Pumpkin Sunrise

I live on a wooded property so finding some yellow during this season was easy.  Thanks to  Little Macaroon  and her lovely photos last week and this week, I grabbed my camera and snapped away this afternoon.

Joining Amanda at Soulemama .

Remember this post  about making my husband a sweater?  Well I have started one!  It is a top down vee neck raglan design with Ella Rae Classic Heather  in this fantastic green.  I am designing it based on this pattern  . I measured one of his favorite sweaters and am using those measurements for the design of this raglan.  I am figuring that since he can try it on as I knit, I can be very accurate in the fit.  So far my plan is stockinette for the body but I might change my mind.  Once the raglan increases are done and I join the body I can think of what I want to do with stitch designs. For some reason I am loving heathered yarns this season.  Have you been attracted to a specific yarn quality since fall has started?

Today is supposed to be a very rainy dreary day which makes it so perfect for knitting.  As promised by our meteorologist we had seven days straight of sunny weather.  After all of the flooding at the beginning of September the bright warm days were wonderful.  Now let's get back to changing into fall and having a cool breeze, okay? My knitting this week sort of stays the same, I am still making cowls but I have finished two our of four that I plan to knit up.  These are for gift giving during the holidays.  I have the pattern completely memorized so I am not even thinking about what I am doing....an extra bonus!  The project page can be seen here:   seed stitch cowl . I am over half way through The Distant Hours  for my reading this week.  I love this book!  I am savoring each chapter I read because the story line is that good.  Kate Morton is quite talented in writing a mystery novel.  She strategically reveals snippets of information though out the book  so you are compel

Fall is the best time for making cranberry nut bread, at least it is for me.  I love when I walk into the grocery store and see the cranberries in the produce section.  I always snatch one up and bake some bread right when I get home. My recipe is from my sister and I do not know where she obtained it.  I altered it to my tastes and habits (like doubling it so I use up the entire cranberry package) Cranberry Nut Bread preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Makes two loaves. 3 cups flour 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 1/2 tsp baking powder 3/4 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt                            mix these ingredients in a large bowl. To the dry ingredients cut with pastry cutter 6 tbsp of  softened butter (or margarine). In separate bowl,  mix:  1 1/8 cup  orange juice                                     2 eggs. Add orange juice/eggs into flour-butter mixture. fold in one entire bag of cranberries (2+ cups?) chopped through food processor and 1/2 cup chopped nuts (I use almonds o

This weekend contained: -a lovely dinner evening out with my husband at a local new restaurant.  We had been dragging our feet to try it and now I wonder why because it was fantastic! -attending a local craft fair that had entirely too many people for my comfort level.  I could not see any of the items for sale due to people being in my way.  The above photo was a clear shot of the apples for the cider stand.  No one was in my way for this photo ;) -eating funnel cake and enjoying every single bite while knowing it is void of any nutritional value. -a realization that a hike through the state park would have been much more relaxing for me. My husband was right and I was wrong....shhhh.....do not tell him I said that!! -going to church then having lunch at home.  I met a friend for knitting and shooting the breeze with while my husband cooked dinner (I love not cooking!).  He made a curry that was just spicy enough for my bland tastes. -walking on our dirt road with Frodo

Joining Amanda at Soulemama .

This is one shawl that I am going to have a hard time giving away.  But it is for my favorite aunt who I know will love it and wear it.  This purple is such a saturated color I cannot help but be cheerful when I look at it.  The ravelry page is here .  (my arms look kind of big because I took the photo......) I felt extremely confident that I had tons of yarn so I did two repeats of chart A instead of one.  I wanted this to be as big as possible.  Then I started chart B and realized that there was a very good chance that I would not have enough yarn. So I eliminated four rows in the middle of chart B.  When I was closer to the bind off I decided to omit the last two rows of chart B and did the stretchy bind off that I just love to do on all of my lace shawls.  So because of my modifications the edging is not as scallopy as it is in the magazine photo.  Maybe if I knit this up again, I will have an extra 100 yards to be able to complete chart B as intended.

I have been a busy person on the knitting front.  I did finish the shawl for my aunt-still need to update my Ravelry page so hopefully today or tomorrow.  When I was at the cabin getaway I worked on my feather weight cardigan and am nearly done with the ribbing of the body.  I know when this cardigan is done I will wear it all the time but gosh it does take forever on size four needles.   I also have kicked off the knitting Christmas gift frenzy with the above cowl .  I have a few ladies in my family that I think would love to receive this as a gift.  So, this is the first cowl of the three.  The yarn is from my stash and I am thrilled to be using up skeins that have been sitting around without a purpose. My book is The Distant Hours  which I am enjoying immensely.  She is a very good writer and can build up suspense at just the right speed.  I love a mystery and each chapter I read makes me want to keep reading the book.  I think books like those are hard to come by.  Well at le

I do not think I can begin to summarize what a fantastic weekend we had together.  The idea sprouted in the spring.  I knew that I would have an empty nest for the very first time.  I really wanted my weeks ahead without the kids to be filled with activities that I would look forward to attending. Now I must say that my husband and I are beach people.  We make an annual pilgrimage to the shore so that we can breathe in the salt air and enjoy the sandy beaches.  We have never tried a cabin getaway. So as my sister and I had one of our daily chats on the phone, we came up with a brilliant idea.  We picked Cook Forest State Park so that the driving would be manageable for all involved.  Three hours for us, and two hours for them. Cabin picking was easy.  We picked a cabin that our dad and his wife stayed at many years ago.  Also my sister and her husband stayed at the lodge which currently runs the cabin check ins. Thank goodness we went for a walk the day we checke

This weekend contained: -a cool down in the temperature -lots of rain!  We will all need some little canoes around here pretty soon. -a weekend getaway with my sister and brother in law. -a cabin in the woods in western PA (photos tomorrow hopefully!). -being "unplugged" from the world in a sense, the phone reception was terrible. -good food and lots of laughter. -a mini hike before the rain let loose on the weekend. -lots of talking about renting a cabin in the woods again next year. -smores on the fire......very sticky but still good to eat. -knitting with my sister :)  the BEST knitting buddy ever. -seeing snow on the way home on the interstate "the highest point east of the Mississippi"....and yes it was sticking to the grass......it was early morning and the outside temperature was 34 degrees. Joining Amanda at the habit of being