Mid-January Update

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and the middle of January. It's odd to observe a holiday when retired - the only real difference between today and any other Monday is no mail delivery.

We finally got a good snowfall last week - about 15" over 2 days. Then we had 2 days in the 50s (which wasn't enough to melt a lot of snow!) and 2" of rain on top of the remaining snow. Yesterday we had a snow squall that lasted about 30 minutes and dumped almost 2" of new snow.

There is a river in the center of the photo, and woods on the other side of the river. Glad we weren't out driving when it hit!

Yarn and Fabric

Still going through boxes of yarn, fabric, craft supplies and such. Lots of items that make me wonder why they were moved - 3 or 4 of every tablecloth color because we often had dinners for 20+ people, for example - and yet I know why: the packers packed everything in their path before I had a chance to purge. 

I have found quite a lot of "I wondered where that was" yarn and fabric. Sadly there's also rather a lot of "why did I buy that" and "did I buy that?" which is being taken to knitting group first and then donated to the senior center knitters. One bunch of yarn that I was happy to see again was this brown Boss Tweed from Crystal Palace, and the sweater it was destined to become!

I loved this pattern and the Boss Tweed yarn the first time I saw it, and knew I wanted to knit it someday. In 1994 I had no idea I'd ever move anywhere cold enough to wear a heavy sweater like this, but it marinated in stash long enough to be a viable option.

Started the first sleeve on Christmas Day, during football games, and finished it on New Year's Eve. Started the second sleeve on New Year's Day and finished it on January 8. Back is started, but of course I'm now having "do I have enough yarn" anxiety even though I bought enough for the largest size back in 1994!  It's unlikely I'll be able to find more even on eBay, and I should just get over my fears and push on.  If needed, I can add more braids on the bottom, with fringe only on the last one - there is a plan.

Startitis is rearing its ugly head, and I'm going with the flow. This is a hobby, and I can start as many projects as I want, and if I choose not to finish them that's ok. They can be unraveled and the yarn used again or donated, or whatever.

My "quilt queen" friend is helping me choose the my first serious quilt to start.  I have lots of options.  I know I'm not skilled enough to do some of them successfully, others might bore me to tears, There has to be some challenge to the piecing, with a reasonable change of success so it will be interesting to see what jumps to the front of that queue.

Miscellaneous Stuff

All the Medicare plans are finally squared away, with the exception of the one that double billed me in January which will be dealt with this week. I had no idea how much time would be involved in setting up a Part G, Dental, and Prescription plans and getting the dates for Part A and Part B for both of us corrected, but it took about 15 to 20 hours a week for 3 months!  I already reaping the benefits of it - physical therapy for my knee is 100% covered.