Thursday, March 7, 2019

Catching Up, a Coral Scarf, and a Winter Walk

February was an interesting month, in which we fell victim to what I think was walking pneumonia. Whatever it was, it lasted for weeks. And weeks. So persistent was my cough that I was tempted to name it, and dithered for days between George and Urk*. (Never did make up my mind.)

But March is here, and we're (mostly) through with coughing - hooray! Now we're trying to catch up on all the things we didn't do last month. For me, this includes blogging.

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A pattern of mine was recently featured in an online article over at I Like Crochet. The pattern is the Eden Eyelets Scarf, published in I Like Crochet's Ultimate Scarf Collection.

Left photo courtesy of I Like Crochet; right photo is mine

The Eden Eyelets scarf features alternating long rows of Y-stitch and granny clusters, and is trimmed with tassels at each end. A surprise edging technique ensures perfectly matching tension on the long edges.

The sample was made with KnitPicks CotLin DK, a pleasant cotton-linen blend that blocks to a beautiful drape and softness. The colorway, Conch, is perfect for spring, and also happens to be a close match for Living Coral, Pantone's Color of the Year.

Head over to I Like Crochet for this pattern and many more!

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Our weather over the last several weeks could be summed up as: snow a lot, melt a little, freeze, repeat. Sometimes, for a change, it would rain a little, melt a lot, freeze, repeat. The overall result has been ice - lots of ice - and less-than-ideal walking conditions.

But on Sunday the sun shone so brilliantly that I couldn't stay inside. Here are a few photos from that walk.

The snow was piled high at the start of the trail; my feet and lower legs disappeared at every step.


The sun shone through the branches of a favourite oak:


Animal tracks crossed and criss-crossed the fields:


After a few hundred yards of plunging and wallowing through knee-deep drifts (great workout, but very tiring), I reached the packed surface of the snowmobile trail. What a relief to be on firm footing!


After winding through a little wood, the snowmobile trail cuts across the prairie restoration project, between wide fields of winter-bleached grass and flowers. Goldenrod is a common sight there:



As is knapweed:



I followed the trail around a few corners to find a forward-thinking tree that had decked itself in buds in preparation for Spring:


The buds themselves were dressed (like me) in wind-proof jackets with fuzzy underlayers:


A little farther on, the snow was zebra-striped with tree-shadows:


And every tree stood in a little bowl of snow:


From here on, the wind became so icy that I had to pull my scarf up over nose and mouth. (Which caused my breath to steam up my glasses, making it hard to spot photo ops.)

A very cold walk, despite the brilliant sunshine.

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This is the time of year we start to feel slightly desperate for warm weather and cycling. But winter still has a firm grip here; night-time temps have been below zero all week. It's hard to believe that calendar Spring is only two weeks away.

I wonder when real Spring will arrive?

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*George, in parody of a classic Looney Tunes scene ("I will name him George, and I will hack him and cough him...."). Urk, after a character in Cold Comfort Farm, whose name sounds like a cough. :)

21 comments:

  1. Well you really are in the midst of winter, Sue. At least you have lovely blue skies!
    Your coral scarf is very pretty indeed!

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    1. Thanks Sandra! I hope your weather is more springlike than ours. :)

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  2. The scarf is so pretty! We are having rather perfect weather right now, 70s during the day and 50s at night. My husband shared germs with me that he brought home awhile back. I've already been coughing for weeks and can't imagine why it just won't go away. No other symptoms. Just a scratchy aggravating throat. At least I'm able to sleep now without too much irritation. I'm not a cold weather person. You managed to get some very nice photos from your walk but I definitely would have been running home for warmth. Hope Spring shows up on time. It seems winter hit some places late and hard this year. Take care!

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    1. Thanks, Tammy! My co-worker has had that scratchy, aggravating cough thing for about six weeks now. (Our virus started out like that, but after five days it escalated into something worse.) I hope yours clears up soon.

      Sounds like you're having ideal weather right now. I'm trying not to feel envious. :)

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  3. Lovely photos but glad you have had snow and not us! Glad you are better now, those lingering coughs are not good. Your scarf is lovely, it is peachy keen.👍

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    1. Thank you, Kay! We like snow (which is good considering it's the norm here), but when March hits we definitely start longing for open ground and warmer temps.

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  4. As always, your photos are just lovely. Ive had enough winter now...but I know we have more to come! Actually the snow I like. The rain and 40s I suffer through

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    1. I know what you mean about the snow - it's not a problem. It's that melty, messy, freezing/not-freezing in-between stuff that's hard to deal with! :D

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  5. What a wonderful, sunny walk you shared with us. I think your coral scarf is a fabulous design, you're so cool to have your patterns published! I'll go check out that link. I'm with you on hoping spring will come. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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    1. Thanks Teresa! I think you can view a limited number of patterns for free on that site. Enjoy!

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  6. What a fabulous design congratulations for having yet another masterpiece published! Beautiful pictures but it looks way to cold for me. I hope you are all completely recovered and have a great weekend. xx

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    1. Thank you, Linda! We are feeling much better now, AND the weather is warming slightly. Double win!

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  7. You did a great job on that pattern Sue, it is gorgeous. Congrats! As for the crazy weather this year up north, you have my deepest sympathies. I hope you warm up, stay warm, thaw, repeat.

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    1. Thanks Mere! Eventually we hope to warm up and stay warm for a few months. I'm really looking forward to gardening and fresh herbs on the doorstep.

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  8. I have thoroughly enjoyed your snow pictures, with added dead flora. I wish you to be perfectly well, with added sunshine and heat. xx

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    1. Thanks TA! I think most dead flora are very pretty, especially when there are no live ones available. ;)

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  9. Been trying to catch up with your latest and discovered you are working in a bead store! So happy for you, Sue. Your scarf design is beautiful and highlights of your winter walk are a joy to see and read about. Thanks for posting xx

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    1. Thank you for those kind words, Gracie!

      I've been at the bead store for almost 2 1/2 years now - best job I ever had, with a wonderful boss, and fun, creative co-workers. I love it there.

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  10. We had a few lovely and warmer days, but most of the time it was stormy and cold. Sometimes it snowed, sometimes it rained. It looks like the next storm is coming. Now that I have a little wind mill on the roof for electricity, I don't mind the wind too much. At least I can see the positive of it. However, it is driving me crazy. I have a few flowers in the garden that cheer me up. I've survived winter, once more. ;-) All the best to you. Take care of the cough, it sounds serious. Regula

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    1. How exciting to have a wind mill on the roof! I would love to do something like that.

      I hope that more flowers are appearing for you. Today I saw the first weeds sprouting in my little garden area. And my chives have tiny green tips showing. Hooray for spring!

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  11. We had begun riding again in April, and now we're back on foot again for a short while. Perhaps in a week or two we can do the two-wheeled version again. Glad to see you survived this challenging pocket of season!

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