Not much exciting going on here!

This weekend was busy busy, but I feel like nothing got accomplished.  It was like knitting a mile of stockinette – you know you are making progress, but it is hard to see.

Saturday we got an early start, because we had things to do and we had to be in Brewer by noon time for A’s sister’s birthday lunch.  I managed to get the bathroom clean, my hair cut, some of the tree bits out of the pool before we headed out.

We came home afterwards, and it wasn’t until we drove in the driveway that we realized we forgot to go to the grocery store.  Sigh.  Did some household chores before retiring to the knitting couch – working on some baby hats for sale.

Today I felt ambitious, and while A did a special project for work, I cut up some old pallets and loaded the car with a lot of junk and trash for the dump, then went there and to the grocery store, which had way too many people for a beautiful Sunday!  I’ll have to remember that.  🙂  A went off for her weekly golf game, and I worked some more on the pool and in the yard, but everything looks the same.  Then I quit because it was hot, and went back to knitting  🙂

It is amazing to me that it was hot. It seems we are back into normal weather.  I notice the flowers are working really hard to get on track – lilacs are starting to bud, and might hit their normal bloom date of Memorial Day weekend.  Lupine are sending up flower heads, as well, they are usually blooming early in June.  Bleeding heart is blooming, trees are suddenly quite green. Everything is growing like mad, and so next weekend, I will need to weed whack, which I do instead of mowing this mess.  🙂 And finish getting the pool ready because I think swimming will be happening soon.

I did block Reyna, and she is packed up, ready to ship out tomorrow.  She is smaller than I would like, but I used the yarn they sent, so I hope they are pleased with it.  Once blocked, the shawl is 46 inches across, 21 inches tall at peak. Big enough to wear as a scarf or kerchief, certainly.

 

Here’s a picture of something you won’t see often on this blog –

My boss brought me in a bag of rhubarb last week, so I made a pie on Friday night.  Pie is not something I excel at, or do often, but I LOVE rhubarb pie, so I managed to bake this.  🙂  It seems I come from a cake family, and A from a cookie family, so this was a rare treat.

I think I will go have a slice now before I brush my teeth.

Hope you all had a good, productive and fun weekend!

 

Lucky for you, it is cold and rainy today!

Why does that make you lucky?  Well, because it means I am inside, and have a few moments to write to you. 🙂

I sat down a week or so ago to write and never finished that post, which means it has been a few weeks since I posted.  Yikes!  This is what working for a living gets me.

It has been a busy few weeks around here – lots of comings and goings, and work and cleaning. And knitting – lots of that!

Last week, my aunt and uncle came to stay for a few days, while they worked in my cousin’s pizza booth, down in Castine, for the l’Hermione festivities.  Apparently it was HUGELY successful, he sold every scrap of food he had available, and had my aunt driving around the peninsula scavenging spinach, tomatoes, etc.  My aunt really enjoyed seeing the bits of the fun she could around the long lines of hungry people, I think my uncle enjoyed helping and talking to people, although they both came home absolutely exhausted each night.

A and I never got down there to see the boat, but the news coverage was good, so we got to see the videos. A lot easier than dealing with the crowds!

Thursday night I went into Ellsworth after work to meet Crimson Crow and see the St Andrews Maine Pipe and Drum Corps perform at the library.  It is a small group of enthusiastic pipers and drummers, and we enjoyed the show.  And of course, the ice cream afterwards!

This weekend was supposed to be all about storing three tons of pellets in the basement, digging out the last small section of pool area, and maybe even getting the area ready to set the pool up.  But two things happened to change that – the pellets were not delivered as scheduled on Friday, and it is raining, so no digging.

Instead, we had a damp cookout with sister-in-law L, and did the usual Saturday chores, (which used to be Friday chores!) like the PO and the dump.  A and I did the grocery shopping last night, so all that is left to do this weekend is the laundry, which A has made a good start at.  I get to get caught p on blogging and Ravelry and knitting.  I will try not to think about the very small area left to dig out that can’t get done until it dries out.  Sigh.

But the knitting/yarn is exciting.  Check it out!

This is the yarn I got when I went to the spinning lessons at the Purple Fleece. I plan to make a lace leaves shawl with it, but not for a few weeks.  Sorry the yarn itself is blurry, but doesn’t it match my few flowers beautifully?

Then, this is the yarn I got at Over the Rainbow last time I was there.  I might have mentioned the sweet deal I got on the Kid Seta Noir?  75% off.  Makes up for the much higher price on the teal yarn! I got 4 skeins of the Kid Seta, so will likely be making a few things with it.

I started my scarf with it – a variation of Morning Surf.  I am holding the two yarns together for all of the plain knit rows, and alternating them for the yarn over rows, and the subsequent dropping row, which I think shows off the colors well, and reduces the need to weave in ends – I can just carry the yarn up the side. This photo is from when I completed the first repeat – I have done several more since then.  It is such fine yarn that this will take a while, but it is interesting, so I think I won’t get bored with it as I usually do with scarves.

I finished the Monet Indian Feathers – here are some shots of it unblocked.  It is drying now, all pinned out, so I hope to have a finished photo of it for you next time. Here, though, you can see the beads (I wound up using one extra pair of beads on each feather), the texture I created with random purl stitches, and the whole shawl laid out.

The last thing on my list, but the one that gets all of my attention until finished is the store sample I am knitting for Over the Rainbow.  It is Jane Richmond’s Gemini, and I am knitting it in Knit One Crochet Two’s Batiste, which is a wool, linen, silk blend.  It is quite nice and soft, and TINY.  Thankfully, I am knitting it in a much smaller size than I would be making for myself.  I have often looked at Jane Richmond’s designs but never knit one before.  She lays everything out very plainly and clearly, which I like.  And the sweater design is very nice as well – it looks like a dropped stitch pattern, but isn’t – the lace is much more substantial than it appears, which is nice in a garment that will get a lot of wear.

That’s it for knitting world around here – it seems like enough!

I’ll leave you with this shot of how I prune my shrubs, and who supervises said pruning.

This is my auto-pruner.  She doesn’t seem to be afraid of anything, she is quite close to the house.

Allie keeps close track of the deer you can just see behind the shrub at the top of the photo.

This fellow was out sipping nectar while Allie and the deer did their thing.  It is through the screen, so a bit fuzzy, I am afraid.

Have a good weekend!

No friday list?

I can’t believe I forgot!  I was so determined to get in gear and get to visit Mom before the next storm, I completely forgot!  Then we had no internet until just a few minutes ago, so I could not rectify the situation.

Friday I did make it to Mom’s, even though it was snowing when I got up.  By the time I got to Rockport, it was rain, and it rained all day down there.  Mom and I hung out a bit (like while she ate breakfast.  I DID get there early!) and then went into town (Rockland) to do some errands, and go to the yarn store – Over the Rainbow.  They carry Quince and Co yarn now!  Oh boy.  they also carry Laura Nelkin kits and patterns, so I was able to do some serious damage to my yarn stash money.  Like wipe it out.

The Lamb’s Pride is for hats, of course, the pink sock (Cascade Heritage Paint)yarn is because I miss knitting my socks, and it turns out I don’t have sufficient pink ones.  🙂

The Quince and Co Lark yarn in peacock and birds egg is, I think, for a color work cowl that I have yet to either invent or find the perfect pattern for.

Then there are two precious Laura Nelkin bracelet kits, Stereo Cuff, and a lace beaded cuff (the name of which I can’t remember). While we were oohing and aahing over the selection of her kits, Mom asked me if I would make some earrings for her to give as a gift.  Well, duh!  I will dig through my beads and see if there are some that will work, but if not, then I will find a few pennies and head to the bead store in Bangor when I am there next week for taxes. One thing (of many) that I love about Laura Nelkin’s kits is that she very clearly outlines what is needed – what size beads, how many, etc, so after you make the one you bought, it is pretty easy to come up with your own colors and designs, based on her pattern.

Anyway, after getting all that lusciousness, we had a good lunch at the Brass Compass and headed home, where we worked on a puzzle with B before I went back out into the storm.  Heading north again around Penobscot Bay, the rain turned to snow in Camden, and it was slow going after that.  I stopped at the big grocery store in Camden and did the shopping for the week, and still got home by supper time!

Today was a day for shoveling and knitting, and I did both.  Some work on the blue sweater, the orange baby sweater, and I knit one of the necklaces I strung earlier this week.  I’ll share photos of all of that tomorrow, when they tell me the sun will shine, so you can see the work.

I also spotted a new bird at the feeder, and while I didn’t get a photo, I can describe it pretty well so that you smart people can tell me what it is.  Tiny, and clearly striped, but with a red breast.  It looked a lot like the purple finch in my bird book, except that the head was not red.  Tiny like that, though.  The Pine Siskins in the book don’t seem to have any red, and so I am lost.

Tomorrow Mom and B will stop by on their way home from church (they go occasionally to Cherryfield, and sometimes we are home when they come by.  Tomorrow we made a plan to be sure we are, and we will all go out for brunch.  Other than that, I think it will be more shoveling and knitting….

just a little photo of what I won on basketball tourneys… so far!

A and I picked our brackets before the tourney started, one for men’s, one for women’s. $25 each. Although the tourneys aren’t quite over, I am so far ahead that she can’t catch me. 🙂 I took my winnings to the yarn store yesterday and got some more sock yarn. Of course!

Colors are hard to capture with and without flash. The red is a bright cheery color, a hint of pink to it. The blues are pretty accurate in the flash photo. The rainbow one is nice and bright, but neither photo really captures it.

Now, back to knitting my soft blue tide pool socks, so I can move onto some brights. I am on the second sock, started this morning, so I should get it done this week. Even though I seem to be in a mood for brights right now, I do love my tide pool socks.

the best laid plans….

THE SHOP WILL BE CLOSED FOR CLEANING/INVENTORY

APRIL 1ST THRU APRIL 14TH

REOPENING APRIL 15TH

So much for checking out the Cashmere Goat in Camden! Instead, Mom and I will meet at her house and have lunch in town, then go to her LYS, Over the Rainbow. Not as fun as a new (to us) store, but it is a good shop, so we will enjoy it.