More Retro Sweaters

Today is all about something old and something new. For a new thing, I tried cooking shrimp. The only other shrimp I have ever cooked were bought fresh off the boat in Galvaston, and that is a totally different enterprise from dealing with the huge bag of frozen stuff I got at the Costco yesterday. The inlaws are very very fond of a shrimp salad so that is what I gave them for Sunday dinner. Learned how to defrost shrimp in brine and gently steam them to doneness. They, and the spouse, say it was good, but I was so tired of messing with shrimp by that time that they ate mondo salads and I had an egg salad sandwich. For old, I have been ransacking my chest of drawers to find old sweaters I had forgotton about. Here is the old V-neck pullover I used to wear in high school and college. It was featured in McCall's Needlework at the time. I used to wear this sweater with a grey wool skirt I made out of an old overcoat that had belonged to my father or grandfather. That grey wool was first a coat (the wool was very thick and closely woven), then my skirt, and then cut up and rolled into a bolster for a bobbin-lace-making pillow.

The vest is part of a series of vests I made. I always liked this pattern (which I designed) and now have adapted the pattern to include sleeves. The garter bands are manipulated to lie flat around the curves.

The crabapple down the street is blooming, and suddenly, there is a patch of tulips in the front yard. I don't remember there being that many tulips there, only one bloomed last year. In honor of beautiful Spring, here are some pictures from our yard: