Big Dummy

I jammed my thumb while closing the windows on the porch last night. I don't think it's broken; it's probably just sprained or strained. I used a little too much force upward to make sure the window closed, and wow, did it hurt! I have pretty good range of motion. It's odd what hurts: putting the lid on a Tupperware cup, pulling up a zipper, when I try to lean on that hand while putting together ds's train track on the floor. It does NOT hurt when knitting. This is great news because I've started a third pair of socks. I'm over a third of the way through the foot of the feather-and-fan pair, and halfway through the cuff of the second monkey. I was flipping through my summer IK and decided to try the toe-up method featured in this issue. I'm doing them toe-up and two at once. I did the first step for each sock on dpns, then slipped them to my 32" size 1 circular, and I'm really enjoying them. The pattern calls for a 2x2 rib once you get to the patterned part, but I'm going to do that rib as a baby cable. These are just going to be footies to wear around the house. I think anyway. We'll have to see how far the yarn takes me. I am using Lang Jawoll Cotton Jacquard in a brown/grey/teal colorway.


Now for a few pictures. This is what I'll call an heirloom rose. It's off a start from a rose my mom brought up from our house where I grew up and I think it may have come from the farm where she grew up. It only blooms once, but it is just covered in blooms. It has that old-fashioned rose scent. I love the way it has taken over this fence. Anyway here is another view. The bush inside the fence is an old-fashioned lilac. It was a disappointment this year. I thought its buds were bitten by the late freeze, but then no, they looked like they would open. Then we got a long dry and hot spell and the buds dried up. *sigh* The roses don't appear to be affected by either the freeze (though I did have to cut them back severely this spring) or the dry spell. This red one, Showbiz, always looks great and does well until it gets hit with black spot. This yellow one is Sunflare and though it doesn't look like much now, you can see it is loaded with buds. The last pic is the first bloom of Pretty Lady. She will be covered with blooms shortly too.
I can't believe I almost forgot to show off my baby bluebirds! This is them on Monday afternoon. I haven't checked on them since, but momma bluebird has been busy in and out of the box keeping them fed.