Wintery week-end

This was the view from the end of our driveway as the snowstorm started on Saturday afternoon . By the end of it all , we got about 35 cm of new snow. Apparently we're just another snowstorm away from shattering the record for most snow in a winter. You can't really see how much there is from that picture , but the snow in our yard is waist high , not drifts of snow , but overall snow , waist high is mind boggling. When you're shovelling the snowbanks are so high you have to shovel up , way up. I was so happy just to hunker down with my knitting , tea and a good movie . I was worried about Casey and Chantal who had a wedding to attend on Saturday afternoon . The reception was on the south shore , just off the island of Montreal . By late evening the roads in the area had to be closed , due to the poor visibility and blowing snow . They got home early in the morning , after it had all died down and the plows were able to get out. I was so worried till I got the call that they were home safe and sound. You know how moms are . Sunday was spent shovelling and trading stories about the snowstorm. All the neighbours were out helping dig each other out . One of our neighbours has 3 young children , who should be the poster kids on how to enjoy winter . They were out with their parents and their shovels and just having a blast. This could last another two months for all they care - bring it on ! The rest of us old folks are just saying enough already !

Here's what kept me occupied On Saturday evening . I finally finished EZ 's February baby sweater . I'm happy with the finished it knit overall , but have some issues with the sleeves . I knit them in the round , which meant a little less seaming , but finishing isn't by strong suit , so I'm not altogether pleased with the underarms. This one will go into the hope chest and I'll attempt another and do the sleeves differently . On the needles at the moment is a birthday scarf for Stefanie to match her Koolhaas hat . Her birthday is on Friday . The needles better be flying this week !

Recovering

Last week Mike came home from work with a fever and the chills . He actually took a day off work the following day, something which never happens so you know he was really not well . Two days later , guess who fell down with the same nasty little virus ? Yup , that would be me , and I was doing so well this winter with avoiding coughs , colds , and flu . Fortunately the misery was short-lived and I'm feeling much better now.

There's no photos of knitting due to lack of progress on that front . I seem to be in slump with that , though progress has been made on the baby sweater . I've been reading instead and finished a very interesting and thoughtful book by Geraldine Brooks , "The People of the Book " , a novel that traces the travels of the Sarajevo Haggadah , an illuminated Jewish manuscript , from the years of Queen Isabella through to the 1996 Bosnia after the conflict there . The main character of the present day is a rare book expert and conservator . The author uses the literary device of taking some discoveries found in the book and linking them back to various events in its history . This book has been been given quite few rave reviews , so when I saw it at the library , I thought it might be worth a read . I liked it very much but in some sections , I thought the characters were less compelling than others . I wanted more character development . It does however make you think about the history of the Jews and the continuing divisions and intolerance between different faiths today . It seems like the more things change , the more they stay the same . A good read and time well spent recovering from a virus.

A Pick Me Up and WIP Wednesday

Late yesterday afternoon I had such a nice surprise in the mail . My scarf from the Ravelry exchange arrived . Marjorie (Whiskr ) from New Zealand very kindly volunteered to be my scarf angel after my initial partner bailed . The scarf is just gorgeous , so soft and just the most amazing shades of blues and purples . Love , love , love, it ! In the package she also included beautiful hand painted lace weight from Touch Yarns , a New Zealand fiber company , two balls of Louisa Harding angora/wool , pretty stitch markers from MissPurl . There was also a lovely calendar of the New Zealand wilderness and a bar of Manuka Honey soap which smells so nice . I really can't thank her enough, she made my day and then some !

Still suffering from the winter blahs . It's still snowing , though not as much as forecast it's still enough to shovel . I'm so done with snow ! Oh well , March is just around the corner and even though we usually get at least one good dump of snow then , it disappears fairly quickly . Enough with the pity party !!

Sunday was Chantal's birthday . She liked her ribbon scarf very much , as did a few members of her family, who would love to have me knit one for them. I haven't committed to do that because though the end result was beautiful , it's a mind numbingly boring knit . Plain garter stitch till you run out of yarn -kill me now ! Unfortunately as per usual I didn't think to get a picture ; maybe one day when she's wearing it .

This is the progress made on my EZ February baby sweater . I think I've got it right , finally ! The bird in hand mittens are all but done , just the weaving in of the ends and the "bird " to embroider on the thumb . So onwards and upwards knitting continues ....

RESCUE ME

Got a slight case of the winter blahs ...

Elizabeth Zimmerman is making me crazy !

I've come to the conclusion that I'm EZ (as she's affectionately known as in the knitting world ) challenged. In an attempt to do a little stash busting and perhaps to subtly suggest that while dogs are wonderful , babies are also right up there in the cuteness factor , I cast on the two needle February baby sweater from The Knitters Almanac. I did my research on Ravelry and even printed up a few pages of helpful tips to EZ' "pithy " instructions. Though they are pithy , they most definitely are not very clear, at least to me. All was well until I hit the division for the sleeves and then it all unravelled , literally. I lost some stitches at that point (as well as my patience ) I ripped back until the beginning of the pattern stitch section . Lesson learned there - put in a lifeline before dividing for the sleeves.

Knitting continues this afternoon ...

Oh , and just to end on a happy note , here's some dog cuteness .

Isn't she lovely ...

Meet Maggie , the new addition to Casey and Chantal's family . I keep telling them to have a baby I'm so anxious to be an Ommy , so what do they do , they go out and get another dog . Sheesh ,you'd think they were still teenagers for how much they listen . She's a French Mastiff and just a tiny bit of a thing -for now . Full grown she'll weigh about a 100lbs. What so funny is that their first dog ,Gizmo is a Shitzu and weighs 13lbs soaking wet . She is still the boss though -for now .

I was dog-sitting yesterday while Chantal went to visit her grandfather who is very ill after suffering a stroke on the week-end . She was definitely the third wheel when Bingo and Gizmo were playing . She kept following them to try and join them in their shenanigins ,but they totally ignored her . My two cats were not impressed either. They came up to her and gave her a sniff and then walked away as if to say "been there, done that " . At the end of it all though , the funniest thing was Gizmo snuggling up for a snooze next to Maggie on the blanket .

Still waiting for grandkids ....

One down ...

One to go . I guess the third time really is a charm . Despite having a super busy week-end I FINALLY have a Bird in Hand mitten with an eensy bit of blue yarn left . I cast on right away for the second mitten , because if I put this down for even a little time out I probably won't get back to it before next winter. I read somewhere that folk mitten knitters used to sit on their finished mittens at meal times to block them . Don't know if that's true but I'll just have to go make a cup of tea and then sit on a mitten .