Saturday, February 3, 2024

Will The Groundhog Be Right?

   Groundhog's Day was yesterday, Feb. 2, and the little critter called for an early spring, so of course, all our snow melted! Today we have a bright, beautiful blue sky with a few puffy clouds, and temperatures are in the high 30's but it feels warmer.  All the wet brown leaves have dried up and are rustling in the breeze as the squirrels run their laps around the yard at their crazy speeds!  The forecast for the next 10 days is for some pretty fair weather with a little rain but no major snow.  Since the boots I ordered before Christmas finally were delivered last week and don't fit, I think I'll just send them back and save the $$.  If we do get any snow, I can always stay home...one of the perks of being retired!

   I've got so many WIP's (yes, Works In Progress) that it would take me years to finish them all so I'm just going to focus on the latest ones.  I'm doing a hat for a swap I signed up for.  The organizer put a cash limit of $20 on what you could/should spend for swap gifts and gave only 3 or 4 categories to fill, so I thought I'd knit a hat from my stash (because my partner said no yarn, please, knit her a hat or mittens instead), buy some treats for the humans and their animals who'd be receiving my package and maybe add a small knitting extra and stay within that limit. I don't usually buy many patterns (that was another category) so I don't have any I'd want to give away. I like the way the hat is looking so far and if I like it when it's finished (not always a definite!) I may do one for the shop for the fall. 

    Knitting for the shop is the main category of my WIP's.  Sweaters, hats and teddy bears. All I need is time to do them.  The shop (Cooper Country Crafts in Cooperstown, NY) will be celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.  (And no, I haven't been part of it for that long!) Mom and I were invited to join in the late 1970's after the shop had been around for a few years and had moved to its present location in Doubleday Court. I've also got a large WIP (a grandbabies) gift for a college friend that I keep working on.  I want to finish that right after the swap hat! (One grandbaby is going on 3 but the other only 3 months!) 

   And the other day Jeff reminded me I didn't make him new socks for Christmas this year.  I've knit him socks for Christmas and his birthday (March 1) every year since we met in 2009.  Now that's a lot of socks so you'd think he'd still have some that were wearable!!  I did knit him a pair for Christmas in 2022 but never finished the ones for his birthday.  I know I finished one, so the other must be somewhere on the needles connected to a ball of yarn!! (A real WIP!!) Please remember, socks for Jeff are big:  he wears a US12 shoe and is 6'2 or 3" depending on how his back feels that day.  He wants the leg of the sock to come up and cover his shin. I use Paton's Kroy Sock Yarn for his socks, and it takes 1 skein for each sock, but it never gets all the way up to his knee!

   If the weather is going to stay nice and get nicer, I'm not going to want to stay inside but as you can see, I have enough WIP to keep me knitting for a long time.  I just looked around this room, and I should sweep the floor before I do anything else...but that can wait.  Both dogs are snoring away beside me...it's a tough life being a house dog.


  I think I'll go knit.  Photos of WIPs as they are finished.  I promise!

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