Sometimes Monday | 10.28.19

Sometimes Monday | 10.28.19

…is for new beginnings!

Late yesterday afternoon, I began the rhythmic process of carefully winding a skein of yarn and last night I began swatching for my Evening Dew Cardigan. I think I earned some good knitting Karma as well, because I appear to be getting gauge the.first.time!

Yes, that means that Tegna is finished! One super rainy, stay-at-home weekend meant lots of knitting time and a second finished sleeve! She needs a bit of a soak and some careful blocking to open the lacework at the bottom of the sweater and the ends woven in but stay tuned for glamour shots later this week! My first thoughts on her though…I am wildly in love!

I don’t have much on tap this week outside of my “normal weekly things” and that means I might be able to fit in some knitting time to work on my new project!

What about you? Any new beginnings for you this week?

P.S. See you all back here tomorrow as I join Juliann and share my October Focus update!

TGIF | 10.25.19

TGIF | 10.25.19

By this time next week, it will be November and I am quite shocked by that. We have had such incredibly wonderful temperatures – warming beautifully during the day with only a couple nights with very light frosts. If I could order up the weather – it might just be exactly this! However, there is a part of me that knows that these days are not here for the duration and soon it will be cold with not much sunshine and yes, even snow!

Triumphant Knitting –

People… I have ONE SLEEVE DONE!!! I am so happy with sleeve one and I have begun sleeve two which will likely take all next week and maybe part of the following. But this sweater is much closer to completion today!

Gratitude Week Anticipation –

That’s right – Michelle has moved up her annual Gratitude Week offering, and I am really looking forward to it. Oh, and there is still time to sign up if you are so inclined! Michelle always brings so many “ah-ha moments” and new ways to think about life!

(IM)Patiently Waiting –

I will finish Just Mercy today and November will bring the discussion portion of Read With Us. (I think it will start on Kym’s blog on the first Tuesday.) I have so many thoughts about this book – so much I was colossally ignorant of – so much I blindly supported (Three Strikes, for instance) without having a clue. Reading, learning, and contemplating have made my white privilege obnoxiously evident. I am very eager to see what I can learn from Carole, Bonny, and Kym – and from all my fellow readers!

Full-on-Autumn –

Every year I love watching as Janelle’s maple tree transforms from summer to gloriously autumn. Yesterday she posted the Pennsylvania Fall Foliage update – and yes, I agree – the colors are full-on right now! My neighborhood practically glows with reds and yellows. Yet while the trees are glowing loudly, the cacophony of birdsong is mostly silent – save our fierce Catbirds. This week has been Cat Bird Song Wars which consists of two birds each trying to out-do the other with their song repertoire! Sometimes the songs would erupt into bouts of air battles that look less like a battle and more like an intricate dance. I truly love watching these incredible little creatures! I also love seeing all the Halloween decorations that dot my neighborhood. And, I am soaking in each magnificent detail of these glorious autumn days. Saturday will be the final Farmer’s Market for the season – a bittersweet event. And for this final weekend in October, I plan on immersing myself in these glorious autumn days.

Have a great weekend and I will see you all back here on Monday!

Mid-October Weekending

Mid-October Weekending

I am so glad that I live in a world where there are Octobers. – L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

It was a perfect October weekend. One that included a trip to our farmer’s market, glorious blue skies, and yes – even a pumpkin donut! I also made a big pot of chili on Sunday.

And, while there were no new yarn acquisitions – I am going to take Mary’s advice on bracelet-length sleeves and so Tegna sleeve knitting has begun in earnest. Why, I even managed to rip out (literally) the too loose neck edge and reknit it with the correct sized needles!

I also made some progress on my Aisé and I am very happy with how it looks. The sparkle in the kidsilk yarn is not at all overwhelming but I am not sure how well it shows up in a photograph.

However, today I can no longer ignore the sweater that I need to seam up for a friend and there will be no knitting until that is completed! And, once that is done this cake is next on my agenda!

What does your Monday include?

TGIF | 10.18.19

TGIF | 10.18.19

And, just like that it is suddenly Friday yet again. I don’t know about you, but the later it gets in the year – the faster the weeks seem to go! This was absolutely one of those whirlwind weeks and I am very ready for the weekend to commence… it is absolutely a day to celebrate TGIF.

Tipping Point –

This week, in my house at least, we reached the tipping point for turning on the furnace. That point was reached on Wednesday with its cold and very rainy weather. This likely does not mean that the heat is permanently on for the season, but it was most welcome for part of this week. I am way too old to play the “how long can I be miserably cold game!”

Gearing DOWN –

Autumn is my absolute favorite season and I am purposely slowing down to appreciate each day. I am savoring each newly changed leaf. I am appreciating the glorious early fall light. I am welcoming cooler nights that have extended into cooler days and, I am relishing putting on a sweater and adding an extra blanket to the bed!

Inspired by –

This weekend is the weekend that I am generally filled with envy of all those who are fortunate to be at Rhinebeck. However, yesterday Bridget provided some incredible inspiration. So rather than wishing the weekend away, I am taking a page from her weekend planning! I will be heading out tomorrow morning to find some cider donuts (and perhaps some cider as well!) I will take a walk outside and appreciate the crisp weather, the colors, and while I won’t be walking to a yarn shop – I will spend some time wandering around my local Farmer’s Market. And, I will be sure to spend the weekend wearing a sweater and I promise to do some knitting (as you can see below, I am not lacking in things to knit!)

Falling Fast –

I finished the neckline of my Tegna – but I messed up…yes, I knit the rounds with the same sized needle I knit the body with instead of using a smaller needle. I think I will need to rip back and reknit the neck with a smaller needle. It won’t be easy, sigh. In the meantime, I have been thinking about sleeves…specifically, sleeve length! The pattern calls for short sleeves but the idea behind this piece (at least for me) is to use it to extend the use of my sleeveless tunics into the fall and perhaps even the winter. So, I have been looking at the plethora of finished Tegna’s on Ravelry trying to decide. I have more than enough yarn, so I think I am going to knit longer sleeves, trying it on as I go to get just the perfect length. I like the idea of long sleeves, but I am not sure how well a mohair/silk yarn wears and I am concerned about the elbows being in a perpetual state of “baggy-ness.” Anyways, I welcome all input!

In the interim (and really to avoid the entire ripping back debacle) I cast on my first Aisé on Wednesday night and shockingly, this seems like this will be a very quick knit!

And!!! Sometime today, I hope to wind up my Floof and begin the swatching process for my Evening Dew Cardigan. Why? Because I just love that moment when you give in to the urge and *cast*on*all*the*things*

Happy Friday everyone – have a great weekend and I will see you back here on Monday!

P.S. The first all FEMALE space walk is happening this morning! 

Sometimes Monday | 10.14.19

Sometimes Monday | 10.14.19

Comes on the heels of a lovely, quiet, solo weekend!

Sadly, Steve had to work all weekend so what was a girl to do but get in some major knitting time and I made some impressive headway on my Tegna! The back is finished and I am moving right along on the front and with any luck, I will have it done this week. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you are focused!

I hope you all had as wonderful a weekend as I did – I am well rested and very ready for all this week holds!

Happy Monday all!

Make It Monday | 9.30.19

Make It Monday | 9.30.19

We know that in September, we will wander through the warm winds of summer’s wreckage. We will welcome summer’s ghost. — Henry Rollins

The weekend days were indeed summer-like, warm and breezy. Even the pop-up storms we had Saturday night had a summer-like quality to them. And, yes – we needed to turn the damned AC back on, and it looks like we will need it several more days this week. But I also must turn lights on morning and night and that makes me really long for summer light!

But there was an outside happy hour on Friday that was so nice…until the mosquitoes arrived! They are the one thing that makes me yearn for that first hard frost.

This is the professionally-styled me… but how I love my Morrine Short and Sweet

I got my money’s worth from Friday’s haircut – it is so short! I loved how she “did” my hair on Friday but I have yet to replicate that. I feel like I have 2 left hands as I struggle with my brush. I am sure I will soon be comfortable styling it but right now, the struggle is real.

I managed to finish Reagan and I am blocking her today. Glamour shots coming on Wednesday if the weather cooperates! Steve thinks it is too big, but I am reserving judgment until the blocking is complete. I also ripped back Early Bloomer and began the re-knitting process. I do not think I will have this done before I leave on Friday, but maybe? I started the ribbing last night, but I think I should have slipped it on a couple of needles and tried it on. I will do that this morning before I go any further!

It will be a full week –

– A friend is dropping off her sweater pieces today for me to block and seam
– Sherman has a bit of unplanned surgery tomorrow morning – another histiocytoma appeared last week and is in a spot that is most irritating for him so off it will come
– I need to run to JoAnn’s to get a bit of pink fabric to make a bow for Vivi’s Reindeer headband

Plus, all the normal weekly things – just with one less day to get them all done

That’s all I have for today – how does your week look?

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