The Golden Iris

Blooming orchid I have adopted a couple of very ordinary orchids to add to the houseplant collection. I don't know a lot about orchids, but I seem to be having good luck with them! Growing new buds I bought this Phalaenopsis back in November. It held the blooms until March, and now is growing more stems out of its stems. These look like they'll have flowers too, which is very exciting. Apparently Phalaenopsis is the only orchid genus which can re-bloom from an existing stem . More flower buds! And there's also this orchid... I got them at Trader Joe's, so I have no cultivar names or anything, but I loved the big purple, yellow, and green spidery flowers. This is its second bloom for me, which is so cool! Normally he lives on my desk I am looking forward to getting some more attractive orchid pots and repotting them (when they're done flowering, of course).

All my sample knitting has meant it's taken me a while to finish even a simple pair of socks for myself. Everyday Socks I finally did finish my Everyday Socks at the beginning of March, just in time for me to wear them on the flight to Chicago. There's not too much to say about these, but they were simple and satisfying to knit, and I LOVE the color (called Rocky Top, courtesy of Dragonfly Fibers )! I've since started two other pair: some plain stockinette socks in a new Miss Babs yarn called Shiruku , which is a merino-silk blend... Shiruku socks ...and some herringbone rib socks in a very boldly variegated color (I think it has every color in the world in it, except purple) from Creatively Dyed yarn. Creatively Dyed socks As you might imagine, there's more super secret knitting happening over here, so that's keeping my needles and fingers busy. Any socks on the needles lately?

Earlier in March, I returned to the Chicago area to visit my mom. Between hanging out and knitting and generally doing fun mom stuff, she'd planned a special fiber field trip out to Waterman, Illinois to visit Clear View Farm with her regular knitting group. Clear View Farm is run by Sandra Schrader [who also happened to be my bus driver when I was a lot younger! It was fun to see her again]. She raises prizewinning Cormo sheep on her farm, as well as the usual farm assortment of chickens, barn cats, and a dog. Cormo sheep are a cross between Corriedale and Merino; they were bred for high-quality, low-micron (fine) fleece, good mothering instincts, high fertility, and easy manageability. They are medium sized animals with lots of wool. Sandy keeps her sheep covered year-round to keep the fleeces clean and free of too much vegetable matter, which makes spinners very happy. Soon-to-be-mamas We were excited to visit the sheep, who were in their barn out of the weather. Ma...