In Springtime, the only pretty thing is springtime . . .

Friday - Old time Lupine. Oh glorious Spring!



Saturday.


April Fool's lasts a very long time here. sigh.

4/27/08

I feel like a boring blogger. Blah blah blah. Same old same old. It snowed again. Yup. Just a couple of days ago. So I thought I'd whip out that tulip sweater for Belle. Cheer up my day. But tomorrow promises to be sunny and 65 F. And I'm a wee bit fearful that the sweater won't fit next fall. It's a tad too small now, so I'm hoping for some strange miracles to occur when it's blocked and maybe one more cold day so she can wear it and show it off before her arms shoot out of the cuffs.

This here is an artful picture of my Art Scarf from Morehouse Farms. It's as light as a cobweb. I'm a little annoyed because I bought the pattern only to find out that it's just garter-stitch. But, someone will love to wear it.

A long while back, I scored some (grumble) Noro yarn called "Sakuro". This Noro appears to have been actually washed with no twigs or straw and so far, not one knot has been found. I know . . . incredible for Noro. I found this pattern and knew I had to knit it up with this yarn, since it's the same technique used on Bellatrix - which I found to be a very fun knit. If you would like to put a genuine smile on your face, take two minutes (probably less) and go to Halfway Down The Stairs and click on that short little video. It's lovely. I'm smiling.

PS. I HAVE POSTED THE MAY CHALLENGE ON "A YEAR IN SOCKS"!

Lots of Knittin'

Hello to all my knitty friends and family! SPRING HAS SPRUNG! It was in the 70's yesterday! I felt foolish walking down main street with a wool sweater and scarf. Silly me. I haven't found our bin of summer clothes yet.

I have much to tell in regards to knitting. I, like many of you, have started way too many projects on my needles. Here are the current projects and their progress.

Beware: AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST IS A WOOLGIRL SOCK CLUB SPOILER.


The first item is the Clapotis. I had to buy more yarn for this pattern since I own several hanks but one of each. The pattern asks for worsted weight, I believe. But that sounded so heavy so I checked Ravelry and found hundreds made with sock weight yarn.I'm using Araucania (Ranco Multy Color 302). I only purchased two skeins, so I hope it's enough. Each skein has 376 yards. AND it's only $16.50!!!
AND a huge thanks to Lori who gave me the sweetest stitch markers last summer. The ladybugs and the little red circle stones are all from her. (and they are my favorites!) They look so pretty next to my blue Clapotis!

My pretty little elfish socks:
dkKnits sock yarn and the pattern is Rivendell.

And now for the new stash! (SPOILER)




Mama Llama Original Sock 3 Ply
Colorway: "Georgia's Inspiration"


PS. to answer a question left awhile back - I am subbing at a preschool.

i'll-be-back

i-am-still-here----keyboard----broken.--
son-spilled-glass-of-lemonade.....
same-kid-that-used-my-needles-for-light-saber.

off-to-apple-store-

here-are-my-knits-tulip-sweaterdkknits-yarn"Molly-Ringwald"
pattern:-Rivendell

Winter Storm Warning

Statement as of 4:36 AM CDT on April 10, 2008

Expires 8:00 AM EDT on April 12, 2008

... Winter Storm Warning in effect from 4 PM this afternoon to
7 am CDT Saturday...

The National Weather Service in Twin Cities/Chanhassen has issued
a Winter Storm Warning.which is in effect from 4 PM this
afternoon to 7 am CDT Saturday.

YEAH YEAH YEAH. We know the drill.

Where's my wool.

AND . . . again . . .

I jinxed our town.

I believed that THIS was our last snowstorm.(March 31 snowball fight)

(3/31 snow lantern)

I threw away the boots and snowpants which have been patched with duct tape for the last month . . . boys.

We had a few days like this.

But this morning, we woke up to this.Bother.



Oh, well. There is knitting to be discussed! I finished these darling little socks.

The pattern: HAVE A HEART socks designed by this talented lady.
Yarn: Sweet Sheep Sweet Socks- colorway "Purple Path" - VERY SOFT AND WARM!! YUM!
Needles: US size 2

I thought I would give them away as a gift, but as I like them too much and they fit my feet like a glove, I am KEEPING them! HA HAAAAAAA HAAAA!

And so, since I have completed my April Socks because I cheated and started them in March, I treated myself to a Tulip Sweater kit for my girl. Here is the start:
I began this last night at a little knitty gathering at a friends house. I brought my camera, but I was too shy to take pictures. I did get quite a bit of knitting done. Thanks, Mrs. E for the cozy knitting, guacamole and knitty novels. Oh, I should post about those! Next time . . .

Now stop reading blogs and go get some knitting done!

Spring Fling . . . again.

Tomorrow is April.


Today is . . . well . . .

see for yourself.
No bother. It's quite nice to wake up with the wind howling, the snow flying, piling up at the windows. Minnesota spring is muddy and gray for a very long time, so if that's how it's going to be, having it all wrapped up in a white, cozy snow storm is fine with me. It will probably melt tomorrow. And best of all, I finished this lovely scarf this morning; just in time, eh? Specs: Pattern - Noro Scarf - K1, P2, changing skeins every two rows.
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden - ? Can't remember color. oops
I think I am done with Noro yarn*, however. It's expensive and there are twigs and knots throughout the yarn. I used to think it was rather quaint. Kind of like, I used to think acrylic yarn was fine.

*I have a ball of Noro sock yarn that I'll try, then I'm done. For my A Year In Socks challenge, I gave one of my Noro sock yarns to my mom. (I'm hoping she'll knit that up before me so I can see if I like it).

Ooh, and speaking of A Year In Socks . . . I finished my March socks just in time:
SPECS

Knitting goals: April - finish my Have a Heart socks, Hubby's Milk Chocolate Socks (Lana Grossa Meilenweit 100 Bosco - color 3518), start Belle's sweater . . . tulip sweater anyone?

Up North Easter

We spent Easter up north. We had a pack of wolves howl on 'Easter-Eve', which was pretty special. The Easter Egg dying and hunt took a bit of planning since we have no running water and the puppy would eat the eggs.

Our place is water-access only, so this time of year is the only time we can drive right up to the place. (This is not without the terrifying act of driving across the ice with windows and doors open). But the ice was three feet thick . . . I checked. And there are no currents or springs that we know of in this part of the lake.

And so, I'll post a few peaceful pictures that speak for themselves and wish every one of you a happy Spring.





Oh, and I started my Art Scarf from Morehouse Farms. It's as light as a cobweb. Not sure yet how I feel about it.PS. I'm working again part-time, so I have little time for checking blogs and posting, but I have not forgotten all my bloggy friends! I will still be here! I can't wait to have some time to sit down and check everyone's progress! Keep knitting!

Ah. Springtime in Minnesota.
I am sort of uninspired to post. Everything I come up with sounds like this:
Blah Blah Blah

So I'll just give a quick update on my knits:

Remember my EZ February Sweater? I never had a chance to get a picture with Little Miss Sweetcakes.

Baby Selbu Mitts (love these) - my first knitting of this type (don't even know what it's called)

New milk chocolate socks for hubby. (toe-up, Lori! And I think I'm going to do cables!)
Have a Heart socks (I am further along than it looks, just no pics)

The Power of (bloggy) Friends!

If you have young kids, this time of year can be a trying experience in keeping their winter gloves and mittens intact. In fact, Lumpy here, has been wearing two different right handed mittens that are almost toddler size. Grrrrrrr Stores no longer sell them; making way for spring break swimwear. hmph.So with the GREAT help of two people, I found a fabulous felted mitten pattern (got this from Lena) BUT the whole thing was in Norwegian. I tried to decipher it myself, but it was too confusing with literal translations so a HUGE THANKS TO MARIT for translating it for me!! I am so amazed by how truly nice people are!

The only thing missing from these mitts are the string that Lumpy will have to wear through his jacket to keep the mittens from getting lost. sigh.
+++++++

I have been tagged with a fun little task here from Kathleen.

Rules are:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

My weird facts:

1. I once flew out to NYC and walked into the offices of Jim Henson Productions to ask for a job, got yelled at, cried and was escorted out. Years later, I wrote to Frank Oz (Bert, Grover, Miss Piggy, etc) and told him about my youthful adventure in their lobby and I received an anonymous envelope of 8x10 glossies of all the major Muppets and their autographs. Tee hee.

2. I worked at the Hotel Del Coronado for one summer, saw Oprah, Dustin Hoffman, Doogie Howser (real name?), and that old NRA guy. Taught windsurfing to guests ONCE because I actually didn't know how to windsurf.

3. I was a Kindergarten teacher in Eden Prairie. (miss it soooo much)

4. I'm Icelandic/Norwegian/Scottish/Austrian and my distant relative is Albert Schweitzer.

5. I'm a certified Scuba Diver.

6. I never have or ever will sky dive or bungee jump.

7. I want to be a writer.

Here are people I'm tagging:

Lori

Guinifer

On the Needles

We Heart Yarn

And Sew It Is (she was already tagged)

Imagine Knit

Life In Yonder

TTFN!

Some Dead Yarn

According to my husband, I've made two blunders in our relationship. The first happened shortly after we started dating and I mocked Bob Dylan and did my rendition of his "We Are the World" whine. He tells me now, that he almost considered this a deal breaker if it hadn't been for the fact that I sat obediently through the entire "History of Rock and Roll" and apologized to K about my ignorance. Bob is not a moron.

My second blunder came when I showed him my socks. These socks.


And asked, why on earth did they call this colorway "Fire on the Mountain".

He responded without hesitation, "Probably after the Dead, dummy."

"What dead?"

I got his attention. "The Grateful Dead. Ever hear of them? 'Fire on the Mountain' is a song?"

Me, "Never heard of it." Blunder #2.


For any of you that are still wondering what the hell I'm talking about, Fire On The Mountain is a Grateful Dead song, and if you are married to a man who still wears tattered "Dead" t-shirts that may be 15+ years old and you don't know this tidbit of information, well . . . that is serious grounds for a deal breaker, as well. Sorry honey.

ps. that pretty picture of the frosted green leaf in the last post is not mine. I stole it off the Internet. If I can remember where I found it, I'll give credit where credit is due.

ppss. I also stole all those pictures above . . . except the sock pic. If I don't post soon, it may be because I've been incarcerated for plagiarism. I'll send legit pics from the clink.

UGH, hubby is annoyed that I used the wrong album cover. Sheesh.




AND NOW . . . Drum roll please,

The first shipment of the Seven Deadly Spins sock club: