Pumpkin Sunrise

Hello Beautiful. (Frodo says "hi") It's been a flustery kind of week.  On Wednesday, while rushing to go to work, I jammed the wrong car key into the ignition.  Well jammed means that I couldn't drive that car. My husband spent the morning prying the key out, calling a tow truck and well.....Let's say "haste makes waste" and it's going to be an expensive fix. So with that snafu looming about in my brain, I've been focusing on enjoying my daughter's visit!  We went shopping a few times this week and I've been cooking all my new meals for her to taste test.  Because she lives alone she's challenged by cooking for one.  As you know, I'm challenged by cooking for two!  It all comes down to flavor to make cooking exciting.  She leaves tomorrow. Our son arrives home on Thursday for three weeks before he leaves for a summer research program.  This will be the first summer without kids.  I think I'm okay with that.  It's

After knitting the quick and easy projects for the children's knitting classes, I've returned to my shawl .  I am at the fun part-lace edging!  Yesterday as I continued the lace pattern and all of my decrease stitches on the wrong side were mixed up.  Then I realized that I was not reading the chart correctly! That is what happens when you set something down and forget about it for a few days.  It was easy to correct the decreases without ripping out and now I am good to go on the shawl.  Phew! The Hundred Year Old Man  etc... is entertaining.  I must say it's a bit slow going for me but I am not an adventure reader of books.  I like psychological family drama (soap opera story lines in print).  I do like the humor that is in the book and as I read I frequently think that this is a book my son would love.  I am going to start reading it during the day as well.  I think a fresh mind would do wonders compared to a sleepy mind.  So if you like adventure, tongue in cheek

In one week my lilacs are nearly at full bloom.  The trees surrounding the property are all leafed out and these days have been the perfect weather conditions.  It's warm in the sun and cool in the shade with low humidity.  I could have an entire summer with the temperature never topping over 75 degrees.  A girl can dream! I had fun with my sister and we enjoy getting together without our children (who are now all adults).  We laugh a lot and are easily entertained by the simplest things.  My husband had a truck load of dirt delivered to our back yard and my brother in law helped disperse the dirt over our developing crater.  Our property was not graded properly so we are guessing the craters are fallen trees below the dirt, decaying (we are sticking to that theory!).  Now when he mows, our lawn tractor won't take a beating.  And how boring to be excited about a truck load of dirt. Our daughter is home for the week.  Yesterday we went to the outlets shopping and had a gr

A few weeks ago, I sketchily created some children's learning-to-knit-classes on the fly for where I work.  So this past week, I knit up two of the samples.  The first project is a garter stitch cowl that will introduce casting on and off, miles of the lovely knit stitch and some fun eyelets for buttons. The second project was going to be a "stuffy", this class would introduce the purl stitch and continue reinforcing the miles of knitting plain fabric.  I sewed the seams with the mattress stitch but I think a whipped stitch would look just as lovely maybe with a contrasting thread? The possibilities are endless. Here's the interesting part.  My sister thought I should do an owl.  I said "no" I wanted monsters or something free form without parameters.  We had an awesome weekend with lots of sister time and she left early Sunday morning and I focused on my faceless stuffy.  As I rummaged through my button collection, ideas of owl faces called to me.  I

This week has been glorious-the sun has been shining, the birds singing and my wild dogwood trees are blooming.  I remember when I was about 12 years old and our family moved from the city of Pittsburgh to the suburbs.  I grew up with a cement back yard fenced in with two patches of grass just long enough for one cartwheel.  As a small child, I would ride my tricycle in circles or beg my sister to throw the jump rope over me while it was tied to the fence so I could practice my skills for recess at school. Even then recess was competitive and demanding. We moved to a tiny brick ranch on a half acre that was overgrown by flowering trees and bushes.  Lilacs lined the driveway and underneath poked grape hyacinths. Dogwood trees were also in the yard and they blossomed near the end of school days.  Around this time of year I would be planning my summer reading list.  It was around 12-13 years old that I became an avid reader.  Sitting under a dogwood or any other tree (while a

I am onto another book and this one I'm sure I've seen on yarn along posts but cannot remember who was reading it.  The title is a l-o-n-g one The 100-Year Old Man who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson.  It is a book from Sweden and translated into English.  I've read reviews and it's been noted to have a "Forrest Gump" vibe.  I just started last night and I'm eager to get into the plot.  I tend to stay away from translated books because sometimes they read haltingly for me.  So my fingers are crossed that this book entertains me and makes me smile. My knitting!  I'm showing you my dead simple hat  that is a fantastic knit to have on the needles.  It's my third one of this pattern and what I love most is the miles of stockinette.  It's great for TV knitting or more importantly, social knitting.  I can talk and not make a mistake!  I'm still chugging along on my shawl  without a photo of the progress this week.  

My weekend -violets in multitude in my back yard and the photo can't quite capture all of them -a full day with my husband visiting a local craft fair -eating french fries -taking in the sights and sounds of spring -buying flowers for the garden without a clue of where they will go -doors opened-fresh air inside the house -enjoying being unplugged mostly-becoming a habit possibly -chatting with the kids -knitting on three projects and savoring each one for it's uniqueness -listening to the birds singing sweetly in the morning - broccoli thai noodles with peanut sauce (again!!)-slurpy good :) And now I'm sipping my green tea and settling down for some more knitting. How was your weekend? Joining Amanda

This is what I saw on my walk yesterday!  The sun was shining just so, the ducks (if you can find them) were running away because of Frodo.  It was beautiful.  Speaking of beautiful, I read a post the other day and it is still with me, she mentions ducks and so much more you can read the post here .   On my mind this week: -the birds sang sweetly to wake me up, I've decided that I wouldn't mind being a bird or singing while the sun rises every morning. -household chores-the ones that get done sparingly-dusting ceiling fans, dusting blinds -entertaining the idea of staying at home with the kids during August.  Both kids have plans for the summer and finding a vacation with limited days available is near impossible AND we still have one more year of funding two kids at the same time.  Our daughter graduates next year with her JD and our son graduates with a BS in Math.  He will go on for a PhD.  We are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.  -love the i

I'm still reading The Clover House  nearly over half way done.  The book is set mainly in Greece with many customs explained-so I feel that I've traveled without leaving the house.  Since I'm a homebody, I'm enjoying my mind vacation.  Give it a flip through if you see the book.  Of course I'm thinking about all the other books I'd like to start to read.  So many and so little time!! I finished the socks and the linen scarf , I posted about the scarf yesterday .  I am drawn to big knitting projects with tiny needles, however I do enjoy the short but sweet projects for instant gratification.  The socks are tucked away for the fall and the linen scarf is waiting for me to wear.  I started a new shawl this week.  I scoured Ravelry to find a shawl pattern with only 328 yards in lace weight.  I was tempted to just invent one.  Lucky for me I found this pattern and so far am enjoying the knit immensely!! What are you knitting and reading this week? Joining

You guessed it!  I am over the moon with happiness.  I'm thrilled that this simple yet elegant scarf is completed and off the needles. AND I'm happy that it did soften up.  I only hand washed it so I think it would have been much softer if I was brave enough to toss into the washer. I think this is the perfect knit for a beginner who wants to do some beading.  The instructions are very simple and really there's nothing to memorize.  Now personally, I think I love the way the linen feels after the washing, however I did not enjoy the knitting of pre-washed linen. I had fun taking the photos outside on a beautiful day.  Ravelry notes are here

My weekend: -driving through crazy rain storms to pick up our son for a Math Subject GRE test on Saturday -picking up an unwell son (spring virus-hope I do not get it!!) -scrapping plans for dinner out and opting for a quiet meal at home -Dr. Who episode, yep, I'm officially hooked and I'm by myself on this one -knitting my second sock while watching some video game playing -adding the finishing touches of my daughter's birthday gift -a Sunday alone with knitting and reading and laundry -while my husband does the driving of:  a) delivering a gift and b) delivering our son back to campus -new project with the yarn in the photo How was your weekend? Joining Amanda