Happy September, Knitting Socks, and Reading On

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well.  I am so happy it is September now and love this time of the year with back to school and it is almost Fall.  I did buy Evan the clothes and backpack for starting in his new classroom and the cooler weather coming. I am happy with my purchase from Carters. This month we have some family get togethers and our Anniversary later in the month as well. Fall is my favorite season of the year and I am looking forward to decorating, having fall drinks, and some fun knitting project plans.

I have been working on knitting the first sock of the vanilla sock pattern from Meaghan Schmaltz on Ravelry. I am almost done knitting the leg of the sock and will work on the heel soon. It is a relaxing knit so far.

I have been continuing to read The Whole-Brain Child by Daniel Seigal and Doing it All by Whitney Casares. I will be ordering a book for Fall this week and will share it soon I would like to get into another fiction book.

Here is Millie sitting on the couch she was cleaning and was in a funny position. Evan is doing well and moving to the Toddler room this week! It will be an adjustment for all of us but he is so ready. 

Thank you for visiting my blog today! I hope that you have a great week!

Michaels Fall Yarn and Decor Haul

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Happy Monday! We got through the first day back at work or first day of the work week. It has been a lot cooler outside lately and the first day of Fall is on Monday September 23rd in Canada. It's time for warmer sweaters and jackets now and  I have been wearing cozy sweaters and socks again at home and cozy-ing up with a blanket on the couch. I went to Michaels craft store this weekend with my mom and sister and I bought some Fall decor and some yarn to knit a few fall related projects. Michaels always has such lovely seasonal decor, I always look forward to shopping at Michaels for Fall and Christmas decor at the start of the season. Right now they have a good sale on all Fall decor, so it is a good time to go stock up. I really enjoy putting up the fall decorations in our place and feel like it is more cozy now with the decorations I bought. I love everything about Fall, the crisp air, the pumpkins, and the falling orange and yellow leaves. I am excited that the Fall season is here and I got my first pumpkin spice latte on the weekend. 

My Michael's Fall haul

I bought orange yarn from Impeccable yarn by Loops and Threads for knitting some pumpkins. I love knitting pumpkins at this time of the year, they are fun knits and they make great decor. I bought some Bernat cotton yarn to knit up a special gift for my fiancé's mom for Thanksgiving which I will be sharing in October.  I love the look of all of the Fall colors of yarn together in orange, brown, red, and black.

Yarn colors of Fall

I bought the picture below that says "hello Fall". There was such a good variety of pictures like this one at Michaels it was hard to choose and I wanted to take them all home. But I really love this picture and how it looks and stands up. It is perfect for the top of my shelf in the living room. The white pumpkin goes well by the picture's side.

I like the look of white pumpkins and neutral colored pumpkins are popular this season. The pumpkin I bought below is considered a "craft pumpkin" on the Michael's website, so you can decorate it as well and have fun with it. I will be leaving my pumpkin white.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope that you are enjoying Fall so far too! Please leave a comment below to say hello :)

Finished Knitted Bat, Decorating for Halloween, and Reading On

Hello friends,

I hope you are doing well. This weekend, I spent time with my family, and catching up and going for a birthday dinner since my birthday was at Thanksgiving and we get busy with having the holiday dinner.

I have finished knitting this little bat for Halloween. I used a pattern that I found on Ravelry called Violet the Little Bat. It is a very simple pattern, and great for beginner knitters too! I wanted a quick and fun project for Halloween and it was the perfect project for me right now and so adorable.

First, I knitted the body and head by knitting in the round and increasing stitches, then decreasing stitches when getting to the bat's head. Then I moved onto the ears which were also knitted in the round to make the ears fuller. I did not add stuffing to the ears though as it is not requested in the pattern. Then for the wings, I still used the circular needles but did not knit in the round for the pattern. I added the eyes with some gray yarn sewn on with my darning needle. You can make your eyes using a different color and knit the body a different color from the wings if you prefer. There are many possibilities with making this project your own and being creative.

Bat hanging up on wall. I used one of the ends of yarn from sewing the wings on the body to create a loop to hang the bat.

I have been continuing to work on sewing the 3timesChic sweater seams as well. I am working on sewing the second side now and then I will be working on the neck edging. If you would like to read the entries I have written over the year about knitting my first sweater, please click here.

Sweater in progress

I decorated the apartment for Halloween and fall today. I had a few out already but it takes a little bit more time to take them all out and put them around. I just kept the decorating to our living room and put a few of my favorites on shelves. I don't really have a lot of decorations right now with little storage space.

Below are two pumpkins from Michael's that I bought last year, and the cat with a sign saying "trick or Treat" from the Milton farm craft fair a couple of years ago.

Pumpkin patch

I knitted the pumpkin below last year and it was really fun to knit up! You can see last year's post and how to make the pumpkin here.

Squishy pumpkin

This is my favorite Halloween decoration I own. I have had this small haunted house since I was a child. I am pretty sure I bought it from the dollar store but it is still in good shape other than the one ghost missing a head! But I guess that can make it even spookier! I like how it opens up to show inside the house as well, these are so fun for kids and adults too.

Haunted house, opens up to show many spooky inhabitants

I enjoy decorating for each holiday and it adds to the fun of celebrating. Will you be decorating your home for Halloween this year? And what are your favourites?

I am still reading My Not so Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella and Mercy for Animals by Nathan Runkle on my online Overdrive account. I have been reading them on my phone, which makes them easier to bring them along with me wherever I go and have some time to read. The books I am reading are both so interesting and I will be trying to read more of them before they both are due very soon and will go back to their lengthy hold lists.

Joining along with Frontier Dreams for Crafting On, AskatKnits for Unwraveled Wednesday, and The Little Room of Rachael for Yarning Along.  What are you working on and reading this week?

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Have a great day!

Fall Craft Show, Knitting Progress, and Reading On

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I had a wonderful weekend, spending time with my family and my boyfriend's family. Yesterday, I went to the Milton Farm Craft Show that they put on every year. There were so many wonderful things to look at and this year I bought a couple lovely things. I bought a ceramic berry bowl for my boyfriend's stepmother for her birthday. I also purchased some beautiful, soft alpaca sock yarn from Alpaca Time. I am so excited to get started on knitting socks with this yarn. My sister who crochets, also purchased some yarn to crochet a hat. It was an exciting find for us. I loved our trip there this year and looking forward to going to more upcoming craft fairs in the Winter hopefully.

Yarn I purchased from Alpaca Time at the craft show

Just a few of the many stalls set up at the show

Me with some craft show finds

In knitting, I have been working on knitting up the first stocking as part of the project for this Christmas to have handknit stockings for my boyfriend and I. I am using the Jumbo Christmas Stockings pattern on Ravelry. It is a fun, fast knit and I love working with big, chunky needles and thick yarn around this time of the year when it is getting a bit cooler. I am liking the way the stocking is looking so far, except I added an extra row in by accident right after working on the gusset but I think it isn't too noticeable.

 The sweater is still in a standstill and I must work on taking the seam out on the left sleeve and redoing it. I definitely want my next sweater not to include sewing pieces together at the end as many people have said it is more enjoyable that way.

I am still reading the book Love the Wine You're With by Kim Gruenenfelder. I am liking it but haven't been setting aside time to read due to being distracted by school starting up again and different things. I will try to read a little bit each day so I can enjoy the book. I have also still been reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. I am on the chapter about paper and have been going through paper of mine and find that the book is helping so much to help me toss more things than I have before because we really hold onto things we don't need thinking we'll read it one day when we never do. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the book and working through all of the items and having less stuff around. 

Joining along with Frontier Dreams for Crafting On, AsKatKnits for Unwraveled Wednesday, and The Little Room of Rachell for Yarning Along. 

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today! If you would like to keep updated on when I post, please follow me on Bloglovin', Google Followers, or you can subscribe by email at the top right corner for updates to your email. 

Have a great day!

Pumpkin Spice Smoothie Recipe and Knitting Progress

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Today is the Labour Day holiday in Canada and my boyfriend and I are relaxing today, going out for lunch with his mom, and getting ready for another week ahead. I also tried a new smoothie recipe I am excited about. I became interested in making smoothies in the summer and they were and still are my go-to for breakfast. I really love having the Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie in the morning and the Ultimate Busy Family Smoothie from Kiwi & Bean, they are my go-to smoothies right now to start my day off right. With fall approaching, I was feeling the usual craving for a pumpkin spiced latte or Frappucino from Starbucks and it got me thinking that maybe I could find a healthy smoothie recipe to satisfy my craving. I found a recipe from Andie Mitchell's blog for a healthy sugar-free pumpkin spice smoothie. She found the recipe in Jordan Younger's book Breaking Vegan. I was excited to try this recipe because I love having pumpkin spice flavored drinks and this recipe is also sugar-free, so it is also a lot less calories than your typical pumpkin spice drink. This smoothie was so tasty and filling, and satisfied my craving for pumpkin spice drinks. If you are craving a healthy version of your pumpkin spice latte or Frappucino, this recipe is for you.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• ½ cup pumpkin puree mod: 3/4 cup (I added 3/4 cups for taste and color)
• 1 cup fresh spinach or kale/ mod 1/2 cup (I added only 1/2 cup because the first time I made it, it tasted too much like spinach and it turned green)
• 1 tablespoon almond butter (I used peanut butter)
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• ½ cup ice
• a few pinches cinnamon
• 1 scoop plant-based vanilla protein powder, optional (recommended: vanilla Vega One)
• 1 teaspoon chia seeds, optional

Blend all the ingredients and enjoy! This recipe would be perfect for snack in the afternoon to give you a boost and to drink while reading under a cozy blanket. I am looking forward to getting my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the year, I am also looking forward to making pumpkin pie and eating pumpkin muffins. What kinds of drinks and treats do you like to have at this time of the year? Let me know in the comments below!

Recipe from Andiemitchell.com

In knitting news, I have been knitting the second sock and love how quickly it is coming along. I am knitting socks using the Patons Spiral sock pattern which I found on Ravelry. I should have the socks done this week at this rate. I will be happy to have one of my Christmas gifts knitted in September. I will also be starting another gift this month so I will have to start thinking about gift ideas. For the 3timeChic sweater, I am starting to take out the seams on the one side I completed. I realized that I did not sew the seam correctly the first time and it was tight under my arm so I will be starting that part over. I will share my progress with you sometime during this week.

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Have a great day!