1.08.2016

too many shades of grey...

it's the first full week of 2016, and i am not a happy camper. our household is in the grips of something resembling the plague... but most folks would call it the common cold (with some flu-like symptoms thrown in for good measure). the ailment is just one more layer of grey at this bleak and uninviting time of year. my favorite animator is working (slowly) through the discomfort, and i have ensconced myself in a cozy corner surrounded by the tools of my favorite addiction...



and a view that literally sends chills down my spine.




it's been so cold that the bedroom windows are completely covered most mornings with such beautiful, feathery arrays of frost, it's hard to believe that it's just ice crystals behaving as nature intended.




i made several feeble attempts over the course of the week at spinning. the spirit may have been willing, but the germ-riddled flesh was far too weak, so i decided to cast on a new knitting project. i wanted to make this one machine-washable (as hand-wash-only is sometimes hard to remember) and i was determined to using up some yarn from my stash, so i opted to triple up some thinner yarn to get the necessary gauge for the intended garment. in this case, i had twice as much light-grey yarn as the medium-grey, so i combined it in a 2:1 ratio (note the slightly darker strand closer to the bottom of the image)...



and ran them together through the ball-winder.




it looks relatively uniform...




but the slight tonal interplay lends an element of shadow and light to the knitted fabric.



it resides, for now, in a pretty purple project-protector procured from Fat Squirrel Fibers (home of my favorite fiber-related podcast), which is a wonderful dash of color against the mid-winter malaise.




in a brief moment of respite from respiratory torment, i attempted to take some photos of mama kitty sprawled out on the extra-cushy blanket...




but the effort was thwarted by baby bear's intense need to be the center of attention at all times (and her subsequent refusal to stay still long enough for me to get a clear-ish photo of the two of them together).




and, in yet another moment of something resembling physical soundness, i managed to mix up a mess of biscuits!!! not gonna lie... we ate half of them right out of the oven with marmalade and a pot of tea, and the rest were served that evening alongside bowls of leftover slow-cooker stew for a truly satisfying supper. hey... if you must suffer, you may as well have tasty eats.




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