Pumpkin Sunrise

I started a new project yesterday that is for me.  I have officially left the pink phase of knitting and am back to my kind of colors.  This yellow reminds me of golden wheat fields and sunshine.  I'm trying my best to not wish away summer and stay in the moment.   My future daughter in law picked out the lace weight wool for her wedding shawl and I'm excited to start that project.  The yarn should arrive over the weekend.  She loved my citron shawl, I'm super lucky I get to knit that pattern again.   Sometime this week I need to do a deep stash dive into my yarns for my nephew's baby to be.  Wedding knitting and baby knitting together is a double blessing. What are you working on this week?

How was your weekend?  On Saturday my daughter and son in law came for a day visit.  We haven't seen them since the first week of March and thought we should try a visit.  It was so nice to finally see them in person!  We had a lovely time in the backyard and had dinner together. Yesterday I did lots of chores before my son and future daughter in law came for a visit.  This is the last one before their move to Indiana next week.  Gulp!  We had a great time with them as well, lots of food and poolside chatting.    It was funny that this fourth of July, Frodo didn't even care about the fireworks.  I guess he can tell whether it's a thunderstorm or not.  He is so very brave.  I think Holly just hides no matter what the noise.   Just to note that I've watched Hamilton twice now (and counting).   I've got lots of laundry to catch up on today and I'm thinking of a new shawl to cast on! I bought this yarn at Cape May during our family vacation.  That holiday seems lik

The landscaper guys finished up their work yesterday afternoon.  Frodo and I are thrilled to have a bit of peace and quiet.  The backhoe would make a certain sound whenever it hit the ground and that made Frodo believe someone was knocking on the door.  He exhausted himself from his on again off again barking.  He exhausted me.  Whenever the equipment was humming and droning, Frodo thought there was a thunderstorm and shivered in fear sitting next to me looking at me with worry. Of course, whenever someone is working on your property you can't help but watch or catch a glance whenever you pass a window.  That is why nothing got done around here, I couldn't concentrate.  Yesterday I just gave into the fact that I would be distracted and went with the flow.  We are thrilled with our boulder wall, a little sad that it faces the woods and we cannot stare at it lovingly from our windows.  However the amount of fill and topsoil they added to the corner of our property should be the s

I finished this shawl over a week ago and it's officially the first holiday gift of 2020.  I love how this turned out!  I've knit many Helen Stewart patterns and enjoy how the directions are easy to follow.  There is nothing like steadily increasing stitches on every row watching the shawl take form. The yarn is from Apple Tree Knits  which I highly recommend.  The gradient color themes they create are fabulous and the wool blends are beautiful. I am officially done with my 'pink' phase of knitting (maybe!). Ravelry notes Joining Ginny

Well well well.  This weekend was quiet!  I guess when you hear landscaping equipment for three days in a row you notice the silence and welcome it.   I felt so relaxed.  This morning they will be here by 8 a.m. to start up the noise and will be here until 3:30 p.m.  They hope to be done by Wednesday but we'll see about that, it looks to me like Thursday might be the last day. The quote was for a 20 ft boulder wall but the wall builders said it was about 60 feet long...  Sounds like the kind of eyeballing measuring that I do with yarn! Saturday my husband made curry and I sat and relaxed while he labored away.  We always get into it when he declares how tired he is.  I respond that I cook everyday. Did you know that his cooking is more tiring than mine?   In the above photo he was saying take the picture over and over because I wanted it to be just right.  I was laughing too much over that.  So the photo is candid in a way.  Our walk on Sunday morning was a humid walk (not a fan). 

The boulder wall construction has begun!  The landscaper guys arrived on Wednesday and ripped out the old railroad tie retaining wall.  The plan is to move the wall away from the pool to the edge of the property before it slopes down the steep hill.  This will give my husband more area to move the riding lawn tractor around.  Also maybe just maybe the boulder wall will stop the earth from going away from the pool.  That is the plan. Yesterday they were dumping boulders which sounded like thunder to Frodo so I had to console him.  Lots of love and patience. Our zucchini plant is taking over the bed!  So far all of the plants are surviving and no one has nibbled on anything...yet.  Our gardening tends to be lax in that if a critter wants to nibble, we let them nibble.  It's much easier to not fight Mother Nature. My creative process has been ebbing on the low side these past few days. I am down to two knitting projects in my knitting bag and want to finish them before I start somethi

I finished my blush cardigan  last week.  I was pleasantly surprised at how well it fit me AND that I had enough yarn to complete the project.  So nice when the Knitting Gods bless me with success.  It's too hot to wear this sweater but I have something exciting to wear when the weather cools off. I did not enjoy knitting with the cotton, my hands tire quickly since the yarn has no spring.  I truly believe I knit at a slower rate as well. I loved the top down construction and the over all fit.  However I do NOT like how far spaced the button holes are. (they create a gap....).  The button holes are created while knitting the body of the sweater at the same time.  I would have preferred a picked up button band so I could place the button holes exactly 2.5 inches apart. Since this cardigan is 100% cotton I steamed blocked the edges to get them to lay flat and they could be a lot flatter for my taste.  I resisted the urge to use spray starch but I truly wanted to spritz the edges.  Ag

On Saturday we drove to State College to visit our son and future daughter in law for the afternoon.  We had lunch outside at a restaurant .  The weather cooperated with cloudy skies and coolish weather.  It was nice to see them, the days are counting down for when they relocate to Indiana.   After lunch we walked around Penn State University's Arboretum .  I daydream about having a lovely garden like they do.  If only!  Some of the arboretum is under construction for a garden attracting birds.  My husband and I might have to return in a year or so just to see that. Yesterday I did all the chores and found out that I'll be a Great Aunt again.  I'm thrilled to be knitting some baby items in the upcoming fall months.  How very exciting!  I'm will also be knitting a wedding shawl and so far it's looking like maybe, just maybe another citron?  We'll see.   I knit a whole bunch while riding in the car, then ripped out a whole bunch once I was home.  I didn't care

Around here I've been hiding inside my house while the humidity has slowly climbed to a somewhat sticky level.  The wild roses are finished blooming and at any moment the day lilies will bloom.  Every morning when I'm outside with Frodo we check the plants.  On our walks, I've seen bee balm blooming but mine is being kind of shy right now.  I've spotted some elderberry bushes blooming and they reminded me of my gram who would make elderberry pie when we were at her summer cottage.   The cement guy came and leveled all of the uneven pieces around the pool, sometime next week the landscaper is coming to do his thing.  We have some flowering plants that need to be relocated before he regrades the corner of our property or we'll lose them.  The new boulder retaining wall is supposed to take two days.  I'm excited. Around here I decadently read ALL day yesterday.  The memoir, Educated, is really good and I can't put it down.  It's funny because I was sure I w

What does a knitter do when she is so close to finishing a sweater?  She works on a shawl of course.  I haven't spent much time on this shawl and yesterday while listening to podcasts I added 6 more rows.  The border is over half way done. Well now, I was hoping that the sweater would be done and I have merely six rows to go on the second cuff.  I just couldn't finish it last night, I was tired and so were my hands (cotton is unforgiving), so today is the day the sweater will be off the needles. What are you working on this week?