Imagination is pale and fragile,
Dreams grip with a false reality.
Imagination can build bridges,
Dreams can deceive.
Deng Ming~Dao

It's no secret that my ADD gets the best of me at times, so I have learned that while I am dreaming of that sweater I can see myself wearing if I do not swatch….I usually run into trouble.

I have been busy working on the less exciting parts of knitting which is swatching.  I am swatching a new yarn, Neshobe, with the needle sizes that would be usually recommended and also swatching for a looser knit sweater, Helvetica, with a larger needle in 2 different yarn bases.

An example of my ADD brain is that I frequently do not read directions carefully.  I have been diligently working on my Morning Coffee sweater.  I finished the back, the sleeves and both fronts while we were on vacation, but then came the moment……….crap!

I am using Amy Herzog's Custom Fit, which is a wonderful program, but you have to remember to go back and forth between the pattern and the custom pattern and I totally missed that I needed to keep the first 8 stitches in moss stitch.  In my mind I was thinking I would have to pick up the button band and then there was that OH NO moment.  Yes, Kim, you need to read directions slowly.
I ripped out both fronts on the beach and have been slowly working my way back.  The second front is almost finished now and I should be wearing this sweater soon. 🙂

In addition to the knitting, I have been working on pictures for my website.  This is a glimpse of my finished Moon Shadows Shawl that I will talk about more next week.  I love Ashley's little Indigo Moon that works so perfectly with this Moon Shadows Shawl designed by the very talented Romi.

Last year, I had the opportunity to work with Elizabeth Doherty of Blue Bee Studio, and what a fun adventure it has been!  I love her work and I love that I get to call her friend.

Elizabeth was one of the talented designers who designed a pattern for last year's "Once Upon A Time" yarn club choosing Rumpelstiltskin as her fairy tale and created the most beautiful hat spun out of a golden yarn and named it "Into Gold".  I fell in love with the hat and Elizabeth fell in love with the stitch pattern…thus the e-book, Metal Works was created.

All of the designs feature a similar stitch design along with the lovely coin stitch that edges these "Copperline" mitts.  All of the designs were knit with our DK weight yarn Emma and one of the shawls that you see above was also knit with Opal in the larger size.  (more about the shawl in a bit)

Then there was another fun hat called "Antimony".…I really love this one, especially with the fun pom-poms on the ends.  Shown here in the Silver Fox colorway, created just for this hat.

If you like something fast and easy, while still stylish….these "Redox" boot cuffs are the perfect choice.  I think even this painfully slow knitter could crank these out in a weekend!

Last but not least is my favorite design in the group…."Rose Gold".
Knit here in the Rose Quartz Colorway, this shawl knit with Emma is just beautiful.
This is the smaller sized version of the shawl.  I know what I will be knitting this fall…I love it!

Shown here in Opal is the larger version and again, such a beautiful, beautiful design!

You can purchase this e-book here on Ravelry
…and you can visit Elizabeth's page here…it's a beautiful website.
~
Thank you Elizabeth!!

Friday's Sparkle is brought to you by the start of Football Season and a sparkling win for our New England Patriots!  Go Pats!!

It is also my birthday and a day that is and will probably remain an internal struggle for me and all of the others who share their day on September 11th.
It's hard to find the right balance between celebration and mourning, but it can be found.
Life is short and while we may wander and get lost we have to go back to the places that ground us, especially in times of tragedy. 
Next Friday, I will share my grounding place and what a Sparkly day it was indeed!
My heart and prayers are with the families who are missing their loved ones today.

Oh, I'm bein' followed by a moonshadow, moonshadow, moonshadow
Leapin and hoppin' on a moonshadow, moonshadow, moonshadow

Pattern:  Moon Shadows
Designer:  Rosemary Hill
Yarn:  Woolen Rabbit Opal
Colorway:  Rose Quartz and Figgy Pudding

I have to admit that this shawl has been finished for quite some time, but because I loathe blocking shawls, it has been patiently waiting.  Seriously though, this was one of the easier shawls I have blocked, so why did I wait so long?
Can you see it??? I just groaned when I saw the hole. Thankfully it is not a bunch of dropped stitches, so it should be an easy fix.

This has been one of my most favorite knits.  Romi is a genius when it comes to pattern designing.  I love her charts and clear explanations.  I was truly sad when this shawl came to an end.  It was like reading the best book or spending time with a friend.  A true joy to work on.

As you can see, the details in this shawl are exquisite.  I will be heading up to Plymouth with Ken to help Hannah with a few things in her apartment this weekend so I am hoping to snag Ashley for a little bit of modeling, as she lives close by.  More to come soon.
~
Thank you Romi!

Carole says…."When it’s a holiday weekend, the Ten On Tuesday topic is 10 Things I Did This Weekend." Ready?
I'm ready!

1.  Ok, so this picture completely cracks me up and if you saw the comment war between my son and his best friend, it would have made your weekend…ha!

2.  The picture above was taken during our family Labor Day party on Sunday.  I am kind of working backwards here.  Sunday before Saturday, but this was just to rich not to start off with.  I love the stink eye my littlest grandson is giving here…ha!  Both boys are just so precious!

3.  So…Friday night, our usual dinner at the Moat.  Sufficiently Lemon Dropped by my best bartender friend, Sherri.

4.  Up and out early for a Tai Chi class in Bridgeton, Maine.  It's a little bit of a haul, but traveling with friends and the reward that we get from the class is worth it!

5.  Weeding out and clipping back the dead heads in my flower garden.  God bless my flowers, they are thriving in spite of me.

6. Playing Bananagram with Ken after dinner Saturday night.  I worry about my aging brain, so I am determined to fight genetics….and I have completely remembered why I so loved some of these games after years of refusing to play.  Silly me!

7. Trying out a fancy Pinterest appetizer on the fly.  Um…no.  They may have tasted good, but they were U.G.L.Y.

8.  Eating too many of those Pinterest apps even though I knew they were full of things that would make me groan the next day. (and I did)

9.  A Labor day spent not laboring, but rather relaxing on the beach after the morning chores were finished.  The beach was full of red tide and kind of gross….but you can never steal away the sounds of the waves and seagulls.  It is a sound that my heart will always remember and love.

10.  Embracing the end of summer and getting ready for the amazing season that is coming.

Don't be afraid to explore;
Without exploration there are no discoveries.
Don't be afraid of partial solutions;
Without the tentative there is no accomplishment.
Deng Ming~Dao

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind.  We were on vacation for 10 days and the last few days were spent playing catch up in the studio, so I haven't been here for a spell.

Over the last week, I have been visited by 5 Blue Herons.  If I lived on the coast, it would not feel so spectacular, but 2 of those Blue Herons have flown right over my head up here in the mountains this week.
Having never seen more than one up here many years ago it has been such a treat.

Now that summer is coming to a slow close and life settles into a more regular pattern, I will be here more often and look forward to visiting with you again.
~
Have a wonderful weekend in your corner of the world.

Relaxation
Is total peace.
When you relax completely, there is total silence.  No thoughts enter the mind, no problems arise from the body, no memories grip the spirit.  This overwhelming sense of tranquility is really all meditation is about.  The neutral stillness of the mind renews the tired soul, and this is regeneration.
Deng Ming~Dao

I love the quote and lesson above, but it is hard to totally disengage in today's world of social media, isn't it?  I gave it my best shot this weekend though. 
Many of you know that Ken took a 4 day trip to visit his Mom, so I filled my days once I was done with work with things that make me smile.
One day I packed my beach bag that is an unusually cool free gift from Estee Lauder with all of the fixings that I needed to keep myself busy at the Ocean.  Knitting, a book, some lunch and a towel….what more does a girl need?  Oh, yes, and some sunscreen.

I spent Saturday morning at my Tai Chi class and finished the rest of the day at a beautiful lake spot here in NH with some old and new friends.  I don't usually step outside my semi-introverted comfort zone, but I am so glad that I did this day!
Thank you Donna!

It just happened to be a beautiful weekend that allowed me to finish each of my days with a glass of wine, a dip in my humble little pool and a good amount of time dedicated to reading and knitting.  I managed to finish a book, soak and block a shawl and almost finish a sweater.

These are the days that we look forward in the North Country.  Warm sunny days filled with good friends, good food and time to enjoy the outside.  As I was sitting outside however as the calendar changed on August first, I noticed the sounds of the seasons.
The chirp of the peepers have changed to the chirps of the crickets.
…These are the days, we'll remember…
Natalie Merchant

Last night we had the kiln opening party at the League of NH Craftsman and it was a fun time.  Everyone brings a little appetizer and some wine..and we get to ooh and aah over everyone's work.
It's so interesting to see how different each person's work is and how people progress over time.
It was also nice to see some of the girls who were in my first set of classes again.

This was my favorite piece and that little splash was actually an oops, but it's an oops I will remember how to do next time.  I've been watching a lot of videos online about throwing and glazing and I am looking forward to now start working in Open Studio classes. 🙂

Sun and moon divide the sky,
Fragrance blooms on pear wood bones.
Earth awakens with a sigh.
Wanderer revels on the path alone.
Deng Ming~Dao

Many of you know that in the month of May I followed the Whole30 plan to find out if there was a food group that was an inflammation trigger for me and to perhaps shed a few pounds as well.
It was HARD because the list of what you couldn't eat was much larger than the list of what you could eat, but I felt a huge sense of accomplishment when I finished it and took off 18 pounds in the process.

As I added in each food group, none of them really bothered me very much other than what I suspected could be a trigger for me.  White flour products, which I tend to avoid knowing how they make me feel anyways.
Another thing I jump started again was my walking program.  With the frigid winter behind us, I was happy to tie on the sneakers and head out in the mornings again and so far for the most part I do get out 4 mornings a week and walk anywhere from 2-4 miles.  It makes me smile because I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to do this again with the back pain that I know will always be a part of my life, but right now for the most part it is a quiet part of my life thankfully.

I am so fortunate to live in such a beautiful place that my daily walk is never a chore, especially on those days when the sun is shinning and the humidity is low.  I look forward to seeing the walking companions along the way, such as the cows above, the field where the Percherons graze and the little chicken hens that frequently greet me.
It is an quiet countryside that I enjoy walking alone on.  It gives me time to think about things that might be troubling me, to celebrate what might be making me happy at the time, or to just be still and take in the beauty that surrounds me.
…it always makes me think of my most favorite song….."What a Wonderful World".

Since May, I have taken off 27 pounds and my blood pressure is at the point where I don't think I will need the meds any longer, but best of all, I feel so much better.
I highly recommend the Whole30 program, not so much for losing weight, but learning about the food that we eat.  I have learned so much over the last few months and I think I am making much better choices now.  I give myself the weekends to cheat a little, but only a little.
It's been a learning journey. 🙂