Almost March

Here's a picture I took the day after the Big Blizzard of '11, early this month:

I'm not quite sure how the wind was blowing to cause this formation, but I suspect it was coming from the south, under the fence, and scooped all the snow up into that nice crisp ridge. If the wind came from the north, it would have hit the fence, curled down, and scooped the snow. In either case, it was cool while it lasted.

Knitting News
I finally finished the Socks That Would Not End. My Ravelry projects page tells me I started these in September. Here they are, hot off the needles, unwashed, unblocked, un-anything.



Yarn: Universal Yarns, Ditto. Now discontinued.
Knit on US #1 needles.
68 stitches, ribbed cuff and instep

Earlier this month, in the deep cold that followed the blizzard, I decided that my 3201 wool hats were not doing a good enough job keeping me warm and I probably should make myself an alpaca one. Fortunately I found some yarn in my stash that seemed perfect.



This is just a basic watchcap, k2, p2 ribbing throughout.
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Melange
Knit on US #2 needles
120 stitches.

In Other News
The dissatisfaction with our governor has grown steadily since Feb 11. If he thought this would all settle down and go away, he really underestimated the people of Wisconsin. The Teabaggers he recruited from out of state to counter-demonstrate put in a pretty pitiful showing in comparison. There were very few of them and they were back on their motor-coaches, on their way home, within 24 hours. I try to keep my politics off the blog, but recent events go way beyond politics-as-usual around here. It should get more interesting before it's all done.

Spring Updates

I finished these socks last night, though I still need to darn in ends and give them a little wash. It's a simple twisted rib stitch on the leg and top of foot. I think there are patterns out there for the same thing, though I didn't use one. The yarn is Turtle Feet by Turtle Cove Farm. I really enjoyed working with it. Nice saturated color and a pleasingly dense fabric on US #1 needles.


This morning I cast on for this thing. No, it's not a boomerang. I think I'll be giving it away when I finish it, as I know a person who it will suit perfectly. Stay tuned.

Out in the yard, lots of stuff is in bloom!



I want to know why "pansy" was an old-time insult for a man who was considered weak. These pansies apparently overwintered in Wisconsin! These are tough flowers! They might be the toughest annuals around. Don't be messin' with pansies.


All we can think of is that we had an early and thick snow cover that stayed there all winter, thus protecting them from a deep freeze. Our soil seems to have warmed up much earlier this year than it has in many previous years, so I think it never froze as deep or hard as it would in a typical winter, even though our temperatures were fairly typical.



Mr. SABLE is off in Phoenix this week. The boys and I are doing ok so far, but it's only been one day.

Evidence of Knitting

A Sweater For My Dad

I'm most of the way done with this Grandpa Sweater for my dad. I'm machine knitting it on my LK-150. Jo Sharp DK Classic in color Muscat, which is a very dark purple-ish. I picked up stitches around the armscye to work down to the cuff with short row shaping. Unfortunately, I think I did too many short rows and it creates a bit of a puff sleeve, which isn't a good look for a 74 year old man. Hmm. His birthday is today. I kind of wanted to have this done to send along with Owen when he flies out there tomorrow, but if I redo it, I'll need at least three more days. Well, crap.

A Sock

I frogged the sock I started from this yarn and am doing this one instead. I had been doing another pair of my Making Waves socks and it was turning out pretty well. But I screwed up a bit at knitting group and when I tried to undo a few rows, the twisted stitches refused to cooperate. That was at the February Last Saturday Knitting. This new sock is just a simple twisted stitch rib. I'm pleased so far.

In Other News
The SABLE clan is preparing to move to a bigger house in Madison. There's a lot to do and will be a fair amount of waiting and stressing before it all comes together. If posts get even thinner on the ground than they have been, that's why!