Sunday Monkeys Don't Play Piano Songs: Spring, Sprang, Sprung

It normally wouldn't be much of a surprise to anyone to say that it is raining here in Belgium, but this is in fact the first grey day that we've had in weeks and it actually comes at this point as a bit of a relief. The kids' Fëte d'Ecole has come and gone (somehow always on the hottest day of the year, as rare as hot days are) and the Scouts are camping this weekend. We've already been warned that there will be no campfires if the conditions are too dry and I'd rather have the rain now then when we are actually in the great outdoors. All this sun and warmth has me fooled that summer vacation is almost here, and yet there are still almost almost 8 weeks left!

Still, I am enjoying this extra-long spring. We grew our own tulips in our flower boxes this year, and watching them sprout in FEBRUARY was a real shock to us all. By the first week of April, they were in full bloom and gorgeous.

Growing tulips of my own has also inspired my knitting this spring. Before a business trip to Luxembourg, Leo asked if I would make a little something for a co-worker of his who was expecting a little girl. For awhile now, I had been wanting to re-knit Kate Gilbert's discontinued Peapod Sweater, which I had made a few years ago for Sophie, and saw this as the perfect opportunity. I used a beautiful burgundy wine colored cotton blend, soft and washable, and substituted the written lace-leaf panel with a delicately cabled tulip design. The results were just what I wanted, and I have already received a lovely thank-you from the new mom, complete with pictures. As this is a public blog, though, I will stick to sharing only my own photos of the finished cardigan:

The color is washed out here, but this is the best close-up I have of the cabled tulips:

I was especially happy to find the perfect finishing touch in these beautiful buttons:

My spring knitting continued through a pair of bright, funky green socks - the first thing I've knitted for myself in a LONG time. I finished the second one in the car on our way to the UK, and was proud to wear them walking around Wonder Wool Wales. The pattern is Cookie A.'s Pointelle and they are knitted in plain ol' sturdy Regia 4-fadig on 2.25 mm needles.