Distractions

My life has been filled with wonderful distractions lately. That's good for life, but not necessarily good for knitting or blogging. Spring has arrived and I just gotta go dig in the dirt! I have never had such beautiful tulips and narcissi before--all pink over a carpet of purple and yellow pansies. It'a truly amazing and well worth the killer pain and wipe out I had last fall after prepping the beds (that is digging out honking big rotting tree roots) and planting all those bulbs. I've hit the home depot twice this week to load up on composted manure & top soil, a couple of new bareroot roses (pink, of course), and several pots of perennials. I'm tired, my fingernails are perpetually filled with dirt, but my soul is so filled with joy!

My knitting also took a backseat to Spring Break--for my niece and nephew. My sister works for Uncle Sam and had to go to Washington for meetings the same week her kids were out of school for spring break. Daddy is away getting a PhD so the kids came to stay with us (the grandparents and aunt). I totally loved having the kids. Mark Thomas is 11, calm and studious, and Victoria is 6, very creative and full of energy. I slept for three days after they left. I am an old maid and am not used to the demands of motherhood LOL! After I was able to stay alert again, I spent Monday and Tuesday doing what doting Aunties do--making a pretty Easter dress for the doted upon niece. Victoria helped me cut it out while she was here, but I needed peace and quiet to do the sewing. Thank heavens for Fed-Ex--the dress is now in Georgia and ready for the big day tomorrow.

I did add a few more rows to my leaf lace shawl while the kids were here. I think I'm up to 7 repeats now and it's looking fine. The LLS is a nice pattern, but I think I like the finished look of the Flower Basket Shawl better. The center vein in the LLS is formed by a single purl stitch which doesn't really look that wonderful to my eye. It may have something to do with the softness of the Alpaca Cloud yarn. I suspect that the sharper definition of a merino, cotton, or linen yarn would improve the look. But the shawl is wonderfully soft and lucious and I will use it a lot to wrap my aching shoulders in. Now it's time to head back to my garden and inflict some more pain to my creaky old body. Stayed tuned for pictures of my efforts!