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Hedgehogs

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  Hello! How are you? I am feeling better (I swear I write this every single week but it's a true statement every single week). The weather has been glorious and gorgeous!  Well I did it, I finished the hedgehogs . This project was fun to knit up and they knit up quickly. The fiddliest part is the very beginning of the nose on double pointed needles. However, I got the hang of it eventually. I used cotton for the face and belly and then an acrylic-cotton blend for the body. The pattern is from Purl Soho and they are known for detailed instructions.  Now that this project is complete I'll be casting on a little sweater for my youngest grandson, the yarn arrived yesterday! What are you working on this week?

Happenings

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  Good morning! How are you?  It has been crazy around here, and of course it's always health related because my 2026 is all about that. However, I am once again in recovery mode. Over the weekend I wasn't well and went to Urgent Care on Saturday morning and got antibiotics. On Sunday morning my face swelled and I thought all day about what I should do. I could not sleep at all So 1:30 AM Monday morning I went to ER ( I believe this is the fourth time in 2026!).  I got some pain meds and they did a cat scan that revealed an infection and a possible tooth problem. It's funny because the ER doctor kept saying disregard the tooth and follow up with the ENT. I was home by 4 AM and by 8 AM I was calling endodontists and got an appointment a few hours later and had my first root canal on a very very infected molar. Good grief. I am ever so grateful for the kind people in the office who fit me in as an emergency and for the skilled Endodontist and her assistant who reassured me....

Knitting News

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  Good morning to you! Holy smokes has the weather been fantastic here. I have had a string of good hair weather days and love it. It looks like this weather is staying the same all week long and this is why Autumn is a glorious season. I've been working on the same two projects this past week. On the left is the second sock and I'm down to the heel flap so you know I am over half way now,  super excited about that.  On the right is hedgehog number five (out of six, so so so close to being done). I'm in my knitting rhythm now when I work on the hedgehogs. I do not have the pattern memorized but I am very familiar with what to do at each step. The very beginning (nose) is the most fiddly part of the pattern. What have you been working on this week??

Happenings

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  Good morning! How are you doing today? Are you experiencing the cooler weather?  I am thoroughly loving this autumnal season. I wish I could bottle up the chill and have it during the summer. I know I am the odd one out but I just love being cold and detest being hot. Every single time I'm outside I see a maple tree showing off it's colors. So beautiful!! Not much happened over the weekend. We watched the local grand kids Friday night and had a great time. There were lots and lots of giggling and glee. They are at a fun age now. Saturday morning was the last soccer practice and it was in the low 40s and very cold and somewhat muddy. All the little ones were bundled up in winter coats, hats and mittens.  I worked on the hedgehogs  over the weekend and am currently on number four out of six. (over half way, yay!). In the evenings while watching TV I work on the second sock . While knitting these I think about another sweater for me. I have yet to cast on but I have i...

Knitting News

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  Well hello there! How are you? The knitting has been sputtering along this week. I've knit two hedgehogs since I've last posted about my knitting. Sorry that there isn't a photo of them, but trust me they are super cute. I started the third one over the weekend. On the left is the SECOND sock ! I made a lot of progress on this project in the past week, I find I can knit a sock and watch the local grands at the same time if they are playing independently. The hat on the right has also received some much needed attention, the yarn is squishy and fun to knit with. What have you been working on this week? Did you get the heat spell? It was really hot yesterday - too hot and now I am patiently waiting for the cold weather coming up at the end of the week!!

Happenings

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  Good morning! How are you doing today and how was your week? The weather is finally the weather I love, crisp cool mornings and a somewhat warm day. Yesterday  it rained lots and I kind of liked it. I could hear the rain on the roof pitter-pattering away. The local grands slept over Friday night and we had a good time over all. My husband was tired from jet lag and I am on prednisone so my nerves are somewhat stretched thin (not complaining, it makes my mouth feel better so that is a blessing!). I continue to improve daily and for that I am grateful. I also watched them for Sunday afternoon and we had a big watercolor party at the kitchen table. I worked on my husband's socks over the weekend since I could not work on holiday gifts in front of the kids. Of course when I cast on the second sock (yay!) I did not cast on enough stitches so I had to rip it all out and start over again. So I knit the cuff twice, ha ha. In the bottom photo I bought the pumpkin on the right from T...

Knitting News

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  Good morning lovely people! How are you doing today? I am rejoicing in the furnace kicking on because it is chilly outside in the early mornings. Yay.  My knitting this week has been hedgehog knitting . After I snapped this photo I had to rip out the white of the back two more times because my pick up stitching was not the same on both sides. The third time is a charm and I am ready to stuff this little guy today! Also I thought I was knitting five hedgehogs but my daughter in law declared love of them so now I am making six (hopefully). As an expert knitter this was baffling to me! I will blame it on the salivary gland infection and not feeling my best (but slowly getting better). I did see the nurse practitioner in my PCP office and she prescribed antibiotics again and I will be staying on a very very slow taper of prednisone for about a month to get me as close to the sialendoscopy procedure date (11/05) without an infection. May this please work! Say your prayers or send...

Happenings

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  Good morning! How are you? I'm okay. I've been having more salivary gland issues and pain while eating. I saw the ENT last week and I'm scheduled for another sialendoscopy procedure early November. This cannot come soon enough. The last time I had this procedure in mid February, I enjoyed six months of pain free eating, it was truly glorious! Please pray that I avoid any infections between now and then and a successful outcome. I was very busy this weekend with the local grands because my son had an out of town conference. We had fun with the kids and helping our daughter in law,  but I am exhausted from all the 'busy' that goes with them. However, being with the kids helps me not think about my medical issues (almost, ha ha). I started a hedgehog , my goal is to make five of them for the grands and grand nephews for Christmas gifts. I am hopeful I can do this! I'm not sure I will be making Christmas sweaters for the grands, they've been requested though. ...

Sweater ornaments

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  Hello! How are you doing? I spent the last two days burying threads on these nine glorious Christmas ornaments and they are finally done. I thoroughly enjoyed knitting them and I was glad they did not cause hand pain, I usually have issues with dpns and marathon knitting. What are you working on this week?

Happenings

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  Good morning! How are you today? Over here I've been great! The weather has been spectacular and my cooling/heating system hasn't kicked on for days. Since I last wrote here, I've been focusing on the little sweaters that I am nearly done making. I'm itching to knit something else and that's were my main motivation is coming from. On Saturday we were supposed to go to the grandkid's soccer practice and our grand nephew's tee ball game and both were cancelled! My daughter in law and I with the kids did a spur of the moment trip to a neighboring town fall festival. I enjoyed watching the little kids have fun. I did pretty good until the sun was beaming down on me and I got too hot. (sun sensitive and sun intolerance from the autoimmune disease). Overall I did okay and I had a really nice time. I haven't been to a festival since moving here in 2021. Now that I went, I'm probably good for another five years, ha ha. Yesterday we did nothing and that wa...

Knitting News

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  Good morning! I am writing to you on another chilly day and am loving it immensely. You and I both know that because I changed the bedding from summer to winter, the weather will switch back to hot. But for now, I will enjoy the chill. Yesterday was drippy and beautiful. This week because of the family visit my knitting was sparse over the weekend. I was thrilled to once again pick up the needles and knit. I am showing two projects today. First up is the little sweater ornaments, I am on number six out of nine if I am sticking to my current goal. I would love to finish all nine sweaters within a week.  Next up is the husband's socks , I'm still on the first one but am heading towards the toe shaping. I find once I turn the heel and complete the gusset the knitting goes quite fast. What are you working on this week?

Happenings

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  Good morning! How are you doing? I am doing quite well, I still have my daughter and her family here today and they are leaving by lunchtime to return home. I have thoroughly enjoyed the visit we had tons of family time together. We hosted our little grandson's first birthday party here on Saturday and that was a big production for me. I wish I had the energy of my younger self!! However MANY helping hands made the party a success. I will miss them when they leave today. I felt very lucky to have both kids and their families at my house each day they were visiting. The cousins played together. Also my sister's son and his family was also here! You will have to imagine lots of smiling faces and the noise. On Friday we ordered sushi for pick up which I loved because no cooking for me. On Saturday we served grilled marinated chicken thighs, roasted potato and carrots, salad, fruit tray, veggie tray and veggie kabobs. (family brought many of the side dishes). My sister made a glu...

Knitting News

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  Good morning! How are you? I am improving and I'll take it! Thank you for the healing well wishes they mean a lot to me. The morning weather is sometimes nice enough to take a walk and that boosts my mood immensely. Now the maple trees are dropping leaves!! Fall is coming. This week I've been cycling through some projects but mainly have been enjoying the stockinette stitching of this hat for my son in law for Christmas. It is so nice to sit and not think about anything. I usually am watching tv at night when I work on this. Our daughter and her family are visiting us this weekend and I am frantically trying to get everything ready for their visit. They leave Monday morning (I don't know the specific time) so my Monday post might be on time, late or not at all. I'd like to believe I will post though! What are your working on this week?

Happenings

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  Good morning! How are you doing today?  Just look at that dogwood tree showing off early signs of fall. I am so ready for fall, for cooler weather, for being able to walk outside and for be cold down to my bones.  It's coming but not soon enough. Also, have you noticed how the light is angled differently and it's getting darker earlier at night? Baby steps to autumn. I've been dealing with salivary gland issues again and ended up going to urgent care yesterday morning and received antibiotics for an infection. The medicine is not acting fast enough, ha ha. I become easily discouraged when I have difficulty eating. I'd rather have any other of my problems happen. In good news I've found an urgent care facility near me who has the nicest people working there. What a treasure, everyone seems to love their job and shows empathy to patients.  While feeling rotten, I tend to do puzzles and read a lot. I find it hard to do much else. I am so grateful I keep track of the ...

Knitting News

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  Good morning! How are you doing today? I'm doing quite well. I've been enjoying watching the black cherry trees drop their leaves while I sit on the back patio knitting. I am in a cast on frenzy state of mind. I started another musselburgh hat for my son in law for the holidays. He loves my knitting gifts and I haven't made him anything in a long time. The best part is I wanted super easy tv knitting and this hat is dead simple to be that very project I work on. In other news, I've been plugging away on the tiny sweater ornaments . Yesterday I feared I did not have enough yarn to finish the second sleeve of this sweater and was planning to knit from the body and then stripe the body of the sweater. Imagine my surprise when I did have enough yarn and plenty of it! I love when playing yarn chicken ends up in my favor. And call me crazy but I love that feeling of not knowing if I have enough yarn. Strange but true. I have knit four sweaters so far and would like to kni...

Happenings

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  Good morning! How are you? We have a long weekend here due to Labor Day. So today's Monday feels like Sunday and the whole week will feel weird. Also, our garbage day is one day later as well. I'll have to keep checking the calendar to see which day it is.  As you can see in the above photo, I've been knitting little sweater ornaments . They are definitely fun to knit and I seem to be able to knit one in two days if I am knitting each day. The local grand kids sleep over every weekend now for one night and I tend to not knit the day they arrive and leave. I get so very tired! ha ha. On Saturday afternoon my daughter in law and I drove an hour away for a bible study friend's baby shower. The photo below is the floral arrangement at our table. So beautiful!! We had wonderful table buddies who matched our sense of humor so there was lots and lots of laughing. Sadly I wasn't able to eat most of the food because of all of my limitations, but the salad and bread was ver...

Graystone Shawl

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  Hello! How are you? I'm doing pretty good these days! Ta da! I finished the shawl last week and finally blocked it out. I did some garter stitch edging on this shawl as well to use up the remaining yarn on the skein. I liked how it turned out. As I mentioned previously this is a holiday gift and I hope the recipient loves it. (I wish it was mine...). What have you been working on this week? Are you thinking of holiday knitting yet? I have been and have even started more projects!

Happenings

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  Good morning! I hope you are doing well. Over here we are heading into another heat wave (boo). I thoroughly enjoying wearing jeans once last week. The cold front was a hint of things to come. I cannot wait!  I don't know what got into me, but I was motivated to start some new knitting projects. I dug through the stash and unearthed some fingering weight yarn for a sweater and then dug some more to find something to make a musselburgh hat for my son in law. He loves my hats and he would love this one since it's double layered.  Selfishly, I was seeking some super easy knitting for the evenings. So it's a benefit for me as well. The grandkids slept over Friday night and as always we had a great time. Friday night is the easy day, Saturday morning comes with challenges to keep the younger one entertained. Oh! She had her family birthday party on Saturday afternoon. She's three years old, growing up! I think we are winning the pantry moth problem in the laundry room, eve...

Knitting News

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  Good morning! How are you and your projects coming along? I've been very productive in my knitting. I've been inspired by the cooler weather and started thinking about knitting Christmas gifts. Yes! Christmas! Sadly today the hot weather returns and we are back into the summer heat. First up is my gray shawl that is off the needles this week but I'm waiting to block it, my laundry room had a deep clean and I was sidetracked by the deep clean. Once that project was off the needles I returned to the sock knitting . I made it to the first heel flap and gusset. I'm still thinking about whether or not to make them matching. I did like the freedom of just knitting the socks and not caring about the striping repeats. I guess I'll keep thinking about it, I've got some time. What are you working on this week?

Happenings

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  Good morning! Golly, the weather yesterday was beautiful! My hair looked fantastic due to the low humidity which is a bonus. On Saturday we had a crazy thunderstorm breeze through and luckily I kept my electricity, my sister and my son did not but it quickly came back for them in the late evening. Phew.  When the weather and the wind is mild, I go for a walk instead of doing my cardio inside the house. The above photo was taken on my Saturday morning walk, are they not adorable. I love how they stare me down. The local grands slept over Friday night again, we are trying to make it a weekly event as long as our schedules permit.  We had so much fun! Friday night we had pizza and played with toys. Saturday morning is a little more work because sometimes the little one is grumpy. I believe it's because she is giving up her naps. gah. I  bought the drawing book in the above photo while I was visiting our daughter and her family in the Boston area. I guess I was stresse...