no end in sight.....

this was taken from the west of our house - not close to nightfall, but at three o'clock in the afternoon! heavy snowfall - luckily not for very long. it just covered everything nicely again - and the flash caught a snowflake! you can see that it's very cold, because they were huge and fluffy! well, if that was a leftover from "Daisy", I suppose we got away lightly - it's supposed to cause major disruption in germany today and tomorrow. though our area couldn't really be more "disrupted" - water pipes frozen, streets covered in ice - and no schools open nationwide at least until wednesday! which didn't exactly turn out to be a major disappointment to DS:)) though it doesn't really make a difference for us anyway - probably much more of a problem for parents, who have to organise childcare now!

luckily I did manage to dye the multicolor yarn for the "tree of life socks" in time. I didn't try it out, but I don't suppose "rinsing" out dyed skeins in snow would be much fun! winding them was another story though - my old ballwinder keeps having hiccups - I'll have to replace it asap (i.e. when I can get to banks or the post office to make payments!). it winds ok for a few rounds, then it starts rattling like mad, which makes it all rather wobbly and uneven - then it works again for a little while and so on.... and I have to wind slowly - or the whole ball jumps off - and I have to start from scratch again:(( definitely time for a new gadget! I wish I could find a good one like strauch over here, but ordering in the US would cost a fortune in postage and customs etc., so it has to be one of the simpler ones from Germany.... I do have the new nostepinne - but winding that much yarn would take a lot longer!

I also started to use up some of my leftovers of Kilkarra Donegal Tweed. this is the first circle of a handbag - knitted like a tam without the rim.

the other one is finished too, I just have to do the stripe in the middle, for the handle. it looks a bit weird, because it's actually more than a circle - the disruption in pattern on the left side is due to me folding over the part that's too much! which might well lead to disaster in the felting process - somehow I have a feeling that the larger part won't shrink properly, but I'll just do it anyway - if all else fails, I'll cut up the felt and use it for something else:)) I am not sure that it's down to the weather, but I seem to develop a rather fatalistic streak just now:)) off to finish the handle - and then everything goes for a nice hot bath in the washing machine (I wish I could join the bag for a while - but I don't fit through the loading hole:)) enjoy the snow - if you can!