Free At Last

I saw something this morning I haven't seen for over a week. The sun! I think the storm is over.

Over enough that I intend to go to work this morning. Or at least intend to attempt to go. Fred is blowing the driveway as I write and has cautioned me to take extra warm clothes, the phone, food and a candle. Routine emergency items for winter travelling in our parts. Despite road conditions and weather, I am determined to go to work today.

It is the day of our Christmas luncheon. All the knitters who participated in KALs at the store throughout the fall are coming - or at least were invited to come - for lunch and show & tell today. Who would miss that?

On the knitting front , an 'anonymous' -sounded just like Peter- commenter yesterday cautioned that if I keep posting updates on 'the' sweater there won't be much of a surprise for him under the tree. Sorry, Pete, Stop reading now. Here's what the storm did.

I'm beginning to doubt the pattern, though and think I might rip and re-knit as per Elizabeth. The pattern calls for 83 stitches at the upper sleeve with a gauge of 5 stitches per inch. That makes the upper sleeve only about 16 inches around. Not very roomy for a muscular guy wanting a 'jacket' sweater. I'm still considering, but don't be surprised if I take it back.

Here's to safe driving on bare roads with sunny skies above.

Weather Watching

Help! I'm stuck and can't get out! Here are my dining room and kitchen windows at 7am this morning.

Once the light came, it looked like this.

That old Farmers Almanac adage about snow being a good insulator? Those of you with ancestors smart enough to avoid the great white north when they got off the boat might have never heard it, but supposedly snow makes a good insulator. What a bunch of hooey! Our hydro went out at 8pm last night, (That was a miracle in itself. With the high winds we had are having, I was surprised we had hydro that long.) and by 8:30 the house, surrounded by GOBS of snow, had cooled. I went to bed.

There was knitting though. Two sleeves, machine knit. One of them has to be ripped. Having knit the body by hand on a 4mm needle, I suspected that a stitch dial setting of either 4 or 4.5 would do. Rather than do a gauge swatch - they lie anyway - I knit one sleeve at each setting.
I think the 4 is the one I like best, so today - since I can't go anywhere - I'll rip and re-knit the second sleeve at stitch dial 4.

Machine knitting really rolls. Here's a better look.

Son Peter emailed, last night, to say Toronto has little to no snow. That's a mere two hours south. Grrrr.

Snowed In

Family and friends have been calling and emailing to ask about our snow. Do we have any yet? Are the roads open? Have we been skiing yet? Well, let's just say OH MY GOSH!!!

December 2nd, it started snowing here and it stopped for a bit of a breather on December 10. In that period we received 124 centimetres. That's 50 inches for those of us that still speak Imperial.

Yesterday it started again. The weatherman predicts another three days and 30 centimetres of snow. It is a good thing that Fred likes - or at least he used to, an overdose can kill any one's enthusiasm - using the snow blower. He has done little else for the last 10 days. Besides the driveway and the sidewalk to the front door, we are the only people I know that must also shovel the deck. We have a hot tub out there and if the snow isn't shovelled, the hot tub is impossible to access. Would Fred care? Nope. He's not a hot tub guy. It's me that likes the hot tub. There are just enough steps to the deck to prevent Fred hauling up the snow blower, so he shovels. During this never-ending snow storm, he almost gets the entire job of driveway, sidewalk and deck finished before it needs doing again.

And no, we haven't been skiing. Although the hills are just twelve minutes from home, we can't get there. "Oh Canada, we stand on guard for thee" An easy job really - who the heck would come here?

It's impossible for me to convey the snow depth without braving the cold to take a measure tape to it, like Londoner Patti Ann did and I have no intentions of doing, but here are a couple of hots.

To say that I've had lots of knitting time, would be an understatement. Good thing, too, as I've promised Number Two Son, Peter, a sweater for Christmas. The storm and the sweater were started the same day. Peter chose Avast from Knitty. 14 of the 16 body inches are finished

and both sleeve cuffs started.

With house-bound hours in front of me today I am going to see if I can get identical gauge on the machine and do the sleeves the quick way.

I knit, Fred shovels. I knit some more, Fred shovels some more. Traditional roles work for me.