Not As Anticipated

Winter Storm Harper didn't turn out to be the extreme amount of snow that the Weather Channel was hoping for.  Here in central Ohio we had rain all day Saturday.  Saturday night it all finally changed to snow.  The driving was treacherous on Sunday because of the ice on the roads.  By Monday, most of the roads were cleared.  I had Monday off work and by Tuesday the roads were completely fine.

Sixty Years is not going to get done by the end of January.  Even if I knit every minute left in the month, I wouldn't make it.  I have one side, we'll call it the front, almost long enough for the armhole.  I have maybe another inch or two to go.  I decided to get the back caught up to that point.  It is getting close.  Once I get these two sides even, I'll try it on to see how much longer I need the arm hole to be.

Last time I mentioned that my Sixty Years knitting was interrupted by Kallisti knitting.  That wasn't the only interruption.

Trisha came over last Friday night (the eve of the dreaded Winter Storm Harper).  While here she mentioned that her boyfriend was going to order some fingerless gloves but she stopped him and said that I would knit them.  I had promised Craig I'd make him some, but I didn't say when.  Since he seemed anxious to have them, I decided I better get started.  When Saturday looked to just be a rainy day, I decided to go up to my LYS and buy a ball of black wool.  The rest of the weekend was spent knitting these.

The pattern is the Modified Army Gloves, which I modified further to suit Craig's hands.  Ed is my lovely hand model in the photo above.  Craig has not received them yet.  I'm hoping since they seem to fit Ed they will also fit Craig.

While I was at the LYS, the owner dangled a lovely slipper in front of my face.  She said the pattern was free and her Rowan Cocoon was being marked down for clearance.  She knows me too well.  I couldn't resist a good bargain and an easy knit.  I grabbed several colors.  Maybe I'll get a jump on next Christmas knitting.

A while back I started a Hitchhiker scarf out of the Ohio Collection minis from Destination Yarn.  My original plan was to knit each mini to completion, making the scarf a fade.  But when I was at Stitches Midwest in August something caught my eye that made me change my plan.  I decided I wanted something a little more random.  I frogged back a bit and started adding in other colors.  

I can't decide yet if I like it.  The first two sections are wider than I like now that I look at them.  Maybe it's just because the orange is such a contrast.  Well see how it goes with the other sections.  I'm sure it is going to be beautiful in the end.

Ready for Harper

I'm not sure how I feel about winter storms being named.  Actually, I do know how I feel.  I'm against it.  Why?  Hurricanes are named by the National Weather Service using a specific, defined set of criteria.  A storm must reach defined, measurable, sustained wind speeds to be classified as a tropical storm or hurricane, at which point it is named.  Winter storms are not named by the National Weather Service and don't have specific, defined criteria that must be met in order to receive a name.  The naming is done by a committee of three at the Weather Channel.  I'm sure it is all done just to make the storm sound more ominous and generate ratings.  They claim that their analysis determines how impactful the storm will when determining to name or not name.  2,000,000 people must be impacted to be named.  But there are flaws with this methodology.  For example, the 2014 lake-effect storm that dumped 7 feet of snow in Buffalo was not named because it didn't affect enough people.  Their system is arbitrary at best.  Like I said, it just seems to all be for ratings.

Why am I even mentioning this?  Well, it is because we are due to have another winter storm hit this weekend.  Last week we had Winter Storm blah-blah.  This weekend is Winter Storm Harper.  Sounds scary, huh?

Last Saturday was the kind of winter day I love.  A gentle snow that lasted all day.  I stayed inside, watched television, drank tea and knit.  It was perfect.  My siblings and I had a group text going.  I sent the following pictures to them throughout the day.  

The snow started in the morning.

A couple inches by mid-afternoon.

4 inches by that evening.

The snow was all done by Sunday morning.  I measured 6 inches on the front porch.

It has been cold this week but hovering around freezing today.  Some of the snow is melted.  Small patches of grass are showing.  

We have a winter storm warning for tomorrow.  The current forecast is calling for 5-8 inches of snow.  After that the temperatures are going to plummet on Sunday night, going below 0 F.  I'm ready for it all.  I did my grocery shopping and bought food for now through Tuesday. I have my activities planned, which mainly involve being wrapped up in a quilt on the couch.

While on the couch I will continue working on Sixty Years.  I am behind schedule and not likely to get this done by the end of January.  But I still like how it is moving along.

I also have a couple books to read.  After watching a Fruity Knitting podcast last week, I ordered myself this behemoth.  I hope to glean new techniques from this.

I also have this novel to read.  Only a few chapters into it but it is already catching my interest.

Progress on Sixty Years was interrupted by my Kallisti knitting.  I had to get that project done, just because I was so anxious to wear it.  It turned out so soft and lovely.  I wish I had more of this yarn to make a matching hat.  It would be the perfect winter ensemble.

I'd also need some mittens to go with it.  Hmmmm.

2019 Week 1 Update

The title of this post is a bit boring but it is accurate.

I went back to work on Wednesday after having almost 2 weeks off.  It was very difficult to get up at 6:00 am.  Part of the problem was staying up too late the night before.  And stupid me did stayed up too late on Wednesday also.  Blake came back home and Kristin was still home.  We went to dinner and then watched a movie.  I at least had the foresight to drink a cup of Sleepytime tea while watching the movie so when I did get to bed I was able to sleep.  I went to bed at a reasonable time on Thursday so Friday wasn't so bad.

We no longer have a cat at the house.  Our grandcat, Nala, spent over 6 weeks with us.  Kristin went back to Michigan on Friday morning and took Nala with her.  It was strange coming home from work and not being greeted at the door by the little fur ball begging for a treat.  I really liked having her here. Her only habit that was annoying was her begging for food.  She jumps on the kitchen table and tries to eat your food. 

We'll start taking down our Christmas decoration this weekend.  And vacuum up cat hair.

On the knitting front, I am making good progress on the January sweater KAL I'm participating in.  It may not look like much, but for me it is moving along nicely.  I have 6 balls of yarn.  I'm more than halfway through the first ball.  My plan is to reward myself with 1-2 hours of knitting each night if I meet my exercise goal for the day.  This will help accomplish two goals:  exercise more and knit more.  Housecleaning may become the casualty of this but since there is usually only 2 of us in the house anymore it doesn't get that dirty.  That is once it's clean.  I have a lot of work to do to recover from our visitors over the holidays.

Here's where I am on the sweater.

I am working through the shoulder increases.  My progress gets slowed down occasionally because I stop to admire how this yarn is knitting up.  I absolutely love it!!  It is going to be a very soft sweater.  It will be warm too.  Puna is made from 100% baby alpaca.  It is a dream.

Happy New Year 2019!!

2018 ended on the positive note that I wanted 2019 to begin.   I spent time with my family, knit a little, exercised, read a little and went to bed reflecting on what a wonderful day it had been.  My goal for 2019 is to repeat 365 times.

On Christmas, Kristin asked me to make her a headband just like the one I made for Trisha.  I was able to bang this out in about an hour yesterday.  She's going skiing in a few weeks.  This should keep her ears warm on the slopes.

Yesterday I also cast on a Kallisti for myself.  I bought the yarn last month and was waiting for Christmas to be over to make it.  I had hoped to get it done yesterday, but that didn't happen because of Kristin's headband.  I should have this done this week, in time for the cold winter weather due to come.  The yarn is soft and squishy.  Perfect for keeping the wind off my neck and face while I walk downtown to my office.

New Year's Eve is usually a low key event for us.  We went to dinner last night with Trisha and her boyfriend.  Afterwards we dropped them off at a party, went home and tuned into the broadcast from Times Square.  Ed was fast asleep by midnight.

Nala too. I didn't mind.  I liked the quiet evening while I waited for Trisha and Craig to call to be picked up.  Fortunately, they called shortly after midnight.  I ran out and brought them back to the house to sleep.  We didn't want them driving since they had been celebrating with friends.

Now its time to focus on my January goals.  Number 1 on the list is to take better care of myself.  I'm going to eat better and exercise more.  To that end I have started tracking my food.  And I am doing the 2019 New Years Challenge from Walk At Home.  I've always loved doing Leslie Sansone videos and feel this is the perfect way to get back into the habit of exercising everyday.

My January knitting goals are to finish my Kallisti, make a dickie/cowl for Ed and a sweater for myself.  That is a bit of a stretch goal, but if I make sure I do a little everyday it can be done.

Here is the yarn I bought yesterday for Ed's dickie.  It should be a quick  project.

My sweater is going to be made out of a stash of Puna I've had for a few years.  I finally found the perfect pattern for it:  Sixty Years.  I'll cast on later today as I watch the Rose Bowl.

Time now to get a few things done before sitting down to watch my OSU Buckeyes play in the Rose Bowl.  Have a great new year!!!  Happy 2019!!