2.27 african violet

This will break the chain of red photos I've had lately, but I have another bloomer. I adore African violets almost as much I as do lilies and my dining room is perfect for them. I have a baker's rack on the far wall away from the window and my violets live there. They get a bright but diffuse light and a fairly steady temperature. I have discovered over the years that violets do well under my regime of benign neglect and I can generally coax them into blooming several times a year.

This one is a charmer I acquired the first year we moved to NY, from the local violet society's annual show and sale. I need to look around and see if I can find a notice of this year's show - it should be coming up in March I think.

I am exceedingly pleased. My professor asked for the papers to be turned in by midnight Wednesday and as of Friday morning at 9 am he has graded mine and turned my grade in I think he technically has until a week from now to turn the grades in, so i wasn't actually expecting any notice until next week sometime. And I did get an A in the class, which didn't hurt my feelings at all.

2.27 amaryllis

The amaryllis is also blooming. This is one of the three bulbs that I had from last year. After ignoring them and letting them die back, I repotted them, fed them, moved them into sunlight, and started watering again. This one immediately started up with the blooms, right next door to the poinsettia going to town. The others have not yet done anything except green up - no flower stalk, no leaves. I suspect they will eventually put up leaves and I will encourage them to go through the cycle of building up their bulb. Maybe they'll bloom next year.
I love having indoor flowers at this time of year - I need it when it's so ugh outside.

2.25 poinsettia

Ok, I admit it's way past the time that most people worry about posting pictures of poinsettias, but this one is mine. The very first one I have had that actually bloomed again, with really big blooms. The length of time that it took to put out all the colorful bracts to full size rather amazed me. I have never made any sort of serious effort to cause any of my 5 poinsettias to bloom again - I keep them for the greenery, but this one decided to go for it. Some sort of perfect combination of light, water and feeding this year.

Serendipity always gets me enthusiastic.

2.24 dark red DHF

The flash washed this out a bit and gave it sparkles - I need to retake the picture. However, it does give you an idea of the red I plan to put with the red leaf fiber.

I've been looking through Folk Vests and will probably do one from that. Aside: I really don't like her trick of "resizing" the patterns by changing gauge - same yarn, resize by changing needles. If I need to make the smallest size, I don't want to have to do it by knitting at an impossibly tight gauge and making cardboard.

At any rate, it calls for sport weight and I have something heavier than that, so I'll be monkeying with the gauge my ownself. Depending on exactly how my gauge comes out, I may be monkeying with the pattern as well. I don't plan on making cardboard though!

2.23 bobbins red leaf fiber

These are the last three bobbins of the red leaf fiber from Freyalyn. It's been a pleasure to spin.
I've discovered over the past couple of years that a dichotomy exists - I like spinning changing colors best. I like knitting plain colors best. Hmm - what to do what to do.
This project will wind up being both. I've spun the changing colors yarn and am moving on to the static color yarn. I'll knit with both.

thanks for the good wishes on the cold - it turned into a combination of nasties - sinus infection, ear infection, bronchitis, but these are easing up finally, and if I could get the second ear to pop so that sounds didn't keep echoing around in my skull, I would be a much happier camper. As soon as my final paper for class is done also.

I know, I always want something more.

2.12 me, my cold, and fiber

2.9 autumn leaf skein

I've been spinning the autumn leaf fiber I got from Freyalyn. Three ply, about worsted grist (although I haven't measured it yet). This is the first skein; the second is ready to be taken off the bobbin onto the niddy. One more skein to go.
I don't know whether it's the fiber or the fact that the soap I used was the cedar-eucalyptus, but the orange-striped one will not leave this skein alone. I caught him leaping up from the edge of the laundry room sink to pull it down from the rack where it was dripdrying. He pulled it down from the bathroom towel rack twice, once right in front me*, the second time messing with the skein structure so much that I'm going to have to re-skein it. Needless to say that was after I had taken this picture.
I don't know what I'm going to do when I actually start knitting with this.

*He had come into the bathroom with me when I was in there. It's a tiny bathroom. He wandered around the floor, then looked up, and cooly hooked a claw through the bottom of the skein and heaved. I yelled at him, picked him up, opened the door and tossed him out, shutting the door firmly behind him. K said afterwards that she heard me yell, came to see what was wrong, and saw the cat come flying out of the bathroom**. She decided she didn't need to know what was wrong and went away quietly.

** No cats were harmed in the making of this story. Only his dignity was ruffled.

2.6 snowtrees