The Rhubarb is just showing through the dirt, Christmas Roses are blooming, as are Snowdrops, and Winter Aconite (thanks Maureen!).  It has been a much wetter winter than originally forecast and the moss is spreading through the garden and the grass.  It will be a great deal of work to remove!

We are looking at a new fence for the backyard.  Sophie will require much better fencing than our old dog and it would be nice not to battle the deer for supremacy in the garden!  As I a result – I am not quite sure how we will approach our new garden!  I want to remove some of the old shrubs.  Many are overgrown and very woody and not to my taste in a garden.  I would love to expand the herb garden.  I always look forward to new possibilities to explore.

I was re-reading the post “Softly Falling Snow” from last year.  I was checking the right name for the Winter Aconite and noticed that the lace I was knitting has elements in common with the lace in my current projects – the Dark of the Morning Scarf.  The lace edging I am using now has modifications but it is basically the same pattern.  As knitters, and designers we often find elements that we like and then will play with and modify them until the next detail comes along to distract us!

I have this week off and hopefully I will get lots of knitting and pattern writing accomplished.  I am not behind at the moment, but I am not really ahead either.  It would be nice to get far enough ahead that I can play with a couple of idea’s that are floating around in my brain.

I have finished the sample scarf for Dark of the Morning – just yesterday.  I blocked it last night and it is ready to come off the floor.  I blocked it for width, not length.  Since the scarf is heavily beaded as soon as it is worn it will stretch!  And I wanted to make sure that the lace was opened fully so that when it stretches the patterns are not lost.

The pattern for Dark of the Morning is really a sampler of different lace patterns and a couple of edgings.  I was looking at it this morning and thinking that, without even trying, I could see fifteen different scarves coming out of this one pattern!  That is above and beyond my personal goal of making my patterns versatile.  So enjoy and play with it!

I always try to incorporate options in my patterns.  Some knitters tell me that they love that about my patterns and others hate that about my patterns!  One woman told me that I wrote too much like Elizabeth Zimmermann.  I was much too wordy – I thanked her for the wonderful compliment!  She informed me that she meant to insult not compliment – she did not like Elizabeth Zimmermann’s patterns!

I like my patterns to send knitters off on tangents.  I encourage all knitters to adapt and personalize their knitting with more than one choice of finish, or weight or shape.  I think that we all need to break out of our ruts and comfort zones!  Spring is the perfect time to try something new.  It is the time of rebirth and new growth.

So step into Spring with a new project, one that gets you excited and interested in trying out more techniques and growing your skills.

Happy Knitting

Lynette