In her poem, “Instructions on Not Giving Up,” Ada Limón says, “…it’s the greening of the trees… a new slick leaf unfurling…” that really gets to her. It gets to me, too, as does finding a lovely leaf lace pattern to knit. Inspired by Ms. Limón’s poetry, I’ve adapted a leaf and bud pattern from Hitomi Shida’s Japanese Knitting Stitch Bible (reviewed in Cast On Spring 2018) to create an elegant lace cowl, the perfect winter gift to remind a loved one that spring is coming.