The last few weeks have been a little bit unusal to say the least. We had an unexpected, inconvenient and unprecedented SNOW(!)storm that no one could have predicted in October! Sure, I heard coworkers talking about it, but I fluffed it off as typical hysteria, thinking we surely could not have snow this early in the year. Wrong.
Jim snapped this picture while cooking at the grill.
It wasn't just an inch or two; it was approximatley eight inches on top of trees with leaves they had yet to shed. Needless to say, it was not long before the entire state was left without power. For SEVERAL days. The first night was extremely cold, and we piled every blanket we owned on the bed. I couldn't help but think of Little House on the Prairie and realize that if there were ever a true natural disaster, I would be among the first to perish. I was so thankful for the crazy gag gift from last Christmas of about a hundred packages of Hot Hands.
We were luckier than most. My sister only lost power for a day, and she kindly invited us and my parents to stay at her house. I really can't complain since Jim and I had the best accomodations of all. We took the finished basement, complete with full bath, HD TV and Wifi. Five days living out of a basement is not fun in the best of situations, but we were entertained by Gianna and Season 6 of Dexter, and that in itself was sort of cool.
It became a bit surreal and scary when we saw lines at the gas station hours long, grocery stores running on generators with no products on the shelves, downed power lines and no working stop lights for miles and miles. People were coming to work dressed like hobos with no makeup and days of beard growth. Even Halloween was cancelled by the governor.
It took several days for things to return to normal, food to be replaced, and for people to begin trusting that the power would not go out a second time when high winds kicked up this week. Generators are being sold around these parts in record numbers, and we, too, purchased one right from my smartphone. It has been quite the experience for our little Connecticut.
One nice perk from the storm was that I was able to get my hands on my long-sought-after and beloved bittersweet. I can never find any of this invasive vine in CT because it has been banned, yet there it was, a huge pile of it wrapped around branches that someone had dragged to the curb.
I say this every year, but the holidays have snuck up on us once again, having lost nearly an entire week with this storm. There is much knitting inspiration and not nearly enough time for any of it.
I finished the baby sweater my dad requested for his coworker.
I really enjoyed this simple pattern; but, as usual, I feel like I rushed the finishing and made the arms too snug.
I whipped out a Frost hat just because I really liked the pattern and needed a quick knit to occupy my hands. Non-knitting Coworker has taken photos, which I will post at a later date.
I have once again become consumed with the Gnomes. Why I am so taken with these little creatures is beyond me, but I can't seem to stop making more of them.
I have my eye on the unusal cable in this mitten. I love this squishy cowl. And I still need to finish my afghan and start a couple of sweaters in my queue. In good time, I suppose.
Back to the end of the weekend and some downtime knitting. Ah, Sundays are so... bittersweet....
A special thank you to Sarah B. of TDWool Design for her kind offer of hospitality. We definitely saw the best and the worst of people during this storm. xo
