Snow Snow Snow

It's boot weather here. It has been boot weather here. It will continue, apparently indefinitely and ad nauseum, to be boot weather here. Snow yesterday. Snow the day before. Snow tomorrow and the next day. When I think of all the years my children's boots sat in the closet gathering dust, I'm a little irked at the outpouring of precipitation we've had to deal with this winter.

We are all rather past the roll in the snow and make snow angels age here. Which is, I suppose, a little sad, but there it is. If we've put on our boots it's to shovel out the car (again) or slog to school and the grocery store (again). Try to get by without them and you end up with snow for ankle socks (again.)

Of course, one of the advantages of having children this age is that everyone remembers to take off their boots at the door. The tricky part is then avoiding the pools of melting snow and rock salt that gathered while you struggled with your laces or yanked on that stuck zipper. I confess this is a skill I lack. I inevitably find the biggest, meltiest pile and place my stocking feet squarely in the middle of it. I stand there for a moment, staring at the complete un-doing of what I put the boots on for in the first place - to keep my feet dry and warm - before I strip off my now sopping socks and pad barefoot over the cold floors to dig out another pair.

It's a gift.

It's also another answer to my undetermined knitting.

Not only must I obey the mandate of the Three Wise Guys and knit Clare a scarf (in Handmaiden Lady Godiva, Silk and Merino in colorway Renaissance), I really need those Aran Isle Slippers from Interweave's Holiday Knits.

The problem (you thought there wouldn't be one?) is none of us fit the slippers in any of the sizes given, so I can't just knit up a test pair and give them to someone, and I don't want to play with math. That's not really an option, though, since the directions alternate between "work such and such for so many rows" and "work X number of inches." I've opted for the simple math, and converted inches to rows based on the pattern gauge. My plan is to use bulkier yarn (Tahki Torino Bulky instead of Tahki Zara Plus) and bigger needles (dictated in part buy the paucity of 16 inch circulars in my needle stock) to effect a gauge disaster miracle.

I think they should change the local forecast. It should call for a Severe Weather Alert with warmer feet.