DesigKnit

I hope you’re not all sick to death of spring flower photos yet. Around this time of year, I just can’t get enough. My little row of crocuses is happily blooming away:

We bought a mixed bag of bulbs, and so far they’ve almost all turned out to be orange and white. I’m a little disappointed, because the purple ones are my favorites. There are a few of them in there, though. And it’s also possible that they’re just coming a little later than the others; there are still some plants in there that haven’t bloomed.

Elsewhere in the yard, one of the mystery flowers has been revealed. See those buds, right at the base of the leaves in the upper right? I’m pretty sure that means that these are hyacinths.

And this one is pretty certain to be a tulip. (I think I even see pink!)

On the other side of the fence, the daffodils have also put in an appearance. They were the late-sleepers of the bunch this year; I think that everything I planted (and a few I didn’t) are now accounted for, though for many it will still be a while until they bloom.

We’ve begun preparations for our back yard projects now, too. Our job this spring is to turn our back yard (currently astroturf) into something a bit more appealing. First up, we’ll be putting in a small patio, and then I will be going crazy filling it in with shade-loving plants, and anything else I can make grow on 2 hours or less of sun a day.

I might have started on the going crazy already, actually. I bought a few more bulbs when we were at Home Depot the other night:

Honestly, I think I bought at least one of everything that had a “full shade” label on it, and a few that didn’t. I might be just a little over-eager for planting season. It has been several years now since I’ve had a proper garden to muck around in. There’s clematis and bleeding heart, elephant ears and astilbe, lily of the valley, begonias, and caladium. Fortunately, the back yard is huge (at least if you consider how empty it is, and how full I plan for it to be), so there will be plenty more coming as the season goes on.

And, because springtime is always the best time to finish a sweater, I finally finished the second sleeve on the Briar Rose sweater.

I can’t believe it’s taken this long. The last foot and a half of the second sleeve took about 2 months, but it is finally done. The goal was a slightly textured, sweatshirt-like sweater, and I think it succeeded. Much to my surprise, it took all three skeins of the Briar Rose 4th of July, and I even had to cannibalize the swatch to finish the sleeve and collar. My swatch gauge was off a little, so it ended up a few inches longer than I expected in both the body and arms, and a bit wider across the chest than I’d accounted for. There’s a tiny bit of bunching at the front shoulders as a result, but it’s not too bad, and it goes with the sweatshirt feel.

It finished blocking this morning, and I’ve been wearing it all day, and I can definitely vouch for sweatshirt comfort, anyway. Yay for a finally-finished sweater!