Can It Be?.........Mar. 29, 2005

Contemplate in the morning.
Pull weeds in the afternoon.
The joys and labor of a single day
Are part of a whole journey.
~Den Ming Dao

Woo hoo!! 
The last few days have been mild enough, that the sizable snowbanks in my yard are quickly shrinking.  This morning as I was heading off to to the vet, I was amazed, not only to see that my garden bed was now snow-less.........but the green little buds that will become my day lily's were showing signs of life.  Even though fall is my favorite season........seeing the new beginnings of life each spring is always such a breath of fresh air.  How can we not be inspired by Spring?

I see from my comments last week, that this winter has grown wearisome for many of you.  As the above passageway mentions.....the labors of the winter are all part of the journey and thankfully that part of the journey is making way for new things.

Knitting

As you can see, I am moving right along with the Casual Cable sweater.  I can not say enough good things about this Peruvian Highland Wool.  I will be curious to see how well it holds up against pilling as it is so soft.  It does seem to have enough crispness though, that I feel pretty confident that it will be fairly sturdy.  I just love working with this yarn......pure joy!

Now......why is that big ball of yarn sitting on that sleeve, you may ask??  Well, let me tell you......<grin>.  Margene.......I am not copying you, I swear.....but I fell in love with that Twinkletoes Alpaca that I saw on your blog and knowing how nice it was going to look against Paprika, I couldn't resist the temptation.  Not only is the color scrumptious.........the alpaca is sooooo soft!   It is destined to be some sort of shawl for this sweater....or maybe I will give in and try Clapotis.  I'm not sure of what it will become, but I am sure that I will be pushing to have both done for the fall fiber festivals.......Rhinebeck??.....(can you believe I am thinking that far ahead......LOL).  Truly though.........I am so enjoying the process with this project.  The Peruvian yarn is just so nice to work with!

Spinning

I don't know what I was thinking about when I started my daughter's roommate's scarf??  With only 2 oz of the deep purple fiber, even spun as thin as I could spin it (a little finer than sportweight.....but certainly not lace), there was no way, there would be enough for a scarf.  Acckk!!!

Sooooooo, digging deep into the piles,out came this roving.  The colorway (Water Lily) was from last spring and I have more than enough for a good sized scarf and then some.

This one particular roving was a slow seller........and now working with it, I am not sure why.  The colors as they are spinning are so pretty.  It will be interesting to see how it knits up.  Sonya has dark skin, so I think that the Raspberry/Mint colors should look lovely on her.

It is nice to be working with soft luxury fibers again!

and lastly......the Pups

Isn't it amazing how much they have changed in 7 short weeks?  Each puppy is such a little individual now.
Mouse is a little tyrant.  So feisty and full of life for such a wee thing!  If one is going to find some trouble........she is the one....LOL  She may be tiny in size, but she is HUGE in spirit!

     This little guy is a quiet little soul.  Very introspective and tends to watch before he moves.   Very rarely is he a bully.  Such a pretty boy.  He looks very much like his grand-dad.

Nellie as we call her is full of it!  She chases the boys around and terrorizes them.  With a cute little, stocky body, she runs around the kitchen like the wind, nipping at your heels.  She doesn't miss a thing!

An lastly, the biggest of the bunch.  He may be big in size, but he is just the dearest one of all.  Always at your feet, quietly wagging his tail, waiting for a pat on the head.  Always sitting still for a picture.  Grabbing at your heart-strings all the time. 

~

My time with them is growing short and while it is sad for me to see some of them go, it also warms my heart to see them grow into happy, healthy pups who will bring joy into the lives of others. A bittersweet time.   I am not sure yet, who is going to stay, so the next week will have me spending alot of time just sitting and watching them run around and playing.  Hopefully the yard will dry out enough for them to get out and run.

I hope that the sun is shining and bringing Spring to your corner of the world this week!  Enjoy the season~

Comments

[Dana]

I just saw Twinkletoes on Ebay yesterday. glad to know that it knits as pretty as it photographs. I wouldn't mind adding to my stash, but i've got too many projects started to purchse it just now! The paprika/cranberry combo looks beautiful.

What breed are your puppies? They are adorable!!

Enjoy your green sprouts... It has been warm here long enough that my hibiscus is greening up. Stand Back. (Glad I found your page via Norma Knits.

[cara]

I love that sweater your doing in the paprika colour.where can I find the pattern for the Casual Cable sweater?the colour your picked out is really nice.

[Deb]

Reading stories about the puppies warms my heart. I wish one was coming here to live. Your yarn projects look wonderful:)

[Jan]

Your sweater is beautiful and the cables are really making it. I was going to order some peruvian highland wool yesterday but had to check around with some people who had used it first..just to make sure it didn't pill. The word I got was that it pills just a tiny bit but the fabric is excellent. I'm sure you'll be happy with your choice in yarn. I got some that was on sale at elann. I love the choices of colours they offer and couldn't decide so I narrowed it down to three. Happy knitting :)

[Lynne]

it takes a little green to lift all of our spirits, I think. I love to see the gardens emerging and anticipating warmer weather, too. Your sweater and twinkletoes are gorgeous together...what a great combination.

[vi]

The goat in the cast actually has a green cast under the duct tape, the vet covered the regular cast with duct tape to keep it clean and not eatten off by the other goats.
She is doing very well btw, and I kissed her little nose soundly!
thank you for your visit and comments
vi

[Maureen]

I can't believe you have some green showing. I think I will go out and poke around my yard . I love the Paprika yarn, such a pretty color. The puppies are adorable as usual. I bet they really are devolping personalities. I love the Elegant Ewe. We will have to tae a trip sometime. I could spend the day in there.

[vi]

thank you so much for the puppy pictures.... today is my birthday and I had a blast with baby animals at the goat farm then came home to see YOUR babies.
btw, I was called mouse and I got into everything too.
hahaha
vi

[Julia]

That Twinkletoes stuff sure is purdy! And it does look really good with Paprika. I may have to get me some. The pups are darling. I think I like the big boy, though I usually go for the girl pups, but he has such an ernest face.

[Jean]

Don't laugh... but I made that same cardigan. I did it in Elann's alpaca in the Cactus color. In fact I think I did it about this same time last year! The big guy is definitely pulling my heart strings!! Waaaaaaa! I want a puppy!!

[Margene]

Ah, gotcha! The alpaca will be PERFECT with your sweater! It's such nice yarn to work with. While at Anne's on Sunday she showed us the roving she is spinning that came from you. It was SO beautiful and soft. It made the most luscious yarn. I can't wait until I'm good enough to spin some of your fibery goodness up! It might be awhile, however.

[Chris]

Looking at those puppy pics makes me really glad Amika the destructress is getting quite fresh lately - cures the tempation but good! And, oh! is that little Mouse quite tempting!

[patti]

Those pups are so cute. They will make great companions for someone, too! I know it must be hard to let them go, though.
I wish I could go to Rhinebeck, but seeing as I have one vacation and one conference planned in the spring, I don't think my employer would let me have any more weekends off!

[sandy]

GREEN SHOOTS?? Be still my heart! A miracle indeed! That is what I love about spring. It feels miraculoua every year!
Puppy shots make me feel warm all over. Fig is incredibly jealous. :)

[Caroline]

How much Puppies have changed since they were born…already 7 weeks! Now they have all there own character, mostly Mouse and Nellie (my Pet has the character of those two lovely girls).
Enjoy this week with us!

[Pamela]

Those cute pups are tugging at MY heartstrings - they must be jumping up and down on yours! They really are gorgeous :)

[Norma]

Waaaaait just a cotton-pickin' minute. Aren't you in NH? Where are you, in the tropical part of NH, or what? And I'm all the way up here in the Arctic part of VT. I'm pretty sure there's no green shoots peeking out yet. But you've inspired me to go look with great hope tomorrow. That is, if I can find two minutes to rub together. (was it you who said that or somebody else? I thought it was really funny, whoever said it, and I'm going to use it from now on!)

[Laura Y]

You just peaked my interest in Twinkletoes. :) I guess I'll just have to go have a peek.
Oh no!! I'm in love with those puppies! I'm reading this and I feel it, it must be much worse for you. At least u know they'll go a good home.
Happy Spring to you over there! It's practically either sizzling hot here or dreary rain. It's nuts.

[Leslie]

I'm glad Spring is finally showing herself; hope there is no more teasing! Lovely here after days of rain; looking forward to bunny chores! Were there really just 4 puppies? The pictures before seemed like a dozen! All delightful and very special!

[Nathania]

oh, that Twinkletoes stuff is lovely. Just lovely. I've been tempted by Margene's ever so lovely pictures, but have resisted thusfar. I won't hold out long now....

The pups grow more adorable each day. I am so glad that you are enjoying the time you have with them now. It must be such fun to sit and knit while you watch them tumble about your feet.

[kerry]

My lilies came up yesterday, too, and it made my entire week!

Your puppies are adorable. I've looked through all of the posts since they were born and I haven't been able to find out what breed they are? Those little noses and big eyes are what's melting all of the snow.

I had bought the Casual Cables about the same time you started your sweater - I'd been eyeing it for about a year. How is the pattern? I plan on making it with a romney/mohair blend. Any tips?