Trial and Error

 

There's been a lot happening on the loom but nothing to brag about. It's been one folly after another. I no sooner think that I've gotten something finished than I find an error, have to rip it all out and start again. I'm getting close though. Maybe.

At the same time, I've been trying to decide what the next project will be so I can start getting it wound up. I really like this towel I made a few years ago for Valentine's Day and would like to recreate it with other colors. I've been dissecting the draft (pattern) because of course, I didn't write anything down. I do know it's Birdseye though. 

I'm going to make this a scrappy project so I pulled out all the leftover bits and bobs from towels past but this is as far as I've gotten. It's been all trees, all week with nine more being delivered today. We're also off on another babysitting adventure today, this time being Daughter's "rink nannies" while she squeezes in some special lessons on her usual day off. More on that tomorrow-if we survive it. 

Wednesday WIPs: Oh, Deer.....

 

Last week I was showing off finished socks and this week it's new cast ons. Both are from the new Arne and Carlos Socks and More collection. I owe the yarn an apology. I was having a terrible time casting them on in the gloom during a run of rainy weather but the knitting is going just fine. The colors are beautiful.

I'm still dragging in the house after a day of yard work so not much else is going on in the evenings. I did manage to finish the first row of the first section of the Hue Shift Afghan. I had to do that last square twice because somehow, instead of a square, I made a weird L shape. 

The 80 degree weather has really accelerated spring. The Narcissus are already in bloom. They are a bit sparse this year but the ones that made it look very happy to be here. 

The new trees have been a headache. The paper did not deter the deer. In fact, I think it caught their attention. They tore it off along with some branches. I was NOT happy. 

They did not tear the paper off the very top so that stayed and I've tried to protect the bottom limbs with cosmetic pads soaked in Lavender oil from my soap making supplies. It's so strong you can smell it across our very big yard and it's believed that deer hate it. Here's hoping. 

To help with the watering chore we're using the water jugs we usually toss in recyling. Being on a well, with a water softener and chlorinator we don't drink or cook with our water so we have plenty of these. We drilled tiny holes in them so they leak out slowly keeping the tree hydrated on these hot, sunny days. We've got nine more trees coming at the end of the week so I need to get this sorted out asap. 

TNT: No Rest for the Weary

 

I spent more time with a shovel in my hand than a needle this week so not much was done on the Garden Sampler. I told myself that I'm going to work on that red border and the sentiment in March so that's what I did. 

I started another block on the Patchwork quilt. It helped that Dateline came out with a new podcast earlier in the week. I can only listen if I have a needle in my hand. Them's the rules.

I also finished another flower on the needlepoint project last week using the Dateline incentive but for the past few days I haven't touched a thing. Yard work is a killer this time of year. I'm all out of whack. 

Uncovered

 

We've been out in the back planting trees for the past two days but the front yard also needed attention. All the winter debris was choking all the little things trying to pop up. 

I spent quite a long time on my hands and knees in the mud pulling weeds, cutting vines and raking off leaves. There's a lot coming up already.

It looks like the Black-Eyed Susan I transplanted might have survived the brutal winter we had. 

My poor camellias suffered terribly. Look at those frost bitten buds. So sad. 

I'm hoping my continuous blooming azalea will come back to life. It's pretty miserable looking right now as are so many of my other smaller bushes. Right now it's in the 70's. I've even got the windows open so I'm hoping a good warm up might save some of them. What I'm really hoping is that we don't go from that harsh winter to a ridiculously hot, dry summer again. That would just be too cruel. 

Grounded

 

We spent all yesterday out in the woods planting trees. My four baby loblollys are in the ground. We'll be planting the two magnolias today since we ran out of steam after digging those four holes and dragging bags of top soil and garden hoses all over the place.

I read on the Colorado Department of Agriculture page that they protect their young pines by stapling copy paper protectors around the top. They employ lots of volunteers every year to do this out in their forests. The idea is that the deer will eat the bottom branches but leave the covered ones alone and as long as the tops are intact the trees will live. We'll see. Just as we were finishing up, one of the biggest herds of young deer I've ever seen here made its way across the creek and through the woods. I hope they weren't looking for a snack. 

I was so tired that no crafty things were happening here for the rest of the day but I did want to share this starter cozy my sister made for her sourdough starter that she calls Louisa. It's a very deep rabbit hole, people and it doesn't seem to have a bottom. 

Planting Day

 

It didn't take long for Fast growing trees.com to get my new babies here. As I mentioned before, the city is going to fine the heck out of us if we don't get 24 trees planted in the next few weeks. This is just the start. 

This online company has decent prices and a big selection so I wanted to give them a try since I really don't want to be running from nursery to nursery looking for what I want. I was very pleased with the loblollies. We've got four of these and they arrived in perfect condition.

The magnolias, not so much. The box was bent and they were both broken off which was disappointing. They should be fine but no matter what they are going in the ground to tick off two more boxes on that long list of trees that must be planted. 

Friday Fluff: Something New

 

I tried but I couldn't do it. Leave the Ladybug without a project, that is. I went digging in the nearly depleted fiber stash and came up with this superwash Merino/Tencel blend.

The gradient purple is lovely but....it's shiny. Really shiny. I'm not a fan but that's not going to stop me from working with it. I'll adjust. 

I retired two more stitch markers this week from the handspun Pi Shawl. The markers that count off 20 stitch sections were a very good idea because I no longer feel like I'm getting nowhere. I can see progress now. It's all mind games with this stuff, isn't it?