This week has been true winter. Night temperatures have been in the teens, day temperatures in the 20’s. We had a snow and ice event that turned our driveway into an ice slide. We had to get out one day during the first storm and drive to Roanoke, nearly an hour away, it took about twice that long. The cover was still snow at that point. Once down our mountain road, the roads were fairly clear, but there was heavy fog on the way there and snow on the way home. I attempted to walk up to the mailbox on Wednesday and ended up sitting in the snow and ice and eventually sliding down the hill seated to get back to the house without getting anywhere near the mailbox. Getting over to the chicken coop with water and scratch each day has been a challenge as it is an uphill walk with a 4 gallon bucket on ice. With effort, and driving half on the driveway, half in the grass, we were able to get out this morning for hubby’s PT and back home before today’s snowstorm began. It isn’t supposed to be quite as cold tonight and may actually get above freezing tomorrow and up to 40 on Sunday and Monday, so we may see some thawing. I hope. We won’t attempt to get out again until the sun comes out and the temperatures rises above freezing. Hopefully it will thaw before the next Arctic blast midweek.
During the first 25 days of December, the Jenkins Spindle group participated in a fiber sample exchange. In October, 59 of us mailed 4 ounces each of a fiber of our choice to one of two “Elves” who spent a couple of days together dividing the fiber into 5 gram samples, packaging, labeling, and wrapping each sample. The 25 samples were then mailed back to us to be opened one each day on the day of the sample’s number.
Each of the samples were spun on one of my Jenkin’s Turkish spindles then plyed on a spindle and skeined into a mini skein that I labeled with the sample label adding the day and yardage. After finishing the spin, I returned to the knitting of the Icelandic Nordic Star scarf that I was making with the yarn daughter and SIL brought me from their honeymoon in Iceland.
When it was finished, I started knitting the scarf that uses the spun samples and a skein of handspun Shetland wool that I had on hand. I am on Day 8 of the samples, knitting them in the order they were spun, alternated with the gray Shetland. This is a fun project, using up the little skeins about 1 each day.
We are looking forward to returning to more normal daily routines, getting back to my trainer for my health and flexibility, and hoping to see an end to the healing of hubby’s clavicle break. Spring outdoor walks are still a dream and wish.