Winters Bite

“Winter either bites with its teeth or lashes with its tail” ~ Unknown

This year Old Man Winter has a full set of teeth

 

 and he is not afraid to use them.  Like a vampire he sunk his teeth in and is sucking the life out of people. 

He has been taking bite after bite of our area.  His cold fingers slipped down toward us in December and he just tightened his grip this month.  Most people are wondering if he will ever let go.  I see it all around and hear it on the news. The above average snow fall and below average temperatures are making people have less jingles in their pockets, more aches in their bodies and just mentally exhausted.  Mrs Cardinale might not mind it 

but Mrs Robin is getting royally ticked off!

I am trying to keep myself motivated.  I did our taxes.  I was able to finish the pair of socks after finding the yarn 

and even I knit a third pair. 

 If Old Man Winter intends to stick around my feet with be mighty comfy.

The baby blanket has 8 more rows and it will be done, just in time as the shower is Saturday.  Then I have two dish clothes on the needles.  A friend is making her daughter leg warmers and when I mentioned it to #1 daughter she decided that would be a good idea…aka get to knittin’ mom!  And then I got to think that she might be right, I could use a pair of leg warmers to wear while plowing through all the snow so that’s next on the list of things to do.

This weekend when we are due to actually hit average to above average temps I might just do something crazy and put in my chick order and get to putting some seeds in dirt. Oh yeah living on the wild side!  Three foot of snow coverage has to melt eventually.

Of course Old Man Winters tail just might wrap around to give us a whack also.  Getting back into the garden is like being a kid and waiting for Christmas morning...patience grasshopper. 

 

Poor Robin Redbreast

                                     Poor robin redbreast
                                      Look where he comes
                                 Let him in to feel your fire
                               And toss him of your crumbs
                                   ~Christina G. Rossetti

We haven't seen above freezing temperatures in a while.  Mr Robin arrived far too early not that the south is much warmer this year.  I don't mind the snow but the layer of ice makes it hard for the deer to walk through and dig through for food.  Now todays storm will just exasperate the problem.  I think I am the only one that doesn't mind the news of additional snow as everyone is getting cabin fever.   

Yesterday the sun shining on the snow was blinding but it felt so good when sitting  by the window soaking up those rays while knitting.  And boy have my needles been clicking away.  I continue with the dishcloths.  

So far I have had the yarn called for on hand...hope that continues to be the case as I need to get rid of some.  

Years ago I joined a Yahoo group called Holiday Mystery Gift.  It has changed over the years from only having patterns posted toward the winter holidays to having  a monthly list of free patterns.  This month they had a CAL for a spiral granny square which I joined.  It was to be a magic ball where you tie all your scraps together but I  just got rid of partial skeins by making this for a friends birthday.  She had been blatantly hinting for something to toss over the back of her sofa so it
uses her colors and came out about 46 x 68. 

 I only got a quick picture of it folded in half, after quickly finishing it as she was on her way over. I have lots more yarn to get rid of and that only took 5 days.  

I also joined this months sock KAL.  I need more socks so joined to force
my hand.  I had two skeins for this pair but must have packed it one away while getting other yarn out for the Afghan.  

So I grabbed another skein and started a second pair.   

Also on the needles a shell stitch baby afghan for a friend  of #2 daughters.

So  the weather isn’t discouraging my fiber pursuits but I do worry more about the animals.  Today my mind was kept busy trying to figure out how to get to the point that we are producing our own hay for our animals.  

 

 Everything used  by the chickens this year is ours that we cut and then raked by hand.  The fields are slowly coming back.  Hopefully this year we can put some away for the sheep.

Little things keeping me busy

“I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble.  The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker” 

~ Helen Keller

January is in the rear view and it passed at an amazingly quick pace too.  The endless temperatures below freezing tend to make the time pass slow but I have had some diversion from its ice grasp.

As I mentioned in the last post I had knit a bonnet,

  an Om Nom hat and a polar bear hat,

 

plied these  together 

and finished knitting these slippers for #2 daughter

 While visiting #1 daughter and Sir T, or more accurately the grandsons,   I knit the incognito,

Strib hat

and bear cowl...more like a wimple ...a pattern which I made up from looking at a picture of one #1 daughter sent me 

Upon returning home I have not had a project grab me so I have been knitting dishcloths from KnitPicks 52 weeks of dishcloths and the white one is Chinese Waves dishcloth  

 

I have also signed on for a KAL and CAL on Holiday Mystery Gifts yahoo group.  The KAL is a pair of socks and the CAL is a spiral granny afghan.  Both of these start today and should keep me busy for a while along with the afghan using up some leftover yarn.

I have gone through my seeds and found I don’t need to put in a seed order.  I might pick up fillers later from my local feed store but if the rodents don’t dig up my seeds after I plant them I will be fine.  Now to just plan where I want everything to go.

I have been baking bread like a mad woman.  Grilled cheese with homemade bread and soup is an awesome dinner to chase away the chill.  I treated myself to a 2 pound Pullman bread pan with cover.  I have a loaf rising in it now and can’t wait to see how it turns out.

But I am even more excited about a recent discovery…earlier today the man said “check out that bird” and I got my camera and zoomed in and saw…..

I have never seen a robin this early in the year.  I don’t have cabin fever yet but I will be very happy if Spring arrives early.

Hiatus interruptus

"There are two seasonal diversions that can ease the bite of any
winter.  One is the January thaw.  The other is the seed catalogues."
-  Hal Borland

I have not succumbed to the lore of the seed catalogue but the January thaw has come.  Living in a river valley means you're aware of seasonal ebbs and flows .   Our town is situated at the junction of two rivers -one many use for fishing and the other for rafting, so river levels are the start of many conversations.   An ice jam release on one can trigger the release on the other.  Right now the river on which we own property is pretty much clear.  The water is running high but all within its boundaries.  The other river is more prone to ice jams but they all went out without incident.

I have been spinning.  After cleaning my woolee winder  the large gear kept coming on done.  I eventually lost the screw and had to write to them for a replacement.  They sent me two free of charge and I am finally able to spin again.  The problem was the gear was re-installed backwards.  It feels good to be able to spin problem free again.  I finished spinning  two balls and have since plied them.

 I knit an om nom hat and polar bear hat.  Then I took some handspun yarn and started working on a pair of slippers for #2 daughter.  The roving that this yarn started from was horrible.  I stopped working with it twice because of all the second cuts.  Finally I just spun it to be whatever it would be...a slubby yarn, but it is soft and is worked out fine for her slippers. 

While reading Sandi’s blog she mentioned having a problem with hats not staying on her head and wrote about making a bonnet.  Following her instructions I made myself one as I suffer from the same hat ailment! 

I have been baking bread and reading my way through the five Song of Ice and Fire series or Game of Thrones as it is better known.  I have a long wait for the next book as it is not due out until 2015.   

I got an external hard drive for Christmas so I have been going through all the files and pictures on my computer to see if they are relevant and worth the transferring. 

But now everything is getting put on hold while I go take care of the grandsons for a week.  Trying to think of something to work on while they are sleeping (hahahaha) when #2 daughter asks me to make a baby afghan for her friends shower in February….So much for my mental and physical hiatus!  

Pictures of finished projects when I return