How Cold Is It?

So cold that the prayer flags froze and broke - not ripped, broke - off the line. The ones that were left hanging clanked dully together in the stiff breeze, like heavy metal bells in a Siberian church tower. My desktop weather application shows that we've been having colder temperatures than Novisibirsk.

We have put extra straw in all of the livestock bedding areas. Still, the hardy heritage sheep insist on sleeping outside. They are so well insulated by wool that they sometimes are covered by snow and look like boulders until they stand up, shake the snow off, and stretch lazily.

"Cold? This is nothing!" they seem to say. When I get their processed wool back from Wooly Knob and spin it, and knit it into warm garments for Jeff and myself, perhaps I will be as cozy on a zero-degree morning! The wool has been there since June... I hope we receive it back soon.



I finished these Malabrigo Pop Up Mittens and a matching scarf just in time. The pattern is by Cindi Moist of Yellow Dog Knitting and is free with Malabrigo purchase. Our lovely Emma was recently featured on their blog, and here are a couple more pictures from her visit to the big city.



She was such a good girl and had a lovely visit with Dixie and Cindi, who kindly took time out of their day to help Jeff find yarn to match Emma's bronze and black fur. They also were nice enough to resist cracking up at Jeff's request.



Jeff wants am Emma-colored double knit hat. Good thing I got the Lucy Neatby double knitting video while we were at the shop. (Yes, YDK does mail orders!) The DVD, like the others I've seen by Lucy, is great. I now own five and I'm thinking of getting the rest of the series. The film work is fantastic - you can really see each and every stitch.



Yoda has decided that the bill basket is a nice, warm place to sleep.



... a good excuse to put off writing checks, and grab some knitting time. Hope you are doing the same today. I promise to publish the donkey-keeping report soon - the writing of it, and editing the photos, is almost as much work as the donkeys themselves!