Piggyback

 Kathy B isn't the only one having fun with her card kit.

I had a regular assembly line going this month.

I love that little chick.

 Some other new things also came my way in March. I discovered how handy these magnetic sheets are for storing the cutting dies.

I also discovered these large background stamps. I found this knitted fabric one on clearance.

 I bought this big flowery one ages ago but finally figured out what it was good for. Thank you YouTube.

 My big splurge was on these stitched tag dies. Now my soap tags will be a bit fancier. March was a good month for paper crafting. Beware Kathy B...it's a very slippery slope!

Been Better

 The back is still not happy and neither am I. I did manage to spend a few minutes getting the sandwhich of my table runner done. Standing up is better than sitting so I got the ironing board out and fiddled away with it.

 I made a valiant attempt at some stitching but that's for another day.

 I like my new snappy quilting frame. It came in very handy. When I am feeling better this will be something to look forward to.

Later in the day I did do a little sitting and knitting in spite of being very grouchy. The gussets are done. Now onto the foot. Tomorrow has got to be a better day.

A Big Pain in the ......

 ...back. I think I was a little too gung ho at practice on Sunday because every since then I haven't been able to move. My lower back and right hip are not to happy with me right now. This is pretty much all I have accomplished today.

Having said that, I did bake a pie from scratch from a bag of pricey honeycrisps that were forgetten in the fridge drawer. It was the best thing I did all day. It was the only thing I did all day.

A Good Day

 We finally had a day nice enough to get outside with the fuzzy stuff once again.

 It was my first time ever spinning the little rolags I had made way back in February when we seemed to have nice weather all the time. It was interesting. There is certainly a learning curve. It's not too bad though for a fleece I washed myself. It's always a bit wonky but that's the beauty of it I suppose.

 I also drug out the Ladybug for a good cleaning and to start a new project. I only spin commercial fiber on her. My own fleece is filthy and sheds vm like crazy. I only spin it on the old second hand wheels.

This is going to be pretty. I hope I don't ruin it.

Better yet, I had a bag of fiber to card.

 Making those little rolags is quite addicting.

I could do this all day...and I did.

Another Swan Song

  Since Districts is next weekend we had a full dress rehearsal at the rink last night.

 It was also picture day.

 This is it for me. My last rehearsal. I am retiring my services at the end of this season. This year did me in but good. Three teams was two too many. It has all grown way beyond my old lady capabilities.

Happily, I've got a well trained crew of parents ready to take over so I can leave knowing it will all be in good hands. I am getting good at this retiring stuff.

Sunday Soap: Oh, Baby!

The Mister's family is having a baby shower.

His nephew is expecting a little girl.

I was asked if I wanted to provide some soapy things for prizes. I went a bit overboard. Of course.

Elephants are the theme.

I opted out of April's card kit and got this Lawn Fawn stamp and die set instead.

 I had too much fun with it.

 See what I mean?

I couldn't stop making things to put elephants on. I ended up with about 70 little soapy things all together. That's a lot of prizes. I hope they are playing lots of games.

Fiber Tales

 Whew....I pulled out the ugly part of my mitt and tried again for the fourth time. Better.  I am going on from here.

 I have only twelve more pattern repeats before the Hap is a done deal. Yay. The decrease section is going fast. So is that ball of yarn. Good thing I have a spare.

I rewarded myself for staying true to the Hap by pulling out the Nurmilintu for a few rows. It is looking like we have a nice weekend ahead weather-wise and I'd much rather be working on something light and lacy. Wouldn't you?

Thursdays

 Thursday is skating day. I meet Daughter at a rink far, far away and I spend a couple of hours trying not to hurt myself. A few Thursdays ago I made the aquaitance of a new to me beginner lady skater. We exchanged nicities and that was it...until yesterday. Yesterday she showed up covered in her handknit Lopi. Hat, scarf, inner sweater, outer sweater and mittens. Wowza. I was impressed. She said she took up skating so she could use all her knitwear. Makes sense to me.

When I was supposed to be working on my latest dance pattern, I was looking at the knitting she had in her skate bag. More Lopi. A laceweight Lopi that I had never seen before.

The pattern is from the Istex website. Now I have the itch to make another lopapeysa even though it never gets cold enough around here to wear them anymore.

 After skating I always make the drive out to see Daddio. I knit while he does whatever he does these days. Yesterday he was in bed. He has a terrible cough. Terrible. He is just getting over pneumonia and I sure didn't like what I heard.

Don't let the paper fool you. He's not really reading. He calls out the bigger words and makes up crazy stories about them. He can't really put much of a thought together anymore. We ended the visit making paper balls out the the news and throwing them at each other. I got him to laugh. Good times.

No Excuses

 The Ladybug no longer has a project on it so I had to go looking for something in the stash. This will work.

 Here is the mangled mess that I just finished spinning. Honestly, I couldn't have made worse yarn if I tried.

 I know I have made decent yarn in the past so this particular project has me scratching my head. What on earth did I do? It's uneven. It's underspun and overspun-all in the same skein. What a mess.

 I said no excuses but Ladybug is the wheel that sits in front of the TV. Maybe I ought to move it. I tend to not look at my hands when there is something good on. The Young Pope, The Missing and Big Little Lies were getting all my attention during this project. It shows.

I just had to go cast something on with the unholy mess just to make myself feel better. I don't. These are some colorwork mitts and I had to rip them out three times. A fourth time is just on the horizon. Latvian braids are hard especially with this uneven, splitty handspun. Ugh. It hasn't been my day, fiber wise.

Stitching the Day Away

 I spent Sunday at the sewing table with the mini quilt and a new project.

 I've been doing a lot of hand appliquing and am so glad I had the good sense to buy all the thread that matched the fabric when I bought it from Connecting Threads years ago. I need to do that all the time. Note to self.

I wanted a table runner to match the latest quilt since I don't have a spring one. It wasns't hard to put one together with the scraps and leftover hexies.

That runner went in production as soon as I had this finished. I like it. I don't love it but it was fast and easy. I can fiddle with something more complex when I have more time. I have plenty of this material left.

Spring Planting

It wasn't a particularly nice first day of spring here but it was a bit warmer than it has been.

 We loaded the dogs up and took a ride out to a gardening center for some things to plant.

 The beds in front of the house are in terrible shape so things needed pruning and replanting.

 The layer of leaves had to be raked off first. I think we are safe to say the freezing temps are over.

 I raked while The Mister pruned. For a mild winter, we had lots of damage to the smaller shrubs.

 I knew better but I couldn't resist. Flowers don't survive long here once the trees fill in but a few pansys here and there couldn't hurt.

 I had to replant a rhododendron. My old ones are close to being goners. They got a pruning and a one year reprieve to straighten out or be dug up next spring.

 Oh, dear. The cold has damaged my camellias. They whole giant bush looks like this. Sad.

 The hostas all seem to be doing what they should. You can't kill those things with a stick. That's where I probably should be putting my money.
Happy Spring!