Fireflies and other omens

While I was driving to work yesterday morning, I saw a chipmunk go tearing across the road with its little tail held high. I took it to be a good sign--I'm always looking for some sort of good omen before I actually arrive at work. I'm not really sure what a chipmunk might mean, but the day wasn't bad.

This morning, I saw a kingfisher zoom across the yard in the direction of the river. I'm not working today, but the presence of the kingfisher does indeed seem like a good sign. Combined with the arrival of fireflies who entertain us with their little bio-luminescent bums, the summer should be off to a marvelous start.

I've got fiber coming in the mail. More Corgi Hill fiber, to be exact. AnneMarie had a sale a little while ago and was kind enough to hold on to some of the merino/camel/silk for me. If I can, I'll spin it into lace or fingering weight yarn for a scarf or shawl. The fiber is a mix of greens and white that she called "Leeks", so I'll have to find a pattern that's appropriately earthy. Any suggestions, my knitterly friends? Or should I wait until the yarn is spun before I solicit ideas... hm... 

I've got a couple spindles on the way, too. One is coming all the way from the Isle of Wight, from the IST workshop, and the other is coming from Mr. Dragonfly, who was kind enough to do another custom job for me: a square bloodwood whorl with a holly shaft. I think I need a bigger jar, but this should be it for a while. My collection is extensive enough to have a lot of bases covered: the Corgi Hill Werefox batts are still going, then there's the Ashland Bay merino/tencel blend, and then there's Sally's BFL. And, gasp, there's one spindle that's quite nekkid, but not for lack of anything to spin since my fiber basket overfloweth.

Knitting has been a slow process since I started slaying zombies for Umbrella Corp. I have two pairs of socks in progress--a pair of very pink Wasabi Peas and a pair of green, leafy Midsummer Night's Dreams with Liberty's Yarns' Kaguya and Pagewood Farm's Denali--and I'm almost finished with my sweater vest. I'm a little stumped on how and where to put the Umbrella logo, especially since the chart I've got is so huge. It needs to be smaller and a little more discreet, I think, so I guess it's back to the drawing board for that part of it. In the meantime, though, I'll work on picking up stitches around the armholes--it's easier to do if you slip the first stitch of every row, but you have to be careful to adjust the number to make the 2x2 ribbing work.