It's Starting to Look Like Michigan

We haven't had much snow yet this winter. As of yesterday, our seasonal snowfall was 17.3 inches - just over half the normal amount by now. But we're under a lake effect snow warning through tomorrow, and the snow has been falling all day.

This is what the park looked like when Bonnie & I ventured out at lunch.

I'll add some more wintry pictures, but first - knitting!

Last Christmas (2009), Jim gave me some very nice yarn - 90% cashmere, 10% silk - and I used it to knit this scarf for him. It's nothing fancy. I cast on 26 stitches, started & ended with 5 rows of seed stitch, and in between used the "Squares 2" pattern from the stitch dictionary "400 Knitting Stitches."

And... I finished Echo the Elephant. I had such fun, knitting this pattern by Ysolda Teague. You start by knitting the head, then pick up stitches & knit the body, then pick up stitches & knit each leg, arm, & ear, stuffing as you go. When the last ear is finished, all that's left to do is embroider two eyes. That's the kind of knitting I love: minimal finishing work!

The yarn is 100% merino, and is pink at the request of a certain young lady who will, I am sure, give this elephant a loving home. The colorful scarf is knit out of sock yarn (45% bamboo, 40% wool, 15% nylon). (I got this sock yarn at our knitting guild's white elephant exchange, and thought it would be perfect for Echo.)

And now - more Pictures of Winter:

I think that something about snow causes it to trap smells; Bonnie is forever burying her nose in search of something - brrrr!

This scene is in the woods near Friendship Village. If you peer closely, you can see that Bonnie is licking snowflakes off her nose.

And here is a bench I would not want to sit on!