Weekending

Good Morning!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend.  I'm kind of surprised that it's Monday morning already - not sure how that happened.  And, I don't feel as though much was done this weekend, but I guess a bit was accomplished.

Saturday morning I walked the tow path by the canal.  It was a pleasant morning to be out.  After my walk I stopped at Produce Junction for a few things - a couple pounds of Crimini mushrooms (which went into a barley casserole dish last night), some yellow cherry tomatoes (so good!), a couple pounds of jalapeno peppers (which will be candied later today) and several pounds of Persian cucumbers which became pickles.

Sunday morning I walked the trail in Oaks and ended up walking 4 miles in just under 1.25 hours.  Not too bad!!

Laundry was done and the kitchen floor was mopped as well, so chores were completed.

A small amount of knitting was accomplished.  The Hellebore Hitchhiker is now at the point it was when I lost control of it and had to rip it all out.

This is such a meditative knit and the pattern is easily memorized.  I just need to pay a little bit of attention and not let my thoughts wander too far!

As of last Friday I had cast on and knit the cuff for my brother's sock.  A bit more has been done on this.  I'm using the Gladys pattern (free on Ravelry).  Just doing the top portion with the Herringbone portion.  The balance of the leg will be plain.

I used the same pattern on a pair of socks for Fletch and they turned out really nice.  Hopefully Phil will like these.

Originally I thought I would go into the office today.  I have stuff to drop off and things to do there, but I can't seem to summon the energy to go in today.  LOL.  This could end up being a problem when we "go back" to work!  I have a conference call at 10 and some other things I can do from home, so the entire day won't be lost.

It doesn't seem possible that we are already halfway through May!  Hope your week goes well.

Unraveled Wednesday...Long Post!

Good Morning All,

 

Reality has hit this morning as I am back at work.  Every weekend should be a 4-day weekend.  I managed to get so much done!!

 

First though, thank you all for your notes about Fletch’s yellow jacket encounter.  I’m happy to report that all is back to normal (and has been for a couple of days).  All it took was some doses of benadryl…we don’t normally keep this in the house as neither of us use it…but it will be a staple in our medicine cabinet at home and in our camper from now on!

 

I did not accomplish as much reading as I had hoped…still slogging through “The Nix.”  Each time I pick it up and start reading I get extremely sleepy – lol.  But, I am almost finished it and hope to start on something a little more exciting for me shortly.

 

On the knitting and stitching front much was accomplished.  First up, my shawl is finished!!!  Woo-Hoo.  Before blocking:

 

 

Blocking (it did open up nicely):

 

 

Can’t get the entire thing in my phone camera frame.  It ended up being approximately 100” long and about 18” deep at the widest part.  I like it ok, but this is not a pattern I will knit again.  And, I’m not sure about gradient yarns.  I ended up being really bored with this.  The pattern is Elevations by Sharon Lex (free on Ravelry).  The pattern was designed specifically for Galiana Creations gradient yarn (645 yards – I did not use all of it) which is 100% superwash Blueface Leicester wool.   I bought the yarn back in the Spring at the Steel City Fiber Festival.

 

Since that is finished (and I didn’t feel like working on the socks I have in progress), I started my coziest memory blanket.  There was a bit of unraveling here as I started with one color, then changed my mind.  Then changed the number of stitches cast on, etc.  One square done.

 

 

Yikes!  These squares are quick, but they are small – only 3.25” square.  It will take a million to make a blanket!  The pattern I’m using called for 32 stitches cast on…I upped that to 48, but these are tiny!!  I’m also debating whether to make squares and then attach them…or pick up stitches from squares already knit to make more squares.  The individual squares would be much more portable, but that’s a lot of sewing together.  Picking up stitches from already knit squares is appealing until you have so many that it is a huge bulky mess.  Something for my brain to ponder a bit….

 

I also got a bit of stitching done on my sampler.  Adam and Eve have been created!

 

 

Fletch says (and I have to agree) that they look a bit like twin weight lifters – lol.  Since this picture was taken I worked a bit more on it and have some of the next dividing band complete.  Still a long, long way to go to finish this one.

 

Overall, the long weekend was wonderful.  We did not do anything special – just hung around at home.  I cooked a bunch (Bonny’s salad turned out GREAT – a new favorite).  Last night’s dinner was another simple one:  Asparagus wrapped in prosciutto and a baguette toasted with olive oil and then topped with bruschetta.  YUM!

 

 

Colin and I took an hour walk Monday evening along the canal (canal on one side, Skippack Creek on the other).  We saw a group of 50+ geese making their way down the water:

 

 

And, almost stepped on this poor guy on our way back – it was getting dark!

 

 

Fireworks in our neck of the woods were late starting last night – not until after 9 p.m.  And, they seemed noisier and less impressive than in prior years…maybe I’m just getting old….

 

If you’ve stuck with me all the way through this long post – thank you!  Hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Holiday!