yarn along

Just two more gifts to knit before Christmas!  Last night I started this pair of fingerless mitts for my daughter.  The yarn is an organic merino by Becoming Art in her "Neverland" colorway.  My daughter has a hat in this colorway but doesn't wear it as much as she'd like because none of her mittens or gloves match.  So I'm hoping she'll be excited to get these mitts.

I'm still reading The Other Boleyn Girl.  It's entertaining and easy to read a couple of pages at a time.  I've seen so many of you in these Yarn Alongs mention Simplicity Parenting that I finally got a copy for myself yesterday.  I'm hoping to get through it over the next couple of weeks, while acknowledging that a book about simplicity is an interesting thing to read during what I think is one of the least simple times of the year.

I hope all of your gift making is coming along well.  As always, please feel free to leave a link to your yarn along post in the comments.  And thank you to Ginny at small things for hosting another yarn along.

my newest favorite craft

I have always loved making paper snowflakes.  They're fairly easy to make and they're simple little decorations for the windows.  But mine have always left a little something to be desired.

Last week, I saw this tutorial by Michele of Michele Made Me.  In it, she describes how she folds the paper for her snowflakes.  I've just always folded the paper in quarters and then folded the quarter into a triangle.  But she folds hers differently and that makes all the difference!

It's really the simplest craft.  All you need are scissors, paper, and a free minute or two. I love that Michele makes them with recycled materials.  I've been using catalog pages from the many pounds of catalogs we've received so far this holiday season while my children have used brightly colored origami papers.  Either way, it feels like a new twist on an old craft.

Yarning Along

Hello, little owl!  I made him as a gift for my sister for her Christmas tree.  Last week he was unstuffed, but just an hour of extra work and he was done.  I made his eyes out of felt and affixed them with hot glue.  And next time I'd add a little fringe on his scarf, but I do think he's just right anyway.

I'm just about to start working on the second fingerless mitt for my oldest.  It's the only thing I'm knitting for her for Christmas.  I'm actually doing more sewing this year which is beginning to make me a little nervous given that I am a much better knitter.  I'm hoping to start the sewing projects soon.  All the fabric is here, I just need to prewash it all.

By the way, I'm really anxious and excited to start the sewing.  I'm in love with the fabrics I chose.  But I need to prewash them.  Prewashing fabrics is, in my opinion, the equivalent of knitting and washing a gauge swatch.  They're pretty necessary steps if you want the item to actually fit and look right, but they just seem like obstacles.

And I began reading The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory.  I found it for $1 last week at a book sale and like that I don't have to worry about returning it to the library, given that it's rather long.  I like historical fiction--although I don't know how accurate this novel is--but I'm enjoying it anyway.  It's perfect for picking up and putting down in between things.

What are you knitting and reading this week?  Thanks to Ginny at small things for hosting another Yarn Along.

weekending

Joining Amanda at the habit of being for weekending.

Celebrated an early Christmas with my family.

The littlest was afraid of Santa when he stopped by for his annual visit.

The girls really got into decorating their own gingerbread houses, made of graham crackers.

A lobster quiche, delicious, maybe the start of a new tradition.

yarn along

I'm happy to say that I'm in good shape for my family's Christmas get together this weekend.  Last week, I was feeling a bit panicked about finishing my niece's In Threes cardigan in time, along with all of the other gift making and preparations for this weekend.  But thanks to a stomach virus, I was able to stay home for most of last week and just get things done.  Not the way I wanted to spend my Thanksgiving, but here I am way ahead of schedule this week!

(The exclamation point above is my trying to put a positive spin on this stomach bug that hit us right before Thanksgiving and derailed our plans.  Plus, it had four of the five of us sick at the exact same time, making for a sleepless night.  But here we are, healthier now and without the added 5 lbs. I usually gain over Thanksgiving.)

I'm so ahead of schedule that I took a detour to make an owl stuffed ornament.  That first picture above is my unstuffed owl and the start of her scarf, because owls need scarves too.  I had to make one after seeing these.

And I picked up a copy of Buddha in the Attic to read this week.  I had read a positive review of it somewhere.  But I'm not getting hooked, and I don't think I'll finish it.  The story is about a group of Japanese women who come to the U.S. as brides early in the 20th century.  The narrator speaks for all the women collectively and I think that is what has kept me from really engaging with the story.  The collective voice mirrors the anonymity and invisibility the women feel here in the U.S., but it's also keeping me from connecting with any of the characters.

What are you reading and knitting this week?  Thanks to Ginny at small things for hosting another Yarn Along.

yarn along

Thanksgiving isn't even here yet, and already I'm feeling slightly panicked about Christmas.  My family (including my parents and my sister's husband and children) celebrates Christmas the week after Thanksgiving here at my house.  So that means house cleaned, presents made or bought, and food prepared for my family to come visit overnight.  And it's 10 days away.  It's always a lot of fun, but my heart starts to race just about now every year.

I've got a spreadsheet started that includes gifts and deadlines and I'm off!

I was able to check off the first gift earlier this week.  I finished the Koolhaas hat I made for my husband's birthday on his birthday.  I'm thankful he likes to open presents at the end of the day on his birthday.  And now I'm onto handmade Christmas gift #1 for my niece Brooke.  I'm making her the In Threes cardigan.  I'm second guessing my choice of size--she's a little 1 year old peanut, and I'm making her the 18-24 months size--but I'm going to run with it anyway.  I'd rather the sweater be too big than too small.

I managed to finish We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson earlier this week too.  I really enjoyed this book.  It was suspenseful and engaging without being too scary.  I don't have anything new to read right now because I'm focused on holiday preparations, but I should probably find something light to read to help me relax at night. Any suggestions?

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you participating in the Yarn Alongs.  I'm thankful for Ginny at small things for hosting these weekly gatherings and please feel free to leave a link to your knitting and reading here if you'd like.

yarn along

I realized on Monday that my husband's birthday is rapidly approaching.  So I started making him a Koolhaas (pattern by Jared Flood).  I fell in love with the Koolhaas that Joy at You Know How We're An Art Family made last week, so I was sold on making one for my husband.  The only appropriate yarn I had on hand is a black superwash sock yarn, so I've doubled it up and I'm hoping for the best.  So far so good.  But my goodness is black difficult to photograph!

I picked up We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson based on Erin at Wild Whisper's recommendation.  I love suspenseful stories and Shirley Jackson too.  Her book The Haunting of Hill House is fantastic.

Thanks for all of your recommendations last week on a toddler girl's sweater.  I've decided on In Threes and I'm just waiting for the yarn to arrive.

What are you knitting and reading this week?  Thanks to Ginny at small things for hosting another yarn along.

dans la grande ville

I went to visit a college friend this weekend in Boston, without my husband or children.  It was a wonderful way to catch up with her.  I did miss my family.  But I also really enjoyed my pumpkin martini, mussels, and a goat cheese, apple, pecan, and cranberry salad for lunch.  I dare say it wouldn't have tasted nearly as good if I'd spent the entire meal asking the girls to stay seated, and please eat their food, and please talk in inside voices.

(This is the only picture I took in the city this weekend.  I sent it to my kids so that they didn't think I'd forgotten about them.  Their grandparents took them last year to see the Make Way for Ducklings statues, so I thought they'd find it interesting that I was there too.  Their response, "So?")

While browsing in Beacon Hill, before I sent them the picture--I was still feeling charitable--I found this French Bingo game for them.   I grew up learning some French from my grandparents who spoke it, mostly, when they had something private to say to each other.  And my mother spoke French too.  And my kids are fascinated by languages.

As we played yesterday, lots of words immediately came back to me.  I don't, however, ever remembering that "le pullover" means sweater.  I think that one would be difficult to forget.  But there it is.  The easiest word on the board.  And now I feel I've addressed something knitting related too, so this post doesn't seem too out of place.

Hope your weekend was wonderful!

yarn along

Forgive the picture this week, please.  I can't decide whether I love that it's overexposed or not, but it's the only one I have, so here we are.

I finished the scrappy linen stitch scarf I was knitting last week and love it.  I blogged about it yesterday.

This week, I'm starting my Christmas knitting.  I'm making my oldest daughters each a pair of fingerless mitts.  They keep stealing mine, and they're way too big anyway, so each is getting a pair.  I'm just making them long and plain stockinette, because sometimes I just don't want to have to think about what's coming up next in the pattern.  I'm using some leftover Malabrigo for this pair.  

And I need some help from all of you.  I want to make my 1 year old niece a sweater for Christmas.  I'm eyeing In Threes.  I'm open to other suggestions, though, too.  I want to make something special for her.  The only stipulation is that it has to be for worsted weight since I've already picked out the yarn.  Please suggest away!

I'm about three-quarters of the way through Made for You and Me.  I'm finding this book interesting to read.  It's a memoir of a couple from Maine who moved west to California to seek greater career opportunities right as the recession was starting.  Finding themselves unexpectedly pregnant, then with a newborn and without work, they must move back home to Maine.  The book examines the idea of "going west" that Americans have--an image that evokes limitless opportunity--with the perceived loss of the American dream brought about by the recession.  

What are you reading and knitting this week?  And thanks to Ginny for hosting another Yarn Along.

a wool scarf, on a 60 degree day in November

My scrappy linen stitch scarf is done!  What a fun, interesting knit.  I finished this late last week and spent most of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs weaving in the ends.  (Not my movie of choice on a Friday night, but it was the kids' pick.)  I think I'm in a minority of knitters who enjoy weaving in ends--I find it very peaceful--and thank goodness because I had over 50 of them to do.

I used a variety of worsted weight yarn scraps for this scarf.  Some were solids, some were variegated.  I worked most yarns for just about 2 rows each.  I made the mistake at the beginning of the scarf of changing yarns at the start of a row.  When I saw how many yarn tails I was accumulating on one side of the scarf, I realized I had to start changing yarns mid row, and staggering where I did that, to space out some of the weaving in later on.

I wore the scarf this weekend when it was cold and loved it.  It's super warm and just the right length.  But when I finally got around to taking pictures of it today, it was over 60 degrees outside.  In Maine.  In November.  My kids didn't jump at the opportunity, but my oldest indulged me anyway.

::project details::
Pattern: Linen Stitch Scarf
Ravelry page:  Scrappy Linen Stitch Scarf

yarn along

What a week it's been!  Between getting ready for the Nor'easter we had this weekend, and Halloween, and more Halloween...well, I'm just glad it's over.  Don't get me wrong.  I loved watching the kids celebrate Halloween, but I'm ready for the decorations to be put away and for me to get back to knitting.  (As my husband tells me, you can't knit and watch scary movies at the same time because you'll miss something.)

I'm bordering on obsessed with this linen stitch scarf I'm working on.  It's knit lengthwise, and I'm guessing it's about 6 feet long.  I've knit a few scarves before and they always seem to take forever.  Maybe because this one is knit legnthwise, I feel like I'm making progress more quickly.  It's already about 4 inches wide, so I'll probably only knit a few more rows before binding off.

I've just started Made for You and Me by Caitlin Shetterly.  I've joined a Maine Women Writers book club at my local book store, and this is the selection for November.  I just wish I weren't so tired when I finally sit down to read at night.  Thank goodness the next major holiday is several weeks away!

What are you reading and knitting this week?  Please share and link to your blog.  And thanks to Ginny at small things for another yarn along.

Tendre is here!

 

My newest pattern, Tendre, is available for sale.  It's a cowl neck sweater for girls in sizes 6/6x to 14/16.  The design was inspired by my daughter who loves a big cozy cowl or scarf around her neck anytime it gets chilly.

It's available through Knit Picks and Ravelry.  Thank you to the knitters who so generously tested out the pattern for me and to Katherine Vaughn for tech editing the pattern.

Happy Halloween

I have to admit, Halloween is not my favorite holiday.  I stress myself out a lot trying to come up with costume ideas for my kids.  Thankfully, the two oldest knew what they wanted to be this year.  We owned one of the costumes already, and I had a good idea of how to make the other.

My oldest wanted to be a cow girl.  My mom sent me this cow scrap fabric, from her and my father's costumes, and I made a skirt and vest in one afternoon.  I'm not great with a sewing machine, so I was pretty proud of myself.  And I found the red rick rack in my grandmother's sewing basket, and it added just the right finishing touch to her costume.  And the hat is her dad's from when he was a child.  I should add that I used the Lazy Days skirt pattern by Oliver + S to sew the skirt.  Great, easy (and free) pattern!

I had seen a fall fairy costume online in September for close to $40 and knew right away that I wasn't paying for that.  So I found this website with an idea of how to make a fairy costume.  I bought 6 yards of tulle for 50 cents a yard and I got the silk leaves for $1.50.  So for $4.50 total, I made this costume.  And I have to say that I absolutely love it.

My littlest's reaction to being a fall fairy was that "it's yucky."  She, in all of her 2 1/2 years, actually wanted to be Dominic the Italian Christmas donkey.  And if I hadn't bought the stuff for the fall fairy, I may have indulged her.  There's always next year!

::this moment:: Halloween parade

From soulemama: 

"{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

First Snow

It snowed last night for the first time...brrr.  Time for warm mittens and hats, wool sweaters too.

My kids have been wearing hats and mittens to school this week.  Look at this sweet hat, knit by one of my test knitters, SheepTherapy, for the Give Thanks Hat pattern.  If you love it as much as I do, here's the link to her project page on Ravelry.

Stay warm this weekend and Happy Halloween!

yarn along

After finishing up my hat and mitten set for my friend's baby, I was really stuck on what to knit next.  I wasn't feeling inspired by anything.  But Saturday night, while looking through my stash and being irritated by the number of small leftover balls of yarn, I decided to make a scrappy lengthwise linen stitch scarf.  I'm following the directions from this pattern, but I've modified the number of cast on stitches since I'm using worsted weight wools.

So Saturday night I cast on 360 stitches and worked the first row of the pattern.  I got to the last stitch of that row and realized I'd made a mistake somewhere earlier.  Looking through that twisted up, long row, I realized I'd made it almost right away--about 300 stitches ago.  I tinked back one stitch at a time until I realized it could take me an hour or two to get back.  So I ripped the whole thing out and started over.

I did find the first two rows of this pattern challenging, simply because there are so many stitches and I hadn't quite gotten the hang of moving the yarn front and back and I sometimes lost track of where I was. But now that I'm several rows in, the pattern is a breeze and it's fun to see how the colors are coming together from all the scraps.  And the linen stitch makes a wonderful texture.

I'm reading Bossypants by Tina Fey.  It's hysterical.  That's really all I can say about it.

What are you reading and knitting this week?  Thanks for stopping by, and thank you to Ginny at small things for hosting another yarn along.

yarn along

Today's post is a wrap up of sorts of previous yarn along posts.  I finished the hat and mittens for my friend's newborn daughter.  I gave them to her this morning and she loved them.  The yarn was a surprise hit for me.  It's Lion Brand Baby's First, a cotton/acrylic blend.  I wasn't expecting to love it as much as I did.  Super soft and squishy and machine washable.

I worked on this cowl this weekend.  Big needles, big yarn, super satisfying!

And to wrap up my reading:  I finished The Dovekeepers.  I was surprised that I read the entire book--about 500 pages--in just two weeks.  But the story pulls you in.  It interweaves the stories of four women living around 70 C.E. during the fall of Jerusalem.  It was based on historical events but, because women's lives weren't recorded like men's, it's a fictional tale of what their stories may have been.

And finally, and most exciting for me, I'm going to a book group tonight about Melissa Coleman's This Life Is In Your Hands and Melissa herself will be there.  I read this book a month or two ago and it affected me deeply.  I'm looking forward to meeting the author, asking some questions, and hearing what other's reactions to the book are.

I hope you've been having a great reading and knitting week.  Please share what you're reading and knitting.  And thank you to Ginny at small things for hosting another Yarn Along.

weekend knitting

So technically I knit this on Thursday night.  But that's all the knitting I did this weekend, so it's going to have to count.  This is Malabrigo Rasta, a super bulky single ply merino.  My friend is letting me borrow her size 17 needles (thanks, Liz!).  This is the beginning of a cowl.

My local yarn store is once again carrying Malabrigo, which is both a blessing and a curse.  (I'm going to have to thank Liz again for telling me this.)   It's fantastic to be within a 10 minute drive of Malabrigo, and I was able to check out their Rios superwash 3-ply merino in person.  But I didn't need more yarn.  I have a hard time distinguishing between wants and needs when it comes to some yarns.  I can always rationalize the purchase by telling myself I'll make a gift out of it.  And so that's how I ended up with this gorgeous skein of Rasta.

My other way of rationalizing yarn purchases is that I'll design something with it.  That's how I acquired these two lovely skeins of Rios.  And so my purchase is now a "business expense."  Good thinking.

::this moment:: October in Maine

From soulemama: 

"{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Yarn Along

This week's Yarn Along feels like an update of last week's.

I'm almost done with the hat and mitten set for my friend whose baby is arriving this morning.  I had lunch with her yesterday and I couldn't get over the fact that today she'd be holding the baby in her arms.  You would think I'd never had children.  But I remember that feeling the night before my third baby was born knowing that tomorrow all of our lives would be different forever.  And the knowledge that you know nothing at all about the little person you're about to bring into the world.  I'm thinking of her today as her family welcomes this beautiful baby who is already loved so much.

Who wants to talk about fingerless mitts when there's a new baby entering the world?  But there they are in the picture anyway.

I did much more reading this week than knitting, thanks in part to a strange virus that left me stuck in bed all day Sunday while it was 85 degrees outside and my family was at the beach.  I enjoyed the sunshine through the sky lights and thankfully whatever it was passed quickly and no one else got it.  I think my husband thought I was just trying to be lazy but when I passed up eating lunch because I was too nauseous, he knew I was serious.

I managed to read the first 300 pages of The Dovekeepers this week. The story follows several women who have fled Jerusalem around 70 C.E. (because the Romans have attacked it) and are now living among a community of refugees in the desert.  Their lives are complicated and engrossing.  I read a good chunk two nights ago between 3am and 5am just hoping I'd fall back to sleep, but the book really kept me engaged.

What are you reading and knitting this week?  Please feel free to leave a comment if you stop by with a link to your own yarn along post.  Thanks!

::this moment::

From soulemama: 

"{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

My daughter hopped on a bike this week and rode without training wheels for the 2nd time.  She first rode a bike without training wheels 2 years ago but has refused to do it again ever since.  This week she was motivated by a little friend who was over for a play date who can ride a bicycle.  So she jumped on the bike, had me help her start, and then took off.

We had about 20 seconds of pure joy as she realized what she was doing.  When she tried to start up again on her own, she was having a very hard time, and she didn't want my help.  She couldn't figure out how to get the peddles up and over so that she could just get going from a dead stop.  And she wanted to keep up with her friend who could. So she dropped to the ground in the middle of the street and refused to get up.  And she melted down for about 20 minutes.

I'm trying to hang on to the feeling of excitement and pride she had when she took off riding for the first time.  And trying to remember that these little people are stuck between a place of wanting independence but needing help and balancing excitement with frustration.  This picture reminds me of how complex their lives are but how simple the joys can be.

If you stop by, please feel free to share a link to your moment.  And don't forget about my giveaway going on here.  Today's the last day to enter!

yarn along

Joining Ginny at small things for another Yarn Along...

Since it's been raining since Saturday, I've found a lot of time to knit.  I managed to finish the sweater I was working on last week, and I started a baby gift for a dear friend and a pair of fingerless mitts.  The fingerless mitts are from my Low Tide Convertible Mitten pattern...I'm just going to make these without the mitten cap.

My dear friend is having a baby next week and we don't know whether it's a girl or boy.  I wanted to be able to bring her a gift for the baby in the hospital, so I chose a cream colored cotton/acrylic blend and I'm really happy with how nicely it's working up.  This is my friend's third child and I wasn't quite sure what to give her, but since we're heading into winter, I figured a hat and mitten set would be perfect.  I've finished one mitten and I'm almost done with the hat.  I can't wait to meet this little baby!

I'm about to start reading Alice Hoffman's The Dovekeepers.  I know nothing about this book.  I chose it because it was on the new fiction rack at the library and because Toni Morrison, one of my favorite authors, endorsed it.

While at the library, I also picked up Weekend Furniture Facelifts.  I have a cedar chest that belonged to my grandmother that is in desperate need of some paint, but I have no idea how or where to start.  I don't imagine for one second that any furniture painting project would take me only one weekend, but I can hope.

And I picked up a few children's books that I've wanted to read with the girls.  Two Strega Nona books, written and illustrated by Tomie dePaolo, and a Tasha Tudor sampler, based on one of your yarn along suggestions in the past couple of weeks.  Tomie dePaolo is visiting one of our local bookstores later this month, and I want my girls to be familiar with his work before we go.  They own copies of his children's bible but a friend recommended his Strega Nona series too.

I'm interested in seeing what you're all reading and knitting this week.  When you leave a comment, please feel free to include a link to your yarn along post.

And please feel free to enter my Give Thanks Hat and Mitten pattern giveaway here.  Thanks for stopping by!

in praise of rain (and earthworms)

I've been working on a new sweater design and had a self-imposed deadline of this weekend by which to have the photos done.  I imagined taking the pictures outside on a beautiful fall day, maybe in an apple orchard.  But it rained all weekend.  And my photographer (thank you, husband) did not want to get his camera wet.

So while he stayed inside our dining room, we asked my oldest daughter to stand outside in the (light) rain under an overhang.  So while it was drizzly, she didn't get wet.  He took the pictures through an open door and she posed for us happily enough.

Until she caught sight of the earthworm on the ground.  My daughters love worms.  Thank goodness.  I do not love insects.  And I don't want them being as squeamish around insects as I am.  So we promised her that as soon as she was done, we would take off the sweater, find her a different shirt, and she could play with the worm.

Which reminds me of last weekend when we found a garter snake in our front yard.  We hauled all three girls outside to see the snake.  They were really interested in it and we followed it until it was right next to our front step near the house.  My husband was preparing to pick it up when it found a tiny hole in our siding and slithered right in.  He went somewhere between our interior and exterior walls.

I didn't walk barefoot in our house for several days and had to keep repeating to myself that he'd rather be outside in the sun than in the dark between our walls.  The girls had a minor freak out about the snake entering the house but then seemed to forget about it.  I haven't.  I also haven't forgotten that my husband left me a pair of work gloves on the counter in case I found the snake inside while he was at work.  He told me--with a straight face--that's what the gloves were for.

So I'm thankful for little girls who love (some) bugs.  They certainly don't love them all.  And I'm thankful I didn't have to use those gloves.  Really thankful.

What are you thankful for?  I'm giving away a copy of my Give Thanks Mitten and Hat patterns here.

weekend knitting

I had high hopes for this weekend.  Fall weekends are rare things of beauty.  Time to pick apples, work outside in the yard, attend a festival where the kids can ride a pony and paint a pumpkin.  I had a photo shoot at an apple orchard planned for a sweater design I'm finishing up.

But it has rained for the past 2 days.  (And in the case of the photo shoot, my photographer has decided to take a Sunday afternoon nap.  That's what happens when the photographer works for free and it's cold and dreary outside!)  So I'm resolved to being inside and knitting.  I have two friends having babies in the next two months.  One of these babies is arriving next week.  So I'm making him or her a pair of newborn mittens and a matching hat.  I haven't knit on dpn's in a long time and, while I don't love the fiddly-ness of it all, I do love bamboo needles.  I started Friday night:  one mitten down, one to go.  And most of the hat is done too.

Tonight I need to get started on some fingerless mitts.  I'll have the pleasure of working with Three Irish Girl's Springvale Superwash merino in her "Ice Blue Raspberry" colorway.  I have a thing for blue raspberry.

I've got a giveaway going on now for my Give Thanks Hat and Mitten pattern set.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

::this moment::

From soulemama: 

"{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Give Thanks (and GIVEAWAY)

When I began designing these mittens and hat last fall, I really was motivated by thankfulness.  That I have little ones to hug and love, that they are healthy.  That we have enough food to eat and a warm house when it gets cold.  That I have good friends and a wonderful family.

Anyone who knows me well knows I like to complain.  A lot.  When I get overly anxious or down, I try to remember to be thankful for the good things I have.  I am lucky in many ways, even when I'm feeling overwhelmed by life.

So I try to remember to give thanks for the simple and most important things I have:  a home to live in, a family to share it with, and people in my life whom I love and who love me back.

I'd like to give away a copy of both the Give Thanks Mitten and Hat patterns.  I will email the winner a pdf version of each pattern.  To be entered, leave a comment about what you're thankful for.  I'll pick a winner at random next Friday, October 7th.  

Yarn Along...in which I admit that I'm afraid of my book

I'm still working on the sweater I showed you last week.  It's a sleeveless sweater, so I've only got to crochet around the armholes and weave in some ends.  So I should be finished soon!

I took a picture of the sweater sitting on top of my knitting basket.  The basket is overflowing with little projects that need to be finished:  a button missing from a sweater, a single mitten that needs a mate, some hats that need to be hand washed, some swatches that I'd like to catalog somehow, and a scarf that needs some serious attention before Christmas.

I'm still reading The Lost City of Z.  While I admitted to finding Amazon adventure stories fascinating, I think I also have to admit that they've been giving me nightmares.  I haven't been sleeping well this week and I think reading this book right before bed isn't helping.  I've just downloaded a copy of the novel Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan, and I'm hoping to start reading it soon.  I'll save my Amazon reading for earlier in the day.

What are you reading and knitting this week?

Thank you to Ginny at small things for hosting another Yarn Along.

hanging on to summer

I'm pretty sure that yesterday was our last beach day of the year.  At least the last one when we'd wear a bathing suit.  While I welcome fall and wool sweaters and hot coffee and pumpkin everything, I still want to hang on to these beautiful days.

::this moment::

From soulemama: 

"{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Happy Fall (and sale too)!

To celebrate the first weekend of Fall, enjoy 25% off any of my self published designs that you purchase through Ravelry.  No coupon needed.  Just add the pattern(s) to your cart, and the discount will automatically apply.  This sale will run until the end of the day on Sunday.

Happy Fall!

Give Thanks Mitten

Lucia Hat

Lucia Sweater