Sneak forced peeks of spring

This week we've had torrential rainfall causing the rivers and fields to fill up with run off, since the ground is still frozen.  We've had an Alberta clipper system blow through, leaving us with frigid temperatures, on top of all that rain, blowing snow and icy roads.  We've had a day with a few moments of sunshine, but still cold and more snow flurries today.   Spring sure is taking it's sweet time getting here.  Last year, at this time, I was pruning raspberries, planting the peas and hanging laundry.  It will be a few weeks yet before I can get to any of those jobs this year.

The scent of hyacinth filled the room

Ruffled pink tulips

However, every year at the end of winter, like a sweet, sneak peek of spring, a few of the grocery stores carry pots of forced spring  bulbs, for only $4 or $5 each.    Oh what a glorious bit of colour and beauty which lasts several weeks.   If I'm careful, I can grow them on until the ground thaws and then plant them outside.  Sometimes I'm lucky and they'll come back the next year.  Usually it takes 2 years before they're fully established, but it's sort of nice knowing that you didn't have to compost them.  They are pretty and colourful, plus these pink hyacinths smell divine!

 I found this self striping yarn in a bin of sock yarn.  It's a little to fussy with the skinny stripes to do any sort of fancy pattern, so I'm knitting it in a plain 2/2 rib with 2 simple cables for interest.  However, the busy stripes really mask the cable.  Can you see the two cables in the sock cuff?  Just barely and I know where there supposed to be!  Good thing I didn't do a fancier pattern.  I'm working on the gusset decreases of sock one right now.

Several yeas ago, I used up a few skeins of grey Patons Classic Wool yarn to exhaust an indigotin dye pot.   I say indigotin as I didn't write down whether it was Woad, Dyer's Knotweed or Indigo proper.  I'm pretty certain it was Dyer's Knotweed, but since I didn't actually tag the skeins, I can't be certain.     It's an interesting varigated blue.  It's worsted knitting yarn so a bit thicker than I like to weave with.  I've been checking out knitted shawl patterns and kept coming back to a plain garter stitch shawl pattern called Milk Run.  Despite the hours upon hours of mindless  knitting to do the main body, I finally started it.   This is halfway through the plain knitting.  I'm just on the second last increase before I start the border.  It's used almost 3 skeins or 600 yards of yarn so far and will probably use the 4th skein before I'm done.   So it will be a heavy shawl, but warm and hopefully comfortable.