Four Years Later

Four long years ago, I bought the pattern, yarn and beads to make this:

Photo from Susanna IC

(Seychelles by Susanna IC)

And I studied the pattern, and studied the pattern and studied the pattern, and................ then I chickened out.

But the project nagged at me.  I had the yarn:

Miss Babs Yet, in Seychelles color---made for this project by the gifted dyers at Miss Babs.

I studied the notes on others'  finished projects on Ravelry, and suddenly! I understood the pattern.

No more procrastinating! Here is the first of 19 repeats, and honestly, it is EASY! I have made other complicated projects in the past four years, and now, by comparison, this looks to be a breeze.

No mistakes so far. AND I learned how to add beads as I go. See them there? On the right?

YAY me!

(It ain't braggin' if it's true, you know.)


OH! OH! OH!
It just occurred to me that Miss Babs will be at SAFF (Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair) in October. I'm sure I'll find yarn to replace the yarn I use in this project, and LOTS more! I LOVE Miss Babs yarn and SAFF is the only place it's available in person. 

May Day Plus One

In other words, it is May 2nd.

At knit night last night, knitters discussed May Day traditions from their childhoods, but some of us didn't have any. I didn't. These traditions weren't regional at all, which is surprising. North? South? Didn't matter.

My husband arrived home earlier than I did last night, and he found flowers hanging from our front door. No tag from a florist. No note from a friend or neighbor. 

Just these pretty flowers.

This morning while he was checking out new posts on Facebook, my husband saw a photograph of what looked like our front door. It was our front door, complete with the flowers. The poster, a neighbor, wrote that she had revived a May Day tradition from her childhood by presenting flowers to a randomly chosen person. We are random! I plan on doing the same next year because it's a treat and a nice surprise.

At knit night, I almost finished these socks, and I would have if I hadn't thought that I had knitted 20 more rows than I needed for the length of the sock. So I tinked it by a few rows, tucked it back in my bag and came home. Today I discovered that I hadn't knit too many rows; I had counted from the wrong place. So I re-knit the tinked rows, decreased for the toe and kitchnered the toe. Once I soak the pair in SOAK, I will be finished with them. They are a gift for a friend who is a birder, and I think the camouflage colors are appropriate.  I admit, though, that I had no idea that this is what the yarn would look like knitted up.  Kind of an unwelcome surprise, but I guess they will be ok.  

MissBabs Hand-dyed Yarns and Fibers, Cosmic Sock Yarn

I blame my counting error on being distracted by this cute little puppy. She is our new shop dog, Blanche, and she belongs to the shop owner.  5 1/2 weeks old! She plays really hard for a few minutes then sleeps really hard. And she BARKS!!! The tiniest bark I have ever heard.  

I sometimes think it would be fun to have a puppy, but I have Baxter (and Molly) and Baxter is my challenge, although I think I have pretty much given up.

See the runner on the table? When I brought it home and put it on the table the first time, it had creases on it where it had been folded.  I didn't get to it right away, and Baxter paid no attention to it. I finally washed it and ironed it and put it back on the table.  

Baxter loves it. He plays with it, tries to hide under it.   

 I give up.