Pumpkin Sunrise

  How was your weekend? Mine was frosty and beautiful. This week there will be a slight warm up but I'll have the memories of a frosty, cold, chilly weekend. The news people say we are past peak fall color but I'm still enjoying the colors that are currently around. The oak trees are still doing their thing and some maples are trying valiantly to hang on. This week I'm sure will be the Big Leaf Drop. Over the weekend, my husband and I walked a new to us path/trail that is near our neighborhood. Every so often we try to explore a new place getting a sense of where we are. Bit by bit I file away places that family and neighbors tell me that I should explore and then when there is time we do it.  I have been crushing my holiday knitting goals. I know! I'm overly confident that I will get all the knitting done by my self imposed deadlines.  That is a really good feeling. How was your weekend?

  Oh November, why do you go so quickly in my mind? Already we are on the fifth day. I cannot remember when I started to love November - well first of all it's my birthday month but I love the days leading up to Thanksgiving and witnessing the leaves dropping and the weather whispering winter temperatures. I love how Christmas creeps in before you've celebrated Thanksgiving too. November is usually a coat wearing month and a wool wearing month. I've been receiving emails from all the stores giving me birthday presents for the month. Ikea sent me such an email and we made the trip yesterday to visit the store in Pittsburgh. He needed a new office chair and I picked up a few things for around the house. They were in the process of decorating for the holidays and my last photo of the gnomes on the counter was one of their rooms in progress. Every month I give my self a little challenge. I've done daily haikus and daily sketching but this time around I am carving out one ho

  This cowl is really sweet! I found the pattern  while noodling around on Ravelry and thought it would be a perfect present for gift giving. If I were to knit this again I would go up a needles size because my knitting is slightly tighter than average. (I did not do gauge, I like to fly by the seat of my pants). Blocking the cowl really makes the mini cabling pop! As you know I 'm knee deep in Christmas knitting, and so far I am motivated and enjoying each project which is a really good place to be. What are you working on this week?

  How was your weekend? Mine was pretty good. Over the weekend I purchased some remote controlled candles for inside the fireplace that we currently are unable to use. Since we can't decide what to do (fix the fireplace or purchase a gas insert...) my sister texted some photos of fireplaces with candles.  With a flick of a button I have ambient lighting. The local fall foliage is PEAK this week if you ask me. Everywhere you look you see some brilliant shades of orange, yellow and red. The multitude of rain makes everything bright and vibrant. I did all those pesky chores yesterday and have a mostly clean and tidy house. For now. My knitting is on fire and yet I did not take a photo of it this weekend to share with you. You'll just have to conjure up some wooly goodness yourself. Tell me about your weekend!

  Finally I'm seeing some fall foliage around the new neighborhood. Phew! I thought I'd be missing the colors this year but thankfully I'm witnessing some beautiful maple trees doing their thing. I miss my old walk down my old dirt road that has a multitude of trees turning colors, mostly oaks, maples and walnut trees. I think this move will take an entire year of firsts to get acclimated to the relocation and the newness. Right now on walks, I'm enjoying the neighbor's trees and landscaping. We haven't been to the local park for a few weeks so maybe my husband and I need to squeeze one visit to walk with Frodo and see those fall colors as well. The above photo was taken super early in the morning, since then the awning has been taken down by the awning people for storage and repairs. My husband is sad that summer is over, I am not, I am ready for cold weather. Since we live in a house with a neighborhood, for the first time in sixteen years I will be having tri

  I finished this sweet little baby sweater for the grandbaby-to-be a few days ago. The duck buttons just amuse me every single time I look at the wee sweater. This was sweater was #12 of this pattern by Elizabeth Zimmermann. I am sure I will be making more after the holidays are over in other colors.  What are you working on this week?

  How was your weekend? I helped my sister at her craft show both Friday and Saturday and in return for my help I received the above beautiful project bag! (she does not have a website currently but maybe someday she will). I started a sweater for her for her January birthday and you can see a tiny peek in the bag. I haven't made a Ravelry project page yet for the sweater. The craft show was outdoors and I was cold down to my spine, it was fantastic! I haven't been that cold in such a long time. I'd rather be cold than hot, but you already know that. Being in the fall elements I had a chance to wear my wool sweaters, hats and mitts. A knitter's dream come true. Also many family members that I haven't seen in years popped in and it was a fun family reunion of sorts for me. Over the weekend, I ventured into making a gluten free pie crust (sister has celiac disease) and after scouring the internet I chose this recipe . My only substitutions for the crust were to use ve