Meteorological Spring

The local TV weatherman announced on the first of March that we were beginning meteorological spring, that is to say that the coldest months were now behind us and we could look forward to steadily warming temperatures. Astrological spring, that is to say the Vernal Equinox, is still a few weeks ahead of us. On Cape Cod spring comes when the waters of the Atlantic Ocean say it comes. The Atlantic moderates our fall and winter temperatures as well, but it's hard to be fair when it seems that winter will never end. Although I think we are past the chance of significant snow I have not yet returned the shovels to the shed.

Today we are having yet another winter storm. The winter storms around here have come nearly every week and last at least two days. Here on the Cape we are having mostly rain with periods of snow. On the mainland it seems to be all snow. Here on the Cape we are buffeted yet again by high winds and destructive tides. With the number of storms that have lined up since the first of the year there are crazy numbers of trees down. I've lost a couple of fence panels, and I don't have the heart to go out in the yard yet to pick up all the small branches that have come down. I watched my neighbor's trees waving around all morning, but did not want to look at my own for fear I'll see one about to come down.



I have been working on my winter accessories, creating some of the extra warm and heavy duty items still lacking in my wardrobe. Another Eden Slouch hat of sturdy wool, knitted tightly for maximum warmth has joined its prettier but thinner brethren. I have also made up a pair of convertible mittens, the Juris Mittens featured in the Interweave Knits Accessories 2001 issue. I used Knitpicks Wool of the Andes for these mittens and the new hat. I had purchased a sweater quantity some time ago, and had instead made Jared Flood's Guernsey Wrap . That left me with a few spare balls to use in another project. For the very sensitive the yarn is a little scratchy in gloves, but quite tolerable for me. Long wear and durability are more important for this project, IMHO. The next pair will be from some navy blue Bernat Lana merino (a discontinued yarn) that has been lurking in deep stash for some time. I picked it up at half price (maybe lower?) about five years ago. There is enough there for a warm hat as well.

(Part of) A Year in Shawls

As a matter of habit I knit for myself from January to June and knit for gifts from July through December, with exceptions made for emergency gifts and irresistible babies. Generally I start with two pair of socks, one plain and one fancy. Beach and gardening weather come along at the end of "Knit for Myself" season, so sometimes that's about all I end up with. This year I did make my plain pair of socks, a super thick pair of Online self striping intended to keep me cozy in the rubber wellies that have been an inescapable part of my weekend wardrobe.

A comparative glance at my bulging handknit sock drawer and lightly stocked outerwear bin, supplemented by a weekend spent wearing wool outerwear in the freezing cold and unlighted house quickly readjusted my priorities. I seem to have plenty of gorgeous alpaca mitts and cowls but few heavy weight gloves and hats. I currently have a pair of convertible mittens on the needles, a pair of gauntlets  To warm up my alpaca poncho high in the queue, and am mulling over several cozy hat patterns. Of course I did buy some gloves for shoveling. None of my handknits will be put to such strenuous use.

What I want to knit is shawls. They are so pretty, so versatile, and so much fun to knit. The magic of blocking always entertains me. Last October our knitting group informally discussed knitting the Color Affection shawl  by Veera Välimäki as a knitalong. I purchased the pattern right away because I was pretty sure I had enough of something in the stash to make it. Because of the interesting construction but easy knitting (all garter) it was a terrific TV knit. The odd shape makes it versatile, and the wonderful drape of garter makes it flattering. I used three colors that don't quite go together, but play off each other in interesting ways. I finished it in January and have already worn it many times. I call mine Color Affectation because I ran out of once color and therefore started the single color border several rows sooner than called for in the pattern. No matter, it's a very forgiving pattern! It gets a fair amount of attention whenever I visit a yarn store.



Our group chose Jared Flood's Juneberry Triangle  for a February knitalong. I started it in the last few days of January, but because I ripped out the initial attempt I consider it to have been a February start. Juneberry starts with a garter tab, has pattern on both sides,  has a knitted on border and bobbles: four new skills for me. It's a fun knit for a knitalong because it can look quite different with changes of needle size, yarn weight, and intensity of blocking. I like a BIG shawl, so I made mine up in Cascade 220 (also makes it inexpensive!) on size 9 needles and blocked it severely. Love It! It will be making its debut tomorrow at Stitch & Bitch. It does need attention while knitting, so it may not have been the best choice to knit at meetings  but I can hardly wait to see everyone's version.