress has been minimal this week, I'll blame the crazy events from last week .  Sounds good?  Yep.  While my babysitting toddler was napping, I picked up the hat on the needles, eager to get to the fun part of the pattern and realized I was on the wrong needle size.  So I ripped that out and started all over again (with the right needles...).  So today, I will be getting to the pattern portion of that hat! I am so close to casting off the body of my cardigan .  Only two rows to go!  The sleeves will be a breeze after knitting the body.  I love sleeve knitting and I know I am in the minority.  Did I tell you I'll be making this sweater for my sister for her birthday? In a few weeks, I'll be swatching for my son-in-law's sweater.  That will be exciting, I just need to confirm which pattern he likes best.  I've been sending lots of links and getting his feedback.  His sweater will be in worsted weight - the chunkiest yarn I will knit up and super

My sister and brother in law were visiting us this weekend to accompany us to the PA endless mountain fiber festival .  I wish I could bottle up that fun feeling of shopping and buying wool.  That is what this weary world needs.  This year the temps were chilly (good chilly in my mind).  Cold temperatures induce a spending spree at a fiber festival, well that is my story and I'm sticking with it.  Right?  Right. I'm sure you're nodding your head yes.... Anyways, we arrived at 10 am and shopped the various stalls.  The vendors this year were fabulous.  Lots of wool from small farms and indie dyers.  Some fiber to spin as well as tools for knitters, crocheters, weavers and spinners.  Each year the event gets a little bit bigger. My sister and I had fun shopping while the guys went to watch the herding dog demonstration.  We packed a lunch and ate on wooden bleachers watching the sheep shearing demonstration.  I loved being freezing cold down to my toes! I caref

Summer is leaving and autumn is arriving, just look at those leaves falling.  I go outside with Frodo and we explore the yard.  He's sniffing to see who's been around (deer, squirrel, skunk, raccoon, rabbit, bear..) and I take in the beauty of a season emerging. Yesterday was stressful.  I woke up early like always and received a text from my son-in-law that my daughter was in ER.  The doctors quickly diagnosed appendicitis and scheduled surgery for later that morning.  I was tethered to texts, receiving news and spreading news, asking for prayers. All is well so far, she stayed overnight and the surgeon is pleased with the surgery.  Since she is in CA, the time difference is three hours, so I'm waiting for when she wakes up and texts me this morning.  She is supposed to be discharged today, fingers crossed.   I am thankful for my connections to my family and friends through texts and messaging.  What a blessing to have technology be a help.  Each text received

Well it's official, the holiday knitting has begun with this sweet hat pattern .  As the autumn season approaches, I remembered to photo the project before darkness descended.  Since the photo I have a solid 2 inches completed on the brim. If I enjoy this pattern, I will be knitting more hats.  So stay tuned. the color is off - it's more 'blue' My sweater , oh my sweater.  The progress is steady but somewhat slow.  I am 3-4 inches away from the binding off.  The goal is in sight, I just need to focus and knit.  Today is a rainy day, perfect for sitting and knitting and ignoring the chores that call my name. What are working on this week?  Any gift projects?  Or are you being decadent and creating for yourself?

How was your weekend?  Mine is still going strong and I'm not ready to let go of it.  I had a mostly quiet long Labor Day weekend.  Saturday we stayed home and ordered Chinese takeout. Yesterday we drove to Penn State to visit our son for the day. After a Korean lunch (yum!) we walked about the Penn State University Arboretum.  I've never been there before and it was a treat.  Also the weather was overcast which was perfect for photography.  I definitely want to go back again.  I'm sure I didn't see everything.  Also to see the gardens in each season would be neat! After a mad dash through Wegmans to buy all the 'stuff' we cannot get at our local grocery stores, we headed home.  I worked on adding length to the baby dress I made near the end of June.  I guessed the length wrong and the toddler keeps growing.  I added 3 1/2 inches and feel confident that it will be long enough but not too long. Today I decorated for fall in the house