Silverkelt, you have frost, and last Tuesday I turned off the air conditioner. I guess the 1400 miles of distance between us explains that. In the afternoon it's in the upper 80's and dryer, no longer in the lower 90's with drippy air. Still my waistband was sweaty wet weeding in the shade, and the sun will burn you to a crisp still. It's wonderful to have the house open. I understand the Farmer's Almanac says our winter will be chilly and wet. I suppose that will compliment the summer that hot and wet. I dread the freezing nights that are coming. Those low 20's/high teens temps really uglify my garden until spring. I just bought a few winter-hardy additions for the garden. I always get Dianthus chinensis. It laughs at 18 degrees with greenery that is so green all winter it's shocking. New plants I found are 'Pinata' Lavender - hardy to below 10 degrees (I'll plant it in sand since it hates our wet summers and hope it'll be more than an annual), 'Mesa Bicolor' Gaillardia - hardy to below minus 10 (wow!), yellow mums - hardy to below minus 10, and geraniums - hardy to 32, but I'll move the pots inside. I hope these new ones do as well as the dianthus since I really hate brown, dead plants. :( Our coldest days will be in the 50's though rarely we won't get out of the 40's, but that's like once in a blue moon. We all complain bitterly while shivering violently on those days when the sky is the deepest crystal blue and the sun is bright. I've always thought there's nobody tackier than a Floridian in winter when we break out the winter clothes we brought with us from up north decades ago or the perfectly usable items we found at the Goodwill. (There are more fashionable, well-heeled types who look nice in winter, but they are fewer the further south you go.) I was always stunned by the kids waiting for the school bus in freezing or below temps in their shirt-sleeves and shorts. Aren't their mothers watching when they leave the house? Everyone says, "Well, it'll warm up this afternoon" as they turn blue. But it's true that we dress in peelable layers. Sitting in a car in traffic while wearing an acryllic pullover will give you heat stroke. But the killer freezes that hit 20 for 8 hours mean death to my garden - not to the roses though. After one of those nights you no longer have to worry about winter protection, because they can't get deader than dead. Oh, and you can't cut back the brown, because as we all know, where you cut you will get new growth which inevitably will fall prey to the next killer night. A plant with brown can tolerate the killer freeze, but a plant with new green stuff could die. New human transplants to Florida often learn this the hard way. So I love no air conditioning, but I hate the freezes. The tacky Floridian gardeners can stand the cold, but the poor, oblivious Floridian plants don't see it coming with "It was 70 yesterday" written all over their faces. Sherry Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

The first thing I completed believe it or not was socks. They were one of the main reasons I started knitting I saw all these cute toasty warm pretty little socks and just wanted to see if I could make them. I have them down now pretty well. I'm now enjoying many other projects as well. Currently working on a few things. I like to have a couple to a few projects at once going on in case I get bored of one I can switch to another. I'm currently making "gift" scarves with soft yarn in a loose knit and beads strung at the end, a few shawls? in similar style and a cable blanket..... I'm looking to start some gloves and a few more socks and a intarsia or fair isle ? blanket and am currently looking for a nice knit beret pattern. :)

Mango, so you don't want to sit by your pool, sipping a margarita while knitting an afghan? :-) I'll include a link to an afghan pattern book. This book has 67 different patterns, all made with yarn from the Plymouth Yarn Company. Naturally, other yarns could be substituted... Just click on any individual photo and you'll get a popup of a larger photo, and it will also show what yarn was used, how many balls/skeins you will need, and what size needles are used. In this book there are some patterns for afghans that are made in strips, others made in squares, and most are made "in one piece." As others have said, it would be great to knit something to give to a shelter or hospital. When I first found this book on that very web page, I wanted to buy it but it was out of stock. So, I checked Amazon and got a brand new book for a lot less than what's shown on that web site. You can find this on eBay, too. There are plenty of web sites where you can download free patterns, such as Knit Picks and lots of other yarn company web sites. Even though you say there are other family members who knit baby things, every hospital and shelter could use little baby booties, caps, etc. And everyone needs at least one cozy knitted scarf, for when they travel to a colder clime. Here is a link that might be useful: 67 Knitted Afghans

The website sandra referenced also mentions kool-aid dyeing, and a third option (very appropriate this time of year) could be Easter Egg dye tablets! Snap them up at 1/2 price the day after for some cheap fun. Google can lead you to lots of yarn dyeing tutorials, even Kool-Aid color charts. Sorry, not enough time to reference my favorites right now, . . . because. . . I want to tell you about yesterday's thrift store finds. I was fortunate to hit a Salvation Army shop that is clearing out their winterweight sweaters for 99 cents! It's spring! Maybe some of your shops will do similarly. I found six: Old Navy, 70% cotton/30% lambswool, worsted weight, LIGHT BLUE with a KETTLE-DYED appearance Valerie Stevens ?, 100% LAMBSWOOL, sportweight, MARLED LIGHT BROWN, tan, & burgundy. Kind of blah, so maybe I'll over-dye it Outback Red, 100% wool, fingering, NAVY and med. blue TWEED WITH teeny ORANGE NUBS, and Very NEAT BUTTONS Weathervane, 100% wool, heavy worsted CREAM. This one will be dyed for sure. Open Country?, 100% Shetland wool, sport, OLIVE HEATHER, WITH a deep red, rust, yellow, and brown FAIR ISLE BAND. Yes, I'll save the contrast color bits, and store them with the olive, because one row across the front or back of a man's sweater is about equal to a row on a hat, and the color planning is already done for me. French Connection ?, 55% SILK, 30% acrylic, 15% ANGORA, Very Fine weight, multishaded grey. Don't know how successful an unravel this one will be, but I LOVE the 5 steel grey mother of pearl BUTTONS! Do I know now what any of them will become? No, and so I warn you again, this can be habit-forming.