Stay-cation

It has been a lovely week so far. We've had a range of weather from snow to 70 degrees and sun (currently 65 and sunny). I've been fairly productive in the basement, even though I probably won't get through the whole place as thoroughly as I need to. It is much cleaner and we've definitely cleared out a lot of stuff. And, rediscovered some treasures I'd forgotten about.

Today I've been rather unorganized and not very productive. But, Don is having a very productive day (maybe we're taking turns -- ala our boys who, as twins, always seemed to take turns with bad days, developmental changes, etc. and still seem to do that at times). He's done a dandelion patrol, mowed the lawn, and is now cleaning out our grill! I'm just puttering and making only small forays into piles of stuff.

Ah, vacation! Maybe I'll read a book.

ON MY NEEDLES
I'm caught up on the Evenstar Shawl, now just waiting for Clue 6 to be released tomorrow afternoon. I even found beads for it at Beads on the Kennebec in Augusta. Can't wait to see how it all comes together!

The top-down cardigan is down to the last few rows on the body and then I have to do the sleeves. After that there are a couple of rows to knit around the collar and front edges and then it will be done. It won't be a lovely thing, but it will be warm and comfy for weekends.

I've pulled out an old project that will be an easy one to tote along when I need something that I don't have to think too hard about. It is a scarf of boucle and mohair I picked up as a souvenir last spring when attending a conference in Philadelphia. The colors are lovely, based on a periwinkle and pale, pale pink with a little white and darker blue in the boucle. I'll photo it when there is more to show.

Socks -- just haven't had the time or energy to think about them. But, I did just find in a box in the basement the very first three pairs of socks I ever made, while living in Scotland, many years ago! Two pair are felted and too small to get on my feet anymore, while one has never been worn. Sock yarn is definitely more interesting nowadays -- and nice to have washable wool so they don't shrink so easily.

Spring Snow

Here's a snowy day picture for you. This is Lydia who stretches out on a radiator every time she hears the furnace start up! And, a photo of both of the girls when the furnace is off :)


Yes, spring has sprung -- we have daffodils, and our tulips are about to pop. The hostas and day lilies are way up and the apple tree looks like it will bloom soon. All early, all welcome. However, it has been snowing all day! But, not sticking, so I think we'll recover easily.

I haven't posted in a while, partly due to spending far to much of my "spare time" working on my Evenstar shawl. This is a "mystery" knit along (known as a KAL in the knitting community) and members of the KAL receive one "clue" or section of the pattern every so often. I got a bit of a late start, but worked hard to catch up. We're on clue 5 of 7 and it will be beautiful. I'm actually enjoying knitting blythely along without really knowing the end result. The pattern is quite challenging but fun. There are around 600 stitches per row at the moment (going in circles for a circular shawl). I see from the Ravelry discussion threads that I'm going to need around 2900 seed beads for the finish. The next clue comes out in 6 days, but I'm not quite halfway through clue 5, so will have to move along to keep up!

Luckily, I am on vacation this week. Of course, it turns out to be not the best week to be away from the office, but I'm sure I'm more dispensable than I'd like to think. It is school vacation and, being married to a teacher, we decided in the first empty nest year to take this vacation together from now on. Last year we took an actual vacation and spent several days in the Lancaster, PA area on our way to pay a visit to our son at Allegheny College. It was lovely. But, this year we're doing a staycation. Don helps coach the junior high track team and the head coach is having surgery this week, so we're staying home so he can be here for the team. SO, the plan is to work on cleaning out our basement and maybe the garage.

Today is the first day of vacation, but I haven't even been in the basement yet. I met a friend for coffee this morning and then have spent most of the rest of the day so far knitting (big surprise). Then I decided to get on Ravelry and see if there are any notes on the KAL that I should know about before I get to the really tricky part of the pattern. And then I decided to look and see how long it has been since I posted a blog entry. Hmm, what can I procrastinate on next? Maybe selecting garden seeds? I think we're going to go back to having a small raised bed for veggies and place it next to our patio so we'll keep up with it. We'll see.

So, maybe I'll allow myself to putter, knit, and procrastinate today, but I need to get to work tomorrow!

ON MY NEEDLES
My Evenstar shawl in pale pink Misti Alpaca Lace. Row 36, Clue 5.

Skew socks from Knitty in Berroco Sox with sparkles. One foot is done to where the heel should start. I'm going to start the second foot and catch it up so that I can work the two opposite directions at the same time using the Magic Loop method.

Top down cardigan from Cascade EcoWool. Using the Knitting Pure and Simple bolero pattern, but ala Ellen at Purl Diva, am continuing on to make a full cardigan sweater. It will be a great knock-around sweater and knitting top-down allows me to make the lengths of the body and sleeves exactly the way they fit me the best. And, it is great mindless knitting to work on while watching the HBO John Adams series that we're currently hooked on.

Oh, and there is one more thumb to knit to complete a pair of mittens I was knitting before Evenstar came along.

OFF MY NEEDLES - FINALLY
The Slouchy Cardi is done. I'm not as in love with it as I thought I would be, but it is done. The hood is smaller than the pattern called for, both because photos I saw on Ravelry made it look huge and because I knit it with nearly every inch of yarn I had and am not going to get more just to add a couple of inches to the hood. I'm not terribly happy with the sleeve cap that I fudged, but it will do. It was meant to be a knock-around sweater, so that will be fine.

BTW, Zeben LOVES his sweater and wore it home when he visited over his spring break in March. He's talking about knitting another one this summer.