Happy Memorial Day!

It's the un-official start of summer and what a beautiful weekend we've had to get the season going. Here in MN, you can never really count on the weather cooperating, but this year has been the rare exception.

During the Twins game this afternoon, the broadcasters broke into the game at 3pm to join the rest of America as they took a minute out of their day to honor all the men and women who have died defending our freedom. It is important to remember why we're home today to rest and watch baseball.

With the warmer weather, it's been time to work in the garden. I took a couple of days to run around looking for all the plants that I wanted and then took this last week to get them in the ground. The gardens look good, my body is sore, and my fingernails are still dirty. Life is good.

I didn't need too many perennials this year. Despite our very cold winter, almost everything came back again this spring. I did decide to try delphiniums and foxgloves again, and I couldn't resist a red and white columbine, or a cute little dwarf catmint. There's always room for one more. Now that the planting is over, it's time to get some pictures and make a few notes for my garden journal. It's always fun to look back to see how the gardens have progressed over the years.

Last year I had the good sense to pot up a few of my herb plants to have right off the back porch, and I did the same again this year. I can't have everything that handy, but I like having the most common ones close by--basil, parsley (Italian and curly), mint (Mojitos), and cilantro.

I also finished up the Bobbled Braids cardigan last week--just in time to store it away for the summer. I'm such a sucker for cables and bobbles, and I especially liked the bobbles in this pattern because they are made without turning the knitting. Each bobble is made by working P1, K1, P1, K1 in one stitch, and then passing the first three stitches over the last one one-by-one. This creates a more subtle bobble that gives texture without being too pronounced.

The pattern runs a little big, so I shortened it by a couple of inches--not a problem for the body, but a bit tougher for the sleeves. I kept the stitch count the same, and if I were to do this again, I would probably reduce the numer of increases so that the sleeves were narrower at the body, but not a big deal. Even the length adjustment was tricky. I wanted to end the cable design to have a crossover at the seam, and one less was too short, one more was a bit too long, so I opted for a longer sleeve.

Overall, I'm really happy with the finished sweater. As this one was drying on the blocking board, I was already casting-on the next project--a cottony summer cardigan. The pattern is one of Kim Dolce's called "Fitzroy." I've been itching to get at this one so that I could knit it up to wear this summer, but it's just not in me to start a new project without finishing the one I'm already knitting. So, if you see me at the July 4th picnic with my wool cable cardigan on, be kind.

No. Empty Nesters Do Not Have More Time.

When I envisioned my first spring as an empty nester, I saw myself leisurely working in my gardens while I listened to the ball game on the radio and sipped on a fresh glass of iced tea. What a dreamer! I'm still running around trying to catch up with my to-do list. Even without kid-madness, I'm not getting to all the things I should be doing at the change of seasons.

Not to sound completely befuddled, I have made some major advances on clearing my calendar of obligations. The biggie is being able to check off some "final meetings" of a few volunteer responsibilities that break for the summer. It's been a little like finals week, and I am inching closer to summer vacation. Lucky it's Friday so that I can take a breather for a few days.

Happy Mother's Day! Always a nice holiday since it actually coincides with the reason I get to celebrate in the first place. My son doesn't really like it when his birthday and Mom's Day are on the same day--attention hog!--so he should be happy this year when they are a day apart. We'll head up to see him for both. Since it's finals week and no one is too interested in birthday partying, spending the day with Mom and Dad doesn't have the shame attached to it as it might otherwise have. I think we might take in the new Star Trek movie at some point over the weekend. Seriously, who ever thought I'd be anxious to see a movie with Spock in it, but it's getting incredible reviews. And I'm sure eating will be a significant part of the celebration as well.

Last night I finished off the left front piece of my Bobbled Braids cardigan. The pattern recommends blocking the pieces before attaching the sleeves with a 3-needle bind off. I've gone ahead and done that in the "big blob of knitting" phase instead so that I can soak the whole works and not have open stitches to deal with. On to the sleeves, which I think I'll knit together--as in, at the same time. It's a little awkward and heavy towards the end with two sleeves on the needles, but the payoff is worth it when you're done and have two perfectly matched sleeves. I've been reading ahead trying to figure out how to knit the front bands since I shortened the length of the sweater. Spacing the buttonholes in the cabled band will take some thinking. Horrors, I might have to do some math.

Enough! That list isn't getting any shorter by sitting here writing about it. My freshly mopped kitchen floor is dry, so it's back to work for me.

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.

It Ain't Over 'til It's Over

It almost took me as many weeks to find the right buttons for Amherst as it did for me to knit it. That poor sweater has been rolling around in my car waiting for me to get it finished, and today was the day. I don't know why it took so long. I didn't want anything spectacular. In fact, when I knit the front piece for the sweater, I made the buttonholes one stitch smaller so that I wouldn't have to buy buttons as large as the ones on the original.

This is a super-simple design, and it makes a cute basic sweater. Besides, making the buttonholes a bit smaller, the only other modification I made was in the finishing process. To finish off the raw neckline, the designer suggests a row of single crochet , but I thought it needed more. EZ to the rescue! Knitted on i-cord gave it a nice edge and should hold in all that stretchy garter stitch. I'm sure I will make this again sometime.

Amherst was done, and I had run out of yarn for Prayer Shawls, so I've been plugging away on the cabled scarf that I started in order to have a project to take on vacation. This is the first time I have ever used Lion Brand's Fisherman's Wool. Not sure how this will wear, but it's very nice yarn to knit with. It's soft, the color is beautiful, and there is a lot of yardage on each skein, so it's a good value. I don't think one skein will be enough. Two might be overkill. I'll keep knitting until it seems right. The trouble is, I could knit this scarf in my sleep. I need something that's more challenging for my main project.

That's right, I didn't just buy buttons today. In one fell swoop, I now have yarn for four new projects in the house: two Prayer Shawls, a lace shawl, and a cardigan. Once I get something cast-on, I'll let you know what I'm up to. I'd better make a swatch.

Eighties, Eats, and the Dam Pictures

It's always a bit of a gamble to stay on the mainland for spring break, but I guess Las Vegas was the place to take that bet. Literally, on the day we arrived temperatures shot up and stayed at near record highs until the day we left. Just seeing green grass and flowers was a treat, but being able to sit poolside was a bonus.

Besides enjoying the sun, we took in a show, and ate...and ate, and ate. I had several Wynn croissant breakfasts, pasta at the new Sinatra restaurant in the Encore, Kobe beef burgers at Nine in the Palms, the best Mahi Mahi tacos ever, and perfectly grilled organic chicken over Mac & Cheese with trufffles at Stripsteak. Vegas has become quite the food mecca over the last few years, and we had some of the best meals we've ever had on this year's vacation. The guys weren't so lucky with their NCAA basketball picks. From the grumbling I heard from some of the other passengers on our flight home, it didn't sound like they were alone.

And for the first time ever we rented a car and drove out to Hoover Dam. We didn't technically take the dam tour, but we did endure all the dam traffic to get out there. By the time we finally arrived, we weren't in the best of moods for touring. It is an impressive sight. In fact, the new construction of the Hoover Dam Bypass is every bit as interesting as the dam itself. Bascially, we walked around a bit, took the dam pictures, and hit the road--happy to be finally going against the long line of cars.

My trip knitting was a big bust. Since I was only working on a scarf and gauge was not a big issue, I decided to try and purl the "right way" for a change. I've always purled the quick way that gets the job done. The problem with this method is that it leaves the stitch on the needle facing the wrong direction. Most of the time, it doesn't matter, but there are some patterns where I do have to turn the stitch on the needle to make the new stitches turn out correctly. I've had this pointed out to me in the past, but I never really cared until I was scolded via my new DVDs by Elizabeth Zimmermann. So, why not give it a try, I thought. And I gave it a good try. I knit about 14" on my cabled scarf. I adapted to the motion quickly enough. It was the tension that I could never adjust. No matter how hard I tried, those purl rows had stitches that were big enough to poke your finger through. In the end, I frogged the whole works and started over, reverting back to my bad habits. I'm almost back to the point where I gave up, and it's nice and smooth. Sorry EZ.