Where I Just Stick My Arm Out

In a fortunate combination of events, we found ourselves in Canmore, Alberta in the middle of a snow storm last Sunday. We arrived the day before in the sunshine (and the mud and slush and puddles), and awoke the next morning to winter... But not harsh, old man, bitter, frozen, go-away-and-let-me-hibernate winter, but the fluffy, winter wonderland kind of winter.

Since we had no real plans and no obligations, we spent our time walking in the snow with our little dog, who doesn't know that he's not actually a sled dog.

And when we got too wet and cold, we came inside and enjoyed tea and coffee and treats...

And new toys...

And I finished knitting a sweater. This is my Rosamund's Cardigan, pattern by Andrea Pomerantz. I made it out of some yarn that has been sitting under my desk at work for the longest time called Natural 10 ply from Naturally Wools (which doesn't look like it's available anymore... hmm...) It is a pretty "rustic" yarn, and when I left it in the water to soak for blocking, I found that there was so much lanolin coming out of it that I had to wash it with shampoo three times before I felt it was clean enough for rinsing.

I added 3/4 length sleeves, and finagled the stitch count between two sizes to get it to fit me properly. I also made it longer, did more waist-shaping, and fiddled with the collar to try to get more of an upright collar... which sort of worked...

You're supposed to use hooks and eyes to close the fronts, but I imagined that would be a nightmare of endless catching and snagging, so I decided to sew smaller buttons to the inner side of the cables and just push them through the knitted fabric instead of making little buttonholes. And since I hate sewing buttons, this was a true labour of love...

This is one of those rare photo shoots where I didn't set up a tripod and wait for natural light. I never thought I'd be one of those people who take their photos by just sticking their arms out with their cameras in hand, but it actually takes a pretty decent photo, if you can manage not to drop the darn thing... ahem...

So while I sympathize greatly with those who are living through multiple "Snowmageddons" this winter, I must say I enjoyed my confinement. I daresay I could do with another few days like that, if only to work through some of my yarn stash.

Come on, Mother Nature. Gimme a chance to work through the stash, would ya?