Pumpkin Sunrise

  Good morning! How are you doing today? I finished my sister's birthday mitts ! Overall I liked the way they turned out. She picked the colors and I enjoyed knitting them for her. The mitts ended up being a tiny bit smaller than usual because I accidentally bought sport weight wool instead of DK weight wool. Hopefully they will keep her fingers toasty! What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are you doing on this last day of the year? I hope 2026 is wonderful for you!  My knitting has been almost exclusively knitting these mitts . I am on the lining of the first mitt and I'm enjoying how fast the knitting is now that it isn't color-work knitting and chart reading. So far I am on target to finish them by mid January for my sister's birthday. What are you working on this week?

  Hello! Merry Christmas and soon to be Happy New Year! How have you been? I have been thoroughly enjoying the in between days and having absolutely nowhere to go unless I choose to go somewhere. I'm also enjoying my adult learning classes break. It's nice to be relaxed. My daughter in law and son gifted me the gilmore girls mug, I love it. I watch it when I want a comforting show and I can knit while it's on.  I've been feverishly knitting my sister's mitts and I started a sweater for me. Of course yesterday, I un-knit as much as I knitted. I don't know what is up with that. I did get frustrated though and set everything aside. I'm hoping today is a better knitting day. Today the temperatures are dropping quickly and the wind is howling outside. The weather has been crazy. I switched back to exercising inside two weeks ago because even though I can tolerate cold weather, my eyes and mouth get dried out and cause me problems (thanks autoimmune disease!). I h...

  Good morning! Happy Christmas Eve to all who celebrate! This past week I have been focusing on my sister's birthday mitts ! I am already on the outside second mitt and hope that will be finished in two days. I have yet to knit the thumbs and of course the lining of each mitt. I am enjoying this project and have hit my rhythm of knowing what to knit on each row of the chart at a glance. The palm pattern (not in photo) is easy and repetitive. What are you working on this week? 

  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...

  How are you? How are you doing as we lead up to the holidays? I am getting things done bit by bit aided my a very detailed to do list. I finished my granddaughter's hat a week or so ago and forgot to show you! This project was a fun quick easy knit. Below is a photo of my husband's hat that I would love to finish before Christmas. For incentives for me to finish on time, I started placing a marker before I start knitting for the day so I could see my progress. It appears I knit one inch or so a day. As of today I am confident I will meet my goal. Lastly, I restarted a pair of mitts for myself with some lovely wool my daughter gave me for Mother's day. The original pattern I chose was too hard for me to see the stitches to do the cabling and there were mistakes in the pattern that I knew needed to be corrected before knitting. I can do both but I just didn't have the mental bandwidth to do it. The older I get, the harder it is to see dark wool in the evenings even w...

  Good morning! The past two days have been cool enough to enjoy the weather outside but the heat is coming back. Lucky for me, I have lovely knitting projects to keep me company. The above photo is a pair of mittens , surprisingly for me! My daughter and son in law gave me the wool for Mother's Day. I'm having a hard time seeing the rows because the yarn is so dark but I'm having fun with the pattern. The below photo is the lace scarf that I finally memorized the stitch pattern, this took me nearly half of the scarf to do so. The middle stitches are easy to memorize, it was the bordering stitches that continuously stumped me. I am enjoy this knit! What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are you? Are you in the heat wave? I am trying my best to ignore this weather but I have to confess, I'm dreaming of autumn. This will not serve me well, so I pushed the desire deep in my soul and I'm trying to see the beauty of summer while ignoring the heat and humidity. It's always a challenge. Frodo and I are walking at 7 am this week. We are both bleary-eyed and tired but at least we are somewhat comfortable for a 20 minute walk. He continues to do well. He is now on a special prescription low fat diet because he is a schnauzer with a sensitive stomach. He loves the food! He is worth every penny. We are in our bonus years with him. Every morning when I wake up and he wakes up I say to him (he can't hear but I think he feels my sentiment) 'we have another day together!!'. He will be 15 years old in October! What an old old man who is living his best life! I wound up this skein of super scrumptious yarn that my daughter and son in law gave...

  I whipped up a pair of mitts for my daughter in law, super quick. I used acrylic yarn and after I bought the yarn I discovered that it was aran weight instead of worsted weight, rookie mistake on my part. So I dropped down 2 needle sizes to make the size that I wanted. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! Isn't Holly funny in that photo? She snuck into the 'dog' zone while Frodo was snoring away beside me in the afternoon. I looked up and there she was, surveying the room - she is always shocked he is sleeping right there beside me. Her adventurous spirit never ceases to amaze me. We have discovered that Holly hates thunderstorms and quietly hides somewhere in the house. Frodo, bless him, is deaf and cannot hear them anymore which is wonderful since he would tremble so! We close the blinds so that he cannot see flashing light from the lightning just in case that upsets him. We had a wonderful day of rain, thunder and tiny bits of lightning yesterday. Such a refreshing change of weather after the heat and humidity.  I've been enjoying my classes so far, especially Tai Chi (which is using different muscles than my yoga!). The instructor is fun and the class members all have a willing spirit.  I've been bitten by the knitting bug, in that I want to knit ...

  Well now, I finished two pairs of fingerless mitts for us! For weeks, I've been knitting hitchhiker shawls as gifts for the holiday season and still have the third but last one on the needles. I enjoyed switching my attention to knitting for me and my husband instead. I've knit this mitt pattern numerous times and the pattern is just one of my all time favorites to knit. What are you working on this week?

  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.

  Over the past week or so I've knitted up two pairs of fetching mitts to be gifted to family members. Now I am finally done with gift knitting unless I change my mind again. This pattern is an old favorite of mine that I rely on often. It's a mitt that fits any adult hand and the pattern is easily memorized. Now I'm working on gifts for me - I am mulling over some simple knitted holiday ornaments but so far it's in my imagination. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! I'm excited to show you my new hat that I've been wearing on my walks with Frodo. It is a warm hat and that is exactly what I needed. I wished the brim was a little longer and maybe the next time around I will pick a plumper DK wool. Otherwise I am thrilled with the way this hat turned out. I thought I was finished with knitting Christmas gifts and then remembered two more that I needed to whip up. Thankfully mitts are a super speedy knit. I've finished one pair and am currently knitting the second pair. What are you working on this week?

  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?

  Good morning! How are you? Can you believe it is December 1st?? I'm thrilled to report that I've knit up another two pairs of the peekaboo mitts and I am done (well I think I am done) with the mitt knitting frenzy. There is a slim chance that I will knit one more pair for my husband but I will convert them to traditional mittens....that is still marinating in my little old brain. I did not make a new project page for these two pairs of mitts but added them to a project page for the previous mitts I made. I believe I've knit up five pairs of mitts for this holiday season. What are you working on this week?

  I started this little wee hat and finished it within 48 hours - now that is a fun satisfying knit. This bonnet is for the grandbaby-to-be and it matches the little sweater that I knit a few weeks ago.  I finished another set of fingerless mitts to be given as a Christmas gift. I have the pattern memorized in my brain so that gives for even speedier knitting. I definitely have one more pair to make - possibly a few more after that if I haven't burned out from making them. What are you working on this week?

 I know, I know you all are just stunned that I am finishing so many holiday knits. I've finished two pairs of mitts for my daughter and son in law for Christmas. This mitt pattern ( peekaboo mitts ) is a very fast knit and I've already started the third pair as I type this post up this morning. After the manic mitt knitting I intend to switch to hat knitting (also speedy knitting). What are you working on this week?

  I know what you might be thinking. There should be a finished project, like the baby blanket or the poncho or the never ending shawl. Well hopefully next week the baby blanket will be done. But instead of focusing my energy on madly dashing over the knitting finishing line, I decided to cast on something new. I am making a pair of fingerless mitts for Christmas giving. I was happy to be knitting a small project for a change. I hope to make more mitts for more people in my life over the next few months. What are you working on this week?

  I finished a pair of mittens for my husband a few days ago. I loved working with worsted weight and how speedy the knitting was for me. What a delight! These are based on the Bernie Mitts pattern - I changed the ribbing to a rolled knitted edge then a 1x1 instead of 2x2 and I did a simplified decrease at the top. I also did not do any color work on the thumbs because I was a lazy knitter. I started a new sweater three times. The first time, the ribbing was loose, the second and third time I was casting on while the electricity was out for about an hour last night for no particular reason. I couldn't see (even with a flashlight) so my counting of cast on stitches was wrong. Once the electricity came back on in about an hour, I cast on successfully with smaller needles. Phew. I have knit this sweater once before , I wear it all the time! What are you working on this week?