The yarn is soft and fluffy, very different than the sleek & smooth Cascade of the red scarf. This picture is taken from the master bedroom, on the deck where I hang out our laundry on our double deluxe clothesline.
watching the Red Wings beat Chicago, especially when the pattern is the easy drop stitch scarf. It is knitting up fast and looks great, plus very fun to knit while watching hockey! Go Wings!!!!!
pattern I wanted to try, she asked if I could make it out of the new red Cascade Cash Vera that I'd found on sale at Cultured Purls, our local yarn shop. I cast on, and the pattern didn't work for me, as the triple yarn over was hard to drop on the next row, as it was hard to identify.. and soon I had lots of gaps and the wrong number of stitches... so I went back to the tried & true drop stitch scarf pattern and made real progress the first night! The yarn has cashmere in it, so it is very soft and good to work with. It is a cranberry red color, and H likes it so far!
over Memorial Weekend. How did we celebrate this year? Same as we have for many years, we planted our garden this weekend. Geraniums in the front (because the slugs don't like them) plus my cosmos in the wine barrels. Also two new Rosemary plants in another wine barrel, and replaced two of the Daphne that didn't make it through our winter. The Daphne that my man & kids planted for Mother's Day are smelling so very sweet, so it was easy to get more for the front. Plus my man and E planted a hanging basket, with moss against the wire basket, and lots of plants inside, all ones that E picked out on Friday. It looks great by the front door! I also planted Jerry's Browallia in a pot by the front door as well. It should be covered with deep blue flowers soon. We also began planting the tower garden pots off the back deck. More cherry & Roma tomatoes, plus basil, spinach and more strawberries to fill in where some of the strawberry plants had not made it through the winter.
soon can you be ready?" Well, I said, "10 minutes" knowing that I had nothing "easy" to knit in the car for the road trip... so I dashed downstairs to get the hand spun llama that I'd purchased in Sisters, Oregon, and grabbed my yellow needles and off we went. H had said this morning she'd like a scarf out of this, so that was good pre-planning on our part. What we hadn't planned that I'd get to cast on so quickly, as I'd not wound it into a ball yet. So we quickly wound up one of the two skeins of Candy Cane Llama... and this is what I was able to cast on and knit on the way to & from Home Depot...
that one?) it gets even better. I am enjoying the weather and working in the garden, listening to a lawn mower in the distance, smelling the fresh cut grass and Daphne plants in the front yard, loving our house with the big yard, and hearing the chickens in the side yard, Richie crowing like a nut and Jed crowing to keep up with Richie.... and then....
in brown and tan alpaca. I told her when I finished it that it was a birthday gift for someone else, but apparently she wanted to be sure that it was a good hat, in working order, and fully functional....before wrapping it up for a birthday gift...
music in the movie better than the original ABBA singing, although they like ABBA well enough. I saw Mamma Mia during our February Knitting Weekend, and all of us had a great time singing and dancing right along with the movie... just like my kids did when they saw it.... sort of defies the generation gap....as no matter what age, we all sing & dance to ABBA songs..... when my 14 year old was "google image" for Mamma Mia pictures, this one came up and I laughed out loud. Unfortunately, it didn't make any sense to her... not ever seeing a James Bond movie, or other movie with Meryl Streep....
finally done! The best 4 letter word in knitting! DONE!!!! The hat turned out perfect, and very soft, and I had enough of the alpaca in both colors to finish it...all good news...
found one yet...but I'm still looking (if you know of one, please let me know). This is the yellow bamboo and multi textured Chico yarn, and it is knitting up beautifully. I think it will match with everything in H's spring & summer wardrobe!
Lady Bird's breed is Silver Laced Wyandotte and she growing so fast.
I think she likes my lace!
Friends know what friends need, and that is the really great news about friends. We have a good buddy that has a warped and wonderful sense of humor. His quirks include: hates Styx, hates ABBA, hates Air Supply, hates Hallmark, hates clowns...... so when he is having a bad day (or week) we know just what he needs... a few years back he was fighting cancer, and his sweet wife was fighting cancer and there were some dark days. His sweet wife called Ms. M to say that he was having a very dark week.... so we knew what we needed to do.... Send In The Clowns.. and we did..... We have another amazing friend that owns a consignment shop, so we took our lunch break 
to get into these amazing outfits from her shop and drive to his home...Check out the red shoes ~ they ARE Dorothy's shoes, they really are... they were magic!!! 
knit as it is the 4 row pattern in the Yarn Girls book. The other bonus is that H is picking out yarn from my stash that work well in scarves, and these yarns have long since been forgotten my me...so they have a new lease on life as a knitted garment... good news, all around! This catchy little number is yellow bamboo (looks peach in the picture, but really is yellow) and a multi textured yarn called Chico.... I had a ball & a half left from a hat for Jen, several years back, and I still like all the colors.... the scarf looks beautiful, all the colors of spring ~ yellow, green, blue, pink, violet....
continues, with another scarf for H. This one is another stash buster, out of Patons Brilliance which is a real fuzzy white, plus a very skinny purple with a bit of glitter thread intertwined. I've doubled the purple, and it is still hard to see anything but the white fuzzy... but, H likes it, so that is the most important... plus it is a stash buster, so that is a bonus!!!!
grass smell. I'm listening to a great book through my ear buds, and I have a cup of coffee on the table next to me. Shadow, our cat, is here with me, she is very curious about my knitting and sniffs it, and rubs her head on it... it is soft knitting, so I don't blame her from wanting to feel the velvety texture... and here is my view... our delightful clothes line full of clean clothes that are going to smell like the perfect day!
how to move slowly and breathe deeply and balance with intent and purpose. We were told to relax fully and focus on the smallest details of our movements, the air passing over our forearms, our shoulders dropping when relaxed, our fingers loose, our hip joint flexed, our balance even..... it was relaxing and we know we need to practice, as any good relaxation technique needs to be practiced.... as we left the gym with our water bottles, D says to me, "How about a trip to Cultured Purls on the way back to work?" Well, there is another relaxation technique that we need to keep practicing.... shopping in our local yarn store! She found the lace turbos she needed, and I found some red cashmere on sale and some creamy silk blend on sale! Practice makes perfect!
off. That is just a quick introduction to her, as I know I've talked about her before. At our Yarn Yoga this week, she asked the group if she could, "make a presentation" and we all looked a bit quizzical.... as there are not a lot of "presentations" made at our Yarn Yoga events.... She pulled out 4 little bags and presented one to each of us... and in each were a pair of darling sheep. They are earrings, and as cute as can be! She had seen the beads at her last visit to Shipwreck Beads, and had to buy all of them to make earrings for her knitting pals! I love the green noses!
matched with these bright yellow needles. I am beginning to understand why some like to knit with colored needles as they do add more interest to one's knitting. Especially if they are sunshine yellow!!! I am almost ready for casting off!
smaller gauge than the previous Miski scarf, so the tactile feeling is much different while knitting. The fabric looks very different too, much closer knit and solid, not the 'hole' or lacy look as much as the Miski scarf. I am enjoying this knitting project as it is fast and easy to see the progress. I really like how fast it is moving!
the yarn blend is two strands of bamboo yarn and one strand of multi green shiny flags. Mix these great colors with these amazing yellow needles and we have a feast of spring colors! Perfectly matched with our sweet little yellow chicken on our fireplace hearth.
a creamy vanilla color, and mixed with shades of dark green flags. This scarf turned out just perfectly!
next. There are so many beautiful patterns available, and with spring in the air (finally) there are so many possibilities for warm weather knits. I must admit that I've not opened my new Interweave Knits magazine yet, as I'm worried it will send me into a "new pattern frenzy" as happened with the First Page of the last Interweave Knits magazine. I saw this pattern for a lacey wrap, and thought it would be great out of my Cascade Cloud 9 in bright green. Wouldn't that look great?
so soft and fun to work with, and I think it will be lovely when done... it just seems like sweaters and tops take sooooo long....
Mariners, featured this week on the front page of the Seattle Times. He teaches Sunday School at our church and the curriculum is Heroes and Miracles. Here he is, our hero, pictured with my miracles.
middle when you think you just can't continue.... this one is lacey and easy, and finished with such instant gratification that I believe I will start another one very soon! This one is Miski by Mirasol 100% llama that I bought at the Sewing Expo, at Roberta's Fiber etc., plus some deep green "flags" that H really likes. She picked the creamy Miski too ~ she is fabulous at picking out color combinations.
birthday treats today, perhaps she will blog about them....
sure where the time goes, yes ~ such a cliche, but still the years have gone by so fast it seems. We have a lot of fun together (I think) and have a lot of laughs as well. I noticed that she has been wearing my silk scarf that I dyed at the Sewing Expo (taught by Roberta), plus she wore my knitted silk scarf to school this past week....interesting turn of events to have her wearing my creations. I asked if she would like me to knit her a scarf of her own for her birthday, and I showed her some yarn that I thought she would like... she liked it, but found another one in my stash that she liked better (I'm glad I asked for her opinion!) and I cast on.... Gosh, casting on is such a magical feeling, I really needed to cast on a new project this week!!! Ahhhh, like a breath of fresh air!!!
here on the Pacific Northwest. Today's game was a major bummer, loosing in triple overtime. Triple overtime is almost like playing another entire game ~ those boys were tired skaters! By the time I was able to watch the game, the first overtime had just begun, and I was able to knit only when the whistle blew... as the skating was too exciting to not be glued to the action on the TV. This picture is taken at the second overtime.....
was having trouble with the wrap & turn of the heel, as the pattern wasn't written clearly. On our lunch break, we went outside to the picnic table, under the sun umbrella and she knit while I read the directions. It was a great break, as really felt like we were getting out of the office and into a relaxing place. Ms M figured it out immediately, as she is incredibly bright in all these ways, including figuring out knitting techniques (I wished I had taken a video of how she knit the wee heel turn as it was something great to watch). I pondered heel turns for the rest of the work day, and pulled out my Tofutsies when I arrived home. I figured out that I stopped at the beginning of the gusset, so I pulled out my dearly loved Queen Kahuna book and started the gusset...
perhaps even paid to knit at work....this would be great. I'm not saying that I want to knit for a living - no, not that.... but to be paid to knit, to have those 10 hour days full of yarn & knitting, and then come home....well, waking up to my real world, I do not get to knit at work. So, I have done what others in my fantasy world have done. I made a great screen saver on my computer made up of fun yarn & knitting pictures that I found on the Knit Picks website. Then I can see the beautiful images scrolling through and I can dream of knitting while I'm on the phone, or thinking of that next work related inspiration. They are really great little "knitting breaks" in the midst of my work day!
wonderful and soft and just what you were hoping for. Buying yarn can be a scientific experiment, so we should try new yarns and then report back to the greater public as a community service to all. A selfless test to further the education and enlightenment of those around us....Yes, I recommend buying a small amount, just as an experiment ~ plus, it is really great for our economy.
