Ab-Fab

Pattern: "Spring Forward," by Linda Welch, available free on Knitty here
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy - 100% plied superwash merino wool
Colorway: Petal Shower


Plus: Um, I'm utterly nutzoid crazy bonkers in love with this pattern! The lace looks complicated but is SO simple and intuitive and soothing. I relished working on this project more than any other project I've done in a long time. Can't recommend it enough. Go knit some right now! And the colorway? Quite ladylike (rather than babyish, as feared) when paired with this elegant lace.


Delta: Well, I'm in love with wool socks. And it's summer. In Texas. I'm picturing myself this fall, reclining in a wooden chair on a balcony in Virginia, looking down on the fiery burst of colors tumbling across the Shenandoah Valley. I've got some silky, meditative knitting in the lap and a hazelnut latte in an over-sized mug on the table next to me. As I tend to do when feeling totally relaxed, my legs are stretched out and up, so that my heels, wrapped in woolly clouds of strawberry and cream lace, rest on the guardrail edge. Yeah. You want hand knit socks now, too.

We visited my husband's Grandad in the hospital today. He just had open-heart surgery due to a recently discovered 90% blockage! That poor, sweet man has had the worst luck. Only 70, he's already fought back cancer four times and already manages arrhythmia, severe tremors, chronic pain, and diabetes. When we were preparing to drive back to Dallas from Breckenridge, Jake got a call saying that Grandad was in the hospital, and we should brace ourselves for the worst: his heart was barely functioning and the lymphoma was probably back as well. Jake and I drove all through the night to get there as quickly as possible, but by then, things were already looking up. Lymphoma was a negative and the surgeon thought him strong enough to recover from open-heart. That man never ceases to amaze me with his strength and grace. I keep wanting to grab his hand and whisper, "Now, you just hold on! I really want you to meet your great-grandchild, so just hold on."

Watts' family afghan square #25: