Pumpkin Sunrise

  Good morning! How are you doing?  I have been doing okay. I have autoimmune symptoms that I'm battling yet again but it could be worse. Now it's dry eye and dry mouth instead of breathing issues. I am suspecting my outside walking is making my symptoms flare up, sigh. I'm staying inside this week to see if it helps me out.  My adult learning classes ended over a week ago except for one more Tai Chi class this week. I have thoroughly been enjoying the break! My knitting has blossomed. I'm trying to finish the pair of socks for my husband this week. While also spontaneously starting a Christmas scarf out of wool I received from one of my knitting pals where I used to live. The mail I get from the three of them is wonderful!!  I have a mighty to do list from here on out until the holidays. I finished wrapping all the gifts now I'm down to some selfish knitting and some last minute knitting. I love it! How was your week? How are your holiday plans?

  How are you doing? I am speedily knitting my cowl trying to finish it this week. I have less than 10 rows to go!! I hope the blocking shows the 'butterfly stitch'. I also hope I like the length and width when I am wearing it. I usually knit with fingering weight wool for around my neck. I believe this is dk weight (I can't remember!).  Also on the needles is the languishing pair of socks for my husband. I really want to put these in his Christmas stocking. I love that I can knit socks for him, in front of him and he hasn't a clue they are for him. Oblivious. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are you doing? I did it! I finished the two hats for the local grands and have completed my Holiday knitting (except for socks for my husband but that doesn't count). Because the hats were knit on size seven needles, I knit these up quite speedily. I have a feeling they might be a bit too big but I'd rather have that than too small. Children do grow! What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are you? I celebrated another birthday and it was nice! Above is a photo of all the stuff I bought while in Boston at various bookstores. These are all for me, I didn't photo the gifts I bought for others. Whenever I'm in an independent bookstore I try my best to buy something in appreciation for the existence. Part of my birthday celebrations was to decorate the house. After 27 years we replaced one of the two Christmas trees we put up. Now I have an easy tree, it's three sections and then BOOM it's up. What a game changer for me. My only complaint about the new tree is that the branches are droopy and floppy so ornaments slide right off unless you precariously place and balance them. These are the 'hefty' ornaments. One of the neighborhood boys was selling homemade wreaths for the fundraiser for some sport, sadly my husband knows and I do not remember. However, the wreath is beautiful!! It's been two weeks since I started the second inh...

  Hello! How are you doing today? I secretly knitted up eight wee stars to give as little presents to my family. Last year I made the same pattern in a different color and enjoyed the knitting process. Yet again, I have completed something on my knitting holiday to do list! What are you working on this week?

  Good morning to you! I finished the Christmas Stocking for the newest grandson. I have yet to stitch his name on the top. I don't know about you, but I dislike duplicate stitching. I find no matter how careful I am I think it looks sloppy while I am doing it. But when I take a break from it, it looks lovely. I guess I am too critical. I will make one more stocking for my house just in case they are ever here for the holidays in the coming years. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are you? I finished the last holiday sweater for the grandkids! This pullover is for the oldest grandson who is three years old. His favorite color is yellow and I hope he loves this sweater. I enjoyed knitting it immensely. What are you working on this week?

  Hello! How are you?  I'm doing fine. I'm wishing for fall like weather while the summer like weather lingers around here. I finished this little sweater over a week ago but it took over a week to air dry! I loved how this sweater turned out but I didn't enjoy knitting it much because the gauge was tighter than usual. I knew that when I started but still kept knitting because I'm stubborn. This sweater is for our two year old granddaughter for Christmas.

  Good morning! How are you? How are your projects coming along? I finished the purple sweater for my granddaughter but it is taking forever to dry. This in-between weather is not ideal for air drying wool blend garments. So I decided to show you my grandson's sweater . His favorite color is yellow so I am hoping it is still his favorite color by the time Christmas comes around. I am loving this project so much. Top down construction is the only way to make a sweater anymore.  What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are you?  I've been solely knitting my granddaughter's holiday sweater and I decided two nights ago that I do not have enough yarn (yikes). I am pretty sure that the local LYS doesn't have any more this color so I found a skein online and it will arrive some time later this week. I'm hoping I have enough for the second sleeve and will only use the additional skein on the button bands. However, if I do not have enough yarn I will rip out the garter stitch bands and use the alternate skein for that. I am assuming the dye lot will be off. The yarn is discontinued and was made aware of that fact by the LYS owner. I bought enough yardage that the pattern calls for!  So what are you working on this week? 

  Good morning! How are you and how are your projects coming along? I finished two projects since last week. First off is the kitty hat for a mystery person's baby. I love that pattern and I will be making a bear hat for our new grand baby to be. Next up I finished the grand baby to be's holiday sweater ! I've knit this pattern before and it is well written. I also love that it's a fast knit because it's worsted weight wool and of course it's tiny!! What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are you doing? I'm doing pretty good. I'm super excited that in a week the temperatures will be in the 70s instead of the 90s, may it stay true! Since I last wrote here, I've been busy with holiday sweater knitting for the grands. I started with the smallest sweater for the baby-to-be in September. Why? Well because that would be the fastest sweater to knit! I finished the knitting yesterday and now need to find some buttons and do the magical blocking. Instant gratification. Over the weekend, our grandson started soccer on Saturday mornings. What a joy to watch and I was thrilled there was a lone tree to sit under since I cannot handle full sun even with a hat. He had fun after being shy for 10 minutes. It seems every other day I see the grandkids which we both love so much. He is three years old and she will be two years old and they are at fun ages. Of course the terrible twos are around the corner but they haven't arrived yet. I started a nature ...

  Hello! It's been some time hasn't it? My family is still here visiting but it's nap time and I'm quickly making this post a priority because when my family leaves on Saturday morning I will be putting away Christmas decorations and then I will need to recover physically from that. I hope to be back at this space sometime next week. I'm having a great time with the grandchildren, lots of playing (and crying, ha ha). We went to the museum the other day to look at the dinosaurs and that was a ton of fun. What wasn't fun is that my son arrived with some kind of stomach bug but luckily no one else got it from him. That is the Christmas miracle that warms my heart.  I still have my arthritis flare, I think it will stay with me until they leave and I can completely rest for three days. It's mostly my hands and wrists. It's not from knitting since I am barely knitting. The above project is a hat that is almost finished! I will start decreasing soon. I want it...

  Hello! How are you? How have you been?  I've been knee deep in knitting and enjoying the quiet after some busy days celebrating Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we went to my sister and brother in law's house for dinner and celebrated with her family. After dinner we attended Christmas Eve Mass. Christmas Day was by ourselves with lots and lots of phone calls to the kids, his mother and my dad.  I casted on a new hat before Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day. The striped hat below was the first hat started. I haven't snapped a photo of the second one. Apparently I am in a hat-knitting frame of mind.  My son and his family arrive tomorrow for an entire week. So you know what that means....I will be posting irregularly until they leave. So if I am not posting, it's because I am having fun with little ones who take all my attention (and my energy!). 

  Good morning! How are you? This weekend was one of the best weekends ever because we got snow and it was unpredicted which made it all the more special. I even took a walk during the squalls but decided to cut the walk short. Brr. Besides wintry weather, I am proud to announce I am ready for Christmas. We are going over to my sister's house for Christmas Eve dinner and do our exchanging with her family. It will be fun. Christmas day is just the two of us at home, plus lots of phone calls to family far away.  My son and his family arrive on Saturday for a whole week visit. I am excited about that. I am not ready for that, but I will be. (lists are my friend) The above photo is the morning moon winking at me. The very first photo is the odyssey shawl  I started before my car trip. I have ripped this back twice because I keep forgetting the pattern and keep knitting thinking I know the pattern.  I finished my husband's musselburgh hat , this will be in his Christmas S...

  Grab a cup of tea, this will take a while. How are you? How's your week been? I have been thoroughly enjoying this Advent season! I cannot believe we are near the end. Time does fly. We left on Sunday to help out with babysitting on Monday and Tuesday and arrived back home on Wednesday this past week. We had excellent driving weather both to and from Indiana. Sadly all my photos cannot be shared with the internet of the kids. I don't feel right doing so. So just imagine me and my husband being on the go from 8 am until 8 pm unless it was nap time. Our grandson is almost three years old and our granddaughter is 16 months old and both are fun. I have wiped my distant memory of taking care of little ones and wonder how I had the energy. I am now battling an arthritis flare (it is a small one so not a big deal) and I know it's from traveling and doing too much. I still knit a lot on the car rides and I started a new project but you'll have to wait for me to create a proje...

  Hello! How are you? I am doing fine on the super chilly day. Earlier this week, we went to the art museum to see the holiday displays that they do every year. I find routine comforting, I'm sure you already know that. It was a wet drippy start to the museum. We enjoyed their permanent art gallery and love to find the odd picture that was swapped in for another. They rotate some of the art to make it fun. Of course, I love seeing old friends hanging there like they always do. This was the day that started out as light rain and then it turned over to snow. That switch over was very very wet. And let me tell you there was SNOW.  The driving conditions were absolutely fine so that made the snowfall all the more beautiful. After the museum, we went out for lunch then walked around the city a bit. We ducked into the Cathedral of Learning to warm up before going back outside to walk some more.  I am lucky to live near a city and have opportunities to go to the museums. We try ...

  Hello! How are you? I am doing great! I have an ultra detailed list of what I want to do each day so I can be 'ready' for Christmas. I also do not want Advent to fly right by without enjoying the season of preparing. So during my busy 'to-doing', I have space to enjoy the the days leading up to Christmas. I've been missing Frodo, but not missing his round the clock medical care (and the endless worrying). I am so grateful we have Holly (the cat) who is thoroughly enjoying Frodo NOT being here. She loves being number one!! I am glad she can be number one now. It's been seven years since I found her as a little kitten on the side of the road (half dead, half alive) as I was driving home. We named her Holly because it was early December.  My sister bought me this beautiful wool mini bundle collection for my birthday which was a few weeks ago and I've had fun pouring over the hat pattern possibilities which are endless. I hope to start something soon but it wi...

  How was your weekend? Well, I decided to decorate the house on Saturday in one fell swoop. I am still sore but it is done! My calendar is going to be busy from here on out and I wanted this task done. My house feels like Christmas! Because I was decorating all day, we ate from the freezer for dinner and it was nice that Past Me froze the leftovers from our Fake Thanksgiving celebration two weeks ago. What a delicious dinner! On Friday night my sister and brother in law made dinner for us and we played board games. I also received my birthday gift from them. Holly had to intensely investigate the bag. I love her 'concerned' look when she is evaluating the degree of threat. Sunday I went to Mass and enjoyed some reading and knitting and being chill. Of course there was the laundry and some chores. How was your weekend?  ** Please note that I will not be posting this coming Friday as well as the following Monday. We have family visiting again and I know I will be busy with them...

  I celebrated my birthday this week! What a great time to be alive, I am so grateful. I received many calls from my family. While yesterday was not my birthday, it snowed! I felt like that was a gift from Mother Nature since I love winter so much. We went to see the holiday lights at the conservatory and they were lovely. I had a difficult time being thoroughly immersed in the displays because right before we walked into the foyer we were pummeled by high winds and drenching rains. My husband and I were soaked through and were so cold down to our bones. Glass houses are not heated, lol. All I thought about was getting home and changing my clothes and drinking hot tea. Yesterday was a delicious day at home. I got caught up on the computer with 'stuff' and did my readings for the week for two classes. Below is a photo of a hat for the my grandson. I am not sure I have enough yarn so I am winging it. My years of experience say there is enough yarn but the pattern I chose says the...