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.

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....

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.

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.

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.

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.

Color

It's been a little warmer and sunnier out. On Wednesday I actually took my knitting out on the patio and sat in the sun to pick up stitches for the sleeve of my February Lady Sweater. Thursday the grands and I played basketball in the back yard. It was so warm we actually had to go in to cool off. Hot weather will be upon us quickly and with it all the garden clean up that needs to get done. Not complaining a bit about that. Just can't wait!

Here's a little color until the real stuff appears!

My LYS got a shipment of MadelineTosh DK weight yarn and I scooped up four skeins to make the little Goodale sweater.
Talking about color, I am alternating the skeins as there is a huge difference in colors from one to the other. I have two skeins that appear very light and two skeins that are darker. But I am loving the way they look alternating.