Straight Up.

Hey.  Did you forget about me?  I have not forgotten about all of you, but I have been a huge lazy ass when it comes to my blog.  I have begun a monogamous relationship that has been taking up any and every meager bit of spare time I have.   Her name (yes, it's a her and it's really not that racy) is Coraline and she is a warm and nifty little thing.  Well, take a look for yourself.

Almost done!

The pattern was written by Ysolda Teague.  I'm using a basic Knit Picks Swish DK in persimmon and a puny size 3 needle.  It has been a turbulent relationship but I think we've come to an understanding.  She looks good with a nice pair of jeans. 

We're still wearing wool sweaters and jeans in Minnesota but today I wore a short sleeve shirt underneath.  Sadly, I even wore my floor to ceiling down quilted ugly brown coat to work today.  Tomorrow is supposed to be a miraculous 58 degrees.  I'm skeptical.  We have an outdoor field trip scheduled and I'll be damned if I will spend another two minutes standing around watching my own breath freeze in the air.

Spring has been keeping us busy.  The garden is completely untouched.  Too cold.  Now it's too wet.  Wah wah wah.

Stella has grown into a pretty little lady.  She is quite the swimmer and retrieves like a mo-fo.  Seriously.  We've been smacking tennis balls into the woods and after zigzagging back and forth for 5 minutes, she comes back with the darn thing.

Easter came and went.  It was lovely.

We rented a little teeny tiny cabin with the kiddos and had a sweet little vacation in the woods.  Wait.  Don't we live in the woods already?  I guess we do.  Hmmm.  I'll have to think about that a bit.

 Fishing for minnows in a hidden creek.

 Floating rubber duckies down the creek.

 I forgot the graham crackers.  No worries.  We made due.

 Mr. Darling was the master roaster.

 

 While the rest of the family played games in the lamp light, I snuggled into my top bunk (I had to wrestle my kid for it) and knit on with my headlamp.  You all would have been so proud of me.

Bob, Chuck Norris and Flower - bad ass rubber duckies

Hello, everybody.

Happy April 15th.  Or in Minnesota, you can also say, "Happy Snow Day!"

Just stopping by to tell you that it's snowing tonight.  Right now, actually.  As I tuck my sorry butt into bed.

Not complaining.  Just letting you all know.

Cheers!

Signs of Spring (and knitting)

Minnesota's winter is hanging on with sharp claws, but I think she's beginning to lose her grip.  Take a looksy at this.

That's my garden and until just recently it was covered in snow so deep that I was certain that this was evidence of another ice age.  Under this pile of mud are tiny asparagus babies, weeds and flowers - rubbing their eyes and about to stretch.  I have taken to sitting with a cup of coffee in my window and just staring at it.  Dirt.  Snowless dirt.  Frozen dirt, but still . . .  a gardener's Turkish Delight.

And another thing.  I am going to finish this damn sweater.  My lovely and talented bloggy friend Harpa just cast on for a man's sweater.  Knowing her, and I think I do just a tiny bit, she'll finish that man-sweater faster than green grass goes through a goose.  So I sort of sassed off and told her that I would be finishing my sweater before hers and now I think I need to start knitting.  Here it is thus far:

 The "Swamp Thing" socks are really more ball-of-yarn, than sock.  They'll remain neglected until the sweater is off the needles and blocked.

There are a few lame snowflakes in the air today.  I'm not going to fret.  There has been far too much whining and complaining on this blog lately.  Yesterday, I grabbed the camera and took the family (except for Lumpy who is down with flu or something) to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.  It's a hop, skip and a jump from my front door.

There were birds . . .

and would you believe - flowers?

Mr. Darling has also been busy boiling down sap from our maples to make our year supply of syrup.

The supply never makes it past the summer.  It's that good.  There are also friends and family that often leave our house with a jar for themselves.  Mmmmmmmaple syrup.  Thanks, Mr. D.

Filler

I will be the first to admit that I've been a totally lame blogger lately.  Whining and whinging.  No knitting.  And using Youtube videos to take up space.

BUT THIS IS SOOOOO . . . . . it's SOOOOOOO . . .
well.  You decide.  I think most of you will laugh so hard you'll cry.  I did.

Endless

I was just beginning to think that I should put down the wool sweater and start something more summery.  I mean, spring is just around the corner.  How many more days of cold and snow and dark and gray can there possibly be?  There is a finite number - the earth keeps moving in its axis and we eventually tip towards the sun, right?  Something like that.

Insert snowstorm.

So I'll keep fidgeting with this Knit Picks wool and my nice little cardigan sweater.   The truth is that I'm in a sort of knitting purgatory - and endless parade of stockinette stitch that has no end in sight.  The sweater has taken on a metaphoric meaning - winter is endless.  Knitting 114 rows of stockinette on US 4  . . . is endless.  But the spring will come and it will be spectacular.  My sweater will be, too.

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.

Snowy Days.

Last weekend, a warm breeze blew in from the south and Minnesota had a nice thaw-out.  Look at that - water on the lake.

Don't let that kid you, though.  There is still at least 2 feet of solid ice under that water.  This early taste of spring was the calm before, yet another, Minnesota blizzard.  Gobs of snow and howling winds kept us home for most of two days.

A little snow and cold didn't stop the boys from grabbing their airsoft rifles and heading out the door to play 'army'.

I stayed safe and warm inside trying to clean out my yarn container that is an entire den.  I took pictures, but I'm really too embarrassed to show you that in some areas of my life, I am - a hoarder.

I also managed to finally put an end to these forever toe-up stockings.  These are Belle's "Lagoona Blue" socks in Knit Picks Felici; colorway "Marine Life" on a US 1.5 or 2.5 mm needles.  Snore.  Took forever.

They turned out pretty darn cute, though.  She ever wore them to school today, sweet thing.

Hibernation

Happy Shoveling!

March Sweater Madness anyone?

If you're itching to knit a sweater, The Sweet Sheep shop is itching to start the nest March Sweater Madness.  Check it out.

My Super Model

Hi folks,

My darling little niece is modeling the Baby Cable Yoke Sweater  that I knit for her and gave for Christmas.  (here is the Ravelry link)

Isn't she yummy? And look at the fabulous owl hat on her head!  I wish I could claim that little ditty as one of my own creations, but my crochet skills aren't quite there . . . yet. 

There is a better picture of the hat for those of you who are dusting off your crochet needles.  If you figure this pattern out, would you ever share it with me? 

Sissy also sent me an iPhone photo of the legwarmers in action.  She promises to send better pics, but I think you can see that I made them a tad too long.  She still sports them well, in any case. 

And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to download some Flashdance songs and clean my kitchen. 

Love to all!