The Olympic Shawl

A friend reminded me some time ago that I still need to post a picture of the Olympic Shawl. I did not finish it during the Olympics as planned but did finish it in time to wear once or twice, and I really like it. 

 I could have arranged this more artistically but in the end my knitterly and crafty friends really want to see the stitches. This display makes no attempt to hide the uncrossed cable that still needs some fixing!

Juicers and Brothers

I stole my brother's juicer. 

Well not really, but I feel kind of guilty about this since I borrowed it months ago and haven't returned it. I don't think he reads my blog anymore, but I'll play it safe and offer my apology for being a bad borrower. I borrowed it because I wanted to check out the whole juicing thing, and since he's a great brother (and handsome too) he offered me his. I'm going to get it back to him right away. (Really handsome.)

This is his juicer, a Moulinex, easy to use, easy to take apart, top-rack dishwasher safe, but still a big old mess to use and clean.  If I ever decide to get one I will rank "ease of cleaning" high on the list, since I'm far more likely to use it if it is. On the plus side, what a boon to the compost bin! Or to the mice who shop at my compost bin!

Interestingly, even though I haven't used it in months, I found myself thinking about a particular juice I made. Over the weekend I bought a variety of fruits & vegetables for juicing and have been experimenting for a few days now. (Sorry Bro, really, I'll give it back.)

I made a cucumber - lemon hydrator, basic enough, which I mixed with water and shared with DS2, who was only so-so on it.  My favorite one, the one I was thinking about, is as follows,

involving fennel, lemon, and green apple.

Yum. 

Worth the mess of cleaning it up. Mostly.

Surprise Spring Bag

I saw this fabric and thought DD would like it....

I made this bag with it. I wanted to mail it (and some chocolate chip cookies) to her at school as a surprise but I went to her campus yesterday for something else and gave it to her in person instead.

I was right - she liked it!

Spring Green

This is a cute bag! I finished it last night and will be carrying it immediately. Love the fabrics and the perfect spring green. 

The bottom of the bag, which you can't see, is the polka dot fabric of the strap. The inside, below, has just one simple pocket and is lined in a lighter fabric so I might actually have a chance of finding what I'm looking for.

 
I like it!

Ingenuity

Too funny, really. Since the carpets have all been cleaned in the bedrooms, DS2 hasn't really "reassembled" his room. I went in to wake him this morning and walked into this contraption, built because his nightstand is not back in its place. 

Telephone charger tied around the headboard.....

 Linked to another bit of wire tied to the ceiling fan pull.....

So that one need only reach out and pull the cords to turn off the light.

There you go - a little bit of ingenuity to get around having to clean your room. Love that boy. Yes, those are Sponge Bob sheets. Never too old for SB.

Signs of spring

Goodbye winter, hello spring!

 Goodbye lovely scarves, see you in the fall.
But hello yards of cotton for summer skirts....

Japanese, above, in a slightly weighty fabric.

Gorgeous Italian woven, front and back. Everything is line drying during this dry, breezy day.

A few of DD's sweaters drying, ready to be stored.

 Houseplants, fully awake!

 Flower seedlings, under the lights.

Finally, farewell to the Olympic Stole, which may or may not be blocked before it goes into storage for the summer. (Ditto on the one or two cables that didn't cross, which now need to be fudged just a little!) I'm looking forward to the fall, since I only wore it once!