Friday...again already?

I've been spinning more of this.  I'm almost done plying the last of the ~12 oz. that I had.  Next there is about 8oz of pepto pink to spin.  By the end of the weekend I expect to  have my original design hat finished for the Ravelympics. 

Folklore & Phrenology Friday
We placed a call to the maple syrupers today but haven't heard back yet.  The weather seems just about right now.  Freezing at night and 40's during the day, but I don't know how long it will last.  More snow may be coming.  There is a hillpeople saying that if snow stays on the ground for 3 days it will be covered by another snow.  If that's right then we may be shoveling off the garden to plant this year. 
My family always planted lettuce on Valentine's Day.  I thought that it was typical but I can't find many other people mentioning it.  Certainly not on the squirrel's ear/oak leaf level.  Even though I am now only about 100 miles north of where I grew up I can't imagine planting in mid-Feb here.  And this year I have 3" of snow still to melt.  Instead I started some basil, cilantro, broccoli and microgreens under lights. 

Ravelympics Opening Ceremonies

and the real Olympics, too, of course.  I had planned to make a dog sweater but did not organize well enough and am now out of town without the pattern or yarn.  Instead I will try to finish a hat design that I've had in mind. I already tried it once with wrong yarn and too large needles.  It came out much like any first draft...if I was a drunken college student trying to finish on the last night of spring break. There's an event for original designs but I don't remember what it is just now. 
Blogging from a borrowed computer feels kind of like borrowing shoes.  They never quite fit.  Hopefully my computer will be out of the hospital and home when I return next week.

FOLKLORE & PHENOLOGY FRIDAY
Snow has been  on the ground all week.  We got another 2-3 inches on Tues.  This is easily the snowiest winter I have ever known here in SE Missouri.  If it continues and is an especially wet spring I worry that we may have trouble getting the garden in.  The maple syrup tappers in MO say that the sap isn't yet flowing.  It has tol be freezing at night and 40 degrees in the day to flow.  Too cold so far.  I snapped a twig on our maple and got a bit of a weep but not a good drip. 

Folklore and Phenology Friday, Feb 5,2010

I'm going to keep a weekly accounting of phenological events (events of nature that I observe) and post them on Fridays with timely bits of gardening or weather lore.  My Grandma Carter always liked to keep a 3 year diary and would note the weather on signifigant days, the date of bloomings, and the like.  For my garden's sake I'll try to be meticulous with plantings and insect arrivals.

Last week a very large flock of robins arrived on Friday and stripped the berries from the holly tree.  The next day all the berries and robins were gone.  I guess they were destined for northern climates.  They looked really fat.

"Go to the winter woods: listen there, look, watch, and “the dead months” will give you a subtler

secret than any you have yet found in the forest."

- Fiona Macleod, Where the Forest Murmurs

Here in Farmington it was cloudy on Feb 2, Groundhog Day.  That's supposed to mean we won't have 6 more weeks of winter.  The blanket of snow makes me doubtful.

If the sun shines on Groundhog Day;

Half the fuel and half the hay.

2nd & 3rd Big Fat Stockings

Only one more to go.  Next one is blue.  If I'm not too sick of making these maybe I'll make the momma one out of all the left-over colors.

I tried an afterthought heal with the green one and I think I like it best but with a rounded rounded toe.  Also on the top cuff I prefer adding a purl row between the braids because it lays flatter and looks full.  You know what they say... 4th one's a charm.

My Parents Were Awesome, too.

I've been having fun looking at the blog http://myparentswereawesome.tumblr.com/ .  I also just got a scanner.  Here's a glimpse of how awesome my folks were before we kids dragged them down.

And here's Mom still smokin' after 3 kids ages 3,5 &6. 

She was young so it took longer for us to break her. 

Dad on horseback.

Here is brother Wes on the motorcycle that started their first real married fight.  Dad bought it without first asking Mom  when money was tight.  Mom ended up liking it and she rode it to work every day.  If you see Grandma Carter, don't tell her.  Mom still hasn't fessed up to owning it.

Ravelympics- still in trials

I've joined Team Toasted Ravioli for the knitting olympics on Ravelry.  Since we're a St. Louis team we chose toasted ravioli as our mascot and  preferred snack choice.  Isn't the logo adorable?  See the arches in the rings? I love it. Thank you Scrappygurl.  We are supposed to challenge ourselves so I may be knitting a dog sweater.  Or try to spin enough wool for a complete project.  Or try to spin cotton at all.  We have until the start of the games to decide.  If I decide to throw in WIP (work in progress) it has to be something I haven't touched in a month.  Not much of a challenge there.  I've got a stack of earflap hats that have been missing the 2nd earflap for a year! 

Big Fat Stocking for next year

Jill saw the stockings I made for Wes's kids last year and wants some for her kids next year. Pink for Abbi, purple for Miah, blue for Chrissy, and green for Isabella. I'm going to add either their initials or names on each one when I'm done.