In Like a Lamb

 

Thanks to the warm weather we're having, everything is popping up out there but for the most part it all looks pretty bad. The super cold temperatures that lasted for weeks took their toll. The daffodils look the healthiest at the moment but even they look a bit sad.

A patch of crocus down by the bay seem like they weathered the winter unscathed. Mine aren't showing much promise. What's come up is spindly and sparse.

Since these might be the only flowers I have this spring, I've decided to let my Valentine's project stay in rotation a little longer. Those flowers are a lot of fun to work on. 

 

Like a Hole in the Head....

 

That's how much I need more yarn but look what showed up yesterday. I can't praise this company highly enough in terms of their delivery speed. It's always here in a flash.

So what got me all hot and bothered? New colorways. I couldn't resist after seeing the YouTube short they put out showing them off. 

These two immediately caught my attention. The pink one is so pretty and the landscape pattern would make some nice, non-boring man socks. The socks that are on my needles now are coming off today so these two will NOT go in the stash but right into production as soon as I find the time to cast them on.

Also in the mail was more fabric. I don't need more fabric but I bought this pack of charm squares because I was running out of them for the Color Wash quilt and am too lazy to cut yardage into 1 1/2 inch strips. I love charm squares. I love anything that's already cut up for me. I hate working with big pieces of fabric. Too fiddly. 

And....look what else showed up in the mail this week. One of my soap friends made me this darling little purse and filled it with those tiny Barbie buttons I'm always on the hunt for. 

Look how cute the inside is. It's got all these little compartments. It boggles my mind how something like this is made. Thanks so much M! It is greatly appreciated. 

Friday Fluff

 

How it started. 

How it ended. I loved this fiber braid so much that I swore I wasn't going to ever spin it, just admire it but I did. It's not particularly soft so more than likely it will be next year's Croc Socks, the ones I pull over my regular socks when I don't want cold, wet feet. 

I also retired another stitch marker on the Pi Shawl and am close to retiring another. That will leave eight.

Yesterday's Betty race resulted in two decent loaves but there was a clear winner. A Better Betty.

Betty White was the best when it came to looks, texture and taste. Oh, dear. Now I have a hard decision. Do I abandon Brown Betty, my first born, and only keep Betty White (who is still a bit unreliable tbh)? Do I tinker with Brown Betty? Decisions, decisions. 

All By Myself

 

I was doing a happy dance when I learned earlier in the week that The Mister had a lunch date with his old work buddies yesterday. That means time alone for ME. I have a room full of half baked projects and was in need of a good putter around in the quiet. 

So of course I woke up with a headache. I struggled through this and that but didn't get much done. A few blocks on the Color Wash top and the next Dear Jane sorted out. E 5 is done but it's nothing to brag about. That center applique is pitiful. 

I put the last border rows on the punch needle coaster and finished up the leaves on the vegetables. 

Aren't they cute? I want to pet them. 

I did some knit planning. I dug out the bag of Icelandic wool that Daughter had brought me back from her pre-pandemic trip there. If I want a pair of warm mittens for next winter, this is the stuff they should be made of. 

The daily Betty experiment was a bread dough race. Brown Betty and Betty White were almost neck and neck today. That's a good thing. Betty White is getting stronger. The doughs themselves-not so much. Those high hydration recipes will be the end of me. It's like trying to wrestle jello. 

Wednesday WIPs: Going Straight

 

I knit so much during the Olympics that I don't have much interest in it right now but I have been trying to get a few rows finished on the Glennis Cowl and the Hue Shift thing every day. Both got taken off of their circulars and put on straight needles recently. I haven't used my straight needle sets in ages but these two projects work much better on them.

I love my shiny new Options set but those sharp points hurt my fingers with some projects so wood it is for now.

The socks I'm working on don't look much different and neither does the ski sweater but I have put a few doodles on the Doodle Cowl. I'm going to try to get one pattern block a month finished and when the holidays roll around and I'm tempted to start another stocking that I don't need or have room for, I'll pick up this instead. Sounds like a plan. 

TNT: Back in the Routine

 

This is what we woke up to yesterday. Most of it has been blown or melted away already. It was nice while it lasted. 

I thought that since it was a post Olympic day that I could get back to my usual activities around here but The Mister had other ideas. 

Over the weekend I finished the motif on the left. I had planned on it being the last for the year but I relented and decided to work on the one on the top this week since it's still February. 

My normal afternoons were usually spent working on this and listening to Dateline podcasts so I got right back to it. I finished that block and moved the hoop to another. 

I also picked up Funky Flower for a few minutes and worked on some leaves. 

The early morning had been spent playing with Betty. I had a big bagel fail the night before and couldn't remember which starter I had used so I tested them by making more dough. Was it Brown Betty, the original, or was it Betty White or maybe it was the newly resurrected one from the fridge, Zombie Betty? The guilty party is on the left and it was Betty White. As you can see, her bagel dough did not rise like the other two. I don't know why but I can't get a strong white flour starter going for anything. 

Unlike the hockey pucks I had made the day before, all the Betty's came through albeit in their own sweet time. Even slow poke Betty White managed to puff up when boiled. I sure hope they freeze well because that's an awful lot of wonky looking bagels. 

All Good Things...

 

I'm never ready to see the Winter Olympics end. I get all the feels. Yesterday was no exception.

What made it an especially great three weeks is that we had snow on the ground from start to finish. Just as Saturday's mild weather started melting it all away, Sunday's storm brought it back. It snowed on and off all day. It was the perfect backdrop to the ceremony.

I hadn't planned on getting all that fiber spun yesterday but I had to do something with my hands during that last hockey game. It was a nail biter. 

Ciao Italy. 

Thanks for the memories. 

Four years is a long way off at my age but France, I hope I'm there with you in 2030. 

And...if you haven't had enough of ice sports, let me brag a little about Daughter's high school skating team. They won the silver medal at a national US Figure Skating team challenge this weekend competing against 44 other teams.