Merry weather

February is a brutal month and our weather the first eight days of the month has been particularly lousy. If you have not already heard, Syracuse is on track to set a new winter snowfall record. Yippee ki-yay.

Today has been sunny, bright and beautiful - cold, yes, but seeing the sun lifts the spirits. My spirits also received a lift from a surprise gift of knitting goodies from my dear friend Kelli. What a box! It arrived from Knit Picks with the words "Happy February! Love from Kelli" on the label, and the box was packed with awesomeness (sorry, but my glee makes me channel my inner fifteen year old):


Kelli gave me a ball winder, a Namaste buddy case in a rich eggplant color, some flexible stitch markers, tapestry needles and three skeins of Andean Silk yarn in a pretty dusty blue green color. Andean Silk yarn is a luxurious blend of 55% Super Fine Alpaca, 23% Silk and 22% Merino Wool; I knit a scarf for my Uncle Vernon out of Andean Silk and it was gorgeous.

What riches! And what a lovely surprise from a wonderful friend. And whether she deliberately chose the colorway because of the name, I don't know, but look closely:


Merryweather!

Before and after

Aidan asked me to make some felted heart coasters for his teachers for Valentine's Day. How could I say no?

Using bulky yarn and big needles, these hearts knit up fast. I bought one skein each of red and pink, and each skein yielded four hearts. Once knitted, the hearts needed to felt, which I do in the washer. I like felting, because there is a little bit of magic in the way the item changes.

Here is a before shot of one heart:


You can see that it measured 8.5 inches wide.

Here is the same heart after felting:


Magic - it shrunk to just 6 inches wide!

Aidan now has eight heart coasters, one each for his classroom teacher, the "specials" teachers (art, PE, music, library, computers), his classroom teacher from last year and a special family friend.