Manitoba Crocus

Ha!

Winter and Spring have sure played a trick on us here in Wonka Wonka Woods. Since both a  mother-in-law and grandbaby showed up on January 28-29, we’ve had almost no snow, no cold nor any other sort of so-called BAD WEATHER.

Manitoba Crocus

That’s not to say that socks aren’t still de rigeur. It’s just that you need them only at night or when you venture into the basement for frozen food out of the freezer.

This time, our pattern pays homage to that hardy little darling, the Crocus. Every year we anticipate the tiny green shoots with hope. With crocus comes spring; new beginnings, warmth, sunshine, happiness…

When it seems that winter will never end the flower manages to push its way through the snow on the grassland in a wondrous explosion of colour.

This sock is a tribute to the Prairie Crocus, which has been Manitoba’s provincial flower for almost 100 years, with a simple repeating pattern it perfectly suits this robust plant. Gender neutral in design, the sock is as masculine or feminine as the yarn you choose to knit it with.

Lady’s Slipper

This month’s sock offering is the Lady’s Slipper, named for the Prince Edward Island provincial flower.

For a better look, click here. The Lady’s Slipper blooms in spring and is found growing in the shade of the forest. Since it’s almost spring here, it’s time to peel off those bulky winter socks and dip our toes into some spring blooms…or at least wear lighter slippers.

In any event, enjoy!

 

 

What’s Not to Love About Purple?

This week’s featured sock is “Purple Violets”.  The Purple Violet is native to eastern North America and is the provincial flower of New Brunswick, in Canada’s Maritime region.

This low-growing leafy beauty produces a fruit “capsule” that splits into three sections at maturity to release numerous small seeds. The Purple Violet’s dark violet colours are particularly striking when placed near a bright white trellis or fence.

This sock showcases the vibrant juxtaposition of dark violet and bright white in this example but imagine it in your own favourite colour.

Blue Flags of Quebec

This month’s pattern features socks designed to commemorate a place that’s near and dear to my heart; my home province of Quebec.

Many associate the fleur de lis with Quebec, as it is represented on the provincial flag; what many don’t realize is that since 1999, the Blue Flag is the second flower chosen to
represent the province. Prior to 1999, the Madonna Lily was the provincial flower; however the Madonna Lily does not grow naturally in the province. Who knew?

The Blue Flag Iris is native to North America where it is common in meadows, marshes and along streambanks and shores.

Originally part of our Canadian Provincial Flower Pattern series, this pattern is available now to everyone. The pattern looks complicated but in reality it’s very intuitive. As awesome as it is in Blue Flag Iris colours (see the instructional pictures in the pattern for the true colours) these socks would be lovely in any colour.

Blue Flags of Quebec

Road Trip Mind Meanders

I had a lot of time to think this past weekend. The Mr. and I drove a total of 2128 km to watch a sporting event. That’s a lot of kilometres. And that’s a lot of time to think. You’d think that would be a lot of time to knit, but unfortunately it’s “spring Heave” season here and that doesn’t just pertain to the roads; it also involves the people who are passengers in cars on these roads. Can we say car sick?

Someone please remember me to bring remedies next time I venture so far at this time of year.

Thus and such, there was minimal knitting on the trip down but I did manage to get quite a bit done on the trip back; just not on the pattern I was hoping to do. That pattern involved reading as I went along and I didn’t want to risk it.

Since I’m able to multi-task, I also spent quite a bit of time thinking. I thought about friends and family and friends’ families and families’ friends. I thought about people who are no longer friends for one reason or another. It’s a strange and sad thing that we end up losing touch with some people that we really liked, when the people we can’t stand to be near never seem to go away.

In Wonka Wonka Woods it’s spring because someone decided that an arbitrary day (something to do with equinox, as I understand it) meant that suddenly winter was over and Mother Earth was ready to renew.

That is very much so 1056 km away from here. Daffodils were in full bloom, hydrangeas were ready to bloom, crab-apple trees were in full foliage and a few hedges we saw very much resembled the bougainvillea we see in the tropics. People were in flip flops (although that happens here even with snow on the ground), shorts and light jackets.

Here, it’s still beige everywhere, we are still 2 months away from daffodils, leaves and flowers on fruit trees.

Remind me again why we choose to live here? It’s not a financial thing; at least I hope not. It’s definitely not for the weather, although we do have really quite wonderful weather. In spite of my words above, those aforementioned flowers and leaves – yeah they come at a cost. It rains there almost constantly; everyone commented on how wonderful the weather was – it’s pretty much the weather we see most of the time (just a few degrees cooler). It’s not for the beautiful architecture or history – this place is barely 100 years old.

It’s for the friendships and wonderful people that are here. People that are there when you need them and go away when you want to be alone…to let your mind meander.