Pinwheel Sweater-To-Be.

I cast on with the green last night. It was 1)very hard to start on four size eight doublepointers with two stitches on each and 2) very hard to put down. I'm going to alternate solid colors with the variegated as the circle widens out. Should look pretty cool.

I still need to spin up about two more skeins of yarn but I'm close enough to start. I want this done while I can still wear it!

another nota bene

I've finally gotten around to posting my amazon associates link in the sidebar. It's been languishing on an unused comcast user page for the past several years. If you feel the need to buy anything on Amazon, I'd greatly appreciate it if you'd start your search there!

Thanks.

Not much new...

Just trying to get by day to day.

The weather's turning and I'm trying to get enthused about the yard.

We got our first daffodils this week, and that was exciting. Quite the little gathering of mini-daffs and crocuses out front.

I sat outside spinning today for about two hours. It was great. The dogs got hopelessly tangled up around the tree at least four times, then I found out that the neighborhood yellow jackets are also waking up and I haven't dealt with their nests yet. So it was back inside. I hate having to get rid of them but I'm allergic-one sting from a wasp of any kind could put me in the hospital and I can't afford that.

It's still very muddy out, but Lake Fritz out in the back yard has pretty much dried up. The grass is coming in nice and green now, and you can really tell that everything's waking up. Yesterday, I watched a hawk chase two crows out of the woods. He was honking and quacking almost like a duck, I've never heard a hawk make such noises, but it was definitely him. I wonder if we'll have baby hawks this year? Sure hope so. We have a nest of black capped chickadees under the front porch awning, too. I put a feeder there for them, but the only birds I've seen in the feeder have been cardinals. Bold things. The cats sit on the piano and just watch the birds on the feeder, fascinated. Another case of not having the camera ready when the opportunity arises.

I made socks for the kids for spring. I'm also working on socks for my mother, and spinning the last couple of skeins for the pinwheel sweater. I'm hoping to get it done before it's completely too hot to wear a sweater! It'll definitely be an outerwear type thing, I'm going to invent pockets for it and figure out a unique closure if I can. Might consult my mother on that one.

Here's the kids' socks.

Anna's used the "overlapping waves" pattern.


And Lena's were cabled. They both liked them a great deal.

Saturday was the "baby shower" for the Western PA Wildlife Center. We went for an hour or so, it was chilly and raining off and on.


They seemed to have a decent turnout in spite of it.



Well, back to spinning. No profound thoughts today, just gratitude for the warmth and the flowers and the sunshine and all the things that are good and right in my life.

long past time

Well, it's been a while. And as you can see, I lost patience with the other format. Actually, lost patience isn't quite the phrase I was seeking. What was it again? Oh yeah. Hate. I just dislike this one, active hatred isn't part of it. What makes me upset is all the wasted space over on the right of the screen that could be used as part of my text block, and I'm not 1) competent or 2) resourceful enough to fix. I've sent it to the resident computer expert, AKA Mr. Buttercup, to see if he can do anything with it.

This week has been somewhat hectic. Number two daughter was in for her spring break. I took her to Knit One and let her experience it. I also got her a kit for this.



Cute, huh? She did it in one evening watching television. I told her she can avail herself of some of my sugar and cream cotton if she wants to make another one.

I've been making socks like a crazy woman. I finished my Jaywalkers, finally, after ripping them back three times. (I was doing the double decrease wrong and it looked wonky.) I could not be happier with these socks.



They're heavenly soft, and they fit. The colors are amazing. The pattern is so easy that I immediately cast on another pair, with some modifications.

This is Knitpicks Sock Memories in S'Mores. Instead of doing a knit front and back for the increases, I'm doing yarn overs. It should make for a stretchier leg.

All in all, it's been a week or so of successfully ripping out things and making other things out of them. The lace stole I started is in good progress at being a different, slightly narrower lace stole/scarf, and needs a few more rows before it's worthy of a picture, but it's coming along well. I've also done some spinning, some blue and green for the sweater project, and an alpaca/silk blend that was pure therapy spinning.

Really, though, I'm delighted just to have broken the ice for patterned socks. Not really that hard, after all! So much so, that I started Ostara Socks for the girls.
Lena's got one already made, in a simple cable pattern. I need her to try it on, though, before I make the second one, to make sure it fits.


The actual color falls somewhere between these two.



For Anna's, I'm using the pattern "Overlapping waves" from the stitch dictionary that I have.


I'm doing the heel flap now and haven't decided if I'm going to continue the pattern down the foot or not. I'm kinda doing the math as I go, if it looks too complicated to continue the pattern I'll drop it.


Bob brought me some wonderful roses for International Women's Day on Friday. He's a nice guy. And the roses are spectacular.

Things are waking up in the yard. We had a couple of good "sit outside and go aaaah" days over the weekend. Unfortunately, I'm having some vertigo issues with the change in weather. Not sure if it's allergies, congestion, or what, but I'm decidedly off-balance.

Figment got to spend some time outside, as well.


We've had a good week and a half with Anna. She's pretty good company, when all is said and done. We've watched some good movies, I've cooked some darned good dinners, and we've continued to improve our relationship as mother and daughter. Easy to forget that those kinds of relationships need ongoing work too... how I wish MY mother would remember that sometimes. She never, ever calls me, she says it's up to me to call her since I'm the daughter. It's so hard not to be stubborn with her.

I don't have a whole lot else to say. I'm tired, dizzy, and not looking forward to going to work tomorrow, so I think I'm going to let this Meclazine take hold and go to bed early. Until next time...