Not So Fast...

Every time it's sunny and warm-ish and I look down at the spring bulbs coming up in the micro-climate that is the front of our house I think Spring is right around the corner.  This morning I noticed that the sedum in the bed next to the patio has sprouted but almost as soon as I came back inside from filling the bird feeders I got a tangible sign that there might be more than a few corners between me and Spring.







 
Do you see this little innocuous black and gray bird?  It's a Dark-eyed Junco.  It summers up in the Arctic and comes down here to balmy northeastern Wisconsin for winter.  Which tells me that it's still too darned cold and snowy for it to think about going home to start making a nest and laying eggs.  So not Spring, not yet, no matter what the calendar says about it.




This natty Downy Woodpecker came for a suet snack as I was fixing my lunch.  I really like the sharp stripes and dots of its feathers.  I think the Downys always look like they're dressed up nice for a party.




Instead of going downstairs to sew yesterday I sat on the couch to make sure I'd transferred all the markings to the cut out pieces, then I worked on Helical Sock Mitt #1.  I was anxious to get through the cuff and on to adding in the second yarn.  See the black row, the red rounds by the needles, and what looks like little white and gray boxes?  That's the second yarn; it's self-patterning so I'm not sure what it'll do but once I get more rounds on there we'll be able to see what's what.  I can guarantee that the second mitt won't be anything like this one because I'm using scraps.  Should be interesting.  I cast on 20 fewer stitches and I'm using 2 sizes bigger needles, mostly because I can't imagine knitting on 0s or 1s, but also because I'm just not that patient.  These 2s are toothpick-y enough, thank you very much.

April 3--John Singer Sargent, View from a Window, Genoa 1911.

Masts trace lines in the mist
recall a simpler time
before steam robbed ships of their wings
in favor of hidden propellers
gritty steam belched from stacks
They bob in uneasy alliance in the harbor--
fading sailing ships,
clamorous steam ships
panting into the future
~~~~~

Okay, now I really am going downstairs to sew.  I've been to the bank, the pharmacy, and the grocery.  I've had lunch.  Now I'm almost finished blogging.  We even have leftovers for supper.  Nothing stands in the way of me going down there for a nice afternoon's date with sewing machine, fleece, thread, and scissors.  Toodle-oo!
--Barbara