4.26.2008

Catching up

Hi! Settle in...this will be a long one! ;o) There will be lots of photos though, I promise.

I finally have a little breathing room and a chance to catch up, both here on the blog and in my house. It's been a busy few weeks with each weekend taken up by lots of house chores, and I honestly haven't had the energy for a real blog post! I discovered I can email posts to blogger (which are those photoless ones you've been seeing) which is handy since now I cannot access blogger from work... :( This has kept me from keeping up on reading and commenting on other blogs too...I usually like to do that during my lunch break but now I really can't.

Anyway, I've been keeping busy with house chores. We did a lot of mulching last weekend, and I found some rocks to make a border for this little flower bed, in which the tulips have bloomed beautifully! Here they are the day we did the mulching:

tulips early

And here they are now, in full bloom:

tulips blooming

tulips

tulips close up

Here is another photo from our yard, some Bleeding Hearts that came up:

bleeding hearts

Oh, and remember a while back I told you about my white kitty, Pamuk? Well, after he died we buried him in the back yard and then to mark the place, we got this stepping stone kit where you mix this bag of concrete and then place pieces of glass and make a pretty mosaic. The kit came with the pieces of colored glass, and then I found a little packet of heart-shaped tiles which I added. :) So this is what we made for my Pamuk, a white heart for my white kitty (and little pink hearts for his pink nose!):

IMG_5032

I love it. :o)

Anyway, back to other things...this is how I've spent some of my evenings since it's been so nice out lately:

knitting on the deck

It is fabulous!! I love spring!

I also like to watch a soap opera and have discovered I can watch it online on our laptop...gotta love wireless!! So some evenings I sit out on the deck with my knitting and the computer. This is how I like relax in the evenings. :o)

Also, thanks for all the sympathy re: no knitting needles in the courtroom. However, this turned into a non-issue as I didn't have to go either day! Yay! I really didn't want to go at all, so I was very happy to learn that when I called each night.

So...moving on to knitting! Since I've actually been finishing projects and/or close to doing so, that doesn't lend itself to having things to just grab and knit, most things are currently requiring other work. So started (and then quickly finished) a little project that I could just grab and work on.

pink and green scarf

pink and green scarf

This is just a fun little accessory scarf to wear with pink or green, fun for summer. I love little scarves like this. It is garter stitch on size 13 needles, 12 sts cast on.

pink and green scarf

pink and green scarf

Specs on this project:
Pattern: Garter stitch, cast on 12 sts
Needles used: Size 13
Yarn: Karnak by Filati FF
Color: 3008 (pinks and green)
Amount used: 1 ball (103 yds)
Started: 4/21/08
Finished: 4/24/08

So as I mentioned, my other projects were mostly done and waiting for action other than knitting. My Fuchsia Lace Scarf was waiting to be blocked and I finally got around to that this morning. Here it is blocking:

whole scarf

Here you can really see the wavy pattern:

scarf blocking

close up

I'll have to get a good outdoors photo of it when it's done. I managed to get a few extra inches out of it by blocking...it measured 41" x 4" before blocking and 48" x 6" after. I hope it holds most of its shape when dry and unpinned. I tried to accentuate the little scalloped edges I love about it.

I still haven't gotten around to stitching up bear parts...that's something that will require me sitting at the kitchen counter island and no Moose around. I'll do a bear post soon!

The other thing I started on a whim and have almost finished except for a button is a little iPod Nano cozy. I carry it around in my purse and use it in my car so I wanted to have some protection for it, but since the iPod is pink (PINK!) and I love it, I didn't want to hide it in one of those cases you can get for it. I also knew I wanted to knit something with my leftover Firebird since it went well with it, and also I was working on the Firebird/Solstice Slip socks at the time when my sweet husband gave me the iPod for my birthday. So it all made sense in my head. ;o)

iPod nano cozy

Anyway, I just did a little swatch to check my gauge and then cast on in the round and knit until the little case was the height of my iPod. Then I cast off half of the stitches and began decreasing in garter stitch to make a little flap. As I said I still need to find a button and then I'll finish it off.

Today was also knitting hand wash day...I admit I got a little behind on my sock washing, but I got caught up today!

socks drying

Here's how I dry them...I also get to dry the towel this way too, and catch any errant drips if they get away from me.

Okay...thanks to those of you who made it to the end of this catch-up post! I'll try to be better about posting more frequently! :o)

3 comments:

peaknits said...

What a great yard - thank you for sharing your bits of Spring, I am still patiently waiting in WI...well, maybe not so patiently. I love your scarf and what a clever way to block it! A use for those foamy thingies! Thank you!

Too Little Time said...

Wow have you been busy! I've been workin in the yard too - amazing what a little spring weather will do for the motivation. Bleeding hearts are one of my most favorite spring flowers! The stepping stone is a very nice memorial to your kitty. Your pics of blocking scarf reminded me I have to do mine, so I am off to complete that chore. Chat soon - Karrie

Unknown said...

Your yard is so pretty! Those bleeding hearts are the perfect color pink.

I noticed your LL Bean tote. Don't you love it??? Seriously, the best thing I ever bought.