45

As you might guess from the title of this post, today is my 45th birthday. I would prefer for my birthday to fall on any day other than Monday, but that's not exactly something you can choose, and I was actually born on a Monday, so I suppose it's fitting. What is unusual is that it's going to be sunny and close to 70ºF today -- usually it's dreary, cold, and snowy! So I think I can deal with Monday because of that.

We had a really nice weekend, especially Saturday. We hit a record high of 78ºF -- and then had a thunderstorm move through in the afternoon! It felt more like early June than early March! The house got so warm that we actually opened windows in our bedroom overnight so we could sleep comfortably. Yesterday was significantly cooler but still pleasant. And we had a delicious celebrator dinner out on Saturday at one of our favorite restaurants.

As promised, I've got a better photo to share of my mother's socks along with a full write up of the project:

Pattern: forest floor by Sara Bauer (Ravelry link), size M
Yarn: Miss Babs Yummy 2-ply in Peppercorn, 89 g/324 yds. used
Needles: US 1/2.25 mm
Started/Completed: January 1/March 4
Mods: omitted cables on back of leg and ribbing on sole for arch; subbed my own usual heel and toe

If the name of this pattern's designer sounds familiar to you, it may be because she was the host of the Yarns at Yin Hoo podcast. I listened to her for many years and enjoyed her calm approach to crafting, cooking, and poetry. In recent years, Sara had been been battling metastatic breast cancer, though you wouldn't know it to listen to her podcasts -- she was always positive and upbeat, seeking to make the most of her situation. She sadly passed away last June, so I thought knitting one of her patterns would be a good tribute to her (even if it did take me a while to get around to it). I used one of the skeins of fingering that I picked up off the freebie table at SSK last year, and I thought this mossy green was a great match for the pattern. I opted to keep them relatively simple other than the lace pattern stitch in part because I thought the cables would make them tight and maybe uncomfortable and in part to keep the focus on the lace. Now I just hope they're not too big for my narrow-footed mother! These will be put away for either Mother's Day or her birthday in June.

I spent some of my downtime over the weekend finishing up the knitting of this hat, which you last saw when I was only a few rounds into the colorwork.

I kept the main motif at the very center of the panel the same but scaled down the rest and eliminated some rounds to make it fit on a hat. I still need to pull the yarn through the final stitches and weave in some ends (obviously), and then I'll move on to blocking and embroidery.

As if all this green yarn wasn't enough (can you tell I've got spring on the brain?), I've cast on a new pair of socks for my mother-in-law, and I'm using the very last of the yarn that came home with me from SSK!

The colors got a bit washed out by the sunshine, but I think the photo is good enough to show this fun micro-striping thing that's happening. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Solemate, a blend of superwash merino, nylon, and something called Outlast viscose that's supposed to help regulate temperature and thus keep your feet feeling comfortable. I can't say how effective it is, having never knit with it before, but my mother-in-law deals with neuropathy in her feet, so I thought it might feel good to her. After all that lace in the last pair, I'm back to my usual plain vanilla sock, and considering I cast this on last Thursday and am already nearly done with the leg, I think that was a good move. I imagine I might get some crazy pooling in the gusset of these, or maybe I'll get even thinner stripes. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

As much as I love green, especially at this time of year, my next project will not be knit using green yarn. The replacement sweater I've picked out is the Speculoos Sweater (Ravelry link) using handspun (provided the gauge works out) from my precious Southern Cross Fibre stash. I'll be aiming to use this for the main color:

Thunderstruck on Bond wool

and this for the colorwork in the yoke:

Pebbles on a mystery wool base

One unfortunate thing about getting older (at least is an adult) is that you still have work, walk the dog, and make dinner on your birthday, so I'm thinking of getting started on this new sweater as my gift to myself. I might also make myself a cake, as I happen to have ingredients on hand! Otherwise, it'll just be a normal day. I'll be sure to enjoy the unusually warm weather on my run and walks with Ruthie, and I'd encourage you to enjoy what the day brings as well. Remember that if you have a treat to celebrate a friend's birthday, the calories don't count!