I'm looking for the perfect flower . . . in my secret garden

It's almost hard to remember how beautiful Sunday was with all this Monday blah. Inspired by all the colors and smells, we took tons of pictures in both the Conservatory and Shakespeare Gardens (and along the way).




















Since Thursday, I've been carrying around all this stuff in my bag (different colors and brands of sock yarn, Knitting Vintage Socks, a bunch of free pattern printouts, and a bunch of different needle sizes (not shown) with the idea that I'd come up with the perfect sock to knit.

I know, a sock. I'm the type that gets on a kick (first legwarmers, then hats) and that's all I can think about. Knit-wise, that is.

When I woke up with a case of the Monday blahs, looking at those pictures, especially the ones with deep purples and blues and lavender and pink, I had an A-ha! moment.

Broadripple Socks from Knitty using cascade fixation's "hyacinth" -- my favorite flower!

And the nicest thing about this pattern is that I already know how to do the heel since the Ribbed Fixation Sock pattern used the same heel, so I've got the combination of a new challenge (this ripple pattern, which actually is pretty easy once you get going) with the comfort of something familiar.

Like your favorite spot in the garden.

Thankfully, there's more than one bench.

*footnote: According to the Garden Guide to New York City: the south section of the Conservatory was often referred to as "the secret garden," though this weekend, it really was no secret. I'm going to try to get there again during the week.

p.s. While "looking for the perfect flower," I saw this guy. And cause I don't know where else to put it, I'm going to tell you that I saw Jim Jarmusch (again) but this time he was just standing there and I saw him really close up. This was last Monday.