Three on Thursday, November 2

Three on Thursday, November 2

Day Two of NaBloPoMo and so far, SO GOOD! I know, it is laughable and I am joking but, I hope that in this joke you also see how easy and fun NaBloPoMo is!

So, now on to my things….

Thing One:

November stitching… So, what does it mean if you dream in stitching? I don’t know, but I have and that will be my stitching for this month! Also, you may not be aware, but I am keeping a “stitch journal” of the month with that days “color” saved on each day. My plan is to put these in a journal, or somehow bind them (as in book binding sort of). My thoughts were to stitch these together in January and to make some kind of nice cover to hold them in. Now, this will most likely be something my kids will wish that I would have “Death Cleaned” but I am excited to have figured out something special for the paper portion of my stitch journey.

Thing Two:

So, what will my “stitch journal” paper look like in my plans for my stitching next year? Yeah, I have been thinking about that quite a bit and going back and forth – do I do it or not? Well, I was going to toss it out – after all my plan is for a much longer project with my plan to stitch the seasons. It is kind of hard to have a “stitch journal” that starts mid-December and goes on through mid-March. However, then I started this on Pinterest… (thanks Kym for inspiring me with so many of these!) So, my brain is working out how to incorporate a bit of watercolor with the days threads. Maybe too much? I don’t know, and I probably won’t paint every day, but I will add in bits and pieces as I am moved.

Thing Three:

And, totally unrelated to either stitching, book-making, or painting… after a LONG stretch of weight loss stagnation (I mean we are talking more than a couple of months) I have finally gotten back to the path of losing a little bit every week. This is a long journey and not for the faint of heart, let me tell you! However, I think that at long last the benefits of faithfully doing Pilates and making sure I am moving every single day is paying off and the muscle I am building (albeit slowly!!) is doing what it’s supposed to – burning fat! Yay! Really, this caused much celebration and dancing with joy!

There are my things for this week! But, what about you? Do you have any fun things this week?

P.S. if you want to see lots of other things, you can find them all here at Carole’s!

P.P.S. Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is on sale today for $2.99!!

Unraveled Wednesday, November 1

Unraveled Wednesday, November 1

You all have no idea how hard it is to turn the calendar page this month. I am really not ready for this year to be over, but despite my best efforts it is speeding by at what feels like warp speed.

But, here we go, and this morning kicks off NaBloPoMo and I am ready and excited for it! I think I figured out my Saturday conundrum and I am even excited about it! My morning meditations in which I savor my coffee and write a bit in my journal have become the best thinking time of the day.

But, really – are you wondering where the books are? What am I knitting? Me too! LOL

It was a very good reading month, but I had hoped to finish up a couple more books than I did. My own self-imposed goal, but still, I had lots of good reads in October!

I finished listening to Little Fires Everywhere and wow! Great title and a great story. I gave it 5-stars and you can read my review on Goodreads here.

I am currently spending my time listening to HRC read What Happened to me. I am about halfway through and I love it.

I am almost done with Viveca Sten’s Tonight You’re Dead, which I think is her best book yet in the series! (The entire series of these books are free on Kindle Unlimited!)

I also got a real book from the library – one that I had been on the waitlist for some time! I am about halfway through and the Department Q team led by Carl Mørck is excellent! This is book 7 in the series and if you have not read any of the Department Q books, I highly recommend!

On the knitting front, I am back working on the shawl that just won’t end, but I have “made the turn” and now the rows are getting shorter, not longer. This is a very good thing and I am really ready to have this done! It is not at all portable, but makes an awesome lap blanket for “TV knitting time”.

I also started a sleeve for my Rusty and it is HUGE although my gauge has not changed at all. So, it went to time out for a bit while I mulled over a solution or a work around. There is no “frogging” of this yarn, so I considered starting the second sleeve on a MUCH smaller needle to see what that does. Or maybe bracelet length sleeves, or perhaps even better – three-quarter length sleeves. I compiled my options and emailed Mary which led to a bit of FaceTime in which a solution was found! Thank you Mary for your most timely help! Three-quarter sleeves it is!

There you have my reading and knitting for the week. But, what about you? What are you making or reading this week?

 

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NaBloPoMo Eve

NaBloPoMo Eve

I have just one question: Will you join me or not?

In an attempt to help make this something that is fun!! (Really!! Blogging is fun!) I am going to share with you my game plan for NaBloPoMo success!

This will be my third year in a row of being an active participant in NaBloPoMo but, this is the first year that I am joining Blissful Lemon and her #NaBloPoMo2017 group. And, it is not too late to “sign up”!! Really, the sign-up part is super easy – link name and blog link and you are in!

Grab an image for your blog and you have done the first steps towards success!

There are 5 simple rules that you can read here.

I have started to “map out” my month of posts but, I am still not quite sure what I will do on Saturday’s – but that is okay because I still have a few days to figure that out! And, really – this is so much easier if you have a plan of how to get there! And, as you can see there are some “easy days” if you Unravel with me on Wednesday’s and then you join Carole for Three on Thursday! Sunday’s I am going to be doing something new… I will share something that caused me to reflect. I am really excited about this and the idea goes to Mary from last year when she shared pieces from Wendell Berry’s A Timbered Choir. Will it be a poem? Not necessarily, but it will be something that caused me to stop and think, and I hope it will do the same for you.

Oh, come on! It is just 30 short days! It could be habit forming! So, tell me…are you in?

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Weekending, October 30

Weekending, October 30

The weekend weather made any outside activities a bust (unless you love it cold, windy, and rainy…) but we made it the perfect interior weekend despite the exterior conditions!

Saturday morning, we made our final visit of the season to our favorite farmer who will be heading back to Oaxaca, Mexico soon. The final farmer’s market is always a bitter-sweet experience but, we left with pie pumpkins, Brussels sprouts, onions, garlic, and lots of apples. My kitchen will be busy over the next week or two!

We then moved Swedish Death Cleaning to the basement and liberated some much-needed space and we also unearthed the exercise bike which the forecast is telling me was extremely necessary! I will need it after the eats and treats from the weekend along with the extremely sedentary activities of watching football, and knitting, with an extra ration of reading! Football watching was very good and the knitting was too! I knit a bit on Laura Aylor’s Sand Ripples and listened to What Happened.

The first half of Sunday was busy for me – this year is the 500th anniversary of the Reformation! Which for me meant there was ringing and singing and lots and lots of joy!

The second half of Sunday had more football watching (for Steve) and more knitting and reading for me! However, it is easier to read and knit in the round than it is to read and knit and count rows so I spent a bit more time with Rusty on Sunday. (Pro-tip: large print books are EXCELLENT for knitting and reading!) At the end of the day I found myself with the body completed! All in all was an incredibly relaxed day and there was absolutely no time spent on making a list or planning for the week, so my Monday will be focused on that!

How about you? How was your weekend?

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A Frosty Friday

A Frosty Friday

The temperatures dipped into the frosty range last night, but today we are supposed to get up into the 70’s. This pairs with splotches of color finally showing up on the trees in my neighborhood! And despite this chilly start, I am so happy for the weekend to be here! I am committed to spending as much of it outside as possible since these warming days cannot last forever!

My friend, Beth has inspired me to get back to doing a little spinning and so after weeks months of my wheel standing idle I got it out this week and finished spinning up and plying this purple yarn. Sadly, I am not thrilled with the color and I also think it needs a bit more twist, so I will have run it back through the wheel to put a bit more twist in. I am not thrilled with the color of the purple yarn (I think it’s Targhee, but I am not certain). It looked very differently before I spun it up and my original plan was to combine it with this the fawn colored Shetland to become the yarn for Sarah Jordan’s Wynne. But, looking at them together in a photo I am not quite sure how much I like them together. So, what I thought would be a quick spin, is definitely not quick at all and has inspired much thinking and pondering.

And, speaking of thinking…I have been just wowed by Kym’s and Vicki’s “Arrows”! And, they have inspired me to begin gathering together all the leftover bits of yarn I have. I think Arrows would make a wonderful way to start off 2018! Anyone want to Arrow along with me?

And, because you can never do too much thinking…I saw this sweater in Traverse City and my daughter and I thought it was adorable (but it is not $51 adorable for a toddler!) So, I am scouring Ravelry for a pattern I can modify to knit this for Genevieve!

Now, how about a few links to think about this Friday!

That is all I have, see you back here on Monday!

Three on Thursday, October 26

Three on Thursday, October 26

So many things, so little time! And, this week picking just three things is going to be a challenge!

Thing One:

The weather has changed here this week to a much cooler sort. And, not in a bad way at all because this has stirred the urge for more fall like foods. Stuffed acorn squash roughly based on this recipe was on the top of the list. I have discovered that this is a super easy meal to make (and turning on the oven is a lovely way to heat up the house a bit!). I cook the squash and the filling separately and I make the filling in bulk and freeze part of it! And, I have been using pre-cooked rice which makes this meal super simple! When the squash is done I fill them, sprinkle a bit of cheese on top and pop them back in the oven until the cheese is melted. And, what tastes more like fall than acorn squash!

Thing Two:

A weather thing I am avoiding… putting the gardens and the yard to bed. I don’t know why the end of the season is so much less fun that getting things all started, but it is. I am horribly ignoring it and gladly doing anything but that. However, even though I am gladly ignoring this now, my day of reckoning is coming. Sooner than later! There are some things that need to be cut back, and things that need to be pulled out, and things that need to be put to bed. The problem is that I did this entirely too early last year (at least the putting to bed part of this!) The weather was oddly warm well into December, and things began growing again. I am hoping that by waiting longer this year, I can avoid that. Really… that is my story and I am sticking to it!

Thing Three:

Next week is, wait for it…. November. Yeah, that is another thing I am trying my hardest to ignore! October has just flown by and the thought of all that November brings: NaBloPoMo, time change, Thanksgiving, and usually more miserable weather. October has been so amazing I am really wishing that there were a couple more weeks of it!

Those are my things, and you can see more things over here on Carole’s!

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