Yarn Along with Minimal Progress?

Rectangulum is coming along slowly.  All the button hole rows are complete and now it's just rhythmic knitting.  Finding the time has been the challenge this week as we had a weekend full of golf and grand babies; always fun but not conducive to long periods of knitting. (Below is Willa with her Grampy and Anna enjoying a brownie in the corner of the kitchen on a Sunday afternoon)

But in looking at the photos I'm posting here and knowing how much time I actually spent on it, it's really more than I initially gave myself credit for and the best news is I've adjusted to working with the fingering weight yarn and I'm starting to like it.

I'm hoping for more knitting time as daylight gets shorter.  I'm ready for a slower pace.  Maybe in a few weeks?  One can hope.

Reading:

I finished Me Before You and it ended just as I thought it would.  I had avoided the movie trailer until I was done reading.  The movie looks wonderful - although I never enjoy the movie as much as the book, but may this one will be different.

Currently reading Jerusalem Maiden - A Novel  I just started it and like it so far.  My reading preference has always been historical fiction and I have always had a fascination with Orthodox Judaism, so I'm looking forward to continuing on.

Uninvited is my soul enriching read.  I'm enjoying it with my morning coffee, finding myself rising earlier than usual to have time to read a bit before heading out the door....maybe these early mornings are why I get so sleepy while knitting at night?

C'est la vie!

Still drawing much inspiration from all of you and can't wait to see what you're working on.

Happy Yarn Along Wednesday!

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Yarn Along - Absence and Rectangulum

I'm here again, joining Ginny for Yarn Along!

 I tried two years ago to blog regularly - I wanted to be like you all; knitting, reading, blogging.  I'll be honest, I even stopped clicking on Yarn Along on Wednesdays - it was my favorite day of the week for so long.  I can't believe how many Wednesdays went by without me admiring all the beautiful work out there and all the tips on good reads.  I had stopped knitting.  I was watching TV without knitting! What is that?  Silliness I'd say.

Truthfully, I think the break was good for me.  The most recent combination of becoming an emptynester, the clear signs of it changing to my favorite season here in Maine, and visiting a yarn and fabric store I hadn't been to in years, tipped the scale in favor of me picking up my favorite hobby again.  One day last week I found myself in Waterville, Maine where there is a great store for all things crafty;  Yardgoods Center.  The owner, Joyce, greeted me right away.  She is a vibrant person; the kind of person who makes you feel like you're a long lost friend even though we had never met.  I love that kind of person!  She showed me around, asked a lot of question about my skill level and encouraged me to attend knitting classes (yes please) and before I knew it an hour and a half was gone!  I left with Seven Sisters Arts  yarn from beautiful Blue Hill, Maine and a pattern for Rectangulum. It was a shop local win win!

It's going well, albeit slow,  and working with fingering weight yarn is not something I thought I would ever like to try again; it's not within my comfort zone, I'm so glad I took the chance on it.  It's been fun to work with and although it doesn't really show here, I'm finding it is going quicker than I anticipated (Joyce told me it would).  There's nothing fancy here, it's just garter stitching, but I'm good with that. Just getting back on the horse so to speak.

I hope to share my progress every week with you all and I hope you'll check in. I'm also hopeful that the accountability to my blog will help speed things along.  I want to say that all you Yarn Alongers are so talented and committed to your craft, it truly is inspirational.

Reading:

Bedtime Kindle Read:  Me Before You.  Okay so after reading the Light Between Oceans (loved) I thought I would pick up another story that was being made into a movie. It's an easy, fast read.  I haven't watched any of the movie trailers because I don't want to know any more than what I'm reading, but I'll be honest, I think I see where this is going and I'm closing in on the end, so....gulp.

Daytime/Early Evening Read:  I'm finding I like the author's voice in her writing, I've just started it and I KNOW the subject matter is something I need right now.

Can't wait to see what you all are up to.  Happy Yarn Along Wednesday!

Yarn Along - I'm Back

Being absent for 5 months, not a good thing when my goal last year was to be a more consistent blogger.  Well, I'm back.  I'll start with a quick update of our twin granddaughters.  They are just as healthy and happy as can be! (Willa left, Anna right) and we are truly blessed.

Knitting:

Dishcloths.  Recently I spent the weekend with my high school girlfriends and I gifted our hostess a bundle that included a woven dishcloth and two garter stitch cloths.  They all loved them, so requests were made and so they continue to be on my needles! I don't mind, I love those ladies and I'm glad to know that many still enjoy a good old fashioned dishcloth, they really do make a nifty gift.

Outlander Shawl

While watching Outlander, I noticed this shawl pops up in several episodes and  since first glance I've wanted to knit/have one ever since.  I'm plugging away at it.  It's not complicated, I had the yarn in my stash and so far I love it!

Reading:

I'm studying to be certified in Human Resources, so this occupies my reading time mostly.  When I'm not studying and I'm relaxing, I'm reading Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert.  A very enjoyable read.

Oh and this is Piper.  She's 10 weeks old and loves to help me knit!

Happy Wednesday!  Joining Ginny

Yarn Along with Anna and Willa

I'd like to introduce you to our new healthy granddaughters Willa Mae (right) and Anna Linnea (left)  They entered the world in the middle of the night during blizzard "Juno."  It took Grampy and I a lot of shoveling and clean up just to get to them the next day.  As other grandparents must know, the feeling of holding a little one(s) that will be a part of your life forever is such a blessing and we thank God for these two miracles.  Sidenote:  I just had a strong  feeling from the beginning of the pregnancy that they would be born during a storm and what a storm that was!!

This is a picture of them in their "going home" outfits.  I'm so honored that their mom and dad chose outfits that I purchased AND wearing hats I knit for them.  These are newborn sizes, so you can see how tiny they are at the moment.  Since I've been so pre-occupied with many other things, I neglected to note what yarn I used.    I do know that I used the Tegan Hat w/knot pattern.

I've missed so many weeks of Yarn Along and I've REALLY missed seeing what you all have been up to.  Now that the babies are here, and winter has got it's heavy grasp on the Northeast, I hope to share more with all of you.

Still reading:  Written In My Own Heart's Blood and very happy to have Downton Abbey back on tv!

Thanks for stopping by! Finally joining Ginny again :-)

Yarn Along with another Prayer Shawl for my girl...

Good morning everyone,

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We had a wonderful time at the Lowell homestead (the home where I was raised) for Thanksgiving.

Let me tell you about these two ladies.

The lovely lady on the left is my first born, Bree.  On the right is my beautiful daughter-in-law Erika (currently pregnant with twin girls).  Bree is married to Matthew, they will be celebrating their second wedding anniversary next week.  Bree and Matt would love more than anything to have a child of their own, but after trying for almost two years, many doctors appointments, tests and a recent trip to a fertility clinic, they have found out that it is not possible.  Not without serious intervention and A LOT of money.  They are heartbroken and I am (we all are) heartbroken for them.  Because Erika is very pregnant (and it should be noted that she herself had to wait 5 years to be pregnant), we were all a little guarded and sensitive to both women and their feelings around the current situation.   Thanksgiving would be the first time they would see each other in months.  Although hard at first, the love they have for each other combined with the understanding Erika has of fertility problems  helped melt away any hard feelings and sadness; LOVE overcame all.  We don't know what lies ahead for Bree and Matt.  What I know and witnessed is that love prevails.  Every day and night I pray for a miracle as I did for Andy and Erika.  My prayers for Bree are now being knitted into this prayer shawl.

I chose green as it signifies fertility, growth, health and healing. The yarn I'm using is super chunky.  It's SO warm, I'm going to miss knitting it as it keeps me very warm and  cozy.   My hope is she'll wrap herself in it with her favorite cup of herbal tea and her books and her three kitties and know that God is with her.  Patience is not something my Bree has ever had a lot of, but she is gaining it more and more these days.  I'm so proud of her and her strength.

I hope this post isn't too depressing because I (and our whole family) really do have a lot of hope for Bree and Matt and the future of their family.

I hope you are all well and I can't wait to see what you all have been working on lately.

Reading:
Still Reading Written In My Own Heart's Blood, but also have brought out my treasured copy of The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp.  I love Advent.

Joining Ginny

Yarn Along - A Baby Shower and a Watermelon Hat

Hi Everyone!

I've been quiet these past few weeks as I've been busy with baby shower plans.  It was beautiful.  I rented a room at a local mansion.   The result was a far more elegant baby shower than I expected which was wonderful.  It was delightfully intimate with just enough people so everyone had a chance to visit and relax.  Momma to be was radiant (and emotional).  I think actually holding items that her babies will be wearing, reading, playing etc. made it all the more real of their family's impending increase in size by two very soon.  I've decided - I love working with pink!  That cake? (not made by me) Was that ever beautiful!  We hated to cut into it, but it was just as delicious as it was beautiful, so well worth it!

Most of these past few weeks, I've been knitting washcloths (along with a couple of my friends/co-workers) as favors for the shower.  I bundled two together (a nod to the twins) with a tiny bar of lavender goats milk soap with a cute little saying on the tag.  These favors were a hit.  So I haven't been knitting much of anything else (I did take the time to sew the bunting seen in the photo above - that was SUPER fun to make)

So now with the shower over and some time before Thanksgiving, I've started this watermelon hat.  I had a bunch of leftover Knit Picks Comfy sport (from the washcloths) and happened to have appropriate "watermelon" colors, so I thought I would give it a try.  I plan to make two if all continues to go well.  It is knitting up very quickly.  It should be noted that this is my first time using different colored yarn in one project - go me!  Oh and absolutely LOVE my new medium drawstring bag!  Thank you Wanda for making such a wonderful product!

Reading:

I'm now reading Written In My Own Heart's Blood, the last in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.  It should help me pass the time until the television series continues in April.

Hope you are all well and keeping your creative hands busy with beautiful handmades.

Happy Wednesday!  Joining Ginny!