Mother's Day Solved

With Mother's Day approaching, I was racking my brains trying to decide what to get my Mom for a gift. Like most of us, she doesn't need anything, so it's always tough to know what to buy. Inspiration hit me when I saw the Euroflax linen yarn on a recent visit to Yarn Harbor in Duluth, MN. I knew there was a pattern in The Knitter's Book of Yarn for a linen bread basket liner, so I picked up a skein. I must confess that I was just as interested in trying out this yarn as I was in getting a gift made.

The liners knit up quickly--one skein makes two bread cloths. It was a little tricky getting them started on the DPNs, but then in no time you're casting off. I love the linen so much that I was already planning in my head what I would make with it next. Today I found a perfect bread basket. (The one in the picture is mine.) The plan is to fill it with fresh baked rolls to bring over for the family get-together that day and pair it with a nice plant. That's one mother taken care of.

While I was doing laundry yesterday, the doorbell rang, and there on my doorstep was a big old box o'yarn. I took advantage of an online yarn sale and planned out a few future projects. This is the closest thing I've had to a stash in my whole life. There are three sweaters in this box, so lots of happy knitting hours ahead for me. It took every bit of discipline I have to pack this away and get back to our dirty clothes.

My Bobbled Braids cardigan is progressing nicely. The back is complete, and I've got several inches done on the right front piece. I just love knitting cables. It will be a bummer to finish this and then have to wait until fall to wear it though. I've actually been tempted to cast on a cotton sweater I have in mind, but since I'm in the cable rhythm, I'm going to keep going.

Finally, I hereby declare that if it's nice outside tomorrow, I might mow the grass for the first time. How's that for a definite maybe? The grass isn't that long; I'm just itching to do some outside work.

80?

Our thermometer is flirting with 80 degrees for the first time this year. What a treat! And as if on cue, my Bloodroots--Sanguinaria canadensis, if it makes you feel better--have started blooming. I have a few lone, kind of pathetic, and apparently very stubborn grape hyacinth that are my first blooming plants every spring, but they are soon followed by the Bloodroots that will unpredictably pop up just about anywhere.

Another surprise in the garden today was the appearance of my very first asparagus spears. Last year I found some dry root asparagus plants in a bargain bin at the nursery, and I decided I didn't have too much to lose by throwing them into the garden. I've been watching every day to see if there was any hope, and today I see some shoots. I remember my Mom had asparagus in her garden years ago, and she always claimed that it grows so fast that you could stand by and literally watch it get taller. I see what she means. There was nothing just the other day. Unfortunatly, it will be another year or two before I will be able to harvest any to eat. Asparagus. Mmmmm.

To celebrate this first taste of summer, we are going to grill some smoked brats on our freshly cleaned grill, have some potato salad (made it last night), baked beans, and a very cold beer (or two). If the Twins were playing, it would be a perfect night.

Whew!

I can't believe that it has been almost a month since my last posting. Too much going on and most of it just isn't that interesting, I guess. It's true, there isn't much excitement in spring cleaning and yard work. How great is it though to see those tiny shoots finally popping up out of the ground in the gardens? I don't know why, but every year it's like some great surprise that winter ends and spring coaxes out this fresh growth. My neighbors probably think I'm a nut when I take my daily stroll around my vegetable and flower beds to see their progress.

One big project that we are finally getting behind us--at least partially--is getting some flooring replaced in our house. We decided to start with the rooms that were most desperate. For a few days we had quite a disaster on our hands--and a great excuse not to cook, but once the guys got the work done, and I had a couple days of top-to-bottom cleaning, it looks so much better.

The painter is in today. How lazy am I to hire someone to paint a 5'X5' bathroom? I so despise painting that it's worth every penny. Once he's on his way, we'll have the plumber by to put back our fixtures, and we'll be done. It's so classy having a toilet sitting in the middle of our garage!

It might be awhile before we get to the rest of the house. It will be hard to psyche ourselves up to go through this again.

Since my days have been somewhat exhausting, any knitting progress in the evenings has been fairly slow. I have cast on a cardigan called Bobbled Braids from the Arans & Celtics book in the Best of Knitter's Series. It is the second or third sweater I've knit from this book, and it's the first time I've ever knit anything with Cascade 220. It seems to be a good basic wool. It does ply out a little, so I have to be careful and watch for loops.

Besides one small error on one of the charts, this pattern is well written. I've done some adjusting in body and sleeve length, but that's nothing new for me. I especially like the method used for making the bobbles on this design. They are made entirely on the right side of the fabric--no turning. I'm almost finished with the piece for the back. Maybe by the end of the week.

Since we were in the mood to spend money last week, we splurged and got a Blu-ray player. Actually, we considered it incentive to get the electronics guru who set up our home theatre system out to our house to repair a problem we were having with the television, and it worked. Now we're back in the movie business, and are Blu-ray movies awesome! We had a great picture before with HD, and this is even better, but the biggest improvement is in the sound quality. You hear everything! We watched Let the Right One In--a Swedish vampire movie--and Doubt over the weekend, and wondered why we ever go to the theatre to see a show.