Kathy from MO had the best reason for not finishing her challenge sweater in time. Chickens. She wrote, “The summer challenge sweater was almost done-a short cardigan crocheted from DIC Classy Butter Peeps.  Then I discovered the chickens LOVED to watch me crochet.  So this past week, every day I did a few rows on the back as I sat outside with the flock.  The night before last I joined it all…and the back was twice as long as it should have been. I still cannot believe I over-crocheted the back because I was entertaining the chickens by crocheting.”  She even sent me pictures as evidence. I think that’s probably the best excuse I’ve heard yet, for not finishing by the deadline!  Note how one is particularly determined to get right into the middle of the situation. Or rather, on top of the situation.

I have the same problem. No, not with chickens. With Zoe, my cat. She loves curling up on my lap when I am knitting. If, heaven forbid, I should have my laptop on my lap for a bit, she sits on the arm of the chair and gives me the evil eye until I move it off to the table next to me and she can reclaim her spot. (Really – she can be quite intimidating with her eyes.) This photo was taken last summer while I was knitting my 100% Alpaca Girasole. There’s nothing quite like having a large throw on your lap, made out of 100% really really warm Alpaca, along with a furry, warm, purring cat, in the middle of 100 degree weather and 90% humidity. Special times.

So do you knit or crochet with pets that feel the need to be RIGHTTHEREWITHYOU while you work?

Sheri Idolikehavingalapcatinthewintertimewhenit’scold,though

Busy. And crazy. And then you throw in several appointments with yarn reps and a bunch of orders in and out, and getting ready to be gone for a week, and you have busycrazytothemax. That’s what this week has been so far. (On the plus side, I’m seeing and ordering some fun yarn for summer and fall. That’s always good, right?)

I did take time out to watch LOST last night. Of course there is no knitting during LOST. It’s too dangerous. I always end up messing up the pattern in one way or another. I am sad that this show is coming to an end on Sunday night. But on the other hand, it IS fun to see some of the quirks of the show coming together and making a little more sense, now that the end is near. Do you watch LOST? Or have you completely avoided the whole thing? We have watched it from the first season and I’m still not sure how it’s all going to end. It has never been predictable!

Next week, Knitting Daughter and I are going to Germany to visit Claudia, the Wollmeise and her family. We are so excited! We’ve been planning the trip for a long time and if anything like a volcano spewing ashes interrupts this, I will not be a happy camper. She has promised me a visit to her workshop (dye lesson, maybe?), and hanging out at her Wollmeise store next weekend. (Pretty sure I’ll find some yarn that I need. See those red couches? I’ll be sitting there, knitting.) We’ll also get in some shopping and some touring. My grandparents are from a town just a couple of hours from there, so we’re looking forward to visiting that. I’ll take pictures and tell you all about it when we get back. In the meantime, I’m working through this busycrazytothemax week and trying to maintain some semblence of order. I’m not sure it’s working.

Are you having one of those weeks, too? Or are you floating through a relaxing few days and enjoying the peace and quiet?

Sheri whohasacutenewbabysweatertoshowyouonFriday

Today is an important day – the birthday of my firstborn. This one made me a mom and made WH a dad, and the second one (Knitting Daughter) sealed the deal! WH and I were happy to have both of them join our family, way back when. (I’m still not sure how that time flew by. It seems like just yesterday that he was having birthday parties in the back yard.) I’m pretty sure he will think this photo of him at 18 months was totally (totally) unnecessary in the post, but it’s my post and this is one of my favorite photos of him when he was little.

You all know how vital his skills are around here. We couldn’t run The Loopy Ewe without him. But as much as I love having him as our Web Guy, I’m even happier to have him as a son. Happy Birthday, Danny!

Sheri stormsinSt.Louis,hopethecreekdoesn’tflood!

More signs of spring – warm weather, more flowers coming up, more trees blooming, grass getting greener, more allergy sneezing, porch covered in yellow pollen, car coated with powder ….. oh, wait. I digressed into the not-so-positives there for a minute. Sorry. Focus on the flowers.

When the outside gets a new painting of colors like this, it makes me think the inside might need a new coat of color as well. WH and I bought 9 gallons of paint a few weeks ago, in preparation for slicking up the colors in our house. In addition, I decided that I was tired of the calming sage green that we have on a couple of the walls here at Loopy, and I went and bought a cheery robin’s egg blue for them. (12 paint chips later.) Since I’ve already maxed out WH’s painting skills at home, I hit up my dad for painting at Loopy. He has done all of the walls here and he is happy to help. But he did make me promise to never pick RED again. I don’t think he’ll object to the blue. That’s on the schedule for this weekend.

Back to my house – now that the walls are getting painted in new colors, there are a whole lot of other things that need to be updated, too. Like lighting. We still have the (ugly) brass chandelier in the dining room that came with the house when we bought it 15 years ago. (And I’m pretty sure that it was original to the house, which is now 25 years old.) And then when you change the wall color and the lighting, you know that the curtains are no longer going to work. Sigh. Obviously I need to stop watching HGTV on the weekends……

Hey – here’s a fun thing to do – pop over to the Lorna’s Laces blog and enter their naming contest. The prize? $500 worth of LL yarn – cool!

Do you have any house to-do’s on your list this spring? And does anyone else have an ugly brass chandelier in their dining room?

Sheri later,I’lltellyouabouttheuglywallpaperinthebathrooms

Signs that Spring has arrived here in St. Louis. My daffodils are almost ready to pop out.

And my hyacinths are just easing up into the world.

The pretty light, bright yarn colors are looking appealing.

And of course the roadwork outside of our building has started back in again. (This must be a terminally “broken” road, for all the time it is taking.)

Is it Spring where you live? How do you know?

Sheri andaHappySt.Patrick’sDaytoallofyou!

Several of you have asked if I’m still walking to work. (Seriously – put something out there and the whole world keeps you accountable. Try it.) I am still walking. This morning it was in the 60′s on the way in, and it will be in the 70′s on the way home. It makes me think that I’m not going to be too fond of walking when it gets hot. At all. I will have to overcome that. I photo-ed my way home the other afternoon, just for something to do. Plus, it freaks people out when they see you pull out a camera and aim it in the direction of their car.

This is the safest part. I appreciate this concrete barrier. It protects cars from careening off the road and plunging down into the creek next to our building.

Here’s the creek and that’s our building beyond the trees on the right. This little creek is the one that can cause trouble if it rains too much and we get flash flooding. Remember these photos? Yep. All that from this little creek. I think it happens about once every five years or so.

This part isn’t any safer on the way home. If I don’t leave here by 4:30, it gets even busier. It’s a good incentive to get home at a good time. If I come back here at night, I drive.

I was walking along here the other night, thinking “Whew – now I’m on the safe sidewalk”, when I noticed tire tracks in the grass where someone had driven up over the curb. So …. maybe not. Oprah’s No Phone Zone campaign sounds better and better to me.

Our neighborhood feels like a little oasis when I turn up on this street. The noise level goes from “I can’t hear myself think” to “I could hear a pin drop”. At least at that time in the afternoon.

Of course the fun part is having someone waiting for you when you get home. (Note to self – time to do the spring window cleaning.)

Or two someones. WH works later than I do, and both kids are off in their own places. At least the cats are happy to see me!

So is there anything you need to be held accountable for? Are you willing to put it in writing?  No doubt someone will ask you about it in a week or two, if you do….

Sheri mightneedtocleanthatLoopyshoweroutforthesummer