Pumpkin Sunrise

  Hello! How was your weekend? Mine is still going strong since today is a national holiday. Over the weekend I finished the baby sweater and hat knitting (yay!) and started a little baby blanket. We are hosting a baby shower in less than two weeks and maybe, just maybe I'll reach my knitting goals. I'm over half way with the Agatha Christie book which is interesting. It's funny how some of the content is dated and doesn't reflect the current times. Overall it's an enjoyable book. On Saturday, we went to a garden center to buy more flowers for the front beds. Of course we are with the challenge of buying deer resistant plants. Those pesky creatures love to snip off fresh growth or blossoms. Grr.  Sunday was relaxing and today I hope to do the same. Lots of knitting and reading. I'll try to get my walk in before the day heats up!

  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

  I finished the Lavender Cowl a few days ago and placed it in the drawer for future cold weather (can you believe that it will be 90 degrees next week, honestly it seems too soon). I cannot wait to wear it. I thoroughly enjoyed knitting every single blessed stitch. Now that this cowl is complete I can fully focus on baby knitting. 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?

  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

  Good morning to all of you on this rainy Friday morning. This past week I enjoyed lots of sunny days and so I must let them go and welcome the rain. I'm reminding myself that the flowers will grow and the green will become greener, if that is a word, okay, maybe 'more green'. How are you doing?  I have been enjoying my knitting nearly every single day. And as always creative pursuits are coming along as well. Most of March was a minimally creative experience because of my dad in the hospital. This past Tuesday we drove up to visit him and my step mom and it was wonderful to see him up and about talking and planning out all he wants to do around his property as he continues to feel better. I feel the maximum amount of gratitude. In my creativeness the first thing to disappear during stress is consistent artwork sessions. For some reason, showing up and sketching or painting is the last thing I want to do. I tend to read a bunch or knit a bunch. The knitting is simple and t

  I love when Frodo gives me that look that says 'you're in my space'. Too funny! How are you? How has your crafting been this week? Mine has been slow going but I'm enjoying my slow going progress. I'm savoring the knitting process. The above photo is my lavender cowl that I pick up in the afternoons for a few rows sometimes I read my kindle or sometimes I listen to a podcast.  The bottom photo is the baby blanket that makes steady progress each and every single evening if we are watching a show on TV. I love the repetitive pattern and how easy it is to pick up and knit. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are you doing? How was your weekend? This weekend was quiet and, well, regular. After a crazy couple of months with my dad in the hospital (he is at home and making fantastic progress!) this weekend my sister and brother in law came over for dinner and game night. It has been a long time since we did that.  The weather, of course, is cold again. Frodo and I are having none of it. We huddled under a blanket together yesterday evening.  Even though the weather is cold, the spring-time views are delightful. Besides doing all the weekly household chores, I intensely worked on the baby blanket. I'm delighted with the color and my progress!

  I have three projects going at the same time and yesterday each one had a little bit of attention brought to them. First off is the sweater in the above photo. I am wondering if I have enough yarn and yet I keep knitting. Sometimes it's fun to flirt with yarn shortage. Next up is the baby blanket , I mainly work on this in the evenings and love every blessed stitch! My last project is the cowl that I've knit many times but only own two of them. The rest were gift knits. I love this project and I hope I can block it a bit wider than it's coming out.  What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How was your weekend? My weekend was restive and I'm ready for a brand new week to start. I am feeling much better and after a whole week of not exercising, I'm jumping back into my daily routine. I need to stretch and move. Did you get the ridiculous warm weather? Gosh it was beautiful which will make the cold days ahead that much more challenging tolerate. Poor Frodo has a 'summer' cut and is shivering. My entire weekend was huddled up at home and chilling out. I pulled out my paints to start some little loose floral pictures as gifts. I had fun! The photo above is the beginning process and not completed. I also read a bit and knitted a lot. I drank gallons of water or tea. The baby blanket is coming along. I enjoy adding rows and chilling out.

  Can you believe the crazy weather these days? Yesterday was 80 degrees and today is going to be higher than that. It's too soon! My dogwoods are starting to bloom and it feels a bit early to me.  I've been thinking about how I give myself grace. Sure it's easy to give grace to others and it comes easily.  I wonder why I'm so hard on myself especially if I am not feeling well. Living with a chronic autoimmune disorder (Sjogren's Syndrome) and trying to come up with the best ways to manage my symptoms and eliminate triggers, I lose sight on accepting my reality and just giving myself grace. After battling sinus issues for most of this week and a runny nose for three weeks, I saw my doctor and now have some medicines to get me back to feeling healthy. Phew! I'm doing my best! So how do I give myself grace? Being mindful in each moment is helpful. Journaling my thoughts, feelings and pouring my heart out onto the paper with a favorite fountain pen, the best free t

  Last night I finished a pair of socks for my husband. While I do like the striping sequence, I didn't like trying to make them 'matchy-matchy'. However I did succeed! He already has the socks in his sock drawer. What are you working on this week?

  How was your weekend? Ours was upside down but overall nice.  Yesterday I had every intention to go to Mass but when I talked to my husband and heard how congested I was (allergies? cold?) I decided no one wanted to be near me and if I was contagious I didn't want to share my germs. With additional medicines, my husband is finally feeling a bit better. Fingers are crossed he has crossed over to good health after two weeks of symptoms. We cancelled going over to my sister and brother in law's house for Easter dinner. However, my sister kindly brought dinner to us! How sweet is that? I am beyond grateful and dinner was delicious. I managed to knit the second sock and have completed turning the heel and picking up the gusset. I am so close to the sock being finished now.

  Hello! How are you? I've missed visiting your spaces and hope to catch up with you all during the week.  My it's been such a long time since I wrote here. Before I get into what I've been up to this past week and weekend, I want to let you know that my dad went home on Saturday!! He will continue to receive therapies at home and he is so happy to be sleeping in his own bed (just like me!). Thank you for all the well wishes and prayers, they mean a lot to me. Anyways, last Sunday we drove to Indiana to visit our son, daughter-in-law and grandson and to help out with childcare for the week. Their babysitter was taking a vacation. What a delight! We spent so much time with him. Sadly, he had another ear infection but was quickly put on medication and improved. In their neighborhood they have a local park that we walked every single day. We bundled up our grandson and off we went. He loves to eat bagels and blueberries and goldfish. When I laughed, he would laugh. He is a hap

  How was your weekend? Mine was great! My dad was transferred to a rehab facility, we are excited he will be getting stronger to get back to being home. I hope he likes his new space, I know he is thrilled to not have a roomie. This week I am knee deep with a grandchild! I am enjoying being in the moment. I also am trying my best not to get his suspected cold (maybe it's allergies!). We are doing lots of walks and exploring parks.  I started a cowl for myself as well and am knitting it exclusively .... for now. I love the purple color! I've knit this pattern three other times but I only have two in my possession. I must have given the third one away. Whenever I like a pattern I tend to knit it over and over again. It's comfort knitting at its finest.  There's a chance I will not be blogging much as we enjoy family time, but I will try my best. Thanks for all the prayers, well-wishes and concerns for my dad. 

  Last week I finished this lovely shawl that was in my knitting bag for almost a whole year. Yikes! As I suspected the magic is in the blocking. I love the simple design of a ribbing that slowly widens as well as the shawl looking like a seashell. A clever design. I just might knit this pattern again but I would go up a needle size or maybe two needle sizes. Knitting on size 3 needles made the shawl take forever!  Ravelry notes

  How was your weekend? My weekend was relaxing overall. First of all, I tried really hard to ignore the wintry cold air blast as much as possible. It was bitterly cold and windy - Frodo and I don't like that kind of weather at all but I do not want to complain about it. Today is the first day of Spring and let's hope spring temperatures arrive soon. I found pockets of time to read and to knit at home even though I am still driving down to the hospital to visit dad who is now in a regular room. My family and I are hoping he can go to a rehab facility soon.  I continue to enjoy knitting my top down sweater . How was your weekend?

  Yesterday my dad was transferred out of ICU (22 days!) into a regular room in the hospital, we are overjoyed! Of course he has a ways to go in his recovery and we hope within a week he will be discharged to a rehab place that is closer to his home which will help out my step mom's commute to the city. Thank you for all the well wishes and prayers. Today is a rainy day and while I'm not a fan of overcast days, I do enjoy the forced stillness wet weather gives me. Instead of walking I will be catching up on household tasks.  You know I will be knitting! I am enjoying my sweater currently on my needles.  I'm going to catch up on some reading and journaling as well. Art journaling specifically.  I haven't been creating art for over three weeks and I'm feeling the urge to once again get my supplies out and sketch.  I forgot to share with you the cross stitch picture I finished a while ago. I'm very pleased with how it turned out but I will be shying away from cross