...and we go forward...
Spring is here, cold, wet, leaden of sky, but here nonetheless.  We go on.

It's been a month of odd-ish socks.  These are pedi-socks, for keeping one's feet warm whilst one's toenails are being painted.  Pattern designed for a Ravelry group to which I belong.  Crystal Palace Panda Wool for the green (I don't usually use non-superwash for socks, but these won't get washed all that often) and Opal for the cream.  I like the lace pattern and will probably knit another pair from this pattern one day, with toes.

 These, and the following pair, were designed as a part of the "Pay-It-Forward" thing I did on Facebook earlier this year.  Opal, in a Uni-color red/brown, and in a speckled/striped yarn that was a test-skein I purchased from Soxie, the former sole importer/distributor of Opal yarns in the USA, a couple of years ago.  Test skeins are produced in limited numbers, and can be quite hard to come by, I've heard.
    

I alternated the two yarns: cast on in one color for each pair and worked the top ribbing, then switched to the other for cuffs, switched again for legs and feet.  I knit both pair at the same time on two circs, and had plenty to finish both pair, even with the longer turn-down cuff.
 The striped/speckled yarn pooled oddly, but I decided to just forge ahead rather than try to change that.  The pooling did change a bit on one of the socks, after a cat chewed off the yarn and I had to splice it back in. Geeze...I have never had cats that bothered my yarn before, and these two that belong to my son and his family are a real trial.

My friend Suzanne, in Texas, will receive the pair with dark feet, and the pair with light feet will be mine... sister socks, if you will, similar but very different. : )  She is going to name the pattern, as it was designed specifically for her.
The socks have a ruffled top, a pretty ribbed lace pattern from one of the Barbara Walker books for the legs and insteps, eye-of-partridge heel flaps and a Dutch heel.

 My tulips bloomed early this year, and with the cooler weather they are lasting a long time.  This is the second year since Robby, then just two years old, helped me plant them.

I have been told, "Every time you see a tulip, someone in The Netherlands is thinking of you."  I cannot imagine who that would be, now that my Dutch friend is gone, but it's a lovely thought all the same.