Signs of spring

I think spring must be my favourite season in Britain. I'm originally from Washington DC, where spring passes far too quickly - you get a couple nice weeks in March and April, and suddenly the weather is sweltering and the spring flowers have all wilted.

In Britain, on the other hand, spring arrives in late February and lasts and lasts and lasts... until summer shows up briefly in June or July, if you're lucky. And then by August it is already autumn. In fact, you could argue there are actually only two seasons in Britain, spring and autumn, sandwiching a few weeks of winter and summer at each end.

I used to lament the lack of summer, but I've decided it makes more sense to enjoy spring for all it is worth. It helps to have a garden - around this time I start noticing all the spring flowers blooming and become enthused about gardening again.

Spring certainly seems to have arrived in the past week or so. The balmy weather motivated me to finally get out and start running. I went for a run at University Parks with a friend on Sunday, and was delighted to see snowdrops carpeting the ground.

The snowdrops I planted at the allotment last autumn are coming up nicely - not in quite as much profusion, but all the same I'm inordinately pleased with them.

six whole snowdrops, and one daffodil just about ready to burst forth

The arrival of spring also means a change of wardrobe. I'm suddenly coveting a pair of Bensimon sneakers. I think these are a better option than the ubiquitous Converse. They don't make your feet look freakishly long and narrow, so you can wear them with skirts and not look like a clown. And they come in so many lovely colours. I can't decide if I should get the elasticated green ones, or practical beige. Or why not both?

Or no, wait. I absolutely MUST have these!

These remind me of saddle shoes, which are
apparently enjoying a resurgence via Japan. 

And finally, I've started a new knitting project, a stranded colourwork and lace shawl designed by one of my favourite designers, Kieran Foley. I'm knitting it in a range of green, grey and yellow Holst Garn 4-ply that I picked up at Le Comptoir in Paris last fall (available in 115 shades!). The shawl is called Mercato dei Fiori - the flower market - but mine will be more like an early spring meadow dotted with daffodils.

Signs of spring - a new shawl and daffodils

Is it spring yet?

We've had a very mixed up winter in England this year. It was extremely mild in the run-up to Christmas, so much so that I never really got in the mood for the holiday season. It was very mild in the US as well - we didn't even get snow for Christmas in Michigan - and when we returned to Oxford the unseasonable weather continued. Until suddenly in late January a cold snap arrived. For several weeks we had Arctic temperatures (down to -11C) and even a couple of snowfalls. Pretty unusual for England, particularly in this time of year.

But now spring seems to be on its way, and it's time to start thinking about gardening again. Which is why, killing time before a meeting in London, I stopped by Muji for some storage accessories.

I was getting frustrated with the state of my seed collection, which was stuffed higgledy-piggledy into bags and plastic trays. I wanted to put everything in one box, organised by plant type and sowing date. But when presented with all the great stuff at Muji, I couldn't stop at one box - I also found a cute little bag with lots of pockets to tidily transport my seeds down to the garden.

This should help me with continuous planting
so I don't run out of lettuce in early summer

But it is my garden plan that most clearly demonstrates what a neat freak I am. I create a new plan each year mapping out crop rotation - what plants I'm going to grow and where. I've learned that rotation is not strictly necessary with an allotment plot. Allotments are infested with pests, and they'll find your plants no matter how much you move them around. And because I have limited space I can't just leave plots planted with soil improving green manure crops, so I really need to fertilise all the beds each year. But never mind, I enjoy the planning, and it can never hurt to learn good habits.

It is still too early to start planting, but never too early to start planning. And there are already things to enjoy down at the garden, like early spring flowers and even some vegetables.

tulips, grape hyacinth and anemone

my first snowdrop and what should be daffodils

forcing the rhubarb by covering it with a bucket

winter broad beans growing snugly in their polytunnel

Unfortunately not all is sprouting and thriving, and I have already discovered one victim of this year's cold weather. I knew I should have covered my artichokes!

artichokes - grown from seed, so doubly disappointing to lose

New York knitting

We squeezed in a trip up to New York just before New Year's. The main purpose of the trip was to see the new Islamic wing of the Metropolitan museum (at least that was how I justified it). The REAL main purpose was to visit that holy of knitting holies, the yarn mecca of Habu Textiles, with side visits to Purl Soho and any other yarn shops I could fit in to our frantic sightseeing schedule.

We stayed in the enormous Hotel Pennsylvania on 7th Ave, right across from Madison Square gardens. It was conveniently located right next to our bus stop, but unfortunately also conveniently located for all the Times Square gawkers and show goers. There was quite a long line for check-in, which got worse the closer we got to New Year's. But the advantages of staying in a large impersonal hotel far outweighed the disadvantages - the shower was brilliant (the second most important feature in a hotel room, after the size and comfort of the bed), and we had a pretty decent view.

Empire State viewed from our hotel window

First order of business after checking in was to go visit Habu Textiles. Habu only sells their own yarn, and additionally does not have a street-level shop - instead they open the front room of their studio in the garment district to visitors. So you are only going to find fanatical Habu fans like me there - a couple of other people did show up to browse the shop while I was there. But I had the place to myself for a short while, during which I swooped around the room exclaiming while I snatched up ever more odd and wonderful fibres.

They have an annual sale in December, and I was able to get 2 skeins of brown superfine merino and 3 skeins of brown wool/silk steel at 25% off, which I plan to use on a dress of my own design (New Year's resolution #1). I also bought a bag of odds and ends, which I hope to use in weaving (New Year's resolution #3). I have gradually accumulated a lot of random Habu yarns over the years (too expensive to buy enough for a large project, too intriguing to pass up), and I think it will be wonderful to experiment weaving with it.

In the end the only other yarn shop I managed to visit was Purl Soho. It's a nice enough shop, but the neighbourhood is not my favourite - Soho seems very much the part of town where the 1% hang out and shop. But we stayed long enough to check out their yarn selection.

Actually, they sell a lot more than just yarn, and I was very tempted by some specially dyed wool squares to make quilt blankets, but I already have piles of Scottish wool blankets. They didn't have any yarn I was crazy about, but I bought a couple of skeins anyway (it's not like you can go in a yarn shop and NOT buy anything!). My default choice in this kind of situation is fine, grey luxury. I bought a skein of Jade Sapphire Silk/Cashmere 2-ply and a skein of Alchemy Silken Straw. Maybe one of these days I'll be able to weave myself a silk cashmere shawl.

Here are a couple of souvenir images of a wonderful quick visit to New York - a little metal hare from the excellent new wing of the Met, and Habu's cat mascot.