Round of Roses

It's been a lot of rain, and cool weather, so the roses are slow to shine....

Mellow Yellow is taking it's sweet time.

But Chicago Peace is a bit of a show-off

 I'm not upset with this one... but she's definitely not what I was expecting

 I thought she'd have more yellow...

but I got mostly pink and peach

But the blooms are huge - easily bigger than my palm.

 Blue Girl got a little more mauve....

And then quite a bit lighter as she bloomed.

But she looks quite lovely beside Tournament of Roses.

And over on the other side of the yard

Queen Elizabeth is getting on with G'Nomeo.

 She's just a few shades darker than Tournament of Roses.

In fact, the only other thing to distinguish the two is the smell. Tournament of Roses has a lovely scent. Sadly, not one of the new roses has a smell at all. Seems I'm going to have to go on the hunt for another White Lighting... it smelled amazing

Rabbit hole

No... not that one... but isn't he cute?

No... I've gone down the rabbit hole of a different type.... quilting. I blame Mangofeet. She's been quilting and flashing her beautiful work all over the internets. And then Mom came to me last week... there was a quilt shop by her house that she just had to check out (she'd been pondering a return to quilting for a while now....

And for as long as I can remember, I've always wanted a quilt with a bear paw pattern. And since no one is going to make it for me...

I got some fat quarters (in a suitably foresty theme), and dug up a bear paw pattern from one of Mom's old quilting magazines. Now I just have to make some time for cutting and piecing. One thing that makes this more attractive is that the shop offers long-arm quilting at a very reasonable price. Because we all know how my last attempt at that went...

Orchid lady

It looks like my orchid is happy to see me....

It's been more than five months since my pretty pink orchid Pollyanna lost her blooms... but she's finally sending up another bloom stem. Persephone the white orchid isn't doing as well (her leaves are a little limp) but she's still alive, so I'm holding out hope.

And I the other day, I brought a new one home

This is Penelope.

She's pretty showy, and I love her.

And look...

It has no flowers left, but my Poinsettia is looking pretty good. I've put her outside on the patio table for the summer. She seems to love it. I have a coworker from Mexico an she says they grow in the ditches there - so I think she's going to enjoy a nice hot summer in the sun.

In for the long haul

I was so pleased when I finally got back to Missandei last Thursday, to discover that I was only six rows away from the planned cast off.

I was so sure I'd have it done by the end of the weekend. And come Saturday evening, I was ready to start the cast off.

I knew it wasn't going be a quick one. I wanted to do a knit on lace edge, but it was only a wee one... just five stitches wide.

I started enthusiastically!

Wasn't it just so pretty? Exactly what I'd imagined! (I love it when that happens). So I knit, and knit and knit... Dave and I have taken to watching documentaries, so we spent the evening watching Betanny Hughes' take on the ancient world. By bedtime, I was sure I'd ready to block...

Not even close. In fact, I wasn't even halfway.

And as much as I would have liked to spend Sunday doing nothing but knitting, there's this terrible thing called housework that had been piling up... and gotten to the point where even I couldn't stand it any more. I got a substantial amount done.... but come Monday evening, I still had an hour or two left.... but I kept at it and....

.... it's finally blocking. Thank goodness!

There's still a few days left on the KAL, but I probably won't have an FO post for this one until after the weekend. Stay tuned!

Pattern release:Cygnus

At long last...

Cygnus.... my absolute favourite garment....

... is finally available in pattern form so you can make one of your own.

This little top was made just over two years ago, and since then, it's been worn at least once a week. With dresses and dress pants, skirts and denim. It goes with absolutely everything!

It's also easy to knit. It's top-down, seamless, and takes under two skeins (for the largest size). I used Slinky Cat, but any sock yarn will do (solid, semi-solid or multi)

There's only patterning on one in every four rows. And even though it's knit in fingering weight, it knits up surprisingly fast.You can get yours here.

Comparison

I spied baby bunny again...

... munching away with Mom under the bird feeder. It just doesn't get any cuter than this.

Seriously... too.darn.cute.

Feeling inspired?

Want to win some of our fabulous yarn???

Come join our Ravelry group. Every few months, we run a little inspiration contest. We give you a theme. You share pictures that match that theme. We pick a picture and dye yarn based on it. If we choose you picture - you get a free skein of the inspired yarn.

Last time, we picked two winners...here's a pic of the April/May winning pictures and yarns

Our summer contest thread is up now - and the theme is "Summer Love" So come share some pics and inspiration!

You can enter as many pictures as you like!