Well FINALLY…

…they’re blooming.

They're blooming!!

Just in time for the big-ass thunderstorm that hit us last night.  I now have one bloom down…fan-freakin-tastic.  I swear, my peonies bloom every year just in time for either a huge thunderstorm or a hailstorm.  *sigh*  Tell me again why I do this?

In spinning news, here is the ‘Toronto’ (I think? I can’t find the tag!  grrr) Merino/Bamboo that I purchased in Cummington from Spunky Eclectic (I didn’t show you this one in my earlier post, I was holding out):

Spunky Eclectic Merino/Bamboo in 'Toronto'

I forgot to stick a penny in there to show you the single width, this likes to spin up very fine.  In fact, it’s really hard to keep it from spinning up into frog hair.  I’m going for a two-ply laceweight, odds are good I’ll ply from a center pull ball using my Will Taylor kate – the upright posts keep the ball from collapsing on itself.

Also, here is the ‘Enchanted’ superwash Merino also purchased at Cummington this year from the Wool Peddler:

Enchanted Singles

I’m going for a two-ply fingering or sport-weight with this one.  I took the 4oz hank, split it in half and spun the first half with long color repeats.  Then I took the second half and split it into four lengths and am spinning that with shorter color repeats.  I’ll ply the two together and hopefully won’t get mud. (I’m pretty sure I won’t but hey, I’ve been surprised before!)  ;o))

That’s all I’m spinning at the moment – it’s pretty cool how fast a spinning project wraps up when you practice project monogamy.  Who knew?  hehe

signature.png


ECF…

…the one with yet another walk through the garden.

I thought for sure I’d be showing you peonies this week but Mother Nature has had other ideas (although RR said they’d be blooming *last* week.  I guess his powers of prediction do not extend to herbaceous peonies…yes, I have been gloating over this.  No, I’m not proud of it).  This is what my peonies look like right now:

Stubborn Peonies

They are so. stubborn.  I’m starting to wonder if they’re going to bloom at all or if the tightly squeezed shut balls will just drop off out of spite.  Peonies can be persnickety bitches.  ;o)

So, you get Azaleas:

Azaleas

and Rhododendrons (with a visitor):

My Rhodies

Still pretty, right?  Have a great weekend!

signature.png

I did it…

…I cast on.  Finally.  Wanna see?

Progress on my Oak Leaf Socks

I’ve made it through the cuff chart and started on the leg chart.  So far?  Meh.  Though I do like the yarn color and sheen, it’s very pretty and I’m sure the socks will be gorgeous.  I just, well, meh.  I’ll keep knitting them and hopefully they’ll grow on me.  ;o)

In other news, we worked in the garden this weekend.  Dobby helped me clean out all the waist-high weeds and RR manned our mini roto-tiller:

In action...

After about an hour of tilling, I had a blank canvas:

Blank Slate

…and two dogs that were very happy that the loud noise had ended.  ;o)

Happy Dogs

I planted my tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, bean and corn plants just in time for the freeze we’re supposed to get tonight.  Yay.

I also knit on my Lady E while watching the Survivor finale last night.  I’m on tier 14 and it’s looking pretty nice!  No photos since I didn’t want to further freak out the future FIL – he was kind of vocal and slightly negative when I took the sock picture (my fault since I waited until he showed up for dinner to take it) and I figured a picture of the shawl would send him over the edge.  Please keep in mind that this is a man who refers to the internet as “that Ebay thing” – as in, “can you go on that Ebay thing and look up my friend Monty for me?”  So the idea of having a website where I talk about knitting (which he thinks is kind of boring…okay a lot boring) and having lots of people read about my knitting and where they want to see a photo of my knitting is a bit (okay a lot) foreign to him.  *sigh*

Anyway, as for Survivor, I’m pretty happy with the winner.  The other person was kind of a sneaky bastahd – though I think the winner was kind of sneaky too, just better at hiding it.  ;o)

So what did you guys do this weekend?  Anything exciting?