Pumpkin Sunrise

  How have you been? Over here in western PA the heat is back. I switched to exercising in my house in the spring and now more so than ever, I'm glad I did. The older I get the more my body dislikes hot weather. I've been busy helping with the grandkids and of course our son and his wife. My days are full and fun! If I'm not with them I am chilling out getting my energy levels back to normal. I am pleased to report that I'm knitting something else instead of the christening blanket (more about that on Wednesday). I am thrilled to be knitting something different not to mention mindless. Also, I went out of my reading comfort zone and picked up 'Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries' by Heather Fawcett and am thoroughly enjoying the story. It's light, entertaining and amusing. If I like the ending, I'll read the next in the series. We went to my sister's house for dinner last night and was lucky to spy this little fawn chilling out in the late aft...

  Good morning! How are you and how is your crafting coming along? I continue to work feverishly on the christening blanket and am now mulling over how to finish it off without doing all of the remaining charts. I do not have much yarn left with the second skein. I do have a third optional color (similar to the first one) but I'm not sure if I want that and most of all I don't know if 500 yards will give me an additional inch of pattern based on how many inches I obtained with the second skein.  If I could get the blanket to be 36 inches wide and long (it's a square!) I feel that would be enough of a blanket. So my wonderings are: how many add inches in blocking will I get? Definitely one inch per quadrant but would I get two inches? Three inches might be right out! Also, how do I finish it off? I am going to flip through some of my other knitting books for some ideas. Overall, I have loved knitting this and I'm excited to get it off the needles and give it a blocking....

  Hello! How are you doing? This past week the temperatures dropped and it felt like early spring. I loved it because I do not like to be hot. All the early summer flowers are blooming in my yard, the views are spectacular. I babysat the kids on Friday night with the help of my aunt. We had a fun time and they were good. I also went to their house on Saturday afternoon and sat while they napped so that their parents could run some errands. It's been a rough time the past three-four days because the antibiotic I was on (which I have finished on Saturday morning, thank goodness) caused severe nausea. I haven't felt that queasy since pregnancy. It was absolutely awful. In between bouts of nausea I managed to knit a little bit and get some laundry done. I think I'm better now, I am definitely not worse! Yesterday I took a walk, first time in months and I snapped these photos. I enjoyed being in the fresh air and seeing the neighborhood. I might just go for another walk today. ...

  Good morning to you! How are you and how are your projects coming along? I continue to work on the christening blanket but barely did one row in the past seven days because I was traveling and after getting back into town, I've been babysitting the grandchildren while my son and his wife set up their new home. There are over 800 stitches on the needles and it's only going to get bigger. However I know I am over half way through based on yardage and where I am on the charts. Even though this is lace weight wool and slow going, I am thoroughly enjoying the process. I cannot wait for this to be off the needles so I can see it all blocked out. What are you working on this week?

  Hello! How are you doing? I've been really busy. We went to Indiana for the last time (unless someone else moves there that we visit) to help our son and his family relocate to our area. The ride home with the kids was the longest ride ever, ha ha. They have been unpacking and trying to get settled while the kids stay with us at our house. Hopefully they will be sleeping in their new home in a day or two. I haven't knit a single stitch since Wednesday.  The contact learning curve is getting better and faster but I still have a few tries getting them in no matter what. I get less irritated though. These contacts hold preservative free saline on my corneas all day long. It has helped with the eye pain I was experiencing from severe dry eye.  Sadly I ended up with a salivary gland infection over the weekend and am currently on antibiotics, I am feeling better though. Hopefully I will be knitting this afternoon during naptime!

  I finished the baby blanket for our grandbaby to be! As you know, I've knit this pattern so many times. I have it memorized and just love the comfort of knitting what I know while watching a tv show. It truly is mindless and fun. It is like comfort food. I did not have the six skeins to do the required repeats of the large blanket, so I did one repeat less with the five skeins that I did have on hand.  I have some red yarn to make a small blanket for covering the baby carrier - I will start that one in a few days or so. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are you doing?  Oh my, I've been busy. I saw the eye doctor on Friday and I see her again today. She is getting close to the final fittings of the custom made contact lenses to protect my severe dry eye due to Sjogren's Syndrome. I am getting used to putting them in and taking out, better than I thought I would! We went to the art museum a few days ago and then went out to lunch for our 'first' outdoor patio eating of the season. It was wonderful to be outside and to look at the pond. I wish I could photograph the frogs singing, but I guess you'll have to imagine that. They were delightful. I've been spending all my free time working on the christening blanket and have added the second skein yesterday. I've quit timing myself because the rows get longer and longer. I have 90 rows to go! If I run out of this yarn I have yet another 500 yards of a third back up yarn for the edging. I love the not knowing. I also love to knit with small siz...