Pumpkin Sunrise

As I mentioned in the last post, I have been taking care of a pulled back muscle since Monday.  Yep, same place that I pulled in October 2017 that led me to join the gym.  I can easily fall down the negative thinking spiral of 'why again' or 'gee the gym is supposed to prevent this'.  However, let me tell you a secret.  I did something quite stupid that caused the back strain.  You see, I bent over and lifted a container of cat litter ALL the wrong ways.  I was taught better and yet I fell back to old habits.  This was last Friday, I felt a little something in my back but nothing else happened.  I felt invincible and lucky. Then I moved a piece of paper on Monday morning - wham-o! This is the part of aging that bugs me.  In my youth, I could twist and turn and abuse my body in all sorts of contortions imaginable.  The nuns at my high school would reprimand my sitting habits.  I would sit on a foot with my leg crossed, like a compact pretzel.  I still will

I started a blanket for my son for his chilly apartment.  I dug deep and unearthed some wool-ease skeins that are perfect for machine washing and drying.  I bought these three mega skeins for $2.50 each many years ago making the blanket a total of $7.50!!  (love a bargain) I started the peace cowl with the yarn my daughter and son in law gave me for Mother's day.  I do love the non-thinking process of this four row repeat pattern and I do feel the peace. Lastly a photo of the shawl/scarf in lace weight wool.  This is oh-so-very-soft. I have been nursing a sore back since Monday morning, the good news is that I'm recovering quickly, the bad news is that it's challenging to do any knitting since sitting is the worst.  Each day I feel better so I'm hopeful that I'll be good to go by Friday.  Fingers crossed. What are you knitting or crafting these days?

  I had another stay-at-home-do-nothing weekend and it was wonderful.  I spent all day Saturday finishing my book, A Beautiful Mystery , by Louise Penny.  She is such a fabulous mystery writer in that she hooks me into wanting to read the next book in the series.  It's up and ready on my Kindle. I skillfully snagged up her books on Kindle when they were on sale throughout a one year span.  I frequently check back on certain authors to see if I need  any more at a great price.  Are there any other mystery series you like that you would recommend?  We did attend Saturday evening Mass and did the pizza run like last weekend.  We've been watching The Americans on Amazon Prime.  I like to have my knitting in my lap so I can look down when it gets suspenseful or violent. Did you notice anything different in my photos?  I have put away all the yarn on display - poor Holly doesn't have yarn to steal - but don't despair!  I am planning on knitting her some toys to pl

new peace project Another week has come and gone and I did my very best to stay in vacation mode.  I'm not sure I succeeded.  I didn't knit nearly as much as I would've liked nor did I read as much.  So today after the gym and after a quick tidy of the main floor, I'm scrutinizing my schedule and squeezing out the wasteful habits. My joints have been intermittently bothering me because of the heat and humidity.  I usually declare 'I hate summer' or worse 'I wish summer was nearly over'. I'm working at changing the dialogue that runs in my head.  I want to enjoy summer the best way I can.  For instance, I went to the gym an extra day (usually a babysitting day) to walk on the treadmill in AC and thoroughly enjoyed the comfort of modern technology while reading my Kindle.  A new habit and I was happy. I do not want to wish away an entire season! Changing the dialogue also means I need to be more flexible and accepting while I have a

I LOVED knitting this shawl, truly -- one of the best knits ever to have on the needles.  The color changes were fun and I was eager to sit and knit each night.  While knitting this shawl, I day dreamed over other ones I could knit.  In my imagination, a lace weight version was drifting in and out of my ideas.  I have lots of bits and pieces of lace weight wool from previous projects and I'm sure the colors would compliment each other since I gravitate towards the same colors. This is the second Melanie Berg pattern I've knit (the first one is here ).  Her instructions are clear and concise as well as interesting to knit. Ravelry notes are here .   Okay, onto a giveaway: Please leave a comment on this post and you could win a copy of this pattern gifted by me to you on Ravelry.  Yes!  I will buy you this pattern. I will pick a winner on Friday morning with a random number generator and announce the winner on Friday's blog post.  The giveaway c

a blurry but beautiful photo of daisies, it was a windy day How was your weekend?  Mine was fantastic, I stayed home and more importantly I had nothing on the calendar.  I decided my house is the perfect vacation getaway because it has the greatest coffee maker in the world, a comfortable bed and all of my knitting is here.  Before the heatwave arrived today, I managed to squeeze in a daily walk and discovered the daisies are blooming!  Sadly, I cannot pick a few for my home because someone (cough, cough, cough) would just eat them.  I'm sure one day in my future I'll be able to pick them and have them in a vase, worst case scenario is that vase would be in a non-cat room. forgot to mention we were in Penn State on Wednesday :) I read a book in less than 24 hours, now the book was a short one,  but still, quite impressive for me.  The book is  Failing Up , by Leslie Odom, Jr.  I highly recommend reading it - he reflects on his path to success (he played the ori

This was the first week of my 'summer' vacation and I spent the week getting caught up on car maintenance and inspections.  While sitting and waiting for each car, I read my books and got lost in a story just like I did when I was a teenager.  I finished reading ' Chilbury Ladies Choir ' and it was entertaining.  I didn't care for the diary/letter format of telling the story in first person by many characters.  When I was talking to my son about it, I expressed how I was disappointed in the 'tidy' endings of everyone.  All happily ever after - which is nice but for me it's not the reality of life. Today I've only the gym and a quick run into the grocery store (fingers crossed it is as quick as I believe it will be).  Once I am home, I'll be knitting and reading and officially starting summer vacation! We plan to have a staycation weekend.  I'm already thinking up some meals to eat to enjoy outside at the patio set.  As the temp

My knitting news is the same projects on the needles as last week with some progress.  The True Colors shawl  is the project that I work on in the evenings while watching TV.  I'm close to the color switch (main color becomes the contrasting color).  I'll be sad when I'm done with the pattern.  The fun of adding colors and watching the gradients is fulfilling as a knitter. Of course I'm already thinking of another one, maybe to use up scraps....or maybe not. The clover leaf shawl  gains an inch or two per week.  I love having a lace weight pattern in the summer, in a project bag that is ready to go.  This is my babysitting knitting and my car knitting project. The skein of fingering weight wool from my daughter and son in law in the photo below continues to wonder what I will make of it.  I'm leaning towards a cowl for me but haven't quite settled on THE pattern.  What are you knitting or crafting these days?