Pumpkin Sunrise

Good morning!  How are you doing?  Well, my knitting has been keeping me busy and sane.  I am languishing in the wonderfulness of endless stockinette stitching of my cotton cardigan while reading Middlemarch at the same time.  What is nice is sitting outside by the pool while doing it!  Yes, the pool is looking good but it's still too cold to swim in for me.  We did our first 'foot dangle' yesterday.  Brr. I'm also enjoying working on the shawl I started a while ago.  This is my TV knitting project because I can mostly watch TV and only occasionally need to do a lacework row every now and then. What are you working on this week?

This post is brought to you by the color PINK.  (Sesame street reference).  Pink is a color I least knit with and rarely wear.  However I was inspired by my flowering apple tree to dig out some pink cotton yarn from deep stash to start another cardigan .  As always I am wondering if I have enough yarn but I could make 3/4 sleeves.  Ah, the thrills I seek while being home bound. My other new knitting project is a Helen Stewart shawl  using a pink gradient (the last one in my stash).  This shawl will be a holiday gift and I know the recipient will love it.  Pink is her color. Yesterday was a really good day because I started two new projects while knowing full well I have two projects that are close to being finished.  What are you working on this week?

I finished my top and guess what!  It fits pretty okay.  I swear to you I was fretting all the way to the end when I measured and remeasured again and again.  Now the best part is I haven't blocked the top yet so maybe I'll smooth out another 1/2 of wiggle room, maybe. I need to block out that yoke :) This pattern, night sky, was a ton of fun to knit.  I'd say you would have to have lots of experience to knit this sweater.  I also liked the nettle yarn - it was soft enough and I'm assuming once the top is soaked and washed there will be more softening. In other news, I am currently babysitting full days Tuesdays and Wednesdays and will be posting my knitting news on Tuesday late afternoons (unless I forget).  I worked today and I'm exhausted!! Ravelry notes are here

I am swirling with doubts about the above sweater.   My gauge is off (and yes I did gauge before starting).  I am just not sure about how this will fit.  I think I'll be okay but ....what if?  I just keep going as I think about this knit.  So while I was excited to knit and make progress, I'm now doubting my decision. I'll be remeasuring again today.  Sigh.  This is why I prefer top down construction of a sweater.  Bottom up has all the knitting done by the time you get to the armholes.  (and yes, I should have thought of this sooner but you know experts do make rookie decisions it's the spice of life) Worst case scenario --- I rip it out.  I'm not there as of yet. My other knit which is new and not contingent upon gauge is a Christmas gift for my mother in law who has vision impairments.  This bright pink can be seen anywhere and I thought she would love it.  She does like pink but I'm not sure how bright a pink she will favor.  I'm excited abo

Ordinarily I'd start writing about the weather, but I'm tired of this weather.  We had record local flooding in near by towns, I lost my electricity for 3 hours on Monday night (thank goodness it was only 3 hours!)  and now it's raining, again after 48 hours of sunshine.  From now until mid-September, I find myself in an anti-summer state of mind.  I started a new book,  Sing Unburied Sing,  and the first chapter captured my attention and I'm immersed.  The content is hard to read at times but so worth the read.  I know many of you have read this book.  I finished Pachinko, which was a fabulous multigenerational novel. I highly recommend adding the book to your reading list.  I learned a lot about Japan and Korea and realize my knowledge of world history is lacking. I wrote a to-do list for my husband and placed it near his papers.  He's been doing the tasks and crossing them off.  I might have write more lists like that.  All of the tasks have been outsid

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! What are you creating this week?  Have

Oh the knitting, or should I say all the non-knitting that has been going on.  I continue to improve with how long I can sit without back pain, and I continue to knit more each day.  However, it is not up to my previous standards.  I'm still slow going. What is also an issue, is I've chosen some BIG projects that show little progress except for the hat.  When I have fast short projects on the needles, I wish for epic knits that take many skeins and hours.  So now I have all the epic knits and I'm wishing for a 200 yard project.  Sometimes I amaze myself at how I'm fickle I am with my knitting.  The Night Sky top is chugging along.  I love the endless stockinette and the feel of a cotton blend in my hands.  Right now this is the knit that I'm most obsessed about and spend the most time on. Ah, the cloverleaf shawl  sometimes it gets some loving but it's not often enough and when I do work on it the progress is hard to see.  I need to put marker clips

My knitting has solely been focused on this summer top.  I worked on this beauty the entire trip up to Boston getting the lace detail finished.  Now I'm on the stockinette stitching which to me is soothing and calming.  I find if I feel hectic on the inside, stockinette stitch gets me into a zen state of mind. My other projects have taken a back seat while I obsess over this current knit.  Ravelry notes are here .

Phew!  I finished the tiny tea leaves cardigan well within my self imposed deadline which was as soon as possible.  The toddler girl I babysit will be two years old in a week and I wanted to make her another tiny tea leaves cardi because her mom loved the Christmas one I made .  This time around, I scoured the internet for a DK weight wool/cotton blend that was wash and dry-able.  I wanted the cotton content for transitional spring weather.  I found on Webs Anchor Bay by Cascade Yarns and I loved knitting with this wool.  When I finished knitting, I did a quick soak and upon blocking the sweater, the super wash wool content made the wet garment droopy and stretched out.  I promptly popped this sweater in the dryer and my oh my, magic!  Truly wash and dry, what bliss.  Both mom and little toddler love Disney, hence the Minnie Mouse buttons. Ravelry notes are here THE WINNER for the $25 coupon code to Tributary yarns website is Juliann !!  Dutch Label Shop has giv

I'm mentally crumbling under my own self-imposed deadlines.  Why do I do this to myself?  I set some arbitrary goals then panic.  So - today is about being realistic in my expectations and setting time aside daily to focus on making progress. I am one-third of the way through the gray hat  knitting that is a gift.  I can knit and read at the same time with this project so I'm sailing through the ribbing.  This is the project that is not stressing me out, hats are fun and fast. I finished four washcloths from one skein of scrubby cotton.  I'd like to knit four more from the other skein but it's okay that I don't knit them. This shawl is taking up mental space and somewhat stressful because I'd like to be finished and have it off the needles.  I'm going to keep knitting and keep hoping I finish this project.  Sadly, I cannot read and knit at the same time so this is the TV knitting project. You cannot see well, but there is some lovely eyel

While knitting this dress was hard on my hands, the challenge was worth it!  I love the finished dress.  The directions were clear and concise with lots of photos to guide you through the steps.   Purl Soho is talented in clean classic designs. I dislike knitting the linen stitch with all of my being, but...but I love how it looks.  Thankfully the bodice knitted up in two days and then I was blissfully knitting mindless stockinette stitch.  The older I get the more I love mindless knitting. The yarn I chose was Berocco Weekend DK , a machine washable acrylic-cotton blend that was lovely to knit with.  I knew that the fiber would be hard on my hands, cotton blends usually are.  However, I took frequent breaks and limited my time on the project. I'm waiting for the next time I babysit to give the dress to the mom.  I'll let you know if the dress fits.  I am hoping it's slightly big in the chest size and perfect for length.  Fingers crossed :) Ravelry n

I promptly cast on this little dress when I arrived home with the yarn.  The pattern is from Purl Soho and was released a few weeks ago (maybe months...my time perception is warped).  The little girl I baby sit wears 12-18 months size for length (she's a wee one).  The largest size in the pattern is 12-18 months.  So I went up from sport to dk weight to make the dress slightly bigger. As you can imagine, I'll think 'this is too big' then I'll think maybe it's 'just right'.  I wish I could try it on her!  But surprises are for keeping secrets and the mom doesn't know I'm knitting this. This secret is killing me.  I want to send in progress photos!  Share size measurements!  Measure that little chest! Instead, I'm telling all of you.  Anyways, I think this will fit her for late summer, fall and probably into winter.  So all is good, right? The yarn is mostly acrylic with some cotton and it's machine washable.  My hands hurt

Well now, I finished another shawl this week.  I am on fire - so hopefully I can keep up this momentum.  This shawl is a Christmas gift and I hope the recipient will love it.  Instead of wool, this shawl is 100% cotton, perfect for summer evenings with a light breeze or in transitional weather. Even though this was cotton, I did not have any hand aches from the plant fiber.  Whenever I'm working with lace weight or fingering weight, I am okay no matter what the content. I will be knitting this pattern again, the beginnings were memorizable as well as the lace eyelets.  All in all, this pattern would make a great beginning shawl if you know how to increase and decrease and basic knit stitches. I am not a fan of a picot edge (cannot explain why) but I thought my intended recipient would enjoy the delicate edging. Ravelry notes are here Now to cast on something else :)