Springing Forward

Ah Spring! You can smell it in the air. You can sense the buds just below the surface, ready to burst forth. You can — ok, I know it's not quite Spring just yet, but we're almost there. And the weather this weekend has certainly been convincing.

This winter was, well, almost a real winter. I say almost because it really didn't come close to the "real" winters I remember from my Canadian childhood.

I'm happy to say the pansies have recovered. Looks like they have a bit of attitude from enduring all that ice and snow.

Everything seems a little late coming into bloom though.

The helloborus are just beginning, 

the mahonias are still in full flower.
And my sad little forsythias aren't even showing color yet.

So after cleaning up flower beds yesterday, and exercising muscles I'd forgotten about, I decided today was going to be a slow one. Yes, I know I really should be painting, but the thought of standing in one spot for several hours was decidedly unappealing.

Woohoo! let's dye some yarn! I've been itching to try it for a while, and this morning looked like the perfect opportunity. So I got out the KoolAid and a hank of off-white sock yarn (that I got for a song at Tuesday Morning; best not to experiment with the good cashmere) and went to work. Hm-m-m-m, this is kinda fun. Now, I thought about taking pictures of the process, but was too caught up in what I was doing to get out the camera until it was too late. Anyway, here's my first yarn, fresh out its steam bath.

The color's a little Easter-eggy, but I think it might be pretty once knitted up. Springy, at least. 

After a quick wash and rinse, I hung it on the back of a chair on the deck to dry. Notice how it matches the chair. We're all about color coordination.

Now it's time to get back to some knitting. And dreaming of flowers and yarns to come.