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Back in the Sun Again

Yes, I've been back here in lovely Palm Desert, CA for a week now.  It was a bit rainy and cooler when I arrived, but it quickly returned to sunbathing weather (at least for me!)  When you're used to cooler weather, you tend to get the shorts out when it gets into the 60s (F) so 70s and lower 80s is all gravy.

Knitting since I last posted:  I was sad to leave my Cassidy at home but knew I wouldn't need a worsted weight, cabled wool sweater here.  I think I wore it every day after I finished it and I like it very much.  Now I'm trying to finish up my Geodesic cardigan out of Wollmeise lacegarn in the Merlot colorway.   I should be finished in the next few days and will post a photo then.  I still like this project, but it wasn't the easiest thing to knit and working with the laceweight and following the directions given isn't always pleasant.  I do love the yarn and will plan to make a shawl out of the substantial ball of leftovers.

Since I need some outdoor knitting and have been collecting skeins of Tahki Cotton Classic to make a mitred square blanket, I decided to send a box full of skeins down here and get started.  Warning:  it is addictive.  You can make a square in a couple of hours (faster if you're not as slow as I am) and it's fun to combine the colors.  I only sent one of each color, though, and I can only get three squares out of one skein if I use it for the outside color.  Since I want to match the darker color in each set of four, I'll have to retrieve my extra yarn before I get this all finished.  Here's my favorite square so far (unblocked).


The colors aren't quite true; it's a lovely deep purple and a lime green.

You might remember that I was working on some colorwork mittens last time.  Well, they met an untimely end.  This sad ball of yarn heralded the end of the mitten project.



They were too big for me and I was having trouble with the edges puckering and the decreases looking nice.  I think I was pulling the floats on the edges too tightly because I knew the mitten was too big and it really didn't work.  I do love this yarn, though, and will turn these unfortunate mittens into a  pair of socks.

I got out my spinning wheel today and plan to finish this nummanumma fiber that I started at home.  It's 50/50 baby alpaca/merino and called "Apricots and mixed fruit".  She always has the cutest names!  I'm trying to make the colors progress from brown through purple to pink but will two ply, so it will still be somewhat mixed up, I'm sure.  I'll just try to get close and probably make a shawl.



A little eye candy:  this morning we picked a couple of grapefruit to see if they were ripe.  I've never been here in March before and whenever I tried grapefruit that looked ripe, they were really sour.  Well, the key is to let them grow until March, I guess, because this one was delicious!



And we finally had a Roadrunner visit.  I have a routine of sending a photo of the first Roadrunner I see to the Princess, so I was out in the yard chasing after this guy and trying to get his picture with my phone so I could text it to her.  After that, he was still there talking to the hummingbirds, so I got a couple of better photos with my camera.  I think they're just so cool.



All for now.  Stay warm and dry and keep knitting!

Comments

NEEDLEWINGS said…
Such lovely eye candy you have! I have never seen a road runner except for in the cartoons. lol Awesome photo!

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