Mysteries & Miracles

I finished knitting the  Summer Mystery Shawlette on Saturday afternoon and I blocked it yesterday.

Sorry for the blurry photo.  I think my hands were shaking from excitement.  I absolutely LOVE this pattern!  I don’t have much experience knitting lace and this project turned out to be perfect.  It wasn’t one of those four row repeat patterns that are mind numbingly boring, but it also wasn’t so difficult that I had to lock myself in a quiet room in order to properly follow it.  Best of all, it was a very quick knit, even for me.  The pattern was issued in four parts and I was able to knit each section within a day or two.

My Mystery Shawl is knit with Silky Wool in color 55.  Although the yarn’s weight seems to be correct, my shawl only blocked out to 46 inches across the top and 24 inches down the center.  The Silky Wool doesn’t seem to have a whole lot of stretch to it and honestly, maybe I should have used a larger needle.  The shawlette is definitely a mini but will be a perfect neck warmer tucked inside my coat.

I can not wait to knit this pattern again.  I already know that I want a blue and a red one.  But first, I have to finish at least one other UFO.  I promised myself I would.  

Now, on to other exciting things...

Things, other than crab grass & poison ivy that is, are actually growing in my yard!  It’s a miracle!  Maybe my black thumb is finally starting to turn green.  

First, there are the lilies (another blurry picture, I’m afraid)

 Then there’s the Weigela and Rose of Sharon,

And of course, the Stephen King grape vines,

The grapes have gone crazy and are growing like something out of a Stephen King novel.  The vines are growing so freakishly fast we are afraid to sleep at night.  We may go to bed and wake up the next morning so entangled in grape vines we can’t escape.  Back in February, we trimmed the vines back for the very first time.  We thought we’d gotten a little trimmer happy and probably wouldn’t have grapes for a few years.  Boy were we wrong!  Actually, we don’t have that many grapes.  We have vines and leaves.  But maybe there are a few grapes somewhere under all those leaves.

And last, but not least, one of the Mimosa trees has an open bloom on it.

Ok, it’s hard to see the bloom, but it is there.  Both trees are loaded with unopened buds.  It’s going to be breathtaking if they all open at once.