A Search for Signs of Spring

I love self-employment, if only for the fact that I dictate the hours of my day. To be honest, most of my days are spent working pretty frantically for a deadline. But since I'm 50% Tech Editor and 50% Designer, when I have the luxury, I like to split my day in half, and spend the time of transition doing something I enjoy.

Today was a walk, in search of design inspiration and signs of Spring. And by Spring I really mean lambs. Except for the fact that it's still cold enough to flare up my exercise allergy (I wish I weren't serious about that), the blue skies made up for it.

So I went on a walk, only to find a lack of sheep. In Wales.

 

Nothing.

Not even in our back yard.

In short, it was shocking. And the taunting evidence of this mythic sheep was not helping.

 

 

Liars!

I stumbled upon other signs of Spring along the way. Though not nearly as cute as lambs (because let's face it, nothing is), they were promising:

 

The snow drops were snow dropping

The blue tits were tittering

There was even a cat, which to poor, pet-starved person such as myself, is a big deal.

This was as close as I could get to it.

Finally, at the end of an arduous journey uphill, past empty field after empty field and with itchy, itchy legs (allergies!), I found my reward.

Lambs.

LAMBS.

 Task completed. Now it's time to get back to work.

Snowdonia

I was eagerly looking forward to my retreat with friends last weekend, glad for the break and for some well-deserved knitting time on my sorely neglected Ravelympics project. But that really didn't happen. Ended up climbing half-way up Snowdon in the snow (fortunately no ice, but note to self: need new shoes. Preferably dry ones). All in all, I got about a centimeter of knitting done.

Got some pretty good pictures, though.

 

  

 

 

And, because it's Wales, the requisite sheep picture.

 

Also posted a new pattern on Ravelry before I left, the Jungle Cowl. 

February 1st through February 28th, 10% of all pattern proceeds will go to the British Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund.

With twisting cabled vines and reaching branches, this wild cowl will spice up your winter wardrobe, or dress it up in a more subdued color. The buttoned up side allows a little more breathing room.

Needles and Notions
US 8 (5.00mm) needles circular needles, at least 24in/60cm long
Four or Five .75inch/18mm buttons (depending on desired height of cowl)
Cable Needle
Tapestry Needle

Finished Measurements
9in/23cm tall and 20in/51cm wide (unstretched and unbuttoned)

The Jungle Cowl is available for £2.00 GBP at my Ravelry store (which you can now visit even if you don't have a Ravelry account! Go check it out).