Friday, March 27, 2015

It's Spring...

Break!  I'm so happy!  Here are the Friday Fave Fives from Willow's Week.

1.  Obviously, two weeks off for Spring Break has to be #1!

2.  As a run up to Spring Break, our weather has been hotter than I like warm and sunny.  Every day I have spent at least a bit of time outside messing about in my garden.  Playing in dirt has been one of my favorite activities since I was a tiny girl.  I think I may be a bit of a garden geek.  I have prepped the soil and planted four tomatoes and two parsley so far in my tiny garden.  I've already used some of the parsley for soup, and look--the tomatoes are popping out flowers which will soon become tiny cherry tomatoes!


3.  If you live around here, in the spring you will immediately identify the aroma of these white flowers.  They are orange blossoms; these are specifically mandarin oranges.  Can you spot the itty bitty tiny oranges growing on the left and the right?  Come December, they will be ripe and I will relish eating them.


4.  These guys have been keeping me company while I putter in the garden.  This year there are several of these lizards in all different sizes.  They skitter around and pop out from under stones and leaves and surprise me.

The Sunbather

Mr. Body Builder doing his push ups

5.  The past few weeks I have had the tendency to almost finish a knitting project and then drop it to begin something new.  There were five six (I recounted) UFOs languishing on horizontal surfaces. (This does not count the high stack of hats which are finished but need the ends woven in.) Hence, no knitting posts lately.  So this week I declared a 'finish my projects' moratorium on casting on for new projects.  I finished these two almost identical cowls and have a third still on the needles.  These cowls are part of the Use Up My Stash Program.


Particulars for the cowls
Yarn:  Red Heart's Micro Spun 100% acrylic, Lily White, 1 skein (168 yds)
Needles:  size 10 circular
Pattern:  k1, p1 seed stitch.
Gauge: 7 stitches = 2 inches
Cast on an uneven number of stitches to make the cowl the length you want. Follow pattern of k1, p1 around and around until you reach the desired width, then cast off loosely.  My cowls are about 4.5 inches by 60 inches so they can be worn doubled or tripled around the neck.  As you can tell, the measurements do not need to be exact.

So that was Willow's Week of Thankfulness.  Do leave a comment and let me know what blessings you have noticed in your days this week.

13 comments:

Gracie Saylor said...

Happy Break, Willow!!! Gardening is going on here, too, although a garter snake was photographed, not lizards :-) I am thinking of knitting another baby hat, but would you please hop over to my last post and tell me what I did wrong with the knitted one I finished. It looks more like a sun hat than the stocking cap style I thought I was making from the pattern you sent me. I think I just need to make the ribbing tighter, but would appreciate your viewpoint :-) xx

ellen b said...

Happy Spring vacation to you! Enjoy your days!

Faith said...

oh happy spring break!! WOW! you get TWO weeks??? ours begins Good Friday but we only have that day and all the week after Easter. But that's ok cause we DID have a winter recess for a week in Feb. March has just FLOWN by but spring has just begun here in NYS. I did spy a small crocus shooting up thru the mud today though:) Happy weekend!!

Anonymous said...

So glad you get some time off. I plan to try your cowl pattern. Looks like fun and easy knitting. I look forward to the day our ground thaws out...we have very cold temps although it is sunny many days. Mary

Julene said...

Enjoy your two weeks! Savor every moment!

Deb J. in Utah said...

I love your favorites! Spring break is always great - ours was the week before last! I love the pictures of the lizards - we have plenty of them around here too. Enjoy the rest of your break.

Gattina said...

Here it's still too cold to plant anything. These little mini crocodiles don't exist here, it's also too cold for them, but I have seen many in Italy, they are so cute and soooo quick !

Mereknits said...

Sounds like you have great plans for your two week break. We are on Spring Break here but I am still working, but I don't have to do the school run and make lunches for the backpack so that is fun.
Enjoy your time off.
Meredith

nikkipolani said...

Tiny yellow tomato flowers have got to be one of my favorite blooms ;-) Hoping these will do really well for you, Willow. And those lizards! How nice of them to keep you company.

Susanne said...

Gardening already?! That is so amazing to me. I was surprised that it takes that long for the oranges to grow and ripen. And two weeks off? How wonderful!

Tracy said...

Whoa... lizards! We don't have them here. ;o) The white cowl is LOVELY! So nice to catch up with you here, Willow. I've been offline some days... life, you know... Enjoy your spring break, and wishing you & yours a VERY HAPPY & BLESSED EASTER!! ((HUGS))

susan said...

Oh, I bet those orange blossoms smell wonderful! How lucky to have things blooming in your garden. Here, In NY, we had a bit more snow last night but I'm hopeful that warmer weather is on its way. Cant't wait to play in the garden!
Enjoy your spring break!

Beatriz said...

Your tomato plants are enjoying the early warmth from Spring. We have three this year and some green onions. Happy Spring! FYI - I've given half of the Springtime Bandit shawls away. The other half I wear. Love all of them.