Winter Weekending

How is it already Monday again! Ruthie still doesn't understand the concept of sleeping in, so to a certain extent, weekends don't feel like much of a break for me. At least there was not a lot to do this weekend -- and the sun actually came out! It really tells you how cold it's been that when we went out for a walk after lunch yesterday and it was 17ºF but sunny, it felt downright balmy! It's the longest walk Ruthie has taken since the storm, too. Perhaps she wanted everyone to see her new coat:

I spent Friday evening grafting the ends of my cowl together, blocked it on Saturday, and wore it yesterday:

I didn't use a pattern for this, but I've knit enough that I didn't need one. I started with a provisional cast-on of 110 stitches, joined my working yarn, and knit until I had just a little left (I could have managed another round or two, but I got to a stripe that was close in color to where I started and decided to end there). I put the provisional stitches back on a needle and rotated one end of the tube 180º so I'd have that little bend in the tube to make it sit nicely around my neck. I grafted the ends together and that was that. I ended up using exactly 100 g, leaving just a small amount of yarn leftover. Easy peasy and very cozy.

The rest of my knitting time over the weekend was spent on a new pair of socks that I'm attempting to finish by the end of the Pigskin Party (which wraps up with the Super Bowl, so next weekend). I'm using the second skein of Woolens and Nosh self-striping that came home with me from SSK last summer. The colorway is called Loud Plaid Shorts, which I think is just perfect for these awesome bright colors.

These colors are the perfect antidote to the gray and white (and brown) that is all of the outside right now. We actually got a little more snow yesterday morning, not that we needed any, and with no high temperatures above freezing in the extended forecast, it looks like what we have is going to be sticking around a while. At least we got mail delivery on Saturday, for the first time in a week!

There's not to much exciting ahead this week, just the usual Monday-Friday work and school stuff. At least it will no longer be dangerous to be outside and the roads have cleared enough that we can actually drive places. I think it'll be a while yet before I can run outside (some people never cleared their sidewalks, so they've now turned to ice), but at least Ruthie and I can probably take some regular walks. I'm sure she's looking forward to smelling some new things as much as I'm looking forward to stretching my legs!