aaaaaaahhhh. US 3. Addi Turbo.

So fast. I love big sock yarn and big sock needles:Specs:
yarn: ATH (all things heather) colorway: Bucky
needles: US 3
pattern: plain old socks - no pattern

I knit that baby up while on our family vacation up north. I brought a friend with me - Mr. Loopy



Here he is at the mouth of the Kawishwi River which is one of the entrances to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. (The Loopy Ewe has a photo contest of places you take your Loopy).


Leo meets Loopy.


And a little extra special bonus for us - we've been selectively removing some flora in order to make room for more wild blueberries to thrive near our cabin. This year we will have quite a bumper crop of tiny little wild blueberries! These are the early blossoms. We'll be back in July to pick a few handfuls.

I am so jealous of all you who will be attending Sock Summit this year. Be sure to take loads of pictures!!

I've updated BookMama. If you get a chance - come on over for a visit!
ps. I had trouble with pictures on the BookMama post this morning.

Hello, FO in Malabrigo!

Ah spring. I can smell the lilacs even from the ugly asphalt parking lot of our local strip mall. It smells wonderful and fresh.
The crab apples are in full bloom.

I finished a little pink shrug, which is a proto-type for my sisters wedding. There are three flower girls - 2, 5 and 6. I tested out the pattern to see how difficult it would be to twiddle with size and yarn and needles.

And guess what. This is the easiest pattern!!!!! I used a US 10, a worsted weight yarn . . . achem . . . Malabriiiiigoooooooo with a darling colorway name of "Molly". The pattern is Anthropologie-Inspired Capelet by Julia Allen and it's free! You can also access the pattern through Ravelry.

And NOW I know what all the fuss about Malabrigo is about. I bought the stuff ages ago and found it wadded up in the bottom of my yarn bin. To be honest, when it was in it's coiled little skein, it felt scratchy and, other than the brilliant color, was unimpressive.

However, after knitting with it - I now understand the obsession. It's like knitting with cotton candy, but without the sticky fingers. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm. And it makes a wonderful squooshy fabric.

PS. Those darling baby ducks belong to my daughter's first grade classroom. We took them home for one day just after they hatched and gave them their first swim. We also managed to keep the Prince-of-Poopness from eating any of them. I believe they are soon on their way to "the farm" which I choose to believe is a wonderful, happy place full on vegetarian duck lovers.

Baaaabies

Foster Babies


Bunny Baby


Sweater Baby

My very special stitch markers are from Glastonbury Glassworks. You may be familiar with the wife of this talented glass artist - Live and Let Learn!

If you like dogs . . . you might like this.

Girlie Socks

An FO!Sassy socks for my sassy girl. Pink and sparkles and picot - so girlie and sweet.

Specs:
Yarn: Berroco Sox Metallic (a bit scratchy)
Pattern: Leyburn Socks - heavily modified
Needles: US 1 1/2 or 2.5 mm
Modifications: (top down) CO 58 knit a picot cuff
Used the Leyburn pattern across the front of the sock and did a k2, p2 on the back of the sock so that it will fit a child for a longer time (a bit of stretch for room to grow). The beautiful stitch on the front is actually quite easy and it is so pretty! I absolutely LOVE this pattern.

This post was either going to named: HOORAY! I'm a Loopy Groupie!

or
Once Again, I Spent My Family Bread Money on Frivolous Yarn-Related Purchases.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Loopy Groupie - The Loopy Ewe is a scrumptious yarn store with a cult-like following. With your fifth purchase from this store, you become a Loopy Groupie and receive a special package with your purchase:
The yarn (part of my surprise Loopy Groupie kit) is ATH (All Things Heather) Yarn 80/20 wool/nylon and wonderfully named, "Bucky". It reminds me of 1950's cowboy toys. These will be knit up with #3's for that kid of mine - the one I swore I would never knit for again. Do we see a repetitive pattern of self-destruction here? Hmmm. I'd have a glass of wine to contemplate that further but it's 6:19 AM.

Wait. It gets worse.

Feeling guilty, I headed straight for my LYS to balance out our local economy (the Loopy Ewe is located in Missouri) and compulsively purchased three skeins of this lovely Misti Alpaca - a pima/silk blend that feels like butter in the hands.

The colorway is Tangerine Fizz. Having that in my hands, I cast on and began knitting this little ditty: Clapotis #2. (free pattern) I haven't named her officially yet.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I have a sister who is having a baby and so . . . well, you know how the story goes.

I bought some baby yarn for a wee little sweater and I'm having so much fun knitting that up, too. Although, I'm not totally happy about the colors.

Happy Knitting!

The Finish Line

Have you ever crawled over a finish line? That's how I feel about these socks. They are very colorful and the stitch is pretty but will I ever really wear flamboyantly colored socks like this? And will I ever forgive Noro Sock yarn for it's horrible inconsistencies and frequent knots and breakages? No never. I will never knit with Noro Sock again. Oh, and it's scratchy.

Here.

Socks.

Specs:
Pattern: Baby Cable Rib - Charlene Schurch
Yarn: yucky Noro Kureyon Sock
Needles: US 1 1/2 or 2.5 mm
CO 68 stitches
Size: Womens Medium

PS The yarn bleeds.

Color my spring.

Color my spring with early greens


newborn rhubarb


easter eggs
and bonnet for baby.

(not MY baby)

For my BF . . . sorry it took so long.

Calorimetry is the quantitative measurement of the heat required or evolved during a chemical process.

It's an interesting and telling phenomenon when you type in a word like Calorimetry into your web browser and instead of getting a science website as your first hit, you get a knitting pattern.

"Long-Over-Due"

• Pattern: Calorimetry, Knitty
• Yarn: I have no idea. It's something scrumptious from my stash.
• Needles: Whatever the pattern asked for. US 6 I think.

PS. We DID have the asparagus gnocchi and it was YUM YUM!!

Hah aaaahaahaaaaaa.

I know! It's been awhile. And I have a few items I'm knitting up, but I'm too lazy or busy or both to post them.

But for a good laugh, check out Spindles and Spices furmiliation pictures. OH my. Those poor cats.

Spring is in the air.

I'm convinced that Winter has a conscience - a wicked one, but an awareness, nonetheless. She is a moody flirt. A tease of the worst kind. She cannot stand the thought of beautiful Spring stealing her show. She waits for us to relax our survival instincts. Waits for us to throw out the snowpants, put away the gloves and hats, store the snow shovels in the basement. And for me, she waits until I have my seed catalogs out in front of me, my notepad and pen in hand, looking out at the dirt that is my vegetable garden.

Then she throws another winter party.

But I know her well and I am prepared. Today, during our springtime snowstorm I am knitting a little hat with warm red wool. The warm color, the warm wool slips through my fingers and I am pretending not to even notice the three inches of snow that is on my front steps. Because I know she will lose out in the end. The sap is flowing in the sugar maples, my garlic is coming up through the snow anyway. The little springtime flocks of birds are patiently socializing around my bird feeders waiting for the snow to melt away.

Spring is in the air.