Pumpkin Sunrise

I'm excited to share with you the latest project on the needles, another baby blanket !  A co-worker at my husband's department is expecting a little girl in the fall.  So I dug deep into the stash and unearthed more pink yarn and cast on. Check out my finished Reyna Shawl , if you missed the post! I finished reading The Nightingale on my Kindle and enjoyed the story over all.  I loved the World War II period and the plot, although predictable at times, had some twists and turns that I was not expecting.  So you should give it a read! My new novel I'm reading, The Tavern on Maple Street,  was sitting on my shelf forever, well it felt like forever.  I've read her two previous novels and enjoyed the "happy" overall story line.  Happy stories feel good and cozy and oh so easy to pick up and put down during the summer months. What are you knitting and reading this week? Joining Ginny and Frontier Dreams

I've been itching to share this shawl with you all.  If only you could see this in person, what a delightful sweet easy to knit shawl.  Definitely give Reyna Shawl pattern a look see.  The pattern is quite easy to memorize and execute if you are familiar with lace knitting. Amanda  decided to dip her toes (hands?) into hand dyeing yarn and this lovely skein is the result of her masterful talent in pairing colors together.  I loved the yarn base she chose and of course the sweet tonal colors of pinks and purples.  A delight to knit with!! I decided to block the shawl aggressively to gain as much growth as possible.  Ordinarily I do not block garter stitch, but with only 400 yards of yarn I had a wee shawlette.  Blocking did its magic and now the shawl can be worn on the shoulders. As you know I wear shawls around my neck like a cowl.  So pretty in pink! My Ravelry project page The Life and Times of Julian and Amanda Amanda Makes Yarn Etsy Shop

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. gah!  I love this pattern! Another fabulous weekend for me, yet again.  They just keep stacking themselves neat and tidy-like, one after the other.  I am letting out a contented sigh.  My tea is brewing and I'm ready for the recap. Through out the weekend I've been sneaking time to knit my surf shawl  enjoying every single blessed stitch.  I'm already planning another one, maybe some holiday knitting? The inspiration is flowing and feeling so good! my husband is on the left Friday was slow and "resting" for me.  I hate resting and I am itching to go full speed ahead, but I'm smart and I'm not (NOT) doing prednisone a third time so I am resting resting resting.  While I scratch down all the stuff I'm going to do when I'm done resting. My

Tilly the Turtle (hoping it's a girl)  Hello!  Another Friday upon us and this weekend looks like it's going to be a hot one.  The month of May seems to be fickle with temperatures.  It starts out mild or chilly and then -boom- we get a heat wave.  The temperatures here have been flirting with near 90 degrees.  Not quite making the 90 but the humidity, oh my.  I wilt! Our walks have shifted to after 6:30 p.m. to avoid the full sun, I love this time of day because the birds are singing to each other and traffic on our little roads is minimal.  The walk is quiet and calm, my husband and I talk about our day and plan out what we would like to accomplish this weekend. I believe there will be a garden planted!  We skipped last year because of the wedding and laziness.  I regretted that decision all summer long.  We had volunteer tomatoes and basil but it's not the same as tending purposeful plantings. phlox!!  So yeah, a garden.  He has to do all of the labor, I g

I've been reviving my menu plan and what better way than to flip through a magazine :)  Since we ate out every single day while on vacation in Santa Barbara , I felt the need to eat at home, clean eating and not "restaurant" eating.  Oh, does it feel good to do this for our bodies. I am reading The Nightingale  on my Kindle and enjoying the period writing of World War II.  This novel took a couple of chapters for me to be engrossed.  Also, I prefer real print books and have trouble reading my Kindle in bed, so I might be starting another book for the late night readings. My knitting has something new!  I started this shawl over the weekend and while at first the pattern was baffling, the pattern ended up being "potato chip" knitting.  I cannot stop and love doing a repeat and seeing the shawl grow. In the evenings, I'm knitting my dandelion daze shawl , slowly but surely.  Unfortunately I had to rip out an entire repeat last night so I lost some w

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!  Another weekend here and I had a great one! Friday found me sitting in a bicycle shop while my husband test drove (rode?) various bikes in stock.  I said each one was nice if asked.  I behaved since I had a book to read in my lap, you know, everyone should have a novel and some knitting in their tote, just saying, it helps pass the time when you are not interested in bike shopping.  However, I have learned a lot about bikes passively.  I wonder how much he has learned passively about knitting? my santa barbara yarn buy !  Saturday found me sitting in another bike shop reading the same book...honestly I think I know how he feels when he is sitting outside a yarn shop.  Let's be honest, knitting stores are WAY more exciting than bike stores. Seriously though, it was ni

Get ready, there will be a LOT of photos on this blog post edition.   On May 11th my husband and I flew from Newark to LAX airport while my son flew from Boston to LAX airport to meet up and drive up to Santa Barbara to visit our daughter and son in law.  They are there for a few years while our son in law completes a post doc at UCSB. We've been planning this trip since they moved there last September and I was hesitant to be traveling so very far away from my home (which you know I love).  Luckily I was pumped up with prednisone which made the time change negligible and my comfort levels tip top. I was lucky enough to get to visit one LYS while there (  Loop and Leaf  ).  So friendly and so full of yarn :)  I did buy one skein but that will be for different post. My husband is quite patient while waiting outside the store, I wish I was as patient with him while he is in a used record vinyl store (I'm not...). They should pair the two together! my son in l