I'm still working on Bob's cabled socks. I'm on the foot of the first one, and still have about 2" to go before starting the toe decreases. I haven't had much time to knit with spring here and yard work to do.

I'll be having even less for a while as we are getting new flooring on May 15th! We are having laminate flooring put in the diningroom, hall and entry area and new carpet put in the livingroom. So I'm trying to get everything ready to be moved out of that part of the house and make sure that all the touch up is done on the walls, doors and anything else that needs to be painted first.

We put in grapes this spring, now to see how they will do. This area does have vineyards, so I know that grapes do grow here. We got both Thompson seedless and Flame seedless, 3 of each kind. We are also working on putting in a raised bed for a veggie garden, have the sides about done, just have to add the soil. Then comes the fun of buying and planting the veggies we want in it.

I'm working on another pair of cabled socks for Bob, since he liked the way the Knitting Olympic pair fit. I'm planning on using Serpentine Cables from Barbara Walker's _A Treasury of Knitting Patterns_, the first treasury book. It is an all over cable, so I am having to swatch it in the round to see how to handle the cable crossings that occur at the joining of the rounds. I'm not using the yarn that the socks are going to be made out of, as I already had the ribbing done for the first sock, before I realized that I may have problems with the all over cable pattern. So, I am using some Katia Mississippi 3 that I was given and have fallen in love with it. I didn't think that I would like a cotton/acrylic blend yarn as much as I do this, but it has a nice stitch definition and is easy to work with. I would love enough to make a top out of.

I have a design for a summer top that I am working on, it would be a short sleeve lace top to wear over a camisole. I will be posting more on it when I get further along on the design. I just started to come up with it yesterday while working on the cable swatch.

I finished the second sock of my Knitting Olympic pair last night. We have been having high winds most of the week, so have had more time to knit. The winds have been steady at 35 mph and gusting up to 50 mph. We are expecting more of the same today. :(

On Tuesday, my daughter, Jenny, and I dug up and redid the daylily bed. This was the first bed that we planted and never got any thing added to the soil to help make it rich. We dug all the plants out, except for the two roses and the Dutch iris. Then we added six bags of topsoil, one bag of composted mulch and a cubic foot of peat moss and tilled it all in. Then we added some large rocks as decoration, to add shade and act as wind breaks for some of the small plants. We then replanted all the plants back into the bed. It looks real nice and I'm hoping that everything survives, since the temps dropped and the winds came up after that.

I am still working on sock two of my Knitting Olympic pair. :( I have the leg done, the heel is turned and the gusset decreases are done, so now it is just working my way down the foot. I had a family emergency come up the last week of them, so didn't have time to knit. I will continue working on this sock during my free time, but spring has come and the yard is calling.

This past week we designed and made another bed. It was supposed to be for wildflowers and plants to attract the birds, humming birds and butterflies...but ended up with roses in it instead. Now we are in the process of designing two more beds, hopefully one of them will end up being for the birds and wildlife.

I got the first sock done of the Knitting Olympic pair done, the cables turned out really nice. My DH loves them and is looking forward to me getting the pair done for him. The second pair is about to visit the frog pond, I'm not happy with the fabric, it seems to soft and open to me and I don't think it will wear well. Since this pair is for my son, and he doesn't seem to mind waiting, I would rather make them where they will last than just continue on with them like they are.

I got the yarn for my granddaughter's skirt, it is Red Heart Plush in Wine. This is a velour type yarn, so I will choose a simple stitch pattern for it. The color is kind of a purplish red, but is real pretty and I think she will like it. I haven't swatched yet, but the label calls for a size 8 needle! I think I might end up using a size 4 as the yarn seems to be more a sport weight than worsted weight. I will definitely swatch to find the right size.

I actually have TWO pairs of socks on the needles at one time!!! I have my Knitting Olympic socks on one set and a pair for my son out of Lion Brand Magic Stripes on another pair. This is a first for me, as I have only had enough needles to do one pair at a time, but that gift of needles from my friend will let me have 5 pairs going at once...don't think I'm ready for that yet. :) I will get there some time. Just remembering what I'm doing on each of the ones on the needles right now is hard.

The Knitting Olympic socks are down past the heel turn and 5" into the foot, which has to be 9" before the toe decreases, so the first one is going along nicely. I'm usually just at the heel at this time on a sock. The other pair is still on the leg, but I mainly knit on those in the evening when it is to dark to work on the other pair, since they are a basic stockinette stitch sock.

When I finish these two pairs, I will have enough yarn to make Bob one more pair and me two more pairs. Then I will either have to spin or go buy more yarn. It is amazing that I'm almost out of yarn after 3 years of having more than I thought I would ever get knitted up. I would like to get some solid colors to go with what is left of the Brown Sheep Wildfoote Rock and Roll yarn that I have. Then I would do me a pair with color work on the cuff, but that is if I can find some that will go with it.

I found out that my granddaughter wants a RED skirt, so I will have to get some yarn for that. I might get some other colors as well, depending on what I can find that I like and think would look good on her.

I'm so bad at keeping my blog up to date. So lets see...

The socks for Bob are done and two more pairs besides. I ran out of yarn on the toe of the second sock of the first pair, so had to finish that with a different color. He doesn't care, they fit and keep his feet warm. To keep that from happening, I made the leg of the sock 7.5" instead of 8". That gives me a bit of extra yarn for mending, if needed. I have enough yarn for two more pairs for him. One is my project for the Knitting Olympics, I'm on Team DPN. They are going to be out of Opal yarn, in blue with flecks of purple and lime green, with cables.

My granddaughter has decided that her poncho works better as a skirt...So now I need to make her more of them, according to Bob. So we will see, what yarn I can come up with for another one for her.

I got a package in the mail today from a friend. She sent me 3 sets of size 0 needles, 10 needles per set, and 2 sets of 4 size 1 needles. She also sent me two 50 gram skeins of Katia Mississippi 3, a 60% cotton/40% acrylic blend in a lime green and a 100 gram skein of Fortissima Colori 1000 in a gray colorway. The needles were in homemade needle holders, they are cloth with a flap top and tie with ribbon. Each holder can hold up to 3 sets of needles.

Here it is December and I haven't been able to post like I want. So here are updates on all the projects I had on the needles and have started since the last time I posted.

I finally finished the poncho! It took 3 months to knit but is done and ready to go to my granddaughter. I hope she likes it.

Jesse's socks are on hold until he gets time to try them on, so that I can make sure that they fit. He isn't living here at now, as he got a job in another town and can only come over on his day off.

I knitted 3 pairs of slippers this past week. One for me, out of WoolEase Chunky in the charcoal colorway, one for Jenny out of WoolEase Chunky in Walnut with charcoal toes and the third pair was for Sandy out of some Red Heart worsted weight.

I'm trying to work on socks for Bob, but don't feel that good so not getting that far on them. These will be 8" high, so that he can wear them in his work boots. Trying to decide if I want to rib the whole sock or just 3" at the top.

Here are the pics of the flood. The one on the left is looking out the living room windows. The one on the right is looking towards the "park", which we are still working on. There is a pond this side of the orange bucket

I went to Unravel Yarn Shop and Gallery in Las Cruces on Friday. I spent 4 hours there, looking at yarn, fiber and talking to the owners. Bob got me some sock yarn and Jenny some yarn for a poncho. I also bought a lucet with part of my b-day money from my MIL.

While I was there I worked on my "Grab and Go Bag." It is a bag that I designed myself, I wanted something that I could carry a small project in and my wallet, sunglasses, keys and cellphone in. Most of the bag patterns didn't have what I wanted, so I decided to design one that did. Right now the pattern is being test knitted by some friends, when that is done it will be for sale.

On Friday while we were out of town, they got RAIN here. Our yard was flooded and you could hardly see the wet pond. I'll post pics of the flood when I find where they are on the puter.

I have been working on the "park" some more. We decided to make it a dry creek, so that when it rains there will be some place for the water to go. We added more plants to the area and decided where we want grass to be. I have to add some more dirt to finish building up some areas and contouring the land so the water runs where we want it to. We added two dry ponds to the end of the creek as catch basins. Got a water lily for the wet pond at the head of the dry creek.

I have been busy doing yard work, so haven't had time to update my blog. I frogged Jesse's socks, they just weren't working. Restarted them 3 times and gave up, will work on them again later. I did knit myself a pair out of the yarn I got from Wonderland Dyeworks. It is the Peacock colorway and I used a simple lace pattern. They turned out nice. I then knit my oldest DD, Sandy, a pair out of some Cascade Sassy Stripe yarn in purples. They are simple stockinette stitch, which is what she wanted.

I am working on trying to design myself a spindle carrier, so that I can take my spindles with me when I go on trips. I like going to Las Cruces when Bob goes over to get supplies for the yard and house.

Right now we are working on making one area to the south of the house into a small park, with benches, a pond and either a dry creek bed or a actual stream that goes from the upper pond to a lower one then the water would be pumped back to the upper pond.

I haven't updated my blog in a long time, because I haven't been doing anything with my crafts. I did make stuff for the family for Christmas. Then I started a pair of mittens for Bob and socks for Jesse, but they got set aside when I kept making mistakes. I just picked up the mittens the other day and got the hand part done, just have the thumbs left to do. Now to pick up the socks and get them going again.

I want to work on spinning up the fiber for my shawl, so that I can get it knitted before winter. It is some I got in a trade with Alice of Wonderland Dye Works. It is one pound of Cormo in the Spring colorway. I am planning on using a pattern that I found on the internet for it. I have 2 ounces spun, so it will take me awhile to get it all spun. I will update the amount spun as I get it done.

I finished the evolved baby sweater two days ago! I just got time to post about it, there is a pic in the gallery, in the Charity knitting album. I have a Surplice Baby Jacket on the needles now, it is cream, rose cream (a light dusty rose) and dark brown. If it fits my granddaughter and she likes it, I'm going to let her have it, as it is getting a bit cool in the mornings.

I started my MIL's hat and have 4" done and about 5" more to go! I am hoping to have it done by Friday. She will be here Saturday afternoon and I want to be able to give it to her then.

We have been working on weeding the yard. The area north from the front patio and drive to the mid-line of the lot, and from the front edge of the trailer out to the road is DONE! Now to start on the south side that matches that. Then will come the "bird garden" area. We have decided to put a 32' X 24' grass area there with a pond and fountian in it.

I started another Evolved Baby Sweater last night, got the body done, now to cast on and do the bodice. I did a band of colorwork in the body, the main color is a pinky cream with a dark rose pink for the contrasting color. The bodice will be the dark rose pink, as I ran out of the pinky cream.

I am now swatching for my MIL's hat. I spun the yarn 2 years ago and sent her a sample for Christmas. I told her to choose what she wanted me to knit out of it, she decided on a hat. So, now I need to get that done before she gets here to visit on the 25th of September. The yarn is real fine and I'm using a US size 2, I hope that is small enough. The yarn is a single ply of white BFL and a single ply of dusty rose silk.

I finished Jenny's second pair of socks and put pics of both pairs and my bluegrass socks in the gallery this morning. I also added new pics of the house.

We are adding a walkway out to the driveway, as that was 16 out from the patio. Still working on weeding the front yard and getting rid of trash. I have been putting in a few plants in the beds next to the house. There is still a lot to get done and my MIL will be here in less than 2 weeks for a 2 week visit! I was hoping to have the front all done by then, but I don't think that will happen.

I decided not to make a blanket to match the sweater and hat, just can't seem to get one that look right. I also don't have enoungh of the yarn I realized. There might be enough to make something else, but not a blanket or another sweater. I am thinking about which yarn to use for the next sweater and what pattern to use. I was a Wal-Mart last week and they had a book of baby sweaters on sale for $1! Most of the patterns call for sport weight yarn, but I'm thinking that I can use the worsted weight and one of the smaller sizes to make them by.

I got Jenny's socks fixed and now she can wear them. I found some mint green wool yarn that is about the same weight and I'm using that for another pair for her. Then I will take the left overs from both colors and make a third pair. I have the first sock of a pair for Bob up to the point where I need to try it on and make sure it fits, before I go any farther on it. I love the yarn I'm using for his, it is Sockina Colori by Schoeller and Stahl. It was given to me by my friend Maggie in exchange for a coffee mug. :) I have other yarn from her to use for socks for me and Bob, so we are both having fun finding special mugs to send her.

I got 2 ounces of the 16 ounces of Spring spun up, now to get the rest of it done. This is going to make me a shawl to use starting this fall. I'm hoping to get it done before to long as the nights are getting chilly and when I have to get up to take the dog out, I would love to have something to wrap around my shoulders.

I finished the entrelac infants hat from Lorraine Major, that I was working on, to go with the evolved baby sweater. Right now I'm trying to decide what to do about the blanket, that I plan to make to go with them. I was going to use some bias knit squares I have...but they just don't seem to go with the sweater and hat. So I'm thinking about ripping them out and redoing the blanket in either entrelac or just stripes. I would love suggestions on that. Pics of the hat and sweater are in the gallery under Charity Knitting.

Now to decide what my next project will be, another baby set or should I work on the Christmas stocking for the swap on SpeakEasySocks... I also have to work on Bob's socks and finish fixing Jenny's...lots of knitting and then there is the spinning to do. I have to get my MIL's hat done before the end of September when she is coming to visit, so that I can give it to her. I spun the yarn for it two years ago and haven't gotten it knitted yet :(

I got $20 from my MIL for my birthday! I knew what I wanted to get with it, but had to get Bob to let me use his credit card to order it. I wanted a spindle from The Bellwether, by Cascade Spindles called Little Si. He gave me permission to order it last Wednesday and it got here on Saturday evening. The whorl is made out of maple with a birch shaft and it weighs 29 grams/1.02 ounces! She sent me some roving from Crosspatch Creations called Lucy in Starlight to try. I love both the spindle and the fiber. I would love to get more of the fiber to use.

I finished the evolved baby sweater that I was doing, then started an entrelac hat to go with it. I'm having a few problems on the hat, but I will work it out. I got Jenny's socks done, then realized that the leg was going to be to tight for her to wear them. So I had to rip the legs out and redo them. I have one redone and will get to the other one tomorrow. I started swatching for socks for Bob and had to go down to a US 00, so will wait a bit and see if I can relax enough to be able to use a US 0, for them as that is the smallest I have in circs, since I like doing his 2s2c as they are so large.

Starting on Wednesday, last week, for 4 days straight we worked on the walks around the house. We got the framing, fill and roadbase done. The topsoil is in the flower beds and half the walks are completely done with rock. We have the front and back patio areas and the walk going around the north end of the house to put rock in. Jenny and I got half the front patio done this morning, but it is a large area and we are still tired from all the hard work. Planted the Trumpet vine on the north end of the front wall, purple fountian grass in the bed south of the front patio and the other vine I had on the south wall of the house. I put pictures of what we have gotten done in my gallery.

Bob let me bid on some daylilies on ebay over the weekend and I won 5 of the 6 I wanted. We are going to make the daylily bed out away from the southeast corner of the house, so that I can enjoy it from where my swing is or any of the windows in my bedroom. I will post pics of them when I get the bed made and the plants in. They won't bloom until next spring, but this will allow them to get settled in before winter.

I was working on the Dumb Baby Sweater and discovered I had made several major mistakes. :( I was getting frustrated with it already and that just made me decide to rip it all out and do something else with the yarn. I decided to do another Evolved Sweater with it, with the pink as the main color and stripes of cream and green in the body and then half the front in cream, the other half in green and the back in pink. I'll see how this works and post pics as soon as I get it done.

We are slowly getting the walks and patios laid out and filled in. The ground is uneven, so we are having to use fill to even it out before we put down the road base. Once that is in and packed, it will be easier to keep the house cleaner as we won't be tracking in so much mud. I put my swing back in place this morning, now to just put the landscape timbers in place and fill in the low spots, so I can get the roadbase around it.

We have decided to put a trellis wall along the south side of the trailer with climbing plants on it just outside of the walk. That will give some shade to that side of the trailer and help to keep it cooler. We have Yellow Trumpet Vine and Bougainvilea to go on it and want to get Honeysuckle. They are all plants that will attract hummingbirds and butterflies. I will also put a hummingbird feeder at the back end of it so that it will not be able to be seen from where the other one is.

We spent the weekend on starting to layout and level walks and patios around the house. We are using landscape timbers for the frame and then filling them with roadbase, a rock/sand mixture that packs down and forms a hard base, then we will put fancy rock on top. Between the walks and the trailer, we are planning on planting beds for flowers and cacti. I posted pics of what we have done to the gallery.

I also worked on the bird garden a bit, hauling more of the debris away and dug a hole to put the birdbath in. I'm doing an in ground birdbath as a lot of the birds here are ground birds. I'm using a large terra cotta saucer for a flower pot as the birdbath, sinking it into the ground and putting rocks in and around it, to make it look like a small seep. I will be putting some roadbase in the hole under it, as that will prevent it from sinking into the ground.

I recieved a package from a friend this weekend with yarn for socks for my SO. He has picked out the one he wants me to start with and wants them long enough to wear under his workboots for this winter. I need to get to work on them, as I have enough yarn for 5 pairs and he wears a men's size 12 shoe, with the leg needing to be 6" above the heel. That is a lot of knitting with fingering weight yarn, but he is well worth the work. :)