Bird in a tree

 As I was drinking my coffee and gazing out the window making my mental to do list for today (if it’s a mental list and I don’t follow through there is no guilt.)  There is a plastic bag that has been caught in the locust tree all winter I was hoping it blew free with the strong winds last night. No such luck, it looks stuck even harder. One corner of the bag is caught in the “v” of a branch making a head while the rest of the bag looks like it is sitting on another branch with the tail caught in another “v” there are two little flaps that look like legs and when a gust of wind hits it looks like a ptarmigan or a fat laying hen running as fast as it can possibly go. It made me chuckle and a photo was not going to work the bag is the same color as the sky and the camera was focusing on branches that were closer to me. Then a crow stopped to chat. Mental check list: a sketch and a blog post……what else was I thinking of doing today?  —Ann—

A little sewing

 I’ve only been working on this since Christmas it’s just a flannel nightgown.  Make the bodice pretty with fancy stitches and twin needle pin tucks and smocking on the sleeve rather than elastic. I haven’t smocked for so long I had to read the directions. Small goal this week sew in the sleeves and finish the hem.  I can do that —Ann—

Fun weekend

Fun weekend with the little girls however they tell me they are big girls!!  Always low tech with grandma baking cookies, drawing, painting, paper dolls, and playing outside because it was sunny and 50+ degrees that weekend.  We saw and heard lots of geese heading north and even saw one robin. Do the birds know something the weatherman doesn’t or are they going to be in for a surprise. The little girls were exhausted come supper time. And today we have 3 inches of fresh snow.  Can’t wait to go see them again.

My devices updated themselves and a new glitch in the system wouldn’t let me upload pics but darling daughter got me straightened out if I do things in exactly the right order…………I need to get productive again and post more frequently wish me luck to get in gear. —Ann—

 

On the needles

 

Happy Ground Hog Day

Happy end of January too many things have happened in January that were beyond my control. I hope February is a better month and the little ground hog if it even wants to come out of its hole has a hopeful forecast.  I’m healthy, hubby is healthy and kids are healthy.

New sweater was started with a hand dyed yarn from Mankato, Minnesota, 2 skeins of almost solid light blue is Dakota Skies and 2 skeins of blue, white, pink and yellow is called South Dakota Prairie, it looks like a winter landscape here when the shadows are long and blue.  I paired them with a light blue kid silk which is kid mohair spun with silk.  Just heavenly to knit and feel.

I thought I could knit the multi colored skeins then the solid blue…..and it looked like I ran out of yarn……so I ripped 10 inches of sweater and rewound the yarn with the kid silk rather than separate the 2 strands. Now I’m knitting a row of blue and a row of the multi colored yarn. The blue in the second skein of multi was grayer than the first, they looked different in the sweater. Now it’s blending like it belongs together.  I used the light blue for the ribbing on the neck and I will for the hem and button bands. The yarn paired with the kid silk feels so nice I’m glad I ripped so I could knit it again. Hoping February is better than January—Ann—