Pumpkin Sunrise

Well no sooner did I beat a cold brilliantly without any antibiotics, the universe has decided to give me yet another virus.  The best case scenario is that it's a bad cold the worst case is it's a mild flu. I just got the flu shot October 14th so I don't think I'm completely covered by that, I don't know how that stuff works.  The reason I think it's a cold is that I had a sore throat some sneezing and a runny stuffy nose.  My flu theory is I am achy from head to toe and that is WITH tons of NSAIDS for arthritis pain.  I don't have a fever that I know of.  I guess it doesn't matter what it is.  Let's just say I feel somewhat crappy, but better than I thought I would feel.  I'm staying home and resting. When I was a kid, I would lounge on the living room sofa when I was home from school with whatever ailed me.  My mom wasn't doting (boo) but instead matter of fact with my litany of symptoms.  She would heat up homemade sweet iced

Good morning!  Thank you for all of your sweet comments about my trip last weekend.  I was a bit blurry with writing my post, I'm still lacking sleep and playing catch up.  But I am catching up!  I started a new knitting project for the preschooler.  I am knitting her another tiny tea leaves sweater this time in a size four for her Christmas gift that has to be completed by the beginning of December.  I'm in a mini time crunch with all I want to knit. My Christmas gift  mitts are nearly complete.  I have the second thumb to complete.  I have enough yarn left over to maybe make another pair.  I also have some loose ends of previous skeins in the same wool that could work.  Today I will be digging in my scrap bag to see if the dye lots are the same. My hat is finally at the body part of the fair isle pattern.  I chose to make a four inch ribbing band instead of one inch because I like to flip the band and double it up and I like a bit of a slouch.  Hopefully thi

Holly cat loaf This weekend we saw my husband's mother and family. The drive up and back was beautiful with the trees being in 'peak' color.  New York was beautiful. buffet restaurant getting all creative  We ate out each night, we did some shopping and some socializing with family. more creativity We visited his father's gravesite - it's been a year since September.  More time passing faster than ever. I'm home and both Holly and Frodo were so happy to see us!  How was your weekend?

This past week has felt like fall.  Oh my goodness, am I in my glory!  Where ever I drive I am treated to many maple trees at peak color.  They are the showiest of trees.  My favorite continues to be the oak trees, plain brown but a brilliant brown. I look best in all of the colors of fall.  I could wear each burnt orange, subdued red and yes, plain old brown in my wardrobe.  Sigh, I want to bottle up all of my good feelings about autumn and take them out during a July heat wave. I forgot to mention that I did win the virus war last week and did not go onto antibiotics.  Resting and more resting served me well.  The preschooler has taken a break from sharing her viruses.  Maybe she has none to share as well.  We had a great day on Tuesday and near the end of the day she fell asleep.  I wore her out.  Truth be told, I could have fallen asleep right with her if I wasn't on child care duty. Frodo had his annual check up late last week and the minor mini lumps and bumps

This pattern was so much fun to knit that I've already cast on another pair for a Christmas present.  Sometimes I wish you all could feel the squishy factor in a project through the photos on this blog.  These mitts are super squishy and while I referred to the pattern frequently, it was 'an easier than I thought it would be' pattern. Sadly I cannot tell you much about the wool that I used.  I bought it at a fiber festival and the spinner didn't give any personal details to her skeins except that it was sport weight and romney wool.  I was delighted to knit and find little bits of hay in the spinning, a rustic wool but oh so soft and springy. I cannot wait to wear them.  Yes!  They are for me instead of a gift for someone else.  I also have some wool left over to maybe make a hat. Ravelry notes

owl at the festival How was your weekend?  Mine was a mixture of being laidback and having fun.  On Saturday morning, I drove to a nearby country store to begin my Christmas shopping for my side of the family.  I managed to buy gifts for many on my list and of course I indulged on a few gifts for myself. In the afternoon we spontaneously decided to go to a neighboring town's festival and had a great time walking around with manageable crowds.  We ate unhealthy food (!).  The weather was perfect with a light jacket.  Sunday morning the deer were in my yard.  They are so bold, I can walk right up and snap photos as they stare at me.  They always come around this time of year because all too soon deer hunting season will start and I guess they know my yard is a no kill zone.  Deer are smart.  I'm interested to see what they will eat in my yard now that we planted deer resistant bushes. We took a walk down the dirt road with Frodo and I noticed the leaves are

This week I've been listening to my body.  I thought I had allergies but there was a significant plot twist and I'm now convinced that it's a cold.  Grr.  Because of my autoimmune disease, I have a difficult time fighting germs and try my best to avoid getting them. However, the preschooler that I babysit is ultra-generous in sharing ALL the germs.  I hand wash, I hand sanitize and still I get them.  Wednesday I felt under the weather and cancelled the gym to stay home.  I spent the day trying to update my mac to the new IOS.  I drank buckets of hot tea and rested.  Last fall thru this past spring I was ill a lot and on antibiotics (a lot).  I'm all for modern medicine but I tried tried tried to beat this bug on my own. As of today I'm cautiously optimistic that I might have won the war against this germ.  Maybe.  I'm not worse and that is a good thing.  Resting on Wednesday was the perfect solution.  I also spent time resting on Thursday.  My finger

If you are looking for an easy memorizable knit for a gradient yarn, I highly recommend the junction shawl pattern.  I thoroughly enjoyed knitting this shawl.  The simple design lets a gradient yarn shine through! I might be making another one with another skein of gradient.  I also think this is a great gift to knit quickly and a great project for on the go knitting..  My modifications were simple, I opted to not knit the lace edging so I could use up as much of the yarn as possible.  I had 24 inches left, so that fun goal was achieved. Ravelry notes