Arctic Blast

When I woke up this morning, it was 2 degrees. 2!  For those of you in the rest of the world that use the much more practical Celsius, that's -16 ish.  Most of the country is caught in this below normal cold snap, but I only care that it's this cold outside my door!  Apparently it's going to hang on until next week but will then warm up again.  And, yes, at this point, 36 degrees will seem warm.  And to be honest, if I had to choose between the ball numbing cold or driving, blowing snow, I'd absolutely pick the cold.  

One of the good things about the cold is that when you're working on an afghan, it keeps you warm. In the summer, when I'm making things and the completed part is on my lap, it makes me way too warm and often deters me from working on it.  But in the winter?  That's an added bonus.  It sits there on your lap while you knit away, keeping you nice and toasty until you have to turn the work...which you do very rapidly and get the work settled again so that you can continue to benefit from the warmth.  Sis's afghan is coming along nicely and she'll need it since her bedroom is beyond frigid.  I've let go of any hopes of it being done before her birthday, which is Monday, but I do intend to get every last inch of yarn I have in my possession on the blanket before then.  It's going to be a busy weekend, I think.  I'll wrap it while it's still on the needles, I'm working on a circular to accommodate the bulk of it, so she knows that she got something in the works.  And this time?  It won't take me 11 months to get it finished!

It amuses me that right now I've got two projects in the works...and that one is crochet while the other is knit.  Best of both worlds right there.  And with the baby's blanket, its the first time I've ever done something with this particular technique of joining the motifs.  So, while not exactly a challenge, it's something new and different to keep me paying attention.  And while the pattern itself is fairly easy, I do have to give it at least half my attention or I skip stuff...which I don't realize I've done until I get to the same spot on the next round and have to frog a bunch because I did it wrong.  Let me tell you, after the second or third time that happened, I started paying better attention!

With the extra coldness going on, I find it extra comforting to be working on yarn projects.  My fanciful imagination can't help thinking of the thousands of years this exact activity has been going on.  Winter nights with ladies sitting around, making beautiful yarn things, trying to pass the time and stay warm.  Can't beat that kind of tradition!