Finally, finally. The sun came out. Today, and yesterday, and hopefully tomorrow too!
There’s a tale that I rightly believe, that many Albertans who retire to the Okanagan in BC for the milder winters end up moving back because the overcast all winter drives them crazy. I believe it, because I know it would drive me crazy. This winter has been very overcast – abnormally so – and the last two days, when the sun finally came out again, I’ve felt more awake and alive than I have in over a week. So much so, in fact, that I had to pull over on the drive home and take a photograph of the moonrise.
The sky is still washed out, pastelly, drained of colour after the days of cloud cover, but damn, is it good to see it again. The sky and the sun and the moon: with those three things, I can handle -40 C!
I’m glad the sun has given me that boost of energy, because there’s a busy weekend ahead. Meetings, errands, recording, publishing, and of course, knitting and spinning. I have also decided (yes, I’m crazy) to try to knit something or two for the Fashion Show at Fibre Week. I haven’t knit a lot with my handspun, so it’s really time to start. To that end, I went and pulled out the two skeins that demand to be knit into something the loudest.
The top is a skein of Ashford Merino/Silk sliver in colourway Saffron, ~16 wpi (about a fingering weight), and about 445 m. It’s the last thing I spun before I went to the Level 2 class, so I consider it my last Level 1 yarn. It’s a little inconsistent, but not awfully. There’s certainly enough there for a half-decent shawl or stole. Bottom is a yarn I called ‘Beast.’ It is a mystery batt, and was my challenge day yarn for the Folklore and Fairy Tales team for Tour de Fleece 2011. Yes, I spun and plied the whole thing in one day. It’s about 10 wpi (around a worsted), and 157 m. Probably enough for a nice cowl, hat/fingerless mitt set, or a scarf. I’ll have to browse Ravelry to get some ideas!
I know I said that I’d be working on Wave Maiden this week, but freeing up the 2.5 mm DPNs brought a different project to my attention.
No really, it’s actually a sock. The long circ is just a touch too short, but I couldn’t get my head around the best way to put a little bit of one end of it onto DPNs, so I’ve just muddled through. I’m onto the decreases now, and then there will be the long kitchener seam on the far side. The construction is interesting, the knitting pretty mindless, but I’m not convinced about the yarn or the idea of a garter stitch sock, so I’ll wash this first one when it’s done and see how it feels. Based on how quickly this is going, that should be within the week!
