Pumpkin Sunrise

I am not feeling like there is much progress, but with this shawl  I started placing a pin marker every time I work on it so I could SEE the progress.  I remember when I started this in mid - May and my excitement to have a light and airy lace weight knit that could be easy to take with me on summer adventures.Now, I want to have this knit finished and sooner than later. I need to start knitting Christmas gifts in September.  So the self imposed deadline is looming on all of my projects. I love knitting this summer top .  I finished the waist decreasing and have about 3-4 inches until the armhole.  Easy peasy stockinette knitting is bliss! My son's blanket  is over a third of the way completed.  I have the pattern memorized and so I just dedicate an hour a day to add to the length.  I wish I could cast on something new but I'm resisting the urge until one of the above three projects is off the needles.  Wish me luck! ...

Do not be fooled into thinking I am starting a new project, I swear I just balled up the skein and perhaps picked out the pattern.  I did not start...yet.  You and I both know it's only a matter of time.  I'd love to finish one more of my other three projects but those three projects are lots and lots of knitting and will not be done in the near future. Sometimes you have to cave into temptation. How was your weekend?  Mine was interesting.  We stayed home, which you know very well thrills me to no end.  I love being home!  There's no place like home.  The hot weather arrived and I've been inside the whole time ignoring that rotten weather.  Why can't summer stay at a comfortable temperature? Sorry to all of you summer lovers but I cannot wait until a frost, some cold wind and snow. My weekend was slow and mostly uneventful, I'd like to bottle up the uneventful and save it for a day that is crazy busy.  I read some, I k...

Only two more weeks left of my summer break, this season is whizzing by in certain ways and yet when the heat and humidity are abundant, this season is taking forever for me to get through.  I'm trying my best not to grumble about the humidity, in fact - I am defiantly wearing jeans daily.  I've been chipping away on some tasks around the house partly in preparation of the next few weekends of a full house with family and partly because I've procrastinated enough already.  I recycled earlier this week (driving my recyclables to a center) and today I am donating four bags of clothing.  These bags have been around since May when my son came home with them.  For weeks they've been in his room with the door closed and forgotten.  This past weekend I put them in the laundry room so I would trip over them and remember to do this task. chocolate from my daughter and son in law from their trip to Switzerland My husband has a few weeks off this m...

Call me crazy but I'm getting pretty good at taking photos all by myself.  My hat is complete!  I worked exclusively on this project over the weekend so I could finish a project in a timely manner. After three weeks of being unable to sit and knit without back pain, this quick project was the perfect project to work on now that I'm recovered (mostly).  Hats are a great way to see quick progress, try new stitches or color work patterns, or to have instant gratification of finishing a project. The yarn is from a mini-skein bundle named 'Dr Who' by A Hundred Ravens .  The yarn was soft, smooth and a delight to knit with for this project. What are you working on this week? Joining Ginny

black yarn = sad eyes  I am exhausted.  This weekend was packed with non-stop activity and I'm only just sitting down to write this blog post at 5:40 p.m. on Sunday, and I only just started the laundry.  My daughter and son in law arrived yesterday afternoon and we jammed the day with goodness. First there was swimming in the pool and having snacks by the pool as well.  All those cloudy rainy days gave was to a picture perfect weekend.  We were due for some nice weather after a week of rain. Later, I cooked dinner (coleslaw, homemade mac and cheese and hot dogs on the grill). After dinner we all drove the backroads to Knoebels  amusement park to have a lovely walk about and to have some desserts while we people watched.  This park is wonderful in that you do not need to buy an admission to gain admittance.  Sweet!  We were hoping the flooding the park received would be cleaned up by the weekend.  The workers must have labore...

Every day has been a rainy day this week.  The local streams have overflowed and caused all kinds of trouble for residents.  I will complain about the big hill I live on and have to walk up at the end of a walk but being on a big hill has its benefits.  As I sit in my kitchen typing, once again the clouds of doom are out and it feels like another stormy day. Along with the storms, I have a dog that is now afraid of thunder and sits on my lap until the thunder is gone.  My dog groomer/trainer/the lady I babysit for says it's because he is old and his eyesight is not as good and that makes him unsure of where the noise is coming from.  My babysitting schedule might be changing this fall.  Instead of two mornings a week, I will be doing one full day a week.  I'm excited about this change because when I work two mornings a week, nothing gets done in the afternoons, I'm exhausted.  One full day with a possible nap time (for her not me) woul...

Oh the knitting, or should I say all the non-knitting that has been going on.  I continue to improve with how long I can sit without back pain, and I continue to knit more each day.  However, it is not up to my previous standards.  I'm still slow going. What is also an issue, is I've chosen some BIG projects that show little progress except for the hat.  When I have fast short projects on the needles, I wish for epic knits that take many skeins and hours.  So now I have all the epic knits and I'm wishing for a 200 yard project.  Sometimes I amaze myself at how I'm fickle I am with my knitting.  The Night Sky top is chugging along.  I love the endless stockinette and the feel of a cotton blend in my hands.  Right now this is the knit that I'm most obsessed about and spend the most time on. Ah, the cloverleaf shawl  sometimes it gets some loving but it's not often enough and when I do work on it the progress is hard to see....

Hello!  I was gone again for the weekend.  If you know me well, you know that I am exhausted from two weekends in a row with traveling.  This time we went to celebrate my dad's birthday (Happy Birthday Dad!). We spent the day at his house for the afternoon in northern western Pennsylvania.  I walked about trying out all of my lenses with the Nikon.  I have a zoom lenses that is manually focused and apparently I need the auto function.  Oh well, the learning curve is always biggest when you begin something new. We had a delicious dinner together where everyone brought a dish to share.  My dad cooked chicken on the open fire after a long marinating brine (I think that is what he said).  babies! After saying our goodbyes once the festivities ended,  my husband and I spent Friday and Saturday night at my sister and brother in law's house.  Saturday, my sister and I shopped all morning long and had a lunch out.  My sis...

Being home is wonderful, but you already know that.  I never get tired of my house, sitting at my kitchen table with my favorite mug filled with coffee writing in the early morning hours.  Such bliss.  Years ago, I started this morning routine and it has served me well.  I remember 'thinking' about starting a morning routine for a long time.  I wonder why I hesitated?  Didn't summer start off with crazy heat and humidity?  Yikes, I felt like I was wilting.  Yesterday and today was picture perfect with sunny skies and cool breezes while sitting in the shade.  I almost like this season.  While swinging on the back patio swing, I listened to the birds singing as I read a book.  This reminds me of all my teen summers of endless book reading on the front porch swing with a glass of iced tea.  Oh, my friends would get so frustrated with me because I would not budge unless I finished the book.  I cannot believe ...