Enjoying January

 It's a wintry day out here today (I was going to take a photo, but really, it just looks more or less like the snow from this past post anyhow, so I'll just leave well enough alone.

Suffice it to say that the buses are expected to be running late, and it's best to avoid driving. It's also cozy weather for knitting indoors, and other indoor activities (my youngest decided to use the wii-fit game, and ran on the spot for something like 5 kilometres, though not all at once). Tomorrow should be warm enough to have a great time in the snow for some outdoor fun!

Speaking of outdoor fun, on the weekend before last, we went and enjoyed the Deep Freeze Festival here in Edmonton. The kids especially loved the ice slide, the sculptures, and the popcorn.

It was a bit chillier than last year, which was probably just as well for keeping the ice sculptures frozen, but we were all set with enough handknits to keep warm, or at least, warm enough to enjoy the festival.












Though actually, my eldest had lost her tuque some time ago, and was making do with an ill-fitting one until she decided it wasn't worth it and stopped wearing tuques altogether. So, while at the festival and for the next few days, I got to work on a new tuque for her.







Luckily, I still had the leftover yarn she had chosen for the lost tuque, and even more luckily, I found the perfect pattern for her in the book that my dear brother had luckily given to me for Christmas this year.

 Here is the Princess Crown by Alison Stewart-Guinee, as seen in the highly enjoyable Fairy Tale Knits: 32 Projects to Knit Happily Ever After. The yarn is Cascade 220, of which I think I should own more. Lovely yarn, particularly the heathered colours.

My daughter was very pleased. Very, very, pleased. She has a crown, so why wouldn't she be? It fits much better than her last hat, so even better.

The only change I made was because I was running out of purple. I love the picot edging in the original, but there just was nowhere near enough purple to make a go of it, so I simply got going on 2 x 2 ribbing, corrugating it for the contrast for a couple of rounds, then switching back to the yellow for a few more rounds.

She kept wearing it throughout lunchtime, and treated us to her trademark pirate-grin while gobbling up her favourite split-pea soup!

 Since Christmas holidays finished up, and after I finished up my design samples (more on those another day after they're finalized), I started organizing and finishing off things. These Courtside Booties by Donna Childs are cute enough, and the Patons Grace yarn is splendid (I think I want more of the blue when I get a chance), but I don't think I'll be making any more of them, as I found the finishing work a bit fiddly. Of course, I also don't usually see the point of booties, so maybe we'll just look at these as having been too tempting to resist; I'm over it now.

My friend's daughter has grown entirely out of the socks I made her a few years ago, so I've been meaning to make her new ones. I started to knit the first sock while we drove up to visit family in Dawson Creek, and finished it the next evening. We had a wonderful visit, and I'm so glad we had a chance to get up there. It was my aunt's 60th birthday, and we had a great fun gathering full of family and friends. I'm looking forward to my next visit in the summer, as it had been way too long between visits this last time!

On the way home, feeling like switching projects, I finally got around to knitting past the second inch of brim on this tuque, Brownie by Woolly Wormhead. I've been wanting to make this for ages (I've been wanting to make any number of Woolly Wormhead patterns for that matter), but kept putting it aside for one reason or another. Now that the baby I'm making it for is nearly due to arrive to our friends a few doors down, I felt I'd better just finish it up. I love this hat, and might just take my time knitting it to enjoy it all the more.

So, what are you doing to enjoy January?