Respite

The past few months have been tough. A lot of stuff going on, not a lot of down time. Even weekends and school vacations haven't been relaxing. The weather sucked, too. Where was my Spring? Where was the sun? It was getting pretty depressing.

So this weekend was a big aaaaaah. The sun came out. The temps were lovely, in the low 70s. My garden is growing.


Look at how cute those strawberries are! The one little strawberry plant I put in last year has spread like mad, and we're going to have a ton of strawberries. Well, if the little critters don't eat them before we can get to them, that is. There's a chipmunk who hangs out in the garden and scampers away from me every morning when I go out to water. He's cute, but the little bugger better stay away from my fresh food!

On Saturday I took off and went to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Last year, it was 95 degrees and unbearable for the Festival. We gave up shopping pretty quickly and just sat in the shade, chatting and knitting. This year, the weather was so beautiful that we didn't give up. While I bought some stuff from Sanguine Gryphon's booth (yay! I hope she gets to come back again), and Loop!, I really didn't buy much. I was happier hanging out with old knitting friends and new ones, too.

I got these cool Bullseye Batts from Loop!:



You spin them from the center out, and they make stripy yarn. I can't wait to give them a try.

I also got some of Sanguine Gryphon's new lace yarn, Mithril. It reminds me very much of Wollmeise lace, construction-wise, but in Gryphon's beautiful colorways.




So pretty. I have slightly too many things on the needles right now, otherwise, I'd be casting on to test out this yarn right away.

I did finish some socks. Not matching socks, mind you, but socks nonetheless.


Finished the first sock with my handspun. I love how this feels on my foot! I started the second sock and got through the heel turn over the weekend, so now it's smooth sailing until the end. Will work on it tomorrow at knitting group.

I finished the long-coming first sock in Yarntini's Don stripe:


I wanted to get this one finished not so I could start the second sock, but so I could free up the needles to start the second installment of Cookie A's sock club. The cuff of that is finished, but I'll wait until I have more knit to show pictures.

In spinning news, I have two bobbins of singles ready to be chain plied, but I haven't had the necessary block of time to sit down and do that. I'm NOT starting another new spinning project until all that plying is finished. I don't know when I'll be able to do that -- Wednesday maybe, or Thursday.

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After a nice day wandering around the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, and a lovely dinner with the family, I didn't expect too much for Mother's Day itself. I couldn't decide whether to celebrate by spending time with the family, or by sending them all away so I could have time to myself. Ultimately, the wonderful weather did me in, and I made them take me to the National Botanic Gardens downtown. I thought for sure that two young boys would hate every moment walking through gardens and greenhouses, but they had fun!

We started out in the Rose garden out front and wandered around outside for a bit.


The roses were amazing. We then spent quite a bit of time in the main pavilion. We saw some incredible orchids:



And a mother duck and her ducklings (say it with me: awwwwwwww)


And a happy mom (no makeup, hair up, but happy mom):


And if ever there was a year to appreciate being here with my two boys, this is it.