Emerging from the Underworld

Spring is a time of growth. It is also a time of pairing off for most of the animal life on this half of the planet. There is nest-building and plumage, and an intensity to all interactions that culminates in the continuation of genetic lines. I can imagine how hard it was for Persephone and Hades during the Spring. I think of them as being in love and clueless, learning and growing as each season passed. I think Hades probably tried very hard to make her happy, but she would have had a lot to overcome to accept it. To my mind, he is the embodiment of all that is elusive to my understanding of men. He would have been strong, protective, but mysterious and gruff at times. She would have been moody and impulsive, but earnest. Things are never simple, are they? Personally, we are experiencing some of that here. There is painful growth, re-evaluation and hard work, and a fierce determination to keep things moving forward.

The sun here has shifted in its morning path, often calling me out of the house before I have finished my coffee. The children are eager to sit in its rays, but find themselves pulled from their activities to wander and explore. Other days are full of clouds and raindrops, but it never lasts long.

I was too sick during Ostara to do much other than cook a nice dinner and bake yummy pie. I plan to make some apple and oat cakes for the deer for the next full moon, and leave them on the altar in the grove. We had to move it because of the thaw.

I am one visit with a friend away from finishing Megan's Wingspan. That Z-ball was perfect for it. I have finalized the design for Mercury's foot. I will post some sneak peek pics next time. The herringbone stitch in the round is not to be taken lightly! I will be spending April adapting one of the oldest stitches in history for the leg of the sock to symbolize the wing we all associate with the messenger. I had a dream about Hestia this week, and am starting to visualize her sock pattern next. Venus is in test-knit and coming along beautifully, although I have quite a bit of tweaking to do to make the pattern ready for sale. As we head into the new moon, take a moment to sit in the starlight and ponder the beauty and wonder of it all. You are worth it.

Surprises!

I went for a walk after making pancakes and syrup for Sunday brunch. I decided to take my trimming shears and start clearing some of the brush and messiness from the willow patches in preparation for weaving them into tunnels later this year.
I tired of this fairly quickly. Shock, I know. I am not so good at things that require me to bend over and stand up repeatedly. I wandered off to see what was going on at the snail patch and the grove.
The snails were all still there, continuing to look dead, even though I know they are just frozen. How do I know? The one I brought inside yesterday keeps crawling out of his little house and onto my windowsill.
I headed for the grove, but was stopped by the magic of several branches full of pussy willows. In my excitement to reach out and pet them, I forgot to mind my feet. I stepped onto a patch of snow and promptly fell in with both feet, almost to the tops of my muck boots. When I fell, I inhaled sharply, sucking my own spit into my windpipe, choking myself. (I know you have all done that at least once!) While coughing and gagging and laughing at myself, I attempted to move my feet out of the hole. No luck. I was stuck quite nicely. I sat down, still coughing and hacking, and pulled myself free. Lesson learned. Do not step on hollow sounding snow. Only walk on the grass clumps! I was wearing two pairs of hand-knit socks (they are toasty and soft). I would have cried had the water topped my boots!
As I reached the grove, I saw that my friend had not been back yet. My snail gifts were still there, and all of the rocks were where I had left them. Slightly disappointed, I headed over to the shallow part of the creek where I can get in and wade around on the rocks a bit. When I dipped my head out of the grove, I was hit with a blast of cold wind and little ice pellets. The wind took a whistle and a moan through the grove and I noticed mist headed in from the East. I grumbled a bit, thinking it meant more rain, but as I flipped up my hood, I realized that it was about to get nasty.
I reluctantly headed back to the house, and by the time I got my boots off and in the door, the storm had started in earnest, and the back mountain had disappeared into the white. It began as sleet and then turned into the biggest, most ridiculous snowflakes I have ever seen. They looked like paper cranes falling from the sky. Megan and I had been lying in bed together learning Greek when we noticed the change. We both jumped up and ran to put on our boots and coats.
Dan and Alex joined us on the porch as we caught them on our tongues and laughed at how silly we looked to each other. Then, Megan and I headed out to see what the sled would do. She also wanted to see where I fell in, so we retraced all of my steps. When we reached the creek, we both got in and watched as the flakes dissolved into the water.

Did I mention, I love it here?

Snails and Scat

It was raining lightly, but I hadn't been out to the grove in days to see what was new. I put on my muck boots, grabbed a walking stick, and headed out.

There is an area of running water under this sheet of ice. It is the main path to the grove and I was scared each time I stepped onto it that it was going to give way. The water on either side was above ankle-deep.

My grove altar had a present for me from an admirer! It was scat. I tried to figure out what kind of animal, but had no luck. To show my appreciation, I left a couple of these awesome snails for whomever it might be.

I also took two in the house and made a little habitat for them. I'll return them outside if they don't seem to be thriving, but they were too fun to pass up for a bit.

Here are some of my other finds throughout the morning...

Wordless Wednesday

Woods Adventure

Today was another glimpse of the season changing. We opened a few windows and then tramped out to see what kind of muddy goodness we could find.

I don't have pictures of everything, but I discovered that we have damselfly larvae in the creek! I was picking up rocks and sticks and things from the water and whoa!! They are super creepy! See?
I wasn't talented enough to hang onto the stick and take pictures, but I DID measure them. The biggest one was half an inch long. They have little scorpion-like tails that they curl up in protest of being pulled from the water. I tried to put them all back once I realized what they probably were.

I also had my son take me up the mountainside. He has climbed up several times recently, so today Megan and I trailed along. (No pun intended.)I wasn't too happy because it wasn't on a trail and I worry about harming the environment with our big clown feet. I did pick two small branches of what I think might be sage to burn at the grove.

That climb inspired Megan and I to retry the hike at the end of our road. The last time we went, it was still too cold. Today it was super muddy. I was a little worried our car would get stuck, but we made it out fine.

Megan found patches of ice to "ski" upon.

And we found a beautiful grove to sit in while the sun warmed our skin. It is even quieter than the quiet we have become used to here.

There was a fairy chair, too.

I am currently working on a stranded knitting design in black and white. It is slow-going because colorwork isn't something with which I have a lot of experience. This lichen made me feel like I am on the right path.

WIP Wednesday

This is the Wingspan I am working on for Megan. I bought this yarn over two years ago with the intention of making her a pair of socks. After some discussion, she agreed a scarf with a nifty shape would be a better choice.
It is an EASY knit and very satisfying. There are clear points along the way where you can sense progress and/or set it down for a cup of tea or to chat with a friend.

The leaf stitch marker is one given to me by my new friend, Kim. She has been another reason to love Montana. We get together regularly for knitting and chatting. I think she will be selling her stitch markers in the near future, and I will do what I can to get you a link.

What are your works-in-progress? Feel free to link to them in the comments section!

Pussy Willows and Progress

Today was a gorgeous taste of Spring and a reminder of forward progress in our lives. We found the first pussy willows and kept the windows open most of the day.

I have finished the Soft Snow socks, and here is a picture as promised! I will be writing up this easy pattern to offer for free on Ravelry.
Here is the link to the free pattern! buy now

This is the Mars Disarmed by Venus pattern that will be offered for sale on my Ravelry page. The actual pattern is for a knee-high with a ribbon tie at the back. These are romantic socks for the Venus in you. I sent it to my test knitter today!

I will keep you updated as to when each of these patterns is ready for you to knit.