Deep Winter

March may be ten days away but winter has a firm grip on this February day. Other than a cold but dry snap early in January, we've had all our winter in this week and the previous one. Last Wednesday six inches of snow fell and the temperature dropped dramatically. Monday another six inches fell with more sifting down on Tuesday. Yesterday morning the wind chill made the feels like temperature -22 degrees.  That's the weather report here. I enjoy being tucked in at home but also feel the need to move. Although I don't like it, I may resort to walking at a mall this afternoon. It's way too easy to stay curled up in the corner of the loveseat with my tea and projects.

I am happy to link with Kat and the Unravelers to post about making and reading. Last week I finished and blocked the shawl in the photo. It was a long standing WIP cast on last spring so I'm happy to have it off the needles. There might be a few missing rows that are now a design element. I blame election stress as well as Covid. In one space I omitted a garter ridge and in another I added one but I'm not telling where. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

Our son is working remotely while visiting this week, so while we chat I work on the handspun scarf. I'm about half way through and working from another handspun skein in a coordinating color palette.  It's a peaceful easy knit. It is wonderful to have him here.

I am almost finished reading Three Girls from Bronzeville: A Uniquely American Memoir of Race, Fate, and Sisterhood by Dawn Turner. I discovered this book in a Black History Month display at my local library. Turner writes the story of herself, her sister, and a good friend who grow up in the 1970's in Chicago. They are the third generation of families who came north during the Great Migration. While there are parts of the book that could have been better written, I admire Turner's courage in telling and writing her story. Her Grandmother, Aunt, and Mother are a force. The way they support each other and the younger generation is an example for all of us. At times the story is heartbreaking but it also a tribute to friendship and the resilience of black women. I'm enjoying it and thankful that the local library system created the display. Let's hear it for the public librarians.

I'm leaving you with a photo of a rose I received on Valentine's Day. Our son went to breakfast with us on a cold cold morning. When Aaron was at home and in Lincoln, he and Lance breakfasted at this local diner every Friday morning.  Anyway, last Friday the diner gave each woman a rose as a thank you for being a customer.  With a drop of lemon grass essential oil in the water, the rose is still pretty in this morning's sunlight. 

Have a good week. Stay safe and warm in winter's last blast. 

 

Ravelry Links

Prairie Touchstone Shawl

Handspun Scarf