Pumpkin Sunrise

Hello!  This is going to be a short and quick post.  I am thoroughly enjoying my book immensely, I cannot put it down :)  I shudder at the thought that I was contemplating on giving up the read when I first started.  Crazy right? My socks are slowly making progress, I am nearing the heel flap of the second sock and soon I'll have a pair of woolen socks for the fall weather. What are you knitting and reading this week? Joining Ginny and Frontier Dreams

Last fall my husband requested a thin purple scarf while we were exploring a fiber festival.  You know me, I was thrilled to have a quest and a project to plan.  I found some lace weight yarn ( jaggerspun ) and already knew I would create a simple block pattern, alternating purls and knits. While knitting with two strands held together on size three needles, I found the project "rustic".  I kept hoping that blocking would soften the fabric and make the stitches even.  Well my oh my!!  The blocking did wonders! Doesn't it always?? I love the way the stitches pop and how the scarf turned out exactly as I imagined.  Ravelry notes are here .

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. This weekend I reclaimed the coffee table - you know what that means, our son left to go back up to Boston until he visits sometime in the summer (nothing planned as of yet).  He left Saturday morning so I blitzed the house, tidied up counters and corners and righted my visual world. We had a great week together but my, I'm tired! This extra-rainy drippy weekend was nice to hibernate and rest up.  I read my book off and on, and when I wasn't reading, I was knitting away. Today I went to Mass and we ran some errands together just the two of us.  We took back roads to our destination instead of the highway.  I loved seeing spring time in the rolling hills and mountains.  I wonder about the people who live in the houses, are they happy?  is it their dream home? etc... There

It's been awhile since I've compiled a "happy list".  So here it goes: -for finding an apartment in State College for our son this fall----PHEW! -for sunny skies and rainy days -for early morning risings and writings of thoughts, oh and the pens :) -for an awesome noodle bowl lunch yesterday - authentic and good -for cell phones and who they connect me with -knitting anything these days! -for my RA doctor who has tweaked my meds (again) after reviewing my hand x-rays that showed RA damage (boo).  He is diligent, caring and wonderful!  and I'm feeling a bit better.  I see him in a month for another check up. -for salads and crunchy stuff in a salad -  lately I'm into almonds or walnuts. -for the power of prayer and positive thinking and focusing on the goodness of every single blessed day What would make your happy list?  Please share in the comments I'd love to read them! Also here are some places this week you should visit: -

Good morning!!  Another Wednesday's upon us, so quickly too, well at least for me.  So on my needles this week are projects I've shared with you before.  The block scarf is finished, I just need to bury the ends and block the daylights out of it.  I need length (and I bet I'll get it!). My simple simon socks will be focused on now that I'm down to three projects.  I want these to be finished in a week as well.  Let's see if I make that arbitrary goal :) My reading has been fantastic.  I finally started a book that has sat on my "to read" shelf forever at least it feels forever!   I Know This Much Is True  by Wally Lamb is a detailed account of identical twin brothers, one suffers from schizophrenia and the other brother's burden to live with his brother and his mental illness.  Oh my.  I almost gave up on the book because of "sexy talk" (I had my FILL from Housefrau).   But in the end, I was being a little premature in my judgement a

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. Hello!!  I'm sitting here with a hot cup of tea ready to give you the weekend recap! dandelion Friday night we had a work related banquet for my husband and had a lovely buffet and some delicious shortbread cookies dipped in chocolate.  Our house guest was fun to be with and we had a jammed packed visit with him. dandelion with frodo's behind :) Saturday my husband and houseguest gave a workshop somewhere in New Jersey all day.  So I had the house all to myself.  I banned any "work".  So I read most of the day then sat and knit through some episodes of Gilmore Girls and Merlin.  I had a really great time :) Late late late at night they returned home after picking up our son from the train station.  I woke up from Frodo growling and barking and then could

 Spring has sprung around these parts of Pennsylvania-- truly beautiful.  I'm still in that flux of not knowing weather to wear a long sleeve or short sleeve shirt, wool or cotton sweater.  I guess I love that most about spring, you never know and sometimes you guess correctly! My husband has a colleague visiting us for a few days and I've been frantically getting the house "company ready" for his arrival yesterday.  On Saturday, our son comes home for a second spring break (yay!!!) Already the week is filled with activities, mainly finding him a new apartment for the fall semester. Our daughter's birthday is tomorrow!  Happy birthday if she is reading this :)  I cannot believe she is going to be 26 years old.  I still feel like I'm 26 on the inside, well let's be honest, I sometimes feel like I'm 15 years old on the inside.  My outside self belies me especially when I look in the mirror :) Yesterday I had an appointment with my RA doc

Today is the virtual baby shower instead of the regular yarn along for Ginny!!  I've been waiting and waiting, secret keeping is so difficult for me... I'm  excited to show you all (finally) what I've knit up for Ginny's baby to be.  As you know I love Elizabeth Zimmermann's February baby sweater , so of course, that was what I knitted.   Surprise !! Ginny , I wish you a happy healthy pregnancy, birth and baby!! You are loved and we appreciate your dedication to hosting Yarn Along . Thank you Tracey for organizing this virtual baby shower !!

I'm thrilled to share with you my little shawlette.  My oh my, an unassuming garter stitch short row pattern that has you counting every stitch on every row :)  This is not TV knitting or talking knitting. After a few "feathers" I was able to listen to audio podcasts and I felt quite accomplished. I love how the pattern showcases a variegated yarn.  You know the ones that you buy then think, what can I make?  Yep, those skeins have a pattern now, this is it. A tip:  I used stitch markers to place after doing each short row section which helped me immensely. I loved working with Camilla's yarn , such a treat!! The notes are here

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. Isn't he a beauty?  He or she is a box turtle that I found at the wood's edge enjoying the sun. Too bad the turtle is an awfully shy one :) So now that I've finished with the nature part of the post, how was your weekend?? We were busy doing indoor chores and outdoor chores yesterday.  The little upstairs bathroom is finished, done, complete.  My overhaul of the two linen closets is also finished.  I'm on a purging roll and am seriously contemplating my dresser clothes.  I love to clean, organize and freshen up areas. Yesterday the university had it's annual book sale, which tends to be my favorite, lots of novels and textbooks and how to books.  Look at the stack I bought-- total of nine dollars, pretty sweet!  I was excited about the artist's way , I'

I decided to pull out the "big" camera and take some progress photos to update my Ravelry project page, then I thought I'd share them here as well.  I confess, I'm looking forward to finishing some projects so that I can start some projects.  My maximum amount of works in progress is FIVE.  Do you have a maximum?  I'd love to know! The purple scarf is for my husband and when I initially started the project I was not thrilled with how much attention it needed.  What I thought would be a tv talking project ended up with a pay attention project.  Now that I've made lots and lots of progress, I can work on the scarf while watching tv.  My game that I play is to place a stitch marker right were I start each day so I can see my progress.  Scarves tend to be never ending in my mind so when I finish for the day and see 2-3 inches, I'm quite happy! Next up is this lovely lacy shawl that is pure pleasure to hold in my hands.  The pattern is for fingering