Is winter over yet?

Is it just me, or is winter dragging on?  I have been feeling pretty lethargic the past week or so, and I’m thinking winter is partly to blame.  I also had a cold last week that I think is sticking around mildly in my system, so maybe that’s to blame, too.  But the monotony of all the white around me and the lack of daylight is dragging me down.  I would almost rather have it snowing every day, because I love new snowfalls.  But instead it’s mostly mashed down footprint snow, plowed gray chunks of snow, nasty parking lot slush, and melted then re-frozen ice.  It doesn’t help that I get home fairly late, and after eating dinner and washing dishes I barely have much time to myself.  Last night I could have gotten some knitting done, but I made the mistake of closing my eyes for a bit, and I slept for around two hours on the couch before getting up to relocate and actually go to bed.  The picture is of the icicles that have formed outside our kitchen window.  They look really cool and have gotten really big, but the picture only really serves to illustrate my dreary feelings about winter right now.  So gray!

I have been making progress on the garter yoke cardigan, but have no pictures to show for it right now.  I only have a few inches left on the body, then I have to start the sleeves.  I want to finish it quickly so I can start a new project with this pretty yarn.  Actually, two new projects.  The Nature Spun is for a two-color mitten project, but I don’t know which pattern I’ll use yet.  I want to practice stranded colorwork with a pattern, because I have a cool pattern idea of my own but I need to get familiar with the technique first.  The brownish yarn is for socks for my cousin’s husband.  For a White Elephant gift game at our family holiday party, I wrapped a box of cookies and attached a coupon for a handknit item of the recipient’s choice.  It became the hot gift of the party that everyone wanted to steal!  Little did they know that I wouldn’t even be starting the knitting until February…oops.

One entertaining thing about this winter has been our compost bucket.  We started a low-tech compost system of collecting it in a bucket on the deck outside the door in our kitchen and then bringing it to a pile in the backyard.  Once winter set in, the squirrels of the area got clued in to the fact that we have food scraps there, and so now we have a steady stream of furry visitors.  The cats can be caught staring intently out the windows all day now.  Look at this little chubby guy!