Kiss My Knits!

Ah, early Spring in North Carolina. The bulbs have peeked their heads up, and we’re all enjoying the first color of the season. Pictured to the left are daffodils from my mother’s front yard. From the photo, it would appear that about half the flowers are blooming.

Actually, until a few days ago, they were all blooming. And here I have to quote my mother. “Someone stole up on the daffodils in the front yard, armed with scissors, and cut half of them off for their own nefarious purposes.”

Did you catch that? They were cut, which means that someone had to notice them, admire them, go home, get a tool, come back at night, and snip the ones they wanted. I’ve watched enough Law and Order to know premeditation when I see it.

You’ll note that only half are gone. My mother and I have two theories as to why that might be. My first thought was that the thief thought they were being nice by only stealing half. My mother’s thought was that they only took half so that it wouldn’t be so obvious that any had been cut, and could more easily cover their tracks. The perfect crime!

Unfortunately, “perfect crime” is likely right. I can’t imagine how you would go about identifying the culprit. Perhaps she could look out her window this evening to see if there’s anyone in a black catsuit and ski mask out for a pleasant stroll. If they happen to be carrying gardening shears, that could also be a clue.

If she has any neighbors who have long, thin mustaches that they like to twirl while cackling evilly, that might also be a good place to start.

We obviously moved from outrage to amusement pretty quickly, but I still think I should find some police tape and cordon off the crime scene. We can’t let these blossom rustlers get away with this!

My camera’s back, so let’s get caught up!

Pattern: “Fuzzyfeet” by Theresa Vinson Stenersen from Knitty.com
Yarn: Lamb’s Pride Worsted in M05 Onyx and Noro Kureyon in colorway 52
Needles: size 10 1/2 (6.5mm) 16″ circular (2 circs for toe decreases)

Notes: Well, I’ll say this: I got a lot of knitting done in the hospital waiting room. The Jayne hats flew by with no problem. I can do those in my sleep. But I was distracted by family and concern and fouled up the toe on these not once but twice. The first time, I carried the body of the foot too long before decreasing, so I un-knitted back to the proper point. The second time, I forgot that I’d made the toe on the first one strictly in black, so I striped the second one up to the end. I ripped back and re-knitted it to match the first.

However, these did give us something to talk about. One aunt liked the way these looked so much she asked about commissioning some for Christmas gifts for relatives. Unfortunately, this pattern cannot be used for profit. She’s dear family, though, so I’ll see what I can do for her as a gift.

Everyone who saw me knitting these said, “you know, the stripes aren’t the same color.” I know, it’s deliberate. I think it adds some nice visual interest. I was more concerned with how the Kureyon and Lamb’s Pride were going to felt. LP felts much faster than Kureyon. However, it only took one trip through the washing machine for these to felt to exactly the point I wanted. They fit perfectly.

I’ve made many of these for others, but this is the first pair I’ve made for myself. I’m very happy with how they turned out.

Holy moly, there’s so much to post about, it’s overwhelming. I can’t sort through it all right now. So for the moment, let’s stick with this:

My daughter saw her first episode of Star Trek: The Original Series tonight and was quite interested. Live Long and Prosper!

My mother is out of surgery and recovering nicely. Thank you for all your kind thoughts and well-wishes!

My mother is having surgery tomorrow. We’re all expecting that she’ll be just fine, but hospital time is never fun time, so I’m giving her all the support I possibly can, dammit. Browncoats: she’s the lady who speeds production for me by making my pompoms so I can get your hats out the door faster. I know you want her to get well soon!

Let’s have a shout out for Mom!

Burmese pythons on the move to California.

I’m impressed that an article with this much of a tongue-in-cheek tone made it into a major metropolitan newspaper, what with lines like, “There are few free-roaming African lions and tigers between Florida and San Francisco, the geological survey said.” Darned lack of lions! Well, maybe by 2020, when the article says the pythons will hit the Bay area, the tiger population of the southwestern United States will have surged. Keep a happy thought.

But the reason my husband sent it to me, and the reason I’m sharing it, is for the following. I present to you the best line by far of the article:
“Beavers would be a very tasty treat for them,” Rodda said. “No beaver would be safe from a python.”

You may commence snickering.

As we were taking our daughter to school this morning, the weather was cold and the sky was gray. The school is less than a mile from our house, but with weather this cold, we were definitely going to drive.

About halfway there, something amazing happened. It suddenly started to snow! This wasn’t in the forecast.

“Emily! It’s snowing!”
“Snow? It’s not supposed to snow at school!”

It wasn’t enough for a snow day, of course, so onward to school she went, mildly flummoxed by the weather. On the way back home, we didn’t get more than 100 yards from the school before the snow tapered away. In the rear view mirror, though, a steady snow. It’s like a little pocket of happiness, entirely localized on my daughter’s school.

My husband suggested I take a walk up that way. “Now if only you could find some kind of knitted thing to wear to keep you warm…” Wise guy.

I think I’ll take his advice and walk to the school. And then drink some hot cocoa.

ETA: Opened the door for a walk, and the snow is at the house! YAY!

How’d that space Brownie meeting go?

I’m caught up on Jayne hats, by which I mean I’m working on hats ordered eight weeks ago with an eight week delivery time. The next few up are from Dec. 27-28, and I’m starting in on those tomorrow. But today, I decided to knit a little on non-paid projects.

So tonight, I screwed up the heel turn on my second Fuzzyfoot and mangled the decorative edging I chose for my daughter’s doll’s dress.

I should just not knit anything but Jayne hats ever again. Sigh.

In cute daughter news, I apparently haven’t been keeping up with the personal lives of the stars. I had no idea that Lucy Liu had a little sister named Contessa Liu who had two children named Tiarra Liu and Bennet Liu. The children apparently each have a pet – one has an armadillo, and the other has an opossum. There’s artwork which I wish I could show you. Come home to mama, digital camera!