It is already more than halfway through February. This year is flying by. We've been very busy.
Ed is working on my craft room in the basement. This picture was taken several weeks ago when he was working on the framing. He is now putting up the drywall. After that he'll install the lights, finish the electrical work, and install the floors. At that point I'll need to paint the walls. I haven't decided what color I want yet. The rest of the house is a light grey. A color appropriately named Knitting Needles. I may just make this the same so that I can use the leftover paint we have before buying another tub. We'll see. My one daughter says I have too much grey in the house. Since this is the basement, I might make it a little brighter just to not make it feel like a dungeon. After my craft room is completed, I'm going to have the Herculian task of organizing my fabric, yarn, and books.
Before starting on the basement, Ed made me a dropzone next to the entrance from the garage. It is nice to have dedicated spots for shoes, hooks to hang my purse and coat, and shelves to store odds and ends.
At the end of January/begining of February Ed and I escaped the cold for a long weekend and spent time at our favorite resort in Orlando. The weather wasn't as warm as we had hoped, but it was nice to get away for a little while. Honestly, I could have spent a few more days there. We took walks every day and even spent a couple afternoons by the pool. Next time I'm going to suggest we do a whole week.
This has been the winteriest winter we've had in years. It'll go down as one of the coldest in decades. The pond behind our house has been frozen over the majority of the time. We'll have a few days where it warms up enough to thaw out, but then drop down below freezing and glaze over again. We are in the middle of an 8-day stretch of temperatures well below freezing.
The geese have been ice skating on the pond. This picture was taken over the weekend. We got some snow on Sunday and are predicted to get more tonight/tomorrow. According to AccuWeather, once we break out of this cold spell over the coming weekend, we should have daytime temperatures above freezing through the rest of the winter season. I hope it's true. I'm ready to resume my walks.
My first, and only so far, finished object of 2025 is a Sophie Scarf. I started this scarf last January when we were heading out on a cruise. I got bored with it and tossed it aside after we got home. It went to Florida with me this year and I finished it up in Orlando. I made this out of 2 balls of Rowan Alpaca Soft DK that I had in my stash, leftover from my trip to Chicago in 2022 to take a class from Arne and Carlos. Because of a sudden illness, I was not able to go to the class.
Side note, I see Arne and Carlos are going to be touring the US again in March. I'd love to try again to see them, but my schedule just won't allow it. Maybe next time.
I have many other WIPs, some new projects and others long term ones.
Nila is a sweater that has been on the needles for almost a year. I worked on this last summer and then tossed it aside when the weather got cooler. I'm finishing this up now so that I can wear it during the upcoming wedding festivities for my oldest daughter. Nila is being knit out of Purl Soho Linen Quill.
Last September when my husband and I took a cruise through New England and the Canadian Maritimes, I bought yarn to make the Funnel Neck Pullover. I started this project on New Year's Eve. This is going to be a big oversized outer layer. I am currently on the third ball of the 4 I bought from a shop in Nova Scotia. I'm hoping I have enough to finish, but am getting a bit concerned. I'll work on the sleeves next with the yarn I have. Hopefully it will be enough. If I have to get another ball, I'll use that for the funnel neck. May even get a different color. Other people have done that. Stay tuned for updates on my yarn chicken and finishing decisions.
I also started Glenfiddich on New Year's Eve. I'm using some deep stash Plymouth Encore for this sweater. This will be a long-term project because of the heavy cabling. I have to concentrate to make sure I'm working them correctly.
I have a couple quick knits going for my grandkids. The baby is going to have a handband with a bow and the grandson will get a spiral hat. Hope to have these done by this weekend for them.
I have a few other non-knitting projects in the works
For years I've thought about a temperatur blanket, but never could motivate myself to tackle such a large project. After seeing a few things on Facebook, I decided to do a temperature cross stitch. This will be a tree with each leaf the color of the high temperatur of the day. I'm outlining the leaves with the low temperatur. The outline will be subtle but will give a little depth to the leaves.
I've been seeing a lot about English paper piecing and decided to give it a go. I bought a kit from Kate at The Last Homely House for an EPP project bag. I like hand stitching, but not completely sure if I like this technique. I may try a small table runner after.
I have a few crochet projects in the works also. The Astrid blanket is still getting a little attention now and then. I'm also using some stash fingering weight yarn to make squares for what I hope will be blankets for my kids. My goal is to have them done by next Christmas.
As usual I think I have overcommitted myself. My goal for this year is to burn through some of my stash yarn. If I get those crocheted blankets done that will make a good dent in the stash. In the words of Fr. Mark-Mary 'Poco a poco'. Little by little.
