I can't believe I'm first (and I'm probably not by the time I hit "Post")!
What a brilliant counterpoint to the snow....keep knitting bright socks, Steph!
(((hugs)))

Amen, Harlot! I'm in Scarborough (a suburb of Toronto) and our snowpile out front has surpassed the top of our fence--it's a 4ft high chainlink fence. The only thing that keeps me going is the thought that a) it just can't last forever [I hope] and b) my dog is in his glory [but he's a Siberian Husky!].
Off to shovel yet again...
Nancy (or should that be Nanook?) in the Great White North

Keep it up! You HAVE to knit cheerie colors as this time of year!

It's ok. Knit away.

Oh, yeah! Roses are blooming in my Tacoma yard!
Bring on the grey sweater!

You aren't in Edmonton, and I think that you mentioned that in your last post that you wouldn't want to spend winter in Edmonton... but seriously? I think that Toronto is worse... this year, anyhow. Poor girl.

Hang in there Steph! Chicago's been looking a bit like a snowglobe lately, so I kinda feel your pain. The sweater will be gorgeous, but stick with the socks. Denny's right, and I think weather like what you're having definitely makes Feb. seem very March-ish.

I.HATE.SNOW. enough said

diana

I hate to break it to you but it is often pretty grey around here. You may heard something about Seattle and rain? Pack bright yarn.

Dear Stephanie, you've just explained, and very clearly too, exactly why we moved from Minneapolis to North Carolina. April here is glorious, do come and visit!

yep, sure enough things are starting to bloom here in the pacific northwest! i saw a rose of sharon bush blooming yesterday!

It least you have the sort of weather that you should be having! It's 10 degrees (centegrade) higher than it should be here. We were on the beach yesterday in just jeans and t-shirts and my nose got sunburnt. It was lovely but it will kill off all the plants and creatures that have woken up too early when (if) the weather returns to normal. Its early Feb, it should be snowing or failing that, frost, fog and cold winds .

Good grief, woman, knit what you like! Anything to get through February (worse than March, in my view, since there's no equinox at the end of the tunnel yet). If the plane to Seattle is warm and cozy, and if that inspired you to knit gray, you could probably finish the sweater on the way or on the way back. But only if you feel like it.

(If you're traveling, don't you need a traveling sock, anyway?)

I just wish we had snow :) Not -30 though, no use for that. But I work at a school, and our play-in-the-snow-day is just not happening while everything is covered in 10 cm of rock hard ice with a touch of water on top... Pretty much a case of no friction at all. Maybe we could share? if we got a bit of Torontian snow over here, I wouldn't mind sending you a bit of thaw :) My old neighbours claim it's all due to the climate crisis, when they were young winter was cold and snowy etc. Well, colourful wool cures all!

I agree whole-heartedly, colorful yarn only when it's grey outside. You should come to Albuquerque during the winter. While we still get snow, we tend to have more clear blue skies and abundant sunshine than anything else.

Ugh. I'm slowly losing my nonchalant attitude to living in the Midwest (I-O-W-A that you have yet to visit) and expecting it to be cold and snowy.

Nothing like the measurements y'all have been getting, but it's enough that I've taken up with some seriously delicious variegated blue silk yarn to knit a circular shawl.

I'm even eyeing some Schaefer Yarns Anne (in a bright orange, yellow and red colorway) from my stash for another shawl.

Those socks are glorious alive. The colors dance!

gloriousLY. Apparently my fingers froze over at those snow pictures.

Come to England instead! When I went for a walk on Sunday I was in a t-shirt and I was still too hot! It's all wrong, and I wish we had snow, but you should come and make the most of it.

All weather is gorgeous. Rejoice in the very quiddity of the moment. This too shall change, and return again. We are too used to moving quickly. Savor the unusual, it provides great stories for later. Besides, knitting is the perfect accompanying grace to any weather.

It is FINALLY snowing here in Pennsylvania, and I envy the amount of snow you have up North! Good for you to work on the sock. I know you have written many times about how people in the US don't use Celsius, so I wanted to tell you that my six year old always wants to know what the temp is in Celsius, probably because he likes the negative numbers, or he is a future Canadian in the making!

The sock looks glorious against all of that snow! Kind of like a smack in the face of the snow.

i'm with you on the whole knitting grey thing. it's been raining all day where i live (northern Mississippi) so i started something in a nice pink to help cheer me up. love the sock in the snow!!

Hey Steph,

I say we ditch our respective cities and meet down in Cinncinati and do a bit of storm chasing. Abby's had some interesting weather down there. And besides, it will be safer storm chasing than driving in these snowstorms!

I grew up in Wisconsin and can commiserate on the snow issue. I miss it terribly but I will admit, February is one time of the year that I really enjoy living in southern California. It's 80 degrees today and yesterday my son and I took a picnic lunch to the beach. I have a lovely guest room should you decide to visit!

Love the sock; love the sweater, too. But, um, Stephanie? I hate to break it to you, but the forecast for Tacoma is not so cheery either, although it is LOTS warmer (about 50 F). So, you ought to at least see some green in the plants and things!! I bet the sun might even break through, just for you.

I almost hate to say it, but we're going to hit 80F today. (Shies from objects about to be thrown.) Should I send pictures of palm trees and roses to brighten your day? And yes, I do have an extra bedroom complete with cat fur...

I hear you...I am in Maine and we have gotten our fair share of snow too, with another storm coming tonight and tomorrow. The older I get, the more I have a hard time tolerating winter. But on the upside...I can't imagine being a knitter and living in the southern warm states like Florida, Arizona, etc. I don't tolerate the heat very well either and holding wool in my hands and lap in 90 degree weather doesn't sound like much fun. It's not as cozy as knitting when it's cold outside.

I live in Seattle, where it's damp but there's no snow to be seen! In fact, it's supposed to be partly to mostly sunny this weekend! I'll be at the yarn fest in Tacoma on Sunday and I'll keep an eye out for ya....

So, how are you enjoying the harmony DPNs? I haven't tried mine yet. I'm still working on metal but the harmonies are in my knitting bag.

I like snow (I ski, so I can't help but like snow), but I really hate the dark and the grey and the dreariness. I'm one of those people who starts getting seriously depressed without the sun and some wholesome (read 'in the sun') outdoor activity. But I've learned that good company and bright decor/yarn goes a long way towards helping. So let's hear it for the colorful sock!

My best friend grew up in Buffalo and says that people invented Valentine's Day as a way to load them up on chocolate keep people from going stark raving mad from the snow and weather and general depression of the very heart of winter.

BTW, when she moved out here to L.A. (where it's supposed to be 86 today) she BURNED her winter coat and swore she'd never buy another one.

Smart chickie you are.

Loving the socks, though the sweater is pretty too.

Have a safe, fun, colorful and hopefully warmer trip.

Its been cold and Icy here...Right now we are getting some light snow to cover the ice but...I would much rather have snow than ice anyday! I'm all for colorful sock knitting to chase away the winter dulldrums. Have fun in Tacoma

I hear you about the snow. I live in Vermont, and generally I really enjoy winter and snow, but we're forecasted to get another fairly significant storm tonight into tomorrow, and perhaps this weekend. I'm pretty frustrated, as DH is leaving for a conference so I will be left to:
1. shovel the roof
2. shovel the path (don't think it's just some little smidgeny path either)
3. pray that the neighbor plows me out
4. feed the other neighbor's horses (they're in FL until APRIL)
5. go to a friend's house and look after her horse (she left for FL today)
6. be at work (a 1/2 hour commute on a good day) by 8h30am.

Perhaps I'll just turn the alarm off ;) Seems like my neighbor and friend have the right idea running away to Florida!!

Cheery is always better than dreary!

You'll see some blue sky here I think this weekend. And...there are some shrubs flowering (not a lot and you'll have to look carefully, but there are a few!). Some of the flowering trees are very close - they just need a sunny day and I think the trees will start to pop out with their cheery white and pink flowers. Cross your fingers....

Living near Edmonton, we don't have near as much snow as TO (there's plenty, though) but the temperatures have been insane. I usually gird myself with February being a 'short' month and then March & April will be better. Can't tell you how I almost came undone when I realized this year is a leap year. One freakin' day and I just about lost it. Methinks a wildly coloured sock is just what the doctor harlot ordered! Thanks for the inspiration.

I don't want to rain on your parade, but I lived in Seattle for four years, and it's grey there from November through June. But at least it's not cold and there's hardly ever any snow. Still, you're probably better off bringing something bright to work on.

Have fun in Tacoma!

There's snowdrops blooming here in Vancouver! You can look forward to green grass and spring bulbs in Tacoma. :)

Yep, even if the weather fools the forecasters, Tacoma will still have green grass, flowers blooming here and there, big green evergreens, and everyone wearing-- Uh, well, Goretex does come in *some* bright colors. ;) Plus think of all the gorgeous yarns that await in the marketplace! Go, bright socks! Plan on buying more bright colors while you're there. If gray is driving you nuts, there's no use forcing it. Frankly, if I were feeling like you and didn't have the sock yarn, I'd be having a wild gleam about overdyeing the sweater in some intense red!

Wise woman. At Waldorf they said they was no bad weather, only inappropriate clothing. But that is only true if that clothing is BRIGHT!!!

It seems very grey and dull here, too...but we've been in the 70's for a week. Cold front last night dropped the temps to the 50's (Brrrrrrr.....) Bet that doesn't make the humongous spider in your Austin hotel quite so big! ;) Sounds like you need a visit to Texas!
(Nudge, nudge, wink wink)

You need a backbend and a heart opener and an inversion, QUICK!

I, too, used to cry at the long, unreasonableness of winter. My mom used to buy a thing called "Punch-n-grow" for me. They were a pre-seeded mini greenhouse thing that you watered and if you were tricksy, you could coerce things to sprout. I don't think the term "instant gratification" had been invented at that time.

Yoga's my instant gratification. At the risk of being banned from your living room, I believe it's as magical as knitting.

We've been getting a horrible amount of snow here in the Midwest, too. It seems like every time I look out the window, there's a fresh blanket! Even as a knitter, it's hard for me to work up any optimism for this terrible weather.

Proper thing! Maybe I should take a page out of your book and put the brown scarf down...it's cashmere and silk so that makes up for the brown-ness a little but it's still a depressing colour.

I wouldn't hold my breath for grey-free in Tacoma in February--I grew up just south of Tacoma and our winters are pretty grey. HOWEVER they are also GREEN, which reminds one of the value in all the grey. There won't be piles of snow, of course, and there will be the ocean (albeit a grey one :) and the mountain. Enjoy!

Don't count on it not being grey in Tacoma. We've had more snow this year than in decades. And the rain, oy, the rain. Clouds are us. We be cloudy. Here there be clouds. See you at Madrona, Girlfriend, and good luck to us all.

I have so much empathy for you. I grew up in Iowa and while Iowa is not Toronto it does get awfully cold (-10/-20 is not uncommon) and does snow a lot. (my folks have over 3 feet right now) Even though I now live in Oregon I know what it means to say "it's too cold to snow" By this time of year even though you know it will be winter for a while all you can think of is spring. Good for you to knit bright colours! Keep up the good work.

It's totally depressing here too. Ridiculously cold, another 6-10" of snow predicted, with freezing rain to follow tonight. Kids probably won't have school tomorrow - again. I'm so done. I need sunlight and warmth and nothing icky falling from the sky or under my feet.

Hi from New Brunswick - my theory is we are getting the snow we didn't get for the past three years plus this year's allotment. My driveway is starting to look like my arteries (narrower by the week) and my poor little snowblower moans now when I open the shed door - it can no longer throw the stuff higher than the banks we have already at the end of the driveway - I blow it back into the mid section and then out to the front yard.

On the fun side, in between working full time and going to nursing school full time, I took my oldest son to Halifax to tour King's College on Friday and while he was being enthralled by the life academic, I went to the Loop Cafe and spent money I can't afford on beautiful wool to make him philosophers socks. It is Trekking XXL - I hope one ball is enough for his size 14 tootsies. I also couldn't resist some Inca Gold baby alpaca for some plain old blue socks for me.

Well I have to write a paper on humour therapy - you provide me all that I need but apparently the paper must have academic references!!

i love those socks. gorgeous colorway.

i'm stuck on my sweater too. and i turn to knitting socks for comfort. i'm glad it's not just me who feels that way.

How could you *not* work on the socks? That kind of gorgeous color is addicting. I feel you on the weather. The snot in my nose froze as I went out to get the mail today. Also, my 6 year old is getting pretty pissed off that we keep having to miss her weekly dance class because of the stupid weather.

Happy Tuesday!

Well, the NW tends to be grey this time of year, but Mother Nature must be smiling on you. We're supposed to be DRY for the end of the week :) Man, I so wish I could make Madrona....

I'm looking out my office window and its icky and grey - roofs covered in snow, chimneys on top of office buildings blowing smoke. Its enough to make me want to cry. Your snow is heading my way. I take heart in the fact that my cat is starting to mat - which means she is either a) not cleaning herself enough or b) spring is coming early this year.

I'll take B for a hundred Alex!

I fully support the bright colored sock. You gotta knit what makes you smile! You're not going to freeze to death without that sweater, so I think it's quite alright for it to wait. =)

Having read your blog for a few years, it occurs to me that you might already have a sweater (or two, or three, or a zillion) that you could wear to Tacoma. What is this compulsion to make a new sweater (shawl, scarf, whatever) for every event? Show off some of the things you've already finished -- they're fabulous. The pressure of getting ready for an event plus trying to finish something new to wear would just totally ruin the event for me.

A friend of mine lived north of Whitehorse in the Yukon for a while and she always spent January and Feb carding and spinning bright colors. It was the only way she could get through the long hue-less winter.

I don't know that I'd recommend grey knitting in Tacoma at the best of times! I'm from the Seattle area and it tends to be rainy and grey... although, someone mentioned green, and that is true! But the grey perseveres at times and can be really draining.
I wish I could have signed up for Madrona. Will you be at Stitches West? I'll be there!

Yes indeed, I have to agree with you about this winter. We do get sunny bright days here in Winterpeg but those are the bitterly cold days. I'm usually one to stick up for winter but I can't remember a winter with this many days in a row below -25C. I guess we've been spoiled these last few years, with nice spells of +3 in Jan/Feb. When I'm not knitting, I'm a botanist/ecologist so I have to say I'm eagerly waiting for my summer fieldwork and those bright cheerful wildflowers dancing in the fields..... your socks are lovely and bright and I don't blame you for wanting to knit them and wear them!

Those socks are the only thing that makes snow look good right now.

From Cleveland, OH

Wow. I know lots of people here in Philly that would kill for that snow. We've had none of significance. But you're right. Knit cheerful colors. Happy colors. I look forward to many more lovely socks being featured.

Not only is the yarn awesomely colored... so are the needles. I LOVE those harmoney needles. They would probably even give your sweater a little oomph.

Anyway, even if it weren't winter I'd work on rainbow socks over a neutral colored sweater any day.

I'm working on black socks right now... I totally know how you feel.

(lip quivering)
W-w-w-what happened to the sock? Please tell me it made it...

I happen to believe that it's best to knit sweaters when it's warm out in preparation for the cold, and then I knit summer wear or happy socks in the winter when it's freezing in preparation for the summer. This year, though, I'm doing the Hemlock Blanket. I love the damn thing. As soon as it's finished, summer wear ensues.

Gray will surely fit right in in Tacoma right now - though we may have (gasp) sun this weekend.
There is so much to do in Tacoma - have a great time

I find myself only knitting brights in the winter. I have realized that I personally find things that aren't bright depressing during the dreary days. We haven't had much snow here in Baltimore, but we had a lot at our vacation home in Northern Michigan. I am anxious for the snow to melt there, which also will be late March or April, because my husband lost his sunglasses in their case while we were there and my personal theory is that he dropped them in the driveway, it snowed more and the plow shoved them under the pile on the side. No way to prove or disprove the theory until the nasty stuff melts and my brother-in-law can go and check. Of course they are prescription sunglasses, thus not so easily, or cheaply, replaced.

The only thing worse than the nearly continuous -30 cold snap Winnipeg has had for a month? The fact that it snowed more today, and I have a sinus infection.

I'm soooooo tired of the cold. Tired of having to sleep under a blanket and two comforters. Of having to wear longjohns and two sweatshirts inside.

I'm knitting grey socks right now- maybe that's why I've been so depressed and cold. Can you BELIEVE how freezing it is out? Even my apartment is like ice. I agree about how Toronto gets in March- it's grey and drab and awful. Hope your socks keep your spirits up!

You have my sympathies, lots of 'em. I was raised in Syracuse, NY, in the 50s, and you loved winter or hated it. Now I live in central Vermont. I enjoy winter. I like the snow, I like cold weather and I like shovelling.

But not every day. I feel like I've been shovelling or raking the roof or dealing with 0 (F) temps every day for the last three weeks. And it's going to snow another 6" tonight. The weather wizards said that usually by this time of year the average snowfall has been 52 inches, and this year Vermont has recorded 88 inches thus far. If we hadn't had a January thaw I wouldn't be able to see out any of my windows.

Some wag once said that there's no bad weather, just inappropriate clothing. Let me tell you that I'm very tired of putting on appropriate clothing day after day.

Last night I organized my yarn stash. Colorful, wonderful, and cheering. I also have a large quilt to finish. It's toasty quilting one end with the other draped over you.

Thank you for permitting this snow rant.

I had been thinking of this as a more or less average Chicago winter (we've had pretty mild winters for the last 15 years or so). But then last week, Tom Skilling (rock star meteorologist) said that we had already had almost 15 inches more snow than the average for an entire winter!!!! And we've had more since then. And last Friday (02/09), the sun came out at 11:32 am - up until then we had had a total of 11 minutes of sunshine! That's an average of one minute 22 seconds of sunlight a day for the first week + of February. Enough!!!! I am going to go look for some loud, brightly colored sock yarn. Or maybe I'll finally start a Clapotis (being the last knitter not to have one) out of that Kureyon #95.

don't hate me, it's "snowing" here in nyc for the first time (?) this year [less than 1 inch they say]... but it's been grey for weeks-- or at least it feels like that to me. i'm ready to snap for colour too. and for me that's really really not normal. but this winter seems grey-er than normal...

Meant also to mention that Tacoma is right next to Seattle & the Pacific Northwest has notoriously gray, rainy winters. Don't know if this year is any different (every place else seems to be having very weird winter weather - could it be global warming?).

You need to come to Colorado...It's been in the 50's the last few days and the sun is shining. We have over 300 days of sun here folks, plenty for everyone!!!

I love the socks colors against the snow.

Toronto _has_ had an unbelievable amount of snow this year. If it makes you feel any better, you probably will see some colour in Tacoma. We were in Seattle last weekend, and things are starting to bloom down there, so they should be in Tacoma, too.

I live in Virginia - I would love to have your snow....at least one of the storms....

ps. even though the weather's mild here it isn't hot, there was a woman in the grocery store line in front of me wearing shorts this morning...I guess I won't criticize when I see teens coming out of school in tank tops (and no coats.)

The only thing that get me though Feb and March are hand knit socks. Lordy the cold and now the commute from h-e-double hockey sticks up I-25. I must say that I LOVE those harmony needled for sock knitting. I swear they are Teflon coated!

I feel your pain and am envious of your upcoming flight. I'm in West Yellowstone, Montana and our snow level was 50 inches (about 125 cm) this weekend. It is our first good snow year in a long while though. I miss the sun, but we had a day of partly cloudy skys just yesterday. First time in weeks. I think everyone was smiling in town. Little things can make you happy sometimes.

I wish you could send some of that snow to Philly. We *might* have half an inch on the ground by the end of the day, and it'll be our second sticking snow of the season.

The socks look great, though--lovely contrast to the snow.

It has been snowing since I woke up this morning. I think it's about to stop; I hope it's about to stop. For Iowa, having almost 2 feet of snow on the ground is a bit ridiculous. It doesn't compare to your amounts, but I can sympathize a bit. I say pile on the woolie layers!

Tacoma can be very grey too, but at least its got lots of green too. Stick with the awesome and bright sock! And if the grey there gets to you (though I'm not sure how it could with all those other knitters around) I recommend a side trip to the Tacoma Glass Museum...not fiber, but very vibrantly colored.

Reading this makes me so glad that I live in California where my bulbs are already starting to grow and the weather has been balmy the last few days. I can go outside in short sleeves.

I just finished the brightest blue cardigan, started a RED cape, some pomatomuses (or is it pomatomi when plural?) and my friend marissa just did the craziest looking legwarmers. If you go to http://vanillabeanknits.blogspot.com, you can see them. I'm making some immediately. The philly weather ain't been too kind to us, either. We're with ya!

Sometimes, ya just gotta cast on some color. Go for it. (And pack some more bright yarn for knitting on the trip.)

P.S., I won't tell you what the weather is like in San Francisco this week.

The only thing that's not grey around here currently will be the yarn at Madrona! I wish I was going. (On the bright side my bulbs are coming up, but nothing colorful yet.)

We just broke our record snowfall here in Madison today. We're up to 77.3 inches, with more on the way Thursday!

I think I'm going to knit something bright and cotton to get over the slump. Perhaps some lovely Carribean colours...

You could send some of your snow my way -- we've hardly had any down here in northern VA.

Lovely socks by the way.

I hate to break it to you but it's grey over here. We've been getting some breaks lately but most days it's been clouds, rain, and snow. Today I went outside into the brief sunlight and my body literally shivered with delight. I'm a lifelong Oregonian and have never felt that before. So I feel your pain, hon.

I hear you! here we have record amounts of snow, and we´ve had continuous snowstorms since dec 20th with minus degrees down to -20°c, with only very short intervals of rainstorms. and it´s getting to me real bad, im depressed, angry, cranky and what ever else you can think of in that direction. worst of all, it´s starting to affect my knitting mojo!
best wishes from Iceland
Frida

I have to laugh about more color and less grey than snow. I was just thinking how I miss summer, and am tired of the grey clouds hovering above us. (I live just north of Tacoma.) Yet I bet there is color in flowers and all the fiber at Madrona. Hope you have a lovely visit.

Yeah for happy socks!

Tacoma will explode with green. Bring your sunglasses. Seriously.

Poor Steph! I'm sending you _warm_ wishes for a safe and colorful trip to WA. :-)

Sometimes you just need a smile to brighten your day.

This is one of my knitting buddies daughter.

http://zana.webwynk.net/blog/?p=121

My daughter lives south of Tacoma. GOOD news - there are green trees there, and lots of them! BAD news - lots of grey skies, rain, and even some snow. But very friendly people, and Really Good Beer! Knit on...

My daughter lives south of Tacoma. GOOD news - there are green trees there, and lots of them! BAD news - lots of grey skies, rain, and even some snow. But very friendly people, and Really Good Beer! Knit on...

WOW..those dpn's are gorgeous and nice mix with the sock color. A friend loaned me her CN's like that and the points are great. The sweater photo brought to mind rising eggbread braids...simply gorgeous - however quite grey. I'd like some snow here please...tooo much sun. Tee hee hee on the pix of the 2nd sock in the snow.

When you said "Tacoma", I figured it was close to me. I looked at http://www.yarnharlot.ca and there was a "Harlot On Tour" link. However, it links to a page with 2005 in the title, and has only 2007 dates.

Now, I'm not a knitter, but my wife is, and I know she'd love to see you.

How can I find out where you're going to be, without renting a time machine?

I am a Seattle native and as such, have my own coping techniques for grey. February is NOT known for much in the way of sunny skies and frankly I'd argue that you were indulging in some illegal substance to consider that we could help you on that front...Apparently you have paid sufficient respect to whichever deity looks out for weather. Here is the greater-Seattle forecast: High pressure will build into western Washington Wednesday and skies should clear to partly sunny in the afternoon with temperatures in the upper 40's. As high pressure moves in on Thursday we should see partly sunny skies and a totally dry day. You MUST be special. This does not happen in February

I feel for you. We were several degrees warmer than Toronto, but still well below 0 Fahrenheit over the weekend. Normally, since I knit as a reward/break from my chores around the house, it will take a week or so to knit a pair of socks. I couldn't figure out why I finished my latest pair in 3 days (and still got the chores done!) until I read your post today. The socks are a beautiful red (Happy Feet color #3 - what a dull "name") and the pattern is a bit bubbly looking. I wore the socks yesterday and spent much of the day pulling my jeans hem up an inch or so and just smiling at the socks.

This is probably why I made my Must Have cardigan red.

Good choice! Make the cheerful socks. The snow is whizzing around yet again outside my window in Mississauga. Speaking of whizzing, my Labrador retriever has just about run out of good places to do his "business", because of the huge snowbanks covering the grassy boulevards he loves. He has been forced to actually consider the backyard as his temporary bathroom (totally against his nature.) My knitting right now is for a girl baby, and it's all pink and mauve. Lovely SPRING colours. Take that, mother nature!

No fresh snow here in North Idaho but believe me we had our share January. Broke all kinds of records. Wet, drippy, grey and dirty white here. Feb is the worst of the months. I am working. Wearing as bright of colours as I can find helps. So does red wine, chocolate and of course....Knitting a bright blue baby hat...

Love that sock yarn! and I'm sending warmth and sunshine from Arizona - where it's 71F. I don't miss Chicago in February.

I live in Texas where in February, winter is basically over, and spring will be over in a couple of weeks. Then on to HOT. But we don't have to suffer with snow. That said, a couple of weeks ago I cast on wool socks for my DH on the harmony DPN's and I am loving them. We were having a colder week or two and I was thinking socks. Now I'll be the silly one knitting with wool when its 75 degrees F (like it was yesterday). Today its raining and what passes for cooler, so its a little more OK to knit with wool. Usually I have to scrounge for cotton, or rayon or silk (often too hot) or synthetics. Lots of the wonderful sweater patterns are simply out of the question for me.
Nancy in Houston

Oh do I ever hear ya. This winter has been overly depressing. I looked outside today and the sky was grey again...everything was grey and I thought that no person should have to endure this...snow is fine but F*ck the grey!

You aren't kidding! Here in Chicago, they lifted our since-yesterday Winter Weather Advisory (the "Ha ha, another 8 inches for *you*" notice) at about 10 am today... and replaced it at about 1PM with a "special edition" Winter Weather Advisory about *lake effect snow* in particular. As though the lake effect snow is less snowy than regular snow.

I am ready for a day with no freaking clouds!!! Even if it's one of those nasty days with biting winds and a -30*F windchill, with eyelash-icicles... just so long as it's not cloudy and snowing! In the meantime, however, I think I'll follow your lead and find some sock yarn. Fight back the only way I know how...

Steph, when you get done with your committment in Tacoma, hop a plane to Los Angeles. I have the comfiest sofa in the world, and the weather is predicted to be in the mid-70s F for the next week. I know a hundred great ethnic restaurants within ten miles of my house, and a season ticket to Disneyland.

That explains why I haven't made much headway on the (lovely and soft and cushy) grey cardigan that I'm knitting for my girlfriend since I finished the second front back in early January.

Bright and funky socks are right up my alley. (Working on the dreaded & greatly anticipated First Sock right now.)

This has been a tough winter for me psychologically. There's no snow. It's not even that cold. The daytime temperatures seesaw between the 50s (or 60s and 70s) and the 20s. This has been one of the most wimpy winters that I can remember. We have not had a decent snowfall yet. However, we do tend to get a nice snow around President's Day weekend, which is this weekend. Bring it on!

My Sweet Stephanie,
There are many ways to have grey. Tacoma is in the Pacific Northwest, where I live, and it is grey, grey, grey due to continuous cloudiness and drizzle. We seldom get cold snowy greyness but it is greyness nonetheless. Bring your bright cheery socks. You will need them.

If given the choice between the sock and the sweater, I would have to side with you on the sock. The colors are perfect for winter knitting...I was cheered up just looking at the photos.

Maybe if you put on rose-tinted glasses to see the grey sweater, it would look a little less depressing? Or put a pink lightbulb in your lamp to make your rooms seem less dim? I'd welcome some grey weather here in central California. We're in our second week of faux-Spring, and that makes everyone nervous when the trees began to flower before the next hard storm finally hits. Plus, summer around here goes on far too long. I think you have SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) during the winter and I have SAD (Summer Affective Disorder) in the summer. This too, shall pass (just like a gallstone).

A second bright sock against the snow - I think that's a heck of a plan.

It's a lovely day today, So whatever you have to do, You've got a lovely day to do it in that's true. I think this weather has won out on my weak hold of sanity. I'm going right now to the stash and dig out the brightest and most lively coloured yarn I can find . Go with the colours Harlot and hang in there .

Hey Steph -

If you would like a nice homebrew, (a nice brown ale or amber) at Madrona, let me know. I would love to bring you some of my hubby's finest!

Hmm...maybe that's been my issue, I've been knitting grey stuff this week. An excuse to cast on something bright and colorful! To the stash!

Well that explains things. I keep avoiding beginning the sweater, and knitting little bright things, like Odd Fellow (Jess Hutchison). Now I understand why! Stephanie, the only thing worse for me than all this snow and lack of sun, the dull grayness of things, is the brown slushy grunge on the roads. People who don't have snow think it's beautiful and sparkly, and it can be, freshly fallen on a sunlit day, but darn that slush! Ugly!!!

Hmm...maybe that's been my issue, I've been knitting grey stuff this week. An excuse to cast on something bright and colorful! To the stash!

yay for socks! And on colorful needles, too!!

Ok I am running to the stash right now to pick out something bright. We're getting a storm tomorrow too.

I'm sitting here is South Dakota watching it snow yet again... and I feel for you. I've put my yarn into hibernating and picked up needle point just to get threw this weather slump.

Looking out the window right now in Seattle the only color I see beyond gray is the bright orange cranes, BUT it is relatively warm - in the mid to upper 40sF lately, which I think translates to 7-10C...Even though winter here isn't cold I am a big believer in the bright colors for gray months theory - my house is bright green.

I think I am going to have to stop reading blogs of anyone who doesn't reside in the latitudes south of me. We're sitting here, just praying for a little bit of snow for the kids to play in, and all you Northerners can do is complain. What's wrong with having weather that the only thing you can do is knit?

I feel your pain. Here in Madison, WI, we have record-breaking snowfall this year. Yes, we broke the f*&%^g record! At almost 78 inches so far (not quite mid-Feb) I just don't know how much more I can take. So. The last time I visited my LYS--which is hard to do when the roads are constantly icy--I got some of Dream in Color's Smooshy sock yarn in the color Butter Peeps.

http://www.dreamincoloryarn.com/pages/colors.html

It wasn't even out of the box AND the woman in front of me at the register was buying the very same yarn. I am on a yarn diet, but I don't even feel the slightest bit guilty for getting it. It's yellow and the closest thing to sunlight I've seen in a while.
anabel

No one could possibly blame you for continuing to knit on the pretty sock...I'm totally with you and I live in the south (US)!!! I hope that Tacoma has some other color - besides brown (that's what I think of most in the west).

I'm sure someone has beat me to it, but the Pacific Northwest is nothing if not gray from October/November until May/June. For those on the Southern Oregon coast, you get out of the rain a little sooner than those in Seattle.

On the bright side, the temps are generally much warmer than -30. And the flowers bloom while it's still gray, giving a brilliant color, at least on the ground.

I'm in Boston, though, and I hate life right now. Time to reconsider that move back to the west coast!

Well it's about 80°F (I don't know what that translates to in Celsius, I'm a stupid American), sunny and gorgeous. I'm just saying. But then, you'd have to deal with Mrs. Tom Crazy and her stalkerazzi when you go out to the park to knit. . .

Trade ya. Philadelphia has had nothing but rain this winter, and if there's something worse than endless snow, it's endless cold rain. It's all the grayness and lack of sun, but without the pretty snow to make it bearable. Maybe we'll have a blizzard in March and you can have our warm weather!

Argh . . . Internet ate my comment.

I love the colors. I would think since you're traveling that you would need a traveling sock, n'est pas?

We're supposed to get snow here too. Since the forecasters never can predict, my prediction is somewhere between 0-100 inches -- cannot be wrong with that prediction.

It's very grey here too . . . . . almost blue out.

Steph-
I live in suburbia of Madison, WI and as of about 3am last we have broken the all time record for the snowiest winter season. The previous record set in the winter of 1978-79 was a total snowfall of 76.1 inches. We are now sitting somewhere above 77 inches and it is only mid-February. We have a lot of winter left to go here in Wisconsin and at my house there is no lovely snowblower to help with the work - it's all people power. I can totally sympathize with your exhaustion when it comes to winter this year.

I'm in full support of knitting in technicolor right about now!

You should come to Northern California, it's almost 70 degrees (F) today!

I have to tell you I'm reading Knitting Rules, and I love it! It's so nice to reminded that it's only knitting! Chill out! Sometimes I get so intense. And I love Ziploc bags, too.

Can't wait to read the rest of your books and keep up with you on your blog.

Yay for colorful socks! *dances*

My mother moved us from Pennsylvania to Florida when I was very little. My only memories of snow are fun - playing in it, sitting inside in the warmth and watching it. I suppose if I had to drive in snow I would hate it as much as everyone else, but right now I would really love to make a snow angel.

Two hundred miles west of Philly and it's been snowing all day, no school, over six inches. Go figure.

I live in the Great North Wet. We're about 45 minutes away from Tacoma and have very similar weather. You will find that Tacoma has alot of green. Green trees, green lawns, green street signs. But in the North West when they say that it rains all the time they lie. What it is is cloudy. All. The. Time. We get 3 days of sun, not whole days just days when the sun can be seen for a brief moment, in five months of winter/fall. It never gets gut wrenchingly cold, but it's grey. I knit bright colors all winter too.

You'll find a lot of grey in Tacoma, but none of the white stuff. And I heard that we're even expecting some partly sunny skies the next few days. Looking forward to running into you at the marketplace!

I totally feel your pain. We've been getting a lot of snow too, sure nothing like you guys but it's VANCOUVER! I live in Vancouver because it's only supposed to know maybe once a year!

Hmpf

I lived there for the first 18 years of my life. Erm...Gray is one of our distinguishing characteristics. But it's friendly and clears the head and is way less cold than Toronto.

I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest and one thing I've learned about living here is that weather reports are not very reliable. I live directly across the straight from Victoria, B.C. and we have been having a lot of grey skies, rain and wind storms here on the peninsula for the last couple of weeks (right now the rain is coming down almost sideways). At least if the weather isn't nice you'll be in the right place to get a great cup of coffee to warm up with. Enjoy your visit!

Hmm... having been born and raised in Seattle I hate to tell you, but Tacoma is almost guaranteed to be gray this time of year. Keep on with the sock. Ignore that sweater. You don't really NEED it anyway. ;)

oh man, i know what you mean!

i'm getting so tired of looking at grey slush and snow. last night, i went to my stash and chose yarn for some socks based *entirely* on bright, uplifting color. i opted for a thrilling, cobalt blue.

i'm at work and feeling a little down, so every hour, i'll get that yarn out of my bag and take a peek just to cheer myself up.

I moved from Vancouver Island to Calgary 12 years ago. Within a month of arriving we had a cold snap: -35 for days. I was an adult and I cried -- cold, bitter tears. Doesn't matter what your age, -35 or lower justifies a good bout of whining at the very least.

I fear I wouldn't work on that gray sweater again until May at the earliest. I would go from the bright sock to hot pink or turqoise or maybe lavender, so nice in the spring.

Er, I wouldn't bet on the "got to be a color other than grey" thing. It's grey and windy and raining today! Maybe the weather will throw us a curve ball and be pretty for Madrona.

To be safe, I'd keep working on that sock.

I think the sock is a good plan.I'd do the same thing.
Your trip will help with the cabin fever.

I lived in Madison WI when the last record was set...in fact, moved with a baby during a big blizzard. Oh. So. Fun.

My dh and I were commiserating today on the weather here in Rochester. Lots of grey and blizzards, but mostly snow falling sideways, so not much accumulation(you seem to be getting all the snow we usually get with these blizzards). Today we are expecting up to 9 inches of snow, to cover the ice that hasn't been able to melt due to the snot freezing cold we have had. Plus, ONT I have...a dark green sock, a grey sock, and a lime green baby blanket that never will end. All I have in my stash even remotely bright is some LL red rover sock yarn, and some Kidsilk Haze in Marmalade. No way am I leaving the house for the next two days, so may be time to frog the grey sock and start a red one. Then buy more needles....will tell dh it will help my SAD!

LOVE your nice bright socks....save the sweater for May before it starts getting too warm to knit on it, but there will be flowers out.

Whatever you do, don't look at the weather page for Monterey, California. I'm guessing you don't follow golf, and didn't watch any of the AT&T this weekend. See, we love it when the weather sucks this time of year, we call it Crosby weather. When it's nice, all you northerners get a hankering to move here. SO, don't look at our weather.

Consider: there is over an hour more daylight now than there was a month ago, and, on average, you're gaining over three minutes a day. Imbolc is behind us, and my birthday, which is not an official holiday anywhere that I know of but which I regard as the boundary between hardcore winter and still-winter-but-I-can-stand-it winter, is a week and a half away.

Or just consider your brilliant socks. Of course I mean the adjective in several senses.

Why don't you wear the Kauni to Madrona? I doubt that any of us who saw it at Rhinebeck will be in Madrona. And even if there are some repeats, it's pretty enough to withstand repeated viewings.

You're not going to want to wear a gray cardigan in March, so why not put it aside to finish for next fall? The color will be refreshing in September.

Hi Stephanie.
I hate snow.
I want to cry with your neighbor girl.
I am a Kentucky gal living in New Hampshire and the snow fall here this winter has been insane (in my book), but according to the regular NH peeps, this is what it's supposed to do.
Well...
it sucks.
When I drive down the road, I swear the snow is coming alive and trying to reach out and grab my car!
Again, I say...
I hate snow.
Love the socks!! SO bright and colorful.
now..I'm off to knit my fingerless mitts (They realllllly need fingers in this weather, but..oh well)
~Lora

Enjoy sock knitting. The sweater, while gawjiss to me here in sunny crisp Nawth Cahlina, will find plenty of usefulness left in this year when it does get finished. Prolly in the plain on your way home, while the socks will be keeping your toes toasty already.

Me? I love gray. 30 years in Florida cured me forEVER of longing for clear bright sunny HOT (blech) days. You can keep them. 20' snow drifts, below zero temps outside, a warm snuggly sweater and a pile of knitting with hot mocha latte sounds like my personal idea of heaven.

LOL, if we get stuck with another warmonger for the next prez, would you help me find a nice snuggly little apartment near Lettuce Knits?

I thought it was never going to quit snowing here either. But low and behold and the skies opened and there was sunshine. For 4 days in a row and counting! woohooo!!! I am blaming the damned groundhog. bah.

I can't believe no one has told you the #1 rule of being in Tacoma: sunbreaks. This would be the few minutes when the "sun breaks" through the grey sky. If you see blue sky, *drop everything* and run outside! No lie, even government workers sneak out when the weather casters say "sun break!"

I think that is just what I need right now, Steph...some nice cheery socks!!! Or is that a margarita calling my name?? I'll try the socks first and then the margarita!

I had a proud (in an odd way) Northern Mom moment this afternoon when the boychild came home and admitted that he has been initiated into the 'stuck my tongue to a frozen metal pole just so see what would happen' club today. He escaped with no harm done, but won't fess up to why he did it.

You did retrieve that poor sock out of the snow, right?

Each spring, I feel I have another "winter notch" in my belt, and I'm glad to have endured another one. I think it makes me a bit stronger for having creatively made it through these long grey days of winter. And knitting socks and other wonderful things in lovely tropical colors is definitely a creative way to cope! So is reading this blog ...
Thanks, Stephanie!
~ Dar

I swore to never (again) move to a new city/province in either feb/march/april because there is no place in Canada that isn't depressing during those months.

I'm so tired of the snow... I don't blame the little girl for crying...thats how I feel most days when I look out my window! And I'm known for *loving* winter... =)

I'm currently knitting The Pinwheel sweater from Elann... for my daughter... in bright cheery colors =) in hopes that maybe, someday, it'll be spring!

Weather RIGHT NOW, 100km north of Madrona:

SUN.
Wicked, bright, Vitamin-D-replete SUN.

Sparkling on the water, setting off the bright green of the grass and the trees.

Come on over, honey-
the weather's fine.

I love our Canadian winters. I love snow....it appears white, not gray, to my adoring eyes. I love curling up with warm woolie things on needles. Like socks, perhaps beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Now our hot, steamy summers...that is another story. May your trip be grand and may you find the weather your heart desires!

Bright socks and the promise of warm feet. You can't beat that! And it looks like you have matched some Harmony needles to the socks as well. Good call! The sweater is gorgeous and all, but it can wait.

You should fly down here after Madrona. It's 27C here, sunny, with a very light breeze.

The guesthouse is open.

Whenever I think I might like living in snowy climes, I see something like this and I quickly realize how lucky I have it in Northern California. Here's wishing you lots of colorful sock knitting, warm beverages, wooly socks and dry firewood.

Out here in Madrona-land, we got some blues and some greens ... and even some hopeful-looking little purple pansy blooms. Dark green from the evergreens and BRIGHT NEW GREEN from the bulbs coming up!!

I'd say you made the right decision to save the gray for later! And hang in there. I feel for you under the snow.

I had to laugh about your gray sweater comments! I just finished a pair of ragg wool socks for my brother, and said to a friend, "My next project is going to be a pair of socks out of the brightest yarn in my stash!" Lo and behold, the Jitterbug Parrot socks are a joy in Cookie A's "Mingus" pattern! Yea Color!!!

Yea! for the socks!!! Happy happy colorful socks! :) Life's too short Steph! Do what makes you happy (and makes the rest of us laugh! I luv the sock pics in the snow!).

We're having another bout of Lake effect snow here along the Wisconsin/Illinois border and expect another wave later tonight. Right now there's at least a foot and a half on the ground, our communities have run out of salt for the roads so we're just havin' a good old time getting around. Stick with the colorful knitting. It's keeping me sane.

Hello Snowy Canada! It's snowing in Yonkers and is just beautiful.

I know it's a few posts ago but I wanted to comment on the "comment issue". With email, comments, and anything else posted on the web, we often don't think about the tone of our comments.

I always do the Martha Stewart test on emails. Here's how it works. Imagine getting an email (or an IM or a post or a comment, etc.) that said "It's a good thing". You could either hear that in your head as Martha in her standard "isn't this (beautiful/delicious/you fill in the blank)" voice. Or you could hear it in my evil 4th grade teacher Sr. Roberta Ann's voice ripping me a new one and saying it was a good thing that "I finally learned how to do long division/use an ink eraser/figure out how to get through the day without getting yelled at" voice.

On the web, it's often about perspective and perception. If someone says "it's ugly" I make a choose to hear a song in their voice and the appreciation that I chose to make something ugly because to someone else it's beautiful.

But on the web we have no tone in our voice so, in the spirit of a two sided street, it is as important for all of us to take as much special care with how we hear things as how we try to say them.

Oh, I feel your pain. I've been wanting to make a jacket from DROPS for a while but the yarn I have is, yes, grey. No thank you. I'll stick with my bright stripey mittens and socks.

Safe and warm travels to Tacoma!

I lived in Toronto for 2 years. The issue for me isn't the snow, it's the grey. It gets grey in October and the sun doesn't come out until April.

Monday it was -12C in Connecticut, but the sun was shining and it was good to be alive. But seasonal affective disorder must be a Toronto staple. I don't know if bright colorways are an official antidote to SAD, but I know they improve my outlook!

Gray! That's why I keep avoiding finishing that scarf for my hubby!

Interesting; it's always been my impression that it's terribly grey in Tacoma in winter... Even Fairbanks is disgustingly grey this year, the worst part of that being that hardly any snow has fallen here, and we need more to ski on. We did see blue sky last week, but then it was -40 degrees (C or F, take your pick...) And I am making socks of a very similar colorway, which also brighten my life.

oooooooh. Don't count on it. Washington is NOT known for beautiful weather this time of year----although the trees will provide a little color.

I gotta tell you, that snow to me is lovely. I live in a place where I only see snow on the news. Spring is in the air here, which means yardwork for me. Endless yardwork. I guess that is our equivalent of shoveling snow.

Getting pretty tired of the snow here in Maine, too. Is it really still February?

Greetings from Perth Western Australia. Strewth, there are some cold places in the world - cold enough to need to wear several pairs of those socks all at once. Grey isn't a popular colour here. Sunny yellow and blue are not to mention red(mostly as in red sunburnt noses). Today we will have a max of 37C (near 100F) and endless sun and blue skies. That's fair dinkum!! It's so hot you could fry an egg on the roof of your car!

Ugh, I am sick of snow. And we haven't gotten nearly as much as you.

This is when I realize the brillance of wintering somewhere in the south.

hey.. what's with the wooden needles? I thought you were devoted to the metal dpns. Those harmony colors are awfully cheerful.. I can understand the dalliance.

Yeah, me again (I have the 2nd post of the day, and I'm usually just a lurker)...just a thought--My Husky started to molt earlier this week[Huskies don't shed, they literally molt their downy undercoat twice a year; and yes, it DOES make loverly yarn , I have a knitted Husky Hair Hat that I have been wearing for the past couple of days, since it's been below -10C (12F)]. He is usually pretty accurate about the weather, so if he's molting, spring can't be too far away (I hope, she whimpers)...Oh, if anyone is talking to Mother Nature, tell her I say, "UNCLE!!"

This must be why I cannot bring myself to knit they grey sleeves my my ribby cardi and am enthralled by my Shetland Triangle.

What you have no pretty coloured roving.....

it is Tuesday......just saying.

If Tacoma disappoints, head to Southern California. I've got an empty guest room, and it's in the low 80s here.

It's snowing again here (Edmonton) too. My winter depression hit me hard last week, I couldn't get out of bed to go to work. So I did the only reasonable thing: go back to sleep, and then get up and spend the day knitting. It seems to have worked. So far. But, like you say we still have March and April to go.

There's no snow here in Western Washington!

Hey Steph, you should come to Southern California instead - it's 24 degrees Celsius here! That's 75 in Fahrenheit. Perfect beach weather - if the ocean temps weren't in the 50's!

My mother once sent back the grey fingerless mitts I knit for her... she just can't abide the color in winter either. (I wear them though.) Enjoy your trip 8~)

I hope we get soem color here this weekend for you, but right now, outside Seattle, it's pretty grey...

How great would it be if your new system for measuring precipitation took off......."evening news reports record 1 1/2 sock rainfall in eastern Europe" or "sockless dry spell across US." Wish we could relieve you of some of the snow- here in MD we get very little :-(

Now McKenna, don't talk about there not being any snow in Western Washington right now. Do you want to jinx us all??? We finally got Snoqualmie Pass open again. Can you imagine all the Eastern Washington gals who wouldn't have be able to come to Madrona if the pass didn't open? Now, THAT would have been a crisis of epic proportions!

well.... perhaps it will be a different sort of gray - it's been raining so long here that I hear whispers of building an ark.
bring your galoshes :-)

My friend Sherry had some terrific pictures on her blog to take away the grey blahs....enjoy

http://sherry-latebloomer.blogspot.com/

Ha ha! Indeed! All of that snow, I'd do as you've done. Besides, knitting socks always makes me feel accomplished. Which is just what you need during this time of snow/cold/UGH. :D

Hope you warm up nicely on your trip!

Actually, it's going to be closer to 30 cm when all is said and done here in Toronto...ciao

Sock on, Harlotta. As we told you about the Gansey sometime ago, make gray while the sun shines.

And you can tell the snow fairies to send some of that down to the DC area anytime. We are in the midst of yet another freakin' ice drizzle and have yet to have a decent amount of snow. Feh on the weather.

P.S. for the grey fans...it is only spiffy if it has some nice pink or red embroidery or striping on it. In any season.

I have SO much sympathy for you.

But, there was a year here in Northern Virginia (right outside DC, right where you went to the Borders where I saw you) that we had a single snowfall of 36 inches (that's three feet, or one yard). Then, about three days later, it did the same thing AGAIN!

We litterally had TWO YARDS of snow in less than a week!

Now, don't you feel lucky?

ah, the bleak midwiter. i LOVE the snow, the blue-grey...but only until march 1, then i want it soo gone. but, living across the lake from you in ny, that's not to be. keep yer pecker up because spring will be all the more lovely for it.

I suspect you'll be able to find more bright yarn in Tacoma. I won't be there, alas, however it's a very short hop, skip and jump from here. Should you be unable to find bright yarn and hit a crisis, call me and I shall deliver.

(Don't test me. You never know what I might do.)

My great-grandma, who lived to 103, used to say that winter makes us hardy. And, man, she was hardy. (She was also intelligent, funny, creative and, not surprisingly as she was born in 1893, she could sew, quilt, knit, crochet and bake.) So as you grit yourself against winter, just keep saying, "It makes us hardy...it makes us hardy...Auntie Emm." :-)

Oh, send some snow our way, I live in the mountains, we're supposed to get snow. Even in NC we're supposed to get more than an inch at a time. This whole year's prediction is less than you've had this week. WHINE! I want to be able to stay indoors and knit all day too.

Yup, I totally agree. A few years ago I threw my knitting in a corner, zipped to the LYS and bought some periwinkle blue and some bright yellow yarn and knit up three sweaters - just plain old v-necks, one bright blue, one bright yellow, and one yellow with two little blue stripes around the chest. It was total therapy, I needed to stare at the bright colors while I knit with them, and I needed to wear some bright colors at that dull time of year. I have them in a special place to wear at this time of year (soon I will be pulling them out...maybe tomorrow?) Totally understand turning to the sock yarn (it is quite beautiful) even without really knowing why - just needing that wonderful color in your eyes. Have a safe trip!

I am here in the Seattle-Tacoma area and we had sun today! It was very exciting as we usually...I am sad to say...don't see the sun until later in the year.

I know how you feel. Philadelphia is covered in ice today. In fact, the courtyard of my apartment could easily be mistaken for a skating rink.

Here's to bright knitting...

I can't believe you just stood there and watched the snow cover your sock. How depressing is that?

I hear ya! Chicago has been that way this year too -- way more snow, etc. than normal. It's good, I'll admit, since we were overly dry last year, but whoa does it kick one's butt after a certain point.

ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh please make this winter enddddddddddddddddd! i feel your pain!

I am so with you on this. I am already getting tired of having to baby-step down the sidewalk because of all the people whose unshovelled sidewalks have now turned to sheets of ice! Grr aRgh.

And I am not too proud to admit that the -25 windchill makes me want to cry, too. I don't blame your young neighbour at all!

Don't kid yourself...DD described the Puget sound area (Seattle/Tacoma) as Chinese water torture....it just drips and drips! But on the days The Mountain (Rainier) comes out, it is just amazing!

Enjoy!

Part of my feels for you, part of me is jealous. In July it will be 95-100 degrees (F) and I'll get all nasty and sweaty walking from the house to the car, and the car will feel like a dry sauna and I'll be despairing because I don't want to leave the comfort of the AC and I won't be feeling for you at that moment.

I think I have reverse SAD.

My first post to you. Love the sock. Speaking of weather, it took me 6 hours and 18 minutes to get home from work tonight! We're having an ice storm. It was awful. I could have been knitting; I could have driven to North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I could have been knitting a bright sock. Keep on keeping on.

I've always felt that February is the longest month of the year, despite what the calendar might say. This winter has been brutal. I got frost bite for the first time in my life from a 15 minute walk home. I think color therapy is a fantabulous idea, can't even bear to think of knitting anything grey or even white for that matter. Kelle in Minnesota

It's sunny here and we are all saying "oh, it's warm" but soon enough we'll be wishing it was this "cool". It gets into the 100s here during the summer, bleah. BTW, I loved your sock so much I had to order the yarn. It's just gorgeous, so many colors! Thanks for yet another nudge in a good knitting direction (finally finished the Lettuce Knit Tulip Sweater, my cat looks adorable in it).

I live in sunny Colorado, but my house faces northeast. While I have a glacier on my front lawn, my neighbors across the street have grass (brown, but still grass). I feel your pain, but once you get to Tacoma, you will see green. In southwest Colorado (Crested Butte, Durango) they have had about 160 inches of snow. I don't think Toronto can top that!!! Keep knitting the bright colors, till the colors come out there!!!

Here in Chicago, we have had more snow (well, at least more days when it has snowed) that any year I remember since moving here 14 years ago. We are tired of shoveling. I am counting the days until Sock Camp!

I hate to burst your bubble, but I read on the news today that here in Western Washington we've only had 6 days of sunshine this winter. Not much snow, though! I'll be at Madrona, but got to it too late to sign up for any classes. I'll look for you, but you'll probably be mobbed!

I feel your pain
Not only do I live in the GTA, I commute downtown everyday for school at George Brown.
The bright self-striping sock yarn...
Ya, it's the only thing keeping me going right now
*is praying for cancelled classes tomorrow morning*

Darlin', anything you can do to make Spring live in your heart, well, that's gotta be a good thing. (Besides, that colorway rocks!)

I completely sympathise with the constant greyness getting you down, although I'm jealous of your snow - at least it makes things a bit brighter. Here in Helsinki, Finland we're unseasonably warm, grey, cloudy and snowless.

Here's to an early spring and lots of colourful knitting.

Oh I've missed so much while I was away. Those vintage socks are to die for. In the Claret, yummy. And yours are breath taking.
Your power with the sticks and fibre continually amaze me.
:)

Update on the weather forecast for the next several days...

Predicted highs for western Washington

Thursday 54 degrees F 12 C
Friday 55 degrees F 12 C
Saturday 54 degrees F 12 C
Sunday 58 degrees F 14 C(no, not a type-o, very springlike weather...)

Knit socks at home, knit gray stuff here.

Yay! More colorful sock! That's what I like to see in February. Go color!

Why not just slip in a couple of rows of really bright colour into the middle of the cardigan - you know, maybe some multi-coloured yarn with reds, golds & kingfisher blues. Just a couple. Then you would have a cardi that would make you smile every time you caught sight of that little strip of colour. I have some recycled sari silk that would do the job - pity it won't email.

I feel your pain. I live in the U.S. on the St. Lawrence River near Cornwall, Ontario and our temperature yesterday morning was -12, without the wind chill. Our dog who loves snow didn't even want to go outside. This morning we had to shovel a path so she could go out, and it's supposed to keep snowing until late this afternoon. I want to move back to New Jersey where if we had snow, it was fun, because it never stayed more than a few days. And I used to think 30 degrees was cold. It was wonderful. The crocus' would be coming up soon. I'd better stop or I'll be crying. Have fun in Tacoma, and keep knitting the fun colors!

Lets clarify something here:
Toronto in winter = white.
Western Washington in winter = grey. Very grey.
Leave the sweater at home and bring something bright and cheery.

We're predicted to have some sun and 50F highs in Seattle this weekend. Tacoma should be about the same. Hope you don't have trouble with your flight so you can enjoy your little break.

When we get sun in the winter it's beautiful, but we usually have to put up with freezing temperatures along with it. We'll all be enjoying this weekend.

If you have the usual trouble fitting meals in your schedule, flag me down. I'll likely have something vegan in my purse. I can't do events without a steady flow of food. And I don't trust the hotel to provide anything I can/will eat.

We're having a similar issue here in NH. We know it's supposed to snow, but - this much? Really?

I know it must get tedious, seeing all that white, but I wish I had your problem just for a little while! I miss the snow. In Maryland you don't get it like you do in NY. Cheer up--it'll all melt away soon enough...

We are feeling your pain here in Minnesota. It's been as bad as 45 below and snowy and just blah. It's sunny today, not as cold, w/ major snow coming in this evening. *sigh*

Anyway, being where it's grey and gloomy too, I can tell you that I LOVE looking at those socks! They're so bright and cheery.

Maybe I'll pull out that skein of sock yarn in a variety of melon colors and cast on a sock for my Daughter.

Hope Tacoma is colorful for you :)

Bring the suntan lotion! Supposed to be sunny and 60F in Tacoma this weekend! That's 40C!

Lent in the Midwest in February is triple redundant.

We have a little over 76 inches of snow this season with some more on the way. It has been a recorded breaking year here in Wisconsin.Cold , yes we have had it at least -45 , thats with wind chill but still nasty.I guess when people think of Wisconsin they think of beer,brats,cheese,Packers and the snow.Get out the bright colors, I'm tied if this white stuff.!!

I can tell when I bought my yarn. The bright colors are dreary winter or endless rain purchases; the more neutral colors were purchased in the spring/summer.

Here in central PA we're on our second snow day in a row. We have now used up all our scheduled snow makeup days that were built into the schedule (and those first three, while appreciated, were really unnecessary). Down here we only had about four inches of snow yesterday, but then it changed over to sleet and freezing rain through the night. It looks like there's a thick crust of ice all over everything.

Definitely a stay inside and knit or crochet day. The dishes can wash themselves, right?

Umm, hate to rain on your parade, and I'm only going on rumor, as I've never been to the Pacific Northwest, but I'm pretty sure they've cornered the market on grey out there with the constant rain in their climate...better keep some socks handy on that trip!

Bully for you for casting on for sock #2! You deserve a break, and a pair of socks is like saki for the soul.

Just for the record, it snowed here in NY for the first time in who knows how long! To take the edge off my shoveling blues, I went back to work on my own Must Have Cardigan.

Can I just say that I have ripped back that cardigan so often that the yarn I'm using (Patons Merino) is almost lace weight by now!! Geez. I did make it six inches up the back, so any year now I should be finished making that sweater!

Maybe I should cast on for a sock ... just to break up the monotony, ya see?

Send the snow over here! It's been like spring for the past week and while I welcome spring, I'd like just a little bit of winter this year.

Lovely socks!

This has been a really hard winter ,even for Michigan. The final straw was having to cut short knit nite last evening because,as it does everyday lately, it was snowing-is blizzarding a word????? Driving is perilous,schools have been closed so often that they may have to go an extra week to make up the time,and being housebound is beginning to lose it's charm.
On a lighter note-do you love the harmony needles?? I love knitting on the circulars even more than on Addi's! The double points are wonderful-although one of the cats chewed off a tip-but they will replace it.

Love the socks! Hate to tell you it is like paradise today (around 70s). That was WAY mean, I know, but to soften it come get yer award, excellent blog awards at my place.

Well, you need wool socks in the winter too.

It might be time to start thinking about Spring Break someplace warm and sunny.

When my mother in law told me they had a lot of snow in Toronto I was like sure you do. I get pretty smug living in northern Canada and think my Toronto relatives have no real idea what winter is. Seeing your pictures completely freaked me out. I have never seen that much snow in Toronto and it looks like it's sticking around.
Love your colorful socks in progress, your sweater, the other socks you finished and the vintage socks. The vintage socks go beyond the craft of knitting. They are an art piece and deserve to be coveted by all that see them as such. Stay warm.

I completely relate. I am so sick of snow and winter. I heard on the news last night that so far this winter (Nov-present) we have had 42 inches total in central Iowa, whereas last year by the time we had only had 13. Stay warm and knit cheerful socks!

I do think that Feb. may be just a bit of March this year... even out here on the prairies.... it's snowing again and bitter cold (-41cel with the wind chill, -27cel without). So no wonder we all have the winter blahs..

Steph,
I don't know how you do it... No Cal. born and bred here and I think I would go MAD within days with all of the cold and gray. I thought of you this AM when I dropped my son of at his High School. There were kids arriving in shorts and t-shirts (our high here today is in the mid 60's F)!!! But, don't everyone move to Calif.--- we have lots of other problems, so just stay where you are!

Aaaw! New Jersey is a yucky brown color right now and is currently drowning in melting snow and heavy rain. But YES, the Northwest is beautiful, reports my mom--you should see many brilliant blues and greens!

This is not related to you post but, where is the picture of your new book?? Its on Amazon, you should put it on your blog. Okay, okay, I know - you are busy finishing the darn thing and haven't gotten around to it. I just wanted to put in my two cents that you have eager readers who are happy to have just a glimpse of title. Thanks!

Well, Steph, I hate to tell you, but the sky is gonna exactly match your sweater in Tacoma. It's been a long gray winter in the Pacific Northwest, too. But at least it won't be snow. It'll be rain. Probably will feel like the tropics to you, with temps in the 40's & possibly 50s. But wet. Sorry! I hope we'll have a glimpse of blue sky for you once in awhile. . . it does happen. I've got photos to prove it. But I think the bright socks will help! Have a great time!

That looks pretty greying serious. If Rabbitch's yarn wasn't pretty enough, she offered something special with those, so I got 2. And good thing, it's raining today...

I'm in "coping mode" too. I've been knitting more than usual, and the other day I realized it was due to a nesting/hibernation instinct. I'm making warm clothes because I'm cold! That explains my frantic knitting on the thrum mitts I'm making. Now your post has shed some light on why I've fallen so in love with the bright, multicoloured yarn I'm turning into a scarf....

Daffodils are blooming here. Generally, spring travels north at about 15 miles per day, or as Hopkins Law of bioclimatics states - 4 days for each degree of latitude plus 1 day for each hundred feet of altitude. My latitude is about 30 degrees N and my elevation is approx. 64 meters. Your latitude is 43 degrees north and your elevation is approximately 270 meters - so let's see. That works out to spring will get to you in about - hmmmmm- uh - mmm - gee - a long time from today. Oh well, just remember - daffodils are blooming somewhere today and they'll be blooming for you soon.

The PNW has been pretty gray for months, but there's always a lot of green on the ground. Enjoy Madrona!

Living in NC, I've always considered places with snow romantic. You've convinced me, in the words of one of my favorite authors, that it truly reads better than it lives. May the Madrona visit restore your faith in green (and tolerance for grey)!

I'm with you! Must. Have. Color. Bright. Warm. Color. during the "gray" season. It provides the illusion of warmth. OTOH, I am loving your Must Have Cardi and perhaps I must have as well. Enjoy Madrona...I'm sure you will :) BTW, it is snowing here, in slo-mo, but snow nevertheless...a rare weather event in East Tennessee. Yesterday, with temps in the 60's F., I saw much-feared-by-me wasps flying about;0

Here in Austin, we had winter for almost 6 hours yesterday. Went all the way down to 40F. Very blustery. It *may* freeze (just barely) this weekend, but just for an hour or so overnight.

Today it's sunny and clear, in the 50s and heading for the 60s. Things are starting to bud out, if not outright bloom.

And what's more, our primary just might matter for a change. It's feeling decidedly springlike here in our lonely little island of blue.

Take heart - the sun does still exist, and at some point you'll have more of it up there than we will down here. (hours per day, that is)

this is so wierd for me.

I've only seen snow maybe twice in my whole life. I ment, I knew that it snowed alot places but I never really grasped what that meant as far as quality of life. I had always been jealous of an opportunity to have no one expect you to go out and do things.

hmmm..maybe I should haul the kiddies up to the snow this month instead of san diego....

I'm glad you get to get out of town for a while ;-)

Love and Laughter,
Amy

No promises, as this is a headline in the Seattle Times today "Does our lack of sun put your health in danger?" but they are forecasting sun for the next few days, so hopefully you'll see some in Tacoma. Safe travels.

I remember those days in T.O. of a blizzard every few days. I look outside the window here in Seattle and it's bright, sunny and no snow.

It's times like these that I really believe I made the right choice in leaving Ontario. Sorry, I don't mean to rub it in....:-)

We are lucky enough to not get -30. My daughter use to live in the Rockies and when she moved back here she laughed at the people at work who complained about the "cold snap" of -10. However, it can stop freakin' snowing anytime now!! I am tired of digging out my car every day to go to work (no public transit here in the mountains). I'm tired of bloody tourists here to ski who haven't a clue how to drive in winter. And I'm with you on the bright coloured knitting at this time of year. As other people asked, was the sock rescued or do you have to wait until spring?

Glad to hear it's just not me who's losing it over snow.

So that's where all our snow has gone this year! Hey send all that back to MN! LOL...we've had quite a bit of snow really but we are still low--I'll trade you your snow for the -40*F mornings...well okay we didn't get it here were I'm at but still...winter goes much better when you stop looking at the grey and look at the sparkles in the snow. Its kind of like life.

Hey! I'm home sick - sick enough that I can't bear the thought of knitting/spinning/weaving, so you know I'm pretty damn sick - and I am bored enough that I am perusing your archives. Good stuff. Definitely makes my virus-laden brain chortle.

However and ahem. I was reading your post of January 19, 2005, when I noted that you were writing about Joe's gansey. Joe's gansey?! The gansey you STILL haven't finished? Girl, get a grip. I may not haven't finished Liam's baby blanket (Liam is now 5 and a half. Maybe six.), but I am neither married to Liam nor Liam's mother. I think Joe deserves his gansey. Given that February sucks the big one hereabouts, too, you can wait till March to start up again with the gansey.

Otherwise, I will come and take all your bright sock yarn far, far away. And I don't even like to knit socks.

Yep, those colors in those socks are gorgeous! I keep thinking of sky blues and canyonlands reds and oranges.....because it's so grey/brown in wyoming too. And at least you have fresh powdery snow! Right now mine is all half melted, leaving a bedraggled mess of dirty snow and dead plants and toddler toys strewn about my yard. Yuck. :)
maybe it's time for another bright sock yarn AND a road trip to warmer climes.....

I'll trade you your snow for my rain, freezing rain, and sleet. Grey sky either way, but the snow's prettier.

Keep taking your vitamin D, is all I can say! And yes, I totally agree with Den. I'm currently knitting a pair of socks in Duet Sock Yarn's 'Neon Love'. The name says it all - and I can't help but smile when I look at them. Definitely not grey!

Great choice! And what a lot of snow! (We just had our first snowfall yesterday, but now it's gone.)

I feel horrible that yesterday I told you how much I'm enjoying your book and then I got the title all wrong! :( Please don't take it personally. Names (and titles) often escape me, it has nothing to do with you or the book. At Knit's End. Got it! :)

Denny is a smart, smart woman. I'd listen to her too. Maybe LYS should put a ban on grey yarn in the winter.

I love snow! (please keep reading...) I even have a snow crystal tatooed on my back, I really love it. But that's probably easy for someone that lives in the Netherlands that hasn't seen one crystal fall this winter. (and it's not as if we have sunshine instead, it's just weeks and weeks of greyish nothing.... Soooooo sad....

I was out last week but have a further comment about rude comments on the internet. I thought about this a lot. I do not believe it was just a thoughtless comment. Like most rude comments or behavior it indicates not a thing about the object of the derision. It suggests much about the commenter: envy that you have the capability to create such things and the commenter does not; unhappiness about the commenter's own situation that prevents their own creativity from being realized; and deep fears that the commenter is not "as good" or creative or disciplined as you. So, the commenter tries to put you more on his or her own level by denigrating you or your creation. Happy, fulfilled people do not talk that way, not even on the internet. So, on one level, what the commenter is trying (badly) to communicate, even on the internet to strangers, is "Help!"

I say this because watching you make all those little leaves, and then saying that you were enjoying it, made me so antsy I couldn't watch anymore. Because I can't even manage to get supper on the table or the laundry done or the scarf started that I promised my four year old. Never mind that painting I wanted to get back to . . . someday.

So all this to say that I think it is stifled and squelched creativity and frustrations with barriers to fulfilling creative impulses that spurs that kind of comment.

If anyone's still looking for copies of the Street Smart booklet, I just got a new batch in today... after filling back orders, I still have a few left...

Just take the "blog" part off the URL...

(Thinking about how the Must Have Cardigan would look in wild bright colors...)

Lovely socks. Sounds like a good choice. The sweater looks nice, though. I'm guessing you didn't arse up the X cables like I did, though. (much better now)

balmy:
http://www.komotv.com/weather/planner
see you there!

I love those knit sticks! They are so colorful and neat like the sock. It does one good to see something neat like that. I think that we got your snow today in Montana. Hang in there Spring is not to far away.
Lynda

We love snow (I teach old ladies like me how to snowboard) but... I thought my husband was going to cry this morning. We've gotten over 200" of snow so far this year. However, yesterday as I stood on the roof shoveling, the sky was so blue and the sun felt so good that today's 12" seem not so bad. Life is too short to be knitting something gray if gray isn't making you happy. I'm knitting something brilliant blue to remember that beautiful sky. By the way, jumping off of a roof is great fun!

I hope your happy Steph. I saw those socks that were calling you away from Gray, and said, wow, but I don't need any more sock yarn now. I've been forcing my daughter to take sock yarn home every time she visits. Then boom there it was again. SO I did the smart thing, I ordered it for myself and my daughter. Let's just not mention this to Daddy/Husband!!!

Denny is a genius. I don't know how you do the canadian winter thing. Virginia winter is about to do me in. Anymore nasty weather and the zoloft will be kept in a candy dish.

Glad I'm not the only one! I know I've been a cranky mom today, but I feel like I've been snowbound with two small (bickering) children since December. And now they're telling us more snow Friday and Sunday and another storm on Monday--I give up! Enough! Mother Nature wins!

I will take a leaf from your book and knit bright.

I hate to tell you, but Tacoma is usually pretty gray in the winter (and fall and spring too). On the bright side, it will be warmer. :)

Stephanie, I was just out trying to walk off a cold, and I noticed a couple of tulips poking up. If the sun comes out just once this time this blasted winter, you might get to see some color. Otherwise, expect gray gray gray gray gray.

I grew up in Alaska. The jury is still out whether a winter of endless cold and endless snow is worse than a winter of endless cold and endless rain.

sigh- I know how you are feeling. We are having a lovely sleet/snow/freezing rain "event" here (I love the way the weather people have started calling storms, "events" like they are fun things to go to or something.....) which started at 6:30 this morning with all 3 kids, husband and myself shoveling 8" of snow, followed by sleet piling up faster than we could remove it, followed by freezing rain with the power finally dying right before supper. We played poker by lamplight and the power is back on, but outside is a BIG FREEZING MESS, that will take forever to remove. I am tired of moving snow, and being very cold (Tom and I have Renaud's disease) and to top it off, I was preparing dinner and realized I couldn't see and also realized that my friend the migraine was on the way. YUCK! Hope things are more wonderful in Tacoma....
Mary

My concerns, living in Minnesota: Canadian meteorologists are studying disturbing trends in sun spot activity - the activity is actually lower than usual - despite our efforts to combat global warming, the sun rules over all - and that sun is showing patterns similar to sunspot activity during previous mini ICE AGES - I do not like this thought - Come on sun, fire up!

Since Christmas Break, in No. Lower Michigan, we've only had one full week of school in the past month- and-a-half given the "Snow Days" (two words that bring a mother to her knees...)! It's -15 degrees C, and I'd be in tears except my sister lives in Minnesota where it's been, oh, -1,000,000 degrees F since the New Year. What can you do but wait until June 1!? (That's when summer begins, we hope. We just skip Spring here!) Oh, and just keep knitting, just keep knitting...

"....that sun is showing patterns similar to sunspot activity during previous mini ICE AGES - I do not like this thought - Come on sun, fire up!..."

Hey Paula--be careful what you wish for! There are end-of-the-world legends that begin with a 3 year winter {norse}...and according to the Mayans {or was it the Aztecs} the world's calendar ends in 2012==hey that's an election year too....hmmm....coincidence??

Shoveled sidewalks turn to sheets of ice, too.
I shovel half my pathway clear and leave the other
half with rough bumps for traction. Sometimes I
still wind up walking in the snow beside it to avoid
the ice.

Knit light, bright, and patterned.

I can commiserate. Only I am in the opposite climate. I live in Florida and we haven't had winter yet. We have had like 50F degree weather. I can't really knit myself anything to wear because it's to bloody hot. I hate the year round summer. It makes me sick sick sick.

I would gladly trade climates with you for a few weeks.

Tacoma Washington? Forget about it..it's grey! I'm in Portland,OR and we know grey.

I live in Michigan and this has been one of the worst winters I can remember. The wind. The cold. The seemingly never-ending snow. I however am trying to look at the positive that February is half over and while winter does continue through March and April, it's not nearly as bad as January and February.

if it's any consolation (and i'm not sure it is, but i'll say it anyway!), the entire continent has had a brutal winter. it's been wild and whacky, and even the weather girl on my usual morning news says she is done with winter. sigh.

good call on the socks! i'm knitting baby things in pink & red!

For once, I can commiserate. At least sort of. I got absolutely flat laid out by the flu (influenza flu, not stomach flu) this week--WITH two toddler/preschoolers--and was at the end of my rope. When I dragged myself and the kids to the dr on Tuesday, I had to clean another 5" of snow off my car before I could load them in...then drive in slippery roads...dear god. We've had around 80" of snow in Madison this year, and we are all, too, a bit sick of the snow and cold. I don't remember the last time the thermometer was over 20F. Insane. And I've been too sick to knit, which has not been pretty.... Hang in there!!! We'll survive! Somehow!! Small, bright beautiful pieces of knitting!

Even in Vancouver we had snow on the ground for two weeks! If you have time sometime, please take a look at my today's post as I have discovered a new, super warm way to wear a scarf. Keeps me toasty, not to mention my model, but she already is wearing a fur coat.

Have a great time in Tacoma - wish I could be there. I'll get to meet you, yet. We seem to have opposing schedules - whenever you're nearby, I'm not.
Li

well, right now tcaoma /seattle/portland has 2 colors.... grey and green.. which is often obscured by grey rain or mist.. but usually no snow

That's why you gotta do like Jed Clampett and "move away from there".

"The lower the latitude, the better the attitude!"

It will definitely be warmer in Tacoma! But the Pacific NW is pretty grey this time of year.

Thank you, Jessica, for letting us know that you have more Patons Street Smart booklets available.
I already have grey Patons Classic Merino, unless I decide to make it in a different color ...

We're outta the woods. We're outta the dark. We're into the light. Come on, sing it with me. I always sing that song from the Wizard of Oz at this time of year. The days ARE getting longer. Teensy bit, by teensy bit for sure... daylight is pushing her way deeper into the evenings, and earlier into the mornings.
We have had ICE here in the Maryland/D.C. area, I'd take snow anyday! And, I'd definitely choose those socks over the gray sweater today. :-)

I can appreciate the thought that using grey in the middle of winter is probably not the most uplifting thing.....

I also knit wool scarves down here in North Carolina.......IN THE SUMMER WHEN ITS 100...

And to be a renegade makes me giggle inside.

Tacoma: Until I went to the Northwest for the first time, I thought I knew what "green" was because I lived in the South, where we have about 748 shades of green, except in winter, when it's grey and brown, except for the pines and the dark green live oak trees.

Anyway, my best guess is that there are 3,981,212.7 shades of green in Oregon alone.

Your story of the snow and how long it stays, then leaves denuded trees and brown everywhere, just gripped my heart. I used to shovel snow from the driveway and to the mailbox, but decided instead to live in California. Our bitterest days here in Monterey were around zero fahrenheit. My heart goes out to you. It isn't the temperature so much as the lack of color outside that used to get to me. Am so sorry for you. Thank God there is knitting to turn to.