Still Winter Here

I might just finish my Einstein Coat while it's still cold enough to wear it. I'm seaming it now, but it looks like a big cream blob so I'm not going to post a photo.

I did finish my little folk embroideries. They are very cute, but I'm not sure what to do with them. Ideas? (They are 8 x 8).

And while the calendar says it's March 10, my yard is blanketed with snow. My brother is visiting from Virginia and, to my surprise, he walked with me this morning when the temperature was 5 degrees (with wind chill).

I did get a little trip to the tropics Sunday evening. I have a friend who is an exceptionally avid gardener. She grows dozens of elephant ears outdoors in the warm weather. In the winter, she and her husband dig them up and bring them inside, where they place the plants in pots and horse troughs. No, I am not making this up.

As you can see, it's pretty amazing.

Unravelled Wednesday

First the knitting: If you look closely, you can see that I've begun to knit the right front of the Einstein Coat. I'm enjoying all this garter stitch. VERY relaxing!

BTW, a skein of Cascade Ecological is very large:

I'm finally starting on a pair of mittens for Rachel. It's going to take me all year to knit the beautiful Songbird Mittens. The pattern isn't that difficult, but there are lots of long floats, and I'm very slow at catching those. 

I've been on an English mystery journey for the last four months. I fell in love with the BBC Shetland mystery series Shetland a year ago. The series is based on books by British writer Ann Cleeves. So I read her other series, the Vera Stanhope novels. Then I read all the Shetland books, and I just finished the last one:

So, I can tell you that the books are better than the TV shows. All the books are worth reading, though I am partial to the Shetland series.

 That said, the Shetland series is worth watching. Each book is an entire season, so you get an in-depth story. I personally do not like the Vera TV series. Each book gets 3 episodes, so the stories are stripped down. Also, there are a million seasons and only 6 books, so it's an entirely different animal.

Joining up with Kat for Unravelled Wednesday.

 

You'll Never Guess What This Is

 Well?

Believe it or not, it's a sweater! It's the Einstein Coat by Sally Melville. I've wanted to make it for ages, and I was able to nab the perfect yarn (Cascade Ecological) on sale when the Wisconsin Craft Market went out of business last month. I'm really focusing on embroidery, so I wanted a simple but useful knitting project.

Our old house had hot water heat, so our cats have been delighted to discover heating vents. Especially since we keep our house at 64 degrees. 

I'm off to lunch with my mother. I'm bringing food because the dining room in her retirement community is still closed. We are making great progress with getting help in for her, so I expect things to settle down soon.