Snowmageddon Part II

Last winter, Washington D.C. got hit with a major storm that stopped the city and just about all  parts of government.  The Washington Post called it, "Snowmageddon" and my son, Ryan, and a few friends put together a web site called Snowmageddon that became a resource center for all things relating to the storm,   from where to find a store with snow shovels, to getting help digging out your car and everything else in between. His site was featured on the front page of The Post as being THE place to go to for help.   A few days ago, he got a call from some people in NYC and Snowmageddon NYC was born. You rock, Ryan!

Meanwhile, we have our own Snowmageddon going on here in the Truckee area;  the difference is, we are expecting it, we plan for it, and gosh darn it, we all have four wheel drive cars!!

 
Knitting some mittens for my daughter to take back to school at UC Santa Barbara - yes, it actually gets cold and damp down there near the ocean!  This is called Cruiser by Cailyn Meyer and I saw this pattern on Ravelry:

                                                                                                                                                                          Here is a picture of the socks I finished for her:

     
Love Gail Callahan's hand dyed yarn !  She's known as the Kangaroo Dyer and her sock yarns are really nice to work with.

Stay warm and dry everyone!

                                                                         

                                                                           

Thank You Kristin

Knitters who have worked on projects from Kristin Nicholas' book,  Color By Kristin, have been sending her pictures of their completed projects and she has been showing them on her blog, Getting Stitched On The Farm.  I sent her a picture of my Over the Top Shawl and last Saturday she included my picture in her post with some very nice comments about it - what a thrill!  I have been knitting Kristin's sweaters way back when she was designing for Classic Elite and I have always enjoyed her patterns. Way back then, she published a Classic Elite knitting book and it was the only knitting book published that Fall!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!  In the middle of racing around this past week shopping, mailing, more shopping, more mailing ( next year, more online shopping!) writing Christmas cards, receiving wonderful letters and cards from friends, I saw this at a local shopping center:

                                                                                                                                                                  
 I sat in my car drinking my coffee (just finished my last trip to the Post Office) and enjoyed this beautiful sight. A few more pictures from around this area:
                                      

                                                                                     

                                                                                 

                                                                                                                                                              

The Coldest Spot in the Nation

This is how the Truckee Chamber of Commerce promotes the town on the Visitors/Weather section of  it's web site;  how they think that will entice visitors to come here has always been a mystery to me.  Actually, Truckee isn't the coldest place in the nation in the winter - it's usually pretty mild by Chicago and Buffalo standards.  One doesn't talk of "wind chill factors" as in, " It's 15 degrees with a wind chill factor of minus 20!".  We got this title from USA Today which tracks the coldest and warmest place in the nation every day and in the summer it is not unusual for temperatures to drop into the 30's at night, and be back up into the 80's during the day.  Truckee seems to be the town with the most consistent cold temperatures in the summer and, thus, the title.

When I made my Over-The-Top Shawl by Kristin Nicholas I was thinking of those cool (ha! cold) summer nights when we go to concerts, plays and other outdoor events.  Kristin's Julia yarn is 50% wool, 25% alpaca and 25% mohair and this shawl is a delight to wear.  So warm and cozy.  It may look complicated to make, but if you are comfortable with Fair Isle or two handed knitting, it is really pretty easy.  Knit Picks has a good You Tube video on Fair Isle Knitting called Stranded Colorwork - English and Continental.   More about this project on a previous post if you want to take a look.

Meanwhile, I think we may be aiming for the title of  "Snowiest (is that a word?) town in the nation".  It has been snowing here since last Friday with more to come - lots of great skiing, snowboarding and snow shoveling!!  Here is a picture of our Weber grill on the back deck:

                                                                                    



                               

                                                                                       




                                                                                                                                                         


                                                                                

                                                                       

                                                                               



                                                                     

No, But I Wish I Had

It's looking more like Seattle than Lake Tahoe around here.  Misty, rainy days offer a good excuse to stay in and knit and catch up on my Netflix movies. Watched Remember Me with Robert Pattinson, of Twilight fame.  Now I know why the girls are crazy about him; not only very handsome but a very good actor.  I would recommend this to my  friends;  it is very touching.

I ventured out to buy a new winter hat and stopped at this great outdoor clothing shop next to Safeway in Truckee. Saw this neat earflap hat and bought it as part of my current effort to update my look during  ski season.    Next is getting rid of my eight year old ski jacket.                                                                                              

         
It's handknit in Nepal of Recycled Silk and I just love the colors, especially chartreuse!  Why didn't I find time to knit something like this? 

     
                                                                                                                                            

Out of This World Solar System Sweater

Here's a picture of the finished Solar System sweater for my grandson Rowan:

      
I sent it off to him and he has already worn it twice - so pleased that he really likes it!  Along the way, I learned alot about our solar system as I researched this project; it was really fun to do.  I used Berrocco's Vintage yarn which I got at Lake Tahoe Yarn Company and this is Jen Small's pattern which I found on Ravelry. To learn all the details, check out my Ravelry site here.

Working on some socks for my daughter:

                                                                          
This is an old sock pattern by Pamela Rush called Embossed Bootee from 3 Trails Handknit Designs. The yarn is from Gail Callahan, the Handknit Dyer at WEBS.  Her yarns are beautiful and she has put out a book on yarn dying called Hand Dyeing Yarns and Fleece that is most informative.

                                                                                

   Unfortunately, these pictures never seem to quite capture the beautiful coloring of  most yarns, but, trust me, this one is a beauty.                                                                           



                                                                            

My Talented Friends

I happened to be down in the Bay Area the other week and went to a meeting of the South Bay Knitters in Campbell.  A very talented group of knitters with lots of interesting knitting going on and wonderful finished projects to show off.  Here is Vera with her Knit One Below Vest by Elise Duvekot.

  
and here's  Fae with her Elektra Shawl by Rosemary Hill.  She used Lisa Souza sock yarn for this which inspires me to pull out my sock yarn bin and start using up some of that yarn for projects other than socks..

                                              

                                                                                    
     
Chris Johnson is a master at challenging projects,  like lace and Alice Starmore sweaters.  Here she is wearing an Alice Starmore along with her lucky mother who got one as a gift.

   

                                                                                                                                                                               Great work South Bay Knitters!