Goodbye Summer....Hello Pumpkin Pancakes!

Welcome! I've in the process of updating this here blog color scheme. I hope you find the colors and the layout a lot more soothing and relaxing. I know I do!

Its time to start thinking about harvest goodies like Pumpkins and Pumpkin Latte's and Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins and Pumpkin Cheesecake and Pumpkin Scones....I'm feeling a little pumpkin spicy here. :-) Ohhhh, almost forgot my favorite....Pumpkin Pancakes at IHOP!

But where did summer go? What did I do this year? I better post a couple of pictures so I remember it for something...In July we were biking on the Munger Trail heading south out of Duluth....

In August we spent a weekend at my friend Kim's parents' cabin up in the Lakes District not too far from Mille Lacs. The cabin is on Clear Lake and it is evident by the first picture that we did not get much rain in central or northern Minnesota this year.




I did get a bit of knitting done at the cabin and was able to finish the raglan sweater at home in early September. Its too big...Weight Watchers works!

And the best FO of the season was those darn Travelers Stockings! Word of advice: Never, ever knit red sock yarn on red or magenta size #00 dpns. Unless you really feel like punishing yourself that way. But hurray! they are finished!

I bought myself some Paulaner Oktoberfest and plan to celebrate the end of this project! I now have some simpler projects on the needles. Chevron socks on 2 Circulars (from Sensational Socks) and a Prayer Shawl... K3P3K3P3.....

Cats and Mouse

Here we have the Harbinger of Fall.....



"Thank God they saved me from that Big Fat Cat!"




Big Fat Cat doing her box thing...yep Dori still still likes small spaces... I found this shoe box half-chewed in my closet and brought it down to throw away...but not until she had one last catnap in it on the counter! :-S




Ace makes sure that my knitting is plenty furry!




My Best Friend...Piawacket and I have been friends for 11 years now. She sits by my side when I 'm knitting and sleeps at my side when I go to bed. And because she has some Siamese in her she talks to me all the time too. MeOW.




And Fluffy is the resident Weirdo...she mostly hangs out down in Chris' Art Room during the summer months. She comes up for food, and a good night ear scratching when I get into bed but then she dips off to her hidey-spot for the night. Once the season changes she will be hanging out again in the family room with us. She and Pi both came from Last Hope back in 1996.



On to Knitting stuff....

I had to pick up my sweater before I had a chance or thought to photograph it all blocked out because I had to lock up the dogs in the office in case the contractors decided to wander by. (I'll tell you the saga of the remodel another time...its a freaking LOOOONG story....Suffice it to say they have been here since last October!!!) Anyway, no blocking photos. I sewed the raglan seams last night and hope to get the neck stitches completed tonight...with any luck there will be a picture of it here yet this week. Until then...here's a picture of the yarn before the project began.

Autumn is just around the Corner

It wasn't quite summer the last time I posted and now its only 3 weeks to the the Autumnal Equinox. I was driving to Target on Saturday and watching the joggers and dog walkers and bicylists and thinking how used to summer we become by the end of August. Seems we start to take it for granted even. Its at this time that the gardens and trees begin to look just a little weary and seem ready for a change. I love the changing of the seasosn; its in that small space of time when this change is poised that I feel renewed as nature reaffirms its dominance and control over all things great and small.

I'm also rejoicing because the Katia Mexico yarn tht I bought at Mary Lue's moving sale back in early spring has become a front, back and 2 sleeves of a sweater and is at this moment lying pinned to beach towels on my home office floor. I will be able to sew the raglan seams together later today and pick up some stitches for the neck edge and hopefully will resemble this...


Except in the Rust, Red, Brown and Black colorway....for Autumn.

Unfortunately, that has to wait as on this Labor Day I am working. :-S What the Hell! Oh, Well. I brought Traveler's Stocking #2 with me to keep me occupied during the slow periods today. Alas...its red yarn or magenta needles...Size 00 and I didn't bring my glasses! Its hard enough to get back into the groove with these socks after using sz 10 needles for the sweater....but the color and the size of the needles that the sock is on....Oy! I'm knitting from memory cuz I sure as heck can't really see what I'm doing!

Wondering what everyone else is knitting and if people have started their Christmas gift projects yet. I think I'm going to knit someone a hat and mittens with a matching dog sweater. I would love to do it in pink and white...but the dog is a boy...maybe something in a dusty apricot... :-)

I also wanted to try my hand at the Fiber Trends Felted slippers this year! Wonder how many pair I can make between now and christmas...

This November marks my 4th year knitting...I have to keep doing the math becuase it seems like I've been knitting for many years...but I picked up the needles for the first time on the Friday after Thanksgiving Day, 2003 at Zandy's Yarn Shop in Burnsville! My spare time has never been boring or idle since that day!

Sorry about the lack of photos with this post but my camera is at home today and I figured since I had time on my hands here I had better let my friends in cyberspace know I'm still alive. Pictures to come later! The cats are being catty....Dori had her first mousy playmate of the season on Saturday evening! Scampering around in the kitchen under the table with it. I have a picture (in the camera) of the wee visitor in DF's hand after rescue and before he took him/her across the street and released it back into the wilds of the wooded area surrounding the pond.

So stay tuned for pictures of sweater being blocked, mouse, cats, dogs and other asundry stuff later in the week!

Happy Labor Day to you all!