I know it’s been a while since I posted - I was in Georgia for a week, and have been frantically busy since I got back. But at least I was able to get in quite a bit of knitting on the trip.

I made good progress on the Alpine Lace Scarf, and I’m really liking the bright coral color of the yarn:

Not shown are my Austermann Step socks - I turned the heel and am doing the gusset decreases.

My last one is actually an FO, not a WIP, since I finished it at SnB last night:

Pattern: Horcrux Socks (Ravelry Link), by Susan Lawrence
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Heather, color 403, 1 skein
Needles: US 5 (3.75mm) DPNs
Made for: My mom, if they fit her. (I couldn’t measure, as they’re supposed to be a surprise.)  Otherwise my husband has dibs on them - he has no problem with the lace, and they fit him well.

Modifications:  I made an extra zig (or is that zag?) for length.

Forest Canopy (well, the yarn color reminds me more of a forest floor than a canopy) is done and off the blocking board. Not only was it a perfect pattern for Project Spectrum Elements, but it was also for the Knitting with Nora KAL. Two birds with one shawl!

Pattern: Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl, by Susan Lawrence

Needles: US 7 (4.5mm)

Yarn: Plain & Fancy Wool Co. Sportweight yarn, “Variegated Brown”, 1 skein

This is my first Forest Canopy shawl, and it’s truly a wonderful pattern for beginning lace knitters, as well as for more experienced knitters who want an easy take-along project. The lace pattern is simple and easy to memorize, with beautiful results. And of course, the pattern is extremely well-written and detailed, as anyone familiar with Susan’s patterns would expect.

Very special thanks to both Susan and Mim!

Sometimes I actually even amaze myself.

97 words

Speedtest

And what’s even more amazing is that it was with zero errors! And I didn’t even cheat, unlike some people.

It’s been a long time since I took a typing test. But at work, they used to call me “machine gun”.

Spring has definitely arrived in the garden

And Forest Canopy has been bound off and awaits blocking!

I scored a bit of vintage mohair yarn from my mom yesterday. I’m hoping to use it for something a bit special, either for myself or my mom. Any thoughts?

There is about 3 1/2 skeins (around 240 yards) of a mohair/wool blend yarn in a creamy-beige color that just says “Super Brushed”. Is that the brand? Who knows. Each skein is 40 grams and 75 yards. As for the weight, I dunno. How do you measure WPI for fuzzy mohair? I’m gonna guess and say worsted-to-aran, since it seems to be about 8-9 WPI.

Then there’s about 1 1/3 skeins of 100% Italian mohair - by Sears Roebuck, no less! The full skein is 40 grams, but there’s no yardage listed. Looks to be the same weight as the other yarn, though, so I’d guess I have about 100 yards of it. Also in the photo is the cool antique sake set I also “pre-inherited”. It is carefully arranged for modesty, since it’s, um, a bit naughty. Beautiful artwork, though.

To cast on for more projects.

Evidently having three WIPs wasn’t enough, so I’ve cast on two more. The Alpine Lace Scarf (Ravelry Link) in Victorian Lace Today, and Tubey.  I don’t think I’ve ever had this many WIPs going at once. Why the insanity? I’ll be leaving on vacation soon, and I’ll need something to take with me to knit that will take a lot of time, but not a lot of space. Hence the Alpine Lace Scarf. But since that’s not going to be mindless knitting, I’ve also decided to stop working on Forest Canopy for now (sorry Nora!) and take it with me to finish on the trip. I’m almost at the border, so that won’t take much time to finish, but at least it doesn’t require intense concentration.

I’m still working on my Austermann Step socks, but the second sock is to the heel turn, so there isn’t enough knitting left for me to want to take it along - hopefully I’ll have them done before I leave. My Lacy Gloves are kind of hibernating. I’m not motivated to work on them right now, and I don’t want to have to be fiddling around with the fingers of a glove while traveling.

As for Tubey, well, I thought I’d better have something else to work on now besides the socks.

I’d like to be young enough to be able to pull this pattern off. Without people snickering behind my back.

For years I’ve wanted to go out to the gardens at Thanksgiving Point. Especially during their Tulip Festival, since I’ve heard it’s beautiful. This year the festival runs from April 11-26. My only chance to go was yesterday, so even though I really didn’t have the time to spare, I went anyway.

Unfortunately, it was a major disappointment. Out of 55 acres of gardens, there were no tulips in bloom except two small beds, right next to each other. And although it’s “Daffodil Weekend”, maybe only a fifth of the daffodils were in bloom. If it wasn’t for the daffodils, hyacinths, and freshly-planted pansies, there wouldn’t have been anything in bloom. The daffodils really need another week, and the tulips at least 2 or 3. And while I could tell that the gardens are probably spectacular in late May or June, they’re pretty brown and dead-looking right now. It certainly wasn’t worth the $10 admission per person, not to mention the gas money to drive all that way. I know they can’t exactly predict bloom times in advance, but you’d think they’d at least be nice enough to let people know that the tulip festival they’re paying to see isn’t really there. But then, they wouldn’t be getting all of that admission money, would they?

At least it was a nice day for a walk around the grounds, so I suppose it wasn’t a total loss. There were lots of tulip leaves

And perky daffodils

My Scoop du Jour looked nice with the purple pansies as a backdrop

The stream was nice, even at this time of year

The hyacinths were luscious

Oh, and yes, here are the tulips. There was another bed of them just like this on the other side of the walkway, but those were mostly faded.

House Concert, that is. DH and I really enjoy going to local house concerts when we have the chance. For those not familiar with them, they’re just what it sounds like - concerts held in a house. The one we go to generally holds about 40 people. It’s a great way to have a very intimate experience with a performer, and the requested donation for the concert is only $15, all of which goes to the performer. People generally bring a bottle of wine or other beverage, and some sort of munchie to share.
Last night we went to see Erika Luckett. We had seen her two years ago when she played here before, and were really bowled over. She’s a great singer, songwriter, poet, story teller, and an awesome guitar player. You may hear her sing in English, French, Spanish, or Portugese. The music? folk/pop/jazz/blues/Latin - hard to describe, but definitely an experience. If you have the chance to see her, I’d certainly recommend it. She’s playing in SLC again tonight, but sorry, it’s sold out.

The sound on this clip is very low, so you’ll probably have to crank up the volume.

This is a longer clip (10 minutes), but it gives you an idea of the variety of her songs, and ends with one of my favorites, Sunflower, from the “Yaxche Live” album.

If you’re interested in more about house concerts, there are three that I know if in Salt Lake City - Mike Sheffield’s in Sugarhouse (no website but if you’re interested, let me know and I can send you his email address to get on his announcement list), Magpie House Concerts, and a brand new one, Room With a View Concerts. We haven’t yet been to a Magpie house concert, but I’ve heard they’re great. I think tonight is Room With a View’s debut.

For those of you who live elsewhere, check out the House Concerts website for a venue in your area.

Friday Eye Candy, the fruity edition.

Yesterday’s trip to Costco rewarded me with some outstanding berries, especially the blackberries - some of the most perfectly ripe and sweet ones I’ve ever had. And the strawberries are very good too. By the way, that’s a one-quart bowl they’re in - those strawberries are over 2″ tall. I don’t usually buy into the “bigger is better” thing when it comes to fruit - too often you sacrifice taste for beauty, but in this case, they’re big, beautiful, and bursting with flavor.