Pumpkin Sunrise

  I finished it! After my last post about how to end the shawl and where to end the shawl, I decided to just cast off after doing many rows of the texture stitch. I didn't even do a fancy edging - I didn't have the energy left to choose one and I still had the problem of running out of the second skein of yarn. I used yarn from my stash and made do with what I already owned. I loved knitting this christening blanket . Do you remember me wondering about the blanket size after blocking? Well, after casting off I think the unblocked width was 35 inches. After blocking the width was 51 inches. I was pretty excited about that. I also wonder how big would the blanket be if I continued with the rest of the charts??? How are your projects coming along?

  Good morning! How are you and how is your crafting coming along? I continue to work feverishly on the christening blanket and am now mulling over how to finish it off without doing all of the remaining charts. I do not have much yarn left with the second skein. I do have a third optional color (similar to the first one) but I'm not sure if I want that and most of all I don't know if 500 yards will give me an additional inch of pattern based on how many inches I obtained with the second skein.  If I could get the blanket to be 36 inches wide and long (it's a square!) I feel that would be enough of a blanket. So my wonderings are: how many add inches in blocking will I get? Definitely one inch per quadrant but would I get two inches? Three inches might be right out! Also, how do I finish it off? I am going to flip through some of my other knitting books for some ideas. Overall, I have loved knitting this and I'm excited to get it off the needles and give it a blocking....

  I finished the baby blanket for our grandbaby to be! As you know, I've knit this pattern so many times. I have it memorized and just love the comfort of knitting what I know while watching a tv show. It truly is mindless and fun. It is like comfort food. I did not have the six skeins to do the required repeats of the large blanket, so I did one repeat less with the five skeins that I did have on hand.  I have some red yarn to make a small blanket for covering the baby carrier - I will start that one in a few days or so. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are you doing? How are your projects coming along? I continue to work on the christening blanket and have moved up another needle length. I'm on the third chart (of five) and am doing the second repeat of the third chart. I then have to go back to the second chart and repeat that one another four times.  I am focusing on yardage instead of chart completion because of the repeating charts and returning to charts I've finished. Each row now takes over 20 minutes! I am enjoying the knitting process and watching the patterns emerge. The grand baby is due at the end of September and I have high hopes that this will be done by then. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are you doing? How are your projects coming along this week? I have made steady progress on two projects. First up is the christening blanket , I am on the second chart out of five charts (some are repeated...). Yay! As you can see in the photo I found another lace weight yarn in my basket that I completely forgot that I had and I believe when I run out of my first yarn I can use this second skein of wool and it will look nice. I am hoping it will be the edging, but I won't know until I run out.  Next up is the green baby blanket , I am over half way and it's very very exciting to know that. I keep working on this at night while watching tv shows.  I will see you all on Monday morning, I am going to relax and enjoy some days off from my space here.  So what are you working on this week?

  Hello, how are you doing? Our temperatures took a tumble and we were back to being cold and running the furnace. Today though is going to be in the 70s. I've been avoiding being outside due to the high tree pollen count and really miss walking daily outside but those trees will be done hopefully by the end of May. My weekend was really nice. I mostly read books and spent time knitting on the FOREVER lace christening blanket. I am almost done with chart two (out of five??).  On Saturday, my sister and I visited the local yarn store and of course I bought some fingering weight yarn this time in blue. I don't knit with blue very often so I thought that would be a nice addition to my stash. I love to support local businesses and I'm grateful I am able to do that. Sunday was Mass and doing our laundry. I had a very restful Sunday and I'm ready for the week! How was your weekend?

  Good morning! How are you doing and how are your projects coming along? I've been consistently knitting this Christening blanket every day and I wonder what have I gotten myself into because it's going to take a long time to finish! Also, as I previously stated, I do not think I have enough wool and have to figure out a way to ease into another similar color seamlessly when I do run out of wool.  How are your projects coming along?

  Good morning! How are you doing and how are your projects coming along? I started two projects recently. First off, I started a lace Christening blanket and hope I have enough yarn, I have another skein that is close to this color and hope if I run out it will be when I start the edging...We will see! I started yet another baby blanket this one in a darker green and I like it. Babies do not mind the color as much as the like the softness! What are you working on this week?

  How was your weekend? My weekend was spent casting on new projects. I'm happy to share that our daughter and son in law are expecting their first child at the end of September. So of course I started a baby blanket and a lace Christening blanket over the weekend.  The Christening Blanket is challenging because the chart symbols are not the universal symbols that I am used to knitting. I am frequently flipping back and forth to the symbol chart to make sure I am doing the right stitches. I have already unknit 3 rows because I didn't even follow the chart correctly. I started another baby blanket (same pattern, forest green yarn). That is my TV knitting at the end of the day, I don't need to think about much when I am knitting that pattern. I hope to have updated project pages on Ravelry soon.  The weather is getting nicer, but the seasonal allergies are absolutely awful. So I've been doing indoor exercising hoping for some rain to tamp down the tree pollen. How as your...

  Our sweet little granddaughter, Esther, was born over the weekend and so I need to stitch her name and her birthdate on the sampler as well as looking into framing it. We cannot wait to meet her in person and see our grandson! We are lucky that her parents are sharing lots of photos with us until that day comes. How was your weekend? I started striping in my 'other' yarn to finish off my sweater. So far I like how it's looking and hope I have enough with these two colors, I have a plan if I do not but let's hope adding the off white is all I need to do!! While knitting, I've been thinking about all that I want to knit for the holidays and realize that I need to start knitting soon if I want to knit all that I want to knit.

  This is the third weekend in a row that we have family plans. This weekend, our daughter and son in law are visiting us from Massachusetts, we haven't seen them since last September. I've been busy planning a family gathering on Saturday night and meals to make while trying to keep it simple.  Finally! I snapped a photo of the birth sampler project for grand baby girl number two. I work on this an hour a day and really love how easy it is. First of all I can see it (big win) and second of all there's little to no backstitching. 

  True to my word, I've been knitting the baby sweater and even started the baby hat. I do love knitting baby things because they are a fast instantaneous knit for me. How have you been this week? I've been pretty good. Every morning, I right three items that I want to accomplish. Three seems like a magical number and a doable goal. I used to write down many tasks but the day isn't long enough. I am energized by three items being crossed off.  Our weather has been glorious! We had a bit of a cool down that felt really nice. The weather is ramping up for another heat wave. Our flowers are looking so lovely in the garden. My husband works so hard on maintaining the beds and the work he put in last year is showing off this season. I will not speak about the deer and their nibbles of young green shoots that were potential flowers. Grr. I am grateful it's just deer and not the dreaded bear! I started an Agatha Christie book just on a library borrowing impulse. I read all of ...

  Good morning! How was your weekend? Mine was wonderful and ordinary. On Saturday we drove up to visit my dad and step mom and had lunch with them. He is doing really well and is thrilled to be discharged from all specialists. Now he is busy with his garden and living life. On Saturday night, my sister and brother in law came over for dinner and game board night. We had lots of fun together. On Sunday we attended Mass then I did all the laundry and cleaning that I usually do in the afternoon. My yarn arrived on Friday afternoon and I had a chance on Sunday afternoon to start the baby sweater in the lavender worsted weight wool. My son and daughter in law and my grandson will be visiting in less than three weeks and I want to have the sweater, hat and little blanket completed and wrapped up. Wish me luck! (I really think this is doable because of how tiny each project is...) My daughter and son in law pleasantly surprised me with a bouquet of flowers for Mother's day. The are cheer...

  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?

  This past week I've been working on the baby blanket and am so very close to the last repeat section then of course I will be doing the edging. Maybe I'll finish this within a week but then again maybe not. We have company arriving today and staying with us until Sunday.  What are you working on this week? 

  Don't you love the candid photos of Holly, she always looks like she's feeling guilty of something. This photo was taken around 5:30 in the morning and I have never seen her sleep on that chair. Amazing! How are you? How was your weekend? My weekend was wet. I feel like we are in the rainy season. Today I have all the lights on to make me feel like there is brightness somewhere in my world. Friday night we went over to my sister and brother in law's house for dinner and game night. Our game nights have been on hiatus due to my dad doing his ICU thing. (he's doing well at home!!). So we are easing back into our regular habits. Saturday I didn't do much except read or knit. I kind of wallowed in rainy day despair. Sunday is different, I'm completely ignoring the weather to the best of my ability and making my on sunny day. I painted a bit and did the laundry.  I'm getting excited about the baby blanket progress. I dug through deep deep stash and unearthed so...

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...

  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?

  On Monday afternoon we spontaneously decided to go to Indiana to help our son and daughter in law as a virus (not covid) was shared in a staggered fashion and surprisingly it was two different viruses. How is that possible? Our grandson was fully recovered and as happy as can be. Our son was well until we left on Friday when he started a fever. Our daughter in law had the worst of it the whole time we were there. I did tons and tons of laundry, cleaning and cooking. My husband trimmed hedges and installed five smoke alarms in their purchased home. Since we live near a BIG city we were unable to board Frodo at the kennel (I miss living in the country, I never had that problem) so we packed up Frodo and brought him with us. He did surprisingly well! He acted like he loved the adventure. He's not a fan of riding in a car but if he sits on my lap for SEVEN hours straight he manages his dismay. Let's just say I did not knit, draw, paint or do anything creative, unless you count co...

 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?