Ready for the next MKAL

Through the Loops Mystery Knit Along starts June 1.

I'm ready!

Neglected Pulli

Shawl and mittens completed (for now), the Mondo Cable Pulli comes back into play.

I'd forgotten how much I love the feel of this Malabrigo yarn.

Sunstruck went to work today

I got to wear Sunstruck to work today.

You can see (by the wrinkle in the back) where I lean into my chair.

The car came back

When Ben was in high school, his first car was a sweet little 1986 Saab hatchback.  That Saab's been sitting in a shed here at home since 2006.  We finally got it sent to the junk yard last week.

Every spring, the local EMS sets up a mock crash at the high school.  Usually it's before prom,to fully frighten the kids into good behavior, but this year they were snowed out.  The weather finally cooperated and they were able to do the mock crash.

And surprise!  

Two days later his car returned to the high school.

Looks a little beat up after they cut the (mock) injured students out of it.  Poor thing.

Sunstruck

Sorry Southern Minnesotans.  Blame us.  We wanted Paul to have today off as a holiday, and that was only going to happen if it rained.

We had a marvelously relaxing day.  Big brunch.  Movies (we watched Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook).  Reading.  Knitting.

Sunstruck is complete.  

Honestly, the border took as long as the whole rest of the shawl.  Tomorrow I'll block it. 

I think I'll really like this one.

Flower shower

Running through the Carleton Arboretum,

 I came across a spot where it was snowing flowers.

Bordering

Adding the border to Sunstruck.

Winter Wonderland Mittens

Finished and set to block on Thursday.

Modeled by Girl of the House today.

A graduation gift that will go off to Michigan in the fall.

These are the second pair of this pattern that I've knit.  The pattern is well written and a quick knit.  I really like the Classic Elite Fresco yarn.  The addition of alpaca and angora give them a nice halo and they are so soft.

Kitties

Kitties will be four weeks old on Saturday.

Big dog Paris is quite interested in them.

He's good with cats.

Garden?

While it's been raining intermittently since the weekend, we have managed to get our garden planted.

Yeah, we have plenty of land for a garden, but this is the only way we'll actually take care of the plants.

Easy to water and weed.

OK, this is kinda cool

This FitBit is pretty fun to play with.  I can sync it to the app in my phone for instant updates.

Here's my stats for today:

Anyone else have one?  

Wanna play along?  I'm looking for friends!  One of my work buddies has one, and she's definitely way out in front of me.

New Toy

Something new to track my activity and even my sleep.

This could be very interesting!

after the rain

It stormed off and on all day, but for a brief period of time this evening, we were able to sit on the deck.

Everything looked so fresh and bright.

More blue

I found this pretty little repurposed table/bench at a local Northfield shop and it's perfect with the new couch.

I wish I had the creativity to make these things.  I can follow a pattern, but I have little imagination.

I just love this thing!

No wonder

Now I know why I have been putting grape jelly in the feeder twice a day.

Yarn box!

My father, woodworker extraordinaire, made me this amazing oak yarn box.

There's a swirl on the opposite side to match this one, so I can put two balls of yarn in the box for colorwork.

Isn't it beautiful?

Squirrel!

Apparently I have the attention span of Doug the dog from the movie "Up".

I'm off on another mitten chase.  This pair will be a graduation gift for a girl that will be off to college in far northern Michigan.  Damn near to Canada.  

Seriously.  

She was there last weekend to register and it snowed.  

Sounds like mittens are definitely in order...

Soccer season has begun

Girls summer soccer has begun, as evidenced by our 70 mile (one way) trip to Watertown this evening for the first game.

Luckily, this summer our league has four teams that are a minimum distance of 70 miles.  There's one team 20 miles away.  We're glad only half the games are away.

Hey, we won!

Indigo Bunting

We've had so many colorful birds at our feeders.

Today we had an indigo bunting.

My favorite color of blue.

Local eggs for breakfast.  

Don't you just love the speckled one?

Paul and I went to the Shepherd's Harvest festival today.  

I managed to score some fun treats.

An Ellie Lida basket, some River's Edge Progressions merino sock yarn, and a double Yarn Buddy from Sun Valley Fibers.

I'm so looking forward to using them all!

Two weeks old

Mama Yasmine moved her babies, but we found them.  

That little orange one is just as laid back as he looks.

If you have a mom, or are a mom:

Needs a border

I haven't managed much knitting this week, but I did finish the twelfth section of Sunstruck.  

I only need to knit the border.

Gettin' comfy

We bought a new couch.

Before we could get it settled into place, critters of all types were checking it out to see if it was comfy or not.

Color

Not many colorful things popping up outdoors, so I made my own indoor color this evening.

Real spring Finally

The only other people I saw this evening while out for a run in the arb were two college age guys.  

It was a beautiful evening.  

I really expected to see more people.

But I did see one real harbinger of spring.

Trout lilies are starting to bloom.

Gratuitous kitty picture

They have their eyes open now.

I think that dark grey one is going to be a hellion.  It's already hissing at us and we haven't even touched the kitties yet.

Section 11

Section 11 of 12 in the Sunstruck (sort of) Mystery Knit Along.

One more section on this clue, then we begin the border.

There's something soothing about garter stitch.

Four Baby Kitties

Born last Saturday, April 27th.

We finally found them today, tucked away all cozy in one of the sheds.  Looks like they survived the snow.

More than he bargained for

More snow today.

I think this Baltimore Oriole may feel he came back a bit prematurely.

Making Lemonade from Lemons

We ended up with 8 inches this morning.

Just had to go for a quick ski before work.

With any luck, never again on May 2...

Ummm, yeah...

May 1st.

 I know.  Right?