Springtime!

I love that in spring everything seems dead one second then suddenly, in the next, it springs to life! The grass is bright green, the sun has finally decided to appear, birds are singing, etc. etc. :) Here are some pictures of the flowers around right now.





In honor of spring and new life, I've started another couple of projects. Well, one is a re-start. I wanted to finish up the Mohair Forest Canopy Shawl that I was making a while ago but had run out of yarn before making the border. There was no way to get more yarn since I bought it off DeStash and it originally came from Italy. My only option was to rip back a pattern repeat making the shawl a little bit smaller but with enough yarn to finish it. Anyone who has ripped out mohair can tell you what a nightmare it is. So this project languished in my knitting basket since (I just had to look it up) the end of November (!). Well, yesterday, I ripped back then started knitting the last couple of rows. To my surprise, working with so many lace sock and lace shawl patterns recently has completely changed my lace technique (for the better, I assure you). The added border would have looked soooooo different that it would not have worked. So I made a drastic decision; rip it all out and start again. That was not fun at all but yesterday and today I have been knitting with a vengence and am far along with the shawl version 2.0.







I've also been working on a test pattern for a lady from the Socknitters group. She needed testers and I am a sucker for toe-up, cable/lace patterns. I am using up the darker of my two Kool-aid dyed skeins.



I am also still working on the Sodera socks just not as hard as I once was. :( The black yarn, while looking sexy, is hellish to work with when you drop a stitch or are working in poorly lit areas. I'm getting close to the end, though.




Everyone is feeling the excitement of spring. Yesterday, the horses all broke out and ran down the road. The owner of the barn had to go and gather them up. It isn't bad when one gets out because he or she hangs around the barn with the others. When everyone gets out, however, it is time to go wandering! Houdinis!