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A Rows is a Rows

But a single round does not a Flora make. Not a lot of knitting time Thursday, but we did have time to revisit the Bosnian Toe from Cool Socks Warm Feet. When has Lucy Neatby ever steered us wrong?

This toe, now that there's a bit of foot added to it, is very softy-squishy-comfy and not at all bulky. I think I'll like it very much after all. And Emma has one too! I am enjoying having a sock-in-progress again.

An Bloggy Interesting Idea

This sounds very interesting; and yet, what an odd thing, too. Feels sorta backwards, doesn't it?

Pups

Sister and I went to Obedience Class last night, and we sat and stayed an hour and a half for our orientation. Dyna and Della will go next week, and I hope they do half as well as Laura and me. This place has a very cute agility training course—will the pups like it? They can graduate to agility training once they have their Good Canine Citizenship Certificates :-)

In the meantime, Della is practicing looking beautiful, and that should count for something, right?

We already know that you are looking beautiful. Woofs! Happy Friday! We wish you good knitting, a great day, and a fabulous weekend.

Stripes or Speckles

Observe the speckled steek:

I speckle my steeks because I will be crocheting them prior to cutting, and the half-stitches I'll be picking up are easiest to see in alternating colors. Wendy's fabulous Flora has striped steeks. I think the big advantage to striped steeks is that you create clear cutting guidelines (quite cleverly) right within the steek! Structurally, I don't think that one method has advantages over the other. It all depends on how you plan to finish the steek.

Wendy's updated VY Flora has the most beautiful purl-when-you-can border; I think I prefer it to the corrugated ribbing in my version. And I think the collar on her version is going to be seriously glam. However, I also think the original version holds up very well for an older style; it's a future classic.

I'm almost ready to begin the neck and arm steeks.

I'm knitting the second size (Large), and I'm a little worried about how Very Large it seems on the needles. I'm working up my nerve to take it off the needles and see how the actual measurements compare to my measurements. In stranded knitting, I'm very average—not tight, not loose—and thus have never had trouble matching gauge in Fair Isle patterns. But this time, I dunno. It seems Very Large.

Knitting Kit

I hadn't seen this before today. It's cute!

Pups

Thursday! Mike, Jack, and Della say April Dachshunds Bring May Flowers.

We wish you a happy April 1st.

Thank You! And You, and You, and You!

Thanks, blog-knitters and readers, for your cheerful comments! March has been a ferocious month for me, and I've had lots of reasons to smile when I read your comments and emails. If I owe you a reply, don't fret, it's on its way to being in the mail.

Speaking of mail! It's a Mail Call Entry Day!!

First, some lovely Rowan Yorkshire Tweed that I found on sale at Purls. It's for a project from my favorite stranded knitting technique book, Sweaters From Camp. My new wool is shown here with some waykewl vintage knitting mags that our steekin' Wendy sent me.

Retro! And with glove patterns galore. [happy sigh] Is Wendy the Blog Goddess of Knitting Goodness or what?

Also in the mail were 10 count 'em 10 balls of some Norwegian wool that I'm hoping will knit to Heilo specs. These came from one of my favorite ebay vendors, and they're a lovely shade of purple. I plan to combine these with some stashed greens, because Nanette's tam colors are inspiring!

Purpalicious.

Pups

Our good dogs had extra cuddles and romps this weekend, from my nephew and from my son and Jennifer. The pups are still in a great mood! No point in spoiling their puppy-joy by letting them know about this:

The pupaccino photo is courtesy of Cousin David in San Antonio, and I think he's trying to stir up some trouble here :-)

Wednesday! Little Jack says pump it up; we're on the downside to the weekend.
Happy knitting!

Hearts and Flora

The pups and I sent Buddy and Jennifer off to California on Monday, and then we started catching up on paperwork, office work, and Flora-work. I'm just a few rounds away from finishing the second full repeat, and then will work toward the armhole steeks.

Progress! It's pretty, isn't it.

It's wonderful to have a grown son who comes to visit every few months. In addition to being perfectly charming, he is also very handy with tools and such. This trip, Buddy installed a retractable screen door for the french doors, and it is such a relief to be able to have the house opened up a bit more. This house I'm in here in Austin came without window or door screens, partly because it's energy-efficient, I'm guessing, and partly because the previous owners didn't mind...apparently they just observed the changing season(s) by switching the thermostat from Heat to A/C. The pups and I are thrilled with screen doors and feel much breezier.

Everybody loves Buddy!

Happy Tuesday. We hope your day is filled with fresh air.

The Kids are All Right

The pups and I continue to enjoy our weekend visitors from California.

Happy Monday! We'll resume knitting and knit-blogging on Tuesday; hope to see you then!