The daffodil leaves started pushing their way through the dirt almost as soon as the ground had thawed.   We had little bunches of leaves for ages.  Then the weather gave us a sneak preview of summer.  It was t-shirt weather, or at least I could run out to the barn without a jacket.  Then poof, we had beautiful yellow daffodil blooms.  The mild weather pushed the flowers out in literally hours.  In the morning they were buds and in the afternoon, there were blooms!

We also had lots of little blue flowers littering the lawn and flower beds, but a snow fall and some below freezing temps laid waste to their beauty.   The daffodils however, endure.  Despite the cooler temperatures and the cold nights, they still shine.

I've been trying to teach myself to follow a crochet pattern.   I've made a few blankets, and dabbled over the years, but following  a pattern has always been a bit of an issue.  While trying a pattern for a 1 hour hat, I realized that it's not the pattern I have issues with, but how not to add an extra stitch at the beginning of a row, or the end of a row.   I've watched a bunch of videos which were informative and now I'm pretty sure I understand the process.   The problem?  I can't seem to get the stitch count correct unless I count ever row.  This is irritating to me because I like to do other things while I fiddle with handwork, and having to count every row means I have to totally focus on the work at hand.

This is my 3 day hat, not my 1 hour hat.  It's some miscellaneous grey yarn I found skeined in my stash.  I've no idea what it was or when it was spun.   Cheap commercial fake fur pom pom on top because that seems to be the fashion.  I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that there were 2 in the box and I'd just misread the contents.

I let my girls out on those warm days.  They were so happy.   I kept them in yesterday because it was cold, rainy and miserable.   Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny.  Even if it's cool, they'll enjoy being outside.  

In other news, Kevin has decided to start sleeping at my feet.   This is a bit disconcerting because he doesn't really do "people" very well.  It makes me wonder what he's planning.

I'm off on a new quest to learn about circular sock machines.   I've been sort of interested for years, but never really had the time to figure them out.   But there is a bit of arthritis happening in my hands, so maybe now is the time.  I don't want to give up my woolly winter socks!