Posts

Home

Image
I've been content this week - I'd like to coin it as 'happiness' but happiness is a noisy word, one with overflowing joy or exuberance.  My contentment is quiet and still, it's drinking coffee in the same mug every morning while I write in my daily journal.  It's the same old same old, day in and day out boring stuff. Many times while I'm here writing to you on this blog, I'll tap upon something I'm worried about or something that is crowding out my inner joy.  Today I'm writing about nothing in particular and that is something. I'm a homebody, I love being home doing the same thing over and over especially after a trip.  I envy the travelers, the explorers and the wild abandon they experience while doing new things.  If I change eating my daily bowl of cheerios for breakfast that would be a crazy kind of adventure.  Don't get me wrong, I love to go away, see new places and do new things.  But coming home  is the bestest feeli

Knitting News

Image
On our way to Lake Placid I knit about fourteen rows of the banana leaf shawl that needed to be ripped out because of a foolish mistake.  So all of my car knitting didn't account for much progress.  However, despite the temporary setback, I'm ready to do the last section of this shawl. Maybe next week I will be done with this lace weight project? I love knitting the Jewel Box shawl  and watching the gradient colors slowly change from one to another.  This is a simple knit that is perfect for my babysitting day or for reading and knitting at the same time.  Part of me wants to savor the knitting time I spend adding rows, the yarn is that decadent. What are you working on this week?

Weekends: Lake Placid

Image
On Thursday morning my husband and I left to drive up to Lake Placid, New York to spend a long weekend with his brother and sister in law.  We had so much fun!  It was nice to be together and explore the area that my husband and I visited seven years ago. The hotel made a hot mess of our reservations.  We were to have adjoining rooms for three nights but sadly my husband and I had to spend one night in a regular room then switch over to the adjoining room.  The problem was the pricing changes (repeated ones).  An attendant then adjusted our bill on Friday night for two nights instead of three but this morning at check out, I had another battle over the price.  Then another battle on the phone with the manager, every single time I had to explain the situation. Honestly, it was stressful but luckily that was the only problem. On Friday morning we headed over the High Falls Gorge .  Super super fun! Then we headed over the White Face Mountain .  We drove up one mile above

Where I Went

Image
Last weekend my husband and I drove north to the Endless Mountain fiber festival for the day.  I was unable to attend last year due to his dad passing and our trip up to Canada for a gravesite service. I was excited to once again return to this small but exciting event. Two years ago when I attended my sister and brother in law were with us and we had so much fun.  This year, I focused on enhancing my stash with what was lacking.  I steered away from alpaca (for no particular reason, I have it in stash).  I was interested in natural unprocessed fibers or unusual fiber blends. This is what I bought: yakity-yak wool by Skirted Fleece Mill summer breeze by Gurdy Run Woolen Mill two skeins of mohair blends by Holly Road Fiber Farm I hope to have these entered into my Ravelry stash soon. Of course, I'm itching to start something new, but I need to finish a few projects already started.   We had a quick packed lunch on a bench (I wasn't feeling too

Speckled Green Cowl

Image
Last but not least is the scrappiest of cowls.  I finished knitting this cowl over the weekend, delighted to soak, block and photograph.  I'm ready to move onto something else to knit now that this last cowl is finished.  This cowl has the most odds and ends of various skeins, yet I made it all 'go' together.  I was at my most creative self! There are three maroon, two green and three purple left over skeins of yarn in the cowl.  My scrap fingering weight yarn bag is at the lowest level ever, that means casting on something new, right? Ravelry notes

Weekends

Image
We visited our son over the weekend in State College.  He'll be applying for academic jobs during this fall for next fall if he lands a position.  Who knows where he will be (!!) so I'm taking advantage to his proximity to us while we can.  I dislike uncertainty and change with a passion, but if he is happy then I will be happy. I told him to accept the job that has the MOST yarn stores near him... I have priorities. On the drive in to seeing him I started these mitts in a size small, knitting about 2-3 inches then deciding that a large would be a better fit so I ripped all that out and casted on again.  I ended up changing my mind on the mitt pattern for this yarn because the previous pattern I selected did not have charts and there were a lot of words to read... Charts are the way to go for my brain, I glance and boom, I'm off and knitting! Yesterday I knitted with my friends and came home to a lovely home cooked curry dinner.  I love when my husband coo

Aniticipation

Image
Yesterday I sat at my kitchen table with the back door ajar listening to the sounds of late summer.  A cold front blew through bringing in cooler weather and signs of fall.  I am giddy with anticipation.  Maybe I did grumble a bit about summer but overall I did my best to not complain continually.  I tried to appreciate the season my husband loves the most and the one I love the least. We are easing into the season that doesn't disappoint visually.  Already leaves are falling and lining the roadways, the resident squirrels are madly collecting nuts,  bring it on. While anticipating the fall season, I've been wrapping up some knitting projects.  I finished the scrappiest cowl last evening and made room for another cast on.  While knitting smaller projects, I'm mulling over another sweater to make for me. I'm approaching two years of going to the gym faithfully ever since I strained my back muscles in 2017.  I feel strong and have more energy now.  What a d

Knitting News

Image
Over the long weekend, I caved in and started a new knitting project with one of the gradient yarns I purchased last week.  Ah, the decadence of sitting and preparing a new project.  It's like cracking open the first page of a new novel. So far this knit is a breeze and I'm seeing the color change as of last night (not in the photo).  My reading has been various this past week, here is the current list: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman Murder is a Motive by Francis Duncan Almost Everything by Anne Lamott Everything Belongs by Richard Rohr The Neil Gaiman book is on my Kindle and I read that one on the treadmill.  The others are 'real' books and I read them whenever.  Having this many to read I find I'm always in the mood for one of them! What are you working on this week? Joining Ginny

Weekends

Image
How was your weekend?  Mine is still going strong since it's Labor Day weekend.  Today, I'm sitting in my family room listening to the rain outside.  It's been steady, soothing and lulling me into a relaxed state of mind. The past few days as I drove home, the resident heron who lives around here has been sunning himself/herself near the pond's edge at the bottom of my road.  I took that photo from my car with my iphone.  Not too bad!  The best camera is the one in your hand.  All the signs of fall are around me, thank goodness, I was weary of the heat and humidity.  Give me drizzly rain and degrees under eighty for now.  I've been wearing jeans and sometimes a long sleeve cardigan and reveling in the comfort of autumn arriving soon.  Our daughter and son in law visited over the weekend.  We spent the afternoon in a neighboring town, walking, sight seeing, shopping and of course eating dinner out.  Yesterday we had simple cookout at home of burgers and h