At long last

my Celtic Dreams sweater is done.

Ouch!

All this knitting on CD has left my right hand a little...unhappy. I'm taking frequent breaks and combing up some Merino to make up the third ply in the Polwarth blend yarn(gotta stretch that some since I have less than a pound) I had great hopes of finishing this project up before the month was out, but the hand problem may interfere.
The good news is that I reviewed my Knit From Your Shelf list and it's shorter than I thought. I forgot about having knit a Moccasin Sock (yes, one-it was not my favorite. I intend to try it again in the future though since the notion of a refootable sock is very appealing) and a Moebius scarf. So, that takes care of Knitter's Almanac and Knitting Around. Leaving only-um, five books. That's one per month. These projects better be small!

Spinning

I've been doing a good bit of spinning lately. I unearthed some ancient fibers and am really enjoying them! The first is some Polwarth that I had blended with a bit of kid mohair and some angora. I keep a smallish amount of fiber near the wheel in a wine carrier that I bought at A C Moore. Let me assure you-this is lovely fiber! The wool is from Nancy Ortmann's flock-I've purchased their Targhee and Cormo as well. Fabulous! The blending was done by Wooly Knob and they did a superb job. I'm already on the third bobbin.
The next batch-you knew I'd have two batches going, right?-is this lovely gray Corriedale from Dan-Vir farm(sorry neither if these shepherds have web pages-email me for contact info) this is from a fleece I purchased back in '05. Since I bought more from them at SAFF since then, I figured it was time to get going on this one. Spinning another three ply with this fiber-just like the one above. That's what I like to knit-so that's what I spin!

And then here's a little update on Celtic Dreams. Almost to the cuff on that sleeve!!!

Spring!

The weather is super nice today-spring is my favorite time of year! We've had some good rain and now the sun is out and all my little plants are poking up their heads to greet the world. I moved my peonies to the side of the house, which will make dh happy. Now he won't have to watch out for them while he's mowing. I'm transplanting the pepper seedlings this afternoon into larger containers-they are ready for more space but I want to be sure we don't lose them in that one last frost that often shows up around Easter. Everything else in the sunbox is looking great! And my alpine strawberries are blooming!

I've picked the Celtic Dreams pullover back up and have almost finished a repeat, which is 24 rounds. I want to do one more repeat before picking up those sleeve stitches.
We are taking our spring break next week-I'll be refinishing a bed and chest of drawers for C's room. I'll post pics before I begin. These pieces have been waiting in the garage for quite some time-but now that nice weather is here-I can get that good ventilation that such projects require!

And here's the finished denim skirt. Simplicity 5524. Good pattern! I'm thinking of making one next winter in a black pinwhale corduroy.

Knit From Your Shelf 2009?

I am seriously thinking of taking on this challenge from Carolyn. I looked through my shelf to see just what kind of stack I would have to work through. It kind of scared me a little. I am not a fast knitter. I'm not even halfway through Celtic Dreams. We will still have school here. I'm slated to teach three classes at co-op this semester. Fourth grade Sunday School at church, too. And I have a big garden planned. That's March through October here in my zone. Plus, I will still have my normal responsibilities of feeding the family and insuring that we have some clean clothes and surfaces here at the house. So, why am I so drawn to this challenge? The six unused books on my knitting shelf have been clamoring for the last month for me to commit.
Here are the titles in order of purchase date...
Knitter's Almanac(I know!!!)
Folk Socks
Folk Knitting in Estonia
Meg Swansen's Knitting
Knitting Around
Aran Sweater Design
Patterns for Guernseys, Jerseys and Arans

They are all very worthwhile titles with lovely things to choose from inside.

What I've been doing

lately...
My Mr Greenjeans cardi in Lion Wool Majestic Mountain colorway. This sweater took something like eight days to knit. I think the combination of variegated colors and worsted weight yarn did something to me. Great pattern and I would not be surprised if I knit it again!

Before that I cast on a BSJ for my new niece, but after knitting a while I noticed that I had ordered the Wrong Yarn! Merino Style instead of Swish DK. So I had to frog. No hand washables for non-knitters, friends. Especially for a baby. I've had four. It's just not worth it. Better and kinder to just change your plans.

So, instead I cast on an overdue sweater for the little niece's big brother. And here it is! A wonderful Wallaby with mods, of course. How could I not put a cable up the middle and then around that nifty hood? That's what I thought! This is knit with KnitPicks Swish DK which I liked entirely too much.

Now that that is done I have cast on the long awaited Celtic Dreams pullover for me. Not much to see here. Just the saddles and some of the upper back so far. But I love love love the cables. They are wonderful.

And that's it for me today!