I have permanent spring fever. I love walking down the street, cool breeze in my hair, trees beginning to sprout buds, crocuses already popping up to put small bursts of color on a barren ground, blue sky and the sounds of birds coming back from their vacation to the south. I love that it’s still chilly enough to warrant a lovely lace shawl wrapped around your shoulders, a lightweight hat or some fingerless wristers to cut the chill. I love this in-between stage where you can’t yet pack away the winter gear but it’s not yet time to drag out the tank tops and shorts, bid your knits adieu and break out the beach gear.
Spring. I love it.
So fleeting in an almost “blink and you’ll miss it” time period, spring is the best season, yet gets the least airplay. Here in DC, summer drags on to a punishment similar to Chinese water torture. Drip, drip, drip… The oppressive days drag on from May to late September, the mercury climbing higher still until you feel like you may as well retreat to an air-conditioned cave (with lots of knitting).
I adore a good long winter, snowflakes dancing their way down and exploding into a crescendo of extra snow knitting days, the constant need to wrap yourself in as much knitwear as possible, giant mugs of tea and arguments over what the best fiber is.
Fall comes and goes almost as quickly as spring, making me long for my childhood days of growing up in New England with the fireworks display of reds and golds the trees would put on for us. Sure, there are some signs of fall here, but nothing like a crisp, northern autumn.
Which brings me back to spring, or “printemps” as the French call it. This shawl is the perfect garment to get you through the transition of down jacket to no jacket at all. With the body of the shawl knit first, followed by 2 borders attached with a 3-needle bind off, you can tote it around with you easily. The feminine lace reminds me of rolling hills covered in grass, which is precisely why I chose this beautiful color, dill. I’m particularly excited about the yarn because it has a subtle sparkle. I like a good sparkle yarn as much as the next girl, but a lot of companies tend to overdo the sparkle, making you look more ready for Vegas than everyday life. This new superwash yarn from Cascade called Sunseeker has the PERFECT amount of sparkle, with the metallic thread matching the yarn color. Smart!
A blend of metallic, cotton and acrylic, Sunseeker comes in a generous 237 yard hank at a mere $8. $8 for 237 yards of sparkly yarn in 15 shades? Count me in!
Not only am I giddy that it’s finally spring, I’m excited to have found my new go-to sparkle yarn! Free Printemps Shawl pattern available for download here.