Pumpkin Sunrise

  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

  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

  That sweater is not as a rosy color in real life. It's a dark maroon hue and lovely, I guess the light was hitting the photo in a certain way. The second Christmas sweater for our grandson is gaining progress. I work on it most evenings while splitting my time with the socks in the below photo. The socks are for my husband who is wearing out previous hand made socks and needs his sock stash boosted. What are you working on this week?

  How was your weekend?  My weekend was a making weekend. I dug out the Christmas ornament for our grandson after a full month of not working on it at all (gnome invasion?). Let's see if I can work on it each day and get this finished soon. I also worked steadily on my Grandson's SECOND Christmas sweater in a larger size than the first one I knit him which fits him right now. Overall it was a glorious weekend!! How was yours?

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

  Finally!  I finished this sweater that felt like it was on the needles forever. My sister gave me the yarn from someone who gave it to her from someone's stash. As you can see from the three skeins, one skein had less color variation and wasn't it lucky that I started the sweater with the odd skein first? (The universe was smiling upon me!). I've made this sweater before , and decided to drop down one size because I was a little short on yardage. Also the first sweater was roomy enough to make that decision on the second sweater. I did not run out of yarn and even had several yards left over. Now all I need is some freezing cold weather to wear it! What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! I hope you've had a fabulous week. My week was perfection, I spent each day catching up on all those tasks that were set aside for traveling. I'm currently sitting in my kitchen drinking my last cup of morning coffee before the day officially begins. The weather is deliciously cold (gah!). Yesterday was windy which turned warm air into autumnal breezes. The week's forecast is going to be cold, finally. We had lunch outside on the patio probably for the last time earlier this week. Well, at least I had my last lunch, my husband might just sit out there in the cold clinging onto the dregs of summer living. He is so sad that autumn has arrived. I am not, I've been daydreaming of sweater wearing weather for about six weeks.  Yesterday I focused on knitting and finishing the sweater , all day long and as you can see by the above photo it is drying after a little bit of soaking and mild blocking. My husband thinks Holly will sit on it, I do not. Who would wan

  I am so excited that I'm on my second sleeve and over half way on that second sleeve. I had grand plans to finish this sweater on my weekend trip to Cambridge MA but that was lofty and impractical. I've been asked if I knit in the car, the answer is YES but I frequently zone out and daydream or take in the scenery. More often than not, I tell my husband how to drive which annoys him to no end. I have lofty goals of having this sweater finished by next Wednesday but I know that I am sporadic in my knitting attention these days. Please send all the good finishing vibes if you can. Below is a photo of the two skeins of yarn I purchased at Mind's Eye Yarns  in Cambridge MA and so close to our hotel that we stayed at. I'm thinking his and her matching pair of socks. What a sweet little store that was jammed packed with yarn. I was in heaven. What are you working on this week?

  Just look at that glorious sleeve, so so close to the end. By this evening, I will be picking up the next sleeve and carrying on with getting this sweater finished and blocked in time for the crisp fall season. Speaking of cooler air, yesterday was gorgeous, I wore a long sleeve shirt for the first time since the spring and felt cold.  The first sock is almost done! I love this color and after nearly a week of knitting these socks in front of my husband (which are for my husband) he asked if they were for him. So now the surprise socks are not some much a surprise anymore. What are you working on this week?

  Hello!  Once again, here we are sharing our projects. This week I've been working on the first sleeve of my blue sweater and loving the speed of a sleeve compared to the body shaping. I might be half way done.  I am half way done on the first sock for my husband who doesn't know these are for him and yet I knit in front of him. He will be super excited to receive them since green is his favorite color. The pattern is memorized and I added four rows of knit two purl two and then four rows of stockinette stitch just so I can easily make the socks matching without measuring. What are you working on this week?

  I'm happy to report that my knitting enthusiasm has been slowly increasing after all the travels last week. More importantly, my husband and I continue to be healthy. This sweater is so close the the body edging! I believe there's less than an inch to go. After the body, I will be on the sleeves which I love to knit because they are speedy. It's all downhill from there my friends. What have you been working on this week? Can you believe it's the end of August??

  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?

  My knitting news is minuscule.  However, progress no matter how tiny is progress. I've been mainly working on my blue sweater . I haven't been knitting during the day and only knit for an hour or two at night. I tend to do this in the summer time as other activities become my focus. Also that dastardly cold really set me back. I am feeling better though! Even though my knitting is minimal, I am dreaming of new knitting projects I want to knit for my grandson and some other family members.  What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! Here we are another Friday and here I am writing another post about everything and nothing at all. This time around I'm going to be musing about simple pleasures and what I take for granted on a daily basis. Grab your tea, coffee or juice and join the meandering. When the nasty summer cold was at its worst, I romantically thought about all those days I could breathe through my nose. Seriously, we should all sing praises to nasal breathing. When I sat around and read my book, I thought about all the exercising and walking I do on a daily basis effortlessly. I have walked this week but golly it was an effort and I was so glad to get back home to sit. I am grateful I had the time and the luxury to sit at home and recover, there are many who cannot do that. I am feeling so much better! I am grateful for that.  Simple pleasures:  knitting, as always - thinking about a pumpkin hat for the grandson - buckets of hot green decaf tea - logic puzzles and sudoku puzzles - summe

  Well hello! This week there hasn't been much knitting because what I thought was a terrible allergy attack over the weekend was really a nasty nasty cold (definitely not covid, I tested twice). I haven't had a cold since before the pandemic and was not really ready for it. However when are we ready to be ill? I am thankful to not be blowing my nose every second, sneezing my head off every second and being able to sit upright --  it's those little things we take for granted.  Since Sunday I have been marathon reading Stephen King's The Stand which is about a pandemic virus. I do love how he weaves a wonderful story line and his in depth character development. Also the tingly creepy feeling of doom. Above is the seashell shawl and below is the sweater I am working on. For the sweater I went down one size and really hope that was a good decision.  What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are all of you and more importantly how is your crafting coming along?  My knitting needles have been busy clicking away. I finished our grandson's Christmas sweater (I know I am super early and on task with the gifts this year). I still have many things I want to make him before fall arrives. The hyphen cardigan pattern I picked up as a physical copy at a local yarn store. I loved the construction and the yoke detail. I'm thinking of making this sweater again for another baby-to-be (not a grand!). As always Malabrigo Rios is a stellar wool to knit with and a delight to have in my hands. If you haven't knitted with it, you should.  Ravelry notes are here. What are you working on this week?

  I've got three projects going on at the same time and they each fill a niche in my life. First off is the Grandson's Christmas sweater that is almost done. I love how this is turning out and those sleeves are speedy knitting. I am thrilled to be working on December gifts so early in the year.  Next up is this seashell shawl that is my tv knitting or talking knitting. I can do both at the same time and not make a mistake. I love picking this us and knitting on it, it feels so very soft. Last but not least is this blue pullover sweater for me that is using up some gift yarn from my sister. One of her clients was decluttering her stash and so I inherited this yarn. This project is also a multitasking project. The yarn is a bit rough compared to the above shawl. I also do not know if I have enough yarn for the sweater - you know I love a bit of mystery while knitting. I figure once I use up one entire skein, I will have a sense of whether I have enough yarn or not. Also I can