First Snow!

Our gorgeous autumn has suddenly given way to the chill of winter. The leaves that were so glorious in their shades of yellow, red and green are now remnants of the year gone by, some clinging tenaciously to the branches, most, nothing more than memories. being trampled underfoot or under tire.

It’s not a pretty snow picture, I know. This is right outside our back door and was only taken to give you an idea of what our first snow fall looks like. The snow started Thursday night and has continued on and off since then. Even now, it’s snowing… a very fine, light snow. There’s nothing fluffy about this snow. The forecast is for more of the same for at least the next week. Winter has finally arrived.

Of course, being winter, and cold, and snowy, it’s the perfect time for cuddling up indoors with a mug of something hot and some knitting. I’ve been doing just that.

The mug of something hot, earlier this week, was John’s infamous NeoCitran toddy (NeoCitran, lemon juice, honey and a generous dose of dark rum); I was feeling a cold coming on and John has absolutely no patience for colds so he medicated me. I must admit, it seems to have stopped the cold in it’s tracks, but I’ve also been fighting some kind of stomach bug and migraine. I was home for a total of two days this week (1 full day and 2 half days). By Friday evening, I was able to eat again without feeling nauseous.

In the meantime, though, I rested in my recliner with my knitting. I have to say, I’m making good progress on the cardigan. I think it helps that one of the girls at work is knitting the same pattern and is further along than I am… can’t have that!

Little Monkey is monitoring my progress very closely. As you can see, I’m past the first buttonhole. What is a little more difficult to see is that I’m up to the point of putting in the pleat/cable, which means I’m nearly to the waist shaping.

Even though there are what seem to be miles of k3, p3 ribbing, so far, because I’ve taken out two of the three pleats, it’s almost an hypnotic knit. As long as I remember to check the length every now and then (for buttonhole placement), I can work on this project almost in the dark. Not that I would. John wouldn’t allow that… not good for the eyes, and all.

Last weekend was our Sit & Stitch weekend and I decided not to work on the cardigan. That meant that I had to find something else to work on and there was nothing around here that I really, really wanted to take along. So, I went hunting. And shopping.

There is a pattern on Ravelry that I’ve kept coming back to over the past months and I decided to finally just buy it. The pattern is Harmonia’s Rings by Sivia Harding. Of course, once I had the pattern downloaded, I needed yarn for it. Believe it or not, I couldn’t find anything in the stash that I wanted to use for this pattern. So, it was off to the yarn store before heading to Sit & Stitch. I ended up with Berroco Ultra Alpaca in a gorgeous deep orange. The yarn is 50% alpaca, 50% wool and is so soft and luscious!

Again, this isn’t a great picture, but it does do justice to the colour.

Lampshades simply don’t make the best models, you know? What you can’t see is just how cushy and stretchy and yummy this cowl is. Being a moebius, it’s also a really fun knit! The only complaint I had, and it’s a very minor one, is that the needle I used was a little too long to be comfortable to work with. The pattern calls for a 47” circular; I’m not sure what length I had (the longest KnitPicks cable I had in my needle stash), but it could have been a little shorter. That’s it. Minor.The pattern is very well written and I had this finished within three days.

I’ve worn the cowl a couple of times now and I love it. Now, with the extra skein I have (I bought 3, the cowl required 2), I’m thinking of making fingerless mitts, or maybe a pair of mittens. That’s for another day, though. Today, I’m working on the cardi. And staying indoors with a hot cup of something and watching the snow fall.