Saturday, March 16, 2013

Nuttin' much

 I'm officially tired of winter.

We did get enough snow in February/March to give us a good base for cross-country skiing, so we've gone out onto the woods roads a couple of times. I enjoy our excursions in the quiet forest. We find plenty of evidence of creatures there, but none shows his/her face when we're out and about.

But it's time for spring now, so I hope Mother Nature will bring it on. Despite the foot or more of snow still on the ground, I have two little crocuses bravely blooming against the foundation wall, in front of my kitchen.

I've been knitting, per usual. I'm sorry to bore those who don't care about knitting with my little creations, but what else do I have to talk about, really?

At the top is the Mischa dress, which I made for our dearest friends' first grandchild, Phoebe. I made it a size 1; Phoebe is now 3 1/2 months old, so she has some growing to do before it fits her.

It was an enjoybable pattern, especially the bodice, which looks complicated but is actually quite simple. The skirt did get a tad boring, I'll admit, with knitting a stockinette stitch 'round and 'round seemingly endlessly.
No sooner had I finished the Mischa dress when I came across the "Double Breasted Baby Sweater." That's what it's called, anyway, although it's not actually double-breasted. (To be more accurate, it was called the DBBS, but the designer has recently renamed it the Otto Day Sweater.) I love to knit cables, and these cables are fantastic! I first knit it in white but ran into a serious problem as I worked my way up to the sleeve openings: the stitch counts were way off. I contacted the designer (and was surprised to discover she lives in Portland, Maine, of all places). She said she thought she had corrected the numbers but would would take another look at her directions and get back to me in a couple of days. Meanwhile, I gathered my wits about me and managed to make the corrections myself.

After finishing the white sweater, I decided to make one in pale lavender to go with the Mischa. The Mischa has pale lavender accents. Phoebe will look quite fetching in her little outfit, I suspect.

So that's done.

Earlier this week I packed up the little critters in the chair, four baby bunnies, a mouse, and a puppy, and sent them to their new home in Savannah, GA. I hope they like it down there. It was a little sad to see them go.
These photos are terribly out of order, as you've noticed by now, but I guess I'll leave them as is.

Now, about these crochet-covered Easter eggs. Who in her right mind would spend time crocheting a cover for an egg, you're surely asking.

I would, that's who. I think they're downright elegant. The designer of this pattern calls for boiled eggs tucked into the crocheted "pocket", but I'm using fake porcelain and wooden eggs because I want to reuse the eggs year after year, Easter after Easter.

That's what I've been up to while I wait for the snow to melt. Oh, and there's talk of another snowstorm arriving this coming Tuesday, the 19th. Yea.