The Beginning of the Sky Scarf

After about a four year hiatus, I've recently gotten back into crocheting. One of my new projects is called a sky scarf. Essentially, you knit or crochet a scarf with 365 rows. Each row represents the color of the sky for each day for a full year. I think it is a lovely way to capture a bit of the outdoors to wear and bring with you anywhere. It's almost like a yarn version of a weather journal. It's also a great way to get into the habit of just looking up and appreciating the sky and all its lovely hues a little more often.

Below is a photo of the sky scarf that inspired this project. Because mine will be crocheted instead of knit, it will look quite a bit different, but I am hopeful that it will be equally beautiful.

I decided to try this project a few months ago when I first found the photo and idea on Pinterest. I found a bargain on some nice soft yarn in various blues and greys and ordered it in November. At the end of the year, I spent a few days messing around with various stitch combinations to find one that is a little bit more interesting than your standard single crochet. 

Beginning January 1, 2012, I began recording the color of the sky in a little pocket calendar. That way, I don't have to sit down and crochet one row each day. After I record the colors for several days (or weeks or maybe even months), I can sit down and crochet a bunch of rows at once. Of course, the sky changes color many times during the course of one day, so the color choice for each day is a bit subjective. However, there is usually one color that seems to dominate or that really speaks to me because I was outside at that particular time and the day just left the impression of being grey or white or bright blue. Today, for instance was blue but with some wispy white clouds and chillier than previous days. Thus, I've deemed it to be a very pale blue day.

So far, we are nine days into the year and I've crocheted up the first eight rows of the scarf. I like how the stitch pattern I picked results in an overlapping, almost checkerboard sort of pattern. I'm excited to keep going with it, and I hope that I can stick with it through all of 2012. I promise to post updates as I move forward with this project! I'm not someone that's really big on New Year's resolutions, but I suppose that is my resolution for 2012... to remember to note the sky color each day and complete an entire 366-day sky scarf.

Chilly, wonderful days

We've had an extraordinary number of cold, clear, dry days lately. I have loved every minute of it. It really feels like Christmas to me when it is cold but sunny. Some of my favorite Christmas memories are of riding in the open Model T on a sunny Christmas day with chilly air blasting my face and whipping my hair around.  

For the past few weeks our nighttime lows have been in the mid-thirties with highs ranging from mid-fifties up to even upper sixties over the past weekend. We sometimes get some really thick, icy fog in the early mornings that seems to penetrate through any and all clothing, but the daytimes are beautifully sunny with hardly a wisp of cloud. Besides, everything is just so much easier when it's not raining. Battling holiday traffic would be much worse in the rain.

This morning, the day after the shortest of the year, was our coldest morning yet. It was 28 degrees when I left for the BART station at 6:30am. Luckily, I heard the freeze warning on the radio last night and actually covered our lime tree for once. It has a number of fruit that I hope will survive the cold.

On my drive to the BART station, I was surprised by one of the most beautiful skies I have ever seen. It was just before dawn and, as I drove over a hill, I had a wonderful view of Mt. Diablo. The sun was not up yet, but the sky was very clear and the horizon was just beginning to show beautiful hues of orange, red, and purple. Hanging over Mt. Diablo were the moon and a few still-bright stars. It was one of those moons where you see not only the lit crescent, but also the clear outline of the dark portion of the moon. The moon, stars, and line of the horizon were so incredibly crisp and clear. It was one of the most beautiful skies I've ever witnessed, and I wished I could stay and admire the view instead of heading to work.

A friend posted the following poem by Aileen Fisher on her fantastic blog (http://our-little-library.blogspot.com/) and I instantly fell in love with it. Even if we don't have snow, the poem seems very appropriate for this beautiful, crisp, winter day just before Christmas. 

December

I like days
with a snow-white collar,
and nights when the moon
is a silver dollar,
and hills are filled
with eiderdown stuffing
and your breath makes smoke
like an engine puffing.

I like days
when feathers are snowing,
and all the eaves
have petticoats showing,
and the air is cold
and the wires are humming,
but you feel all warm...
with Christmas coming.

The wonderful weather is expected to continue through the holiday weekend, which makes me very happy. I'm looking forward to hosting Christmas at our house for the first time. In case I don't get a chance to post again before Sunday, Merry Christmas to all and best wishes for 2012! 

The Autumn Sky

It's always hard for me to adjust to the time change and darkening sky. It seems every year, sometime around the end of August, I start counting the weeks until the time change, until the shortest day of the year, until the spring time change. The thought that we have about 5 weeks until the shortest day of the year and another five weeks or so until we are back at our current mediocre period of daylight is, well, a bit depressing to me. 

I have to say, though, that there are a few things I really appreciate about the changing light during autumn. I really love how the afternoon light on the cloudless days makes everything glow with a golden hue. Some days it just seems to set the turning leaves on fire. I didn't grow up with deciduous trees around, so I now really appreciate the fall show of colors every year. 

I also enjoy seeing more stars when I take the dogs for their short evening walk. During the summer, it is still light out, but now that it is dark in the evening, I never really know what I will see during our walk. Two nights ago, some light, lacy wisps of clouds were moving swiftly over the nearly full moon. It was really beautiful to watch, partly because it was so dynamic, changing every second. 

I glimpsed an even better sight last night. Just as the dogs and I were walking down the front steps, I looked up and saw two shooting stars, one right after the other. In a habit long-established from childhood, I instantly made a wish, a double-strong wish, one for each star. My wish was that I might see more shooting stars as we walked. I kept my eye on the sky and lingered a while, but alas, no more shooting stars appeared. That's OK, though. I'm still enjoying the image of those two, chasing each other. 

I enjoy the outdoors, but I most appreciate the moments that make me want to get outdoors more and more and more. A simple sight like two falling stars did just the trick. I have the urge to get out and view the night sky more often this winter on the clear nights. Why not? A cozy jacket and a warm cup of tea or cocoa are all I really need for some sky watching on our deck.