First Bloom of the Season

I've been doing some work in the garden - mostly weeding. The first Siberian iris is in bloom.

The rest are in bud but this one is right against the bricks of the house so the extra warmth must have encouraged it to bloom early.

I've decided not to plant any vegetables this year. I did not have success with the tomatoes last year, probably because I didn't fertilize at all. I'll buy a peck in the fall and make my yard sauce from those. I do, however, plan to plant some cilantro seeds and one basil plant. I have tons of oregano and chives. So much oregano that I've had to rip it out by the handsful. 

While going through some of my yarn stash I discovered some balls of sock yarns that I've had for a long time - by that I mean at least two decades. Austermann Step yarn has been treated with Aloe Vera and Jojoba oil. 

It is lovely to work with. I'm not thrilled about the colourway (01) as the repeats are very long so it's almost impossible to do identical twins without wasting a lot of yarn, pulling until you find the same spot where the first sock was started. I'm not even going to try.

Last night I finished the first one which I had only started two nights before.

Using a 2.5mm needle I cast on 68 sts and did K3, P1 ribbing for 8" (20cm). Then an Eye of Partridge heel on half the sts, continuing it on the bottom of the heel until the gusset decreases were finished (as I had done on the previous socks). Then stocking stitch to the toes and usual toe decreases.

I knit three little stealth projects which I'll have to wait to show until they can be revealed.

I have So. Much. laceweight yarn. Not sure what I'll knit with it. Same goes for sock yarn. Like I did a couple of years ago, I'm going to keep a sock on the needles. They're great to knit whilst watching TV.