It's a rainy Saturday morning. The windows are open because when we went to bed last night, it was still fairly warm and I like sleeping with the windows open. This morning is grey, and chilly and is raining steadily. Pk won't be able to work on the car but he's surprisingly ok with that. His back is a little sore from all the bending over yesterday. He finally got most of the parts unassembled (this is why it would have been an expensive repair, the labor) and today was going to finish the unassembling and start the reassembling. But not today. Today he's going to rebuild his computer and sit on the shiatsu massage cushion I gave him for Christmas.

I thought I'd share what's on my needles today. This is my April Brown Bag sock. It's Tofutsie and the pattern is Tidal Wave, designed for this very thin, splitty yarn. It's perfect for summer socks but often a pain to work with. You can really feel the cotton. You can see my wip tube in the photo. I ordered this cardboard tube (and a set for Em) online after seeing an ad on ravelry. They hold the stitches on the needles if you're travelling with dpns. They're quite handy. And cheap. I got two sets of tubes plus two needle tubes for less than twenty dollars. So, I gave one tube to Kate and I have one.

This is my April ArtWalk sock yarn. It's inspired by an art deco paining by Tamara Lempicka. I love the painting and I LOVE the colors. It's brown and grey/black and look how it makes perfect little stripes. When I opened this package, Pk said "that would make nice socks for me" so, socks for him it is becoming. I wanted to use the Earl Grey pattern that the yarn harlot designed but it gets lost in the stripes so it's a 3x1 rib. You can't see the ribbing unless you stretch it out. It's a bamboo/superwash/nylon blend and a delight to work with. This yarn club has been great. Roxanne is so good with the colors and the range of paintings and styles has been interesting.

Having another knitter in the house is a great thing. Especially when the knitter is a brilliant young woman. My daughter Kate figured out the directions for adding a knitted edge onto the Wildflowers shawl and was able to show her pattern- directions -challenged mother. I kept trying and trying and could not grasp what the directions said. I looked it up online for more directions but could only find knitted edging where you pick up lots of stitches and knit. This picks up one stitch each row and works from there. Kate made this shawl for Em's birthday and it's beautiful. Here it is blocking on the squares I bought at BJ's. I wanted some of those squares that you can connect and rearrange to suit your project. They were expensive if you bought the ones that were designed for knitters. Pk found these in the wholesale club. They are foam floor tiles that lock together and they work perfectly and were rather inexpensive. Kate's shawl is made out of sock yarn and came out well. Mine is 100% bamboo yarn that Roxie gave me and will be slinky and sensuous feeling. I think I'll spend some time with it today.

I worked on Em's sweater last night but found I can only do a few long rows before my hands start to tingle and then ache. I attribute this to the thickness of the yarn and the plastic Denise needles. I am almost to the part where I put the sleeves onto waste yarn and join the front and back. It feels soft and warm.

Since tomorrow is Easter, I have some cooking to do. I have to make babka, potato salad and something for desert. I got some lovely big strawberries yesterday and some chocolate so I may try making chocolate covered strawberries and some cookies. Or an angel food cake (from a mix, no scratch today, too damp). The jury is still out on that one. I also have to set the baked beans up in the crock pot. Oh, and I have to hard boil some eggs so Pk and I can color them. We have always colored eggs, even before we had kids. Now, I'm never sure who will be home for it but I always boil the eggs and sometimes it's just the two of us. It's still fun. And that means devilled eggs for dinner tomorrow. Yum.

So, I guess I can't sit here much longer in my pajamas with my computer on my lap. Off to the shower. See you all tomorrow.