I am glad for many things

Yes. I am glad for many things. It's not just a song, it's a way of life. Call me Pollyanna if you will, but this morning I woke up to the wonderful sight of snow on the mountains! I love spring snow! That's a shot of the mountain behind my house. Isn't it beautiful? Doesn't it make you want to dye some yarn? Ooooo or maybe some spinning fiber. :D

Enabler Monica of my local fiber shop opened an account with Henry's Attic (wholesaler of undyed yarn and fiber). She offered to let her regular customers have a substantial discount on the initial order so that she could have enough for the minimum first order. I now have an embarrassingly huge amount of white yarn and spinning fiber hiding in my closet. I want to try to replicate the combination of that purpley-blue-grey of the snow on the mountain with the spring greens. I bought 20 boxes of PAAS egg dye after Easter, and I'm hopeful that there's some purple in there that will look better than grape Kool-Aid. I've also been wanting to see what purple-copper-brown colors I can achieve. Yes, I'm still in love with purple and brown. So what's my point? I'm going to dye some fiber today and I believe that I will use the view from my backyard as inspiration! See the crab-apple tree that's ready to burst into bloom? Voici le beau printemps...

I won a contest! Brynne sent me a ball of Opal sock yarn because I had the best guess for when her new baby would be born. Thank you, Brynne! (I just guessed my own birthday and luckily for me, that's the day he made his entrance.) He is one adorable baby, and the handknits that boy has?! Beyond cute.

Last week Marly sent me a FULL BAG (that's 10 hanks!!) of Noro Blossom as a thank you for her blog buttons and banner. Thank you Marly! I didn't even know that Noro made such a yarn! I think I'm going to make something like this with it. Marly started a podcast at the end of last year that is so fun. Marly can tell a story like no other and she has a great voice. (Love you, Marly!)


Did you see the bit of sweater peeking out in that last photo? It's a sweater that I submitted to the Jimmy Beans Wool pattern contest. I think they're running it as a monthly contest with deadlines for submission at the end of each month. I got this little sweater done just in time and submitted at 11:20 PM on the last day of April. If they don't pick it, I'm not sure what I'll do with the pattern, but the sweater is going for Kristen's new little sweetie. I got to hold him on Saturday and he's so angelic. Mmmmm. New babies are yummy! No, I'm not baby hungry. I'm quite certain that five is enough.

Besides, I still have this precious darlin' and I'm treasuring every moment with her. You'd never guess what she's been through, would you? (Stage 4 neuroblastoma, diagnosed at 4 weeks of age, treated with chemo and surgery between the ages of 1 and 6 months; she's now off treatment and only has quarterly physicals with blood and urine tests. I am very glad for this particular thing.)