Now, here is something you haven't seen from me in a long while.  An fo that isn't a pair of socks!  (actually, I just remembered that my last fo was the small shawl but you get my drift).

One of my coworkers that I don't know all that well but have had some interesting conversations with, is having a baby in August.  I don't know whether it's a boy or a girl but I wanted to try something different for her.  (my go-to baby gift for coworkers is small socks/hats)

I found a plain baby sweater pattern that used one skein of fingering weight yarn (which I always have on hand) and decided she was worth the effort.  It took me about a week and a half of working on this on and off.  I found the star buttons at a local Joann's and couldn't have matched the colors better if I dyed them myself.  I just washed it and patted it into place with a few pins to straighten out the placket.  It's still damp this morning but I am pleased with it.  The yarn is an artwalks yarn from February from a painting called Fernando II (Susterman).  

I am one skein closer to a finished sweater.  I finished a bobbin and plied this yesterday.  I discovered that if you take roving and put it in a cloth bag and hang it in the closet for a year, it'll compress.  No matter how well it was prepped, it'll compress a bit.  This needs to be gently carded or flick carded to open it up.  It's become compressed and tight and very hard to spin.  It's not soft and slippery like merino but feels more like hair and gets tangled.  A bit of flicking (sounds naughty, doesn't it?) and it's open and ready to spin.

I am nearing the finishing line with El's March socks and April's are 3/4 of the way done.  I think May's will be a pair of monkey socks.  I haven't done them in a while and it's a fast pattern. 

I have also discovered that you can lure a crocheter into the knitting world if you just have the right pattern.  Knitty has a new pattern called Bigger on the Inside.  Yep, it's a Tardis design.(photo from knitty.com)  My coworker, Lisa, is a crocheter.  She makes beautiful crocheted things but is also a Dr Who fan.  When I showed her this, she just had to try it.  So, we are ordering some yarn in an appropriate color and will knit this together.  I'm thinking some yarn with some sparkle in it might be fun.  Kate and Emily are going to join us so we'll have a mini kal.  Lisa knows basic knit and pearl stitches but has never really knit anything before.  I warned her this would be a challenge but she's game. 

Pk and Elanor have spent the past two weeks getting the yard/garden cleaned up.  We have sadly neglected the backyard for a long time.  Probably since we stopped using the pool (and eventually took it down).  Now we have new neighbors who have cleaned up their yard and cut back so much green that was overgrowing into our yard that it's inspired us to clean things us and maybe actually use the back this summer.  I like to sit out there but the mosquitos have been horrendous the past few years (I think the old neighbors had so much junk in their yard that it was a breeding ground).  Pk spends most of his time outside in the front where his tools are so usually when I'm sitting outside, I sit out there with him.  We used to eat in the backyard.  Pk built a large picnic table out there and it's under a huge pine that we've always called The Party Tree since it got decorated with lights for outdoor parties. 

El planted some green beans, basil, marjoram, tomatos and peppers.  There are marigolds to put around the tomatos and some wildflowers to put in the empty spaces.  She put petunias and cosmos in the front.  She likes playing in the dirt (always did) and did a good job.  I hate playing in the dirt (always did) and am glad not to have to do it.

And one last poem for Poetry Month.  Robert Frost is another favorite of mine.  His poems are simple and yet speak to the heart.  This one goes along with my "notice the good things around you" philosophy.

Carpe Diem

Age saw two quiet children
Go loving by at twilight,
He knew not whether homeward,
Or outward from the village,
Or (chimes were ringing) churchward,
He waited, (they were strangers)
Till they were out of hearing
To bid them both be happy.
'Be happy, happy, happy,
And seize the day of pleasure.'
The age-long theme is Age's.
'Twas Age imposed on poems
Their gather-roses burden
To warn against the danger
That overtaken lovers
From being overflooded
With happiness should have it.
And yet not know they have it.
But bid life seize the present?
It lives less in the present
Than in the future always,
And less in both together
Than in the past. The present
Is too much for the senses,
Too crowding, too confusing-
Too present to imagine.

Robert Frost

I have most of a Sunday left to enjoy.  I'm off to fix us some breakfast and then work on the next skein for my sweater.  If it were just a tad warmer, I'd take the wheel outside but it's chilly here.  There's a chicken waiting to be roasted for dinner and 2 pounds of wool waiting to be spun.  And possibly a nap.  There's always time for a nap.