Pumpkin Sunrise

The weekend was not quiet or relaxing but it was jammed packed with fun.  I had a full house with both kids home.  At any given time the tv was on and they were watching movies or playing vintage video games.  The dishwasher was run daily and boy, I was knee deep in laundry.   However, I was excited to do laundry because I'm breaking in a new washer.  I wonder when the novelty will wear off? Today, my daughter returns to her apartment to start the third year of law school which is also the last year of law school, she is ready to move on.  One day the UPS truck appeared, everyone was quite excited-he's like Santa you know-and my daughter received a beautiful bouquet of lilies from her boyfriend.  How lovely and I've enjoyed looking at them every day.  Beside the bouquet is a photo of the greatest pup in the world, Zoe.  I loved her so and still think about her-when she died in 2009 we quickly set about picking out another dog who wouldn't look like her, that do

15 year young golden retriever named "shelby" blue heron on the shore, can you barely see it? This past Monday, we spent the day at our dear friend's lake house on the shore of Lake Wallenpaupack . We met when both of our daughters became friends and we've stayed friends for ten years. To our delight, they invited us for a visit and we immediately said "yes!'. We talked, we walked, we at lunch, we talked and pulled out some knitting-well-us girls did.  The kids (who are adults and teenagers) and the guys (middle aged kids!) water skied and water tubed.  That is too intense for me, knitting in the dappled shade is my speed for a fun time.  We ate dinner, we talked, we laughed.  In the early evening we went for a boat cruise on the lake and a bit up the river. We saw:  one blue heron, many hungry ducks, six-eight deer (I lost count) and one regal golden retriever who is in her bonus years-15!!

Since I finished a pair of mitts for my daughter, it's only fair that I start a pair of socks for my son. And yes you are seeing a set of wooden needles-I've noticed lately that when I knit with metal double pointed needles it causes forearm pain, so I thought needles with a bit of give would help.  So far, I think it does the trick.  Maybe I'm "easing up" on my grip in fear of snapping the needles in two, I think I'm an intense double pointed needle knitter.  The sock yarn is Paton's Kroy , it's not a super soft buttery yarn BUT it does have washing and drying instructions that I think a young man cannot felt :) I'm on the same book Here on Earth  by Alice Hoffman and not much of a fan of the plot.  I think I'm turning prudish, I dislike immensely when characters have affairs while married.  It just isn't right and I lose all sympathy and empathy for the character.  However I do like the story arc of the teenage daughter and I guess

I finished knitting these mitts for my daughter a few days ago.  Do you remember this sweater ?  Well I had one very lonely orphaned skein left over from that project.  When my daughter put in the request for mitts, I was already tripping up the stairs to my studio to dig down in my worsted weight basket, snapping a photo, texting her and asking "is this color okay?" Thankfully she said "yes" and the cast on begun.  The pattern is susie's reading mitts  and the ravelry project page is here .  As you know I love to knit with lace weight or fingering weight yarns, but I enjoyed immensely how quickly these mitts knit up because they are worsted weight.  Instant knitting gratification!!

Each morning this week I managed to sit with coffee and indulgent knitting or reading before the day started.  Every single morning should be indulgent-makes the day start off in a good direction.  I went out to dinner with my family on Friday and afterwards quickly picked out a new washing machine (4 year old one is going going almost gone) then browsed Staples even though I needed ink for the printer. Saturday was quiet, slow with grilled chicken, baked potato and green beans. I finished knitting up a pair of mitts for my daughter (photos soon) and then plotted out some more knits to cast on. I had a crummy sinus headache all weekend but I'm happy to say today is much much better!   I've been watching Dr. Who from the beginning, not the old beginning but the new beginning-reboot.  Neither my husband nor my son are fans, but I do love how when it's on the TV they watch :)  I don't know what it is about the show but I find it quite entertaining. So I

Yesterday I started a pair of fingerless mitts for my daughter upon request.  I don't know about you, but when my family asks for a hand knitted item, I get giddy deep down inside.  There's a quiet joy rummaging through skeins of wool and patterns, matching and creating.  One mitt is nearly finished and hopefully the pair will be gifted while she is here next week. I've been holding up bravely when I look at the coffee table.  It will get worse (messier) once my daughter arrives home.  For now it's not bothering me one bit.  Sometimes, I must confess, I have piles of stuff-that never bothers me.  Double standards. I'm back into the swing of planning out menus and buying enough food, keeping up with household chores. It's raining at the moment and all week it's been cloudy and humid.  I've noticed some early leaves changing yellow and falling.  My oak tree has begun to drop a few acorns, however summer is still here. My moleskine journal is f

I am currently working on two projects while I romantically dream of three yet to be other projects.  My sunshine yellow shawl  is heavenly to knit.  The yarn is beautiful in person, there's a slight halo but the silk and cashmere give it a softness that makes me want to keep knitting forever.  The pattern is complicated enough to keep me on my toes.  The hat  is my tv knitting project, I tend to make few errors while knitting round and round.  Oh and if you haven't seen my blog post from yesterday , I finished my wicked cardigan (finally). I started a new book this past week, Here on Earth  by Alice Hoffman, who I just love to read because I love her writing style.  However this story is a remake of Wuthering Heights  and I'm not sure how I feel about that.  To me the classic is a stand alone book, one of my favorites.  I am still in the beginning and I'm still thinking back to the classic.  I'm hoping that after a few more chapters I'll stop comparing a