Winter still

So, today we are having wet snow flurries and quite a bit of wind - Fred thinks we can walk outdoors but I am not so certain. I'll have to bundle up *very* well.
Our Mac is back from the shop, with a less-than-ringing endorsement from the fixer. He's not too pleased about how slowly the hard drive is responding - but he re-loaded the OS and the programs, and we'll see how well we do. Fingers crossed. He said to back up daily, so the Time Machine is grinding away as I type.
My Sock Madness team, Minnow, still hasn't reached the cutoff number of 37, so no new pattern until they do. I'm getting lots of other knitting done in the meantime. Finished another pair of Stretch Socks, this time a pattern called Take Five, and now I'm making progress on the Zetor shawl I'm making out of Fleece Artist mohair called "Angel Hair". It *is* a lot like knitting with hair, I suppose - at least, there are plenty of fluffy bits and you can easily knit one of those, rather than the actual teeny tiny core yarn. I've managed to catch all slips so far, but constant vigilance is the watchword. I didn't weigh the ball before I started, but Ravelry seems to indicate that it was 50 grams to begin with. It's down to 30 now, so I'm less than halfway - though of course as with all shawls, it gets bigger and bigger as it goes along, so I'm keeping my scale handy and checking the weight after every chart repeat.
I bought seeds for ground cherries at Vesey's, and I checked today and they are up! And I will have a great crop of cilantro if all goes according to plan. It's almost time to start some tomato plants, I'm thinking. I may have to prick out the cilantro in order to have a flat to start them in. My F1 hybrid strawberries continue very tiny, but they are at least now putting out some true strawberry leaves - so cute!
So, it's officially a year since we arrived in Ireland for our visit. Now that the Mac is back I want to get out the photos and look at them - and re-live the trip!

Nothing much to see here....

I finished my Sock Madness Sock, and posted about it, and so I'm in the competition! What they do is divide all 160 finishers into four teams, and then release the patterns one at a time, with only a certain number of finishers moving on to the next heat. There's a lot of rivalry and encouraging chat back and forth, and the first heats are relatively slow, so it begins easily enough.
It does make you knit, though! So last night I finished off a pair of socks I had started in mid-February - just to clear the decks, you know, as the next pattern should arrive anytime after midnight on Friday.


And then, since I didn't have anything (much) to knit, I started a new shawl in Fleece Artist Mo. The pattern is Zetor, and it seems to be a nice lacy thing. I've had the Mo for a long time, it's a lovely amber-golden colour, but I've been intimidated to actually knit with it, as mohair is quite a lot of trouble to work with. However, here I go, and so far I'm having no trouble. The Mo is over 500 m. so it could be quite a big shawl before it's all done, but it will be light and warm as well. It was actually one of those Fleece Artist Combos, with two different yarns dyed the same colour and put together as a package. I think I was supposed to knit with the two yarns together, but I didn't - I made a Travelling Woman shawl with the sockweight and put the Mo away - for now!
I did go to Veseys at lunchtime, and spent up my $50 gift certificate on seeds (and a few peat pots), with quite a few packets meant to be started quite soon in flats. I will get busy with that this weekend, as long as knitting doesn't get in the way. I have my flower seedlings in my little plastic rolling greenhouse in the living room (it keeps the cats from digging them up) and I was hoping I might get a bit of sun this weekend so I could put it out on the deck for a few hours. However it doesn't look great for sun this weekend.

Easter in Halifax!

Just back from Easter with Pat Murphy in Halifax - what a wonderful time! Great dancing and a bit of knitting - I worked a bit on my Tokena socks from SM III but didn't manage to finish - when I got home and could check the web there were 18 finished in my division, and 20 by the morning. Had I been TRULY dedicated, I would have sat up all night finishing, but I was very tired after dancing all weekend. I knit quite successfully in the car on the way over, and on the way home, at least until it got too dark to follow the pattern any more.

We had snow again on the journey. It started at the Cobequid Pass as before. I'm beginning to think that snow will not be out of the question for June - perhaps even July this year! And the ground was covered this morning again. However, from the glimpse I had last night, it looked as though some of the last January stuff had gone over the weekend. It's chilly all week, however, according to prognostications.

The dancing and socializing was grand! We learned a new set called The Boyne set, as well as a couple of others, including one from Inis Oirr. We bought the new book (Apples in Winter) so I am sure that they are in there, and I could look up the names if I had the time. Painting is calling to me - I have to paint K's bedroom. I started before Christmas but got distracted by painting the living room.

While in Halifax, H. and I had a flying visit to LK Yarns - I got some Fleece Artist sock yarn, as well as some Sisu ( recommended by Colleen at the dance workshop, she was making some lovely picot-edged socks in mauve). Fondled lots of other stuff. Forgot to ask about the First Book of Modern Lace Knitting, which I've been seeking. Oh well, I got the owner's card, so I could email her and ask about it. The library has the second one, and I've reserved it. I got a note that it's in, so I must go pick it up. The First has a GORGEOUS lace curtain pattern that I must make. It's very Arts & Crafts - looking, and is called the Rose Leaf design.

Off to get into grubbies and assemble the painting kit! Who cares if it's not gardening weather yet!