Not much going on here this weekend…and after the last 2 weekends of test driving cars, Ken says…this is a good thing :-).

I spent quite a bit of time yesterday working on Alhambra and she is growing. I love the way the pattern swirls in and out around the lacework. 

After seeing Anne’s blocked pictures the other day, I am really looking forward to getting this little scarf finished and blocked so that I can wear it before it gets too warm.  It really is the perfect in between seasons scarf.
(I hope to have more of this colorway dyed up later in the week.)

Other than a bit of knitting and a little bit of playing with the car, the only thing I have done is bathe the dogs and watch the Red Sox.

I thought you might enjoy seeing a picture of Skyy now that she is almost grown.  She is turning into a lovely lady, who unlike her older sister, Cleo does not chew on her own ears… 🙂

I hope you had an enjoyable weekend too!

This was the reason for our weekend trips to the southern part of NH and the very first non "Momobile" that I have had in 14 years 🙂

Have a GREAT weekend!

Let us not be confused
With kaleidoscopic reality.
Using wisdom and courage to act,
Let us not add to the confusion.
Deng Ming~Dao

I’m betting you thought I would be much further along with my little scarf….so did I for that matter. 

As I was knitting along with the suggested needle, I noticed that the fabric that I was getting was a bit heavier than the sample picture Anne had sent to me. 

I had thought that because I tend to be a very loose knitter, that would give me a lighter fabric, but it did not.  I will say that I LOVE the fabric in the first picture, but it is not what the designer had in mind…..she is looking more for a wisp of a scarf…something hardly there.

So I went up a needle size and decreased 10 stitches and started knitting merrily along.  The fabric was much airier…however, I could tell it would not be wide enough so I ended up ripping that one back to the beginning as well.

I finally settled on the larger needle with the same number of stitches and even though my row gauge will be a bit off, I think that the fabric is more in line with what Anne had in mind, so this will be my traveling companion when we hit the road for one last time tomorrow.

Look what came in the mail today!  Whoo hoo!

Normally I do not pre~order books, but having had the opportunity for a sneak peak at Spa this winter, I was smitten.  Julia was kind enough to let a few of us take a look at the book and I am so glad I was one of them!

This book is a collection of some old patterns and new patterns designed by Lisa Lloyd.

I was particularly smitten with this sweater.   I LOVE it.  Interestingly enough, my good friend Terry test knit the sweater that is being modeled in the book.  I love it even more now, knowing that my friends had a part in it. 

I will definitely be purchasing this yarn in the most beautiful shade of gold soon.  This may be my Rhinebeck sweater!

The only thing I can say is "RUN" to your nearest bookstore and get this book…it is fabulous!

Spring…..
The last 2 days have surely had a taste of Spring in the air, and the warmish temps have worked hard at melting some of this snow that we have.  Unfortunately what we are starting to see is the incredible damage all of this heavy snow has had this area.  Will you take a look at my fences…..sheesh!

Look!!  Those are the very first signs that Spring is actually going to visit the Valley this year…whoo hoo!
Of course what you do not see is the 5 foot snowbank right next to the bush that these little buds are hiding under….but that’s ok….this will do for today 🙂

It must be the yearning for Spring that keeps me coming back to these green colors. 

The other day Anne asked if I wanted to test one of her quick scarf patterns…quick, fun and pretty, how could I resist?

I wanted to do it in a solid color so that the incredibly beautiful pattern would shine and this green literally jumped into the dye pot minutes later.  The color reminds me of the fiddleheads that we will see soon….and the airy pattern actually reminds me a bit of the ferns that you will find around fiddleheads often.

I guess I am going to have to admit it…..I am weak.  Remember I told you that another sock had caught my eye?  ….the temptress that she is, winked an eye at me and that was that.  I could not resist casting on immediately.

This is an incredibly easy pattern but with an air of sophistication.  Another fabulous sock for traveling, which we did again today.  (More about these weekend jaunts later in the week).

Now, just to prove that I can knit a pair of socks and lest you think that  I have completely abandoned litter Peter in the cabbage patch, I did immediately cast on and have completed the toe on the second sock.  This is one sock that will have it’s mate for sure!

  Inch by inch, row by row
    Gonna make this garden grow
    All it takes is a rake and a hoe
    And a piece of fertile ground
    Inch by inch, row by row
    Someone bless these seeds I sow
    Someone warm them from below
    Till the rains comes tumbling down
Dave Mallet (listen to a youtube version here)

Garden season seems like a long way off here in the mountains, so working on this sock has been the next best thing.

Working with the colors of lettuce, cabbage and carrots, lets me dream of the days ahead when I can work with the soil again in the warm sun.

This is a fun pattern to work on.  Plenty of things going on to keep your interest, but also big areas of mindless knitting as well.  Great travel knitting!  I spent a good portion of last weekend in the car and this was the perfect companion.  The upcoming weekend may be a repeat of last weekend, so I will work on sock number 2 then….at least I think I will.  I have to admit that another sock has captured my attention and you know how I can be with that second sock….

The other day when I was cruising around blog land, I read this post and it made me laugh!  I’m thinking something like this would be a perfect display in the studio I hope to have this summer…LOL!

As I was binding off my sock this morning, I started thinking about all of my single socks, and why I have such a hard time motivating myself to knit the second one right away.  Most of it I imagine is boredom…..been there…done that already….don’t really want to do it again right now.  Kind of like reading a book and then picking it right back up to read again.

The thrill of a new project almost always wins out.  I guess for me, it really is about the process and the enjoyment that I get from the knitted stitch.  If I finish the pair right away…wonderful…. if I don’t, I completely enjoyed the process on that first sock, and I will get back to that second one eventually :-).

Speaking of binding off a toe up sock….my good cyber friend Gina sent me a mini tutorial on a sewn off binding and I want to send her a huge THANKYOU! 

This method of finishing the top edge of the sock works perfectly!  The ribbing was comfortable on my leg with no tightness at all.  For those of you, who like me, had never heard about this bind off, here is my little mini tutorial…

This bind off is worked from left to right. (opposite of the way you were knitting)
Cut a long tail, 3 or 4
times the length of the edge you’re binding off, and thread it through a
tapestry needle.

Slide the first 2 stitches on to a tapestry needle as if purling, right hand stitch first. 
Gently pull the yarn through the
two stitches.

Place the next stitch that is on the knitting needle onto the tapestry needle and sew the tail through it and the stitch just to the left of
it (except for the first stitch, every stitch gets sewn twice).

Continue around the top of the sock,slipping the right hand stitch onto the tapestry needle and sewing it together with the first stitch to the left.  Make sure to keep the tapestry needle underneath the working thread as seen above.

…and that’s it!  Easy Peasy! 
This kit will be available on my website Monday, April 7th.

Don’t be afraid to explore;
Without exploration there are no discoveries.
Don’t be afraid of partial solutions;
Without the tentative there is no
accomplishment.
Deng Ming~Dao

I have been slowly but steadily knitting on my McGregor sock as I patiently await Spring’s arrival up here….which is taking it’s own very sweet time!

Having worked and not very well on a short row heel in the past, I was hesitant in trying it again, but with good instructions and a bit more confidence, I was very happy with how my heel came out this time. 

Now I will have to see if I can get the top bound off looser this time around, so that I do not cut off my circulation…LOL.

One of the things that I enjoyed about this pattern is the the way Susan separates the heel from the leg pattern and then moves right into the entwined heart pattern….very cool!

I am hoping to have this finished over the next 2 nights watching American Idol and then hopefully up on my website over the weekend. 🙂

A Special Swap…

As a rule of thumb, I don’t participate in many swaps.  Not because I don’t like them, because I do, but finding the time for me can be a challenge.

There is one however that I have enjoyed very much and that is Lynne’s Special Swap and this round was no exception.

The theme was a Special spa swap and my swap partner was Kimberly of Woven Spun.  Kimberly sent me a beautiful handwoven scarf, some lovely pastel sock yarn and some wonderful bathing sundries.  Thank you Kimberly!

March is definitely not going out like a lamb this year. 
We have officially broken New Hampshire’s record for the snowiest year in over 100 years and the 3rd snowiest year ever.  We are also well on our way to breaking the 2 records in front of that, if the snow continues much longer today.

Have a great weekend in your corner of the world!

There are signs of Spring popping up everywhere here in the mountains inspite of the never ending dirty snowbanks. 

Just this morning, when I pulled up the kitchen shades, my driveway which is one of the only snowfree areas in my yard…and is made of dirt, was speckled with ROBINS!   Whoo hoo….they are back!  Of course, I am told that they never leave, but what ever the case is, this is the first morning I have seen them.  Welcome home my little friends!

Typically I am not a pink person, but perhaps it is the yearning for the colors of Spring and the desire for warmth and seeing this wee sweater that pushed me in that pastel direction.  I had decided that I would see what all the EZ chatter is about and decided to shoot for something small …. this little sweater is perfect!  In fact two little sweaters have captured my attention.  Now before you start wondering…no, there are no little people that I am aware of joining our family any time soon, but these will be nice to tuck away as future gifts.

As I was knitting along on McGregor’s Garden, I realized that I may have twisted right on Peter’s ears when I should have twisted left and vice versa?  Well, I did and I couldn’t leave those ears looking more like carrots than bunny ears, so I ripped my socks all the way back to the start of his ears and started again.

Now they do look more like ears, don’t they?

"Now my dears,"
said old Mrs. Rabbit one morning, "you may go into the fields or down the
lane, but don’t go into Mr. McGregor’s garden: your Father had an accident there;
he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor."
from The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix
Potter

A while back, Susan told me that she wanted to design a Bunny sock for me.  When the pattern was finished, I bundled up a skein of yarn and sent it off to a test knitter who had offered to test the pattern, as I was much too busy at the time to work on it.

For whatever reason, the test-knitter never got back to us, so having a little bit of extra time, I thought I would sit down to it again and give the toe up pattern a try.  (I suck at toe up socks)

As I was merrily knitting along on my lettuce colored yarn and VERY happy with how my short rows came out, I started thinking about Spring and gardening….and CARROTS! 

Hmmm….shouldn’t little Peter have carrots to munch on in McGregor’s garden? 

I’m sure you can guess what happened next?  Yep…I fired up the dyepot and in the blink of an eye, Peter is now hiding behind the cabbages in some lettuce and carrot colored yarn, and I am enjoying that little extra bit of color while I am knitting.

I have decided that this will be my April kit :-).  Along with the yarn and pattern will be one of these cute little carrot markers and maybe some lettuce seeds.

So while we still may have 5 foot snow banks in the yard, I am dreaming of my Spring garden with a little help from my friends :-).

Happy Easter from our home to yours!
(More about that yarn in a few days…..)