Forever Baby Blanket Continues

Knitting: I'm still entertaining my baby blue Forever Baby Blanket.  True confession, I'm feeling discouraged this week with this project.  I'm not a fast knitter, certainly inexperienced with big projects and I made some mistakes in the beginning that I chose to slog through instead of fixing because 1) I had ripped it out so many times to start again and 2) my inexperience with fixing mistakes didn't help.  Ugh!  I'm fighting the feelings of inadequacy with knitting.  BUT I'm trying to keep in mind that as long as I maintain accountability through blogging and continuing to practice will help me progress.

I want to finish it, but there are so many other things I want to do too.  Now that I'm in a good rhythm with the pattern, it's been a while since there has been a mistake - which helps, but I get discouraged looking at the overall project.

I have another project ready to start...the Hand-Painted Preemie Hat for the twins. I'm going to knit the newborn size.  My decision to not choose the preemie size, I feel, goes along with my prayers that those babies will come to full term before making their entrance to the world.  A while back I purchased a skein of Cascade Yarns Heritage Paint Collection in Cherry Berry to make booties, so I think there will be plenty to make two hats and two sets of booties.  I've never really  had more than one project going at a time...many of you seem to, so I think I will give it a try.

Reading:  Still reading Echo In The Bone.  The combination of this past week being  a bear at work and finding myself drained at the end of the day (the only time I have to read) = not much progress with getting through this book. The Goldfinch up next to read on my Kindle, I can't wait to get started

Onward and upward by next week!  Thanks for stopping by, I really do appreciate it.  I know I'm new here, so any words of encouragement and/or sharing your mistake stories would be so appreciated.  Can't wait to see what  you all have on your needles and see what your reading.

Joining Ginny on my favorite day on the internet (thankfully Time Warner fixed the wide spread outage this morning)  I won't lie, I was a little nervous that I wouldn't be able to Yarn Along today! :-)

Nikko Blue Hydrangea

Living in New England; July/August is when hydrangeas are in full bloom and are in their full glory.  I've lived here all my life, but it wasn't until my husband and I visited Nantucket that I REALLY noticed them.  I think it's because everything on Nantucket Island is postcard perfect.  I recall one night walking back to the inn after dinner saying to my husband I feel like we're walking on a Hollywood movie set. Quaint, clean, quiet, and just beautiful.  That trip, a gift from my stepdaughter, was four years ago and we still beam when we speak of it.

Below is a picture of the front of the Coffin House, Nantucket; the inn where we stayed.

Our house is not Nantucket beautiful.  But it's home and I wanted those hydrangeas in front of my house, because they are so beautiful and would always remind us of our trip.  I dabble in a little gardening, I'm usually indecisive when it comes to plants to buy and where to place them.  (we have a lot of shade)  So three years ago I went to my local garden store, and ended up being helped by a man who had landscaping experience on Cape Cod.  I started to mention Nantucket  and the beautiful light blue hydrangeas and he said "Nikko Blue Hydrangeas" "Very popular on the Cape"  In no time at all after that, he put two in my cart  and told me what to do.  They were already in bloom when I purchased them so I couldn't wait for the next year to see if they would bloom and did they deliver!

I love that it's some of the first signs of life after a long Maine winter.  In the spring, when I  start removing the mound of mulch, placed after the plant has been cut back in late fall, there are always several small, bright green leaves waiting to greet me.  Beautiful green foliage adorns the front flower bed with promise of more color somewhere in mid to late July.  I leave the flowers on for as long I can then right about this time of year, when they are starting to fade, I clip a few and bring them inside to be placed in my white pitcher.

Just three blooms fill this container!

  

I love living in the Northeast (especially this time of year).  Warm days, cool nights and putting my favorite flower inside my home after enjoying them for so long outside my home.  Thank you Nantucket.

Yarn Along

My very first Yarn Along with Ginny blog post!  This is a blog I started last year so I could start participating in Yarn Along.   It's my hope to blog more this year. I'll call it a mid-year resolution and see if I can actually make it happen.

Knitting is something I learned (just the basics) many years ago, but with kids to raise and a full-time job,  I never felt I had the time to invest in more than a dishcloth or scarf once in a great while.  Now there are twin grandchildren on the way (due in the middle of the upcoming Maine winter),  and viewing Yarn Along for a few years now, I'm inspired and determined to make my grandchildren something from my hands.

I'm knitting the Forever Baby Blanket using Cherub Aran by Cascade Yarns in a baby blue color (no we don't know what gender the twins are yet) but this blue is so pretty, I had to have it.  I love the feel of it, it is so soft and the pattern knits up into a very squishy feeling texture.  As I knit, I dream of one of the bundles of joy wrapped in it or perhaps he/she will carry it around everywhere they go - like both my girls did with their favorite blankets (that sadly were not handmade).

As you can see the progress is slow. But prayers for the babies, feelings of determination  and certainly the inspiration I find every Wednesday from all of you on Yarn Along keep me going.  I'm hoping participating weekly
will also help keep my progress steady.


Reading:
I'm reading An Echo In The Bone by Diana Gabaldon.  I've been reading her series for years, and now watching the Outlander series on Starz (based on this series of books).  I love it but I think I'm ready to move onto something new...reading wise; the show is just starting and I'm completely hooked.

I had planned to have nicer pictures this morning, but as you can see, our sweet 11 year old "kitten" Roxanne was a little curious and way too cute to concentrate on a really good photo.  She's quite the hunter - for an indoor cat :-)


Your comments and encouragement would be so very welcome.  I just love Wednesdays!  Thank you for including me!