Snowed in and happy

I guess that being snowed in has its advantages. I'm finally getting around to posting to this blog. Sorry for the long silence! First things first: SP13 Question #2 was about holiday knitting. I wasn't going to do any (yeah, right). My daughter decided just last week to go to Buffalo NY over winter break. I hadn't gotten her any Hanukkah presents yet, so I had to get busy.


She had been asking for a hat from my handspun yarn for a few months. I have only been spinning for a few months and felt that my handspun was both poor in quality and precious at the same time, since I haven't done much spinning at all yet. So I have kind of been hoarding the yarn, fondling and criticizing it.
Then I saw Stephanie Pearl McPhee's "Unoriginal Hat" and thought it would be perfect for my bulky, uneven yarn. Here's the result: I must admit that I'm pretty pleased! This was my first spinning with dyed roving. It's from Reflection Farm, and I really love the way the colors came out. Total serendipity, since I had no idea what I was doing in either the spinning or the plying. I hope my daughter wears it and likes it. The really good news is there's enough yarn left over that I can make a second hat for myself, thus continuing the fondling/criticizing cycle for a while longer.

That is the sum total of my holiday knitting.

The weather! Yikes, it's been scary here. Now, if I still lived in Massachusetts or Vermont or even New York, this wouldn't be such a big deal. But here in the Puget Sound area, we just don't get snow. It rarely gets below freezing, and if it does, it doesn't last long. I won't give you a rerun of this story; there is much weather to be had everywhere now. I do, however, live on an island. There are many, many large old evergreens all over the island, and the power lines are NOT buried. We lose power frequently. During the last wind storm, we lost part of the roof and were without power for a week. With the temperatures hovering in the teens and lower and with winds predicted upwards of 50 mph, the kids and I had a family meeting and decided to get out of Dodge. We are fortunate to have a dear friend in Tacoma with whom we are now camped out. Here are a couple of views this morning:Since I started this post, the sky has gotten even darker. I think there is more snow on the way. In the meantime, my kids have been knitting as well. Dalya made a hat based on a character from South Park:

She also has crocheted Kenny, and is moving on to Kyle or Cartman, I'm not sure which :Please don't ask me why the test is suddenly underlined I don't know and I can't seem to change it. This is not a link!
Finally, my son Ben has started knitting a hat. Black, of course, since he is nineteen and very cool. I'm trying to convince him that colors are fun (and a lot easier to see when you're knitting!). Here is his first knitting in the round. I'm impressed. Of course, I'm his Mom:


Well, that is it for now. I have some essays to write that I MUST finish today. I have some very dark chocolate to help me with the process. Stay warm!