Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Whee!

Snow events are not common during winter in Portland. When they occur, they start off pretty then turn into ice. It doesn't get cold enough to keep the snow fluffy, so it melts during the day and solidifies at night, making the next day horrid for commuters. This morning we got hit with some snow in quantities that shut down the commuter train MAX and had folks either calling in or crowding onto the buses to get to work. A few foolhardy folks went out in their SUVs with thoughts that their all-wheel drive will beat the snow. They ended up spinning out or wrecking on the side of the road. Others who were more cautious made it in. I'm walking distance to work so I hoofed it in, watching the flakes fall and enjoying wearing the woolies I've made to keep out the cold.

Don't tell me all cats don't like snow. Buster experienced snow for the first time when he was four months old and loved it. This morning, he was tentative, but when he realized what it was, he skittered about the porch like he was on speed, then catapulted off into the snow. Imagine an 8 year old who has been told that school's closed and it's okay to go play outside as long as they want. Later this afternoon after I had returned home, he went out again, digging his paws into the soft snow as if attacking invisible mice.

Knitting content

I'm currently working on a stash hat in Dale yarns in preparation to knit this as part of a Dale sweater knit a long. I had found the yarn at Woodland Woolworks in their overstocks room a couple of years ago and was thrilled to find all of it in one dyelot. This was before I embarked on the Peace Blanket or other large projects, so it has sat for some time. My upcoming convalescence will give me the uninterrupted time I need for the pattern. Dale patterns appear intricate but with care you can execute them. The key is maintaining even tension throughout the colorwork so you don't have puckering or loose stitches.

FO!

The Rogue is done. I won't bore you with waxing poetic about the pattern, but I highly recommend it. I found it easy to follow and came together beautifully.

3 comments:

Lorraine said...

Your Rogue is lovely, I've made no less than four of them.
Your Dale will be just the thing for convalescence- keep in mind that your colorwork areas will pucker slightly, but blocking is magic.
Here's to a quick recovery.

Carol said...

We've got the same idjit drivers here. I guess they don't realize that no traction on 2 wheels, then no traction with 4. And if you do manage to get some traction (with 2 OR 4) then it behooves you to drive carefully. For some reason, 4 wheel drive drivers tend to forget this. I usually find them in the ditch a ways up the road. As I cautiously drive by.

Big Alice said...

Your Rogue looks fantastic! Congratulations!