Thank you all for your well wishes for Hannah! She was feeling better yesterday but still not well enough to go to school. She slept until after 10 (which is quite late for her), got up and watched some tv, ate some jello and toast, and then napped on the couch for the afternoon. These stomach viruses can really take the wind out of a girl’s sails. I’m happy to report that today she is back to her grumpy teenage self and has gone off to school. Whew.

So, what’s a mother to do when she’s home for the day but not needing to play nursemaid constantly?

She knits.

Socks for Jessica. The yarn is the perfect transition for Project Spectrum March into Project Spectrum April. It’s red and orange and yellow.

And she spins.

This is still the Romney I bought at SPA. It’s almost gone and I’m glad because I’m ready to spin something else but I’m sad because I love this stuff.

And then she remembers something she’s been itching to do! (Okay, enough of the third person, it’s annoying.)

I suddenly remembered the bag of fleece I bought at The Mannings last November. I dug it out of the fiber drawer and commenced washing. This is my first time washing a fleece but I’ve read about it on so many blogs that I felt like I knew what I was doing.

First I spread it out on the counter. Smelly, but not terribly smelly.

Then I put it in a sink full of warm water and Eucalan. The water turned dark brown within seconds. I rinsed and repeated 4 times until the water was mostly clear.

Then I spread it on the deck to dry.

Turned it over and spread it out some more until it got nice and fluffy.

Then I packed it up to bring to Blogless Sharon’s to be carded on the drum carder, which is currently residing at her house.

Oooh. Fiber batts of my very own making. They look like big ole Tootsie Rolls, don’t they? I probably should have rinsed more times or used hotter water because the fiber has still got a lot of lanolin in it. But it’s soft and I think it’s going to spin up very nicely. It will be perfect for spinning at a living history we’re doing next weekend.

Now, do you want to know the truly sad part of this whole process? I’ve been thinking about how the fiber festival season is drawing very close and how I really need to start spinning more of my fiber so that I can make room for what I want to purchase. Makes sense, right? When I thought of this bag of fleece, I thought, yeah, get that washed and carded and out of the way. Out of the way? It took up a lot less room when it was dirty and smooshed into the bag.

Good: Lots of knitting time on a Tuesday. In fact, enough knitting time to finish Hannah’s flamingo socks.

Bad: Getting that knitting time because the kiddo is throwing up. Since midnight the night before.
Ugly: The medicinal remedy for throwing up. You guys know the drill, right? Hannah’s dignity was definitely compromised.

Good: Knitting at quilt night.
Bad: Being subjected to some of my friend’s ideas of cool knitting. This is a doll leg.

Yup, the leg of a doll. Because Lois must knit a doll for her granddaughter. She’s out of her freakin’ mind. But, we already knew that, didn’t we?

Good: Signs of Spring!

I finally have a purple crocus to go along with all the yellow ones.

And my daffodils are growing by leaps and bounds!
Bad: Signs of Spring in the form of bugs. We are suddenly being over-run with ants. Yuck.

Good: Rolling up the back window of the Jeep for the first time since last Fall!

Good: Welcoming a new spinner to the fold.

Good: A finished clapotis.

Actually, I finished this quite a while ago and just hadn’t told the blog yet. I love this scarf! I made it narrower and longer than the pattern called for and I can wear it doubled up around my neck. And the yarn! Oh, the yarn. It’s Hand Maiden Lady Godiva. It makes the most wonderful fabric.
Bad: How much you’re going to hate me if you click on this link. You won’t be able to resist the Lady Godiva.

Good: Being a cat.

I tell ya, Mason has it pretty good around here.

Before we get to the meme, I need to update the Buy More Yarn program with some exciting news. Missa of kpixie emailed me this weekend and said that they will match my gift of $25 to make the prize a $50 kpixie gift certificate. Isn’t that great?!? Just remember, there’s only a few days left to shop. I must receive all purchase updates by midnight on Saturday, April 1, 2006. I’ll announce the winner on Monday, April 3rd.

Okay, on to other business.

By now, you’ve all seen the meme that our buddies over at JenLa created. Here’s my two cents.

Rules:
-Your finds must come from knit blogs.
-You may not use a blog for more than one item-all items must come from different sources.
-Finds can come from current entries or archives.
-You must post your answers with the title of the blogs they were found on and a link to the blog/item (permalinks where appropriate) on your blog. If no permalink is available, give us the post date.
-Do not steal anyone’s bandwidth-which means you should not hotlink pictures.
-You need to comment and let us know when you have completed this meme.

1. A blog which you think people have not discovered.
Want to read about a knitter and teacher living in Japan? Go visit Molly. She has a really cool mom, too.

2. A blog whose author lives close to you physically. Just get as close as you can, it’s all relative.
I’m so lucky to live in the Boston area, where we’re over-run with knit bloggers. But, practically in my backyard, I’ve got Martita Rampage and Maggie!

3. An unusual or weird animal picture.
Go see poor Buck Rogers after his shave and a haircut. He’s downright embarassed!

4. An entry that made you laugh and got you strange looks from family or co-workers.
The one where Stephanie tried to put boxes under her bed had me laughing out loud.

5. An idea you wish you’d thought of.
Mamacate’s Random Wednesdays. I know I’ve got “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” but it’s not nearly as cool as the random thing.

6. Something you’d like to knit.
Celtic Dreams. Here’s Cassie’s.

7. A picture of something you consider beautiful.
Judy’s garden photos are gorgeous. As are most of her other photos, too. And her yarn!

8. A blog whose author you’d like to one day meet in person.
The answer to this one is tough. I would normally have said Margene and Snow and that’s still true. So, true, in fact, that I’m going to visit them in June. So I feel like I need to pick a different blogger. One that I would love to meet but don’t yet have plans to meet. And that’s Vicki.

9. A blog of someone you have already met in person.
Oh, man, this is tough, too, because I’ve met so many bloggers already. It wouldn’t be fair to choose just one, so I’ll choose the one I’ve seen most recently. My buddy, Kathy. She came over on Sunday and Blogless Sharon and I helped her make her very first skein of yarn. Go on over and congratulate her, would you?

Hi there! I’m back. Did you miss me? I’ll bet you didn’t even realize I was gone. But I was. I was at the Public Library Association Conference in Boston. Want to know what I learned? Too bad, I’m going to tell you anyway.

I learned how to use the new CharlieTicket. It’s not so bad, really, although the CharliePass sounds like it will have RFID and that makes me a bit nervous.

I learned that carrying a suitcase, a laptop and a duffle bag sized pocketbook up the stairs at the Park Street T Station is challenging. So is fitting through the turnstyle with all that stuff. Hey, I never claimed to be graceful.

I learned that the Copley Fairmont Hotel is very very nice. And they have a dog for a mascot, a black lab named Catie Copley.

I learned that a martini in the Oak Bar of the Copley Fairmont Hotel costs about $16. But it comes with it’s own mini ice bucket and some really great atmosphere.

I learned that walking from Copley, down Boylston Street, across the Public Garden, down Beacon Street, all the way to the Charles/MGH T stop will give me a honking blister on the bottom of my foot. And doing that on the first day of the conference? Not a good plan.

I learned that there are Mexican beers besides Corona. At The Border Cafe, in Cambridge, they serve one called Negra Modelo and it’s really really good. Especially when you have 2 of them, along with the seafood enchiladas, for lunch. On the first day of the conference.

I learned that the elusive (to me, anyway) yarn shop, Woolcott, isn’t all that fantastic. It’s nice and all, but I wouldn’t make a special trip back.

I learned that The Cheesecake Factory is a great place to meet up with knitting buddies. We had a fun visit there, even if Wendy and Jackie weren’t as excited by the Well Mannered Dirty Martini as I might have hoped. Maryse and I had to finish theirs for them. And Kellee introduced me to plaintains, which are quite yummy, it turns out.

I learned that a pot of coffee, delivered by room service at the Copley Fairmount, will cost $20.

I learned that the walk from the Copley Fairmount to the Hynes Convention Center can be accomplished by staying inside, through the Copley Shops and the Prudential Shops, or by heading outside and nearly getting run over by a tax, but either way, when you have a blister on the bottom of your foot, it’s going to hurt.

I learned that there are A LOT of librarians in the world. And some of them will travel from Alaska and California and Hawaii just to attend a national conference. And most of them are really bad dressers.

I learned that big groups of librarians make it tough to get a lot out of a conference. Especially when the workshops are overcrowded and you can’t find a seat and you end up walking out and then walking back to the hotel. With a blister on the bottom of your foot.

I learned that vendors at library conferences can be pushy but a lot of them give away books. Which you then, of course, have to lug around with you, which is not so much fun. Especially when you have a blister on the bottom of your foot.

I learned that my colleague, Amy, makes a great roommate. She even volunteers to go get Starbucks and bring it to me to save spending another $20 on room service coffee. And she knows her way around the city. And a menu, too, considering she chooses things like eggs benedict with smoked salmon, and fried clams, and fried oysters and catfish. The girl can eat, and I like that in a traveling companion.

I learned that librarians are friendly and like to see someone knitting. And then talk about knitting. One or two might even pull out their own knitting and show you their sock. Frankly, this was probably the coolest thing I learned.

I learned that the Bloody Mary at Legal Seafoods is quite tasty. It’s also pretty good at the Atlantic Fish Co. and so are the littlenecks on the half shell. Oh, and the lobster ravioli, too. Ahem.

I learned that fancy hotels and excellent food aside, it’s nice to come home to your family. And your own bathroom.

Coming up with an entry for the letter E was such a struggle. But F? I had multiple choices for the letter F. I considered “F is for Fishing” and “F is for Flowers” and “F is for Family” but finally decided that “F is for Flannel” because I love the way flannel makes me feel.

L-R flannel nightgown, my flannel bathrobe, flannel nightgown, Dale’s flannel bathrobe [made by ME]

I’m crazy about all things flannel. I wear long and full flannel nightgowns all winter long. I keep flannel sheets on the bed and have a couple of flannel quilts. I wear flannel pants when I’m hanging around the house (Dale calls it “dressing for speed” when I do this) and there’s nothing so cozy as an over-sized (i.e. Dale’s)flannel shirt. When we do our Civil War reenacting I have flannel bloomers and flannel petticoats. And there’s something absolutely wonderful about a flannel shirt on a chilly summer night!

All flannel shirts of Dale’s but consistently worn by me!

That’s my flannel story! And I’m sticking to it!

40

41

42

43

Need I say more?

I finished my red cable socks! The yarn is Fleece Artist Merino from Red Bird Knits. The pattern is from the book Knit Socks. It’s one of those board books and it’s shaped like a sock. I had knit this pattern for Dale a while back with some worsted weight yarn and was pleased to see a pattern variation for sock yarn as well. It’s so much fun to knit, moves along pretty quickly, and they fit great! Plus, they are red. And red is my favorite color. And also the Project Spectrum requirement for the month of March.

Hannah’s socks, which are pink and therefore also fulfill the Project Spectrum requirement, are coming along nicely. Sock One is done and Sock Two is started. I don’t anticipate a problem finishing these by the end of the month.

Pink is not just for socks but also for girls and our granddaughter Ambrynn came for a visit on Sunday. She was, appropriately enough, wearing an outfit with a pink heart on the front and pink socks. Look at that grin! And those big blue eyes! Isn’t she adorable?

We sure think so!
ETA: Okay, for all of you who have now forgotten that I am only 40, Ambrynn is my stepson’s daughter, making her my stepgranddaughter – which just sounds too weird to me so I just call her my granddaughter. You all know that Dale is 14 years older than I am, right? So I have grown stepchildren and therefore, two stepgrandchildren. It’s all very neat, actually.

Today is the first day of Spring! Hoo and also ray! I love living in New England where we experience the four seasons (sometimes all in one day!) but my favorite season of all is Spring. I love the “greening” of the earth. I love going outside to the perennial bed and seeing the shoots of my returning plants and I love watching the bulbs force their way up out of the cold earth. I love the pussywillows that I see in swampy areas on my way to work and I love the Spring songs that the birds sing.

But, while the calendar may say Spring, the thermometer is still saying Winter. I do have bulbs coming up and crocus in bloom, (all yellow for some strange reason, even though I planted a variety of colors last Fall) but mostly my yard is still brown. So, I had to go looking for signs of Spring elsewhere and I found them at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s New England Spring Flower Show.

There were orchids. Loads and loads of orchids.

This one was my favorite.

There were table settings, each based on a New England character. If I’m remembering correctly, this one was Emily Dickinson and it was Hannah’s favorite. I smiled when Hannah said she like this one because it’s the type of table my mom would have set.

There were unique things made from natural objects, like this chair. This was Dale’s favorite.

There were exotic birds!

And fish!

But we all agreed that Dorothy was right – there’s no place like home!

Let me say, right off the bat, I’m not Irish. I’m mostly English and a bit Swedish with some Scotch and Welsh and American Indian thrown in to round me out. Nevertheless, I was brought up to honor and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Because, on St. Patrick’s Day, everyone is Irish, right?

So, allow me, in honor of the occasion, to tell you a funny story about my mother. My mother believed strongly in celebrating holidays. All holidays, not just the big ones like Thanksgiving and Christmas but all holidays. Valentine’s Day was major at my house, we got gifts like at Christmas. So was St. Patrick’s Day – despite the fact that we were not Irish. We would have corned beef (the grey kind, please) and cabbage and all the other vegetables and Irish soda bread.

So this one year my mother decided we should also have green beer. I think I was actually in college at the time, but, because it was a holiday, I was expected to come home and be with the family. And eat corned beef and cabbage and drink green beer. Are you ready for the funny part? My mother spent days trying to buy green beer. She visited every package store (because that’s what we call them here in New England) in the city searching for green beer. In a bottle. Finally, in desperation, at the last package store in town, she asked the guy at the counter where she could find green beer. He looked at her incredulously and asked her what she was talking about. She told him, “hey, it’s St. Patrick’s Day and I want to serve green beer. You must have green beer! Where can I find the green beer?” After he finished laughing, he said, “lady, you can’t buy green beer. You just buy regular beer and add green food coloring.” “Oh,” said my mother. “I had no idea.” At which point she and her pink cheeks headed to the grocery store to pick up some green food coloring and some Budweiser.

In honor of my mother, I’ll be drinking a wee bit o’ green beer made from Budweiser and food coloring today (then I’ll switch to Guinness, the real beer of Ireland). And, Dale will be wearing his new Irish Hiking scarf – which just so happens to be green. Here’s my Swedish Leprechaun, with Dixie, waving an Irish greeting to you.

Top o’ the morning to you from Carole O’Knits.

Hi. My name is Carole and I have a sock yarn problem.

It’s a little scary that it took 4 pictures to capture all of my sock yarn on film. There’s enough yarn there for 39 pairs of socks. Whoa.

Now granted, some of it, like the Cherry Tree Hill, could be used for shawls and scarves. And some of it is crap yarn that I bought back when I didn’t know what to buy. But still. There’s some great stuff there. Like Vesper and Socks that Rock and Opal. Honestly, most all of it is gorgeous yarn that needs to be knit up into gorgeous socks.

I love sock yarn. I love buying sock yarn. And I have no intention of stopping.

My name is Carole and I don’t have a sock yarn problem at all.