In Defense of Dandelions

by Kelly

 Still dreaming of spring.

Even dandelions would be appreciated right now. Although, truth be told, I have a soft spot for dandelions. The dandelion is a pretty flower that doesn't need the human race to survive - and I think that's why its almost universally despised. We like to think that our gardens need us; that without our care and attention, they would falter and wither away. That makes all those hours we spend on our knees weeding and digging seem more valuable.

Dandelions don't bug me, though - I freely admit that I like to dig in the dirt for my own satisfaction. So if a bright, sunny little flower wants to pop up on my lawn with no special effort on my part, more power to it. I have never tried to achieve the kind of lawn where each grass blade is identical and exactly 2.8" high, and never will. After all, I'm not interested in golfing on my lawn. 

At any rate, the picture below shows some of my options for gardening this year - seeds care of my loving husband, who, when I first mentioned that I wanted a vegetable garden (years ago, when we were first married), curled his lip, looked me straight in the eye, and said flatly, "I'm NOT weeding it."

Fair enough, since he hates vegetables anyway. Flowers, on the other hand, he seems to feel differently about:

We have two packets of Nasturtiums, Pansy, Sunflowers, Cosmos (I love Cosmos), Columbine, and even some Morning Glories. You'll notice there's a packet of catnip seeds in there too. My husband is an enabler for our cat's habit.

Hurry, spring. I want to walk in the warm sun and dig around in the dirt.

Preparing for Sweater Seaming!

by Kelly

Things to do when it snows like crazy and you have the adult version of a 'snow day':

1. Mop the floor. This is actually not something I'd recommend, but this seems to be my usual habit. At least the mop is handy for cleaning up tracked in snow.

2. Vacuum the floor with a Roomba. Especially entertaining if you have a staircase.

3. Fix a cat's scratching post.

 

This project I started myself, but my husband had to finish it. I just didn't have the oomph to pull that sisal rope tight. By the way, my husband says that make sure you have enough rope - I bought 100 feet of 1/4 inch sisal and that wasn't quite enough. A better amount for a two foot scratching post would be 125 feet.

4. Wash and block a sweater and prepare the pieces for seaming.

5. Research how to seam a raglan sweater and discover your first mistake before you even make it. The pattern instructions weren't clear, and I was going to start by seaming the sides. Luckily I went online and found out that seaming starts at the raglan shoulders. Whew! One mistake averted.

6. Optional : Cuddle on the couch with a husband and cat and watch the snow falling outside. Happiness.

Snowy Day Knitting

by Kelly

It's typical of Illinois weather that we only get a serious amount of snow after the groundhog forecast calls for spring. The robins are probably wandering around wondering if their travel agents accidentally booked them for the wrong arrival dates.

Meanwhile, sweater progress slooowly continues:

Sleeve number two is 2/3 of the way done. As my husband says, "Now all you have to do is seam it all together."

Yes. Seaming is in the near future. Sigh. On a brighter note, I have to schedule a dentist appointment soon. Maybe that will delay things.

Sleeve II

by Kelly

So much for spring....just about a week after I saw my first robin, we get snow and freezing temps. Then again, that pretty much is how spring works in Illinois, so let's not get discouraged.

In the meantime, I've cast on for the second sleeve of my sweater project.

 

It may even be done before summer!

Sleeve

by Kelly


One sleeve, half complete:

Still so much work to do. But it does look fairly sleeve like, doesn't it?

Spring?

by Kelly

For Valentine's Day, I didn't get flowers, or chocolates, or an evening of dancing. I also didn't do anything special for my husband, except maybe make him a pretty poor excuse for barbecue sauce.

We agreed long ago that since we tell each other "Love You" like 50 times a day, that it wasn't necessary to celebrate a manufactured holiday of love and affection. Sound bitter and cynical? That's okay....we ARE bitter and cynical, but we're bitter and cynical together, and that's what really matters.

What I did get for Valentine's Day, however, was the first robin of spring. Actually, I got about twenty robins, in a flock, hopping about on the snowless ground and looking pretty cold and unhappy, poor guys.

This is absolutely the earliest I have ever seen a robin here in Illinois. My personal record before was February 29th of a leap year. I don't know what they're doing here so early, but I wish them well. I never believe the groundhog, but when robins show up, spring is on the way, and spring means green grass, sunny skies, and maybe a flower or two.

I hope I get this sweater finished before spring arrives! Back to work...

Embroidery Inspiration

by Kelly

I'm taking a break from the sweater project for a few days. I had all the increases done and was about to start the straight stretch when I thought to count my stitches and see if I had made a mistake...and I had 75 stitches...when I should have had 76.

Grrrrr.

Meanwhile, my husband and I went to an Estate Sale this weekend. Actually, we went to three. I'm hopelessly addicted, sadly. But I love the treasure hunting aspect of auctions, and estate sales are a sort of substitute during the Midwest winter when it's impossible to hold outside auctions.

So anyway, look what I found at the very first sale:

This is embroidery on linen. It has its issues...there are quite a few yellow spots, and the stitching is loose in a few places. And it would be neat if it was a purely original work, but when I look closely I can see the telltale blue outlines of a manufactured pattern under some of the stitches. There's a nameplate on the back that reads "The Old Farmhouse 1980". I have looked online, but haven't found the kit...yet.

Aside from all that, though, it's really an interesting concept, and that's why I picked it up. My main problem with cross stitch is filling in all the boring background. And here someone else thought the same thing, and picked up just a few details that were fun to do, and left the rest unworked. It's a very simple solution that appeals to my lazy side.

The stitch choices are nothing terribly exciting - long and short for the grass, stem stitches for the tree trunks, and 'lazy daisy' stitches for the leaves on the trees - but they are neatly done, and I especially love the flying birds. Had I done those birds they would be surrounded by holes in the fabric, where I couldn't get the stitches just right. Here, that's not the case.

The image also reminds me of illustrations from old children's books:

Narnia endpaper via Pintrest

Look at all the possibilities if I did the image above in embroidery. Different stitches could add texture to the trees in the background and the frozen twigs up front. And all that snow and ice would be perfectly illustrated with some silver or steel colored metallic threads...or even blending filament.

Such wonderful potential...but first I have to finish this sweater. Sigh.