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.