After a frighteningly mild start, winter has arrived with a vengeance. I am home for a second snow day in two weeks. And it looks like we may call off school for another day or two this week because of frigid temperatures.
This is not a good thing. We only budget for two weather days per school year, so we have to add minutes or days if we have three or more weather days. Not that I'm complaining today. A three-day weekend is always nice!
However, after I post this, I need to take a walk. The temperature is around 0 -- and that is about as warm as it is going to get for this week. And then I need to do some paperwork for school. Those special ed deadlines do not shift for snow days!
I've started a second Dewberry cowl with a skein of Sun Valley fibers. The yarn is super-soft and the perfect shade of blue to wear with denim.
I finished my Soundwaves Shawl and I'm not sure I'm happy with it. It hasn't been blocked, but it looks like the outer edge isn't going to accommodate the top edge smoothly. I looked at Ravelry, and I'm not the only person to run into this issue. We'll see if blocking helps.
On the first snow day, I went skiing on the bike path with some friends. It wasn't too bad. And it was nice to ski without driving Up North.
I have been finishing up small art quilts, so I have a stack of them that need quilt labels. I spent about an hour this morning making some. I am just very slow with a sewing machine. I don't mind hand-sewing them onto the quilts.
Yesterday, I went over my friend Tsela's house and we drew. I am quite pleased with my sketch:
It really does look like Tsela. However, her couch is gray. I just wanted to get some more color into the picture.
These cold, snowy days make me happy (yes, I know that is not normal). It is just so cozy to be inside with a fun knitting project and a cup of tea when the weather is so bad.
I hope you are enjoying the weather where you are!
Yarn and winter just go together. There are a lot more opportunities to wear wool in Wisconsin than in points south. And there is something extra cozy about knitting when it's cold outside.
I spent a chunk of this weekend at my Knitters Guild winter retreat, held in the cute little town of New Glarus. My husband can't believe this events exists.
"So you just sit around all day and knit?" he asks disbelievingly.
"Yep."
"That's all?"
"Yep."
At this point he just shakes his head.
I knit quite a bit on a new pair of socks:
These are the Go With the Flow Socks from Interweave's Favorite Socks book. I wanted a simple pattern that would show off this gorgeous yarn from Ewetopia, one of my favorite Wisconsin dyers.
And I'm close to finishing my Soundwaves shawl.
It's hard to get a feeling for what this shawl is like because it's large -- two skeins of sock-weight yarn -- and very scrunched up on the needles. But I think it's going to be very cozy and pretty.
Last weekend, I was up in Door County (the "thumb" of Wisconsin) with some friends. Luckily my friend Lisa knew a place to go to see ice formations, which were awesome:
Lisa is a serious photographer, so we were out for every sunset:
The only bad part is that today I have a stomach bug, so I went to bed as soon as I got home from New Glarus. I have had good company; Kola enjoyed exploring my knitting bag before settling down to nap by my side.
I hope that I feel better in the morning. We are a week away from finals, so I can't miss work next week!
The action just never stops here!
Wednesday I showed up at the hospital at 6 a.m. to have my A-Flutter fixed. It was easy. I just fell asleep and let the staff take care of things. They seem to have me all fixed up.
I made it to my family's Thanksgiving at my Mom's apartment. My brother Eric and his family came out from Virginia. My other brother, Michael (in Washington, DC), baked us two amazing pies (cherry and apple) and mailed them to us. Above, Eric is enjoying a piece of cherry.
It was surreal without my dad. It just hasn't fully sunk in yet.
My sweater is ready to be blocked, so I started a shawl. What can I say. I could outfit an entire homeless shelter in shawls -- and maybe I will! They are just so much fun to knit:
The pattern is the Soundwaves Shawl, and it is perfect TV knitting. Easy but not boring. The yarn has been in my queue for years: Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere. Can you even imagine? It is truly smooshy.
I am about to start a mega knitting project. Probably the most ambitious thing I will ever attempt. Does that have you waiting for my next post?
