It's raining in Chi-town this morning. It's really nice that it is warm enough for precipitation not to turn into snow. I suspect we're not completely out of the woods yet, but I am really in need of Spring.

Yesterday my copy of Sally Melville's, The Knit Stitch arrived from Knit Picks. I spent the whole evening pouring over it instead of working on the next chapter of my thesis. Her instructional pictures really are good enough to learn something from and her patterns make me want to get something else started. I can imagine doing a number of projects from this book.

What made me most pleased was that I got to the last pattern in the book -- a pullover sweater that I looked at and knew it would appeal to John:

It's hard to make out the details in the picture (which I blatantly stole from KnitPicks because I am too lazy to scan it myself.) The collar and the very simple pattern stitch are the appeal. What made me even happier was showing it to John and having him raise an eyebrow and say, "Yeah, I'd definitely wear that."

Can you believe it? I finally got the right vibe.

With Spring coming, I'd like to make this sweater in a lighter weight yarn. Does anyone have any experience with Austermann Rubino or Schaffhauser Eviva? They're both at Elann and would give me the opportunity to give him a nice sweater at a reasonable price. I'm leaning toward the Rubino because I think it might be like Rowan Wool Cotton, which John loves.