Enjoy the woods with me

Every year one of our neighbors invites all of us to stroll through their woodland garden, when the tulips, daffodils and Virginia bluebells are blooming. Come with me, and enjoy!

To shape or not to shape, that is the question

I recently read someone's blog (I'm sorry, I don't recall which one) and she was commenting on how her toes are oddly shaped. She wondered whether she should make "anatomically" correct socks to fit her toes. Someone responded that anatomically correct socks wear out faster. Well, I'm adding my two cents to the discussion. I have weird feet, according to the common sock shaping. After making dozens of pairs of socks, I have concluded that my feet prefer shaping that reflect their idiosyncrasies. I dislike socks that pull on my toes, as do all store-bought ones. Plus, I figure that if I take the time to make socks for MY feet, they should fit perfectly.
Therefore, I shape the toes for my right foot,

and for my left foot. And, after four years of doing so, I can attest to the fact that they do not wear out any more quickly than non-correctly-shaped socks. I use wooly nylon under the ball of the foot (running it along with the yarn) and then, once I begin shaping for the asymmetrical toes, I hold the two together for the entire shaping. No problems. And my feet love them. (by the way, these socks were made with Regia ocean color, the cotton/wool/nylon yarn, using the feather and fan pattern from Socks, Socks, Socks.)

Last post I talked about the neighbor who has brain cancer and is undergoing both chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Her spirits are high and she even walks to the hospital for treatment!!! Now, that's a dedicated woman. Here's the chemo hat I made for her. It turns out that on the very same day I gave her the hat, another friend gave her a lime green blouse that matches!! Who says knitter's aren't karmic??

PRAISE THE LORD, IT'S SUMMER!!!

Oh, I love the flowers of summer. We have spectacular botanical garden in our city, that has been named one of the best botanical gardens in the U.S. I took my mother there yesterday. The acres and acres of gardens are all handicapped accessible and the center makes battery operated "scooters" available, at no charge, to people who otherwise couldn't visit the gardens. My mom opted to wait for the scooter, rather than be pushed in a wheelchair. My youngest daughter, age 14, looked at all the displays through the lens of her camera. Can you guess what this is??

Does this next photo help?? Yes, it's a photo taken through the kaleidoscope situated over a revolving basket of flowers!! We could spend all day looking at the everchanging views!
This is a splendid little white flower, name unknown. It looks as if some embroiderer found a plain white flower, and added a little embellishment!!
And these bells! Every exhibit takes my breath away. Next week I plan to take my knitting to the garden, to simply sit in the splendor and meditate while knitting.

Spring cleaning

Ok, spring is definitely here, complete with daffodils that have finished their bloom and tulips that are waning! This means it's time for spring cleaning. No, I don't mean sweeping the cobwebs from the corners, I mean cleaning out the various knitting bags of their unfinished objects and FINISHING THEM. Or, at least, making a stab at finishing them.

My first finished object is the little toddler hooded jacket that I started sometime this winter, when I was waiting for my (dear) husband to select the colors for his Dale of Norway sweater. I was so frustrated with his inability to focus on the task and make a decision that I started another project, with yarn from my stash. I don't even know where I got the yarn. It didn't have any labels. I believe it is acrylic, but it is cute! Here it is. My daughter's church choir director has a two year old, vivacious daughter. I think it will be perfect for her. (pattern is Lillie's Little Sweater, knit all in one piece from the hood down, from Cottage Creations. No web site.)
My daughter had her coming of age ceremony at our church last weekend. It was an emotional ceremony, watching our baby be acknowledged as passing from child to more mature adolescent. In our church, the kids must write their own statement of faith; that is, their religious beliefs. They also design the ceremony, and perform the music. My dear child wrote a beautiful statement, and of course, it was the best and most sincere of all!! Here she is!
At our child dedication ceremony, shortly after birth, we give children a rose with all the thorns removed, representing the beauty of the world as we wish we could give to them--without sorrow. Now, at coming of age, we give the kids roses with thorns, recognizing that they now are increasingly able to deal with life's sorrows as well as its beauty.

Unfortunately, this must be the end of this blog entry. I have tried three times to add other photos, add to this post and publish it. Each time Blogger tells me that it has successfully loaded the photos, then they don't appear. or, the photos appear and I write lots of great commentary, and the blog won't publish. I am quitting for today while I am ahead!!