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March is definitely not going out like a lamb this year.
We have officially broken New Hampshire's record for the snowiest year in over 100 years and the 3rd snowiest year ever. We are also well on our way to breaking the 2 records in front of that, if the snow continues much longer today.
Have a great weekend in your corner of the world!
There are signs of Spring popping up everywhere here in the mountains inspite of the never ending dirty snowbanks.
Just this morning, when I pulled up the kitchen shades, my driveway which is one of the only snowfree areas in my yard...and is made of dirt, was speckled with ROBINS! Whoo hoo....they are back! Of course, I am told that they never leave, but what ever the case is, this is the first morning I have seen them. Welcome home my little friends!
Typically I am not a pink person, but perhaps it is the yearning for the colors of Spring and the desire for warmth and seeing this wee sweater that pushed me in that pastel direction. I had decided that I would see what all the EZ chatter is about and decided to shoot for something small .... this little sweater is perfect! In fact two little sweaters have captured my attention. Now before you start wondering...no, there are no little people that I am aware of joining our family any time soon, but these will be nice to tuck away as future gifts.
As I was knitting along on McGregor's Garden, I realized that I may have twisted right on Peter's ears when I should have twisted left and vice versa? Well, I did and I couldn't leave those ears looking more like carrots than bunny ears, so I ripped my socks all the way back to the start of his ears and started again.
Now they do look more like ears, don't they?
"Now my dears,"
said old Mrs. Rabbit one morning, "you may go into the fields or down the
lane, but don't go into Mr. McGregor's garden: your Father had an accident there;
he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor."
from The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix
Potter
A while back, Susan told me that she wanted to design a Bunny sock for me. When the pattern was finished, I bundled up a skein of yarn and sent it off to a test knitter who had offered to test the pattern, as I was much too busy at the time to work on it.
For whatever reason, the test-knitter never got back to us, so having a little bit of extra time, I thought I would sit down to it again and give the toe up pattern a try. (I suck at toe up socks)
As I was merrily knitting along on my lettuce colored yarn and VERY happy with how my short rows came out, I started thinking about Spring and gardening....and CARROTS!
Hmmm....shouldn't little Peter have carrots to munch on in McGregor's garden?
I'm sure you can guess what happened next? Yep...I fired up the dyepot and in the blink of an eye, Peter is now hiding behind the cabbages in some lettuce and carrot colored yarn, and I am enjoying that little extra bit of color while I am knitting.
I have decided that this will be my April kit :-). Along with the yarn and pattern will be one of these cute little carrot markers and maybe some lettuce seeds.
So while we still may have 5 foot snow banks in the yard, I am dreaming of my Spring garden with a little help from my friends :-).
Happy Easter from our home to yours!
(More about that yarn in a few days.....)
Do you know
Where you are
On your journey?
Deng Ming~Dao
I know that March is Margene's favorite month, but March has always been a difficult one for me.
Many years ago, my life was touched with sadness one winter and March is the month that is always hard for me to get through. Finding my blogging mojo has really been a challenge this month as well.
I have a tendency to keep wildly busy during March and this one has been no exception....just ask my ever patient husband....
A few weeks ago, I introduced the beautiful Moroccan Day pattern, designed by Susan of Sunflower Designs, that I am offering on my website.
Today I am going to introduce you to her smaller sister, Magic Carpet Ride. Is she not beautiful? Go take a peek at Susan's page for more pictures...you will not be disappointed. It is lovely!
I am particularly excited, as I knew that I would not have time right now to attempt the larger stole, but this scarf is just the right size to add to my queue.
Now I know that I may be reminded not to forget my dear Bee, as I have a tendency to get side~tracked (it's that ADD thing), but I am being true to my girl.
Ok, I admit another small project jumped on my needles, but for the most part, what little spare time I have had this month has been spent with Bee.
Remember I told you I was going to block out the first half? Well, once I realized that I was not going to be grafting each half together, but rather picking up the provisional cast on, I decided just to continue. See those little diamonds? That is the center join........I tell you...that Anne, she is a genius!
Be still to know the absolute.
Be active to know the outer.
The two spring from the same source.
All of life is one whole.
Deng Ming~Dao~
A week has gone by....in the wink of an eye and would you believe, I have not knit nary a stitch. The days have been full....maybe even a bit too full of dyeing and winding and winding and dyeing, but it is always rewarding to see the end result.
The picture above that looks like colorful spaghetti is yarn that will be heading down to Yarn4Socks for one of their monthly sock clubs. Normally I don't send big batches of yarn out like this, but Donna paired my good friend Anne and I up for this kit and knowing that Anne always comes up with something beautiful, I rose to the occasion.
Now the big question is............will all of this yarn ever dry in time? YIKES! Drying yarn in the winter is always my biggest challenge when it comes to wool. Thankfully Spring is definitely in the air in spite of all of the snow still on the ground.
Hmmm.....that Terry, she is a bad/good influence I tell ya.
See how quickly that one can of Hot Cinnamon Spice Tea has turned into 3 new tins of Harney's Tea and one tin of Adiago Chocolate dipped orange tea.....
...and the little infusing mug....perfect for one cup! My afternoon mug of Joe has been replace with a bit of tea. So far my favorite of all the teas I have is the Lemony Gunpowder....scrumptious! Least favorite, believe it or not is the Chocolate dipped Orange. Surprisingly as much as I love chocolate and love the way this tea smells.........it just ain't chocolate~ What is your favorite tea?
If you haven't already heard.......which would be hard to believe.....go take a peek at Cara's brand new little Meli and wish her a warm welcome :-)
I cannot sit and chat
with you,
the way I'd like to do.
So brew yourself a cup
of tea,
I'll think of you, you
think of me.
source unknown
Bees.....
Do you not love the way the little bees line up all nicely in a row in between the honeycomb?
This section has been a bit trickier than the rest of the piece, but watching those little bees blossom makes up for it.
Tonight I will bind off the edge and I have decided that I am going to block each half separately as I am just too tired to try crawling around on the floor blocking and pinning a large piece.
Tomorrow I will shoot down to Patternworks in Center Harbor to pick up one of these and then I should be able to block each half on the dining room table :-)
and Tea.....
This teapot just way TOO cute, is it not?
Terry had given me that yummy hot cinnamon spice tea at SPA, but somehow
the little tea strainer thing a ma jig that I had did not do the tea justice.
So what does a girl do when in this dilemma? Why she hops online to Adagio Tea and orders herself a new gizmo.
This little 17 oz teapot is fabulous! It is just the right size for 2 people to enjoy a cuppa tea.
I love watching the tea brew in the clear glass pot and really really love the little infusing insert.
Hmmm....I guess that I am easily amused.
I do want to say that I was VERY impressed with Adagio's service. I placed my order one day with standard shipping and it was here the next. You gotta love that!
So today on this Walk with me, Works in progress, Wordless or Wordy Wednesday, you will not get any snow pictures because for once it did not snow...........instead you get ice...beautiful lacey ice. This grrl is ready for Spring!
Breakthrough.....a peek of sun after the snow
Like shadows color of cold,
Willow branches weep ice.
Swan rises dazzling in the sunlight.
Deng Ming~Dao
You got it........more snow. It's getting to the point of being almost ridiculous.
Every 3 days now it seems like we are getting a foot of snow on top of snow, on top of snow.
The dogs have created little mazes in the paths that they always run around in the dog yard. The snow in the center of the yard is so high that I can not even see Maggie (the setter) when she is behind it.....but they are having a blast with all of this snow.
The rest of us however, are tiring of it. Shoveling this snow is back breaking for those who are doing it and so many of the roads are in seriously bad condition from the frost heaves.
How bad are the roads? Ken's car was retired this week......the struts had said..."enough" with the rocking and rolling around potholes and ice divets... and that was the end of that. She is old enough that it does not make sense to fix her.....so she will be replaced with a younger version.
Of course there have been a few highlights in this week though. Bee is moving right along and I am almost finished with the first half. Such a beautiful, beautiful pattern to knit
On the very near horizon though is flutter. As much as I have tried to resist, this extra skein of Roasting Chestnuts is telling me that she would be perfect for this scarf. She is also telling me that she would prefer a few beads here and there..........how could I resist?
Have a great Sunday.....stay warm!
