Friday, March 30, 2018

Talk about in like a lion....

First off, here is my Birkin, all finished.


I knitted an XL yoke and a L body.

I picked up a very old (from July 2014) UFO next, the Rams and Yowes blanket by Kate Davies.


I have doubts that this will come out ok.  The garter stitch border is definitely larger than the color work part.  Sigh.  I plan to try blocking it before knitting the i-cord bind off around the edge, to make sure it's not a waste of time to do so.  Not sure what I will do if the border continues to be too big for the center panel.

So yes, March did its proverbial thing and came in like lion -- more than a lion.  There were 4 nor'easters in the space of 4 weeks?  Something like that.  The first one, Riley, knocked our power out -- tons of trees down, which knocked down the power lines in the area.  We were out of power from March 2, through March 8 (6 days), when our power finally came on in the evening.  Yes, we were without power for the second nor'easter, Quinn.  Thank goodness Quinn wasn't as bad as they called for.  And thank goodness for generators!  It would have been tough to survive the cold without our generator and hookup to the house that we had installed after Hurricane Sandy.  We learned our lesson after Hurricanes Irene (no power for a week) and Sandy (no power for 9 days) -- get that  generator and generator hook up, cause our electric company leaves us for last when it comes to restoring our power.  Not fun.

I'm hoping that spring is finally here and that March leaves like a lamb and April just brings spring showers.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of all my color work garments (not including accessories or blankets).


Starting from my Birkin sweater and going clockwise, we have the Birkin by Boyland Knitworks, the Stopover by MJ Mucklestone, the Cruden vest by Ysolda Teague, the Ninilchik Swoncho by Boyland Knitworks, the Wave cardigan by Toshiyuki Shimada, Miss Rachel's Yoke by Kate Davies, Second Grace by Bristol Ivy, and Firebirds by Alice Starmore.

Happy Passover, and Happy Easter too!


18 comments:

Samplings from Spring Creek said...

I am having a hard time deciding which is more beautiful--your knitting or your sampler wall! We here in the South have not had the bad storms like you have had--just very cold lingering temps--will be wearing a jacket on Easter morning. Love seeing Miss Mia

marly said...

I wonder if what appears to a non knitter to be the most difficult, actually is. The complexity of patterns amazes me!

Ann at Beadlework. said...

Your colour work is amazing Margaret, as a knitter I know how much work you've put into these. I can't believe you are left without power for so many days - over here there would be an outcry if that happened - even in the most remote areas!!
The weather certainly hasn't been kind of late - we've got light snowflakes falling just now. Happy Easter weekend.

AnnieBebop said...

Sure hope the weather behaves for a while. Crazy March.
Your knitting is so incredible. Love that wagon wheel of color.
Good luck with the border.

Vickie said...

Oh Margaret! You are so talented my friend! I am just amazed at your knitting. Just gorgeous. AND what a chair!! PINK VELVET!!!!😍
We have high winds with cold rain right now.

Jackie's Stitches said...

I definitely hope you've seen the last of the bad weather! It's already warm here and we've had many many days this year with the AC on already. Get ready for me to start complaining about the heat!

I hope the R&O Blanket works out with blocking. Would picking up fewer stitches help? Blocking will probably work - it hides most things!

Happy Easter!

Rugs and Pugs said...

Your knitting skills always leave me breathless. Beautiful beyond words.
Happy Easter to you and your family ~ Mia, too :)
Lauren

Sweet Sue said...

stunning birkin, your talent always amazes! happy easter 🌷 xo

Evelyne said...

Your knitting is so beautiful, all that lovely sweaters, I love them all!!

Have a nice Easter weekend.

Evelyne

Kaisievic said...

Margaret, your knitting skills are astounding! Everyone of these is gorgeous! Happy Easter to you and your family.

Brigitte said...

So beautiful, your latest sweater finish, Margaret. I love that picture that shows the top of all your recent sweaters. Awesome!
Yes, you had your share of storms and snow and all kinds of bad weather. I'm sure you are all ready for spring now.
Have a happy Easter day.

Vicki said...

Happy Easter, Margaret!
Your newest sweater is just as lovely as the others you've knitted. It's always fun to see what you're working on. I enjoyed the photo of the sweaters all together. Each one is as beautiful as the next - hard to choose a favorite!

Beth said...

That photo of your color work! Wow! I hope you are able to salvage Rams - I like the pattern very much.

Vera said...

Hi Margaret! Congratulations on another beautiful finish. Your colorwork is just plain gorgeous!

April 2nd here and we had snow this morning...with the possibility of more next Saturday...the lion continues. At least we know at this time of year it won't stick around for long.

Sweet Mia!!

Carol said...

Amazing new sweater, Margaret--it looks great on you! And I just love seeing that photo of all of your beautifully colored knits--incredible! It really amazes me to think that you knit all of these :)

Yes, this winter--blech! And we had it far easier than you! I woke to 2 inches of wet sticky snow yesterday and just wanted to crawl back into bed. Enough is enough--it's April already!! Sigh... what are we doing living in the northeast???

Penny said...

Your Birkin is pretty and somehow spring-like even if the weather isn't. : ) I cannot believe we have snow in the forecast yet again (I think the lion ate the lamb) -- maybe I should start knitting sweaters and blankets. Oh well, you are certainly well prepared for the cold weather with all of those gorgeous sweaters!

woolwoman said...

Margaret GREAT finish on the Birkin - looks super good on you! I'm sorry you are struggling with that Kate blanket - it's really a fun piece and I hope you can get the border to work out. Forge on - I know you strive for perfection but it can still be used and no one other than you will know it's not perfect - plus Mia will love it just the same LOL ! Amazing that you guys had such long power outages up there - I thought that was just a Florida thing. hateful as it is. I'm glad you got the generator - I think being cold must be as hard and being hot and I HATE being hot. Yes I hope the nastiness of the Ides of March are over and it's all spring flowers for you. Although I see from FB and other places that many are still getting snow. Take care Mel

Karoline said...

Congratulations on finishing your Birkin, it's gorgeous. I'm in awe of all your colour work sweaters.

I'm hoping that winter has gone from your part of the world, we are still waiting for Spring to arrive here, we've had sooo much rain recently the ground is completely sodden.