Reminiscing
I finished one of my two night classes almost two weeks ago, and now I get to come home every night of the work week, which has been a nice change. I was sick through my spring break vacation week, though, so I didn't get caught up on my other night class the way I had hoped. I still have until mid-May and am finished with most of the assignments; I have had a lot of fun making art with other adults and it certainly has stimulated my creativity.
Work at the LYS continues regularly on Saturdays, with this last one being a good day overall... got to knit with our sock class instructor, Luci, and a regular customer, Vail, for awhile in the morning when things were slow, then help an experienced knitter pick out yarn for Mr. Green Jeans, a great everyday sweater pattern, coach a returning knitter through an unusual series of steps in her pattern, and help another regular find yarn for her next project and teach her how to increase. I just love it when people are ready to move beyond straight up and down scarves!
In the Moment
My favorite project of the moment has been a lovely everyday sweater of my own... 
I started the Summer Cardigan from Knitting Pure and Simple ten days ago, and have been enamored of the pattern ever since. It is worked from the top down and I have just gotten past the point of setting aside my sleeve stitches and working the body. The pattern is for a short sleeve cardi, to hit just above the elbow bend, but I am planning to make mine a tad bit longer, as I want it to come to just below the elbows, for the extra coziness on summer nights. I am using Knit One Crochet Two's 2nd Time Cotton, which is made from mill ends respun into a 75% cotton/25% acrylic blend and is a very nice yarn.
After my "F is for Frugal" post, I started thinking of this WIP as my Earth Day project, but I know it is just the kind of summer into fall garment I will get a lot of use out of! Then, I might make my own Mr. Green Jeans for a winter everyday cardi!!
My favorite read at the moment is A Pig in Provence... I had the good fortune to catch an interview with author, Georgeanne Brennan, on my local public radio station and had to order the book right away.... it is an entertaining and enlightening food memoir about a young mother who settles in Provence back in the late 1960s to make goat cheese along with her husband. The country life was still very, very rich with tradition and food lore at that point and her recipes are inspiring.
I am feeling much better, though I am tired of being ill so much this winter, and working hard on rebuilding my immune system! The fruit trees are all blooming around here, which means my poor system is struggling against seasonal pollen allergies, but I have been able to return to yoga and walking the dogs, and rely on vitamins and Zyrtec to help me cope with the great outdoors.
Gazing into the Crystal Ball
I am hoping to get my cardi finished by the end of the month, even with all of the little crafty things I am working on for the Plant Sale... however, some of my time will undoubtedly be spent with Flutter...
This is such a sweet little pattern, and the colors of my wonderful hand-dyed silk yarn keep me so pleased, that I find myself saying "just one more repeat" even though it feels like I am knitting with sewing thread (well, ok, maybe just a bit thicker than that!).
Miriam Felton is one of my favorite lace designers, and I still have several of her other patterns listed in my Ravelry queue; I just got enough Berroco Touche at our shop that will be perfect for a Logan River wrap to wear as a meditation shawl and plan to start on that next month.
