Nanook of Cape Cod

We are still in the throes of winter. A couple of days ago we picked up another four inches or so; today the tally looks to be about an additional eight inches, bringing the snow total amounts at my house to about six feet since the middle of January. I am thankful it did not all fall on the same day! Most of it is still around. We had a couple of warmish days and a few periods of sustained rain, so the snow has packed down a bit and we had a little melting. Twice I caught sight of the bird bath closest to the house, but that welcome sight didn't last. It gets buried again in no time. I am reassured when it appears, the inch or so I can see looks OK. This week is much warmer than last week though, only one day with the high in the teens. I have great hopes for four days in a row next week above freezing. For a few hours the weatherman taunted us with a high next Tuesday near 60, but he is no longer saying that. Average snow amounts per year in Mashpee should be about 24 inches (mainland  Massachusetts gets about twice as much). If this is the new normal winter that climate change is bringing us Shana swears she's moving to Florida.

Boston's Saint Patrick's Day parade will still go on on the 15th, but they are having to change the route because there is no way the side streets that are usually part of the parade route will have a cleared lane wide enough for the floats by then. With eight feet of snow in the city this year since the middle of January getting it out of the city is proving to be a Herculean task.

I've got a few projects on the needles now. I am knitting the Must Have Cardigan in a deep teal Cascade 220 yarn, a pair of 2x2 rib socks in a Barefoot Colors yarn, a Croeso lace and cable shawlette in my beautiful cobalt blue alpaca Christmas yarn are currently on the needles. I am also going to cast on for a lace weight shawl, probably Lucidity from Beata Jezek. Lucidity is a big shawl, but it's been years since I have tackled a big lace project and I do have a lace weight quantity in my stash that would do the job.  This is probably enough projects to last me throughout the selfish knitting portion of the year, but with all the stinky weather we have had I have spent a fair amount of time knitting this winter. I've missed my knitting groups; we've missed meeting several times because of poor weather. New Englanders are hardy types, but the roads have truly been in such poor shape that all of us are sick of driving in snow of any amount. A couple of posts back I posted a picture of my Little Wave cardigan, but I did not post a closeup of the stitch pattern. I am hereby correcting that omission. It does not show up well in the pretty terrible pictures I posted of the whole sweater, but it's well worth a second look. This is a pattern from Gudrun Johnston, and it's just full of these lovely details.

And at Last a Distraction

Yes, we are still (partially) buried in snow, but now instead of being up to our eyeballs we are just up to our butts. I suspect the residents of Boston are still mighty discontented, the more so since we will be getting more snow tonight, but at least here the roads are in pretty good shape. Still really icy on the side roads though. I ran across a video this morning that I just had to share. I had no idea Octopi could move so fast!

Winter at the Beach

The weather has become so all-pervading that just the sight of someone's pictures online that feature green grass or people outdoors in short sleeves makes me angry and depressed. As a tonic for my seasonal wounded spirit we got into the car and headed for the beach. We didn't stay long, but I feel much better now, sometimes a little time outdoors is just what I need, even if all I can see is brown, gray and white. Based on what the marshes looked like I would say the tide was out, but there were no waves or wave sounds. It felt odd to be next to the soundless sea.

First Sweater

I have finally finished my first sweater! Last year I took my Christmas money and made the leap into sweater knitting. I had been hemming and hawing about it but at last saw the sweater I needed to have. It's Little Wave, by Gudrun Johnston. Never mind that the construction is a bit unusual, that there are many sections of doing two things at the same time, that it has a button band, a short row collar, and an icord bind-off. It is the sweater for me! I started it in January last year and finished it  last weekend. That said, I was not working on it all that time. For one thing, I only knit for myself from January to June, and I was making several projects for myself. Also, knitting with worsted weight and the needles it requires is more tiring for me. Fingering and lace weight are easier on my shoulders and wrists.

I made a gauge swatch and compared the measurements on the schematics to a sweater I already own that fits, but still came out with a very large sweater with very long sleeves. It's really too big to be flattering, but not too big to feel great wearing it at home, so I am mostly satisfied. I am really proud of the way it looks and the general quality of the knitting, but next time I will step down one size and also step down one needle size. Because it really has no seams a little snugger gauge will give it a bit stronger shape retention. It is designed for Shelter, which I think is a smaller worsted with a bit less stretch than the Cascade 220 I used. Shelter would have cost literally twice as much to knit, which would have been too much of an investment for my first fitted garment.

Things I learned from this project: Gauge lies. I-cord bind-off. My knitting in pattern improved over the course of the project, and my reading of a printed knitting pattern improved.

On to the next project! I am currently working on a pair of socks for myself, while evaluating a number of shawl patterns for my Christmas yarn - 600 yds of sport weight alpaca in royal blue. I should have something started in a day or two.

There's lots of knitting time to be had because we are still eyeball deep in snow. This picture was taken before the most recent 6 inches, and we are expecting more Saturday night into Sunday. That one is forecast to include freezing rain, sleet, and rain for my area, so who knows whether my piles will grow or shrink. It's hard to make plans because so many things are cancelled in the wake of one storm or another. It's not just the snow and wind, although they are plenty inconvenient. It's also the little question of how soon can parking lots be cleared and where to put the snow. Driving around parking lots is hair raising because you really can't see over or around the huge snow piles. We will probably still be looking at some of these piles in June. Of course, we have only received a bit over 4ft at my house since January 28, and Boston is up around 8 feet for the same period. We are beginning to think temperatures in the low 20's are quite tolerable.

Still Slogging On

We are still buried in snow, with more coming. Boston has had about 40" in the last 10 days and we are not far behind. Our roads are mostly clear, and if the right lanes are still deep in snow the center lanes are at least open for business. I am only watching the forecasts with one eye now - we had snow yesterday and snow this morning but the one that comes in tonight is likely to keep going until early Tuesday and every forecast is different from the last. Worst case it looks like another 10 inches for us, best case we get a much smaller tally of snow but that is because part of our precipitation will be freezing rain!

The wild turkey that hangs out across the street disappeared for a few days because the homeowner there was so anxious about him sleeping up in a tree during the first night of the blizzard that she grabbed him and threw him into a shed until the blizzard was over. He was mighty unhappy about that turn of events and decamped to another part of the neighborhood for a few days. He's back now, knowing a good thing when he sees it. He is eating with her chickens, which is no small advantage when there is so much snow on the ground. My bird feeders are nearly empty but I can't quite summon up the gumption to wade out into the yard with a ladder to fill them.

The dogs and I have still not gotten into the back yard, so we are still walking several times a day. I swear Mitzi is getting a waist from all the exercise.  We've been down in the single digits plus wind a few times. When that happens they just do their business in the driveway and stalk back to the house. So far I think they are enjoying it more than I am. I am pretty sure my back yard neighbors are thrilled not to be hearing Mitzi's barkathons.

Shana has come down with the flu. It was almost a sure thing since she spends a fair amount of her working time in emergency rooms. She had her flu shot (not very effective this year) and had been hand washing like a fiend but it caught her anyway. The timing was such that she will probably have missed only one working day, but that is small consolation as she is miserable. I immediately decamped to the guest room and am hoping to miss out. I did cancel my social engagements for the next few days in case I am incubating and possibly contagious. Oddly, no one has yet complained about my declining to spread the wealth (of germs). I've been knitting and catching up on my reading, so cabin fever has not been an issue for me. Really it almost never is. I could stay in all week without a pang most of the time.

I've been making serious progress on my "Little Wave" sweater. I am up to the neck back on one side and will probably have the left shoulder and back strap done tomorrow. Then it's only picking up the edging (no small thing but I don't mind picking up stitches), a few rows of garter edging (with buttonholes) , knit the pockets, kitchener the lower armholes and pick out buttons! All pretty small stuff, except that I am pretty sure that garter stitch down both sides of the front and around the neck will get tedious. The collar is integral to the borders, shaped with short rows. Of course now I am having anxiety about whether I will like it once it is done after all that work. As far as I can tell, I think it will fit, so full speed ahead! I will say that over the time I have been working on it my skills have improved. Nothing like a big project to force improvement.

January Without the Thaw

It's pretty common to have a January thaw here, but this year I think we will be doing without a thaw. Monday and Tuesday we had a huge blizzard. It started snowing  early Monday afternoon and finished up about midnight Tuesday, except for a bit of ocean effect snow and some lingering wind.  Of course, two or three feet of snow cause a slowdown in activity even after it stops falling. School is still out today, and we did not have mail delivery or Post Office services Tuesday or Wednesday. We spent most of Wednesday just digging out. Our heat pump unit is outside and still has enough snow and ice in it that we are not using it. We are sure glad we left our baseboard heaters in place! With more snow coming tonight and Monday it may be a few more days before everything is back in order.

To avoid the inevitable power outages we removed to a hotel which shares a power grid with the Falmouth Police Department Monday night. As it turned out we did not lose power at home but found hotel life less than luxurious.  The hotel is changing hands at the moment so things were not up to their usual standards: no restaurant, no continental breakfast, terrible coffee. We forgot our boiled eggs and lived on cheese and crackers until Tuesday afternoon when we made a rather poor decision to flaunt the travel ban and drive home. The trip was hair raising, with terrible visibility, wipers freezing on the windshield, and no place to park at home. I barely got away with leaving my car on the street overnight because I ran outside when the police came and promised to get it out of the street first thing in the morning. We parked it up the street at a gas station until we could get enough driveway cleared to accommodate both cars.

We probably ended up with around 30 inches + higher drifts in a few places. The deck was shoulder high in snow, which has packed down a little. This means no access to the back yard at the moment. We are located far enough from the coast that flooding is not an issue, nor is salt spray freezing on the house. The dogs are going for frequent walks, as the street is the only place they can go and find a place to "go"! They are liking it so far except that the mornings are so cold that Mitzi wants to head back to the house right away whether Roxy is ready or not. I am not enjoying it so much. Getting out of a warm bed to put on my rubber wellies and get out in the cold is not my idea of a fun time.

With Shana's new schedule Tuesday is our day for day trips off Cape - last week we went into Boston to the New England Aquarium, lunch at Legal Seafood Long Wharf  and desert at Flour Bakery. I'm glad that was the Tuesday we chose to go to town, as this week would have been a big  disappointment. Tuesday is a great day for trips to the city; there is less traffic than on the weekend and it's easy to get a delicious lunch and still get home before the rush hour traffic picks up.



I have had a few people ask me if wild turkeys can fly. While they are not to be seen winging their way around the place in big flocks I think seeing the local bachelor surveying the neighborhood from atop a chimney should provide good evidence that indeed they can. This guy also hung out on our deck for a while one day peering into the house with no evidence of alarm when I opened the door to snap his picture.  This particular bird follows one of my neighbors around her yard. She has chickens, so he knows she will be a soft touch for food.

No Name Post

It's the first week of the new year and I am just doing a quick drive by post for a reference of how I am doing so far.

I have not bought any cookies, but a friend and I went out for lunch today and we did split a very chocolaty desert. When I came home from my Christmas trip I ate up all the ice cream and most of the cookies in the house immediately. Eating habits still need work, in short. I'll be getting my exercise regime started up again tomorrow. Now that I am not lugging and toting for 20 hours per week I need to get out and make an effort.

I have not touched my partially completed sweater yet, although I did move it upstairs where I could not fail to see it. I did finish a pair of socks and have been working on the angora scarf that Mitzi wants so badly to chew up. I'll wear it, too. Cold weather is coming in so I expect to be swathed in all things woolly all week. Next week looks snowy, too.

I have been watching much less TV but possibly because I have been online quite a bit in the last few days. I have picked up my Tumblr again with my usual yearly intention of 365 photos. This year so far it's all selfies, but I'm sure that will change. I need to spend some time on my Flickr site to get current, and I have had to do a bit of maintenance on my Evernote notes because some of their settings have changed a bit and I had trouble finding things. I've been cleaning up my old bookmarks and checking into the bookmarked sites I have not visited recently to be sure they are still posting and that I am still interested in them. I must admit I read a lot of back posts while I was about it. It is interesting to see what has changed and what is the same on my old favorites. Since I first created those bookmarks I have changed some of my "surfing" habits. Some blogs I just follow the Twitter or Instagram feeds to keep up with activity, some I "like" on Facebook, some I follow a board or two on Pinterest. I haven't really settled on a good way to handle keeping up with blogs. No one method seems to work for all blogs; some post frequently, some have moved more of their content to Twitter. I am still posting on all platforms, but blogging seems to be waning as the short forms are growing in popularity.

Moving forward, but not evenly on all fronts, in short. All pictures featured today are summer seaside because that's what I want to see in winter!