Hanami Progress from Susie

Hello, everyone! Well, I cast on a bit late, although I had ingredients in hand. I waited until the kiddoes here went back to school this past Wednesday.

I had planned to use some Hunt Valley white cashmere from my stash but decided I wanted a pale cherry blossom pink, after all. So I picked up some Sirdar Country Style 4-ply (acrylic/nylon/wool) in the main town. It's the perfect color, but a bit heaver in weight, like a sock yarn. I've used it for baby blankets, socks, and a lace scarf before, so I know it wears like iron and washes easily. Not to mention, it was available locally for instant gratification!

I'm using clear, silver-lined beads and 3.5 mm needles. This Ingredients shot here shows the color of the beads and wool pretty well. Because the yarn is not lace weight, I'm doing only three repeats in the center area, not four. So far, so good. I really like the beaded cast-on edge, although it took me a few starts to trust my work and keep going. I think I will scatter more beads in the blossom portion.

I'm into repeat 2 now, but the progress picture shows the first repeat only. Click it for more detail. You can see the beading fairly well, and some of my gorgeous new stitch markers are visible to the right. They came from Annalea at The Passionate Mind. If you look at this post on her blog, my stitch markers are the blue set designed by her son. Isn't he awesome? Isn't she awesome?