Thursday, January 15, 2009

Yeah, it's winter, yeah, it's Central PA, I get it!

So, since last Tuesday, we've had multiple days of freezing rain/sleet, snow, and now biting cold. If you live anywhere it snows, you'd recognize this cold. I call it freezing nose hair weather. The severe weather alert thingy on my browser has been getting a real workout. It's great for the meteorology students though. Must be boring taking meteorology at say...Stanford. Actually, we haven't been this cold (sub-zero), for around five years - that is according to the wonks over on Science Park Road at Accuweather. So I suppose we're spoiled. I'm wearing double layer wool long underwear. Do you blame me?

Wanna see what it looks like here today -- Campus Weather Service. I think this pretty much illustrates the genesis of SADS. And if you're really bored check out the Bad Meteorology page. (The author, a distinguished professor, plays the bagpipes and has been known to wear a kilt. How can he not have a sense of humor?)

But I'm bored with the weather. I'm having a knitting crisis. Back in the late 80's early 90's I easily knit 3 fair isle sweaters. I had no problems managing the colors. I knit two fisted. I made it up, I was knitting in a vacuum - no online, no knitting buddies or yarn stores. It was, as I recall, if not "easy", "not hard". I need to photograph my fair isle sweaters for proof. Last night I cast on for a little fair isle headband, and it defeated me - totally. I used this pattern from Nanette, Ankara. Lovely no? Well, first my cast on was too loose. I redid the cast on. Then as I was starting the pattern, it really looked bad. Not just beginning bad, but REALLY bad and the stitches loosened up by the minute. I'm going to try once more with a smaller needle. I couldn't even get the two fisted rhythm going. Sigh.

Right now I have the Morgan hat blocking/drying. Still finishing to do before I have a verdict. Beware that the pattern for the brim (peak) insert doesn't print properly. The designer doesn't know what to do about that and neither do I. Right now my peak is a little smaller than I think it should be, but I'm going to go with it anyway.

I also have a Lace Ribbon Scarf on the needles, in an apricot colored Koigu. Verra nice, but I need something a little more challenging, and W.A.R.M.

I still owe birthday photos, and now I'm thinking about the fair isle sweaters, should document those somehow.

Stay warm!

4 comments:

Mag said...

Nothing clever can be found in my brain to say about extreme weather. We had a freak snowstorm in Las Vegas in December and no-one predicted it.
Good thing you know how to entertain yourself by self torture with fair-isle. ;-)

Bezzie said...

Hasn't been this cold in that many years? Really? Latitidually we're about the same-ish. I'm kind of sad this "cold" weather is freakish :-(

I'm still willing to bet you're better at the fair isle than I am. I have no patience for it--too slow!

Bonne Marie said...

You crack me up!! I am going to borrow the *freezing nose hair* weather -- FNH here in Chicago in a big way...

Stay warm, snookums ;)

kemtee said...

I know freezing nose hair weather. All too well. It's why I moved down here. I'm trying to remember that this is the sunny, warm, south now that it's 10 degrees outside…