Pumpkin Sunrise

  Well lookie see, I finished the last hitchhiker shawl last night. This is the third hitchhiker shawl from my summer knitting series and it is the last one for quite some time to come. I enjoyed this knit as all the other shawl knits but I am looking forward to not knitting a shawl for quite some time. It's time to start knitting for the grands for Christmas. What are you working on this week?

  I whipped up a pair of mitts for my daughter in law, super quick. I used acrylic yarn and after I bought the yarn I discovered that it was aran weight instead of worsted weight, rookie mistake on my part. So I dropped down 2 needle sizes to make the size that I wanted. What are you working on this week?

  I did some fast knitting in the last few days. I started and finished this Christmas Stocking for our granddaughter and now my hands are sore. I know that my hands are the happiest when I knit with wool. When I knit with plant fibers or some acrylic yarns, I have sad hands. The stockings that I have made thus far for my son's house were made with cherry red wool that has since been discontinued. I faced the dilemma of ordering a replacement wool online knowing that red (and purple!) are two colors that computer screens can mislead as true colors.  A while ago, I spied redheart supersaver in THE red that I know is very close to the discontinued wool color so I bought lots knowing that my hands would take a beating. I cannot wait to see how close I  matched the reds. (My hands recovered quickly!) What are you working on this week?

  Can you believe that we have arrived to the glorious month of September? I know that summer is still blazing away and fall is inching slowly towards us but flipping the calendar page to September brings me joy. My mom would demand a Christmas list by September first believing she could knit all the things and have them wrapped up for the holidays. She would start asking for the list in August. As a young adult, I thought she was crazy and a bit over reacting. September? Christmas? Jeez! And here I am, starting a Christmas stocking for our granddaughter. My mother is looking down from heaven with an 'I told you so' smirk on her face. However, I am smirking back at her and telling her that I have started knitting for the holidays at the start of this year.  I do not ask for a knitting wish list from my family. I knit what I want when I want and give the items freely away, if I don't meet my virtual 'to knit' demands, no one knows but me. My self-imposed timeline is

  This week I've been working on this last hitchhiker shawl of the summer. I have been enjoying the ease of this project, so simple for me to pick up and knit a little bit and put down. I have not tested this with talking at the same time, I'm sure I would make mistakes under those test conditions, ha ha. The sock yarn for this shawl was F R E E. Yup! my sister asked me if I would like the yarn that was given to her by someone who didn't want the yarn. Lucky for me I thought it would make a great shawl. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! Phew, all that baby knitting is behind me and I've been focusing on a super simple knit - the Hitchhiker . According to Ravelry, this is my third one but it definitely will not be my last. I usually work on this shawl in the evenings when I'm watching TV. During the day I've been cross stitching a baby birth sampler.  What are you working on this week?

  How are all of you? Around here everything is great. I finished the little baby blanket and didn't have enough yarn to make the small size that I chose. But fear not! I just did what I could with the yarn that I did have and the blanket is still a nice little size to through over a baby carrier. I have officially finished baby knitting for now! I will resume baby knitting and little boy knitting near the end of summer early fall.  What are you working on this week?

  Miracle of miracles! I finished the baby blanket yesterday afternoon. I am so pleased with how the blanket turned out. However, knitting with cotton yarn is problematic for my arthritic hands. I have to pace my knitting and not do too much at one sitting. My hands prefer wool.  I wrote a long list of what I'd like to knit for the granddaughter-to-be and the grandson from now until the end of the year. I need to focus and knit! I ordered more yarn that should be here by the end of the week to make a baby sweater and hat. Also I want to make a smaller blanket that is perfect for the baby carrier in the car.  What are you working on this week?

  Finally I can tell you all about the 'super secret project'. I was on a walk with my sister before Christmas and I was commenting on how warm my mittens were. My sister said she'd like a pair for her birthday which is in mid-January then added well maybe the next year since it was so close. Being the knitter that I am, I went home dug around my 'stash' of yarn and immediately started the mitts . Right before my son and his family arrived for a six day visit, I realized I did not have enough white yarn (I wasn't using full skeins). So I ordered more and waited for yarn to arrive and entertained family. Our family left on January 4th and that is when I picked up the project and knitted like a demon. Last weekend, we celebrated her birthday and she was somewhat surprised with the gift! She reads my blog and when I even mentioned 'super secret knitting' she was guessing in the right direction.

  Good morning to you!! How has your week been? Have you been crafting away? There's been a ton of knitting here but it's behind the scenes knitting - you know hush hush knitting.  So I finished my husband's socks just in time for Christmas Day! I tucked them into his stocking and he loves them so. I usually pick a green color way since it's his favorite color but his back up favorite is purple. I could knit socks every day if given a chance. My knitting goals are to knit for me (us) until February or March then go back to knitting for others. What are you working on this week? 

  Good morning! How are you?  All of my knitting goals that I eagerly set have been minimal.  I am having a flare up from the autoimmune disease I have (Sjogren's syndrome) this time it's my eyes that are very dry. I saw the eye doctor yesterday and have some new meds that will take a while to work. Anyways, my knitting isn't at full speed. Okay, many of you are asking what is a cat blanket. My daughter has an elderly cat and I thought she might like a little blanket to lay on and then my daughter can just wash that instead of a whole quilt that the cat sleeps on. You and I both know that cats are surprising and maybe she won't lay on it at all. I'm definitely making two cat mat blankets or three if I'm adventurous. The bottom photo is a hat for me! Yes I did it, I chose the beeswax hat pattern to pair with this gorgeous green wool. I am in love with this project! What are you working on this week?

  Right before I fell asleep last night I came up with a really good blog post title. I woke up this morning wondering what it was. I think it was 'home stretch' but I'll never know. Home stretch as in I am nearing the end of the gift knitting. I am so close to finishing knitting for the holidays. That gets me giddy! I'll be done earlier than ever before. The above photo is an extra large dishcloth that will be a ' cat mat ' or a cat blanket for my daughter's cat. Her cat loves to cuddle up and sleep in all the unusual places and I thought these little blankets (the plan is to make two) would make it extra cosy for her. I know Holly would lay on it. Frodo is now 13 years old. He is as spunky as ever but has some elevated liver enzymes that the current vet is treating, this isn't a new thing it's been there for a few years. Overall he is doing great.  Our backyard is a sea of oak leaves, one of  my most favorite trees. We had 'tree people' her

Yesterday we went to the the Carnegie Museum of Art and Natural History and had a great time. One of the better decisions we made earlier in the springtime was to purchase memberships that gives us admission to four museums in the Pittsburgh area.  After the museum, we went out to lunch then headed off to the local yarn store so I could buy some wool for our grandson's SECOND Christmas sweater. The first sweater he is already wearing at 8 months old even though I knit the 18 month old size. I cast on last night for a 2 year old size, let's hope he grows slowly and it fits for the holidays! Oh and that purple Malabrigo sock yarn is for a future pair of socks for my husband. Even though I am not sketching daily, I am trying my best to sketch when I remember. For some reason I'm in the mood for graphite sketching. Yesterday morning before sunrise, I spied the moon spying on me!  I loved our outing in the city but I loved more coming home, starting a knitting project and drinki

  All I've been doing is thinking about gnomes and knitting gnomes . The photo shows seven completed and number eight which is the LAST one needs a beard and he is completed. The pattern is Nice to Gnome You . I used left over worsted weight wools from deep stash and went crazy with the color combining. The crazier I went with color combing the more I liked the gnomes. This morning number eight will be finished and I will be thankful. My hands are sore from the double pointed needle knitting. These little guys are all Christmas gifts. I must say it was ultra satisfying to knit something that is a stash buster! What are you working on this week?

  My weekend contained: -daily walks and gathering leaves - stay at home weekend - phone calls with family - knitting gnomes (the photo below is number seven!) - lots of reading - visiting my neighbor discussing Holiday plans and gifts for family - enjoying the BIRDS at my bird feeder - seeing a red breasted nuthatch at my feeder first time ever - getting excited for an upcoming museum visit this week - writing out my weekly plans and lofty goals! - hearing S N O W in the forecast (yay) - getting all the laundry and cleaning done in one day How was your weekend?

  How are you?  I've been mighty fine these days. The knitting frenzy continues as I am working on the sixth gnome! I am getting more crazy with the color combinations and chipping away at some half skeins that I know I will never use again. The gnome journey has been so much fun! The above photo is the scarf that I am making for me that I haven't worked on since gnome number two or three. I'm working on it today, it's a lovely pattern that is fun to work on. After a brief warm up in the temperatures, we are getting back to chilly air. A cold front blew through and the winds knocked down so many tree leaves in the neighborhood. Delightful! Frodo and I love to see the fallen leaves all mixed up on neighborhood properties. We have our fair share of leaves mixed together in our front yard. After a summer on NOT feeding the birds because of a raccoon family, we are back at it. The birds came right back! Hopefully the raccoons do not. My bird feeder is squirrel proof but no

  I am half way done with my gnome making! I want to make eight total and I started number FIVE two days ago. The pattern calls for two strands of fingering so I substituted worsted weight on size five double pointed needles. What I am enjoying the most is blitzing through half skeins of worsted weight wool that I've saved from previous projects along with color coordinating my gnomes.  (In the background are two pilgrims that my sister made for me a few years ago). What are you working on this week?

  Two weekends ago, yet it feels like last weekend, I went on a crazy knitting frenzy and whipped up TWO hats and TWO pairs of mitts. The bear hat  and mitts are for our grandson for Christmas. I never get tired of knitting this pattern, I've made it many times. For my grandnephew I made a car hat and mitts . He is going to be two years old in January and he loves everything that is cars and trucks. Let's see if he will wear a 'car' themed hat even though he hates hats! You never know with toddlers. What are you knitting this week?

 I did it! I finished my grandson's Christmas stocking, well, almost finished. I have yet to duplicate stitch his name on the top which is always a challenge for me. My duplicate stitching skills are not that great. For some reason, this red skein of yarn ran very short of yarn so the white toe has more white than usual. What matters is that the socking can still be stuffed with many little presents. Ravelry notes What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! I hope you're having a wonderful day.  Knitting this week has been pretty good. I started a Christmas Stocking for my grandson over the weekend. I successfully found the hand-written pattern that my mom wrote (photo copied by me so as to preserve her original writings) I believe the stocking pattern is from a VERY old McCall's or Family Circle magazine from the 1970's...or around there. It's a treasure! I also found my hand-written notes where I changed things up, let's hope I understand what I wrote. My blue sweater is such a delight to knit! I zoom along in stockinette miles enjoying the simplicity of the design. I am over half way done with the body of the sweater. I also believe I have enough yarn but I'll know for sure when I get to the sleeves. I'm usually optimistic during this part of the knitting. Anxiety will build during the sleeves if there is any worries of yarn shortage. What are you working on this week?