Fresh Coat

Just when you think you can't take another day of winter, we get a snowfall that reminds you of how beautiful it can be. Oh sure, that's because I didn't have to drive around in it. I only had to shovel it and snap a few pictures while I was out filling up the bird feeders.

I doubt the picture does it justice, but it was a snowfall where every flake is distinguishable and all neatly stacked anywhere it landed. A fresh coat on the grimy, icy remains of our last storm.

The garden is well protected this winter with a deep layer of snow. Last year's bitter cold and light snowfall were hard on some of my perennials. So were the rabbits. I am hoping to have better news this spring thanks to the snow and some strategically placed hardware cloth fences around a few of the tastier stems.

Speaking of coats, I'm still knitting miles and miles of garter stitch for the Tomten Jacket. (Perfect knitting while watching the first episode of the new season of Lost! No distractions.)

The first sleeve is finished after a couple tries. After reading about other knitter's modifications to the sleeves, I was fairly certain that I wanted to stick as close as possible to the original pattern. I actually like the boxy look of the construction, so I didn't worry about short rows for the shoulder shaping. Once I got the contrasting bands knit and the bound off underarm sleeves incorporated into the sleeve, I originally started working the decreases on the middle of the sleeve every third garter ridge, as suggested. It wasn't long before I realized that at this rate, the sleeve was going to be entirely too wide at the cuff, so I frogged it back to the color bands and started again making the decreases every two ridges, and it's much better. When I got the right length, the sleeve was begging for a cuff, so I added a few more rows, knit in some contrast rows to match the upper sleeve, and cast off.

So, I'm on to the second sleeve. By now, this knitting project has become a blanket on my lap while I knit. Not a bad thing in February in Minnesota---except for when the phone rings.