happy happy may may!

It's May!

Flowers are blooming like crazy and the garden is giving up salad like nobody's business. Things are nutty-busy at work and the Little Pea is growing so fast and eating so much that I can't seem to prepare meals fast enough or frequently enough. But this beautiful breeze and the general spirit of "hooray spring!" makes it all so much fun.

So... in the spirit of spring growth and rebirth, I have some exciting news to share:

First, there's a free pattern coming your way this Friday. Wahoo! It's about time! This will be a quick, fun summer baby knit. Stay tuned!

Also... maybe I've mentioned once or twice three hundred times on this blog how much I love Blue Sky Alpacas line of organic cotton yarns (and all their scrumptious alpaca yarns too). I've designed quite a few little items with their yarn, and this month they are featuring my Bumpy Jacket & Hat as their free pattern of the month! Whee!


packed in a Pretty Cheep project bag

Thanks so much to the Blue Sky Alpacas staff for the shout-out, and especially for the luscious little bundle I received from them in the mail as my thank you: two skeins of Suri Merino in the most amazing earthy orange color you've ever seen. It is as soft as... well, as a suri or something. What should I do with it??? I'm thinking of an elegant fall scarf or cowl for me. Any suggestions?

I also have a long-overdue thanks to Géraldine from Filature du Valgaudemar, one of the oldest family-owned spinning mills in France. They have been spinning since 1830, and today Géraldine is producing wonderful yarns and hoping to infuse France's traditional knitters with more of the energy and fun that we're all sharing through things like Ravelry, Knitty and our neighborhood Stitch & Bitch groups (apparently the French knitters might have a little catching up to do... allons!).


Merci beaucoups!

Anyhow, Géraldine translated one of my patterns, the Mossy Jacket, into French, and in the spirit of trans-national knitterly love, she sent me some wonderful Muande yarn from her mill! She chose two colors for me: Flamme and Souris. What a lovely gift!

So, folks... any thoughts? How should I use these two sweet little packages of yarney love???