Rain clouds

We've had several days of rain lately. Lot's of rain for still being winter.

I feel so sad to see my wonderful white snow disappearing.

I feel so much joy every time I look out my windows and see the white landscape.

I enjoy every moment of winter.

It's like a good friend is leaving and I won't be seeing her for many many months.

The snow is now full of water and is very icy in some spots...warning to member of the family with recent hip replacement to stay clear!!

 

Water running down the driveway onto the road.

 

Making the roads soft and muddy.

We watched our young pup play in the puddle yesterday, splashing and trying to catch the droplets.

If only I could find such pleasure in this mess!!



 

 Heavy rain clouds don't allow much of the light to shine through.

But at the moment, the strong wind is blowing them away.

Maybe, just maybe, that means there will be no more rain this week??

 

The colour in the sky is so much like the colour of my finished Alcyone shawl.

 

A mixture of greys, whites and lavender.

 

For Christmas of 2011 my darling hubby walked into a yarn shop and purchased a lovely skein of yarn for me. It doesn't matter the kind of yarn nor the colour...just the fact that he walked into such unfamiliar territory (for him) made this gift such a treasure for me.

 

 

I found it difficult to complete this shawl because it required constant attention, lots of concentration, counting, checking of charts and written instructions...definitely not tv knitting.

But in the end, I'm very happy I did persevere.

The colours are difficult to capture but I think you see them best here.

Project info here

Spring Colours

Hubby went ice fishing last week with family for a good ol' boys fishing time!
I took advantage of this to spend time with my dye pots and catch up on a few neglected chores.

My mother came to spend a few days with me as well and that always means shopping. My mother is an avid shopper with much more stamina for malls than I've ever had.
If it wasn't for her, I think I would rarely set foot in the mall! 

 But it does us good to spend some time together.

I dyed lots of fibre and looking at the colours, the coming of spring must be having an effect on me because most of the tops are very springlike!!
Many of these will be listed in my Etsy shop over the next couple of weeks.

I also had some fun with lace weight yarns.
I stumbled upon a different way to dye my skeins and I quite like the effect.

 

And some sock weight yarn.

Some of these will go to the market with me this summer, others in my Etsy shop and to the LYS.

 

The alpaca fibre is getting longer and longer on the animals.
I keep looking at the girls we bred last summer and wonder if any of them are pregnant or if it's all that fibre making them look so round and chubby.

How I wish I had x-ray vision to see what is going on in those bellies.

But shearing time is not that far away...and that might give us a better idea once the fibre is off.

But look at Carmella's coat!
Full of hay, she loves to lie in it and obviously roll in it too!

You know who will be picking all of those little pieces of hay out? Yes, that would be MOI!

 

My mother suggested I go out there and brush her but I don't think that Carmella would be too keen on that idea.

I must get back to my Alcyone scarf and finish it soon. I also need to find myself a mindless knitting project for those times when concentration is out of the question!
I'm thinking a hat or fingerless mittens...

Lavender Strathcona and dog fun

It was such a wonderful day yesterday, so sunny and warm.

A perfect time to play with the dogs.

Who will get to it first and who will bring it back is always a toss up.

 

Sometimes, negociations will happen out on the field and everyone waits for a decision to be made so that the game can continue.



Thing is, they easily outlast me when we play like this...they could go on all day!

 

On the knitting front.  

The Strathcona scarf is all done. The lace pattern really makes it a fast knit.

Half way thru, by simply switching the order of the lace pattern, a point is created.

 Cute little feature that can be worn front or back.

 

It's a light and airy scarf, perfect for end-of-winter weather.
 

 



Pattern: Strathcona

Needles: 4.5mm

Yarn: Lonely Oak Alpaca (from Aurelia) hand dyed in lavender

 

This is the second item knitted from the Island e-book.

I plan on casting on the Rathtrevor mitts next.

Red

Red is a favorite colour of mine.
So when it was time to choose a colour for this next cardigan, I dyed my yarn in a bright red...called Vampire blood.

This is a worsted weight 100% merino yarn.
The same yarn used in my Thrummed mitten kits.
 

(Bjorne is such a sweet and gently boy. He's a great dog to walk with.)

The Lush cardigan is a test knit for tincanknits. A new design, part of their upcoming Spring 2013 collection Handmade in the UK.

 

 After knitting a lace panel, stitches are picked up on one edge for the body and sleeves while stitches are picked up on the opposite edge for the collar.

I do love a no-seam knit.

Spring is getting closer and I'll be happy to have this comfortable cardigan in my closet.