Closing February

Good Morning!

The day started out quite dark…like I thought it was dusk…and there was a light dusting of snow (un-predicted) in the yard and on the cars.  It was cold.  But, the sun is out now and shining strong (of course, there is the prediction of some flurries tonight into tomorrow morning).

I managed to knit on both the Hitchhiker and the socks yesterday, but no new pictures to share.  Both are coming along nicely.  I hope to knit more on the Hitchhiker at lunch today.  The sock pattern is a bit fiddly – especially with yarn that seems to split quite easily – but as long as I take my time and go slowly on the one row with the “knot” it seems to be working out.

Last night I decided to start The Library Book (and abandon The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock).  I think my reading slump may have ended!  I only managed to read a few chapters before turning out the light, but so far it is holding my attention. 

And, leaving you with a chuckle:  the other day I was cleaning out my wallet and rediscovered a note that Colin had written years ago (probably 15 or so years ago) that I had saved.  We always leave notes for each other if we are running out, and Colin learned early on to do the same.

To Whom It May Concern:

Have gone out at 12:30 to 

dismantle framework of society.  

Back for dinner.

Love,

Colin

(son)

He cracks me up and I love his sense of humor. 

We are almost at the weekend and we are at the end of February!!  Have a good one.

Unraveled Wednesday 02-27-19

Good Morning!

The grey skies have returned and I saw the snow symbol in our forecast for Friday.  Ugh.  I love living in a location where we have four seasons and I don't really mind Winter...but let me tell you, I am more than ready for some sun and warmth.

Meanwhile, the knitting continues.  I finally remembered to take a picture of the cowl I am making for Fletch.  This is just a tiny look:

The yarn is from Ancient Arts Yarn and the colourway is Birch Leaves.  In real life it has almost a hint of olive in the yellow.  It's very pretty.  I wanted to make the cowl with cables, but Fletch requested a simple design, so that's what I'm doing.  He also wanted it to button, so I'm knitting it flat and adding buttonholes.  It's going well and, perhaps, it will be finished this weekend!

Next up, the start of my Shell Cottage socks.  Thank you all for your advice - reading comments was like a "duh" moment.  Why hadn't I thought of moving the stitches so that a purl was not the first stitch on the needles?  It was also comforting to know I am not the only one who dislikes a purl stitch as the first on DPNs.

I'm really liking the stitch pattern (though the "knot" takes a bit of doing - I'm not fast at it) and the yarn is so soft looking (and feeling).  i think these will turn out well.

On the reading front, I have nothing to report.  I still seem to be in my reading slump where nothing is particularly grabbing my attention.  I started the Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock the other night, but the writing to me seemed stilted.  The other books that came through on Overdrive (all in one day!) are There, There, The Library Book and Thirteen Moons (Charles Frazier).  Maybe I'll try one of them...or just pick up something from the piles of unread books around the house.  One day something will grab me.

Joining Kat and friends on this id-week day.  What are you up to?

Teeny Needle Tuesday

Hello All,

A quick post as this morning is turning out to be quite busy!  The wind seems to have (somewhat) died down (though I was woken in the night by the roar outside our bedroom windows). and the sun is out!

Already we are once again at TNT (Teeny Needle Tuesday).  Some, but not much, progress has been made - a couple of leaves and a star shaped motif.

I've been struggling with this and have been complaining to Fletch that the light in the kitchen (where I stitch) is not as bright as it used to be.  We have LED bulbs in the light fixtures and when Fletch first put them in the room was bright - brilliant really.  Now, not so much.  Well, he finally took the globe off the overhead fixture and discovered one of the LED bulbs was out.  Duh!  The good news is that more are being shipped to us from our friends at Amazon and they should be here by tomorrow or Thursday.  Let there be light!!

Closing went off well and fast for Colin & Mailing who are now happy home owners.  Not only did their realtor give them a gift, but the sellers also gave them some gifts which is just so sweet.  I'm happy for them that it has been a good/positive experience.

And that's it for me - gotta run.  Have a great day.

The Wind!!

Good Morning!

Wow!  What a windy night and today as well.  I heard that gusts were 65 MPH and higher!!  All I know is I woke up a number of times in the night because of windows rattling, etc. 

It was a nice weekend, beginning on Friday with a finish of the Sunday Swing socks!!  And I even wore them on Saturday.  They are so comfy!!

A fun and fast knit.  As usual (for me) the second sock flew off the needles.

Lunchtime knitting progress is visible in my Hitchhiker which is steadily growing.  What a relaxing knit this is!  Thanks, Bonny for pushing me over the edge to knit this!

I'm loving the yarn and it is working out so much better as a Hitchhiker than it did as socks. 

I managed to do a little bit of stitching - update tomorrow - and also am about half-way through the cowl I'm making for Fletch.  I keep forgetting to take a picture of that, but will try to remember.

I decided to join Helen Stewart's 2nd Handmade Sock Society and the first pattern was released on February 14th.  Named Shell Cottage, I picked out some yarn (recently acquired while out and about with Dee the other week) that reminded me of scallop shells - some pinks, muted purples/blues, a bit of yellow. 

My issue is the way the pattern starts with a purl stitch on each needle.  Whenever I do that I get huge ladders.  The ribbed cuff is P1, K1TBL.  I tried it twice and gave up.  I'm doing my usual rib of K2,P2 which is working fine (though the yarn is a bit splitty).  The leg pattern starts with a Purl stitch on each needle, so I'm hoping I can do this.  Any suggestions/tips are more than welcome - I need help - LOL.  I am also determined to figure this out and master it.

On Saturday, the tax appointment went well - much better than I expected and then I met up with Dee for coffee and knitting.  always a nice time.  When I got home I made a Green Curry Shrimp & Veggie dish...which I forgot to photograph (but I was starving!!).  Yesterday I made spicy Cuban Beef.  Yum.

Finally!  I finished reading Where the Crawdads Sing and give it 3.5 stars.  It seemed to take forever for me to read, yet whenever I picked it up I enjoyed it.  I just didn't feel compelled to pick it up that often and it wasn't a book I couldn't wait to get back to.  I also figured out the ending which lowers the rating for me.  To be fair, I've also been in a bit of a reading slump where it is hard for me to get interested in anything!  Hopefully that will change soon  About 5 books came through on Overdrive, so I have plenty to choose from (not to mention ALL the books in the house that I have yet to read).

That brings us to Monday morning and back to work.  Colin & Mailing close on their house in just under an hour!!  So excited for them.

Wishing you all the best week!

A Day Off

Good Morning!

The snow came and my office was closed.  Actually, an e-mail went out Tuesday afternoon stating that the office would be closed Wednesday due to the impending storm.  YAY!  I went to bed Tuesday night without setting an alarm and slept for 10 hours!!  When I got up I wondered what was going on - no precipitation of any kind.  But, it started snowing around 9:30 and by 3 p.m. or so it had changed to sleet and freezing rain.  I was happy to be home😉

A bit of knitting was done:

The second Sunday Swing is now on the foot.  One pattern repeat finished; 3 more to go and then the toe decreases.  I had thought I would work on some other items as well - stitching, Fletcher's cowl, Hitchhiker...but instead I took care of some chores (cleaning, laundry and pulling the tax stuff all together).  I also managed to take a 2 hour nap!!  I think I made up for those nights of insomnia I had recently.

I also enjoyed not being on the computer...and will attempt to catch up on some blog reading today.  I have a few financial reports to run and send out, but other than that, my day is pretty open (and Hitchhiker came to work with me for lunchtime knitting).

The sun is out, the snow and ice are melting and Fletch is grilling tonight!  I think it's going to be a great day and I hope yours is as well.

Teeny Needle Tuesday

Hello!

It is a cold morning (25), but the sun is out and the sky is blue.  I'm wondering how long that will last...I've been receiving e-mails and texts from the "local authorities" warning of a winter storm from 6 a.m. tomorrow until 1 a.m. Thursday...and Thursday the temp should rise into the 50's.  The roller coaster continues.

So, it is Tuesday which means TNT (Teeny Needle Tuesday).  Here is the meager progress I made on the Penny Pumpkin piece.

It looks a bit wonky at the top, but it's just that the fabric is wrinkled and I didn't do a good job of smoothing it out.  When working on this I use magnification which looks like this:  Magnifier - I call it my crown - lol.  I also use an Ott light.  But, the battery on that died and Fletch replaced it with one that is not quite as strong and it is no longer very helpful.  I need to remind him to get the *right* battery for it. 

My eyes had had enough after stitching the buds/blossoms on the right and the leaf on the left, so I switched to my Sunday Swing 2nd sock and managed to get one pattern repeat completed before calling it a night.

Yesterday was busy enough that no knitting was done at lunch and in fact lunch was taken at my desk while working (a cup of noodles and an apple).  Today (so far) looks to be better and I should be able to work on my Hitchhiker for a bit.  More on that tomorrow....

Have a wonderful day!

Weekending

Good Morning!

Another grey, wet day here...but that is better than we thought.  We were supposed to get more ice last night, but all we got was rain which is fine with me.  The roads were empty this morning thanks to it being Presidents' Day, so my drive into work was easy-peasy.

And just like that, another weekend is in the books.  And it was a fine one.  Saturday was beautiful - sunny and blue skies.  I met up with Dee for a bit of retail therapy, stash enhancement, coffee and knitting.  First stop was to Stitch Central - a new-to-me shop.  It is lovely!  All you quilters out there would go nuts with their fabrics.  The yarn is not bad either - lol.  Next we headed to Twist - a great shop near New Hope.  I exercised some restraint and don't think I got too much for visiting two (!!) shops.

A couple skeins of fun yarn, some DPN protectors and the latest issue of "Laine." 

We grabbed a bite of lunch at a very nice cafe in Peddler's Village and then headed over to the coffee shop for sipping and knitting...and chatting.  I actually started the toe decrease on my first Sunday Swing sock!  And finished it up that night as well as casting on for sock #2!!

The yarn is dark and it is hard to see the pattern, but it's there and the first one fits perfectly.  The ribbing for #2 is complete and (hopefully) I'll be able to start the leg tonight.  Yesterday I just worked on Fletcher's cowl which I had to rip out and then start again on smaller needles.  So far, so good (fingers and knitting needles crossed).  Sunday was also filled with chores - laundry and grocery shopping.

I'm hoping for an easy week with knitting time at work (Hitchhiker) and wishing you all a wonderful week.

Valentine's Day

Good Morning and Happy Valentine's Day!

I've already mentioned this to several people, but I do believe there is Hope for Spring!!  On my drive to work this morning I spotted a Red Winged Blackbird.  Normally I don't see them until Spring is upon us.  Not only did I see him, but his red patch was in the shape of a heart.  Perfect for today.

Moving along, as I drove down the road I spotted a skunk waddling across the road.  I also normally don't see skunks until Spring is upon us.

Dare we hope?

Happy to say that I slept well last night.  Honestly, I don't think I had much choice.  I knit a few rows on the Sunday Swing sock after dinner, but my eyes were burning and I couldn't keep them open.  Fletch had a nature program on the TV, so I joined him and promptly fell asleep - lol.  I woke up periodically to see bits and pieces, but at 9:00 I went upstairs and slept through until just before my alarm went off at 5:30 this morning.  Yay!

We are having a Valentine's luncheon today at work - I'm sure there will be plenty of things I shouldn't eat.  I'm also sure I'll be consuming anyway.  Life is too short to not eat chocolate.

Wishing you all the best of days!

Unraveled Wednesday 2-13-19

Good Morning All!

It is back to work today for moi.  It was so nice to just stay home yesterday - and I'm glad I did as it continued to sleet throughout the morning and into the early afternoon.  I managed to get caught up on laundry that I had not gotten to over the weekend and had plenty of time to stitch and knit.  No unraveling!!  The Sunday Swing sock is onto the foot part:

Not that you can tell from this picture, but I have decided to continue the pattern on the front of the foot.  So far, so good!

Next up, my Hitchhiker has a few more teeth on it now.

This is such a fun and easy knit, though it is easy to get lulled with the rhythm and I've caught myself making mistakes.  Easy fixes, but a waste of time.  I'm really enjoying the colors in this yarn.

I'm pretty drowsy today.  It seems as though I'm back to having a bit of insomnia.  I go to bed and fall asleep just fine but almost every single night I am awake from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m.  Oy!  Hopefully this will change soon.

Last night Tyg wanted to go out at 3 a.m.!  It was pretty mild (in comparison to what we have been having).  When I came downstairs at 5:30 he was not around.  Eventually he showed up with a live mouse in his mouth.  Yuck!  Of course he wanted to come in WITH said mouse.  That wasn't happening.  He finally dropped it (and it quickly expired) and came in to eat (thank goodness he doesn't [typically] eat what he catches).  I had to make sure NOT to step on the mouse when I left for work.  Hopefully Fletch will take care of it and I won't have to see it again when I get home.

Linking up with Kat and friends for Unraveled Wednesday.  Here's hoping none of you have unwanted surprises waiting at your back door!!

Teeny Needle Tuesday

Good Morning!  Welcome to this week's edition of TNT.

Not a ton accomplished during the last week...but this dark fabric and 40 count is killing me!  I am determined to finish it though...it will just be slow.


Meanwhile we had some sleet and freezing rain overnight.  My office is on a 2 hour delay, but schools are closed and I think I will be making my own snow day!  I walked out onto the patio, and the freezing stuff is still coming down and the end of the patio is very slippery.  I know I don't have a lot to do at work today, so I'd rather stay home and be warm and safe.  By the afternoon it should all change to rain and getting to work tomorrow should be fine.  We are actually expecting a lot of rain this afternoon (so hopefully that won't just sit on the roads and then freeze).


So, today will find me doing some laundry, doing some knitting (hello Sunday Swing Socks), and putting the teeny needle to fabric a little later.


Have a great Tuesday.  If you are out and about in this Wintry weather - be safe!!

Weekending and a Bird Question

Good Morning!

It is a snowy a.m. here, but not much - only an inch or so.  I think tomorrow will be the dicey day as sleet and freezing rain are forecast for tonight.  Today, though, the snow is powdery and light and the roads are not bad.  We had/have a 2 hour delay at work, but I'm here already as I have conference calls at 9 and 10.

Howard, from our IT department, loves to bake - he finds it relaxing.  Most Mondays find some kind of treat in our main kitchen from Howard.  This morning there are sugar cookies in the shape of hearts.  Sweet!

The weekend was fun.  We celebrated the Chinese New Year at Mailing's parents on Saturday.  Here are dumplings in the making:

Everyone (even Colin!) makes beautiful dumplings, nicely pleated.  Mine are the ones in front that are a mess - lol.  But, they all tasted good.  And the table with the beginning of food being brought out:

Everything was delicious.  Something new that I had was Chinese cauliflower - delicious!

Just in time, I finished my Sockhead Cowl Saturday night.

The picture of the cowl on me shows the color of the yarn more accurately.  I cast on 160 stitches and knit 30 rows of ribbing, then 60 rows of stockinette and another 30 rows of ribbing.  It really is longer than necessary, but will keep me warm.  I did not wear it today since I was already dressed in a turtleneck and wool sweater.

The first KAL sock (Sunday Swing) is now at the point where I need to pick up the gusset stitches.  I brought the Hitchhiker to work in case I have time to knit at lunch.

Like so many of you, we enjoy watching the birds come to our feeders.  We have a thistle feeder, one for sunflower seeds, a peanut feeder and a suet feeder.  A good variety of birds find their way to our yard in the winter - Flickers, Downy Woodpeckers, Red-Bellied Woodpeckers, Cardinals, various Finches, Wrens, Doves, Blue Jays, Sparrows, Juncos (my Grandmother always called them snow birds), Starlings, etc.  This year missing from the action are Chickadees (one of my favorites - and my Dad used to talk of feeding Chickadees from his hand as a child) and Tufted Titmice.  In prior years there have been a ton of those two varieties.  I'm curious about why they are not here and wondering if they will show up (hoping they will).  Have any of  you noticed a change in what birds are around this Winter?

Well, time to get ready for my conference calls.  Hoping everyone's week is off to a great start!

Friday Happiness

Good Morning!

It is grey and damp here - actually raining at the moment.  And there seem to have been an abnormally large number of yellow prison-wagons (school buses) on the road this morning.  But, I'm at work and all is well.  I can smell bacon (the caterer is here and setting up breakfast for us in our main kitchen), I have a fresh cup of coffee, I've already sent out my financial reports this morning, and I'm just happy that it is Friday!

Tyg got me up a tad bit early today - too late to go back to bed before the alarm - so I ended up with some extra time to knit this morning.  And, being able to knit two days at work during lunch has paid off.  I'm on the final ribbing for the sockhead cowl!  This picture is from last night - 3 more rows were added this morning and I'm hoping to knit again at lunch.

I will be able to bury my entire head in this thing!  The shot does not show the true color - it is a definite red.

This was the only piece I worked on yesterday.  I am ready to start the heel flap and turn on the Sunday Swing socks (maybe tonight?).

Last night Colin was over and we watched The Old Man and the Gun and really enjoyed it (available for rent on Amazon).  Robert Redford, Sissy Spacek (whom I had not seen for years!!), Danny Glover and Tom Waits (I never would have guessed).  Supposedly this is Robert Redford's last film.  

I'm looking forward to the weekend.  Tomorrow night we are heading over to Mailing's parents to make dumplings (YUM) and celebrate the New Year (Year of the Boar - or Pig if you prefer).  Making dumplings is always fun and they are always delicious.  I guess we can also celebrate the house that Col & Mailing are buying (they close on 2/25).  Sunday, hopefully, will just be very relaxed and laid back with plenty of knitting and reading (and napping).

Whatever your plans, I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Hitchhiker!!

Good Morning,

Yup, Bonny (finally) convinced me to knit a Hitchhiker.  I'm only sorry it took me so long to jump on the bandwagon.  What a delightful knit!

As you can see, I only made a small start, but it is a very rhythmic knit and the pattern is easy to memorize.  I believe this particular skein of yarn is FINALLY happy to become a Hitchhiker.  I bought the yarn in Lancaster the other year.  It is kettle dyed; 75% superwash and 25% nylon.  The colorway is "Rhubarb."  I had attempted to make socks with it, but the pooling was very unattractive. 

Don't worry, all my other projects saw some love yesterday.  I knit on the sockhead cowl at lunch; knit on the Sunday Swing socks a little bit last night and even used my teeny needles to do a little stitching.  I'm going to be a busy person for sure!

Our temps are beginning to drop a bit and by the weekend we are supposed to be back to more seasonable weather.  I'm ok with the cold (bring on the WOOL), but I could do without the snow.

Happy mid-week!

Teeny Needle Tuesday (With a Bit of Yarn Thrown In)

The Spring temps are continuing for a little bit – 40 degrees this a.m. and will get into the 60’s today.  I drive past a very pretty horse farm on my way to work and this morning the horses were racing around the fields with their manes flying behind them.  Usually at this time of year they are standing huddled together wearing blankets.  Not this morning!  Tyg, to celebrate the warming trend, stayed out all night…but was waiting for me on the patio when I came down to have coffee this morning.

As you know, Dee has tempted me to get back to stitching and today is TNT (Teeny Needle Tuesday).  I decided to pick one of my unfinished smalls to start with in the hopes that I will soon have a finished product.  I chose Penny Pumpkin by The Scarlet House:

I was drawn to this one for the border – love it.  When I picked it up last week I had already finished the border and the black basket.  Here is where I am today.

It feels good to get back to some stitching, but I’ll tell you, this one is SLOW going.  The fabric is 40 count and the color is Woodsmoke.  I love the linen, but my eyes have some trouble with darker fabrics…and small count.  Once finished, I will make it into a small pillow (or pin cushion) and throw it in with the others I have in an old wooden dough bowl.

There has also been yarn and knitting along with the stitching.

Yesterday the mail brought a little stash enhancement to me!  I fell for this skein of yarn that Vicki dyed and it is even more beautiful than I had thought (plus – a bonus pin!!).  I need to think of something special to make with this.  If you have not already seen her yarns, please check out Make.Do - she has some lovely choices and they sell out FAST.

Last night I knit a couple of rows on the sockhead cowl and then switched over to the Sunday Swing Socks.  The pattern calls for 3 repeats of the pattern on the leg (16 rows to the pattern), but I think I will make that 4 repeats (I usually knit 65 rows for the leg on my socks).  The pattern is still not showing up really well in my pictures, but I think once the sock is on my leg it will be visible.  Meanwhile, this shot gives you a good sense of the colors in the yarn.

I’ve brought the sockhead cowl to work today and am hoping to add a few rows at lunch.  I’ll work a bit more on the KAL socks tonight.

On the reading front, I finished “As Bright as Heaven” by Susan Meissner.  It was a good read and I give it 4 stars.  What a horrible time in Philadelphia at the beginning of WWI and the outbreak of the Spanish Influenza.  Yikes!!  I am now about a quarter of the way through “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens.  So far it is ok – it reminds me a lot of another book (but I can’t remember the name of that one).

Hoping this finds you enjoying a lovely Tuesday morning!

Weekending

Good Morning!

Dare I say that it feels like Spring outside????  A week ago we were in the grips of some major cold...today it will get into the 50's and tomorrow in Philly it is supposed to hit 65.  Tyg has been acting like he has Spring Fever - running all over the place, jumping and playing and in and out of the house a hundred times in a day.  Also back on the patio roof several times - lol.

What a lovely weekend.  Dee and I met up on Saturday to start our KAL of Sunday Swing and here is where I was as of Saturday night.

Oh dear!  Not too far along.  That is 10 rows of ribbing.  I managed to do 5 rows while Dee and I were together and another 5 Saturday night.  Then I got distracted...However, I managed to get a bit more done yesterday - the ribbing is finished and I have the first 6 rows of the 16 row pattern complete (but failed to take a picture).  I don't think my yarn will show the pattern very well, but I'm enjoying knitting with it and will continue.  I *think* the yarn is from Miss Babs - the band is lost somewhere, but I sort of remember buying this yarn for Mick Jagged (which, of course, I never got around to making).

Naturally Dee and I had to hit a shop first thing.  Emma's Yarns was having a trunk show at Purls of Wisdom, so we headed over there.  Dee behaved herself.  I did not.  First up, this skein of Hedge Hog Fibers jumped into my hands.  Pine is the colorway and I just had to have it.

Love all the flecks of green in it.  And then, a few of the Emma's Yarns skeins were attractive, but nothing I HAD TO HAVE, until I saw these two large skeins:

They both are 600 yards of yarn and I thought they would make a beautiful shawl together (pattern yet to be determined - any suggestions, let me know).  The top, copper color is named "Wish You Were Beer" which cracked me up and the bottom one is named "Weather Vane."

Sunday the hours somehow got away from me.  We were busy with grocery shopping and laundry and we are also back on cat duty while Colin & Mailing are in Pittsburgh for a few days.  I can't wait for them to move into their house and be 20 minutes away from us instead of 45 minutes.  I did a little stitching and knit a few more rows on my sockhead cowl.  I did not manage to cast on for my Hitchhiker - maybe tonight?  I also conveniently did not start Fletcher's cowl and I need to do that.  It is so unlike me to have multiple projects going on - I'm curious to see how it all works out for me.

Hoping you all had a wonderful weekend.  Now (for me) it's back to work (which is really cramping my knitting and stitching time).

TGIF 02-01-19

Hello All,

Still chilly here in PA...but a bit warmer than yesterday...and...snowing again.  Geeze.  Fletcher's follow up appointment with the eye doctor went well and he doesn't go back for another week - and by then he will be driving himself!

My sockhead cowl is now at the halfway mark.  Thankfully I have not gotten bored with it.  But of course, tomorrow Dee and I are starting our KAL for the Sunday Swing socks.  And, I plan to cast on for my first ever Hitchhiker (thank you Bonny for convincing me I HAVE to make one).

Meanwhile, as I mentioned earlier in the week, Dee has prompted me to get back to stitching.  One day I pulled out some (there are more, trust me) of the pieces I have started but not finished.  Here are some of the larger projects:

I think if you click to enlarge, you can see them better - at least the names.  There is a bit of glare...sorry.  One of them is Dona Dorothea - a reproduction from The Scarlet Letter of a Mexican or Spanish sampler.  I fell in love with the checkered deer.  There is really not that much more to complete:

Sorry - I can't get that picture to turn around.  Here are some of the smaller pieces that I've started but not finished:

Yesterday afternoon after Fletch's follow-up appointment, I picked up my tiny needle and did some stitching.  It felt good to get back at it.

Any guesses as to which of these I have decided to work on?  The reveal will be next Tuesday.

Meanwhile, stay warm and enjoy the weekend