After a chilly Saturday today is a spectacular spring day! The sun is bright, bulb flowers are in bloom, neighbors are mowing the grass & the birds are singing loudly. As I finish up this post the ice cream truck has just come down the street on his first run of the year.

In my front yard the crocus are blooming. At my back door, Doris the dove is a proud mama to 2 baby doves.

Colore Rosso e Colore Rosa
First up today, a belated Red & Pink Project Spectrum entry. These are the postcards from my March postcard swap. I was paired with Karla who is living in Rome with her family for a year. (How fun!) Her postcard shows her red & pink interpretation of Rome.

This image is even more appropriate for me because of my trip to Italy & Greece last year. When we toured Vatican City we were able to go into the Sistine Chapel – it is truly amazing to look up at the ceiling & all the details of the mural. You are not allowed to take pictures while in there; however that didn’t prevent some from blatently framing a shot & using the flash – ouch! I have seen an amazing “no flash” picture of the center of the ceiling where a random snap at the ceiling yielded a great shot.

My postcard included a detail of my double ruffle pink hibiscus from on my deck last summer.

Introducing iPocket
I have finished up the cozy/case for my iPod. I have dubbed this “iPocket” & it is loosely based on the Techno Cozy from the first SnB. iPocket is larger than the iPod & is meant to house my iPod & the headphones & be easily found in my purse or other bag.

The Knit Details: Cascade 220 (7814, 7803, 8886, 7919, 7827) on size 8 needles. Knit as a rectangle with decreases to form the envelope flap. Sides seamed together. One large snap to keep it closed. Yellow button is decorative only.

Simple Knits – Springtime Gifts
The April Monthly Dishcloth KAL was a watering can pattern. I had previously seen the pattern when I discovered the double heart pattern & planned some springtime dishcloths to match some spring towels. Some of these will be gifted around Easter with some fun spring themed towels.

The Knit Details: The Watering Can can be found at Melissa’s Knit Dishcloth Page. All on size 8 needles. Sugar’n Cream yarns (Daisy Ombre, Playtime, Cool Breeze Ombre, Yellow). This pattern definitely shows up better using a solid yarn; however, the variegated yarns are very springy & match some towels. Since each of these includes orange or yellow they are part of my Project Spectrum craftiness for April.

Warming Grace (& Simone, too)!

One of the things that I have enjoyed about being a part of this knit blog community is the way that everyone comes together when a need is identified. After the blue square for Christine’s Comforting Jef project I have been busy with pink squares for Cynthia’s Warming Grace project. Cynthia is creating 2 blankets of 5×5 pink squares for her neice, Grace, & Grace’s best friend (Simone) who are both battling cancer. These will be on their way to Canada this week.

The Knit Details: Frog Tree 100% Alpaca Wool, Sport Weight, Pink (#208), Melissa’s Knit Valentine Dishcloth pattern (removed 4 stitches from each side & 4 rows from each end), knit on size 3 needles (Hero brand, from my Grandma’s collection of needles).

Italian Reading

In addition to finishing up all these knit project this weekend I also managed to finish up my most recent fiction read: The Almond Picker by Simonetta Agnello Hornby. This was a great read about a Sicilian house servant. The story begins with her death & over the next couple of days & months the details of her life begin to unfold through gossip and flashbacks. I had never heard of this book prior to my last visit to Costco – it was another excellent Costco find. The trip to Costco that yielded this book also included the purchase of The Silver Spoon cookbook – the classic volume of Italian cuisine. This is a huge book that is a delight to look through & contains thousands of recipes & lots of great pictures. Dinner tonight will come from these reads: Chicken in Almond Sauce & Asparagus with Orange.

Looking Ahead…
Last weekend’s road trip to Michigan got us looking ahead to summer & on Monday we booked our annual girls weekend in Michigan for mid-June. I can’t wait to go back to Harbor Country! This month I joined the Vacation Knitting Swap & look forward to creating a vacation knit for a fellow knit blogger. Also, now that I have the Oneskein book I have joined the One Skein Knit-Along. Links to both are on my Joining In the Fun! page.

In Project Spectrum news, I didn’t have a chance to do the Orange & Yellow hunt around the house this weekend – pictures to come in coming weeks!