Poor little kitten lost her mittens......

Dear Laura:

Well, it was our turn to have a snow day.

From Family

Tuesday was a snowy, blowy day in our neck of the woods. It didn't look too bad when I got up yesterday morning, and I probably could have made it to work, but it was only going to get worse, and I did NOT want to get stuck in town and not be able to get home. It was just as well, because had I struggled through 30 miles of bad weather, I would felt it a wasted effort when 2 1/2 hours later they sent everyone home! Instead, I spent the day curled up under a blanket! Hurray for a snow day!

When I talked to mom over the weekend, she sheepishly (ha!) admitted that she has lost the mittens that I made her for Christmas. She is still hunting, but asked if I could possibly make her another pair, as they were the warmest thing she has for her hands. I was happy that I had managed to "over-buy" on yarn (imagine!) and so I have a skein and a half left. It takes less than a skein for the mittens, so I was prepared in the yarn department.

Now, this wasn't in the February goals, but my mom has Limited Scleroderma, and one of the symptoms is Raynauds Syndrome. Basically, her hands way over-react to any temperature change. They turn dead white and go numb at the slightest sign of a chill. It isn't as bad as it was at first, where just walking through an air-conditioned grocery store sent her to the restroom to run warm water over her hands so that she use her fingers enough to sign a check, but it is still critical that she keep her hands warm.

So, here's how much I can knit during one snow day.....

From Knitting Pict...

Today is better - the snow is still blowing, but the main roads are in decent shape. Of course, the trick is always getting TO the road! My driveway is not-quite a quarter-of-a-mile long, and it runs north/south, so it's "a drifter." Now, I have two brothers who live very close by (and have new warm hats!) and they have a farm-tractor with a large snow-blower attached. They live for this stuff. As soon as the weatherman starts talking about snow, they're on the phone, planning if they should hook up the blower, fuel up, etc. (Whatever 10-year-old boys do when it's gonna snow...) Which is great for me. My driveway is one of the two places they can really get some speed up and make the snow fly really high!

However, this is a bit of a conflict for me. I'm grateful that they take care of me. But I got a mini-SUV with 4-wheel drive about 3 years ago, and they always have the driveway plowed before I can "try it out!" So today, I let them think I was gonna stay home all day. I called Mark after I got to the road and said, "Ha! I made it!!" He got a chuckle. The part of my driveway from the garage to the front of the house was drifted so deep and I couldn't get a "running go" so I took off "cross country" and drove around the house through the yard, and got the driveway from the other side. (Which got another chuckle. Don't tell dad tho...) Then the only trick was figuring out WHERE the driveway was under those 2 foot drifts. I think I had it most of the way...... ;)

So....back to work.

Keep knitting!


Cynthia (aka Designated Knitter)