early spring

Spring is here, the early version of it anyway. The last of the snow lies in dirty piles, hiding in the shadows.

The chickens are so happy to be outside again! My breakfast eggs have turned from sunny winter yellow to vibrantly orange. Which is a delicious sign of spring.

And finally, the morning sunrise has almost caught up with my alarm clock (again). It had just barely caught up when daylight savings time pushed it back. So I’m relieved to have it back again. What signs of spring are popping up where you live?

expectations

I’m functioning at a “low expectations” level right now. I don’t expect to finish much knitting. I don’t expect to get much personal time. I don’t expect to write many blog posts (surprise!) I don’t expect to take photos during daylight hours… Pretty much all my energy for expectations goes into getting dinner made daily, getting to work and back, getting the laundry done. All my free time is spent playing with Windsor. She’s freaking adorable these days and I’m really very happy with the way my life is right now. It’s just very different from before.

But here’s the thing. It’s mid April, and I realized I haven’t even thought about my veggie garden. Usually I would have it all mapped out about a month ago.

And gardening? It’s entirely about expectations. Hopes, dreams, and expectations. What will grow? What will the weather do? What will fail? These seedlings, they hold the promise of expectations, both of success and failure.

We’ll see how it goes.

Verbena

Did you see the newest issue of Twist Collective? More importantly, did you see Verbena?!?

photos © Linus Ouellet

This was supposed to be my first big design after I finished up the book. That was my plan when I sent in the submission. But then, I fell behind (you knew that already) Luckily I have a very good friend who helped out with the knitting (thanks Dana!)

Here’s Verbena again on Ravelry, please favorite, queue, you know the drill! You can buy it there or from Twist Collective’s website.

This asymmetric top also has an unusual construction. The skirt is knit first, starting from the point and working a mitered triangle with increases at the center line. Then the front and back are worked flat and joined together.

The bodice is worked in the round after picking up stitches, so beside the three needle bind off this is pretty much seamless. It’s a soft summer top with drape and style – and I kinda wish I had one in my own size…