Spring Hath Sprung and Happy Bearthday!

Or perhaps one can say it's peeking around the corner, hesitantly moving forward in fits and starts:).  That's OK - I'll take it!

The past week or so has been pretty much same old same old. Not a whole bunch to report, except I did finally finish the Bright Sweater! That last sleeve took sooooo long to finish. I have to laugh - I thought for sure by the time I was done with the thing, I'd have to wait until next year to wear it.  Nope.  I wore it yesterday until the temperatures finally hit 60 degrees F/16 degrees C.  It fit fine, though I would have been happy to have been a bit smaller myself:).

And hey, it folds well:).  

I should continue working on the next thing in my Ravelry cue, but was tempted to work on another purply item:

It's the Nathaniel Sweater by Michele Wang - Volume III of the knit.wear Wool Studio series put out by Interweave Press. This volume features Michele Wang's incredible designs.  I may have mentioned this in previous blog posts.  I am a big fan of Ms. Wang's work - I have to say there is nothing in this volume that I do not want to cast on.  In fact, I am hoping to knit two of this design in different colors.  I mean, what could be so bad about having two lightweight roomy knitted tops, each making use of a simple yet elegant stitch pattern?

The piece is deceptively simple.  Though the stitch pattern is easy - it uses only knits and purls, no cables or lace - you must pay attention to it until you get the row sequence correct. Ask me how I know;).

After a few repeats of the stitch pattern, I decided to take a break and worked for a while on the afghan. Not much progress this weekend.  If I'm a good girl and get properly prepared for tomorrow's fun and frolic at work this evening, I might have some time to work some more on either this or the Carbeth. Or maybe if I'm a bad girl;)....

Well, the house is clean(ish), the grill is fired up and we are preparing to have a double birthday celebration for two of the progeny - one born today (Earth Day - yes, he used to get a cake in school saying "Happy Bearthday") and the other tomorrow. They were born four years apart, save a day, so we are planning on double the usual fun tonight.  Only sorry that the three youngest grands won't be there.  But they're with their Dad and that is just fine! I understand some wine and a cookie cake may be part of the plan, so I'm definitely on board:).  Wine and tube steaks are my favorite kind of dinner.  And, except for the odd bunch of accompaniments, the DH is cooking, so I'm not complaining! 

God be with you 'til we meet again +