Am Unraveled Tuesday!

Well Hello There!

It is quite the frigid morning here - 15 degrees when I left my house for work.  A good day for hand-knit items.  So, I am wearing hand knit socks, my Sigla sweater and I did wear my Ear Band!  Yes, it is finished.  Pictures further down...

Meanwhile, our weather on Saturday was crazy!  Snow was forecast to start around 11 a.m.  My friend Carol who lives in Maryland was supposed to drive up for the day to celebrate Christmas and her birthday, but she backed out due to the forecast.  I decided I wanted to make chili for dinner, but needed peppers, so I went grocery shopping early.  Driving home from the store just before 10 a.m. I saw the first flakes starting to come down.  The snow came down fast and furious!  I pulled into the driveway, opened the back of the car and grabbed two bags.  Took them into the house and came back out for the balance.  In that short time (one minute or two maybe), the snow had covered the inside back of the car, the windshields and even the driveway was coated!  But, we only ended up getting an inch or so and then sleet on top of that.

Yesterday was a holiday for me.  Fletch took one of our cars in for an oil change and tire rotation and I stayed home.  I thought of taking a walk, but it was so cold (20's) and breezy that I knew it wouldn't be pleasant.  So I did some chores, knit, read, napped and cooked.  Really, for me, a perfect day!

On the knitting front.  First up the Ear Band (my own design).  Just finished and unblocked:

And then blocked and on my head!!  LOL

As mentioned above, I did wear it this morning.  So soft and so warm, but I really could have used a hat in addition.

I've also started a new sock:

I've decided to do these a little differently.  I'm using a multi-colored yarn for the cuff and (I think) the entire foot.  The leg will be in a (sort-of) solid.  I don't know what the multi-colored yarn is - the band was lost.  The sort of solid is from Good Karma Farm in Maine (purchased a couple of years ago when we visited them) and the colorway is "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."  The pattern I'm using is Diagonal Lace by Wendy Johnson (free).  Hard to see in this picture, but it is a pretty pattern.  Mine are cuff down rather than toe up.

Then, while poking around in the back room, I came across a project bag with a just started shawl in it.  This was started last July and then forgotten about!

The pattern is Odyssey Shawl (another free one) by Joji Locatelli.  The yarn is a hand painted gradient by June Pryce Fiber Arts that I bought at the Allentown Fiber festival.  The colorway is "Secluded Forest."  I had completed the first section of the shawl and then stopped at Section 2 (the first Lace section).  I did put my lifeline in (the yellow yarn).  The first four rows in the lace section are now completed.  I love this yarn, so am anxious to get this moving along.  But, with lace work, I really need to concentrate, so I need to choose wisely when I work on it.

I managed to knit another 20 rows or so on the Canary Blanket too (no pictures though - honestly, it just looks the same).  I may be roughly half way finished (I hope - hoping it is not less than half - lol).

Yesterday I went on line to renew the registration for one of our cars and right in the middle of it my laptop shut down.  Now the only message I'm getting is that it is unable to restart.  I think it might have finally died.  I suspected it was on its last legs as it is quite old (probably 8-10 years) and we all know laptops are not made to last a long, long time.  Colin said he would take a look at it, but I'm pretty sure it's dead.  So, I need to be thinking about what I want in a new laptop.  Hopefully I can find something relatively cheap at either Costco or Best Buy.

On the reading front, I have less than 100 pages left in Fever and am still enjoying it.  Two books have come through on Overdrive that I've had on hold for some time:  Disappearing Earth and The Only Woman in the Room and I'm anxious to read both.  My reading mojo has definitely returned!

I'm doing an "unraveled" post a day early as I will be out of pocket tomorrow and part of Thursday.  Fletch is having cataract surgery tomorrow and then his follow up appointment with the doctor is Thursday morning.  Obviously he won't be able to drive himself!  Oh, and we are going over to Mailing's parents tomorrow night to celebrate the Chinese New Year (a few days early) and will be making dumplings😋.  I'll try to get some pictures.

Have a great week!