We're back to Mud Season - Wahooo!

Gosh the dogs get so dang dirty after a rain, you would think we had no grass at all in the backyard! This is the primary reason we haven't finished with the overhaul of the kitchen area. I guess we'll live but it surely looks crappy! I had a friend tell me of some sort of wall board that we could put up, but I've forgotten the name. . . guess I'll have to ask her again!

Ok so here's some knitting content: update on Kai - a little progress and I thank all of you who suggested keeping the diamond central. I did do that, and I know you probably can't see it (well, I know you can't 'cause I'm not a speed knitter like Vanessa, and I'm not there yet!) but this is totally even on the back, which translates to even on the fronts too! Here's the most current picture:


It looks a little puckery, but I think it will be ok in the end, it may just be the way I have it all squished on the needles:




And I've been working on these: Remember these?? These are the Mermaid Socks from Lucy Neatby that I started quite some time ago! Ok, well the BBS came first for a while!




I picked this up at the LYS for a notion bag: it's pretty cool don'tcha think?





And now I have a contest for ya'll, the person who comes closest to the correct number wins two skeins of Claudia Handpaints that are languishing in my stash: This color is called Chilie Peppers:



I had a gallon jug that I had originally purchased to partake of the yummy JW Dundee's Honey Brown Lager that it held. Well, over the years I have added all of my silver from the week into the jug, thinking I would try to buy a spinning wheel with the cash. Well, you all know I am not patient, and that was a silly goal, but in any event the gallon jug continued to be filled week after week. So, this past week the jug broke, too much pressure I suppose. . . so Caryn and I rolled the silver and now here is my question: How much money did I end up with?? Closest guess wins next Sunday!

And one more shot of my dearest love:

Have a good week!

Snow in KY Equals a Little Progress on Kai

Looky, looky we had snow in the yard Saturday morning! I got out on the front porch to try and get all the male cardinals we had at the bird feeder and in the pine trees, but as soon as I got out there - whooosh off they all went. We must have had at least fifteen pairs of cardinals in the front yard, at the feeder and in the trees. They're just so pretty. Oh well. Here is my Magnolia Tree covered in snow:



On to knitting: The only reason I got as far as I have is the snow, not that I can't drive in it, I just decided to camp out inside and knit and watch old movies. (You guys remember I am a slowww knitter right? I haven't figured out the two handed stranding method, but I hope to get there with this design.) I have gotten through the corrugated ribbing, and it is quite pretty. I am not thrilled with the Osprey color, it is so close to Moorland, that you almost can't see the difference. I asked my hubby last night if these colors were too masculine for me to wear, and you should have seen his face! What?? There are masculine colors in your sweater? Oh, well. I hope I haven't made a boo-boo with this leap of faith in the colors being used in this design. Let me know what you think, will you please? This first shot is without flash or direct sunlight:


This shot has direct sunlight coming in from the back patio windows:




I am now on the set up row for the design itself, and I am still struggling on whether to center on the diamond part of the design or to just go with the design as is. Any thoughts on this is appreciated too. (Remember this design is in Simply Shetland 2.) Hope you all have a good week - I am now off to figure out how the %&$% I lost all my bookmarks! Oh boy. I'm going to a Mac next time!

Miracles Never Cease -

I actually finished the Big Black Socks! Holy cow these are some big honking socks!


I tried to make them look pretty, somewhat, and the Heart pillow is just a bonus for Valentines Day coming up. I gave that to my daughter a couple of years ago, somehow she has taken over the whole couch, pillows, blankets (I almost posted these with Capt'n Jack Sparrow's eyes looking at you), stuffed animals - books, you name it! We fuss at her occasionally to get it together, but it always slides back. So, now that I've finished these I feel like I can actually start something else!

So, I'm trying to make the Kai Sweater out of Simply Shetland 2:
I don't think I've seen a good picture of this sweater anywhere yet! But, you know the motifs are the exact duplicates of the Gerda sweater in the same book. Personally, I think that's cheating, but hey, who am I? Here are the yarns, perhaps the photo gives the picture some clarity.


But you know, I can't ever do things as they are, I am going to cardiganize the sweater - I hope! The one item I am trying to come to terms with is the one extra stitch that is added to the back in order to make the pattern "exactly symmetrical at each side of the button bands." Huh? Ok, so I get the part about dividing your back stitches by the repeat of the motif, and then counting back by the remainder to line up the center back motif, but what about that stinking extra stitch? Does it just fall into place at the end of the row? That's what I am assuming for the moment, but if any of you have any other thoughts, please let me know!

I had the pleasure of showing a fellow knitter and want-to-be spinner how to spin this weekend. That is not really fair, as I think she (hi Peggy!) knows how to spin, she just unfortunately has a very old antiquated wheel, that was sold as refurbished on E-bay but really was not. Considering that she has done fabulously with the materials she had to work with!!

Oh! And one more thing: this guy showed up for lunch at our bird feeder last Sunday! Good grief that was more than I could handle! I hope you can see him (and the blood on the tree branch?) There have been no repeat visits, Thank God.

The Sun Is Shinning - Oh Happy Day!

So, ok, I guess we don't have to go nearly as long as some folks to see the sun around here! It surely makes me a happy camper. Look I even took pictures as evidence:

I have been busy with working on the fiber I got on E-bay from FraydKnot, and now that the sun is shining I can show a good picture of the bobbin, actually this is bobbin number two, bobbin number one is patiently waiting to be plied with this one:

I think it is a fabulous color and I can't wait to get a full skein made up! I have also been working on my Elektra Vest:

See how sometimes it looks like the stitches are biasing to the right?? I am so hoping this is not going to be the case when I take it off the needles. I am planning on five inches in this ribbing then my cables (haven't decided if they will encompass the whole diameter or just the middle back yet, I guess I better decide pretty darn quick!) I am loving the color on this too, and although I am working haphazardly from two balls of yarn, the colors seem to be striping somewhat. It still looks pretty good though:
Then of course, I had this fabulous shot of Caryn yesterday, although, it royally makes me mad that all my really good pictures have some sort of garbage in the background, like the vacume's cleaner cord on the floor - Anyway, there is Caryn and Jake! We so love this dog!