Pumpkin Sunrise

  Hello! How are you? We made it to August - one month closer to Autumn and for some much needed cooler weather. I've had a rough week with the heat and the humidity. My body just doesn't like it. I've spent more time in the house than outside the house trying to keep myself cool, relaxed and feeling my best. As I sit here in my kitchen typing this up, it is raining (yay).  I started writing out my Christmas knitting list. After last year's epic arthritis flare from manic gnome knitting, I'm paring down the amount I knit and also triaging the list. I am ready to strike off knitted gifts if I just can't do it.  My mother (God rest her soul) would ask for a Christmas list by September 1st. I thought she was crazy when I was a kid, who is thinking about Christmas when it's hot outside! Now, here I am doing my thinking in August, I'm sure the crazy gene runs in the family. Although in my defense, I am not asking anyone for a Christmas list. Besides some simp

  Good morning! How are you doing on this fine morning?  I've been happily knitting on two projects. I started a Christmas stocking for my grandson for my house a few days ago. It's wonderful to be knitting again without pain, but I am still limiting the amount of time I am knitting to make sure I don't return to any arthritis flare ups. The other project is a simple rib hat for me.  What are you working on this week?

  Yesterday we went to the art museum and then had lunch out. Above is the nativity the museum displays every holiday season - the arrangement of figurines changes year to year which makes it fun to see the differences with the aid of a photo of course.   Are you ready for the holidays or getting ready? I am trying to be ready. I continue to take it easy with knitting and barely do one hour a day. My hands are mostly recovered but I don't want to risk any repetitive injury. While my hands may be idle, my mind is active with what to knit next. My daughter wants a sweater (yay!) and I'm itching to knit something for myself. I'm creating lists and more lists as we inch closer to Christmas Day. My son and his family will be here almost a week. I have menus to consider and outings to plan out and to offer. Hopefully the grands will be healthy this time around which will help me sleep better. I'm still recovering from lack of sleep! Are you baking this year? What are you baki

  Good morning! How are all of you doing on this fine Monday morning? I'm back after having family here for nine nights (!). Our little granddaughter went back to ER this past Thursday for some oxygen monitoring and was successfully discharged the same day. She sees her doctor this afternoon in her hometown, so far she is feeling better. The miracle is that no one else came down with the virus. (maybe her dad but it was barely 48 hours of a mild cough). It's all about me and I'm glad that I didn't catch it. Our company left Friday morning. My husband and I blitzed the house like madmen. We put away all the toys, playpens, the highchair and compressed our kitchen table down from seating six to seating four people. I completed four loads of laundry that day. (let me tell you that little baby and grandson generated a load of laundry per day - and both kids generated a bag of garbage daily - I do not remember any of this when my kids were little). We strategically went thro

  Hello! Happy post Thanksgiving! I'm dropping in for a quick update. Our families arrived on Wednesday night as planned but sadly our little granddaughter wasn't feeling well Thursday morning and so her parents took her to ER and she was diagnosed with RSV but not admitted and sent home.  That diagnosis dispersed our big Thanksgiving family to two houses instead of everyone at my house. My sister and her family stayed at her house and my family stayed at my house. My dad visited both houses. My sister and I were swapping dishes to complete the meals. (We cooked the turkey she made the stuffing etc). It was quite the production but we made it work and we each had a good Thanksgiving. Our little granddaughter is slowly feeling better and so far no one else has any symptoms (yay!). Our days are filled with babies playing, napping, crying and eating. We are living our best life. To make things more exciting, our new furnace quit working yesterday and we had to have an emergency te

  The beginning of Christmas has entered my house along with the holiday cheer. We are exchanging presents with my dad and step mom at Thanksgiving (which I am hosting at my home) and my daughter and son in law have never seen Christmas at my house.  I have about four lists written up for the next two weeks and have another list in my head that needs to be put on paper. Besides hosting 15 family members on Thanksgiving day, my family (adult children and grands) will be staying between 3-10 days. So before I forget, I will be posting here intermittently from now until the beginning of December.  While I was down in the basement bringing up the Christmas decoration boxes, I discovered a water pipe leak, and so my day today is waiting for the plumber. A forced day at home.  Also before I forget, my hands are feeling so much better! I am nearly recovered from the gnome knitting abuse. 

  Good morning!! For a few weeks now, I've been working on my gnomes for this year. My plan is to make eight of them, all of them gifts for Christmas except for one to keep at my home. I'm using up scrap yarns in sport weight and in DK weight wools. I do love pairing colors and eeking out as much yardage as possible from the scrap yarn bag.  What are you working on this week?

  How was your weekend? My weekend was rainy but I managed to do a daily walk in between the raindrops. I have officially started my mad gnome knitting. Last year my schedule was wide opened for knitting. This year I'm taking non credit classes and feel like my time is limited but truly it is not. It's a state of mind. I've got a big bag a scraps and just knit. That is all there is to it. I am so glad we did our country drive north on Thursday because I believe that was peak colors. The rain over the weekend has brought most of the leaves down. It's the last full week of October already - time is flying by. On Saturday my sister and brother in law came over for dinner and we had a nice time catching up with them since they did a little trip to see their fall foliage as well. My Sunday was the usual chores after Mass. I do love a regular weekend. My house will be full for the Thanksgiving weekend and I'm already plotting what I need to do from now until then. The lis

  I'm dropping in for a quick hello and to wish all of you a Happy New Year! May 2023 bring you lots of health, luck and happiness.  I have my grandson visiting with his parents and it's been full of diaper changing, bottle feeding and baby snuggles (off and on as he adjusts to us). I'll be catching up with your blogs later on this week or early next week. We've been spending time together, eating meals together, visiting family and going out for a bit a shopping. I have not knit one single stitch since they arrived! Happy New Year everyone!!

  Merry Christmas! I hope you had a wonderful weekend with people who bring you joy and happiness. I've been filling my days with visiting family and day outings. Yesterday, my husband and I enjoyed a quiet day at home. The day was sprinkled with phone calls to and from family who live far away. Thank goodness for the person who invented cell phones and unlimited calling. I remember when we were first married and having phone bills up to $400 dollars (yikes!). Last Thursday, my husband and I went to the art museum to see the nativity scene and some exhibits then headed off to lunch. I love the museum outings immensely - they spark inspiration and creativity. Santa Claus gifted me new paints! How did he know? I also received yarn and books. He is just a good gift giver. And my 2023 is going to be a wonderful year. Our son, daughter in law and grandson  are arriving later this week. I'm looking forward to seeing them and being with them. We will do another round of visiting famil

  What a delight to wake up to some snow on Sunday morning! Sadly they are calling for rain later this week and all of the snow will disappear. How are you? How was your weekend? I wrapped Christmas gifts yesterday and I am mostly done. I even tidied up the wrapping area. There's a few more presents left but those can be tucked into a gift bag. I'm in the process of moving away from using wrapping paper which is not recyclable and using gift bags instead.  I have yet to write and plot out the menu this week, it's on my 'to do' list. How was your weekend?

  I have been in the holiday spirit for a solid week. Maybe it's because we are near our second Christmas at our new home, and that brings endless cheer. I'm not questioning it too much, I'm basking in the joy I feel. I'm also seeking out Christmas displays where ever I go.  Frodo and I have started walking after lunch instead of in the mornings. The traffic is minimal which leads to me being more present on my daily walk. Also the temperatures are warmed up a bit compared to 8 a.m. We have a good time. All that is missing is a snowflake or two.  Yesterday we went to a local farmer's market and I thoroughly enjoyed their poinsettias on display. Sadly Holly will eat everything that is in a dirt pot so I look instead of buy.  I've been knitting mainly for me - the good things scarf  (in the photo at the top)- in the evenings while we watch a tv show. I am also knitting another pair of socks for my husband in a lovely purple colorway. Technically they are not for

  How was your weekend? Mine was a good one. Thanksgiving morning we zoomed with our daughter which was delightful. The day after Thanksgiving at my sister's house with my family, my husband and I drove over to Ohio for the day to see our son, daughter in law and our grandson at the other grandparent's house. Oh the joy!!  Our little grandson wasn't feeling well and was a bit cranky but we did get to hold him as long as he could see his parents. He is growing up so fast! He's nine months old now. Saturday morning was for both of us a recovery day from being in the car most of the Friday. I did decorate the 'big' tree in the living room. The above photo is the 'little' tree in the family room. My house is officially decorated.  Yesterday I dabbled in paints, did the laundry, knitted and wrote that mighty to do list for the week.  How was your weekend?

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?

  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?

 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?

  How was your New Year? How was your weekend? I had a long time off from this space and it was relaxing and fun but then again I miss my regular posting three times a week. For New Year's Eve, we went to my sister and brother in law's house for dinner and board games. We had great great fun! I'm sharing with you the progress on the baby sampler but I haven't worked on it for a few days now. I am nearly finished with what I can stitch, once the baby arrives in early February I can stitch his or her name and the date. It's been a fun stitching project (no backstitching!!). I have been knitting like a demon to finish my sister's sweater and hopefully I will have some photos to share with you soon. It's drying right now as I type this post. The weekend was relaxing and calm. I knit a lot, read a lot, and I put away all the holiday decorations because clean spaces is what I crave when the new year begins. What have you been up to this past weekend?

  Gosh it seems like forever since I've talked to you and yet it's not even been five days. How are you? How was your Christmas if you celebrate Christmas? We had a quiet one, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I missed the kids but we managed to talk to them over the weekend. On Christmas Eve, we were invited to celebrate at my sister and brother in law's house with her son and son's family and our aunt and cousin. It was nice! We had lots and lots of good food and unwrapping of presents. Having my grand nephew who is almost one year old made the holiday more joyful. That evening my husband and I had a mini-miracle - Holly snuck in to snuggle up to my husband on his left side and then Frodo jumped up to snuggle on his right side. Look at Holly's dirty look!?! She is a hoot. I know you are wondering and NO Frodo did not realize that she is sitting there, if he did he would have chased her and barked at her and that is the Christmas miracle. I don't know what it is abo