Is it spring???

Well, of course it’s spring. Spring brings that uncertainty—you never know what the weather is going to be like from one moment to the next—at least here in the Pacific Northwest. Just two weeks ago, it was sunny and warm when I got home from work I was inspired to start the spring cleaning in my yard. I even planted some tulip and daffodil bulbs that I bought right before the ground froze. Filled two big bags with dead foliage to take to the recycling center and discovered the first spring blooms.

Today those blooms are covered in snow—only an inch or so melted down from the original three to four inches that arrived overnight, accompanied by a winds coming from a variety of directions. A friend of mine said the snow at her place looked like white dunes, blown on the Palouse desert”! More wind and snow expected today, keeping many of us from heading north to the spin-in in Coeur d’Alene.

But the snow gave me the background for taking a picture of my finally finished cabled socks. My pal Miss “T” (for Terror) had to check to see what I was doing.

Miss “T” was rescued and given to me when I was recovering from ankle surgery (I have an artificial ankle, not knit!). I think my brother believed that a cute little kitten to pet would help me keep my mouth shut. She’s what’s called “blue and cream,” so the vet called me, and she was named Miss Terror because she would chase my brother’s feet and attack his large dogs. She has become a companion cat—she’s beside me when I sleep, knit, sew, garden (attacking my weeding hands) and at the computer (nudging my hand on the mouse to remind me she needs petting).

I enjoy knitting socks, though I hardly ever knit any for myself. My feet are hard on socks and I don’t usually don’t want to take a chance on beautiful knitted socks for myself. But this pair, I’m keeping. They feel pretty solid—made from a blend of KnitPicks nylon/wool—they should wear well. I was lucky to find a knitter on Ravelry who had some of the same yarn in her stash. Although I had two skeins, I found out that wasn’t enough to finish this pattern (from an Interweave book). The socks sat for a week or two while I was deciding what to do with not enough yarn, and in the meantime, I took the entrelac class (see my March 12 blog).

I have a finished pair of socks from a beautiful (Sundara) dyed Cobalt over Mediterranean superwash Merino in the hedgerow pattern. I was led to both the yarn and pattern through Knitting Daily. The web provides such inspiration for us knitters! Anyway, I can’t decide whether to sell, give, donate or wear these beautiful blue socks. Maybe I’ll wait to decide after I’ve worn these cabled socks for a while. Maybe I’m “walking” softer these days! Time will tell.

And time will turn spring into summer!