Remember that song by the Carpenters? (Well, many of you won’t. You’re not old enough. And to tell you the truth, I wasn’t THAT old myself at the time.) It’s a rainy Monday here, but there are too many fun things going on to let it “get us down”. We drove up to Iowa to visit WH’s mom for Mother’s Day Weekend. It was a great trip and we had a relaxing time. I figured out that I have been visiting that house ever since WH and I started dating as Juniors in high school. Since my parents have moved twice during that time, and my grandparents are gone, that is the house that has been in my life the longest (and still available for me to visit.) It has a nice feel of “home” when we go there. 
And the bonus? The lilacs are blooming up there. Ours bloomed a few weeks ago and are now a pleasant (distant) memory, so it was fun to have a second chance at enjoying lilacs again. My mother-in-law told me about a new lilac bush that will bloom all summer long! (Except not in hot climates. I think that rules St. Louis out, considering the lovely heat we enjoy all summer. Oh, well.)
Today we’ve been working on the Monday Update and there are a lot of things you’ll want to check out. We put up:
– String Theory Caper in 25 colors and DK in 12 colors
– Malabrigo Lace in 19 colors
– The Sanguine Gryphon Skinny Bugga in 15 colors
– Hiya Hiya new Puppy Snips
– Knit Girl in Idaho in a new 2-marker custom set, as well as a re-stock of the 4-marker custom set
– And added re-stocks in: DC Baby, Blue Sky Alpacas, Namaste (still backordered on a couple of Circular Case colors, though), Hiya Hiya needles and Dumpling Cases, and one color of Zauberball.
In knitting news, I’ve been working on my Mini Challenge Sweater and not veering from that project into others. This is quite the breakthrough. I’m usually pretty bad about having too many projects going at once. Well, actually, there are other projects “going”, it’s just that once I started in on my sweater, I stopped working on all other projects. I’m so determined to finish this in time for a couple of upcoming out of town trips. I’ll show you an in-progress photo on Wednesday. How is your Mini Challenge sweater coming along?
Sheri hopingformoregoodknittingtimetonight
love that song and I love the Carpenters – Karen died way too young
My sweater is going pretty well — I’m using it to practice some of the things I learned at Fling — like knitting with my other hand. I can now “pick” my knit stitches — still have a ways to go on the purl. Love all the pretty yarn tonight, but I the colors of caper I was hoping for weren’t there ;-( Hope you will be getting more of the blues and purples soon
And what is the lilac that blooms all summer long?? Upstate NY should qualify as not too hot – it was 39 today!! I’d love to have lilacs in July.
I love that song… I listen to the Carpenters albums… and I’m 24. So don’t give me any of that “too young” nonsense! Of course my mother, who introduced me to the Carpenters, thinks “knitter” is synonymous with “little old lady”… maybe I’m just an old 24. 😀
How is my mini challenge sweater coming? Funny you should say that. The DIC is skeined. But I am attempting a new way of making a sweater (vertical rib in crochet). So…I grabbed the cotton-washcloth yarn and am making a test one to make sure I like the result. It is half-finished.
The DIC Baby is great stuff BUT I plan to double strand the sweater-too many unravels will damage the yarn.
It’s Tuesday…and I’ve been singing “Rainy Days and Mondays” all morning since your rain is now OUR rain. 🙂 Love the song and even remember it clearly (old broad that I am). I brought it into my voice lessons a year or so ago and felt like I was channeling Karen for a while. 🙂
Iowa can get pretty darn hot in the summer too, at least in Iowa City–my mother in law used to live there. I’m not doing the mini challenge sweater, unless you count the Jane Austen Shrug for me great niece. I did finish my 2010 sweater challenge & I love it! I shall attempt to link that photo here. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3588/4594088971_f56cf65aa5_s.jpg
I’m skipping the mini challenge too. (I’ve just started a pair of socks; I’m in the early stages of a cardigan; I’m about 1/3 of the way through a Traveling Woman; for the life of me, I can not find the yarn I want to use for the sock pattern I SO want to knit!).
Hey ! I remember that song, though not too old at the time either, lol, does that mean we’re old? Really??
We checked into our 2nd hotel inour second city last night, a few more days before we return home. I am kind of stuck in a hotel out nowhere but so close to so much! Hubby, at a convention with long, late days. I am hoping our lilacs are still blooming when we get home, they were so close when we left and are my favorites!
My yarn should come today and then the heyteach will be on it’s way. I intend to use some the the stuff Jared talked about at Fling.
I too, would like to know the name of the bloom all summer lilac. I think Minnesota will qualify for the cold climate.
My Aunt Mary B’s house is that always- home- place for me. We were a military family that moved often and Aunt Mary B is still in the house from my earliest memories. It is a blessing to have such an anchor in one’s life.
Oh, how I miss lilacs! I grew up in IA and we had a whole hedge of them – white and purple and we always put them in May Day Baskets for the neighbors! I live in South GA and definitely no lilacs here. Thanks for sharing the picture. I can almost smell them!
Loved the lilacs. That is something I miss from growing up in MI. No lilacs down here in TX.
I love listening to the Carpenters. I think there’s one called Superstar (or something) that’s my favorite song of theirs.
I finished spinning the first half of the yarn. I guess I will start on the second half tonight or tomorrow night.
I was so happy to get the yarn on Saturday, but I am making myself finish the second sock I was working on first before diving in. I’m hoping to be able to finish it (I’m on the leg and it is toe up) this week, so I can knit up my pretties!
Squeeeee! I just saw that I got my notice for the spring sock club consolation kit was in. Yay. I was getting so nervous about it that I called TLE today to make sure that I hadn’t missed it inadvertently. Now I can count down until I get it in the mail. I’m so excited.
The lilac is “Bloomerang.”
what a nice picture of them! frame it! and give to his momma……
whoa…I wonder what living in STL would be like…..son is starting WashU in the fall!
hmmmmm….move?
Oh, yeah–mellow me out with the Carpenters! Love it!
Lilacs are my daughters favorite along with bleeding hearts. And another Bleating Hearts Farm is becoming a favorite among we N.E. Wisconsin knitters. One of our group went to an inaugural fest there and has fallen in love with the offerings. They raise sheep and colored angora goats which provide nice “stuff” for fiber to weave into yarn which can be purchased blank or dyed. This might be a great product addition for TLE!
We moved from Iowa last summer, and they had their worst winter this past winter. So glad we moved north to SNOW country and had a milder winter than the Hawkeyes! Home to me is Minnesota, so I am glad that D#2 will be doing graduate studies there the next two years. Relatives in Austin, Maple Grove, Woodbury, and Stewartville, plus inlaws in Rochester, Dodge Center, Byron,and Claremont in MN as well as inlaws in Waverly, IA.
Hey Teach will be knit by me in Dream in Color’s “Into the Mystic” and I can’t wait to get done testing patterns and doing shrug #2 for D#2!!
Happy knitting, all!!!
DARLING photo. Reminds me of my favorite shot of my son–his beautiful long curls are long gone, but there is still mischief in his eyes and smile, even though he is a serious anesthesiologist!
Cheers to TLE for being #1 in customer service and support!