a gorgeous day!

I have been busy knitting on my Mystic Glance and finished clue 3 and just started clue 4. It's been hectic as we also started a KAL in support of "Sternenkinder".  We are knitting tiny blankets to use for preemies  who would not be able to survive. As there are no clothes that would fit such a small baby, we supply the blankets to allow parents to bury their child with dignity. Along with that is a piece as a memory gift for the parent. I believe this to be a very worthwhile cause. Unfortunately this is in Germany, but that's ok by me. When I have some more time, I will research this here and see if something similar is available here.

Mystic Glance

a close up

the "Aktion Sternenkinder" blanket

my version of the memory piece.

And then I looked outside and saw that it will be a gorgeous day today. This morning when we went for our walk it was already 11 degrees C. Now the sun is shining and it's quite lovely out. The dogs love it.
I took a little walk around my garden and this is what I saw:

Phlox - just a few little blossoms. The ants are eating this plant - buggers! Any one have any suggestions as to how I can get rid of those pests?

I have no idea what they are called, something liver.....but they're pretty.

red currents - the bush is full of buds!!!!

white currants - again full of buds!!!  Hmmm. I can feel jam-time coming on....
That is if the birds or the dog don't get to it first.  Ollie will steal my raspberries straight from the bush. Last year when I wanted some, he had gotten to them first and I'd always catch him in the act, that little thief. With any luck he won't like currants ( dream on - he eats anything).

TTFN
Lilly

dress for the wedding/ cat story

ok...so here is a couple of photos of the dress I hope to be able to wear for my sister-in-law's wedding in August. I think, I'll have to lose a few more pounds to fit into this comfortably. well more like 10 or 20 lbs. :)

It's hard to get the colour to come through properly. It is an olive green with a shimmery gold undertone. The fabric is like it's crinkled, so it reflects the light, which makes it difficult to photograph, but I hope you can see the colour alright.

I think the dark forest colour will go nicely with this. If I find that once it is finished and it really doesn't go, I will just make a black one.

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Now this is a fun one....have you ever seen the commercial, where the guy shakes a can of cat treats and you can hear the cat running in the next room and then it jumps through the wall? Next the camera pans to the wall and there is a whole bunch of holes in the wall where the cat has come through in order to get the treats. There is also one where the guy stands on the balcony and the cat jumps up high to catch the treats in midair. The following photos is my son's version of his cat going nuts after those treats:

taping up the doorway. So far Phoebe has not clued in yet.

hmmm... what are they doing???

hey...wait a second!  what the h....????

can I come in please?????

jumped over...yes!!!!

the aftermath of hurricane Phoebe

second attempt, this time one layer higher.

nope...too high...not jumping this distance

are you serious?  drop the treat already....

have a treat on this side...

ok.. I'll just walk through to get to the other side.

TaDa...I am through.

I would be funnier in a video, but this will have to do.

TTFN

Lilly

part 2...

and here is my "Birgit Freyer" design - Mystic Glance - well at least the beginning of it...
It is in Centolavaggi in a deep Forest Green. It is a lovely colour, I am really pleased with it. The yarn is quite nice, but boy is it thin! I may have to change my needles to acrylic so it doesn't slip off. I had a few near disasters already where I dropped a stitch. Luckily I was able to recover it. Even if it were drastic at this point it wouldn't be a big problem to start again, however if it happens further into the pattern, well...let's just say I would be ticked off ;)

TTFN
Lilly

new project photos

Here are some photos of my projects:

this is my knitpicks "Chinook" shawl. I love the way the colours work up.

April....

Oh my...a whole month went by without me making any notes.
Well, not much actually happened, except for Easter and my physical - Yuck!
Easter was at our house, so we had lots to prepare and get ready for. It turned out to be a beautiful day and we could spend time in the garden. Here is my Easter Tree!!!

And Easter Eggs....

and then there is Phoebe who love to sniff the Daffodils - and usually ends up nibbling on them.

So here we are in the middle of April already. I just started my new KAL. Once again I am a couple of weeks behind. I am working on two projects right now though. One is a shawl I purchased through Knitpicks.com called "Chinook" I love the way the colours change on that one and it is the first time that I have made a shawl where I need to work the pattern on both sides, i.e. the knit side and the purl side.
The KAL  -or mystery as we don't know what the end product looks like- is once again from Knitting Delight's Birgit Freyer. I wonder sometimes how she comes up with these brilliant ideas!
I just started that one today at lunchtime at work. I had ordered a skein of Centolavaggi in forest green and it took me 3 1/2 hours last night to wind it into a ball. - bei Hand!  I got it tangled up so many times, I wanted to cry. I was actually going to cut the yarn apart, just so I could get past the mess I made. But I persevered and managed to untangle it. So far it looks lovely. I will post some photos on the weekend of both projects.
I found a dress this past weekend, that is a lovely green and I think this shawl will go nicely with it.

till then....TTFN
Lilly