I have mentioned before how much I love Toast.  And this latest catalog was fantastic.  Of course, there were a couple of photos that really caught my eye.
Ahhh...I love this photo.  And what cool knit is she wearing on her arms?
And then there was this photo.  And look at her gloves.  I loved those, too.  But why buy them, when we can all whip them up ourselves?!

Can you feel it? Oh, I can, and I am so happy. Happy to have the crisp air. The extra blankets on beds. The pumpkins at the markets. The treasures from nature.
I found these little gumdrops placed on a table by one of my children.  Definitely not Charlie. Maybe Andrew.  Probably Libby.  Those made me happy too.

Geez. You all are the best. Thank you so much for Charlie's birthday wishes. We appreciate each and every one of them. So much. Thirteen really does seem big. I am still trying to digest the fact that I have a thirteen year old.
I have made some progress on Libby's sweater.  Keep in mind this is being modeled on my adult dress form that oddly enough has the same shoulder width as my ten year old.  I sure hope you all didn't think that I was going to add all of the cables like the mini Boden sweater.  Nope. Way too much thought would have had to go into that.  But I think that I accomplished the swing design that I was going for.  I think.
I have fiddled with the sleeves so much.  Hopefully I am on track now.

Thirteen balloons,
thirteen candles,
with thirteen stripes (completely coincidental),
placed on a chocolate cake,
for a very special boy, who turned 13 yesterday. 

Hi there. I'm back.
                                flowers courtesy of noreen

So yesterday it was all about the linens.  Organizing and folding them.  I was so happy to see a sheet that we don't use.  With a cute top.  Well you know, that sort of put me back on the sidetrack trail. 
Next thing you know, I was gathering the necessary materials to make another pair of lounge pants.   Because everyone needs a new pair for the fall. 

This is my "go to" mitt pattern.  This pattern is totally unisex so feel free to make them for your man and let him know you are going to borrow them!  I have made them for my sisters and made them for friends. I sometimes put a stripe of a contrasting color in the ribbing.  But a super easy pattern that requires little brain power.  I like that.  Sometimes that is exactly the project I need.

I'm having trouble staying focused lately. Maybe it is because I don't have a plan to my day. And my lists are so long I just seem to hop from one thing to another. Like yesterday, for instance. I had a huge list. With a lot of things that needed to be done. So, there I was moving right along. I had a package I needed to mail, but needed the address. So I hopped onto the computer to get it. Next thing I knew, I was reading blogs. Hopped onto Parikha's blog. To wish her a Happy Birthday. (It was Theresa's Birthday, too!) Saw the peanut butter cups she made.
Next thing I knew I was in the kitchen.  Measuring the ingredients.  You know.  Because, making cookies for cookie of the week was on the list, too.  This could be considered a cookie, right?
Then I was getting the twine.  To wrap Libby's for school.  I knew she would like this.  The boys, not so much.  Put theirs in a plastic bag.  
Darn recipe only makes twelve.  Two for each of the children for after school.  One for each of the children to pack in the lunch boxes.  That leaves three.  Um, yeah.  They are delicious.  Note to self......double recipe next time.
Also on the list.  Knit another pair of these gloves.  Writing down exactly what I do as I go along.  And on the list for Monday......post the pattern.

Yep. It is that time of year again. When I start thinking about the sweaters to make for my kids for the Christmas card photo. Last year was perhaps the last year.  My mother gives me that look like....are you sure you want to put Charlie (who is soon to be thirteen....yikes) in a sweater handmade by his mommy...look.  And maybe last year should have been the last year. But I can't seem to let it go. I have been doing it for eleven years....it is just sort of part of us now.  The problem is, patterns for that age group are just so hard to find.   
I found the yarn I want to use.  And it is so lovely!  All tweedy, and cool, yes?  I plan on using the light grey for Andrew.  The charcoal grey for Charlie.  And I am thinking vests.  Tweedy, cool vests.  Yes?
I couldn't find a pattern for Libby either.  So I pulled a couple combinations together.