Audry II @ 500!!

I love Dutch Iris. Or as some call it, The Florist Iris. It grows from a bulb instead of a tuber, blooms only once each year and does much better in cut flower bouquets. The bulbs usually only make it a couple of years here in Oklahoma before needing to be replaced. I have not done that in the last few years so I am down to only a few blooming this year. But these beauties surprised me. I looked out one morning and saw them blooming out of the grass, where we had removed a flower bed last fall. I just had to run out and cut them all to bring into the house. At first they were all the gorgeous deep royal blue you see in the background with just the bright yellow just on the falls. The 2nd flower out of the buds a few days later looked completely different!! All the yellow tiger striping appeared out of nowhere!! I don't remember these doing this last year but then again I was working all the time and could have just missed it. I will absolutely be planting alot more of these mysterious Dutch Iris in the future and watching for the magical transformation to happen again.

This was another week with DH home again and stifling my creativity!! He is completely better after the surgery although he still can't completely rotate his neck fully yet. But he is going back to work tomorrow-Yippee!!!! Cartwheels!! Victory Dance!!! I would love to say I am going to get back to yarn dyeing, maximum knitting and lots of good long walks. But alas if we ever hope to get moved the packing must get done. And now we have a deadline to meet. We have a shipper coming on the 12th to take away almost all of the remaining stuff in the house. We will be left with just what we absolutely need to exist for however long it takes to sell the house. So for the next week I have to be a packing fool and the fun stuff will have to be done in wee amounts as I can steal the time during the day. As soon as the movers get the stuff out of here then I have to deal with all the floors in the house being replaced. I guess I just take my lonely wing chair and move it from spot to spot as they work and just stay out of their way!! The real estate agent that we plan on using gave us a list of things that need done to help sell the house. And a lot of it is cosmetic stuff that I also have to do cause DH swears he still can't lift a paint brush!! I have to strip the dining room wallpaper, pull all the ivy that is attached to the outside of the house off, trim the honeysuckle, rub scratch cover over all our woodwork(there is lots) and then use a varnish/sealer, and a few things I am probably forgetting. But does it sound like fun? NO Does it sound like I will get much knitting done? NO Does it sound like we will finally be actually moving? YES YES YES!!

Now for the little bit of knitting I did get done this week. I managed to get both shoulders knit on the aran cardigan but they are going to be ripped back out this week so I can tweak the very start of the saddle just a bit. It is just too wide across the saddle and the angle is too pointy. I spent one evening on each saddle so it is not a huge investment in time to get it right. I have had it on and the body fits amazing, so I want the rest to look as good as possible. I will also have to shorten the sleeves a bit but I have read several tutorials and am confident I can do it easily. Then just prepping the steaks, cutting them and knitting on the buttonband!!

I did start a pair of toe-up socks with some Plymouth "Happy Feet". It is a fuller yarn than I usually knit with so I can work with 60 stitches on size 2's and it is going pretty fast. No pics yet but maybe next week when I am past the first heel.

Now I did manage to keep up pretty well with Audry II. She has now passed the 500 mark. Which means I have used 1000grams of yarn or over 10 pairs of socks worth!!! Oh my-and I am just a tad over half way done!!! But she got to go out visiting again this weekend and got her 500 picture taken in several different locations. By the time she gets to 600 we ought to be in North Carolina, visiting the DGD's and she will get that picture taken there. Maybe at the beach, draped around the beautiful granddaughters, keeping them warm from the chilly ocean breezes!! And last but not least-I got my progressive round robin challenge blocks back. Oh my, they are just lovely. I may not have mentioned that the fabric I sent around was all Civil War repos but I gave everyone freedom to do whatever type of blocks they chose. And they all did choose very well indeed!! I love the way other people can look at your fabric and use it in a way you would have not thought of, or maybe were not brave enought to. There are several blocks where the maker used fabric for the background that I would not have imagined. But now it is going to make this project sing!! I am so sorry I do not have the time to put these blocks together until after we are moved but they are going to the top of my priority list. These pics are ones I have stolen from my DQF's blog. She got to go to the retreat where they officially unveiled everybody's projects and got these pictures there. I have been lazy and have not gotten my blocks back out to take a pic so hopefully she will not be mad that I slurped from her!!! I am pretty sure that I will not be getting back to blogging on a regular schedule any time soon. It is just to crazy with the move and I am not getting alot of anything done that you guys would be interested in. But I will try not to go too long so you all forget me!! Until next time-keep up the knitting. Remember-we must stimulate the economy by buying yarn!!