Barely Hanging On

 It's been a trying couple of weeks with Dear Daddio. Add just about the worst weather imaginable and I am about ready to jump off a bridge. I was in serious need of some mindless busywork this weekend and I didn't have far to look for it.

The little loom has been sitting patiently for weeks now with her pretty white warp all wound waiting for someone to take the time to thread her hundreds of little heddles.

Most people hate this tedious part of weaving but I find it soothing.

 Organizing and tying up all this bundles takes time but no real skill-and for that, I am grateful.

On Ice

Recreational level ice skating competitions are loads of fun. They are not at all like what you see at the Olympics where it's all about jumping and falling.

At this level it's all about entertaining and what the parents, coaches and skaters come up with every year is just plain amazing.

 Kids of all ages are out there skating their hearts out with anything and everything you can imagine...

...and wearing anything you can imagine and then some.

The rink was filled with bugs.

There were bees in a conga line.

 There was no shortage of monsters either.

 I heard Thriller at least twice. It's always a winner.

 These little misses were in for a big surprise.

 Boo! That woke them up fast.

It wasn't long before the vampires came out to play.

 If you could get it on the ice, it was used for something or other.

 I'm not even going to try and explain this...

...but it didn't end well for that guy up there. He lost his heart and not in the good way.

 Here's my one contribution to the day's events. There's the fox I painted getting skated off after his big number. I was such a nervous skate mom that I almost forgot to get a photo of him with the two little foxes that used him for their prop.

They won a gold medal for their efforts, I am happy to say. Their second of the season.

Finally, I just had to include this photo I took of a mom recording her daughter's performance on her ipad and her phone at the same time. She deserved a medal.

The Luck of the Irish

This Shamrock colorway is giving me fits. The stripes are too subtle in places and in order to make a pair of socks looking the same, you need to know where the stripes are.

Just look at that. There is a slightly lighter green in that stripe sequence and I need to be able to find it in order to start the heel. Wish me luck.

All Thumbs

Traditional Selbu mittens have fancy thumbs knit over lots of little stitches. I hate knitting colorwork on a small diameter. There are too many reasons to have tensions issues so I was worried to say the least.

After all that work, it would be terrible to have the whole thing ruined right at the end. It turns out that the knitting was not as difficult as I thought. The problem was the pattern. It turned out that it was one of those "now that you've gotten this far, figure out the rest on your own" type patterns. I hate those but they are very common among colorwork patterns. They assume that you have the type of brain that can fill in the details of the design and knit at the same time. I don't and I can't.

Having said that, it is all moving forward little bits at a time. Very little bits.

Green Stuff

 Getting this box in the mail always makes me happy. Knit Picks had a sale on green things last week and I had to have some.

 Green sock yarn was first on the list. Felici is being discontinued so I bought enough for two pairs in their Shamrock and Jingle coloways. I started another pair of Hermoine's in the Shamrock yesterday.

I also bought a set of green sock needles. The Caspian colored needles are so pretty. Not as pointy as the Harmony but I couldn't resist that color.

I also bought Arietta a present in a set of Caspian #7's. The Harmony needles were too close in color to the yarn making it difficult to see. Now if we could only get some green stuff going outside instead of all this ice, wind and snow, I'd be even happier.

Last Gasp

 Winter has been officially over for days but it keeps hanging on. Pup is not amused.

Neither am I. We both miss our walks on the wooded path behind the house.

 I should be planting things not shoveling.

At least the little blooming things are not looking too damaged-yet.

  I have to admit that having a day to sit inside and play with yarn while watching a light snow fall isn't a terrible thing. I got some new yarn that I'll tell you about tomorrow. Today I had the time to start something simple with it.

 I also got the heel flap done on my fancy Elm Street socks.

 On Friday, we took a trip to Joanne's where I got this St. Patrick's material on clearance. I didn't exactly get around to making an apron with it today but I did think about doing it. I hate to say it but I would need a couple more snow days to get that done.

Go Dolphins

 When The Mister and I were in Rhinebeck this past October, he helped me pick out some fiber to bring home.

 It wasn't until later that I realized that the colors he talked me into getting were the colors of his favorite football team.

In search of a wheel project, I dug it out hoping to have enough for some socks for him-but no. I need at least 100 grams. 30 isn't even close. Even worse, it's Cormo and silk which are not suitable for men's footwear.

I'm afraid it's going to end up being some yarn in search of a project but for now, it's pretty and soft and I am going to just enjoy the spin.

Cornered

 My rug hooking experiment has been gathering dust. Seriously. Just look at it. I had to give it a good cleaning.

 It was in time out because I had run into an issue with the corners and gave up on it.

 During one of our long boring snow days last week, I dug it out and decided to give it another go. Earlier I had sewn on some borders in hope of getting enough stretch to get it on the hoop but it was coming apart at the seams.

 With great care, I was able to coax the frayed ends into the hoop just long enough to get that corner turned.

Busy as it is, I wish I had drawn in even more designs in the background. All that black filler has become a real bore.

Sunday Pupdate

It takes a lot to get the little Miss ready for her walks. Trying to get her to hold still is the biggest issue. The minute she gets a hint that we are going out she goes berserk with excitement.

 I may just enjoy our walks more than she does. It's been a very long time since I've had a dog you could take for a walk.

 This is pretty much all I see of my doggie friend.

 See?

Her nose is to the ground the whole time.

 I hate it when she sniffs the wood pile. I know it's where the possums like to hide. She found a whole possum skeleton the other day. It was awful.

 We've got lots of downed trees to climb on.

 We always finish with a visit to the deck. She likes to check out my fleece drying racks and my dead herbs. Don't judge me on the gnome. I have no idea where he came from.

Luckily, she is as happy to go back in as she was to come out. There's cats to chase inside and she can catch them. The outside kitties are way too fast.

This is going to be the last pupdate for a while. She's really not a pup anymore and in the next few weeks she will have an appointment with the vets to get the big S. I am a wreck and really don't want to think about it at all. It's already keeping me up at night. I'll have another pupdate when we are safely on the other side.