Snowed in and iced over

We had no snow at all through December....visions of a mild winter, but we remember Boston winters. Nothing at all through December, followed in quick succession by blizzards in January, blizzards in February, blizzards in March. The skies cleared, and daffodils pushed up out of the ground between the parallels....only to be covered in snow by one last storm in....April!

In any case, we have had seven snowstorms in quick succession, and have had already seven snow days when we only had four scheduled. Today's was the worst, not the fine, powdery fluff that is useless for making snowballs and snowmen and snow ducks, but brushes off cars easily. Instead, an ice storm, billed as "wintry mix" but instead, a wet rain that froze at ground level leaving the branches encased in ice and the cars similarly encased. There is a two inch layer of ice on the walks and asphalt surfaces. Tis rumored that delivery men are coming and going on hands and knees to avoid falling down.

In all this, we are doing regular work, and some pleasant activities as well. We finished a bias knit "dishcloth" baby blanket, made 3 ft x 4 ft to last longer, in Lion Brand Homespun "Sierra" a mix of golden brown, burgundy and moss green which does stripe, as "Regency" the green mix does, and as "Colonial" the marine blue does not. That and a nice little "Tomato" hat for Bee's newborn. We made another 100 stitch Moebius in worsted cranberry, sepia and tan tones, this time with 3 rows each knit, purl, knit, purl, knit. A wider scarf for the Mommy, who tends to be left out at this time of life. Everyone looking at the baby.

But today we have a very pretty Moebius, in an interesting yarn, called Amazing by Lion Brand. As usual, the name tells us absolutely nothing about the yarn. Remember that Incredible was their polyester ribbon yarn. Amazing caught my attention, being in skeins the shape of Noro Kureyon and similar color blends. It is, unlike other Lion Brand blends, 53% wool and 47% acrylic, with a lofty, mohair-like halo around a rather thin base. It's that halo that allows it to knit up as a "medium" #4, with a recommended needle size of 9 (5.5 mm). Well, I didn't have a 9 tip handy, so am using a 60" cable and size 8 Harmony wood tips. The join is not as smooth as the permanently attached Clover Bamboo, and it unscrewed at one point and fell apart. But eventually we regain equilibrium and are merrily knitting and purling 220 stitches which fit very nicely on the 60" needle. But it is a long way around, all those little stitches! I'm using a little rubber ring as the stitch marker as it tends not to run away when I get to it and it tries to drop off. The yarn is very soft to touch and doesn't split despite the very sharp tips on Harmony needles. I think it will be lovely and much warmer than the acrylic only Moebius scarves I've been making. Moebius really looks very beautiful with a variegated yarn.

I'm thinking of doing another as a shawl or shoulder drape in the light tan and cream textured yarn, on size 13 needles, which I have, in Zephyr.

This weekend we are invited to a Super Bowl party at the home of the woman I made the Shedir cap for. She's doing well, for which there is much to be grateful.