A sprint towards the finish line

Soft Rain, Soft Flowers

Today is what we call a day of "soft rain" back where I come from, a romantic sounding phrase which doesn't sound so bad but in fact refers to one of those grey, drizzley days. The rain never really gets going enough to require an umbrella but it is too wet to dry the washing and my hair frizzs just thinking about it. In fact it is the sort of day which features all too often in the weather of Ireland, Wales and I suspect (though do not have first hand experience so my apologies if I am doing you a diservice) Scotland. It is distinguished from a grey day in winter by the temperature, again, not warm enough to dry clothes but too warm for a fire to make things feel cosy. Every once in a while a cloud forgets itself for a moment and we have a peep at the sun but it never lasts for more than a few moments. As I write this I am listening to the radio news telling me of the proposed drought order in the South of England.

I did venture out this morning just to inspect the greenhouse seedlings (you should just see my hair now, remember Crystal Tips) and gathered some cheering lilac. We have one bush in the garden proper and several growing wild in our little woodland area. Now that the bulbs are over and my beautiful camelias just look soggy and somehow tawdry these are the only things flowering at the moment. The bushes are mostly rather leggy and mishapen but they make up for that with their wonderful scent. I didn't have my secateurs on me but on impulse just pulled some off anyway and they are now doing a marvelous job of cheering up my kitchen with that heady scent and such pretty shades of lilac.*

In the last week I've had news of my One Skein secret pal and my Rowanette Exchangee. I haven't taken part in anything like this before and have been ridiculously excited but now that it is actually beginning I feel a little nervous, I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew. I have one skein in my stash that might be suitable for my One Skein pal (if I can bear to part with it of course), the skein pictured here is laceweight silk from Curious Yarns. The colourway is Tired Roses, such a beautiful name. I treated myself to this at Christmas but as I haven't yet managed to knit anything with it maybe it should be re-homed with someone more deserving.

* While waiting for my photos to download I went blog reading and discovered that the lovely Yarnstorm also has a lilac led post today. It seems it is a day for lilac wherever we are. That Lorna's Laces looks so soft and sumptious.