Spring has Sprung

Spring is in full bloom here and we are really enjoying spending time outside.  The Red Bud and Dogwood trees are blooming and the area we live in reminds me of some of the scenes in Willy Wonka and the new Oz movie.





Blogger is making my pictures super sized today and doesn't seem to want to let me resize them.  Sorry about that!





We had several days of rain earlier in the week and I found these cute little mushrooms on our garden path.  They appear to be huge in the picture, but are only about an inch and a half tall.  The edging on them reminds me of fringe on a scarf.





I've been wearing Tyrion's Gift in the evenings to keep the night air off my shoulders while we enjoy dinner out on the deck.   It's knit up in Tarte in Volcanic Eruption and available on the Miss Babs site.  It's a really stunning colorway, so deep and rich.  I just love it!   Leslie sent me a lovely shawl pin and it works perfectly for keeping the Tyrion's Gift in place. The brass coloring goes perfectly with the yarn!   It's a really cute design and reminds me of a heart or little scissors.

Ancient Fibre Arts just released the Catacombs set in their 4 ply Merino Silk yarn from Meow collection that I designed for them.  It's a really fun knit and the textured stitches are easy to work.

I just checked my count down app on my phone and there are only 14 days until MDSW!  I've made a list of vendors that I want to check out and have a few things on my shopping list.  It looks like it might be a damp weekend, I'm hoping it won't be of course.  But if it is, I am prepared with a new pair of short boots from LL Bean.  I've been breaking them in so they will be ready just in case I need them.  They were on sale, I think the darker tops may not have been as popular as the original lighter leather ones.  Plus I had a gift card so I really couldn't go wrong!  If you are headed to MDSW, there is a great packing tips thread in the MDSW group on Ravelry: Packing Tips The tips are handy for other festivals as well.  It seem that no matter how many times I go, and how carefully I pack, there is always something that I left at home.

Iggy wishes you a Happy Spring!

It's KAL Time!

I hope you can join us for the Tyrion's Gift KAL in my group on Ravelry.  It's being done in a casual style, cast on anytime you like and finish up by May 16th.  If you haven't tried a KAL before, this is a great one to get your feet wet on.  We have several experienced shawl knitters participating who are happy to answer questions and cheer you on.  Tyrion's Gift is a simple lace pattern with resting rows on the wrong side which makes it a great first shawl/first KAL project. 

Here are the fabulous prizes:

Leslie Wind custom made this pin to go with Tyrion's Gift and it's called Tyrion's Closure.  It's a wonderful design and easily slips into your shawl and stays in place while being worn.  Tyrion's Closure will be available in Leslies shop, if you can't wait until the end of the KAL to see if you won! 

Gwenderful, my favorite stitch marker maker extraordinaire, has donated a set of her Rainbow Stitch markers. I have several set’s from Gwen and they are fantastic! Plus they come in a cute little tin which makes them easy to keep track of.

 I’m donating a choice of any single pattern from my Ravelry Pattern Shop and one of the small project bags that I make and sell in my Etsy shop. This one has cute birds in cages and cheerful colors and is the perfect size for socks or other small projects. I’ll be updating the shop with more bags later next week.