Blooms in the Desert

My husband and I have been checking our cactus everyday for blooms, just like little kids waiting for Santa. This morning we received our first presents. One of the Trichocereus cactus in the front yard put on a splendid show for us! Can't wait to see what will bloom next.

Doing My Part for Project Linus

I started a crochet project yesterday because I needed to get back to crocheting and wanted to do something easy and comforting. I usually have at least one crochet project in the works along with my knitting projects, but haven't done any for a while. I will donate the afghan to Project Linus when it is completed.



The pattern is Sideways Shell Baby Afghan by Donna Laing. I'm using a yarn I purchased some time ago to make an afghan for my husband. It is Caron One Pound in the Soft Sage colorway. I donated most of my acrylic yarn to others earlier this week for charity knitting, but kept this for sentimental reasons. I thought I was finished with charity knitting for the foreseeable future, but kept feeling the pull all week. I am very happy with the way it is progressing and it is giving me a warm, fuzzy feeling that I needed also. I'm using an H hook rather than the recommended I hook because I tend to be a loose crocheter.

Project Linus is a charitable organization whose mission is to provide love, security, and comfort to children in need through blankets and afghans provided by volunteers, and to provide an opportunity for service to children to interested individuals and groups. As of December, 2007, they have donated 2, 293, 340 blankets from a total of 406 chapters. I became interested in this organization through a group I belong to on Ravelry.

Poem In Your Pocket

April is National Poetry Month (NPM) and tomorrow has been designated the first national Poem In Your Pocket Day. As stated by the sponsors of NPM, The Academy of American Poets, on their website: "The idea is simple: select a poem you love during National Poetry Month then carry it with you to share with co-workers, family, and friends on April 17."


The poem I've selected to carry in my pocket tomorrow is Sonnet 98 from William Shakespeare:




From you have I been absent in the spring...

From you have I been absent in the spring,
When proud-pied April, dressed in all his trim,
Hath put a spirit of youth in everything,
That heavy Saturn laughed and leaped with him,
Yet nor the lays of birds, nor the sweet smell
Of different flowers in odor and in hue,
Could make me any summer's story tell,
Or from their proud lap pluck them where they grew.
Nor did I wonder at the lily's white,
Nor praise the deep vermilion in the rose;
They were but sweet, but figures of delight,
Drawn after you, you pattern of all those.
Yet seemed it winter still, and, you away,
As with your shadow I with these did play.

You can find a poem to carry in your pocket tomorrow on The Academy of American Poets website: http://www.poets.org/index.php. This wonderful resource has thousands of poems for every occasion, biographies of poets, essays on poetry, as well as weekly features.

Yarn Snob or Realist?

I protest, like the blogger Cabledguy , that I am not a yarn snob. However, I have been agonizing for some time, as I try to destash, if I should donate/give away most of my acrylic and novelty yarns. I just don't have the desire to knit or crochet projects with them at this time and they have really been taking up precious space in my craft room (also computer/guest room) closet. So, I bit the bullet and looked on Ravelry at the Random Acts of Kindness group to see if anyone was looking for what I had to give away. Success! I shipped two boxes in the last two days, totaling about 11,000 yards of yarn, to two different Ravelers. They are going to use it for charity knitting, so I feel really good about that. I definitely could have knit or crocheted items with all that yarn and had purchased it originally with specific projects in mind. In fact, it meant abandoning two projects already in the works for some time (Barbara G. Walker's Learn-to-Knit Afghan


And the Cuddly Kittens Afghan from Weekend Afghans).


My interests have changed, however, and I'm not sure when I would ever have gotten around to making/finishing those projects. It was very painful closing that chapter of my life, but I have lifted an enormous load of guilt from my shoulders. In future, I will be a much more mindful yarn purchaser and intend to knit and crochet only what I love with yarn that I love.

What projects are on my needles/hooks right now? I am not currently crocheting anything, but have several projects begging to be started. However, I do have two new projects on the needles:

First, Magic Stripes Socks from Ann Budd's book, Getting Started Knitting Socks. The yarn is a discontinued Lion Brand yarn, Magic Stripes. This is the second pattern I have followed in this book and I continue to learn from her clear instructions and good illustrations. I highly recommend this book to other novice sock knitters like myself.



Second, Drop Stitch Sari Silk Scarf, adapted slightly from a Lion Brand pattern. I modified the pattern by using size 11 needles instead of size 19 and cast-on 16 stitches, rather than 8. This is my first time knitting with recycled sari silk. I love the color variations, but the small pieces of fiber that it sheds on my clothing and everything else around are somewhat annoying.

Hey! We're Back

We returned from our trip back East exhausted, but happy, last Thursday evening. We traveled about 5,700 miles through 17 states. The trip exceeded my expectations. The weather, with just a few minor exceptions, was very good and I got to visit with everyone I had hoped to. Incredibly, I took no pictures to remind me of all our good times except a few snaps of the socks I finished on the road and felted for my son at my daughter's home. I guess I was just having too much fun talking, eating, and reconnecting. Picture taking just wasn't on my mind. As great as the trip was, however, I am glad to be back home and I am ready to settle back into my familiar rhythms. Travel is definitely good for renewing your zest for life and widening your perspectives, but serenity, for me, comes from being in a place that I love, doing the things I love to do--knitting, crocheting, cooking, and reading.

Here are the Spiral Stripes Socks I finished while on the road.

Before Felting:

After Felting:

I was very pleased with the way they turned out. They were my very first socks knit in the round. I only wish I had been able to finish them for him while the weather was still cold and damp. It's been warmer in Virginia lately than here in the Southwest, so he won't be able to test their insulative properties until next winter. I am currently knitting a pair of socks for me. Details in my next post.