Pumpkin Sunrise

This past week I've been rotating between all of my projects on the needles.  The pincha shawl  is coming along nicely and is nearly done.  I am going until I run out of yarn!  I love that this pattern allows you to use up as much as you can.  My other project, a scarf for my husband, is the project I've been working on during the evenings while we watch tv together. Hausfrau has been a compelling read for me.  I have to warn you, it is explicit and against all of my moral values.  The main character is incredibly flawed, unhappy and self destructive in her extra marital affairs (some are in detail).  I am drawn again and again to figure out why and that is why the novel is good.  I want to read it. However, my next novel will be a palate cleanser - devoid of risky behavior! What are you knitting and reading this week? Joining Ginny and Frontier Dreams

Weekends are for memory making,  relaxing and enjoying quiet moments of our days.   If you would like, please share your weekend moments  in the comment section with a link to your blog. Can you believe it snowed here yesterday?  All day the weather we were supposed to have three months ago finally arrived.  Call me crazy but it was beautiful to watch inside my cozy warm house (full of knitting, of course). This weekend was all about that little bathroom redo.  The ceiling and walls in the tub area had mold (ick) that could not be bleached out anymore, I've tried.  So he treated the whole area and now we are back to pretty nice looking walls and ceiling!  We picked "purple veil" which is the same color as the powder room from the main level.  It's a vibrant light lavender.  I do love it so. I've bought new towels and rugs and so of course started cleaning out one linen closet and then added our linen closet.  It's the great big purge arou

Good morning!  or maybe good afternoon?  How are you?  Around here, life is going well.  This past week I've walked daily even yesterday after a whole day of rain!  Unfortunately we didn't get far, and what was a drizzle changed back to pouring rain.  The walk was shortened but my what a power walk to get back to dry clothes.  Poor Frodo was soaked through, my husband carried him under his coat during the worse part of the downpour. Have you been enjoying the daylight that greets us in the early morning?  Oh I do love that about the time change.  This morning during my journal entry for the day, I heard the bluebirds in their nest up about the rain spout outside my window.  So excited that they are there! Earlier this week, I glanced out the back window upstairs and saw a red fox slinking through the woods.  Also, the wild turkeys and deer were standing in the middle of the road when I returned from running errands the other day. No photos, believe me I tried!!  I am

My knitting this past week has been about the same.  I'm enjoying the pincha shawl pattern .  I have the pattern completely memorized and STILL it's a full concentration knit because of the counting for short rows.  I've managed to listen to a few audio podcasts while knitting but it's a challenge for me.  I love the emerging colors as I add a feather each day. My simple sock  is crawling along.  I'm not thrilled with the single ply yarn however the colors are delightful.  Because it's single ply they wool tends to be splitty.  Oh well.  More concentration!! I started a new book, Hausfrau   which was a Christmas gift from my son.  So far, the premise is good. However, I do not like the potty language (remember I'm a prude...).  For some reason, that bothers me more the older I become.  I've read a few chapters so I cannot fully opine about the plot.  Stay tuned! What are you knitting and reading this week? Joining Ginny and Frontier dreams

Weekends are for memory making,  relaxing and enjoying quiet moments of our days.   If you would like, please share your weekend moments  in the comment section with a link to your blog. Another restful weekend for me, how about you?  Over here I woke to snow flurries, don't worry they didn't stick, phew!  As you can imagine, it's quite chilly today.  When I finished getting ready for church this morning in a spring themed outfit, my husband informed me of cold the weather.  I marched back up those stairs and reverted to my winter attire.  Spring seems to be a fickle clothe wearing season for me. Saturday was relaxing and nothing super exciting.  Our son phoned.  I snapped a photo of my notions pouch for a hashtag challenge on Instagram.  Shamefully, I have much much more I tote around in my bag but the table is only so big! What do you lug around? My husband and I queried back and forth: "what do you want to do today?" "I dunno, wha

So then we wake, we turn the page of the calendar and poof -  it is now April!  I'm in disbelief that spring is in full swing.  On my walks, the trees are budding, lawns are greening and growing and the air feels different, fresh and breezy. Spring time reminds me of my grandmother (my dad's mom).  She was born in May and just loved spring.  Her gardens burst forth will crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, lilies and daffodils, a sea of brilliant color.  Her six children would buy her a plant for Easter, her birthday and Mother's day every year.  The abundance of blooms were the result of some pretty gifts. She had a porch swing on springs so there was a swing-bounce, swing-bounce to the repetitive motion and she had a garden swing as well under two large trees where she could look at her home and her gardens. The cushions on the swings were thick and comfy.  I would sit and swing, kicking up my feet daring to try to swing high.  I remember stitching up a photo of a cat i

While toodling around on Ravelry, I came across this pattern - the Pincha Shawl  and loved how the design showcased a variegated yarn.  So what's a knitter to do but dig into the stash, unearth a lovely skein of Mountain Girl Yarn by the lovely Camilla and cast on !  The pattern is the kind you have to pay attention to every single row...so it's definitely not tv knitting! I have unknitted quite a few rows because of my brash confidence. I'm nearly finished reading Stephen King's book On Writing.   I am loving every single word. His conversational style of writing is captivating and I stay awake reading past my bedtime.  A true sign of a great book. Joining Ginny and Frontier Dreams

Weekends are for memory making,  relaxing and enjoying quiet moments of our days.   If you would like, please share your weekend moments  in the comment section with a link to your blog. My weekend was filled with family and food.  I am still stuffed from the goodies and treats that were served over the weekend.  In celebration of list making my weekend contained: -potato salad, chicken, asparagus!, green beans, lots and lots of homemade hummus, sugar cookies, lemon cake, pound cake... -being with family:  our son, my sister and her family, my nephew and his wife, my favorite aunt and my cousins and my cousin's family.  All good. -Easter vigil service in a little chapel -spending the day with my sister, buying----more yarn---and having a lovely lunch out -beautiful weather, sitting outside on Easter Sunday..unheard of in March but such a delight! how was your weekend?? I hope to get caught up with all of your blogs over the next few days, these hol

Yesterday, I was in the backyard and spied the little miniature daffodils in full bloom.  A bit of color while the rest of nature slowly wakes up.  I find spring to be slowly evolving and then "poof" one day it's just there.  Spring has arrived, the trees are budding and leafing, the birds are madly singing to each other. When I went to get the mail, I did not wear a coat, what decadence. I even heard the spring peepers on a walk last week before the cold weather hushed them a temporarily.  I hope they are doing fine and will once more serenade me on my walks. Three days in a row the sun has been out and I've been enjoying those rays.   Cloudy dreary days, one after the other weigh me down mentally this year more so than ever. Are you ready for the Easter weekend?  I'm slowly getting there.  I've got lots of lists and I'm adding more to the lists than checking the items off.  That's okay though, if it's documented, the task exists and wi

My reading this past week was packed with goodness.  First off, I finally finished reading Baker Towers  and thoroughly enjoyed the novel.  You should read it, seriously.  The book is well written, and the plot centers on a mining town near Pittsburgh (yay! my home town) and how over the years the mining town changes with the times.  You follow the changes of the town through a family and their struggles as they grow up and become adults. The next book I read, was a quick read.   A Man without a Country  by Kurt Vonnegut is funny and closely resembles a memoir of sorts.  The chapters are written in an essay format and I must say the 1 1/2 hours that I sat and read the book were happy and had me laughing out loud.  This book I picked up from the library. The photo above is a slow going read because it is FILLED with information on healthy eating.  I love how she writes and how the diet is not strict but on a continuum of what fits into your life style.  We could all eat more frui

Oh am I excited to share with you my finished shawl!! Thank you Ginny for such a lovely soft skein of silk wool blend to knit into a lovely finished project.  I urge you, dear readers, to try your best to purchase from her Etsy shop whenever she updates.  Just like in the wild wild west, you need a quick trigger finger to select and click 'buy'.  Lucky for me, I knew what I wanted (fingering weight) before falling down the rabbit hole of uncertainty. Through general consensus, you all recommended the pebble beach shawl  pattern, thank you for a wonderful idea.  I loved knitting this pattern and I know I will knit this one again and again.  I love the way it fits just so as a scrunched up scarf/cowl which is the way I wear most of my knits without the heavy bulky feeling. Ravelry notes are  here