Susan B Anderson of Barrett Wool Co. designs the cutest toy patterns ever! Here are two of her patterns that I made for Easter, the Reversible Bunnies topsy turvy doll and the Woodland Bunny. They are fiddly but fun, and sometimes I'm just in the mood for knitting something cute and fiddly! Links at the end.

Recently I decided to join a Mystery KAL, a first for me. The KAL comes from Imagined Landscapes who designs gnomes and only gnomes. She has designed dozens and they are all so cute. For the KAL she presents two clues a week, then we the knitters knit the little bits and pieces and try to guess what each piece is going to be. It's been fun and will take about one month to complete, but in the meantime I decided to knit an easy gnome and that is Gnathan, above. He's so fat and sweet. He'll sit here for now so I can admire him, but in a little bit he'll go to live with the other Christmas ornaments and come back out at Christmastime. Also, at the end of the post are some important recommendations.

Thank you for hopping on over! I have a spring inspired dinner party to share today and some gardeny stuff at the end. It was our turn for the monthly Second Friday Friends Group. My menu was inspired by what would be good and easy and springish to serve a group of 12. My colors were inspired by the green hellebores and yellow cymbidiums from the garden. I had this table for six in the dining room and another table for six in the kitchen and cannot believe I did not get pictures of that table, but it was just as pretty! I made beef stroganoff and the other partiers brought an appetizer of mini quiches, a first course of beet salad, the noodles for the stroganoff and chocolate lava cake for dessert. We were quite spoiled, especially yours truly, the hostess, as all I had to do was make the stroganoff and set the tables. Party day felt like I had a bit too much free time on my hands! 

The party favors were shortbread cookies from this recipe tied with string and adorned with a little wooden chickie. In case you cannot tell (and not everyone could tell) the wee chick is cracking out of its eggshell that is sitting in the grass. He still has a little bit of cracked egg shell on his head and a felt triangle for a beak. My friends still have small grandchildren so these are passed on to the appropriate littles.

All of the seeds have been started and we've begun to prepare the raised beds. There are a few seeds I'll plant directly in the soil such as the sunflowers and green beans, probably in April. It won't be long now before we begin the garden chores in earnest! 

First off--I love this, even though the entire time I was knitting it I was fretting over the color and the style. I wondered if I could pull this crazy thing off, but turns out that now that it's done, it's really not crazy at all. It's super easy to wear and feels more like a wrap then a cardigan, and the color is not terrifying but FUN, even if it's totally out of my usual comfort zone. I'm glad I went for it. I tried it on for my girlfriends last night and everyone loved it. We put it next to everyone's face and about half of us could wear this color and the other half could not. Color is funny and I honestly don't know much about it. 

Welcome California spring! We always gets a head start with February and March being our early spring months. The roses are leafing out. The camellias are blooming. The narcissi and daffodils are also in bloom. The flowering magnolia is magnificent and we are even getting some spring rains. Hallelujah. I took my cue from nature and started the earlier seeds last month. Next week I'll start the zinnias. Soon my husband will order the soil amendments and then the garden work will officially begin. The best time of the year!

I have a new warm and cozy sweater in my wardrobe and I loved the yarn so much I ordered two more sweaters worth. It's on sale! Half price! Read all about it......