weekend of surprises

Posted on | March 2, 2009 | 21 Comments

What a great weekend!  Saturday morning, SB went to the post office and came home with a package for me!  I love getting treats in the mail!

Diane at Wool and Spice had a contest recently and I won!  Unfortunately, I cut off the title of the magazine, but it’s The Knitter, a new UK-based knitting mag.  The contest was for an extra copy of The Knitter, but Diane threw in several other goodies – Sunflower Seed cookies (we tested these and they definitely passed – yum!), a Dagoba chocolate bar which is going to stay in my purse for when I need a little chocolate treat, some delicious coffee and a beautiful card!  Thank you, Diane!!! 

I flipped through the magazine yesterday and this design caught my eye immediately:

Doesn’t that look like it would be interesting to knit?  Check out the details:

So pretty.  I may have to add this to the queue!

Sunday morning also started off with a surprise -

I got up to let Mack in and couldn’t believe it – the forecasters got it right!  We had snow!

I made a pot of coffee, wrapped up in a blanket and sat on the front porch to watch the snow fall. 

Please forgive me for all the pictures I took.

We never see the white stuff around here.  The last time we had this much snow was 1980.

The pansies didn’t know what to think.  I told them to hush.

This is what winter is supposed to look like.  I know my Northern friends are laughing at me, but it was wonderful to see snow!  Of course, it’s all gone today and we’ll be back in the 70s in a couple of days, but it was a nice surprise (yes, it was forecasted, but they routinely overestimate the possibility of snowfall).

I did not knit a stitch this weekend.  I finished sorting through the bags and bags of clothing in the attic and pared it down to three tubs of clothes to keep.  I made a deal with myself that I could keep them for two years and if I still can’t wear them, then they’ll be donated as well.  I gave my kitchen a deep cleaning, went on a grocery store mega-run, and made a pot of 15 bean soup.  The only fibery thing I did this weekend was this:

I’m blending gray romney wool, bleached flax and tussah silk.  It started out as a “I wonder if I can do this” and progressed to carding a rolag, spinning and plying it and then knitting a swatch.  The yarn is a bit rustic, but the swatch has wonderful drape and softness and the linen content will make it wearable much longer than 100% wool in our (typical) climate.  Plus, since I’ve blended it with wool and silk, I can spin it dry!  I have a project in mind, but am trying not to focus too much on that since I have no idea how much yardage I’ll have.  Right now I’m just enjoying the meditative carding process.

What were you up to this weekend?

Category: gratitude

Comments

21 Responses to “weekend of surprises”

  1. grace
    March 2nd, 2009 @ 10:28 am

    Of course the cookies were going to be good. They’re my best. ;)

  2. Manise
    March 2nd, 2009 @ 10:48 am

    You make me smile -wrapped in a blanket taking in the snowfall. We got whacked with a foot plus overnight. More to come apparently. Love your fiber blending ‘speriment.

  3. mel
    March 2nd, 2009 @ 11:41 am

    That sounds like a wonderful weekend (and what? you knit another sweater?? Damn you are fast!!) That carding looks incredibly soothing. And we have a snow day here today (wee-hooo!), and I feel like doing a little spinning – Instead of everything that I should be doing with this lovely free time – screw it!!

  4. Anne
    March 2nd, 2009 @ 12:14 pm

    Sounds like an awesome weekend – great prizes too!

  5. Heather
    March 2nd, 2009 @ 12:40 pm

    70 degrees? Ah, jealous. Weather channel says it’s 22 here but feels like 6. We got a bunch of snow overnight (and it’s still going lightly) and it’s really light and blowing all over the place. Snow day!

    I want to pet your little swatch. =)

  6. Tina M.
    March 2nd, 2009 @ 1:10 pm

    I love the shots with the berries and pansies, beautiful photos. :)

    Getting stuff in the mail really makes my day too, it’s like Christmas!

    I can’t wait to see what the fiber turns out to be, I’ve been thinking about dyeing a little of my many bags of clean fleeces and busting out the “new” drum carder.

  7. Carrie
    March 2nd, 2009 @ 1:46 pm

    I would totally sit on the porch and watch it snow. If ever it snowed here long enough to watch it.

  8. Jessi
    March 2nd, 2009 @ 2:48 pm

    Our kids were so excited to finally get some decent snow. lol They wore both me and the hubby out, playing in it until it melted.

  9. Cheryl S.
    March 2nd, 2009 @ 4:41 pm

    Congratulations on your snow – I’m glad it went where it was appreciated.

  10. margene
    March 2nd, 2009 @ 5:10 pm

    I heard that snow fell in your area. Please send it back to us!

  11. Paula
    March 2nd, 2009 @ 5:39 pm

    We got very little snow. Just a little on me and Muffin

  12. Tonni
    March 3rd, 2009 @ 6:32 am

    Beautiful pics of the snow!!! Your fiber blend sounds wonderful! Poor Mack… did he spend the night outside?!?

  13. Jen
    March 3rd, 2009 @ 7:39 am

    I’m thinking the look on Mack’s face shows he isn’t as enthusiastic about the snow as you. I’m guessing he’s never seen it before? The snow must be the Gods answer to why you knit in Alabama, yes? Snow every 29 years or so has to have some meaning!

  14. Becky
    March 3rd, 2009 @ 7:41 am

    I promise not to roll my eyes too loudly at your snow. :-) I’d like to see your wool/linen/silk swatch better. Will you take another picture?

  15. Laurie
    March 3rd, 2009 @ 8:24 am

    Yes, I am laughing. Had to dig out of about 15″ yesterday. It is the time of the season where the shoveling is just a bit much. (Husband said snowblower was too much work for me to bother and to wait til he got home. Ha. Could NOT have worked harder than with that shovel. Getting snow blower lessons later today.)

  16. Nora
    March 3rd, 2009 @ 10:34 am

    Pretty pictures, and I forgive you! We had 14 inches of “lake effect” snow at our airport yesterday. I’m so done.

    Very intriguing pot of fiber.

  17. Tami
    March 3rd, 2009 @ 4:17 pm

    Hey! We had that last week! ;^)

    Check out what I did:
    http://pnwbookgirl.blogspot.com/2009/03/its-going-around.html

  18. Jeanne
    March 3rd, 2009 @ 7:14 pm

    What a great package…and gorgeous pictures!

  19. Juno
    March 4th, 2009 @ 3:24 pm

    I really like the look of that pattern. Looked for the Knitter at B&N but no luck….

  20. Emily
    March 4th, 2009 @ 7:10 pm

    Beautiful snow! Mack looks really upset about it!

  21. diane
    March 7th, 2009 @ 10:34 am

    Hi! Love your knitting:)
    What is the project on your front page ,left side, second photo down? I love the look of the patterns, is it a sweater?