The First Step is Admitting I Have a Problem
The February project is done and gifted so I have the rest of the month to do as I wish which has made me drunk with the possibilities. I have proceeded to knit beautiful baby things for the new baby girl. I wanted to do a wee sweater and had a bunch of colorful superwash yarn left over from the Baby Shane blanket (which I realized I never posted a picture of or even shared any project details about. I shall rectify that!) so I thought I'd do another Baby Tulip.
I do not know why this pattern is so entertaining. It must be the change in color which reveals a really simple side to me. You know, the side that likes shiny objects and pretty rocks. Yup. I've been so entertained by this little sweater that weekend chores have kind of gotten "forgotten." But who needs clean clothes and groceries, right? I haven't been able to stop working on it and watched all the episodes of Downton Abbey while knitting it yesterday. My idea of heaven. If you don't have Netflix and can't stream the episodes, it looks like you can watch some episodes online for a little while.
We have had a gorgeous three-day weekend here in Oregon which has been needed. Springs are wet for us (are we officially Spring yet or still Winter?) and even I am ready for the rain to stop about now. I really need to win the lottery so I can spend time outdoors puttering around in the yard and cleaning out my garage. Looking out my window I can see buds starting on my rose bushes but I haven't pruned them yet so I may need to just cut this short and run outside to prune like crazy. I get a lot more roses when I prune.
That is, if I can stop knitting long enough to do anything else.
February Socks are finished with two days to spare. They are wonky...there is no denying that. However, I shall wrap them and present them to the birthday girl and have her try them on before I judge them harshly. I kept trying them on and except for the heel poof, they were fitting just fine. The colors are nice. Brown, cream, minty green and cerulean blue. It is an unusual colorway for me and it is a testament to how wool fumes can overpower a normally sensible knitter when surrounded by beautiful wool. I can't believe I even bought it but Grandma wears a lot of brown, blue, and green, and really, they are kind of neutral with a pop of a little color here and there without taking over the colorway.
I'm making progress on the February sock but I'm not thrilled with the result. This has a shorter deadline because it is for a birthday this week. If I had to the end of the month I'd rip it out and go again. The leg pattern is kind of cool but I think it is going to be way too big for Grandma's leg and the line from the pattern to the heel has created a poof that makes the sock look slouchy. Just want Grandma wants. The really depressing part is I tried this on two days ago and was in the exact same spot as you see here. Two days of knitting that has gone into the ether. 
I hate grocery shopping with a passion. I will scrape crumbs from the cupboard before I drag myself to the store. But this weekend I had eaten all crumbs so I sucked it up and went shopping Sunday morning. I did it early so I wouldn’t have time to get comfortable and talk myself out of it (yet again!). The advantage of hitting Trader Joe’s at about 9am is that the rest of the people there are actual shoppers. These are people getting their groceries vs. what I call the Trader Joe’s “tourists.” Those are the folks that think it would be nice to get a few things but since they aren't in there a lot they mosey down the aisles with their sample of coffee looking at everything on every shelf. These people are hard to get around with the cart and they always seem to plant themselves in front of the shelf that has the polenta I want. If you really want to punish yourself, go during the holidays around lunch time. The tourists are thick and your shopping is guaranteed to take twice as long as normal.
The February socks are on the needle and with a bit of a false start, they are on their way. Originally I was going to do a 
I've squeezed in a few other projects. I'm not completely stressed out from work anymore so I'm really feeling a creative rush. I guess I need to get some of it out of my system. A friend just had a daughter which means lovely little baby things beginning with this adorable hat. I love it and will make booties and a sweater to send a long to the new baby. 
I also knit a beret. This was supposed to be a birthday present for my Aunt and half way through I realized that we don't really exchange birthday gifts anymore and I probably should just make this for me. I need a new winter hat since I felted one accidentally and have lost my other one. So at the last minute I made it a little bigger and I love it. I tried to take a picture of me wearing it but they all look pretty silly. I think it would be best if I could get a picture of the back. Maybe next time I'm wearing it I'll try. In the meantime I already am using this everyday so I guess I really needed it!