Spring has (not) Sprung

It's that time of year when we've all had just about enough of this grey wet cold weather -- Spring promises to be right aroudn the corner but I can't help but feel like it's really taking it's time to arrive this year. Rather than get caught up in this dreary weather, I decided I would search from some inspiring Spring projects to jump start the season. My thinking is that if I start knitting and sewing in my favourite Spring colours, the grey skies outside will follow-suit and brighten up as well, or so I hope!

One of the firsrt places I always check out for new projects is Purl Soho's blog, The Purl Bee and they've just posted their favourite Spring projects here:
http://www.purlbee.com/
How adorable is this sparrow's nest!!

I'm also totally hooked on Stephen West's patterns at the moment, having recently finished his Flagstone Scarf (pictures coming soon, I promise!!). Next on my list his amazing book, Westknits, is the Daybreak pattern which you can also find on Ravelry:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/daybreak
I love that his patterns are unisex, and most can be work many different ways.

So untill Spring actually comes to the West Coast, I'll be inside knitting and (as usual) daydreaming about sunnier weather!

Knitting on the Road

I've been on a bit of a craft hiatus in these first few months of 2011. Deciding to create all handmade Christmas gifts this year proved to be a very rewarding, yet very time consuming project, so I think I a little rest was well deserved.

I recently started a new job in the apparel industry, and headed out on the road with a coworker for a week or so to meet some clients. Our journey took us all the way from Vancouver, BC to Denver, CO with stops along the way including Boise, ID (not much to see there, sorry Boise), Salt Lake City, UT, Boulder, CO, and Portland, OR which was my absolute FAV stop on the entire trip! If you ever find yourself in Portland, please do yourself the service of stopping by Voodoo Doughnuts, they even have vegan options and they are AMAZING!
http://www.voodoodoughnut.com/

While I didn't have time to pop into any of the knitting shops while I was travelling, I did however take a project with me to help the long hours pass quicker while I was in the passenger seat. I stopped by the always adorable and well stocked knitting shop near my office, Baaad Anna's (http://www.baaadannas.com/index.html) and got my supplies to give the Flagstone scarf pattern by Stephen West a try. You can find the pattern here on Ravelry:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/flagstone



Here is a picture of the scarf, about halfway done...in a heaped pile on my lap! Hard to tell what it looks like, but I promise to post an updated picture as soon as I get the scarf finished.






Hopefully I`ll have enough wool left over and I can make a second version, but with a different colour placement. Stay tuned for the final product, and I promise I'm not disappearing for two months again ;)