Sky Scarf Update

A couple days ago, I reached the three-month mark on my sky scarf. Here's how it looks so far:

Look at all that blue sky we've had recently (the most recent days are nearest the needle, in the lower right corner). Lots of white clouds, some grey clouds, with a couple days of rain mixed in.

Here are some photos of those recent glorious skies:

May 3, walking Bonnie at Friendship Village

May 3, in Frey's Park (looking north)

May 5, walking Bonnie, Friendship Village

May 7, evening, looking north (West Main / Drake)

On Wednesday, Jim and I were out buying a new mattress (We've needed one for ages. It will be delivered on Tuesday, and I think Jim's looking forward to finally getting a good night's sleep.) There was a storm threatening; to the west of us, there was sunshine and blue sky, but this is what we saw to the east:

May 8, looking east across Drake

We didn't get much rain at all, in spite of that glowering sky, and by the time we got home, it was already starting to lighten. Still, I was able to catch some contrast between the sunlit trees and that dark sky:

May 8, Frey's Park, looking southeast

I stopped by the cemetery earlier today, and couldn't resist yet another sky shot:

May 12, Mt Everest North Cemetery, looking south

I've got to do some serious blog-catching-up, but I'll try to avoid further sky shots - at least for a few days!

Sky Scarf March 2013

On February 10, I started my Mostly Michigan Mostly 2013 Sky Scarf. Today, I finished the first month of knitting skies, and here's what it looks like:

Month 1

I'm pretty happy with it. Jess tells me that I look too hard for bits of blue, but I think I've really been pretty honest with what I'm seeing. (Really!)

I'm not sure I like this photo - I used the scanner, and I see that I used camera shots for my original sky scarf post, and I think I like those better. I'll keep that in mind, 30 days from now...!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

What's a good thing to do on a snowy Saturday? How about this:

Bonnie was snoozing when I left this morning.
She hadn't stirred when I returned two hours later.
Lots of action rest!

Today we've seen typical Michigan weather - big beautiful floating snowflakes, then sunshine, then fast and furious pellets of snow, then blue sky - weather along the lines of "wait 5 minutes, it'll change."

When Bonnie & I headed out for a walk, the sun was shining, so I was optimistic - even after checking the weather and noting the 19 degree temperature (6 degrees, with the wind chill).

Silly me. Sunshine or no, 19 degrees is Just Plain Cold. Brrr. I was so glad to have a new pair of BaaBaaZuZu mittens (I still plan to repair my old pair, but meanwhile....). (I bought my new pair here, after Jess alerted me to their $18 sale - such a deal!)

No new photos, but here are some from a week ago, that could just as easily have been taken today:

Maybe this time I'll find it...

Bonnie doesn't seem to care about all that snow on her snout, but just looking at it makes me cold.

On another note, here's my Sky Scarf after the first week.

I've now incorporated all five colors (dark grey, light grey, white, blue, and blue). Yes, the blue balls are pretty small - they are from my swatches, rewound for knitting the scarf proper. (Plus, of course, I had to divide the blue, whereas the other yarns are entire skeins.) Today I wove in the ends, so it won't be quite as confusing to work with. I promise I'll try to keep future updates to a minimum (maybe monthly).  A year of this, taken to excess, could drive away my handful of readers, and I don't want that!

Don't Over-Think This

I'm working on two scarves now. First, of course, is the GOTR Kal-Haven Trail scarf. I'm making steady process, and the scarf is soft and lovely. It's almost half finished, although this photo shows just a snippet:

And yes, you still have a chance to win this scarf for yourself. Donate to Jess or her daughter's Girls on the Run site; you'll get an entry for each $5 you donate. See this blog entry for more details; here are the links for donating online:

Jessica's donation page
Jessica's daughter's donation page

I've also started a Sky Scarf, which I'm calling the Mostly Michigan Mostly 2013 Sky Scarf. This is based on Lea Redmond's Sky Scarf, an experiment in conceptual knitting. It's a pretty basic pattern: every day, you look at the sky, and then knit two rows on the scarf to reflect what you see.

Since I'm knitting the Michigan sky (mostly), I decided to use Michigan yarn. Shepherd's Wool (Fingering Weight) is spun by Stonehedge Fiber Mill, in East Jordan, Michigan. I'll be using these colors, held together in different combinations:

Since Redmond's pattern is fairly generic, I started with one skein of the Shepherd's Wool, and knitted a couple of swatches, figuring out how to proceed. For this first swatch, I  used several different needle sizes and tried several different stitch patterns. Based on how this turned out, I'm going to knit a seed stitch pattern, with two strands of yarn, using a size 7 needle:

Once I settled on these details, I did another swatch in seed stitch, to get a feel for how much yarn I would need, and to see how I would manage carrying the unused strands along the edge.

This swatch convinced me that I should carry no more than 3 strands, which means I'll work with just 5 strands (i.e., knit with 2 and carry 3). Tentatively, these are:

• blue + blue = blue sky
• blue + white, or blue + light grey = blue sky with clouds
• white + light grey = sky with no real color (e.g. on hazy summer days)
• dark grey + white = cloudy / foggy / light rain / snow
• dark grey + light grey = dark clouds / rain / thunderstorms

 If you read yesterday's blog post, you'll know that the sky can change dramatically within thirty or forty minutes - so describing the sky each day won't be an exact science. My plan is to start with the sky around noon, and then work from that to choose something representative for the day. If I'm not home, I'll make note of the sky, and knit it when I return (hence the "mostly Michigan" in the project name).

Today was Day 1 (of 365). The sky when I came home from church was grey. No clouds, no blue, just plain old grey. I opted for the dark grey / white combination, although that didn't seem quite right. Jim cautioned me, "Don't over-think this. Just go with the plan you've laid out."

I told him that his job, for the next year, is to remind me, as often as is necessary, "Don't over-think this!"