Prairie Tunic

Finally, an FO. Hubbs' Prairie Tunic from Interweave Knits Spring 06. Made with Jaegar Siena. I really enjoyed making this. Tommy even helped me make the twisted cord. We were both amazed (again) at how the cord came out - twist a few bits of yarn together and something beautiful is made. Who knew?! Anyway, happy belated birthday gift Hubbs.

And this little beauty will be my MIL's 60th birthday gift. It's made with DB Alpaca Silk DK in the celery colourway. The pattern is from a big old stitch pattern reference book (I forget which now, but I know I bought it for $1 at B&N last year - yay bargain-hunting, I knew it would come in handy). I'm hoping when it's blocked it will stretch out to be shawl width. Otherwise, it will still make a pretty respectable wide scarf. Of course, I am still in love with this yarn and the DK weight is just as nice to work with as the thicker yarn.

Speaking of which.....here's another spiral scarf-in-progress.....or there would be if I could load the picture. Another time.

So Tommy and I went for a wonderful daytrip the weekend before Easter to Tampa. We shopped in the Hyde Park area, which we both loved. Beautiful houses and real grass!!! How come only 2 hrs north they get real grass and just down here we have to have the horrible prickly stuff - yuk! We had a slow relaxing lunch outside a nice Italian cafe, with a couple of Peronis. Then back to the hotel for a quick sunbathe round the pool and a nap before dinner. And what a dinner. We went to a restaurant called Berns . What an experience! The menu went into great detail about steaks, cuts, cooking them and how they have their own vegetable farm, make their own ingredients, etc. The waiters were awesome - they train for a whole year at every station before they get to serve in the dining rooms. Our waiter recommended a great bottle of wine (we liked it anyway). After dinner, they take you on a tour of their kitchen and wine cellar, then up to the dessert room on the 2nd floor. So, you know how restaurants these days have you in and out in an hour? Well, this one, we were there for 3½ hours!!! I think I'm rating it the best restaurant I've ever been to, for the overall experience. We had a lot of fun there.

This past weekend was Easter. Big news - the boys got colds again. And I'm feeling a bit sniffly too now. A need to sleep with my Prince Nyquil tonight.

I sold more bags on Etsy. Someone bought my flamingo bag and wanted me to make a custom bag with the same fabric, with fabric straps and pockets inside. I did it, hurray! I'm really liking Etsy, but I need to get some of my knitting on there. Just a bit of finishing and photographing to be done.

And I worked on Saturday for the first time in a couple of months at B&N. Just 'zoning', but enjoyable to be out of the house and seeing some other adults. Worked there again last night and will be there again on Sat. So many of the staff said it was good to see me back. That felt nice :-) It was really exciting to be back, like my first day working again.

My Fairy Oddmother

Look at all this loveliness my fairy oddmother sent me....... It's a spa package! That lovely blue-grey pillow is a buckwheat eye pillow. It smells SOOOOO good. She crafted it herself with bamboo - it's soft and squishy and heavenly. The top right picture is a close up of the lovely stitch pattern - it looks so complex. I love it. And all the fabulous lotions and potions. And the pretty green tealight holder and exotic herbal teas. And the ball of gorgeous soft soy silk yarn. I've never used that before, but am going to start thinking about what to knit with it right away. The colours are beautiful.

And see the brown spotty package. That was coconut chocolate. It's in my tummy now. Yes, the whole thing. :-)

My fairy oddmother has looked after me well. She is kind and caring and I thank her very much for making my day today.

And it wasn't even my day!!!! Today is my best buddy Hubb's birthday. This time last year I was in England helping her celebrate her 40th - time flies. At least it's only a few weeks til we'll see each other again.

Happy Easter..........

Mail Spoilage

First, my Knitty Secret Pal downstream has been spoiling me. She sent me a beautiful Debbie Bliss book - I ordered the yarn to make the Edwardian Jacket from it. Cashmerino Astrakhan in robins egg blue. So pretty. And looking through the book, there is an adorable pattern for a baby girl's hoodie, that could be Gracie's Christmas gift.

And fridge magnets. Now I can get rid of those pesky primary colour numbers.

And the notepad could not be more appropriate

Second package is from my Knitty Winter Secret Pal, Jupiter Jessica. It's the prize that I won in her blog contest. Pretty sockyarn in the colourway "Hawaii" - appropriately tropical. She also sent Cars colouring books with tattoos for the boys. They, of course, ran off with them immediately. We were about to watch "Happy Feet" when I opened the package. That was too much distraction, so we'll save that movie for another day. And Easter candy. Yum-o! Thank you Jessica for the wonderful package.......:-)