I’ve been spinning away on the yarn for my crocus sweater, and have added a few more skeins to the mix. There’s about a batt and a half (~6 oz) left to go, and then I’ll have another set of bobbins ready to ply.

Happily, though, spring isn’t waiting on me to knit this sweater. We narrowly missed getting another foot of snow a couple of weeks ago, and since then it seems (dare I say it?) that winter has given up for this year. The days are getting longer and longer, and the temperatures are rising, too. I raked the front yard last weekend and found tips of tulips, daffodils, and irises poking out. It won’t be long now.

Branden went out to do some yard work earlier, and caught the crocuses having a party:

Our neighborhood bunny is apparently among the critters on the stir again, and she made short work of many of my hopeful little flowers, but it is still early spring and there isn’t much else out there to eat yet, so it’s hard to blame her. At least she left the big clump nearest to the house alone.

With all of the spinning, I haven’t been knitting much lately. I did finish the new version of my beehive hat in the Mad Color yarn. Can I just say how much I am loving this yarn? The base is nice (50/50 merino-silk…it’s hard to go wrong), but the colors are spectacular. That photo is pretty close, but it doesn’t do them justice. They just shine. The more I knit, the more I love them.

Every once in a while I run across a dyer who manages to capture light and dark in a way that just makes the yarn shimmer. I’ve really enjoyed watching all the depth and variety play out in these colors. Even though it’s a subtle blend of greens and blues, there is a lot of variation that makes it interesting without getting overwhelming. It is also one of those wonderful yarns that doesn’t seem to pool. I remember the first time I saw a project knit in Sundara yarn; I had often wondered what the fuss was about, and the shawl I saw took my breath away. This yarn is like that. It has been really fun to watch it develop into knitted items (which helps, because reknitting things and writing patterns is not where I tend to shine.)

Yes, I did just say the word pattern. I’m working on it. Thinking about trying to get back on that band wagon again; I’m crossing my fingers, and we’ll see how far it goes. For now, I have instructions written for the hat, and am almost finished with instructions for the scarf. That means the pattern can’t be far behind, right?

I’m considering using this pattern as the basis for a short rows and beaded knitting class, which is also helping to keep me going. I heard back from Coveted Yarn this week, and I will be teaching some classes there over the summer, though we still need to work out which ones. I’m thinking of ways that I could modify the project to teach the techniques that you’d need to make the hat and scarf without having to knit on such a large project in class, and I have some fun ideas. I need to do some swatching and talk more with Coveted first, though, to decide what direction to take.

I’m also thinking about tablet weaving as a fun summer project, especially for kids who happen to be vacationing in Gloucester (an old maritime town and a popular tourist spot in the summer). To that end, I’ve woven up some friendship bracelets to use as samples. They still need to be blocked, but it’s a start:

Again, we still need to work out what classes will best fit the shop schedule and their customers, but these are the two ideas that I’m playing with first. There are so many fun directions to explore!

Also, do you see the light in those photos? I took them at 4:30 this afternoon…I am so happy that spring is here!