On the Patio

After a long day at work, it's nice to come home and lounge around on my patio. This is just one of my visitors. Isn't he cute? Cardinals, bluejays, robins and rabbits also stop in. It's a busy place. That is - when the bulldogs - are inside. This evening I finished a pair of ribbed wristwarmers out of leftover yarn from my most recent sock project and started on my Firefly Fringed Scarf in a nice shade of cypress green.

Green Thumb

I'm loving my green thumb this season. I wish I could take all the credit but I think our ice-free winter and low frost spring has had a huge impact on allowing the plants and flowers to prosper. Combine that with Miracle Grow feedings and I'm going to have a lot of fresh cut flowers to enjoy this year. My hanging asparagus ferns (from Dillons) on the patio are huge, my peonies are tall at thigh-high, the roses are full with new growth and clematis vines are in full bloom. This is my most favorite time of the year.

McGuinness Branch Socks

I've gotta say a pair of socks is my most favorite knitting project and just the perfect sized project to keep in a bag for a "Girl on the Go". I started these socks by Figheadh Yarnworks in Texas last weekend. They went with me on bike rides and even came in handy while babysitting a sleepy toddler. Now they're done and I'm contemplating what to knit up next.

2010 DFW Fiber Fest

The DFW Fiber Fest was one of the smaller shows I've been to with two standout vendors: Brooks Farm and Shabby Sheep. At Brooks Farm I got to meet KnittingFairy and purchase another one of her patterns, the Counterspell (beaded) Shawl, to be made from two skeins of Acero. Shabby Sheep had a sample Dixie Cardigan that I'll be making from Ellyn Cooper's spongy wool yarn. We went to several yarn shops in the area and I met another celebrity at Desert Design Knitz, Barry Klein. He's the owner of Trendsetter yarns and was having a trunk show. You may have seen him on the Knitting Daily t.v. show. Laurie and Pattie were very bad in this shop :) Then there was the wall of Noro at one my favorite shops, Woolie Ewe, in Plano. It was a very good day filled with yarn, mexican food, knitting by the pool and some beers with good friends. Just love Texas!

Indian Creek Golf Club

Laurie, Pattie and I are here in a Dallas suburb, Addison, for a girls getaway weekend of golf and fiber. We had an early tee time at Indian Creek Golf Club. The air was cool and the greens were very fast. We had a big laugh when Laurie drove her ball into a rough that was littered with white range balls just like hers...that was a fun adventure. Another high point was a stop later at a PGA Superstore filled with women's golf apparel and accessories. We were in golf heaven!

Exercise Before Knitting

This morning I found a 9 mile sidewalk route to ride my bicycle to Twist. (Actually I made a small detour to meet up with my KIP group at Panera first thing in the morning to grab a bagel and coffee). It was a crisp morning but soon turned off sunny and warm. The gang was all at the shop and I even saw an old friend, Tami, there learning to knit.

Jackie's on a crochet kick infatuated with granny squares and it was good to see our crochet master, Tamara, make an appearance in a doily shrug.

By the time I made it home, I figure I rode a total of 20 miles burning some extra calories before Easter brunch tomorrow.

Bicycle Thursday

I've been working to get my coworkers to bring their bicycles to work and Alisha brought her bike (Stella)
today so we could ride to lunch. Wouldn't you know we were under a wind advisory but that only added to the calorie burn factor as we climbed up and down the Arkansas River.

After work, Laurie, and I met up to ride around downtown and went to dinner. It's such a good way to get exercise and have fun with friends.