And Then, It Snowed

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
- Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

So, it happened: it snowed here on Vancouver Island:

It doesn't compare in volume or in temperature to the rest of North America where snow is a normal occurrence, but I won't lie when I say I'm glad it's warmed up and that it's starting to melt. Seymour enjoyed bounding through it with the best husky impression he could muster:

But you can't hide your true colours:

It's raining out there right now, which is mixing with the snow on the ground and evaporating into an impressive fog out there right now. It's days like these when I like to get some baking done, except that our oven element burned out just as I was getting ready to get some muffins in the oven. The hubby did a heroic dash to the local hardware store and nabbed the last element left in the shop. #Themuffinsweresaved:

I'm very pleased to be able to show my finished Aphasia Vest, which I modified from a scarf pattern into a garment. Aphasia is the clinical term for those times when you can not find the word you are looking for, when it’s right on the tip of your tongue. This is a fitting name because I struggled with describing the construction of this garment every step of the way. All I can say is that it turned out much better than I imagined it would: a beautiful silver-grey thing, perfectly wintery and elegant and comfortable.

I was in no mood for modeling it today (post-gym hair is a real thing), but the tree outside made a lovely backdrop for it nonetheless:

I am truly pleased with the finished length, and I am especially happy with how well it drapes. This is some of my friend Tara's hand-dyed fingering weight yarn in a merino/silk blend, and there was never a better example of how much silk adds to the elegance of a garment:

I was worried about how I had placed the chevron pattern along the front panels, but now that it's finished, I was happy to see how they almost look like a raglan sleeve along each shoulder:

I'm looking forward to putting this over a long-sleeved top and leggings for the rest of the season:

Meanwhile, I have started a new shawl project using some of the colour-changing cotton yarn I got back in November. The pattern is called Papillon (Butterfly) and I had been eyeing it up for a while now before an acquaintance of mine suggested we knit it together. It's a big switch from my Apahasia Vest because this pattern has SO MANY SHORT ROW SECTIONS, which involves my full concentration. She's way ahead of me, but I'm finding it's not taking me long to catch up, even with all of the counting involved in each short row section.  I am motivated to keep going, mostly because I'm not a huge fan of the pink at the moment, and I am eager to get to the next colour section to see how it looks. The trouble is: I always say that the hardest part about knitting is the counting, and all you can hear from me on the couch these days is me muttering counts under my breath. This is definitely NOT good TV knitting:

I'm off to go test the oven element a bit more with some dinner, just as soon as I put a marker in for my next repeat. I'm debating if I should have it out while I'm watching the next episode of Chicago Fire, but perhaps I should save it for a quiet evening with Seymour on the couch. Luckily, I get a lot of those these days:

Have a great week!