Pumpkin Sunrise

Hello!  I'm thrilled to share with you my knitting and reading this week. On my Asana Shawl , I've reached the lace and beading section.  Beading my knitting is right up there with pure bliss.  If you haven't done any beading you should. I highly recommend the dental floss technique of placing beads. Ingenious!! My sock , oh my sock....I am done with the first one and am starting the second sock.  I'm doing the afterthought heel trying to maintain the integrity of the disappointing striping.  I love Trekking XXL sock yarn but this colorway is quite disappointing. Last but not least, I'm thinking of knitting another top down cardigan sweater.  I loved all of your suggestions in this post  but I keep wearing this and this  every single week.  So I'm going to do another one, minus the lace insert.  Now I just have to find my notes.. I continue to read The Sellout which is not a quick and speedy read.  Following the heels of the monumental mammoth readi

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. Much to my delight and surprise, my husband asked me on Saturday morning if I'd like to go see the ice sculptures on display in Lewisburg, Pa.  If you know me at all, you know I said "yes, please". I'm married to a summer lover who barely tolerates this season, so walking about in 20 degree weather was extra special.  He is the better person because he didn't complain but if it was 90 degrees outside I would have been muttering and grumbling. My photos aren't that great because I was too cold to use the display screen and just did point and shoot through the view finder (cheating!).  I'm okay with that.  Any photos are better than none. We walked up and down the main street, had a few slices of pizza for lunch and then returned to a warm car with he

Can you believe that it's February already?  Sometimes it feels like I just celebrated Christmas and my company left to go return to their homes.  Do you like February?  I do!  I like this month so much.  I like witnessing the return of light and hearing the birds, yes the birds singing again in the morning. They think maybe it's Spring.  Birds are positive thinkers in the world. I like the shortness of February, a tiny bridge of time between January and March.  I've been walking with Frodo when the weather permits and while everything is brown, cold, cloudy and gray, the walk feels refreshing and hopeful of time marching on. My mother hated February.   During this month she would declare she had "the winter pissies" and I would chuckle.  She never liked being cold.  She would sit in her rocking chair bundled up in a fluffy robe and fluffy slippers cursing the winter days. More than likely, my extreme enthusiasm for winter and chilliness made her al

Good morning!  I'm reading another book and feel like I'm just whizzing through each one.  That's what happens when you read a long non-fiction book.  Anyways, I received this book as a Christmas present and only just started reading last night.  So I have no opinions. My knitting has been making steady progress.  The socks are slowly showing the stripe and I've tried three times to get the stripe to be straight.  I gave up and decided that a swirl is what it is.  Oh well.  My asana shawl is still at the increasing stage and now that I've got many stitches on the needles, the knitting is soothing and relaxing. Oh and I finished my citron and posted yesterday ! I'm contemplating a sweater cast on....but not sure which one I'll do.  I want it to be a cardigan in fingering weight that is top down construction.  If you have any ideas that fit the criteria, let me know in the comments.  I also have some sport weight wool too. What are you knitting and

I finished my sixth citron shawl over the weekend and have worn this shawl twice.  I might sound weird but this shawl is so "wearable" to me.  I love how light if feels around my neck and of course the way it looks. The original pattern gives instructions for five wedge sections but I go usually to seven or eight wedges based on how much yarn I have.  I loved knitting with the gecko yarn and knew I would add some more yarn to make this shawl bigger. When I blocked the shawl, I only pinned the top of the shawl stretching out the wing span.  I gently fingered out the body of the shawl without pinning so the gathering sections could be maintained. 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. Good morning!  How was your weekend?  Mine was quite nice and once again - quiet.  I've been enjoying the repetitive days of focusing on my crafts, making simple meals for two.  My husband and I are back at daily walking while the weather is agreeable.  Just think after dinner walking might return at the end of February.  I'm looking forward to that. On Saturday, I finished a shawl and hopefully will be doing a post later this week.  I wore it yesterday during my knitting gathering with friends. I was the host this Sunday fully ready with brownies.  My friend brought apple cake that was delicious!  We sat, we knit, we talked, we shared project ideas.  We even talked about what knits we ripped out.  Knitting reality at its finest. I started the above sock three time

I can't remember if I mentioned that this is my sixth Citron shawl , sometimes what I say here and what I say on Instagram gets a bit blurry.  Anyways, number SIX.  And yes, I could knit another and another and another.  I love the pattern and the way it wears around my neck.  I do have one more citron planned for a holiday gift for this year, but I'm not casting on just yet. The gradient yarn was a gift from my sister when she went on a vacation out West.  I added from my leftover stash more off-white and purple wool to add one more wedge.  Hopefully tonight I'll be finished with casting off. I started the Asana Shawl a while ago in late November.  Making holiday knits overtook my precious knitting time and I shelved this pretty project.  This past week I've been blissfully knitting every day making this lace weight shawl bigger. As you saw on Wednesday , I started a pair of socks for me.  I'm starting to see the striping in the yarn and can'

  Blink, Blink.....see that?  Isn't it wonderful I am reading something NEW!  After my long read of Alexander Hamilton and dense complex sentence structures, I am whizzing through this book.  So far, I'm enjoying the relaxing read. And no, I'm not going to start any more history reads for a few months.  I'm recovering from expanding my knowledge. I decided to start a pair of socks for myself because that's what I do when I can't quite decide what to knit next.  I knit a small accessory.  I bought this sock yarn for my husband some time ago, but then I thought, "Hey, I like purple too!".  So now they are mine. 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. How was your weekend?  Mine was wonderfully restful and calm.  While I'm all for weekends with family and celebrations like last weekend, I savor the quiet "boring" ones.  We only ventured out for Saturday evening Mass this weekend. I finished reading another book, working on tidying up the house and clean some rooms.  Menu plans were sketched out.  We took our daily walks with Frodo.  I love the nakedness of the trees and while it looks like winter, the birds were tweeting and calling to each other.  A soft sign of approaching another season. battery operated awesome candles  I quickly did laundry yesterday so I could enjoy the afternoon knitting and starting my fox softie kit . How was your weekend?

cupcake bouquet!!!  First of all, I have an immense desire for a cupcake...  Aren't they beautiful? Last Sunday, my sister had a birthday party and invited family and friends to celebrate.  The day was sunny and perfect.  The buffet food was mostly supplied by my sister and some family members and was healthy with lots of salads to choose from.  She also served soups with gluten free cornbread muffins. I was surprised at how much work goes into hosting a party.  I guess I forgot when I had the Wedding Luncheon two summers ago.  Memories fade quickly when you get older.  I mostly did dishes in the morning while we prepped in the kitchen and then lots more dishes after we emptied the rented hall and returned back to my sister's house. Dishes are my thing.  I love to do them, I guess.  My sister and I easily slip into each other's kitchens and have a rhythm that only sisters can have.  I know where most things are in her kitchen and she knows my kitchen system.

I was out of town over the weekend visiting my sister and my family.  Being the positive thinker that I am (ahem..) I brought both books along.  I did read but not very much.   Norwegian Wood is interesting and I feel like I've read this before.  So far the novel is captivating. Alexander Hamilton is nearly finished.  I enjoy reading this and I am definitely planning on more history book reading in 2017.  After a nice long breezy break reading some plot driven books.  Who knew I'd like to read history?  I hated history in high school with an intense passion.  We age, we grow as humans and our tastes change. I'm making steady progress on my gradient citron shawl .  I've added the above left over yarn since I ran out of gradient and want my shawl big.  Hopefully I like the way it looks and I'll keep going!! What are you knitting and reading this week? Joining Ginny