John kept saying we should go to Quebec for the ice carnival and I feel like we did. Yesterday was a nightmare: it sleeted, it rained, it snowed, it iced, the wind blew, trees came down, power lines came down. In the end, we had another 18 inches of snow added to what remained from Saturday’s storm. And the icing on the snow was the last minute sleet that sort of sealed everything in a sheet of ice.
At least, my wonderful employer decided it was not worth risking the employee’s lives on the road and they closed for the second day in a row.
First, we have the obligatory snow photos, which ironically also have some knitting projects. First, John relaxing after a hard morning shoveling:
No, he wanted everyone to think he shoveled that pile. That is at the end of our street where the plows left it. But John did get a chance to wear his original Musconetcong Mountain Hat. The Musconetcong Mountain Hat is knitted of handspun gray Cotswold with two dark gray Romney stripes. It has ear flaps. Once knitted, the hat is felted into a sort of tight helmet. The Cotswold is great to felt because it blooms out in a lovely halo. Felted, it is a tight, soft fabric that sheds the water and is extremely warm.
And, yes, there really is a Musconetcong Mountain. It is the highest point in New Jersey, which is not saying a lot for a mountain!
Here I am with the ancestral mansion, Barataria:
You can’t see the scarf well, but it is my favorite entrelac scarf and is the same pattern as the one I have posted in my Ravelry file of projects.
Once shoveling was out of the way, there was nothing to do but spin. I worked on the green Merino from Woolbearers which turned into a lovely mix of pale green with pink, yellow, and darker green mottling:
Plied, it really mixes the colors. As I was spinning this, I was envisioning a project and decided it would be socks.
Not just any socks. I recently found two great books by designer Janel Laidman: The Eclectic Sole and The Enchanted Sole. Absolutely gorgeous sock patterns, like, gorgeous. You can visit her site at the Rustling Leaf Press: http://www.rustlingleafpress.com/
Her patterns feature socks with fairy tale, historic legend, and mythology themes. Several of them are named for characters or places in The Lord of the Rings. I kept envisioning the Rivendell Socks while spinning the green merino and believe I have found a perfect match.
And just to gild the lily a bit, here is skein of Romney, spun from roving I obtained at the 2009 Garden State Sheep Breeders show from someone’s stash reduction. This was a warming spinning project for a cold, snowy day!
The Wool Merchant's Daughter 
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