You don't need to speak Icelandic. . .

 . . . to appreciate the wooden spoon trick.

For my little Knitting Kniece!

My niece is learning to knit using her first pair of Addi Turbos - swoosh!  So this is a personal little video tutorial for her since she lives a bit to far for me to come and show her myself.  Hope it helps, L!! 

There. That's better.

Color.  I had to update the old blog to reflect my yearning for spring.  But winter hangs on and the reality is just outside my window.  Here, have a look.

 So what's a gal to do.  How about buying herself a hum-dinger of a coat with flowers the color of ripe summer raspberries.  Here's a shot of me getting the mail in my happy spring coat.  Ignore the winter cap.

 

Don't you just love it!  And speaking of spring, I tossed my sweater aside to cast on for a pair of socks for Lunker who is a gigantic 12 year old who is often mistaken for Big Foot.  He wears the same size shoe as his old man.  Anyway, it's another pair using Knit Picks Felice self-striping sport.  The colorway is "Ecology" but going with the size of this kid's feet, I'm calling it "Swamp Thing".  The colors are mud and spring greens.  Perfect.

Alas, the guilt over my unfortunately-colored sweater was nagging at me from its little bag in the corner.  I'm onto the sleeves, so that should be somewhat motivating, right?  Well, yes.  And it is an interesting construction.  What you see is a little eye-cord moving onto the sleeve which is increased quickly at the cuff to full width.  Hmmm.  I like it.

Color! I NEED COLOR!!!

Hey everybody! Guess what.  It's snowing!

I was born and raised in Minnesota.  My mother was born and raised in Minnesota.  I've always been taught not to complain about where we live because we're lucky to enjoy four unique seasons.  The summer is so much more appetizing when you've gone through almost 6 months of cold and gray.  The winters are refreshing and cozy after the hazy, humid, bug-infested months of summer.

But . . .

I can't take it anymore.  There is only so much of THIS that a person can take.

OR this

and this.

The lack of sunshine and fresh air have taken their toll.  On top of the gloom, February was the month of funerals and flu.  The one-two combo really took the wind from our sails.  For the first time, I am seriously considering moving into a trailer in Florida somewhere down near the Keys.  Nothing fancy.  Just green and warm, where the sun shines strong and bright.  There is a sadness that has descended over me.  Maybe it's a touch of Seasonal Affective Disorder.  I have hardly touched my knitting and the blog?  Well.  It's speaks for itself.  I haven't posted or visited my friends' blogs in weeks. 

I had been working on Ysolda's Coraline sweater.  Cute pattern, yucky color.  What was I thinking?  It's a weird copper penny color.  There are days when I like it and days when I'm not sure I'd ever wear it, but darn it anyway, I'm going to finish.  Today, I will be picking it up again for the first time in weeks.

I had a dream last night that I drove past our local garden shop and the place was fully stocked with flowers, tomato plants, geraniums, bags of soil - oh the joy!  Oh the agony.  I am not going to feel sorry for myself any more.  Time to pull myself up by the bootstraps and move forward.  March forth into spring.  It never fails to come - no matter how long it takes.  Dust off my needles.  Crack open the seed catalogs.

Buy some tulips, Rani. 

Play with the puppy (isn't she getting big?). 

And keep on knitting.