Quilting Bee

 Not only were Little Sister and I knitting, we were also helping Daddio out with his latest creation. We cleaned out his stash room and were determined to use up every scrap possible.

 We even decided to add some yo-yo's to the project. Little Sister made these beauties. They are way better than mine.

 We are plopping one in the middle of each pattern block. Cute, huh?

 I appliqued the pieces down.

 Sister cut strips for the border.

 Daddio cut the strips into squares.

 We are making some crazy sashing for the pattern blocks. This should be fun.

 Middle Sister's elderly Yorkie, who was also visiting, was not impressed with all the commotion or all the other pups in attendance but she did so enjoy taking a snooze on the fancy new hospital bed with the crazy air mattress.

The Knitting Circle

 Little Sister and her pooch Lily came down last week to help out with Daddio. Sister packed her knitting and we spent many an afternoon listening to him snore while we took up the needles. She is working on a cowl.

 I finished one of my green Hermoine's but I had to pack away the second because I discovered I couldn't count to three and carry on a conversation at the same time. No surprise there.

I also added three more balls of cotton in some new-to-me shades. I am very much in love with the happy yellow/orange one on the right. It's called Creamsicle and it's really, really purty knit up.

Winter's End

 The Selbu mittens I made for Little Sister are done and even though it's still rather chilly for almost May, I think it's finally safe to say that the wooly things need packing up.

 Pretty as they are, these are pretty light weight mittens.

They would never make it through a winter like the one we just had. Let's hope they won't have to.

 As much as I am tempted to make a pair for myself, I think I would rather tackle something bigger.

 I've had this Fair Isle vest kit waiting patiently for years on the shelf in the sewing room and I think its time has come.

If we do have another winter like this 2013-2014 one, I'm going to need more than just mittens to survive.

Killing Time

 Pup has found a new game to play with an old toy.We're still on the day shift and the days are so looooong. I hate to keep whining but this is becoming overwhelmingly hard even with the help of Little Sister who has come down for the week to help me get him out to about a million doctor's appointments.

 I've been playing with these old merino locks in my down time but they are not making me happy.

 I didn't get to use any Easter dye on fleece this year and I'm still feeling pretty grumpy about it. I wonder how hard it would be to pack up some fleece to bring with me to wash. Nah... that's just crazy talk. I'm not even really excited about going to the MDSW this year. It seems like a lot of work and I'm sooooo terribly tired.

Violets are Blue

 I love violets. Here they are considered a weed but I adore them. Daddio's yard is full of them. If he was able, he'd be out pulling them and spraying them. I never understood his attitude with the yard. I think he'd pave over it if he could.

 I get to spend a lot of time in his yard now with Pup and watching Mom's plants coming back to life is nice. He hacked her lilac to almost death but here it is, ready to bloom.

 Same thing with her hydrangia. He loves to cut things to the ground but they seem to find a way to live in spite of it. I don't think it will bloom this year though.

Her weigela got whacked too. He tried to kill it but it's coming back.

 

 Her itty-bitty mini hostas are still with us. I love those cute little things.

 The garden is a mess. I'm not going to do anything with it this year. I can't manage him and it.

What really broke my heart was the possible demise of my beloved fig tree. I don't think the giant of a thing made it through this hard winter.  There are no signs of life and I am very,very sad. No more fig jam or jelly? I can't even imagine how bad that's going to feel come fall.

Arietta, Gentille Arietta

I ended up blocking Arietta on Easter morning. Pup got me up with the sun so I took advantage of the quiet time.

 It wasn't my best blocking job but experience tells me she is going to end up in my bag for most of the day-if I even get to the MDSW this year.

 She is such a pretty thing. She is mostly holes. Those double yarnovers make a very spidery web.

 She is also big-a regular shawl rather than a shawlette.

 The color is spectacular. She goes from flame to melon and back again.

 No one will lose me in a crowd wearing this.

Have Yarn, Will Travel

Hermoine has been traveling with me to Daddio's doctor's visits but she hasn't been getting much bigger. I'm not so worried about that as I am worried about figuring out what I did with the other ball of yarn I need for her mate. I've been living out of a suitcase for so long now, I can't find anything.

  Now that I'm on the foot I can finally see how the stripes are working out.

I like green but I have to admit this combination of colors is just not doing it for me.

 Miss Pup has been joining me for some quiet knit time over at Daddio's. We are both sick of Gun Smoke and Bonanza reruns and starting to wonder if life will ever be the same again.

Churning Away

 The dish cloths are still coming fast and furious. This is Mango Madness.

 This one is Cottage Twist.

 This one is Hippi Ombre.

The next one will be Mod Ombre. I just can't seem to stop myself.

A Good Friday Finish

 I had planned on completing Arietta's last chart on Easter Sunday but I couldn't resist finishing when I sat down and discovered I only had this itty bit to do.

That's the last pattern repeat right there. It felt awful good even though this was a pretty painless knit.

That's it. That's the last stitch. The last chart is a head scratcher but it worked out.

Now I have a big pile of spaghetti in desperate need of a good blocking but that's not happening anytime soon.

Sunday Funday

Middle Sister Daddy-sat for the whole day and night while I made merry with the family over at Daughter's yesterday. She had a surprise waiting for me. This cute lambie....

 ...and this card. Don't you love it?

 She remembered the jelly beans. I don't have a bit of Easter candy in the house this year and by the fit of my spring clothes, I really don't need it.

 We dyed eggs on her porch.

That was very brave because she just outfitted it with all this beautiful new outdoor furniture.

 It was Grandbaby's first dyeing experience but....

 ...it was The Mister and Middle Son who really got into it.

 They turned out beautifully.

 Dinner was the usual.

 Middle Son did most of the veggie work. Daughter did the rest. I brought store bought potato salad and coleslaw.

I think I ate my weight in mayonnaise.

 We also had gluten free matzo ball soup. It was good. Very good. I was surprised.

 Pup, who survived the long car ride to Daughter's, showed off her new trick-begging for food. Not cool.

Number One Son made beer. It was an Irish red and it was tasty. I told him to make me a six pack for Mother's Day. I hope he remembers.

 We surprised The Mister with a belated birthday cake that Daughter-in-Law brought.

Finally we took Grandbaby out to look for eggs. He caught on to the new game very quickly much to our delight. What a sweetie. I can't imagine how we ever got along without him.