Pre-drafting

So I wholeheartedly admit that I am a pre-drafting dummy. No matter how I try to work it, my roving always looks kind of like a blob of chaos. So I need some help. I've googled for pre-drafting tutorials and although there are mentions here and there, I haven't been able to find something that really shows me how to do it. Any readers out there know of online tutorials?? I really want to spin something thinner, but without pre-drafting I know I'm going to be stuck with bulky weight!

Spring has SPRUNG!

And goodness, it is about time, too. I was beginning to think I would wake up for work some morning and find a glacier outside of my house.

I've been working sort of steadily on Orangina... I've got the front side done and the back side at about 10 inches. I would have made a lot more progress on it if I hadn't been so busy outside in my yard. Instead, I raked out the flower beds (which is about as much fun as being poked in the eye with a knitting needle) and Seth raked the front and back yard. We brought out our patio furniture from the garage, had my brother and his girlfriend over, and cooked our first bbq of the season.

And the crocuses I thought were dead because of the crappy winter?



Granted, only 3 survived this year, but that is 3 more than I thought would come up. My daffodils are just about to open and I have tulip and lily stalks growing.

*edit* Have I mentioned how much I just love Norma to pieces?? Norma has pointed out that my crocuses aren't really crocuses... and after seeing the pictures of her gorgeous crocuses, I realize I have some strange plant in my garden where my crocuses used to come up! I've never planted irises in the garden since I wasn't sure they would survive the winters, but Norma's right that they look an awful lot like irises. Anyone that is a flower expert want to tell me what my mystery flowers are??

Sebastian spent the weekend with Nana (Seth's mom), and since the weather was so nice today when we picked him up we decided to take the super long way home. Down one of the roads in Palermo we came across a farm full of these guys:





They were cute so Seth didn't mind doing a couple of U-Turns in the road so I could snap pictures.

Can you believe it is almost May? In a little over a month it will be time for the Fiber Frolic!

The no knitting content post

I usually don't talk about non-crafting things in here because that stuff usually gets posted in my livejournal or my myspace, but today is a really weird feeling day and I am craving kinship. Not necessarily the "I'm coming right over let's have coffee" kinship, but just the "hi, hello, I hear you today" kinship. Ever have one of those days? Where you just want a reminder that people are still out there?? People beyond the ones that you work with and see 5 days a week or the husband that you see every day.

It's very possibly a reaction to my extreme spring fever... or the fact that I've caught a raging cold and have had so much orange juice this morning that I can't stop running into the bathroom to pee. It's finally sunny outside... I finally have flowers in my garden (two crocuses DID survive the winter!)... and I am wearing my Sketcher mary janes for the first time this spring.

But is anyone out there?? I think I really need a friend today.

You know what sucks?

This:


It is spring, people... SPRING. The snow is supposed to be gone and my daffodils are supposed to be blooming.

Amy and Kate have posted pictures of the view this morning here in Maine... here is mine:



Mind you it snowed for another 4 hours after this picture was taken and the total amount of snowfall was somewhere around 14 inches here in Augusta.

I'm pondering hopping in the car, driving south and picking up Kate on the way through. Florida has to be better than this!

The no picture post...

Before passing Go... before collecting $200, send some prayers or good thoughts toward Jackie's neice and her family. My heart goes out to her and I am praying that everything will go ok.

Maryse posted a gorgeous photo collage of crocuses yesterday. I had originally planned on throwing some pictures in here of my daffodil shoots, but they just wouldn't compare. My crocuses are unfortunately not going to come up this year, I'm afraid, since they were actually starting to come up back in January when we were having that weird warm weather spell. And then they got buried under three feet of snowbank. I spent Sunday shoveling the last of the snowbank out of my flowerbeds only to wake up yesterday morning to sleet and this morning to a new blanket of snow.

I think part of the issue around here is that Maine actually has 5 seasons instead of 4... I believe that much of New England can relate. Winter goes from November through March (a whole 5 months); Spring doesn't happen until May and June; Summer is July through August; Autumn is September and October. That leaves the month of April which in most places of the country is when spring comes... for New Englanders, and especially Mainers, April is the little known 5th season- MUD season. It really doesn't fit anywhere else. And we're not talking little areas of mud... we're talking deep oceans of mud where you could lose a car. I always find it funny that in April the ATV trails are shut down because it is too muddy. Too muddy to go mudding. Does anyone else see the humor in that??

In celebration of next month actually bringing some spring, I've decided to go back through all of my unfinished projects and see if they sparked some new interest. Orangina jumped out at me. In all fairness, Orangina wasn't put away because I got bored... Orangina was put away because the aluminum circs I was using were killing my hands. I remembered to pick up some bamboo circs at SPA in February and have begun working on Orangina again. I'd like to have it finished to wear over the summer.

...and yes, that means no more progress on my socks. They'll get done someday... I promise!