Grand-Chickens

Henny and Penny have been in their new home for about 5 days so we got to go see them today. They're still getting used to the coop and to being away from all the other chicks, so they tend to hide in the corner. DS & DIL1 stretched some chicken wire (oh, that's what it's for) around some stakes so that the yard service chemicals don't get on their grass and they're not allowed out into it yet. Henny and Penny are teenagers in the chick world. They were born around Easter and won't be laying until September. Most of the time they peep like little chicks but if they're startled they'll let out a cluck or two. Henny is smaller and darker but is the bravest one. Penny has more copper on her throat and she's a bigger chicken, in all senses of the word. But they're pecking around in the grass and one of them captured a worm earlier but didn't know what to do with it beyond pecking at it. DIL1 said the worm was putting on speed to escape, but really, how fast can worms go?






















A bunch of lilies are in bloom. The red-orange and yellow Asiatic lilies are in front










and the pink & white "Lipstick" lilies are on the edge of the yard in with the milkweeds that draw the Monarch butterflies all summer.










The spiderwort is blooming its little purple flowers all around the tiny, struggling red rose in the garden. Soon there'll be a sea of daisies there. This year I'm determined to move some of them around before they spread and take over the garden.












The Early Girl tomatoes are making fruit and my yellow bell pepper is too. The baby bunny is nibbling on the Brussels Sprout so that's getting a chicken wire cage today.











I've been working on Bandwagon Block #6. It's easy to knit this red-orange colored yarn, and I'm sure it doesn't look it, but I've added more to the sock too.

Socking It

One good thing about sitting in one after another clinic waiting room over a day is that you get a lot of sock knitted. I'm enjoying the colors, the pink, green, and purple all together please me no end, and remind me of Easter eggs.

The ride home on Sunday from Goshen was good for knitting on Bandwagon Block #5 and I finished it once we were home.

Next comes the second red-orange block. I'd have made the whole afghan out of blocks this color if I'd have had it on hand.

So, The Wedding (lots of photos)

Last weekend we went to Goshen, IN for a wedding. You know that. We drove through Chicago and I bought some souvenir yarn. You know that too. It was amazingly hot and humid, especially to we who dwell in the cool and rainy tundra that is Green Bay, WI this season, but we adapted. I thought you might like to see a few photos from the wedding. FYI--they put this all together in 3 weeks.

Here's the tent where it all took place...







here's the important stuff happening...









I think they might be in love...















Mom (she's barefoot) & Groom dance while Father of Groom looks on...




Parents of Bride with 10-month-old twin grandsons Atticus & Joachin...









Mom of Groom tries out the grandma thing...









On the way home I was thinking about living in a big city like Chicago. I love the idea of walking to shop and having interesting things around every corner, but then I thought about how much it'd cost to live in one of these towers and how it's never quiet and how you'd never see stars because the city lights never turn off...








and I'm glad I live in poky old Green Bay where this rose that Dad planted in my front yard 25 years ago is there to greet me when I come home.

Souvenir Yarn!

While Durwood napped this morning I investigated the local yarn shop, Ewe-Nique Knits. Look what I found! And brought home with me, of course.


This is Dragonfly Fibers' Dragon Sock in the Baltimore Oriole colorway. Since we've finally attracted a few orioles to the feeders in our yard, I had to buy it. Had. To.




Hanging on the edge of a display was a Knitting Pure & Simple Bulky Shrug. I've been wanting to make a shrug and, wouldn't you know, there were 4 skeins of Cascade Magnum in the 30% off bin in a pretty green. That came home with me too, along with the pattern.

Car Travel is So Good for Knitting

We drove from Kenosha, WI to Goshen, IN today. I knitted on Bandwagon Block #5.








It was hazy when we were driving into downtown Chicago on the Edens but I think the silhouetted buildings look kind of interesting.













I worked on the Easter Egg Ankle Sock toe. It's going very slowly and I can't figure out why, but I'm going to keep knitting and it'll grow.







When I wasn't knitting I took pictures from the Skyway Bridge over Gary, IN and caught just the edge of Durwood with Lake Michigan far in the distance. On the other side of the bridge is the glory that is Gary. Hey, don't knock it; that stinky, gritty city and a bunch like it built this country. I like seeing the rusting evidence of all that capitalism. Besides the Jackson 5 came from Gary.

So Much to Share

I just realized that I've been slacking off posting this week. I have a lot to show you, not all from this week but most of it. The oldest thing I have to show is all of 10 days old. My friend Skully wanted a fanny pack so I gave her one I made a while back. The first time she tried to use it the zipper broke. D'oh. So I made her a new one AND I increased the width and the depth so it would hold more. I hadn't sewed in a long time but evidently it's like riding a bike, you remember how. I think it's freaking beautiful.















Sunday night after knitting on it all afternoon at the World Wide Knit in Public Day event in a downtown park, I finished the Carnival Ankle Sock. See how the pink pools on the one side? I decided to put a few (6) rows of k1, p1 ribbing in the instep to shift the color arrangement. All it did was move the pink from one side to the other. I don't really mind it, I just wanted my little fudge to work better.






Skully lent me her copy of One Yard Wonders last week and I copied a couple of the patterns. They're very clever and I've been more and more interested in making clever things with fabric. I bought some designer remnants of drapery and upholstery fabrics and I've acquired a stash of fat quarters so I've got the raw materials for many of the patterns. Yesterday at work I cut out one for a trash bag to hang in the car (working around the pressure of my one customer of the day) and sewed it last night. I'm very pleased with it.







Mom sewed an outfit for an American Girl doll for a raffle and it's so darling, you have to see it. She's so talented, a much better seamstress than I'll ever be, and she has such patience for getting things just right. Look at that little hat! She made it from scratch, can you believe it? I think she's a doll clothes making genius.

















The lettuces are happy with the cool weather we've been having and the biggest patch of poppies (poppies!!!) is a-bloom in the garden. I'd have a whole yard of poppies if I could, but I wish they'd bloom all summer.






I keep thinking that I have more pictures to show you but for the life of me I can't remember what. This is enough for now anyway. I'll add more later if my brain shifts back into gear.

Squares

It's been quiet at the dive shop the last couple days so I got lots of knitting done. I bought a skein of Lion Brand Organic Cotton yarn a couple Sunday's ago just because I liked the color (and I had a coupon). I searched for a pattern for a dishcloth I liked and finally found one called Oh, So Soft Baby Washcloth. It's a crochet pattern and I have to go buy a contrasting color for the edging, but I like it. It was fun to make and an easy pattern to memorize.





Bandwagon Block #5 is coming along. I finished the miters last night while watching an Auction Hunters marathon. Tomorrow I'll pick up stitches for the first log cabin edge. These blocks are fun to knit and really go fast. I decided to make 12 instead of 10 and 4 half blocks of the background color so I'm nearly half done. Amazing.




Durwood's raspberries are growing fast. Soon he'll be out there patrolling for the first ripe berry, and to repel any berry thieves. He means business when it comes to his raspberries!











I was happy to see this little gold daylily bloom, and the honeysuckle too. You know what that means, don't you?













It means that the hummingbirds come back! And I managed to take one's picture tonight! Can you believe it? I'm so thrilled. It was just dumb luck.