Pumpkin Sunrise

  Good morning! This week I've been focusing on two knitting projects. I have halfheartedly put in a few rows on my new cardigan . I enjoy this project but I am trying to finish up the pink shawl. The pink shawl is almost done. I have one more row then I'm casting off. I've been toting this back and forth when I visit my dad in the hospital (still in ICU, still improving). Maybe today is the day it's off the needles! Fingers are crossed. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are all of you doing? I'm doing great, my dad continues to improve in the hospital and that makes each day a fabulous day. The sweater I started a few days ago, is a sweater pattern I've knitted 5-6 times from an Ann Budd top down book. I wrote out my own specific instructions on a piece of loose leaf paper. I love when the past me helps the future me in knitting patterns. Yesterday while visiting my dad for the day in ICU, I made a lot of progress! I started another pair of socks for my husband in a green-blue color way. Those also come along to the hospital as well and I add a few inches here and there. Sock knitting is comfort knitting. The last project on the needles is the never-ending seashell shawl . I am so close to being finished but each row takes forever (feels like it). I believe this shawl will block beautifully once it's off the needles. What are you working on this week?

  Hello! How are you all doing? Life around here has been the same. My dad is still in ICU and we wake up each day hoping that he will be in a regular room. Living with uncertainty is the new normal. However isn't life just uncertainty to different degrees? My dad is better than he was last week and I celebrate that nugget! I have been LOVING watching an early spring emerge. Gosh it's beautiful and therapeutic. I walk around and soak up the sun while taking some photos.  Down in our woods, I spotted this clump of crocuses doing their blooming thing so unassuming and beautiful.  Frodo continues to improve after he tweaked his back, but I do believe his walking for 30-40 minutes at a time are on hold for the time being, maybe forever. We enjoy our 15 minute walks and he comes home so happy to be out and about. Then I go back out for a longer walk. Yesterday I started a sweater for myself (notes forthcoming). I was in the mood for something new on the needles, just for me and espe

  Good morning! Happy first day of March, the sun is shining and it looks like it will be a beautiful day today. I finished a pair of socks for my husband a few days ago. I have a mission to keep on making socks so I can replace all of the ones that are un-repairable.  Thank you all for the prayers and well-wishes for my dad. His surgery was successful on Monday and he is doing well. He is still in ICU and hopefully he will continue to improve so he can go to a regular room. I'm looking forward to the day when he is complaining about being in the hospital - that will be music to my ears! What are you working on this week?

  This week I've been focusing on two projects that are the only projects on the needles. I've been resisting the casting on urge (the struggle is real). The first photo is a pair of socks for my husband which I mainly work on during the evenings. Last night I turned the heel and picked up the gusset. It won't be long before these socks are done. Below is a photo of the shawl that I started last May?? I've been working on this during the day for an hour or so while I catch up listening to my audio podcasts that were backlogged to December. Who knows when this will be done but I am enjoying the simplicity of knitting and purling. The shawl looks underwhelming to me so far but I'm sure blocking the daylights out of it will make is sparkle and shine. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How was your weekend? We had a restive weekend and mostly stayed home. I did a lot of podcasting-listenting-catching up (not nearly done) and I did some knitting. I'm so happy that Frodo is slowly feeling better. I wish he could talk and give me explicit details of his ailments but I guess I have to use my observational skills. He is still restricted on his daily walks, I'm assuming that might be for a few weeks?  The birds are singing and the crocuses are blooming like it is Spring time. I am holding my breath for a major snow fall. We continue to have mild temperatures and sunshine! Yesterday was beautiful, we went for a walk at the local park after Mass (without Frodo, so sad).  I hope you have a wonderful week!

  Earlier last week, I finished this Diversion scarf  and it took a while to dry since it's winter. I was finally able to take some photos and share them with you today. Remember when I said I would NOT buy any more yarn to finish the scarf? Well, I bought more gray yarn. A whole skein of sock yarn for 81 yards. I tried to make do with another color and I didn't like the way it looked at all.  I can easily use the rest of the gray yarn for other projects. Overall I'm pleased with the way this scarf turned out! What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! Can you believe we had TWO sunny days in a row? What decadence. The sunshine felt so nice as we did our daily walks and it was equally nice to look out our windows to sunbeams. I'm not sure if it is early or not but our daffodils that speckle our woods are sprouting up with confidence.  How was your weekend?  Mine was great! I managed to do a lot of sketching and painting on Saturday, dare I admit that my creativity is back again? Yesterday after Mass I took a short walk and then later on in the afternoon we drove to the local park for yet another walk. Frodo loves walks and all the smells from other dogs leaving their calling cards. This week one of my goals is to finish reading Walden by Henry David Thoreau. Overall I'm not enjoying it that much. Maybe it's because it was written long ago and the writing style is completely different than modern times. I'm glad I am reading it but golly I'll be so glad when I read that last page. In other news, I t

  When in doubt, cast on a sock . I am loving this repeating striping pattern!! I know I've mentioned before that I've thrown away 3-4 pairs of my husband's hand knitted socks this winter because of unrepairable holes. He came downstairs yesterday and said yet another pair were on the brink! There is a sock imp causing mischief in this house. My goal is always to have socks on the needles for him until I catch up with the destruction. What are you working on this week?

  Yesterday I had a creative burst of energy. Where did it come from? Who knows but I love when it happens and I gleefully go along with it. As I've mentioned before I've had ennui when it comes to watercoloring or sketching. I do a lot of thinking about it but not actually picking up my art supplies and doing it. At the end of January I contemplated about how I enjoy writing haikus and then painting something that pairs with the words. So February first I started that art challenge. Will I do it every single day? I cannot say but I was excited to get started. The notebook I'm using is one that my sister handmade for me as a Christmas present. Isn't it beautiful? The regular evening journal (there are many journals in my life) I've been decorating with the millions of stickers I've accumulated in the past few years. I vow to not buy anymore stickers then I buy more stickers. I could say the same for yarn as well. Speaking of yarn, tomorrow I'll be at a local

  Well here is a project that is a blast from the past. According to my notes, I started this shawl on May 26th last year. I have repeatedly pushed this project aside for more important knitting. Once my scarf is completed which will be within 48 hours, I am focusing on this shawl. Of course there will be some newly cast on projects as well, I am a knitter and that is what knitters do!!  What are you working on this week? 

  This morning my husband and I were planning a trip to Indiana to attend our sweet grandson's first birthday party. I wasn't feeling that great last week and early this week went to urgent care for a salivary gland infection and am on meds. The healing has been slow-going (I'm extremely impatient!). I'm seeing a specialist next week thankfully. Anyways, whenever we travel my dry eye and dry mouth symptoms (due to Sjogren's syndrome) are worse. I can only guess it's something to do with the long car ride and the dry air circulation in the car. Besides not feeling the best, I knew the car ride would not help me continue to recover. So we canceled. I haven't done much of anything this week except drink lots of water, finish reading a book or two and of course put in a few rows of knitting here and there. 

  Good morning! How are you doing? Do you have snow? We are supposed to get some but so far nothing is happening.  I finished this lovely hat in mid-January and enjoyed every row and every blessed stitch. I am still trying to decide if I want a pom pom on it or not. I'm wearing it pom-pom-less and seeing if I like the way it looks and feels. If I do go for a pom pom it will be a removable one for hand-washing the hat. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How was your weekend? After last week mentioning the endless rain, I'm happy to report our weather switched to snow. It's pretty to look at and it's a nice change.  My weekend was a socializing one. My husband and I attended our grand-nephew's second birthday. He was sweet to watch with a room full of people celebrating his big day. Of course there was cake and tons of family to catch up with.  Afterwards some family came to our house to continue the socializing. We had pizza and played a board game. Seeing family on a regular basis is one of the reasons I moved here. Sunday afternoon I had an art date with my sister and I started on some Valentine Cards. We drank tea and painted - these watercoloring sessions filled my creative heart.  During the entire weekend I feverishly read (but did not finish) Stephen King's book Fairytale . I'm over half way through and it's captivating. I also worked on the scarf that is getting closer and closer to

  Day after day has been cloudy, dreary and rainy . Yesterday the sun peeked out briefly which had us scrambling outside for a walk and to soak up the sunbeams. A few hours later, the clouds were back. Today there were teeny tiny snowflakes. So goes January. How are you? How's your weather? How's your January? My grand-nephew will be celebrating his second birthday this weekend, I'm excited to gather with family and enjoy the festivities. Our grandson will be one year old in February! Crazy how time flies by. I've been chipping away at the scarf in the evenings while reading books during the day. I have maybe 2-3 repeats remaining on the scarf and then it will be done. I'm still not sure whether I have enough gray yarn or not and I'm at knitting peace with the dilemma. I will either fudge it with another similar gray color or just end the scarf. I'm resolved to not buy more yarn.

  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.

  Oh my, we are knee deep in ordinary days. I might be one of the few people who love January. I love the cold weather and the restive schedule that envelops me since the holidays are over. I've been enjoying my bird feeder and watching the birds who are making quite the mess. They delight me. Through my back yard, through the woods, at an adjoining business development exists a private preschool. Every day I listen to the children play (squeal) outside during their recess while I am outside walking Frodo. Another delight. January has a slew of family birthdays, I wake up and text/call each family member wishing them a wonderful day. This week I've chipped away at all of my works in progress in my knitting bag. I finished a hat and now I'm working on my scarf. When this scarf is finished I'd like to whip up two pairs of fingerless mitts for me and for my husband.  I am delighted that you visit, read and sometimes comment on this space. How wonderful to have a like minde

  My super secret project is finished, well within the deadline and I'll talk more about the project with details next week. All will be revealed. This week I've been mainly knitting my Motta Hat which I adore working on. I could have manically worked on this project so that it was done for today's post but I'm enjoying and savoring the slow knitting along with the slow January days. I'm respecting the 'no goal' knitting vibe that is decadent (except for the super secret knitting project, that was manic and frantic!). Next up is the good things scarf . The knitting has been minimal but the thinking has been non-stop. I do not have enough of the gray wool to keep the pattern going as I had initially planned. However yesterday I thought more about it and there's a chance I have enough if I end the scarf with gray. I'm still thinking about it. I have rushed out and bought mini skeins here and there and do not want to rush out and buy a whole skein of g

  Good morning! How are you all doing on this fine Monday morning? All is well here in the land of ordinary time. After all the festivities that Christmas and New Year's Day brings, I'm welcoming the ordinary. I'm basking in the ordinary. Overall my weekend was restive and restorative. On Saturday morning, my sister and I did a long walk in the neighborhood with our dogs. Sunday morning was Mass then laundry (not too much laundry since the grandson had me doing loads mid week).  The whole weekend was filled with lots and lots of knitting and reading. Below is a little stack of current reads. I'm also reading Fairytale by Stephen King on my kindle which is not in the photo. The Walden book is a long term reading project, I try to read a page or so a day. His writings are not easily breezed through and each sentence is dense. After weeks of dreary cloudy days the sun was out yesterday! Sunshine instantly makes me happy! 

  I don't usually chose a word for the year but this year I have a theme. Since September when all the new planners were coming out and I was envying most of them I decided to purchase a Hobonichi Techo. I will use it for daily journaling about my gratitudes and abundance in my ordinary life.  In previous years, I journaled each morning about the day before (and I am continuing doing this in another notebook) and ended the entry with a list of gratitudes. For 2023 I separated the two and now will be writing daily what I am grateful for and why. My days easily get caught up with perceived minor stresses and I wanted a way to refocus, regroup and bask in all the wonderfulness in my day. There is so much goodness in a day! I want to magnify the ordinary abundance. For example: being able to walk daily, having fun outings with my husband, overall good health, etc.  Also for 2023 I am back at reading the bible through in a year after a two year break. I have other little daily spiritual