Slow Spring

After one glorious warm day on Monday, the temps have dropped and the trees are dripping. Gentle rain fell last night and continues this morning. Usually by now, the flowering trees would be blooming, instead the buds are just beginning to open. This is a year of slow spring. We have slow cooking, slow knitting, and slow reading so why not slow spring? I went out this morning and the air is cool, damp, and so very fresh smelling. I hope to walk a little later. This is a season to savor. 

I reknit the border on the Lavender Shawl. I doubt anyone would have noticed the wonky lace but I am happier to have it fixed. I enjoyed playing with all the shades of lavender. The yarn with three eyelet rows came from an independent dyer who has gone out of business. In 2011, I knit an Ishbel Shawl and a pair of fingerless mitts from the yarn and saved every scrap. The dibs and dabs are part of this shawl. Other leftovers came from a yarn my sister brought me from a trip to Canada and yarn I purchased on a visit to Amherst, Mass. and Connecticut last April. Once my sister and I were going to knit identical shawls so I bought the green yarn. Neither of us finished our shawls and I have been striping the sage green into projects ever since. As we say, every project has a story. 

I cast on the Rockywold Fingerless Mitts as a KAL project for the designer's group, Blue Peninsula. The twisted rib cuff is a nice detail and slows me enough to enjoy the yarn. The mitts are a good small project for Spring. 

Otto The Owl Who Loved Poetry is a charming picture book. The little creatures of the woods listen as Otto recites lines from well known poets Emily Dickinson, Christina Rossetti and others. They also help him accept himself as a poet-owl. I am currently reading, In Winter's Kitchen: Growing Roots and Breaking Bread in the Northern Heartland by Beth Dooley. Each chapter tells the history and current agricultural practices of a food: corn, sweet potatoes, apples, wheat, cranberries, butter and cheese, and more. This information is available from other sources but it is nice to have it collected and organized in one volume. Dooley includes short personal anecdotes about her relationship and use of the foods. The small publisher, Milkweed Editions, is a favorite of mine. 

I found this early recently opened small purple "flag" iris this morning. I see only one but more are coming. Linking with Kat and the Unravelers. What are you knitting and reading today?