Introducing....."Mr. Frosty"

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Tonight, I got a very pleasant surprise as I sifted through the contents of my knitting bag. I had gone to my friend Paula's house last Friday (with knitting in tow...of course) for "Rhodapalooza" - where we watched the first season of "Rhoda" (loved it!). Paula had an adorable little stuffed hedge hog that "kept me company" on the footstool while we watched the shows. "Somehow", the little hedgehog found his way into my knitting bag and hitchhiked a ride back to my house. (He remained hidden for several days as I hadn't really dug around in my knitting bag until tonight.) He's so cute! I've named him "Mr. Frosty" because of the white "frost" that's embellishing his outer coat. Thanks Paula! That was a wonderful surprise!



I have made significant progress with my ultra long "Magic Arrow Lace Scarf" out of the Suri Alpaca. It's 52" long now.....I'm not sure how long I'll really make it - I don't want it to be too long!





I've also started another scarf, a "Mistake Rib" scarf from the yarn and pattern that my mom bought for me at a fiber festival in Illinois. I started and restarted the scarf a couple of times. The resulting pattern was definitely NOT the "Mistake Rib" - it turned out to be a very tedious way of doing garter stitch due to errors on the designer's part. I've re-done the pattern based on the description - 2 garter stitch stitches at the end for edging and the remainder done in the mistake rib. The knitting begins again.......

Mom had said the scarf was beautiful and even had beading on the end. Well, the pattern somehow neglects to tell you how to do the beading, what size/number of beads you'd need, or even what the beading looks like! Unbelievable! All the pattern says is "You can add the optional bead edging". Harumph! Guess I'll start flipping through some patterns and pattern books to see what sort of beaded edging would complement this scarf! The other thing I'm worried about is the amount of yarn. I seem to be about half way through the first skein....and the scarf only takes two. I'm a bit worried that the scarf might actually be more of an ascot than a full fledged scarf. Perhaps the cast on of 51 stitches on a US size 3 was incorrect as well? I'll re-assess once I'm done with the first skein - I may decide to tear it out and re-do it as a thinner scarf.

I managed to get some spinning in as well. Here's the hank of hand spun that I crafted from the Merino fiber Elizabeth gave me a couple of weeks ago. As I spun, I tried to make some parts more purple than others for variety and depth. I then Navajo plied without regard to the colors so I got a very marbled and barber poled blend. I also somehow managed to pick up some of the green singles that were already on the bobbin, so the beginning of my hand has a blue-green tint whereas the remainder sticks to the blue and purple colorway. I really like how the green looks, so I just may leave it in as a design element - I love how it turned out! Now, I just need a suitable project for this. Perhaps a lace project of some sort???




On my dog walk, I discovered that my favorite thistles were now in bloom. I love them because their tossled tops of "hair" remind me of Beaker from "Sesame Street". And they're purple too!





I also found a bush like tree that had very interesting "seed bundles". It's a perfect sphere of seeds similar to the dandelion, but less fuzzy. I have no idea what it is, but I was intrigued by these perfect orbs (click on the photo for a closer look). This particular grouping reminds me of the molecular model kits that both my sister and daughter have "played with".