Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Cookie Central is Closed



With the last batch of cookies fresh out of the oven, I am declaring CookieCentral closed. And I got 3 batches made before 10:00. Yeah me!

The last ones are pizzelles,pecan tassies and hello dolly bars.

I'd like to make another batch of gingerbread, but I ran out of butter. Of all things! I went to the store twice yesterday but it never occurred to me to check my butter supply. I have been stockpiling since thanksgiving,but I guess quantities of cookies take quantities of butter. Maybe next week. I like the gingerbread the best and can eat it Ll year round.

So this year we made Italian fig cookies (cuccidatti), cut outs, gingerbread, Mexican wedding cakes, jam thumbprints, pecan tassies, hello dolly bars and pizzelles. The new kid on the block was peppermint bark, which has been such a huge hit that I will make another batch and add it to the annual cookie parade.

Now off to start the wrapping and clean the house, which has been sadly neglected the past few days (weeks?)

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Free Day

It has just gone from two days of constant rain to blowing wet snow. A perfect day for home made soup, bread and cookies!
After all the cooking in the past two weeks, you'd think I'd prefer a week or two off, but these recipes are easy and make the house feel and smell so good. Besides, I am trying to avoid going to the grocery store until my normal shopping day on Friday. I was there every day before Thanksgiving and I am done! Going to make do with what's in the house and since there is no bread, need to make some. Also I'm tired of pies and oatmeal raisin cookies just sound yummy.

Thanksgiving was wonderful. I got an 18 pound turkey, started it at 7:00 am and it was done by 2:30. Cut it up, kept it warm, made gravy and all the last minute items, was able to put everything else in the oven and I wasn't fretting about the turkey being done on time.

We had 8 adults and 2 kids with 3 more for dessert later on. (Three people cancelled, last minute.)
18lb Turkey and 2 extra legs and thighs just right. Need a larger turkey (more white meat if there are more people for dinner)
2 bags of plain bead cubes with 1 1/2 lb of sausage (lots leftover but that's ok)
3 rutabagas
2 butternut squash
2 bags of Brussels sprouts
2 bags of onions
10 sweet potatoes
5 lbs of mashed potatoes (all the potatoes were gone)
2 pumpkin pies
2 chocolate pies
apple pie
cherry pie
whipped cream and ice cream


Much wine and good conversation and good company. And the football games were okay this year. A great day! Would you believe I do not have one picture of Thanksgiving to share this year. Too busy to pick up the camera.

Little girl is sick today and other grandma is taking care of her, so I have a day off which is one reason there is soup, bread and cookies.

Some knitting might get done today, too. We'll have to see.

Friday, November 18, 2011

A Long Time

No time to blog, no excuses, just haven't gotten around to it. So what has been going on in my life:




vacation at Letchworth





Dh's birthday


week with the first daughter and family in West Virginia over Halloween
wedding, at which I wore my beautiful, incredible black shawl with a red dress




fall garden cleanup
Aunt Mary's 91st birthday celebration



Thanksgiving preparation- not sure how many people will be at my table this year. Hoping for a couple of tables full.



Lots of knitting.




More later!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

The Black Hole

Having the kids in school, I thought I would have oodles of time to blog. The days, however, get filled up with all kinds of other things and just zip by.

I have been knitting things that also have seemed to be never-ending projects that I feel like I have been looking at forever. One of the problems is that I have at least 5 project on needles, so that slows up the finishing, of course. This is the reason I really like to have only two projects going at any one time, a sock and another item. I am forcing myself to finish each project, one at a time.

I got the black silk shawl finished last night. I will wash and block that today. Nathan's socks are at the foot of the second sock, so I will try to power through that today.


Then I will tackle the February Lady Pullover. I have the top of the back, sleeves and finishing to do on that. Maybe after the weekend that will be done.

It doesn't help that all these projects are dark (blacks, browns and a hodgepodge of dark colors). I feel like I'm struggling to see, especially when it is dark and gloomy and rainy as it is today. Time for some bright, light colors; next projects, Jordyn's Purple Elephant Vest and the pink socks of a different stripe.

I ooopsed at JoAnn's the other day when they had Paton's Kroy Sock yarn on sale. A pair of socks for $9.00? How can you go wrong. I love this stuff and I love the socks it makes. Slightly thicker and warmer than other sock yarn. Perfect for our weather!

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Summer's End

Can't believe I haven't blogged since the first of August. We have been very busy the past month, but now the summer is winding down and school starts on Tuesday. (Picture me doing a Happy Dance.)



Some of the things we did this past month besides swimming (which we did almost every day, one of the best swimming summers ever!!!):



Went to the Erie County Fair and ate like crazy;


Hiked a nature trail;


Planted a fairy garden;




Did a lot of crafty things;Put together lots of puzzles;Painted little bird houses;Made a beer can robot;Made and flew airplanes;Now I get to pick up the messes and get out my knitting.


Monday, August 1, 2011

Back From Mini-Vacation

We got back from Wine Country early Friday afternoon so hubby could golf. It was a short but very relaxing trip.


There was lots of water and boats and swimmers and beautiful scenery,grapevines in every corner,lots of old, well-kept Victorians with lovely gardens

and a Bluegrass concert in the gazebo of the town park to cap it all off.



Oh yes, lots of wine tasting with chocolate, too!

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Pinkie

This is a new to my garden frilly pink zinnia. It struck me how similar in color this is to the swallowtail shawl I just finished.
Both brighten up the day and make me smile!



Wednesday, July 27, 2011

A Few Days Off




We are heading out to the Finger Lakes today for a couple of days of relaxing and wine tasting on Keuka and Seneca Lakes. We stay in Hammondsport and the plan is to pick up some wine at Ravines, Renaisance and then travel to Seneca Shores and Billsboro wineries. I'd like to go to Watkins Glen but we'll see how ambitious we feel.
We're only going to be gone for three days and I packed three knitting projects to take along. Over packing!
Just finished the book "Before I Go To Sleep" and I highly recommend it. It was a "can't put down until I'm through" type of book. If you liked "Memento" and "50 First Dates" I think you'll like this book.
I'm now listening to the audio version of "The Help". I resisted this one, just didn't know how the subject matter would be treated, but so far (half-way through) I'm loving it.
Started a Springtime Bandit Shawl in Lilac MadelineTosh at my LYS knit group last Saturday which is going for the car ride today. I have about 8 rows left on my pink Swallowtail which is also traveling, along with the pair of vanilla socks that are begging to be finished. We'll see how much knitting gets done.
When we get back it's time for the Garden Walk Buffalo which is one of the largest garden walks in the country. It is always a lovely learning experience.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Summer Flowers



These are a few of my lilies that are blooming in the garden right now. I'm planning on reworking this particular plot by removing the hostas and making room for more lilies.

We have a week off from kid watching. We do have grand-dog while her family is off camping. The plan for the week? Not doing much of anything. Vacation Time!

Monday, July 4, 2011

Happy Fourth!

With a quiet few minutes, I'll try to update the blog this morning. My non-knitting time to ease the pain I was having in my shoulder, neck and wrist lasted for about a week and a half. I was very grumpy! I did manage to wind some yarn, untangle a few skeins , do the finishing on two sweaters, ripped back the Calsada and the Pacific wraps and get them ready for a reknit.



I started back into knitting with the Calsada which I ripped back to the edging and re-knit it on a size 5 needle. I also finagled extra rows so I was left with very little yarn and a shawlette rather than the ruffle it had been. After blocking, I am quite pleased with the result. Also , this was easy on my hands and neck. I stopped often for stretching breaks.




I can't figure out if the skein of yarn (Madelinetosh Ms. Taylor) is cursed or I am just under a knitting curse. I tried using this for the Elektra shawl and realized I wouldn't have enough yarn to make it as big as I wanted it, so ripped it out and started the Pacific shawl. This is not a difficult pattern. It is well written. I have ripped it back four times!! The first was when I discovered I had dropped four stitches in various places and wasn't going to fudge all those mistakes. The second, third and fourth times I was making ridiculous mistakes with the pattern, so rip, rip, rip ,rip. I have finally gotten through the first full repeat of the wave pattern and I am about to take a closer look to see if it looks okay. (Had to sleep on it and take a clear-eyed look in the morning.) Fortunately the yarn has held up well to all the knitting and ripping.


I started the Ruched Tee with my knitting group and discovered the yarn I chose, while a lovely color and perfect for the project, is one of those cottons that really hurts my hands to work with. No give to it and it is knit in the round so there are a large number of stitches to push around. This is going to be a slow project because I will only work a couple of rows a day to save my hands.


We are settling into the out of school routine. Having the kids here every day takes some time to get used to. We'll keep them busy, though.




Right now I am listening to a happy cardinal singing with all his might and watching the blue jays and woodpeckers and gold finches getting their breakfast.




Happy Birthday, USA!

Monday, June 20, 2011

Happy Birthday and Monday Challenge Part III

Great weekend starting with a sleepover Friday with pool fun on Saturday. Hubby golfing all day and Friday night too. My birthday and Father's Day happened on the same day this year and we exchanged gifts, had a steak barbecue with potato salad and strawberry shortcake with local strawberries. Just lovely.
Sunday was a quiet day so hubby could recover from all the weekend golfing and rest up for the Monday morning league and I just sat and read all afternoon.
Finished "Dead Reckoning" the latest Sookie Stackhouse which are always a treat and started "Every Secret Thing" by Laura Lippman which I downloaded from the library and am reading on my iPhone as an ebook. Tomorrow the latest Stephanie Plum book comes out and I will go to Barnes and Noble to pick it up along with "Robopocalypse" which I am seeing advertised everywhere and does sound rather good. I may check out the Nook when I'm there, as I think I would like an ebook reader and I can download from the library site with this. I really want to look it over and check out the features . One thing about not knitting, the time must be filled up with something and books seem to be the thing. I also started "We'll Always have Parrots" a Meg Langslow's mystery on my iPod.

Three different formats, never without a book.

In the video department, we watched "Gnomeo and Juliet" with the kids on Friday, (cute) and "My Favorite Year" on Sunday, which has one of my favorite scenes. I'll just say "wedding dress" and if you've seen it you'll know what I mean. Laughed just as hard this time as I did the first time I saw it.

There always seems to be a new television season beginning or ending. Not like a few years ago (maybe more than a few) when there were 3 networks, 4 counting PBS and summer meant nothing but reruns. Sunday night I needed a flowchart to figure out when I could record all the shows we were interested in. A new Masterpiece Mystery, Poirot; the second to last Law and Order:CI; which wasn't the same without Goren and Eames and is just great with the unpredictable Bobby; Game of Thrones; In Plain Sight; and the season finale of "The Killing".


Every time we get sucked into an ongoing series, we get let down. Maybe by the series not being picked up for renewal so a rushed ending leaves you dissatisfied or a planned ending just doesn't answer all the questions you have (I'm talking about you,"Lost").

We watched the series "The Killing" which promised to follow a murder case from beginning to end over 13 weeks, each episode being one day in the investigation. Assuming the final episode would climax with the case being solved, it was a little disappointing when it ended with more questions than answers. I'm not sorry I watched, it was a dark, compelling drama with some excellent acting and I will definitely watch the second season, but I was more than a little annoyed with the ending, which wasn't really an ending but teasers for the next season.

So a little bit about knitting.


My challenge this week is to keep not knitting.

I am going to rip back the Calsada short row garter stitch. I am disappointed in how small it turned out and I think using larger needles will make it a bit bigger and be a better look for me. I have plenty of yarn left to do this with.


I ordered yarn from Blue Moon Fiber Arts for the first time. I wanted a goldy-yellow for the Elektra and decided to move out of my yarn comfort zone and try them. I hemmed and hawed over the color, then ordered the 24Karat and second guessed myself for a week until it arrived. I was completely blown away by the beautiful color. Instead of the '70's gold I was worried it would be, it is gorgeous, rich going into a beautiful brownish gold. It's going to look amazing with the right beads.


I'm off to block my Lace cardigan that got all its ends tucked in this weekend.


Not knitting? Not bad!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Adjustments

This week and next will be a series of adjustments in what could be called life rhythms. Hubby's finished with work until September, so we are adjusting to him being home and unstructured, for want of a better description. Always there, no time alone, sort of thing.
The school year is winding down for everyone, which means a little schedule adjustment, with end of school activities and half days and at the end of the week, children home for the summer.
Unstructured, not my favorite, will be on the agenda for the next two+ months until the school bell rings again. It will mean getting the week's schedule and figuring out what days we will have kids and for how long and what days we will be by ourselves to schedule things like doctor's appointments(which I should have gotten out of the way a few months ago, I know.
But the weather is beautiful and I can feel the siren song of long summer days with lots of free time beckoning.

Now about the knitting, another adjustment. For the past few weeks, I have had a horrible stiff neck on arising. Sometimes on the right side, sometimes on the left. So painful, I couldn't bear to be touched. After having my DD#2 look at it and my right wrist which was also sore, she advised it was due to too much knitting. When I protested, my hubby chimed in and said "You are knitting all the time". I guess he's right. I start in the morning, carry around at least a sock throughout the day for when there is a little spare time to knit a few rounds, then watch TV in the evening for about 3-4 hours of constant knitting.

I have an impressive amount of items completed, which is great, but I really want to be able to do this without the pain. I had this problem once before when I was taking classes and trying to get as much done as possible. The solution then as it is now is to just stop for a while. I was figuring through the month of June, but it may take a bit longer. Now I have another class on the 25th and 9th for a cotton ruched top that I will go to but absolutely no knitting until then and I am not going to try to complete the top in that time frame. My DD#2 is going to work on my neck, shoulder and arm this Saturday and give me some exercises to do to get back into knitting form.

I guess I am going to have to adjust to becoming a process knitter rather than a project knitter. The way I understand the terms and the way I am going to slowly ease back into knitting is to take one project at a time, do some research and background on the pattern and/or stitches and just enjoy the journey rather than speeding through to get to the end.

My immediate problem was what do I do with my hands while relaxing, reading and TV watching. I have organized my knitting, I pulled knitting books out that explore techniques, fair isle, stranded knitting, entreloc, double knitting, color theory, lace knitting and I am going to study technique. I have always planned to do this, but just speed through to the patterns and ignore the rest.

I am finishing sweaters that just needed a button or some ends woven in (two down one to go) and there is the monumental task of sewing up all the blocks for my bed spread. I have yarn to wind into cakes (hubby fixed my ball winder,yeah) and two shawls to rip back to various points and restart. I gave myself a manicure and pedicure and worked on some puzzles.

So far so good, but it's only been two days!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Try, Try Again and Monday Challenge II

The weather has been good for getting the yard and garden in shape, so we did some work this weekend and my plan is to finish all the planting and mulching this week.
Pretty roses are blooming all over my climber "Fourth of July". It looks like a fireworks display.







In the weekend entertainment department - we went to the last BPO concert of the year, a really rollicking Duke Ellington swing fest. Now to pick out our concerts for next season.

We actually watched a movie, as all the winter time series are over and the summertime series have yet to begin in quantities and our DVR was empty. "The Panic Room" with Jodie Foster was on HBO for free, which was what it was worth. Good for knitting, though, just enough action to keep you occupied and not enough that you have to put down the knitting. Kristen Stewart of the "Twilight" movies was the young daughter which I totally didn't get until the credits.

Sigh, the knitting. My green Elektra was going great, I got to the lace bottom and started to panic when I saw how fast the yarn was running out. When I checked the pattern, I realized I would probably not have enough yardage. How I missed the yardage requirements, I just don't know.

Went to my LYS but they didn't have another skein or anything else I might want to knit Elektra in. I wound up ordering some Socks That Rock lightweight in a gold. Never tried this yarn before Can't wait to try it out.


I looked for a different shawl in Ravelry and it was amazingly easy to find just the right one using specific criteria. I put in my yardage, weight, beads and found the Pacific shawl. It is easy enough to be complementary knitting to my Frost Flowers.




Challenge #2 - The Join.

I had the house to myself on Friday afternoon, so I cleaned off the dining room table and assembled my tools.


I wanted to lay the knitting out flat and make sure there were no twists. 992 stitches is a lot of stitches to keep flat. I have KnitPicks interchangeable needles and have several 60" cables with joins. So I made a cable needle that was 160 inches long, flattened out the knitting, taped it down, then knit the first repeat, took off the tape and removed the extra cables. Time will tell if I got it completely right or not. I have only knit through the first two rows of the pattern, so I guess my challenge for next week will be to finish the first 12 rows.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Things I Love About Summer

Not officially summer yet, I know but Wednesday was a hot, hot mid-summerlike day and the pool was open and ready to cool us down after a day in the classroom.

Boy's book waiting for a few minutes of quick reading time between dunks...
Bathing suits and towels dancing in the breeze. Lovely day!

Monday, June 6, 2011

Monday Challenge Part I



I have been knitting up a storm in the past few months, making 2 small shawls, three sweaters and a pair of socks but all of the projects were incredibly unchallenging. The shawls had a small amount of lace with large amounts of garter stitch , the sweaters were large amounts stockinette with small interesting details. Great for mindless knitting but I was aching to dig into a really challenging project and in the summer my fingers ache for lace..


I thought I would start making Romi's Seven Small Shawls, since I have yarn for at least two of them, so I cast on for Elektra with some MadelineTosh greeny-yellow that matched leftover beads from another shawl. Beautiful, but rows and rows of garter stitch before I get to the lace.



Fondling yarn at my LYS I fell in love with the Crystal Palace Silky Alpaca in a dusky pink that is one of my favorite colors. I decided this was the premier yarn I was looking for to make the Frost Flowers Stole that's been in my queue for 3 years. This is definitely the pattern I have been looking for to stretch my skills. So Saturday I read through the pattern and started the cast on.


I don't know how far I will get with this, hopefully it will get finished. I am going to take my time and do the best job I possibly can to make this a magnum opus for my summertime knitting.

I am going to blog my progress every Monday, giving me a bit more incentive. So here goes.



Challenge #1 Cast on 992 stitches.

I started the caston on Saturday and completed it on Sunday. I placed markers every 50 stitches, a black one at fifty and a larger colored one at 100 to make keeping track of the number easier. I counted the stitches at least twice before placing the markers, this is not the place or time for hurrying the process.
The cable caston is perfect for this many stitches since it is a firm cast on and you don't need to guestimate yarn amounts as you do with long tail.
I knit the first row and am in the middle of the second row which is an eyelet row followed by another knit row. I will recount the stitches at this point as a check.

The next step is to knit the lace pattern in the round and I see this as the next biggest challenge. Keeping the stitches from becoming twisted when I join the work with this many stitches will be difficult, I'm sure.

Friday, June 3, 2011

What a Tangled Web

Bitten by the desire to wind all the yarn I want to use on projects this summer, I set up my winding station on the dining room table and wound skeins in spare moments. Grandkids came and went and helped enthusiastically. With two more skeins left, I decided to finish up and clear the table so it could be used for summer crafts (dining is done al fresco in the summer, whenever possible).
In the middle of a skein, my trusty KnitPicks ball winder flew apart. Oh, no! I plopped it together and tried to finish the skein. My hubby was watching me and insisted parts must have come off. Of course he was right. Screws and washers were all over the rug and my half wound skein was a tangled mess. I'm hand winding it into a ball and detangleing at the same time.
He is attempting to fix my ball winder but if that's not possible, I guess a new one is on the horizon. They are quite inexpensive and fortunately, I have all the yarn wound that I need for the next four projects.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Why I Really Do Love June

The view from my kitchen window....





the prospect of veggies fresh from my garden.....





flowers and color everywhere you look....





Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Just A Perfect Weekend

Just started up the wash and wonder at the overlap of seasons when there are wool socks and shorts in the same load.



The last day of May is going to be a record breaker, heat -wise. May has already broken all records for rain amount. I have managed to get most of the garden beds weeded and the pots planted. The vegetables are still waiting to go in, the back of the yard is just too soggy.



It's azalea and iris time in the garden, soon to be followed by early day lilies and clematis. I picked up five more lily plants and put them in, both early and late bloomers. Not sure if they will bloom this year, though.


I scored some yarn I had my eye on at my LYS's Memorial Day sale. Four skeins of MadelineTosh (I just love this yarn). The colors are Carnation and Antler, and I am going to use them for the Swallowtail shawl that I have started twice with yarns I didn't like therefore abandoned them part way and the Damask shawl. Yes the Carnation is wildly pink! If I were naming it, I think I would have called it Cotton Candy, sticky-sweet pink. We'll see how this looks as lace.


Also picked up three skeins of Classic Elite Silky Alpaca for the Frost Flower Shawl. This looks like an epic project, but I am really looking for something challenging right now and this fills the bill. Casting on 992 stitches, right off the bat you have a challenge. Since this uses a size 6 needle, just like everything else I've started this spring, its going to have to wait until I finish my lacy cardigan. All the knitting is done, just have to put it together and pick up and knit 6 rows for the front band.


This weekend I read Laura Lippman's "I'd Know You Anywhere". I really enjoy Laura's books and this is one was no exception. Riveting. Her characters are so well drawn and the stories and POV so compelling, they are hard to put down. I downloaded this from the library as an ebook and put it on my iPhone, laptop and desktop computers, so I was able to sit on the patio and knit and read yesterday afternoon after we got back from the Memorial Day parade (official start to Summer). This is the second ebook I've read on the laptop and it does take a little getting used to, not much, just a little. It's great for reading and knitting. Do I want an ebook reader? Maybe.


We watched some old WWII movies on TMC over the Memorial Day weekend. Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster, just right.

Friday, May 20, 2011

A Blog of Many Colors

Just started gassing up the lawn mower to tackle the front lawn while waiting for the guys to come and seal the driveway when it started pouring. Both those things will probably have to wait for tomorrow. Sigh. The plan for today was to spend the day getting garden beds weeded and purchasing and planting my pots with annuals. Not going to happen.

The biblical amount of rain here is making for an incredible variety and intensity of green everywhere you look, which is a wonderful thing after the winter. So I will just enjoy it.


The bird feeders got filled and it's time to enjoy the exotic strangers who come for a quick feed on their way to their summer homes. We have had rose breasted grosbeaks stop by, an enormous pileated female woodpecker that made the flickers and red-bellied woodpeckers who are the year round residents look tiny in comparison. The finches are back in their yellow finery and they line up on the bushes next to the feeder waiting their turn. As I was typing I spotted a bird with an orange breast that I think was a bluebird. Didn't have my glasses on and by the time I went and got them and came back it was gone. So I can't be positive. Makes a nice addition of color to the normal browns and black of the wrens, sparrows, morning doves and blackbirds.

The lilacs bloomed and a week later I am still able to cut them and bring them indoors. Most years, it seems to get blazing hot when they bloom so they barely last a day or two. They cover the bush which is up to the second story of the house. We open the windows and the beautiful perfume fills the room.


Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Finish-up-itis!

I have not been running in my usual way.

Start one sock and one sweater,
Knit until done,
Repeat.

No, I signed up for four classes, had three things already on the needles, so I was actually scrambling to find more needles to start more things.
Totally non-monogamous knitting and not what I was doing for the past year and a half. But you know what?
I actually got three sweaters finished and am thinking sometimes we get stale and need to shake things up a bit.
I am sewing up the side seams of the summer cardi today. It's been blocked, so will be wearable today. Teasel is waiting for the sleeve ribbing and I have just a tiny bit of yarn left, so hopefully I will get another skein on Saturday to finish.

February Lady sweater is done as I stated in the last post.

On Saturday, I have the lace cardi class so I think I will cast on in the next few days to get a jump on this.
Also, since I've been aching to start a lace project, I think I will begin Romi's Seven Small Shawls to Knit. I would love to knit all seven of them this summer. Perfect summer knitting, I'm thinking. Socks have been my go-to summer knitting, but I seem to be giving them a little rest.

I have yarn and beads for the Celaeno ( a blue/purple mix) and a MadelineTosh dark green for the Elektra which I am planning on starting today. There is a boatload of MadelineTosh fingering at my LYS, so I will check out the colors and see if any of them are suitable for any of the other shawls.
Yesterday it was 41° in the morning, we had a thunderstorm with torrential rain about noon, and it went up to 81 ° by the time I went to pick up the kids. It's warm again today, so things are bursting with color in the garden. It is way too wet and muddy to even think about working in the garden, I'll just enjoy the warmth.


Here's some red, white and blue color peeking out in the garden.
Blue pulmonaria or lungwort (a really bad name for a beautiful early perennial)Red rhubarb, hopefully the bunnies will leave us some.
White magnolias that just don't last long enough. This is a tiny little tree (may grow bigger some day) but it is flowering beautifully this year.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

It's Raining, Again!





It's raining and cold, dark and miserable. It snowed (yes a measurable amount) on Monday. Blah, blah, blah!
When I saw how late Easter was this year, I thought no problem having an outdoor Easter egg hunt. Now it doesn't look too promising. We'll have it but the kids are going to have to wear boots and winter coats, I think. Bummer.

I finished the February Lady Sweater and am happy about the color (green with yellowish bits) perfect for a springtime wearing. Because the yoke is in garter stitch and loosey-goosey, I added a grosgrain backing and backing buttons for a little more support. This will be worn buttoned and I really thought it needed a little help. Even though for most sweaters, it isn't always something I add. Very happy with the fit, yarn and color. Whoo Hoo. Sometimes sweaters just don't look the same on you as they do on the young skinny models.