A GREAT Mail Day

The yarn that I had hoped would arrive on Friday came on Saturday. Such excitement let me tell you. I don't usually buy such large quantities of yarn all at once, but why pay for shipping if you don't have to? I know in the pictures the colors look very similar. It must just be the lighting. The last picture is the most accurate. The skinny one is for the shawl and the fat one is for the cardigan. Grace was kind enough to wind up several cakes of the Puffin for me so that I could get started on my sweater right away. One big problem that I hadn't counted on.... I apparently don't own the right size needles. Seriously, I have needles in every single size but the size I need. After I got over that little disappointment I spent the rest of the weekend just admiring my yarn. The yarn shop is on my way to work, so this afternoon I'll pick up some needles and be ready to start knitting tomorrow. Why is patience such a difficult skill for me to acquire?
Happy Monday!
Sally

Half Way There (so to speak)

Remember my "Journey" challenge? I'm planning to knit all 6 patterns from the book above during 2014. I'm happy to report that I've finished the first 3 and it's still January. Yahoo!. I have to admit that I started with the 3 smallest projects.  So far I've finished;
The Mitts

The Hat

 

And The Socks

Needless to say, I love them all. I've ordered the yarn for one of the sweaters and the shawl which I was hoping would arrive in the mail today. It didn't, so maybe tomorrow...Until then I'm happily spinning my Spring Dreaming fiber and totally ignore the weather forecast for more SNOW tonight.

Hope your weekend is off to a great start.

Sally

Today's Reality Check

This morning a big (for Louisville) winter storm blew in. Schools closed, my doctor's office called to reschedule my appointment and the nail salon that I go to has no electricity. Winter is definitely still here. The good news is that the sun is out now. The sky is a beautiful bright blue and the snow plows have been up and down our road several times.  The bad news is that it is absolutely freezing outside. It was 34 degrees when I woke up this morning and its 15 degrees now. I would like to go to the grocery store, but my car is covered in snow. Thank goodness I still have these sweet mini daffodils to look at. We might just have to have pancakes for dinner.
Sally

Feeling Exotic

I've been drinking a lot of this tea lately. I love Chai and this Trader Joe's blend is the best I've found in a tea bag form. It's spicy and with a touch of honey and a drop of half and half I'd call it almost perfect. Did I mention how adorable the box is. So colorful and cute. To go along with the tea we've been alternating between blackberry oatmeal bars and Trader Joe's slice and bake chocolate chip cookies. Don't you love it when you can bake just a couple and eat them warm and gooey right out of the oven. It's all about the simple things.
Sally

Dreaming of Spring

 I can't help it. I know it's the middle of January. I know winter still has a long way to go, but I keep finding myself thinking about spring. I'm blaming it on the current fiber that I'm spinning called "Spring Dreaming" it reminds me of Easter eggs. I'm also blaming it on theses tiny little Daffodils. So stinkin' cute. Yellow is the color of spring. I love yellow.

Just so you know I'm not totally out of touch with reality. This is my current reality. It's cold, snowy and brown. No yellow in sight. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that that crazy ground hog won't see his shadow and spring will come early this year. One can always dream...
Sally

Slow Down

During this past week Alan (Grace and I) have been in full swing recovery mode. What that really means is that we have been doing a whole lot of nothing. Well, that's not exactly true. We have been doing a whole lot of stuff you can do while sitting on the couch watching TV. Thank goodness the weather has been cold, snowy and unpleasant, making staying inside a desirable option. Slowing down can be difficult. Keeping to a schedule and checking things off my lists is how I operate. I did go back to work this week leaving Alan in Grace's capable hands, but other than that we have had what you would call a "stay-cation" of sorts. With the extra home time I was very glad to have the freezer stocked with a variety of  soups. I finally got around to baking bread in my Dutch Oven. Besides the fact that it takes 12-18 hours to raise and then another hour of heating the pot and cooking time I think it turned out pretty well. I checked the freezer this morning and found a few more containers of soup and some chili so I think we can make it through the weekend. Alan is hoping to go back to work on Monday. It may be a shorter than usual day, but he is more than ready to get back to his normal routine. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Sally

Going on a Journey

I fell in love with every single pattern in this book so I figured that was a pretty good sign that I should go ahead and buy it. There are really only 6 patterns, 3 by Jane Richmond and 3 by Shannon Cook. I've decided to make knitting all 6 my goal for 2014. I've also decided to try using the recommended yarns for each pattern. So far I've purchased the yarn for the 3 smaller items, fingerless mitts, socks and a hat. I've finished the mitts and have started the hat. I figure once I get these 3 finished I'll move on to the bigger patterns. There is a gorgeous shawl, a sweater and a cozy cardigan. I've never knit everything from a pattern book before, but I think I'm up for the challenge. If you knit, check out this book. You just may want to take the "Journey" with me.
Sally

5 Days

Day 1

 

day 2

 

Day 3

 

Day 4

 

Day 5

 

I picked up this little Blue Hyacinth at the grocery store last week. We had just taken down all of the Christmas decorations and I was feeling a little blah. Watching it bloom over the past few days has been a joy and it smells like Hawaii which has made dealing with this crazy cold weather a little more bearable.
I wish it would stay exactly as it is today, but I know that's not going to happen.  Hopefully I can find another one just starting to bloom the next time I'm at the store.
Sally