Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Coming Up for Air

Goodness me, three weeks into the New Year and I haven't written a word until now.

How are you?

Gratuitous Photo of a Very Cold Sunset

I've been keeping my head down, designing like crazy, hoping to generate some magazine work for the coming year. (As I said to my niece recently: at times like this, I can design, or I can blog - but I can't do both. "You should write a post about that," she said.)

In the intervals of crochet, I'm knitting a variation of the Minecraft Inspired Hat for a soon-to-be-teenager's birthday gift. Though it's years since I've done any stranded colourwork, the tension seems to be about right (whew):


I'd forgotten how much fun it is to see a colourwork pattern coming out row by row. It makes it very hard to put the needles down. Who needs dinner? One more round and my Creepers will be finished!

Or perhaps not. When I looked up the pattern link just now, I found I'd messed up an entire round - three rounds back. This is what comes of drawing my own chart from a photo. Why didn't I just get the free Ravelry download? A-frogging we will go....

"Lifeline first! Lifeline first!" whispers my knitting angel, glad to be back in action after much tedious thumb-twiddling during the furious bouts of crochet.

~ ~ ~

In other news, the Aged P turned 88 last week, and this week we celebrate the first anniversary of his move to Wisconsin. Driving him home from a doctor visit this morning, I asked if he was glad he'd made the move. He thought for a moment, then said, "I have no regrets." "I'm glad to hear it," I said. It's a big thing for a man his age to have moved 2000 miles from home - I hope I'll be as plucky as he is if I live that long.

~ ~ ~

On the weather front this month, we have been cold, then Very Cold, then a bit warmer - and now icy. A pretty typical January.

Very Cold weather - by which I mean below zero with wind chills in the -20 to -30 (F) range - is perfect for sitting safely at home while sipping lots of hot tea and playing with yarn. In fact it's a positive virtue to stay indoors when frostbite is only minutes away.

But when wind and weather moderate, even the most hardened crocheter realises it's time to lay down the hook and sally forth into the cold white world for a bit of mind-and-body restoration.

Here is what this crocheter saw the Sunday before last:

A favourite tree with the sun just beginning to yawn in the background:


Samaras scattered over the snow:


A contrail that looked like a shooting star:


Crossed a few minutes later by another:


Goldenrod leaves with their feet in the snow:


More goldenrod leaves, curled into ringlets by the cold:


I like the dried flowers behind this fencepost:


(If I put on amber glasses, and ignore the snow, and pretend it's 60 degrees warmer, it could almost be summer....)

Sparrow-sized tracks crossing my trail:


A winter composition in blues and greys...


...is transformed minutes later into this miracle of pale rose and violet:

 

And that's all she wrote.

How is 2015 treating you so far?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

23 comments:

  1. Glad you are well Sue. Your photographs are stunning....I'm so glad you found the time to share them and your news.
    Jacquie x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your photos are really lovely. It's cold here too - with a bit of snow - but nowhere near as cold as with you. My father will be 87 this May and he lives with my husband and me. He just takes everything in his stride and hates not being able to get out for a walk because of the snow and ice.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Brrrrr! Glad your Dad has settled in. Love the colors of the hat

    ReplyDelete
  4. Happy New year to you. Good luck with all the designing and wishing you all the best for a wonderful 2015. Juliex

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great photos of the fresh and pretty snow! We've finally gotten a new dusting that made everything pretty again. =)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Beautiful pictures. I can't IMAGINE being that cold. My hands were FREEZING last night and it was 68 degrees in the house.

    ReplyDelete
  7. We've had very cold, cold, warmer and then freezing too. It must be a common January complaint. It's actually supposed to be 33 today! Think spring!!! Good for your Dad. That surely couldn't have been easy.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

    ReplyDelete
  8. Lovely photos of winter! Such a wonderful time of the year for crochet and knitting!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Beautiful photo's and your knitting looks great! keep warm. :) xx

    ReplyDelete
  10. All your photos are lovely, but the last one...with the splashes of pale pink and violet speaks to me. I so love the sky when it looks this way! Glad to see you are knitting...and color work is always so much fun ( you impress me with the even tension!...my tension always looks like someone had one too many of the bubbly and then decided to knit!) :) Looking forward to all your wonderful posts in 2015. I have been knitting cowls this entire year...2015, appears to be the year of knitting for me. :) So glad your Dad is happy with his move. I know it's nice to have him so much closer, too. Blessings

    ReplyDelete
  11. Happy 2015,

    Welcome back. At least you weren't kidnapped by some loony knitter or crocheter. It appears some teen is going to have a warm head the remainder of this winter. I like the hat's color scheme too.

    I like all the pics. I can faintly hear cries for help from the goldenrod with their feet in the snow. They look like they're waiting patiently for a spring rescue.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh, my goodness, are you getting some great winter pictures! Those sunsets are spectacular! Love the colors in the knitting, too. Not familiar with the game (?) which inspired them, but I think any new teenager would love that! It is good to have you back out here in blogland for a few minutes. Hope the pattern-writing goes well and successfully!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Happy New Year. Your pictures are so beautiful.
    So far this year I have been sewing, organizing, planning, doing some crochet, and a bit of cross stitch. I hope to continue doing more of the same.
    Have fun playing with yarn. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  14. I like your niece. Loved all your snowy images.. Oregon has turned into San Diego this winter. :-) Well, maybe not exactly. But, no pretty photogenic snow. Dang. I have, on the other hand, gotten lots of crochet and knitting done this January so far! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hooray for you designing like a crazy woman. I love your designs so I look forward to seeing all your creative projects.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

    ReplyDelete
  16. The photos are lovely, Sue! Our world has so many beautiful places and moods!

    ReplyDelete
  17. It's good to see you, Sue. I hope you're doing well. It sounds like you're working hard. I'm glad you had a nice walk. Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Brrr! I am not a cold weather person but your photos are lovely. All is the same here. Happy for the weekend. Good luck with all your designing projects. Tammy

    ReplyDelete
  19. Ouch! It's so cold where you are! But beautiful. Which makes venturing out worth it, I see. I haven't had much time to blog either. Alas. 2015 is proving to be a busy one.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Nice to see you blogging again Sue.

    How about a crochet design based on those curly golden rod leaves?

    ReplyDelete
  21. I am glad to see that you are back. I fell down the rabbit hole quite a bit ago...I think about posting every single day and then something comes along and I fail to do it!
    Your pictures are just lovely. We had some cold, icy weather a bit ago, but nothing compared to your temps.
    I am glad to hear that your beloved father is doing well.
    Can't wait to see what you are designing. Have a lovely weekend.
    xo, Ellen.

    ReplyDelete
  22. The addictive powers of knitting and crochet deserve a post all their own :-)
    Amalia
    xo

    ReplyDelete
  23. Oh my, it is really cold where you are, isn't it? But you are lucky, we now have storm and rain again, it is the most awful weather by far. The pictures of the landscaoe you have taken are stunning, I really love winter landcapes. Viola

    ReplyDelete

I love comments! Speak on....