Pumpkin Sunrise

Around here the autumn colors are fading on the trees, most are bare except some lagging oak and maple trees.  In one day, my two oaks dropped a ton of leaves on the driveway - I love it.  We do not rake leaves here, the property is too big,  my husband rides the tractor and blows them into the woods as best as possible.  I've been diligently attacking a long list of tasks and errands this week.  So much so, I am feeling in control, confident and quite pleased with myself.  I don't know about you, but I try to do all the tasks in the morning if possible.  If I'm babysitting, I try to do a few after work on my way home.  Working a few days a week and going to the gym has made me more efficient.  Go figure!  I've hit the sweet spot of balancing my time.  Earlier this week, I celebrated my one year anniversary of going to the gym!  I remember clearly the anxiety and dread every time I went to my personal training session when I started and that dread lasted

I finished this shawl over the weekend and this completes another holiday gift.  I am on schedule for all the knits I want to knit this year, this feels so good.  Every time I sit and knit, I'm filled with gratitude that I can sit and knit.  This past summer saw a long span of time with my back spasming and me not knitting and pouting a little bit.  I've been going to the gym religiously now, even on non personal trainer days all to support good health and the ability to sit. Anyways, back to the shawl.  The wool is steam valley fiber hand dyed fingering sock yarn  that has been in my stash for a few years.  Miss Holly the cat found the hand and threw it all about so as I wound the wool back into a ball, I decided the universe (or Holly) wanted me to knit it up. This pattern is one of Helen Stewart's designs, spindrift shawl .  This is a free pattern if you sign up for her newsletter which I recommend.  Her designs are wonderful and clearly written, line by lin

This weekend was special because of the pesky time change.  I do love the time change that gives me an extra hour but I waste a ton of time thinking about what time it was yesterday compared to today.  Apparently. I've done the time change already since I've been getting up super early for no reason at all.  Phew! We stayed home this weekend and maximized the wonderfulness by doing nothing important.  Saturday was delightfully spent in my studio for many hours.  I organized knitting patterns in my binder.  I also assessed the fingering weight wool stash and moved many pens around.  I had a grand time in there and so did Holly.  The studio is also called her play room.  She sleeps in there during the day in baskets that are now empty of yarn.  I worked a bit on the cream cowl and prepared to start two knitting projects both for the babysitting toddler for her Christmas presents.  She loves Peppa Pig , so piggy mitts seem to be in order.  Also I'll be making th

yarn that I bought while in Canada Sometimes I want to pause time, take a breath and remember everything I'm seeing and thinking.  This week is a pause week.  The weather has been brilliant.  Cool air, blue skies or cloudy skies, intermittent and glorious.  Lots of time to look out the windows and enjoy the riot of autumn colors.  I'm thrilled to be home and reunited with my bed, my kitchen and most of all my tender daily rituals that bring me joy.  Making coffee and drinking from my favorite mug early in the morning feels fuller and richer at my kitchen table.  Whenever I travel, I try to set that precious morning ritual stage but the location is different - hence the feeling that something is missing. Frodo!!!  Gah! Whenever I return home, I want to hug my country traffic.  I love how quickly I can get from point A to point B because of my rural hometown.  My kind of traffic is being behind a farm tractor hauling freshly cut corn husks (this happened after babysi

Hello!  Oh, my knitting productivity has been grand, partly because the knitting projects are mostly short and sweet.  I also think I'm motivated by the beautiful fall weather.  I wish summer made me this happy but I guess I should be grateful for autumn and all of its glory.  The top photo is another finished hat  - I am finished with this hat pattern and using up the wool stash of odds and ends, for now.  Knitting for others creates joy and happiness in my heart. The purple hat  is finished and will be given to my sister for Christmas.  I do love this pattern (made three last year!).  If you are familiar with knitting in the round, want to try cables and try double pointed needles for creating the decreasing at the top of the hat, give this pattern a try.  Oh, there is chart reading too. The shawl is making steady progress, hopefully all the riot of color will even out when the lace section starts.  I do love green and purple together! While sitting with m

How was your weekend?  I only just arrived home a few hours ago from visiting my husband's family up in London Ontario.  The drive feels longer and longer the older I get, yet it's a bit faster now that more highways connect where we go.  Go figure. We had excellent traveling weather and even though it rained all day Saturday, we still had a great time seeing everyone, especially 'just because' visiting.   We were up in early September for my father in law's grave side service.  I'm glad we went up once more to establish some happy memories. Whenever we are visiting, we go to Chapters book store, I think they are now all Indigo owned but the Chapters sign is still outside so I'll stick with what they have advertised.  I love to find books that are in paperback in Canada but are still hardback in the US.  I picked up the latest Kate Morton's book, The Clockmaker's Daughter. I ate out way too much and need some boring home cooked food th

 I'm enjoying the colors evolving slowly on the new shawl I cast on.  I add stitch by stitch, row by row loving the greens and purples.  This is my meditative morning knitting at the toddler's house while I wait for her to wake up.  I love how knitting this starts my day to be awesome. Speaking of awesome, my week has been pretty good, even though I was under the weather at the beginning of the week.  However, a quick doctor visit for a minor infection has me feeling better and grateful for my health providers and for modern medicine.  I tell you, if I'd live during the pioneer days, I would have been dead by the age of eight without the invention of antibiotics... Thank you Alexander Fleming for finding penicillin. trying to capture the nest all week I managed to fit in a gym visit and a training session.  All good for me and my RA joints.  I don't like to exercise, but I do love how exercising makes me feel strong and healthy.  I also can sit and knit wi

hat project page My needles have been extremely productive, I'm loving it!  All of the hats are the same pattern called strib hat .  The pattern is easy to knit and lends to all color combinations.  I have been knitting from my odds and ends bag of worsted weight wools.  hat project page The hats are for gifts and I'm excited to see if the recipients like their hats. hat project page  Sitting with odds and ends of wools, planning out the striping, getting creative when the wool length was skimpy, made this knitter happy.  Best of all my scrap bag has been thinned out considerably.  I still have pinks and purples left over and maybe I'll make some more hats, just not now. I have other gift knitting yet to do. hat project page What have you been knitting and crafting this week?