Bellatrix

I finished my Bellatrix socks on Sunday night and wore them on Monday--we've still got some cold rainy days here in New England. They are very comfy and I think the colors are great. I still have 50g of yarn left!!! Enough for a pair of baby socks. Here they are.

Pattern Bellatrix by Monkey Toes

Needles US 2½ / 3.0 mm (ribbing) US 1 / 2.25 mm
Yarn MadelineTosh Sock (color Chartres)

If I make them again I would make a bit of a change. The heel flap is quite short, and although it fits and feels fine, I think I would prefer a longer heel flap. I think I would also go down to a US0 (2.0mm) needle. Again, the sock fits nicely, but it is not very snug. The pattern makes it a bit loose--but that sort of works with this look.

All in all, a lovely pair of socks.

Swap package recieved

Look at the goodies from shawls and wraps swap.

From my partner I received 825 yards of lovely laceweight yarn and the Estonial Garden Wrap pattern. Included also were two cool shawl pins. I'm excited!!

Packages are fun. Now to get my package shipped off!

Friday update

I finally took a picture of my Everlasting Bagstopper. It still needs handles of some sort--so I'm not done yet, but so close. Here it is.

I'm coming along with Bellatrix. Last night I made it to the heel of the second sock. I want to finish up with these socks so I can begin the Summer of Socks. I won't be doing this in a competitive sort of way--just for fun.

A little while ago, I took a look out the window and saw this--keep eating that clover so I don't have to spent time pulling it up this weekend ;)

This baby bunny has been hanging around the yard recently. I haven't seen it this close though. This picture is right outside my front door. I grabbed a handful a munchies (carrot sticks, celery, broccoli) and put them on the lawn (the rabbit had moved on by then) to see if it would come back. Well about 3 minutes later the guy came to mow the law. All the cute critters are long gone. We'll see if they return today. I wonder what the lawn guy thought about the snacks on the lawn??

Enjoy this beautiful long day!!

Knitting peer pressure

I did make it to the birthday sale at Butterfly Yarns--and I succumb to knitting peer pressure. I went to the store with nothing particular in mind--but I can't resist 20% off, seeing my knitting pals and having a cookie. So I circled for a while and didn't know what to get.

I saw a cute baby dress sample and so just had to have the book--Queensland Collection Book 8. Then I noticed the bags. Everyone in the store seemed to have an Everlasting Bagstopper. I've had this bag in my queue for quite a while, but no real incentive to make it--until I saw one (or five actually) in person.

I bought 3 balls of Hempathy--should be enough to make 2 bags--in a lovely green. That night I cast on. I just finished my first ball and I don't think I have much more to go. A really nice fast knit. Relaxing and soothing. The yarn feels great, and it is very light. And I think the bag will be very cool too. The only thing that will get me on this project is the handles.

I've got to work on that.

Minor setback and gardening disappointment

I had a long meeting scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. We were all in different locations and on the phone--so I could knit!! I had the Bellatrix sock with me, having just finished the ribbing. I had all the correct needles with me. Everything was a go. I get on the phone and start knitting the pattern.

Row 1 Knit. Row 2 Knit. Row 3 is a pattern row--and I just didn't end up where I should. Hmmm. Tink back, count stitches. I was one stitch short. I look and I look and finally I find the dropped stitch. I make sure my phone is on mute, and I dig around for my crochet hooks. I get ready to fix the dropped stitch when I realize, I dropped the stitch way back in the 4th or 5th row of the ribbing, and having dropped this stitch made me screw up the ribbing pattern. Sigh.

Rather than ripping back to the 4th or 5th row and trying to pick up the (twisted) stitches, I just frogged the whole thing. While on the phone, I was able to cast back on and get a row or two in before the meeting was over.

I'm now past where I needed to rip back, but I just hate losing all that knitting time, especially since I just haven't been particularly motivated to knit recently. Over 1000 stitches gone---Phfftt, just like that.

On garden news. . . I'm glad I took some pictures of that poppy, because it is gone. I came home yesterday to find the petals scattered in the leaves. One of the garden critters must have done it. Another sigh. Maybe next year I will get more than one flower.



On better news--I saw one of the baby bunnies in the yard today! I've seen the adults for weeks now, but this was my first baby sighting. I wonder if this little chap had been feasting on my strawberries? The strawberries were not even close to being ripe, and yet they seem to be gone (yet another sigh).

The strawberry festival is tomorrow--I may get some strawberries yet!

Poppy

To distract you from my appalling lack of knitting, I will show you more flowers from my garden.

As I was getting ready to step out into the heat yesterday, I saw that my poppy had opened.

I have a whole bunch of yellow columbines.

The sweet william are just starting to pop open.

The chives are looking pretty.
I did meet up with my knitting pals on Monday night. I started my second Bellatrix sock, and I have just gotten past the ribbing.

On a slightly different note--I was out shopping for clothes last night. I can't remember which store I was in--I went into (almost) all of them--but I saw a sweater made in the Bellatrix pattern! Interesting thought. I'll have to keep that in mind.

Cornellian

This weekend is my 15th college reunion. Although I won't be attending, I've been thinking about those good ole college days. My roomie (and bestest buddy) will be visiting with her family at the end of the month. That will be my reunion. Since college was on my mind, I posted this virtual letterbox, to share my thoughts and memories.

And just for giggles, here I am, shaking the hand of the university president the day before I graduated.

I've been making slow but steady progress since attaching the sleeves to the body of my sweater. It looks like I will need to wash up some more oatmeal yarn (just can't use it off the cone). I will probably frog the gauge swatch hat to use that yarn before doing any washing, since it is so damp around here, it will probably take a while to dry.

They say that tomorrow it will be in the 90s here in NE--but I find it hard to believe. It is just so cold and damp today. We'll see how the weekend goes. This is the hard part of the seasons changing around here--you never know what the weather will do.

June is here!

Although it is chilly and rainy today, the last few days have been lovely.

We got some sprinkler time on Sunday.

I'm just waiting for this poppy to open up!

And here are my current WIPs.

I've gotten all the sweater pieces together and I will finish it!! One bellatrix sock down, and one to go.