Has it Sprung?

With all the snow we got this past weekend, I can now see grass on our front lawn. A day of 50 degree temperatures and rain will help that melting right along. Mid 50's are predicted for today and tomorrow and even into the mid 60's next week! Has spring finally arrived? Knowing Mother Nature and how she loves to tease us here in New England, I'm sure we'll have one more snow before it really sets in (we've gotten an inch or so of snow around my birthday before which is mid-May!). The warmer temps (however temporary) lead me to think of spring knits. I'm not much of one to wear short sleeve or sleeveless knits, but I do like lightweight sweaters that I can wear to work (where it remains arctic like all year). When I reorganized the craft room a while back, I took a look at what I had for sweater yarn stash. Not tons. I have the Nature Wool I got at Stitches this year, the frogged Gap Sweater that is a 50% wool/50% acrylic blend, 1200 yards of a merino/angora DK weight, and about 1600 yards of creamy colored Naturelle 8/8 which is a heavy DK cotton/linen blend. I haven't really thought about patterns. The Gap yarn is probably going to be a licorice whip, but the others....any thoughts? Spring and summer sweaters aren't my usual (or comfortable) domain.

In the meantime, the garter stitch socks are pretty much done - just a tiny bit left. The past few days have provided me with little knitting time. The Turkish Stockings remain as they were. I did re-write the chart, and now am waiting to get started knitting it.

Last night I did manage to knit an inch or so on the Street Smart Hoodie. With the back approaching completion (I am at the point where I'm going to start shaping the armholes) I figured I should start thinking about the front as it's the only piece left to knit! (and the hood too) The picture in the pattern doesn't really show you the front from a good angle.

I don't think I want a zip front (though I'm still undecided) but I'm not sure how it would look with the same knitting minus the zipper (just a plain pullover hoodie). I did, however, find nice finished shots with a full 360 degree views here, here and here (hooray for Google!). If I do make a closed front, I was thinking of eliminating the innermost two cables and just having the outside one on each side. Maybe do a column of knit stitches in place of the inner cables. I think the four cables with no zipper would be a bit much. Thoughts? I may also go the half zip route again (ala the Urban Aran). It's a style that just works really well for me. My motivation to knit on it has upped a little - three projects going was too many for me to divide my attention and limited knitting time between. With the garter stitch socks essentially done, I can now go back to my sock +1 WIP formula. The yarn is airy and light enough I think I can get spring and early summer wear out of it if I finish it in time.

I am really tempted to start another pair of socks. Inspiration is everywhere (have you seen these and these over at mustaa villaa?)and it is hard not to get startitis. But, I have vowed to use up as much of my sock yarn stash as I can before the Maryland Festival (did you see they put the new catalog cover art up - not quite as cute as last year, but another nice pick!) so I won't feel quite as guilty buying more. I guess I'll see how the Turkish Stockings progress and go from there.

Happy Spring!!