Wishin' and Hopin'

Tarot of Trees

They have been promising snow since Friday, but today is the first sign there has been: after the bright blue sky and cold sunshine of this morning, it is now dull, overcast with a lowering sky and trying really really hard to snow.

I think it's just messing with my head, leading me down the garden path to nowhere, when what I want is plenty of snow so the kids can stay home and we can have fun ...

But still ...

WIP Wednesday 111: At Last

Fenestra Tarot

So here we are on another WIP Wednesday - and of course, I have one in the works; below are pics of the blanket for my sister Auntie Fashion, after 2 skeins-worth of James C.Brett's 'Moonlight Sonata'. I have sent her a ransom message, saying send cash for more yarn or the blankey gets it. 

I am assured the cash for at least one more skein (perhaps even two) is en route as we speak ...

 


And I guess by the law of averages, it would happen in the end. I actually scored some good stuff in one of my local charity shops, the St.Elizabeth Hospice clearance shop, no less:

 

It says, 7 x 25g. balls, and the price is £1.50 ($2.44). Upon reaching home and hastily ripping open the bag to see what I'd bought, it turned out to be 8 balls of Paris Sheen Mohair by Sunbeam, 25g/50m (70% mohair, 13% wool, 9% nylon) in a lovely shade of light silver; now discontinued.

 

So at last, Mr. Kitten, I did find something cool and good and a bargain ! My one find vs. your hundreds. Still, I mustn't repine. It is currently sitting with a scented drawer sachet to reduce/remove the musty old aroma it brought with it. 

With this find, I hope I have started a trend for myself .... But go along to Tami's Amis and see what other trends are happening today ....

Woot ! Blog Hub Swap Day 1

This beautiful card from the Gaian Tarot is perfectly expressive of how I feel today; though if I were to dance outside in the sunshine, I would have a lot more layers on, it being seriously winter temperatures today.

And the reason ? Do you remember this ?

Well, having spent 5 days in UK customs (who knows why) today my package from my swap partner Denise at Voie de Vie finally got here !

I was so excited ! In spite of being the swap organizer, I had actually managed to forget that Denise was assigned to me, and I believe it is a sign of my impending grown-up-ness that I was able to not look at my lists to remind myself: it was actually Denise who gave the game away when she emailed me to tell me she had checked the tracking, and my parcel was en route ...she had been concerned about the delay.

Look at all these photos I took for you - I hope you realize the enormity of the sacrifice I made for you, Dear Reader, as taking photos further delayed me opening my parcel and first package !

  


An interested dog, and a cat's butt. Oh ! And a huge box.

The card said 'Open me first'. So I did. Elegantly written in what I call American traditional script, it told me my themes were travel and creativity. I have done lots of travelling in my life - the longest I have ever been in one place is the 4 years I have lived here. But I don't know how Denise could have known any of that.

Yes, there are only 3 packages - but the card says to check my Ravelry inbox on Days 4 and 8. Even so ... Denise enjoys messing with my head, obviously. Because when I opened the large package numbered 1, I found the rest of the swap packages in it: 

There was a slight fresh whiff of wintergreen - Denise had used it to get rid of the smell of varnish, she said. One of the mandatory elements of this swap was that one item had  to be handmade - and this is Denise's. She says it's the prototype for an idea she's had for a while - and this must also be the creativity theme she refers to:  I don't even know how you come up with this, let alone work out the hows and whys necessary. I know my frustration threshold is WAY too low for something like this - and I really admire people who can create things just from an idea.

                                         Ignore the obligatory cat butt. Same cat, by the way.

Lovely shades of red, purple, magenta and pink with the springtime Tulip as a central motif.  I love these kinds of colors - and in fact one of my FO's for tomorrow is in a very similar colorway. It's definitely stiff enough to be a proper hatbox (if only I had a hat!) - and who doesn't love pretty and unique storage that can be displayed ?    

Denise's attention to detail verges on the obsessive is totally amazing - look at this:

The inside of the lid and base are maps ! So very cleverly part of the travel theme. I am totally impressed - thanks, Denise !

Springing Out

Yesterday night I cleaned house. This had 2 beneficial side effects: firstly, getting up to a spotless house is a great feeling; and secondly, I don't have to do it all today. Except to vacuum again - I don't know why the darn dog isn't bald, with the amount of fur he sheds.

This is a particular plus because the sun is out again and it is going to be a fabulous weather day; here are a couple of photos of what's on my patio right now - and how late too, as our daffodils and narcissi are usually out during February ...




The brightest of primulas:



And the wallflowers are just about bursting into flame ....


It is the last day of term, and the kids and I have been desperate for the holidays to start - we are all dragged down and out by the long grey cold winter; and my father will be back next week,which they are hugely excited about ....

At Last

Well, I haven't had anything much to say recently; I've been preoccupied with just the simple day to day aspects of living ... get up, make packed lunch, wake the kids, feed them breakfast, get them to school ....yanno, boring routine stuff.

Which tells you how well-organized I am, and how well Breakfast Club for Destructo Boy is working: thanks to the intervention of his teacher when she heard about the 2 kids, 2 schools debacle, she made space in the Breakfast Club so that I can take Mini Diva to school at least 3 days a week; the other two days, she walks with her friend Regan and his Mum; and because she has an extra-curricular activity almost every day, Destructo Boy and I get to go and collect her 4 out of 5 afternoons too. I don't know whether she will be able to stand the pace as the school year lengthens, especially as the days are getting to be as dark and dreary as the nights .....

Fortunately I've managed to get over my knitting hump - thanks to Film4 running a Star Trek weekend: all 10 films (but not last year's release) over the course of two days was a great help; I managed to finally complete Mini Diva's school cardigan for this year:


The lacy cables are quite pretty, but the yarn (Patons Fab DK in Jade) is quite harsh and stiff until it has been washed and fabric conditioned.

I also completed another scarf for the Xmas stash; this one in Spider Stitch from the Barbara Walker Treasury Vol.II, using the softest Sirdar Blur in Lilac, on 5mm needles:










































And I have started on my last ball of Kidsilk Haze ... another Xmas stash scarf ... I need to do a formal recce, to see what I have left to knit ...