Emerging O’ The Green

Finally this weekend, on the crest of a tropical above-freezing-all-the-time heat wave, I saw my first bulb emerging.

A week or two late; so very welcome.

Now, only three days later, just like the robins, suddenly my early bulbs are all emerging at once.  I may have forgotten to put on green this morning for St. Patrick’s Day (shame on me! and I’m even Irish!), but my garden was trying its best.

(These are daffodils at the other end of the garden this afternoon.)

Spring IS coming!  It will not be winter forever!  The weather has been amazing for a few days: April weather, so we can’t get too used to it, but once again: very welcome.

I took advantage of the nice weather and a knitting-related invitation from my friend Deb to drive up to the Twin Cities last weekend.  (Which is why I’ve been offline: I worked Saturday, was in the Cities Sunday, and then work’s been busy the last two days.)  Deb told me that the Minnesota Knitters’ Guild (how DID they get that web address?! someone was an early adopter of the internet!) was sponsoring a Knit-In at the American Swedish Institute in continued celebration of their Bohus Knitting exhibit, Radiant Knits.   I missed the opening due to a work conflict, so wanted to see the exhibit before it closed, and this was about my only chance.  Plus, I got to sit and knit as the prime activity.  Always a bonus.

So I drove up late Saturday (incredible Saturday Skies, BTW, but time is short — I’ll show you those another time), stayed with my brother and his wife in South Minneapolis (where I saw these somewhat confusing signs:

all the goofy signs I see in Minneapolis seem to be around their house!)  Sorry for the blurry picture.  I was at a red light, and just as I pulled my camera out, it turned green.  I didn’t think Minneapolis drivers would appreciate waiting while I took a good photo….

Then I had brunch with my good friends, whom I see too seldom, at the Bad Waitress Cafe in Minneapolis, not far from the Swedish Institute.  Yum.

Off to the American Swedish Institute, then,

to see the exhibit, which was amazing. Photographs weren’t allowed in the museum, but through the front door, you can see a couple Bohus sweaters in the case just inside.

The exhibit signs said something like, “Please resist the urge to touch”, but I practically had to put my hands in my pockets; when you see a gorgeous angora blend vintage sweater, the hand starts to reach out….I was extremely good, though.  And I visited the museum shop (candy for the girls, and a couple small Bohus kits may have followed me home too), and then Deb joined me and we knit for the rest of the afternoon in the cupola you saw above.

Here ’tis from the inside, filled with knitters.

It was great fun to knit, catch up with Deb, and meet wonderful knitters.  I finished Gothlet Gauntlet number 1

(here on the delighted recipient herself: see, it does fit her too, not just me!)

and knit on two other projects, mostly on one, which I realize I haven’t shown you yet.   (Then drove home.)

I think those new knitting projects are a story for another day, as are the Saturday Skies.  Because it’s past my bedtime.  No Irish beer for me today.  But Happy St. Patrick’s Day anyway!

And Up With Green!

A Letter to the Month Of March

Dear March:

I understand the rain changing to ice changing to snow last weekend,

and I completely accept the unforecast snow that happened the night before last.

It’s March in Wisconsin.  That’s normal.

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But – 22 degree F wind chill yesterday?

That is just so not right.

No wonder my crocuses are still underground.  Wise flowers.

Silly Robins

Silly Robins.  I could have told you that it’s not spring yet.

I hope your feet aren’t too cold; all your perches are solid ice right now.

It’s a good thing that there aren’t too many buds out yet, because the rain that froze that preceded the snow is a lot worse for budding plants than snow itself is.

Although I had to go places today (and get up outrageously early to do so, let alone it being a Sunday), it’s a very good day to stay home and knit.  (Though I chose to go one place — a book club a friend is starting — and, of course, I knit there.)

Here are my current knitting bag choices:

A pair of fingerless gloves for a coworker with a significant birthday (she has horses and big dogs, so I think she’ll find fingerless mitts practical; they are, of course, superwash wool).

More Twisted yarn in the Valkyrie colorway, Playful yarn base (high twist, heavy fingering weight or light sport weight superwash merino wool yarn).  I’m trying (again) the two socks (okay, mitts) at a time thing.  I’ve done it before, and drove myself crazy with yarn tangling.  I started out this pair of mitts with Magic Looping, but just don’t care for that technique as much.  So I went to two socks on two circs mid-project.  Has its own pros and cons, but it’s a bit faster for me.  Since this picture was taken this morning, I’ve knit almost to the ribbing of the hand after increasing then dividing off the thumb gusset stitches (on waste yarn right now, waiting to be picked up).

The Gothlet Gauntlets from Rainy Days, Wooly Dogs.

These are being made for my younger daughter, the Gothlet, and tomorrow I’ll tell you more about how I’m designing them (I’m a little proud about it, but you can’t see what I’m proud about in the picture).  Isn’t the yarn great?

Third, I’ve started a pair of Cookie A socks, Thelonious.  This is for a Ravelry Knitalong (KAL).  The preliminary progress picture is awful, so I think I’ll wait to show and tell you more until I’m a little further along.

I hope you all had some knitting time today (and that your weather was more spring-like!).

Spring Tease Saturday

The robins all suddenly appeared today.

Saturday Sky with Robin on Roof.

They all decided at once that it was time to join their foolish, if hardy, robin buddies who spent the winter up North (and what a winter to decide to do that, hmm?).

There was another sign of spring, if I looked closely:

Buds on the neighbor’s lilac bushes!

No crocuses yet, and no other buds that I can really see.

A sullenly cold and cloudy day, that started out below freezing

ended with a lovely sunset.

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I’m just putting my fingers in my ears and pretending I didn’t hear the forecast for 2-4 inches of snow tomorrow.  Lalalalala!

Playing Catch-Up

As usual.

Busy weekend…work, and then the Gothlet had her First Communion.

And Beya the kitten-cat seems to be a little older than we thought, just small for her age.  Why do I say this?   Well, we were going to take her in soon to be spayed.  Now, it will be sooner.  She went into heat this weekend.

Mrraawwwwrrrr.  Mrraaaawwwwwwwrrrr.  Again and again and again.  (Citrus doesn’t care in any meaningful way.)  Sigh.  She now has a preop appt in 2 days, and a date with destiny next Monday.

Maybe her frustrations are why I found this the other day:

Those are imported handmade porcelain Fu Dogs that I bought from an art gallery.  The kitten is SO lucky the female Fu Dog fell in such a way as to get lodged and not break.  I see now she’s also messed up the speaker wire and is in danger of pulling the lamp down.  Sigh.

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Well, a couple other things to tell you about (other than Madrona!).

One is, this wonderful swap package that I got from Carrie early last week:

(Beya of course had to check it out too.  She apparently knew there was something for her in there also!  See the blue tin just below?  “Fish Out Of Water” fishy treats!)

This was a part of the Knitters’ Coffee Swap Four.  Oh, the nummy things.

Raspberry and Orange Creme Sticks (mmm, perfect with dark roast coffee); Nikki’s English Toffee Chocolate Confection (English Toffee is one of my all-time favorite flavors); cute little Reese’s Whipps (Reese’s being the other all-time favorite flavor!! How did Carrie know?!); a Daelman’s jumbo caramel wafer, yum; and Lady Walton’s Creamy Dark Chocolate-Filled Wafer Cookies. And the coffee to drink it with: Italian Roast, WorldMarket House Blend (I don’t have a World Market close, but my sister-in-law loves the one near her), and oh, boy, Vanilla Macadamia Nut Kona!!

Then the non-edible treats: a Creative Knitting I don’t have, a little cookbook with ideas for dried fruits, fun stickers, cool reproductions of vintage cigar box labels (the top one says, simply, Hand Made!), and these gorgeous stitch markers:

The perfect accent for THIS lovely, elegant, soft yarn:

Noro Maiko, 35% wool, 30% kid mohair, 35% silk; nicely soft, looks like fingering to sport weight; should make a lovely lacy scarf, I think!  Not only do I not have any of this yarn, I had not yet even heard of it, so I am lovin’ it!

Wow!  Thanks again, Carrie!

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Here’s Saturday a-week-ago’s Snowy Saturday Sky — entirely forgettable.

This last Saturday’s Sky was rather prettier.

Though it would be so much prettier if it didn’t have the grrrrrr power line that cuts right across the back yard.  And there are similar lines going across our view in the front.   Grrrrrr!

I played around briefly and Photoshopped out the most obtrusive part of the power line.  Ah, that’s better.

In between, however, we had some obnoxious weather, which I realize much of the south and east have just experienced their own version of (so I’m not looking for any sympathy, just sharing pictures).  We were right on the edge of the temperature shift, so it started out as a couple hours of rain; then turned into slush falling from the sky, then little balls of ice.

Then to heavy snow, a white-out for about an hour.   But then it stopped.

At which point, all the rain had frozen hard under the snow, of course.  But it was mostly slushy, so not glare ice (hard on the walking, though).

Still cold, but they’re promising a warm-up soon.  The wind chills have been subzero F every morning, so I’ll believe it when I feel it.

Onto more cheerful matters.

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I have been knitting!  I finished a stealth project.  If you are in my family and your birthday is this spring, don’t follow this Ravelry link.

Having finished that, I cast on for Cookie A’s Thelonious Socks (it’s a KAL for The Loopy Ewe Spring Flingers) with this wonderful yarn.

The yarn is on the busy side for the pattern, true, but I decided in my head the little flecks of color would be like jazz notes punctuating the sock.  (I chose the yarn because the dyer is also going to be at the Fling, and the yarn was in my stash.)  I cast on yesterday; looks like not much so far, despite the fact that I’ve knit a fair amount.  But you can’t really see the pattern yet.

A little easier mentally is the other project I just started, Gauntlets for the Gothlet out of Gothsocks yarn.

(That’s a lot of Gs.)

Loving this yarn in a big way.

I’ll tell you about how I’m designing this in a later post.  But wanted to show the dyer’s work.  Gorgeous.

Though one of these projects is a somewhat complicated chart project, and the other simple knitting, I realized last night that they’re both on size 0s (2 mm needles).  My hands are complaining after knitting through two movies; my girls wanted to watch “Hercules” for nostalgia’s sake, and then my husband wanted to watch “Local Hero”, I think ditto.  I usually don’t get that much sitting and knitting time; it was great, except my thumb and fingers are requesting a project on needles at least double the thickness….

Hmm, a BSJ (Baby Surprise Jacket) may be happening soon.  That would be a pleasant break in DK-weight yarn.  Or my sportweight yarn from Madrona may arrive that I’m planning to make a red shawl from!  But I think my fingers may secede from the union if I don’t placate them by switching up a bit.  (Or maybe the oh-so-warm tropical 40 degree F weather they’re promising later this week will help!  One can always hope!)

Rain and Random

Rain and 51 degrees, as we had today, is just not quite what we expect in February up here.  Thaw, perhaps.  All-day rain, not usually.  (I worked from dawn till dusk, so no pictures, but I expect you can imagine gray and rainy on top of dirty gray snow and ice.  Not much in the colorful department.)

Though it was raining and about this temperature the day that the Gothlet was born, almost 11 years ago: I remember going for a walk in early labor, trying to get the irregular contractions a little closer together, and stepping over puddles in the neighborhood.

Yes, the Gothlet’s going to be ELEVEN in a week, and she has definitely transformed into a Pretëën (trying to subvert some weird searches there, or channeling the Swedish chef, not sure which).  Mostly in the Attitude department.  She’s always had a certain sardonic wit.  Even back when her father would tell her as a toddler/preschooler, “Cute don’t cut it”, to remind her that batting her eyes would get her nowhere, she would fire back “Cute DO cut it!” because, of course, a winning smile and long eyelashes can get you a certain amount in life, whether justly or not.  Not perhaps with her parents, who were immune, but in other situations….

That sardonic wit has now transformed into full-out sarcasm.  Which can be funny when the sarcasm is not 24/7, and not directed at what’s for dinner, or why practicing piano is or is not necessary, or my explanation as to why the gym teacher has to be tolerated though not loved.

Here she is, being forced to pose for a picture after she and her team won the city “Battle of the Books” championship last Friday (on to the state competition in a couple weeks, which they won last year).  Doesn’t the ‘Oh, Mom!’ come right through the screen despite the coaxed smile?  (Third picture attempt to get the smile, I said something tangential, probably something sarcastic.  Wonder where she gets it from?) (From her father, actually!)

There is a certain detachment, though, and sense of humor, that make me think the Gothlet could be an author.  Or an artist (she has leanings that way).  She sees the world from a slightly different perspective than most.

So, in honor of the Gothlet’s approaching 1-1, I will share a Goth-quote with you each post till the natal day.

Today’s is more about the recent point of view and sardonicity (yes,  I know that’s not a real word): the Gothlet told me yesterday that she informed her 11-year-old friend, who is fond of wearing H*llister and Aerop*stale T-shirts, that:

“You know, A_y, when you wear that, you’re just a corporate billboard.”

Yikes!

Is this how Michael Moore started?

The other Goth-quotes are a little farther back in time, in the innocent days of ten-and-a-half, and not quite so pointed, therefore….

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And now for something completely different, or perhaps just back to the beginning of the post.

In two days, I’m going where the weather we’ve just had is unremarkable for February.  Yes, I’m leavin’ on a jet plane and heading to the Pacific Northwest in the first of several knitterly jaunts this late winter/spring.  (Enough jaunts that I feel guilty.  Really.)

A friend that I met at BMFA Sock Camp last year, KT, talked me into coming to Madrona (Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat, to give it its full name) this year.  (It was really hard to talk me into it.)  (NOT!) There was a lottery for several popular classes, including classes by Nancy Bush, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, and others.  I decided that if I got a lottery class, I would go (I had frequent flyer miles, and could take the time off work).  Indeed, I got into Nancy Bush’s “Overture to Estonian Lace” and signed up for a class taught by Elsebeth Lavold: “Viking Knits: Mitered Cables” (it’s about designing with cables and making them go around corners and such) also.  And I got on the waiting list for a class by Sally Melville about making your sweaters fit (just got into it a few days ago).

And then I find out that my internet Doppelganger twin Laurie is going to be there, and so is my other Sock Camp friend and kindred spirit Sam, and Tammy, and others that I met at Sock Camp, and WOW!  Not only am I going to be learning, really learning advanced techniques from knitting book authors, but I’m going to see friends again, and one friend I haven’t met yet (in the memorable words of the RockStar at age 4), AND rumor has it there will be more cool yarn there than one could possibly shake a stick at even if one wanted to do such a foolish thing.  NOT that I need more yarn, but still…..

Lots to do, to be able to leave pre-dawn in two days!

Which is probably why my dryer broke Sunday night….Life needed to be more interesting.

February Thaw

At dawn, it was already above freezing.  Wow.

I had to go to work.

But there was a beautiful blue Saturday Sky reflected in an actual puddle in the parking lot.

(Liquid water!!  Outside!!)

When I got done with work, I drove the Gothlet to dance (when I work, I miss my ballet class, but oh, well).  More water in the no-longer-solid state, with Saturday Sky and a flag.

The dance studio is near the airport.  Airplane in the Saturday Sky:

When I came home, I finally could take the Shetland Seas Shawl off the blocking mat.  Except that someone was already there.

“Gosh, I’m tired.  It’s been a long day of eating and napping.”

(snore)

Full reveal tomorrow, when Beya gets off her nap mat!

Subzero Eye Candy Friday

Last summer’s weeds don’t care what the temperature is.

(They’re dead, after all, I suppose.)

It was colder this morning than yesterday, with more wind; -24 F when I left for work, with a -45 wind chill.  But today it got up to 2!  25 degrees F in 8 hours!  The beginning of the end of the deep freeze — for now.

Cold Snap Haiku

It is frickin’ cold
22 below right now*
Will my Saturn start?

*this is, of course, Fahrenheit. For the enlightened, this is -30 Celsius.

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This is what -22 F looks like….

Hmm, looks like 0.  Or 10.

Believe me — my nose and my car can tell the difference.  Le sigh.

Snow and Eye-ce Candy Friday

More snow this week.

Snow….

and ice.

About 30 inches of snowfall in December so far — unofficially tied for second snowiest December on record in these parts.  They’re saying 1 – 3 more inches tomorrow night….