Pile on the Woolies!

It is cold. Beyond cold. Way beyond freezing even (heck, if it was 32 degrees, we'd be breaking out the shorts!). Yesterday was cold. Single digit temps, with a bit of a breeze. This morning, it was just brutal.

It actually dropped to -7, but my hands were too cold to get out the camera again. It hurts to breathe outside. The air is so dry that the snow is now "squeaky". I piled on all the fleece and handknits I have to make the trek from the parking garage into work (about a 6 minute walk). I was still cold. Luckily today there is no wind.

The dogs (except Ace, he is Arctic dog!) only go outside when they absolutely have to. Poor Otis - his paws were so cold yesterday afternoon, he plunked himself down in the snow and lifted his feet off the ground! He'll get booties on this afternoon. It is a big day for him - he gets his stitches out! He'll still need to wear the E-Collar for a bit longer, but I'm hoping he can get back to normal soon!

With the chilly temps outside, evenings have been confined to inside activities - like knitting and, for Naomi, spinning!

This is some superwash Merino in Blue Raspberry she got from Jessica's Esty shop! Since she has pretty much spun up all the fiber she had, she bought some different things to try. She also got some BFL in a beautiful yellow. Anyway, my holiday gift to my mom was a cowl. I wanted to let her pick the pattern, and Naomi offered to spin the yarn! This is her first attempt at spinning thicker than fingering weight. She's really, really good at spinning thin - she can spin cobweb weight if she wanted, so this is a great challenge for her! The thickness of Malabrigo is what she's going for, along with the same, single ply (it's the yarn used in the pattern my mom picked). I think it's coming out great, and the color is just amazing! It's a bluish-purple with hints of a dark pinkish-burgundy color. Dying genius!

Her sock is coming along well - I'm into the gusset decreases The last two socks I did had short row heels. Not my favorite. Heel flap, I have missed you! Short rows are just not my thing. Never have I gotten them to come out really nice. Many methods have been tried, there is just something about picking up the wraps and that whole second half of the heel. Just not pleasant for me. Give me a good 'ol heel flap any day!

The mittens I designed are another story. The corrugated ribbing was done, I had the pattern designed and tweaked and started knitting. Ick. Double Ick. Super Ick. It was just nothing like I wanted and it was not fun to knit.

The previous mitten and cuff are now two balls (beautiful center pull balls, may I add) of yarn again. The cuff will be changed to a ribbed cuff (better for keeping out the weather as my dad is a walker in all sorts of temps) and I have to re-work the design again. Back to the drawing (Excel) board.....

Bitter

Need I say more? (it has actually gone up a few degrees - my car thermometer said 3 on my way into work.) Time to layer up the handknits!!!

Snowed In!

We didn't get quite as much as the weather people predicted, but we did end up with about 17" total from the storm Friday and Sunday. It was all light, fluffy snow, so it made for wonderful snowblowing and playing in.

This was after Sunday's snowfall. The snowblower died about 1/3 into removal of Friday's snow - Naomi and I ended up shoveling the rest of the driveway. It took a couple of hours and we were exhausted! Luckily it was just a faulty spark plug and we ventured out and got a replacement on Sunday.

The boys had a great time. We had to drag them inside - they would have stayed out there all day playing and running in the snow.

Ace especially - it seems like he is immune to the cold.

The woods were beautiful. The snow stuck to all the branches and made it very quiet and serene. It is a brutally cold day today - temps only in the low teens and winds up to 40 mph. Not fun. All the snow we had blown off the driveway was back on it this morning! Looks like I have a project for when I get home from work!

Being that we were pretty much snowed in this weekend, we made a TON of cookies for gifts, and I got a bunch of knitting done! More on that tomorrow......

It's coming.......

Not like the ice storm we had last week was enough, we are about to get slammed with a huge snowstorm!

See that "Higher Amounts" area - well, we are right in the thick of it. In a way, I'm actually looking forward to it. I came into work super early at 5am so I could leave around noon before it really hit. With nothing planned for tomorrow, I plan on letting it snow to Mother Nature's hearts content and dealing with the cleanup on Saturday. It is supposed to be light and fluffy - perfect for the snowblower and even more perfect for maybe doing some snowshoeing with the dogs!

I have plenty of knitting to work on. My sister will be the recipient of a pair of Peekaboo Mitts (Rav link). She really liked the pair I made a while back. I also have the test pair of mittens to work on, along with coming up with a knitted gift for mom for the holidays. My sister and I have a pile of holiday cookies to make along with some more marshmallows. The bunch I brought into my office disappeared the first day! All in all, I think it will be kind of a fun weekend! Ace is supposed to have herding, but we will see if she can clear her pen for the sheep.

Everyone enjoy whatever weather they are having!

More Stripes!

While the weather outside is frightful this morning, the knits continue! We had about an inch of snow overnight, then this morning it turned to a wonderful freezing rain and sleet combination. Made for a slow and long commute into work. The weather people are saying we get a one day reprieve tomorrow, then should expect about 6" of snow during the day on Friday. Ahh, the joys of winter in New England. At least the snow will cover up all the brown dead grass everywhere.

Power is still out all around us. Friends who live about a mile away are still in the dark. Phone, cable and internet were restored last night, but I found that I really wasn't missing them. I managed to keep busy other ways.

Another hat! This pattern has proved to be the perfect fit - I have tried many hat patterns that just don't fit right. I like my ears covered, and I want it to come down low enough that it covers my forehead. A nice snug fit also. This, I believe, is the holy grail of hat patterns for me. I plan on making more! They are the perfect stash buster. Just use what you have! Solid, stripes, whatever!

Now, Lolly and I can be stripey hat twins!

What do you do without power? You knit!

This past weekend was quite the adventure. We got hit full on with the ice storm that pounded the entire central Massachusetts area. We lost power on Thursday and didn't get it back until late on Friday. We are one of the lucky ones. The kennel still does not have power. A generator was hooked up to give heat and water for the dogs but it's just bare bones. There are still many trees down and the power lines at the top of our street are still laying across it. We still have no phone or TV, but we have heat. That is all I can ask for! It is amazing to drive around the area and see the shear number of trees and limbs down. Driving over the weekend was like an obstacle course. I am truly thankful we escaped any damage to our house.

So, stuck at home Friday with no power, I managed to crank out the knits. I finished the Boyfriend Socks aka Hubby socks.

I love how they came out. It has been mailed down to Hubby in Georgia to see if it fits before I start on the second sock. There is a lot of ribbing in the sock, so I'm hoping its a bit of a forgiving pattern if I didn't size it correctly!

I also knit a hat for my dad. He was our savior this weekend. He and my mom drove out on Friday with a propane heater to help keep us from freezing! We didn't end up needing it, but I think it was the mere presence of the heater turned ours back on! So, I knit him a new hat.

He works from home in the chilly basement, so he wears a hat all day in the house. Right now, he wears the Fake Isle hat I knit a while back, but it is a bit big. I'm hoping this one will fit him better. It's the Turn a Square hat - thanks to Sarah for letting me try hers on! It was a really quick knit. I finished it in less than a day and have now started a second one for me! It needs a good blocking at the decreases, but I like how it turned out. The yarns are Lang Polar and the burgundy is Patons Classic. Both leftovers. A great stashbuster!

Sunday I took Ace herding. We haven't been in about a month, so he was super excited! He did remember some things from before, and once he settled down, he did very well.

We go back again on Saturday, so I'm hoping that going more often will help focus his mind a bit more so we can get down to working quicker and not have as much "frantic" time. It is a lot of fun though, as Ace's enthusiastic barking confirms!

My other adventure was on the culinary front. A while back, I tried to make my own marshmallows. Let's just say it was so much less than successful. The cold weather and need for cocoa warranted another try. This time, I had a much better result.

They came out perfect. I love the taste. Not sickening sweet or grainy like packaged marshmallows, but creamy with a subtle sweetness and nice vanilla flavor. I used this recipe, but there are a bunch out there. Next I want to try peppermint flavored ones - I think they'd be perfect in cocoa!

It's Going Around

Hubby was nice enough to pass on his hacking, muscle aching flu-type thing to me this weekend. I spent most of Saturday on the couch taking meds and napping on and off. I feel better today, but now I'm just coughing a lot. Not fun at all. But, at least we are sick together. Saturday was a good day to stay on the couch. I woke up to this lovely scene outside our windows.

About an inch and a half of snow. It's almost spring people!! I know, this is New England and we can get snow into May sometimes, but I am just sick of it. I am really ready for temperatures above 40 for a change!

So, to embrace the winter feeling, I made bread. Italian bread. Funny how a process that takes two whole days to complete, takes only 20 minutes to bake.

It turned out great. I got two nice sized loaves, and the house smelled wonderful. The recipe came from The Bread Bakers Apprentice - a book I have made several loves from. I can't recommend it enough!

With whatever virus I have knocking me out, I spent a lot of time on the couch yesterday as well. I tried to figure out what project to start next. Something small again? After looking several times through my Ravelry queue, nothing jumped out at me. So, instead I started a small part of something big. A sleeve counts as small, right?

This will eventually be the Phyllo Yoked Pullover (thanks for the pic Jody!) from the book Knitting Nature. I'm using some Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool in a nice chocolate brown color that I got in a Ravelry trade. The yarn is working up in a nice fabric on #6 needles, and after a day on the couch, I'm just about done with the first sleeve. It's not the most exciting kniting, but I think it will make a really nice casual comfy sweater. (maybe for Maryland?) I have until the end of the month until sample knitting commences, so I'm hoping maybe to get both sleeves done.

I'm back on the couch today trying to clear my lungs and recover. Wish me luck.

More White on the Way

With the flakes already flying (since about 5 this morning!) and another 10" of snow expected, my travel plans for this weekend have been severely hindered. I am supposed to fly down to Baltimore this afternoon to catch up with my sister and cousins, and have a fun breakfast with some very missed friends. I'm watching as flight after flight is canceled. We'll see how it effects the rest of the day. My flight isn't until 7 tonight, but the backup from this mornings mess will I'm sure make anything tonight total chaos.

Knitting on the Milk Wrap Cardi progresses. I sat down and picked up all those stitches around the neckline. I didn't bother to count. It would have been depressing. But, I persevered and got the trim done.

I actually like the edging - it's simple and nice and stretchy. The sweater lays a lot flatter now also. You can see in the picture the waist shaping I added. With the 15% shrinkage on length, I hope it ends up in the right place. It feels like kind of a crap shoot! You can see in the picture I started the first sleeve. It's coming along quick and with the decreases it makes feel like it's going really fast! With the Denim People book as my reference, I'm combining the sleeves from there as well as the original pattern to try to get the decreases in the right place. Unfortunately, the Rowan book doesn't give lengths, just row numbers. The schematics given are post washing, so that does me no good either! So, I used the row gauge and calculated from there. A little extra work, but hopefully it will pay off! Sleeve #1 is about 2/3 of the way done.

Sigrid #2 is also making progress. At this point I'm about halfway down the heel. The two handed purling is slowing me down a bit. It's something I really need more practice on! It is going with me (if I go!) to Baltimore and will be plane knitting if I ever manage to get on the flight!

Water in Two Forms

Sunday was another big storm for us. It came down in freezing rain, and snow all day. Another 4" was piled on top of what we already had. Lucky for us, we had no where to go and just had to stay toasty warm inside and enjoy watching from the window. Unfortunately, the turkeys had no such warm place to be.

They were out eating the berries again. Hunger doesn't stop for the weather! Oh, and thanks to Bella, I learned that a group of turkeys are collectively called a rafter. Who came up with this stuff??

On Saturday, even though air temperatures were in the 30's, hubby went scuba diving down in Rhode Island. He wanted to try out his new underwater camera and I have to say, he got some great shots. My favorite is this one, but for me this is a close one for winner also. He's so cute. He has a drysuit, so he doesn't get wet at all which really helps after he gets out of the water. He takes off his suit, and he's in dry clothes. The buddy he went diving with had a wetsuit and had to come out of the water soaked and strip down to get into dry clothes. Brrrrr.

Speaking of brrrr, the weather when I headed into work this morning was not making me happy.

The wind was horrible. I had my scarf wrapped around my head and neck and the only thing peeking out were my eyes. Brutal. I am ready for Spring!

The dogs, however, loved being out in the snow.

I took these last night after the snow kind of let up a little. Poor Ace - he is in way over his head! I went around the yard and stomped a path for them. With the freezing rain we got, the top of the snow is really hard - almost painful - to walk through. I busted through with my shins and they are sore! They are calling for another storm on Friday. I can't wait.

All that inclement weather did help my knitting progress though.....

Hopefully if it dries some FO shots tomorrow. We also did a ton of reorganizing in the spare bedrooms. Lots of trash generated along with a bag full of clothes to give to charity. Stuff went up into the attic and we weeded out lots that we just didn't need anymore. It was great.

Winter Wonderland

Well, we got wolloped. The snow started about 1pm and lasted until about 8:30 or 9. We got about a foot. It's the really light, airy, fluffy stuff that you could clear with a leaf blower. Makes for some pretty pictures too. (all photo credits to hubby)

Today, all is clear and life returns to normal (until the next big storm we are suposed to get on Sunday). There were tales of six and seven hour commutes all over the news this morning. Luckily, I got on the road and home before the bulk of the storm hit.

Last night and this morning, we had a few visitors to the neighborhood.

A whole flock (or gaggle - what do you call a group of Turkeys??) of turkeys! They were wandering down the middle of the street last night towards the woods, and hubby reported they were back this morning wandering in the neighbor's yard.

We have all kinds of wildlife here. The parcel of land next to and behind us is about 100 acres total, so deer, woodchucks, coyotes, and even the occasional bear are spotted. The dogs are usually very good at alerting us that some form of animal life has come into their line of sight.

Since we are going to get pounded with another storm on Sunday, I did a test run of a recipe I saw on Jessica's blog a while back. White Bean and Garlic Stew is amazing! Hubby and I devoured it for lunch/dinner while watching the flakes come down. There is an amazing amount of garlic in it - about 15 cloves - but the long cooking time mellows out the flavor. I added mushrooms because I had them on hand, but you could easily add chicken or something else. I plan on making another batch tomorrow!

Beginnings and Middles

I feel stuck in the middle with these New England Socks. They travel with me to work every day, and sit by the sofa at night just waiting for some attention. The first beautiful sock comes with me in the knitting bag to remind me of my goal. It has been slow and steady with this one. Knitting time the past few months has just been very sparse. Happily, I did make some progress last night. We have passed the gusset and are deep in the throws of foot knitting!

The color makes me happy just looking at it. Officially halfway done (three diamond repeats done, three to go!), my desire to just sit down and finish is strong. With the weather forecast that we are having, I think Mother Nature is helping out to keep me housebound. (from the National Weather Service)

A SHORT DURATION BUT HIGH IMPACT SNOWFALL WILL AFFECT MASSACHUSETTS... ESPECIALLY AREAS ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE MASSACHUSETTS TURNPIKE...THURSDAY AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO 12 INCHES ARE LIKELY...WITH MOST OF THE SNOW FALLING IN A 6 HOUR PERIOD.

Us - we are south of the Massachusetts Turnpike. Lucky! The snow is supposed to start around noon time and come down at over an inch an hour for a while. We get a break tomorrow and Saturday, but a really big storm is winding in for Saturday night and Sunday. I'm thinking Sunday may be a perfect stay in my PJ's all day kind of day. I can't remember the last one of those I had! We are doing a lot of re-organizing in the house, and we really need a day to just concentrate and get it done. Fingers crossed we get a whopper of a storm.

The yoke sweater (I will come up with a more creative name) got some knitting time the other night. The fabric that the Kimmet Croft yarn is creating is just wonderful. With the angora content (it's a 75% merino, 25% angora) it has a little bit of a halo, but not bad at all. It will bloom wonderfully when it's finally done and soaking.

I am done with about three-quarters of the waist decreases, then it will be tried on for fit and I'll knit the straight waist section. It's a mish mash of patterns - the Sugarplum pullover, Mrs. Zimmerman's famous EPS system, as well as the Yoke Sweater pattern from the ever Handy Book of Sweater Patterns. With all that conglomeration, hopefully it will come out fitting well!

I used a tubular cast on as I'm not sure what I'm doing with the hem yet. I would love to do a contrasting trim hem, but I'm not sure about my yarn amounts. Now, I don't have to worry - I can wait and do it at the end! (the green is a nice contrast though, huh?) My yoke plans are still a little up in the air, but I have come up with a few designs I like. Colors and final patterns are still in the works.

I'm off to get as much work done as I can before the first flakes fly!

Thankful

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had. Hubby made such an amazing meal. Rotisserie Cornish Game hen, roasted brussel sprouts (my request!), wild mushroom risotto, poached pears with whip cream, cream puffs and individual trifles. (did I snap photos of any of it? nahhhh) It was all amazing. We had a great group of family, friends and dogs filling our house with laughter and great conversation. Everyone got a chance to bowl, play tennis and box on the Wii, and we just had a wonderful time. The weather was crazy. Temperatures reached 60 degrees in the afternoon. Windows were open and the dogs loved being able to play outside. Of course today, it is back in the mid 30's with a blustery wind. Guess that was our one day reprieve. Last year we had more than enough food and sent people home with platters of leftovers. This year, he went for the minimal. Enough food to fill people, but not so they'd have to roll themselves home. There are maybe 2 or 3 containers with leftovers in the fridge. (not including the 23 pound turkey hubby bought "just in case" that has not been cooked yet) It's kind of nice.

I am thankful for so many things - especially my wonderfully perfect, giving and loving husband, my family, my amazing friends (in the blogging and real world!), and of course the pups! They had a great day - lots of their own friends over to play with while we ate. After wrestling and chasing his brother Zeke around for most of the day, Ace crashed hard.

Seems like the Aussies I have love to lay like that - remember Ravin?

On Tuesday we also got our first snow of the season.

It was only an inch or so, but it stuck to the grass and other spots. It was all melted by Wednesday afternoon, so it was pretty short lived. No doubt we will have more soon!

We are off to a three day agility trial in Springfield this weekend. I'm planning on bringing lots of warm clothes, and a little cash. The shopping is usually great at this trial! It's held at the site of the Big E fair in Springfield, Massachusetts, and the buildings are usually minimally heated (I have a few big, bulky sweaters that are perfect!) This is the social event of the year in the agility world, so it will be a great time.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving (or regular Thursday wherever you are!) and I plan on returning to regular blogging next week!

Don't fall off your chairs!

Actual knitting!!!!!

I know. Shocking! Being that most of my agility friends were at a different trial this weekend, I actually manged to get some knitting time in! Not much is done, but it is a start. Knitting on this is actually really enjoyable! I may not be feeling the sock mojo right now, but I am feeling it for sweaters! It is going to be a lot of boring stockinette, but that makes for good TV knitting. With all the new seasons of all the TV shows starting this week, it's perfect!

This is the last piece of the puzzle. The front, back and sleeves are patiently waiting in the wings to be sewn together! The front needs a block which I plan to hopefully do this week. I still have nine balls of yarn left. I think I have plenty! A nice change from my last sweater!

The socks are still pretty much the same. It seems like I can only crank out about 4 or 5 rows before I get bored silly. Strange. Colorwork is boring me, but endless stockinette is thrilling. My mind has lost it. I do look forward to starting a new sock in maybe a cable or lace pattern. Something not orange or blue!

The puppies turned five weeks old on Sunday. They are pretty much weaned off of mom and eating solid food. To their delight, they are spending lots more time outside too!

They are getting much better at running on not level surfaces and across the grass. They fall a lot less! I'll try to get another movie outside so you can see how fast they are! Those little legs sure can move! Next week is a big week for them - they go for their first vaccinations as well as their eye exam!

The weather was beautiful this weekend, but I can't believe what they are predicting for this week.

So much for fall. I heard a few places that we may break the record of 89 degrees on Tuesday! We already took the air conditioner out of the bedroom. We may have to re-install it!

More on Design - and Spring!

Being the spreadsheet and list geek that I am, I found it only natural to use Excel to chart out my sock design ideas for my sisters socks (further known as "MSS"). Using the charts I posted about before and the color preferences in Excel, I managed to get both an orange and blue background to compare.

Amazing what a difference, huh? The more I look at it, the more I may be leaning towards orange as the main color. Thanks to my library, I also was able to play around with some charts from Norsk Strikkedesign and got this very interesting one.

I like that this one could go either vertical or horizontal.

Last night I had some time to flip through my huge MD S&W score - Mostly Mittens. A treasure trove!

So many to choose from. They are all a bit similar, but it is a huge difference if you use a light or dark as the background - there are some really neat ones in here. Now the hard part - deciding!!!

The weather has taken a sharp upward turn this past week. Temperatures have hit the mid 80's and it seems like in one day we went from buds and brown to green and lush.

I have been taking advantage of the warm weather by being outside as much as possible. I took the boys for a nice run last night.

I used to run quite religiously every day, ran many 5k's and then life started getting in the way, as well as various ankle and knee injuries that didn't help. Spring has me feeling rejuvenated and ready to go. Vegetables and whole grains are becoming a major part of my diet, we signed up for the CSA and the weather is fresh and warm - a perfect time to break back into running and get my body back in shape.

The dogs love it. Tucker could go for hours if I let him. He is my "lead dog". The other two fall in behind him, then me behind them. We're only doing a few miles right now, but I'm hoping over the next few weeks to build up more stamina and go further. The only downside - it cuts into my knitting time!

Moving On

It finally came. Spring entered New England this weekend in full force. Temperatures in the 70's and bright, blue skies. Ahhhhhh. Still no leaves or real greenery (as you can see from the picture) but there are lots of buds waiting patiently. I spent a lot of the weekend at the kennel both taking care of the dogs and moving everything off the floors - we are getting a new poured floor today, so everything had to be moved this past weekend. I have my share of blisters and bruises, but it felt great to do manual labor instead of sitting in front of a computer all day. The sun and I also made sure we had our share of quality time together. I missed you old friend! I took the opportunity to multi task - while I soaked up the sun's rays, I looked through some books for inspiration for my next pair of socks.

There are so many amazing patterns out there! The yarn is already chosen -

Shelridge Farms Soft Touch Ultra in the beautiful Opal colorway. I got this yarn last year at the festival and thought it only right I use it before the next one arrives. With so many books and patterns, it's hard to choose, but I'm playing around with some patterns and hope to get started soon!

Speaking of the festival - Morehouse Merino posted a coupon here for $4 off your purchase! Discounted yarn - can't beat that!!

So, discounted yarn is great, but in the words of Allison, free yarn is better! Her wonderful gift of yarn arrived this weekend also.

Soft, squishy and beautiful. The colors are so pretty - olive, burgundy, turquoise - it will be really neat to see how this knits up. As I was snapping photos, hubby came over to take a look. "Hey, I really like this yarn - these are all really "me" colors. Now this is stuff I'd love a pair of socks from!" Subtle hint dropped. The skeins have been claimed. I think a plain pair of ribbed socks will be perfect for both hubby and the yarn.

His other pair of socks just need a toe and they are ready for wear. I got some good knitting done in the sun this weekend.

It's Back

I thought even though we were having cooler than normal temperatures, we were done with it. But no. It came back this weekend.

Yes, your eyes do not deceive you - these pictures were taken yesterday! At the trial site in New York we got a good couple of inches along with sleet, freezing rain, rain and slushy snow. I had about four layers of long underwear on and was still cold. Wet and cold are just not fun in mid April! Where is spring?

On a positive note, Tucker did well this weekend. He got a first, a third and qualifying round (we weren't fast enough against all those speedy Border Collies to place, but we did run our round fault free and under time). We still have some issues with the weave poles to work through. They are the obstacle that takes the longest to learn, and the longest for the dog to feel confident doing at trials in stressful situations. We're getting there, but you can't re-create a trial situation at home, so it will just be training at the trials until we get it. Lots of people came up to me and commented on how well he is doing and not to worry - "the weaves will come". Now, I just have to muster up some patience to believe them!

I didn't get much knitting done in between runs - it was so cold I had my hands inside my 3 pairs of mittens most of the weekend. I was tempted to soak them in my coffee for heat! Last night after we got home I made a bit of progress on the foot.

Funny how these socks, knit on #3 needles, seem to take longer than the colorwork Turkish socks knit on #1's! Must be that colorwork vortex thing.....