Three beautiful things from this past (allergy-laden) week:

1. I’ve had issue with the button bands on my sweater. On the first one, I picked up too few stitches, which made the band contract. (Rudi mistook it for the neckband when I was knitting it.) So on the second one, I got smart and doubled all the stitches on the second row. Unfortunately, this gave me an undulating effect that, while pretty, is not what I was hoping for. I’m thinking that if I increase every other stitch this next try, I ought to get the perfect number of stitches. (No wonder Goldilocks needed a nap!)

2. As Rudi and I walked home from the Metro last night, the scent of hyacinths perfumed the moonlit air.

3. Rudi’s mom always wanted a daughter and delights now in buying clothes for me. I’m a jeans and tshirt kind of gal, so we often disagree about what I ought to wear. But in the last six months, she did a pretty good job of accumulating clothes that I not only liked, but also looked pretty good in. We only had one item that was hideous — an orange orange knit tank top. (Me: The orange tank was the only thing that was too small. … And it’s a pretty hideous color on me. Her: I know! But it was only a dollar, so how could I pass it up?) Some items — a long turquoise linen skirt, a red cashmere sleeveless top, a black sparkly tank — will actually get a lot of wear.