The Start of Spring

This time of year in the PNW is generally rainy. A day will start with rain turn to sunshine and back to rain. This back and forth can happen several times in a day and only some of the time you're dressed appropriately. I tend to forget the coat or umbrella and find a way to get completely drenched.

This is a fun time of year for all of the spring and summer patterns. I was looking at my magazine collection and saw one of my favorite spring collections. This is back in the days when I was a big fan of Vogue Knitting and would buy every single magazine without fail from the Seattle downtown Barnes and Noble. Here is a grainy picture of  the cover.

This magazine is in pretty good shape for being nine years old. It's the 2009 Spring/Summer collection. My favorite pattern is the lovely Shrug on the cover. I had actually managed to make the center floral portion and start on the thick outer boarder. I was using some deep red acrylic that I had, so the effect would not be the same as the beautiful neutral cotton look on the cover. I'm dreaming of the idea of trying to make it again and maybe with better materials.

Thinking back to the time I was working on this project...I remember sitting at a Seattle Sounders band practice. My husband was still in the band and I had stepped down from it because we were expecting our first child. So many things have changed since then...

Some very lovely spring pattern collections were released this week. Knitpicks came out with Renew. Below is one of the Sample photos for Invariance. This is knit in Shine Sport, which is one of my favorite yarns and would be great for a spring/summer sweater.

Universal Yarns put out the book Bamboo Pop Adult 2. Below is a pic of my favorite pattern from the website (not my pic...again). This is the Maya tank. Super cute :).

I love that there are so many inspirations for beautiful projects. I made a little progress on my Alyeska sweater and I'm starting a little knitting challenge of a cute modular shawl that needs to be done by April 25. I'm hoping to get one little motif done per day and then do all of the catch up once my busy season is over. I know that taking the time to make the motif each day will be difficult ongoing, but after the first two, I know it won't take much time.

With my daily pattern searches on Raverly I'm starting thinking of what I could make for my sister-in-law this year for her birthday/Christmas. With lots of  months to plan, maybe I could make something truly spectacular this year. Gilly, I'm talking right to you :). I'm putting some pictures below of things I think would be awesome for you. Shoot me a message if you like any of them. No pressure, if you don't see this post.

The first is Bonnie Marie Burns' Cinnie. I'm partial to the cropped version, but they are both stunning.

Next is SweaterFreak Knits design Sleeveless in Vancouver. No joke...that's the name :). This is a great pic from the designer showing all the ways to wear this. Super cool!!!

A fun more fall like pattern is Lynn Garrett's Log Cabin Cardigan. I love the colors she used in her sample. See her lovely pic below. I had to include a pic of the back... so pretty.

Sadly, I wont't have the same colors to choose from, but I'm sure other combos would be lovely.

Do any of these look good? I want to make all of them for me too! Want to be twins ;)

I hope everyone has a great first week of spring. Wish me luck with work...over 60 hours this week completed with a day and a few more hours to be able to get more done. Will I reach 70? I need to.

Wishing all my best and thank you for stopping by.