Rainbowy yarn of glee (Knit Picks Felici)

It's been a sort of miserably cold winter (for the south). Now don't get me wrong. I know the north has it worse. I grew up in the midwest, and I grew accustomed to snow from October to April. But after a while I grew disappointed in it, and bitter, and unhappy. Mostly because instead of staying inside I had to trek everywhere in it. Walking half an hour on fresh snow, or old snow, or snow packed down hard enough that it's icy and dangerous, but not remotely even because nobody shoveled it, or snow that sort of melted yesterday afternoon but has refrozen over night and has a hard crust on top of it that you have to stomp through or you'll slip off it, or snow that's hard and crinkly and gray because it's been half destroyed or buried by the disgusting filth left by traffic but it's too cold for it to actually melt so instead it's a field of razor blades--just to get to work or class--that took the love of winter out of me. And always being cold, and my feet always being wet, and having to prepare a half-dozen layers, put them all on, take them off at my destination, store them in a method that won't have them mold or let them stink or drip on something, then transport them between locations (if I was lucky enough to stay in one building for a whole day) so that I don't lose anything, always dropping a hat or scarf and having to go back for it, and then having to shove the sodden, cold, stinky gear back on for another half an hour trek back to the house... that, too, took the love of winter out of me.

and the gray sky and the gray snow banks. And cold so deep it makes your lungs ache, and makes your flesh cold for hours. Cold so deep it sucks the moisture from the air, and your face and your hands and your lips chap and peel and bleed. For months.

These things took the joy of winter out of me. I grew up with it, and I grew out of it, and I moved south. Not too far south (not far enough for fire ants), but far enough that winters are shorter, and spring exists, and the snow and the cold have their teeth removed.

Not this winter, though. This winter has had weeks where I look around and go "wait, didn't I move south?" My car's been snowed in for the past week and this has been one of them.

(although I will say being a knitter I'm now better prepared. Hand knit socks keep your feet warm after you've stepped in an icy puddle and it's soaked in through your boot and saturated your footwear, as long as you have the circulation to provide your own warmth.)

So what do you knit when that old gray misery is huddled round you and it's cold out?

Rainbow socks, of course.

This is Knit Picks Felici in the Rainbow colorway. It is as bright as Starbursts and utterly perfect (except for the purple. there's something off about it. But I don't mind) for knitting in winter. Especially because I have enough for knee-high socks out of it.

By the way, if you're wondering what one spins when it's gray and wintery out, the answer is this:

A bump of 100% merino in the Intrusive colorway from one of my favorite etsy sellers, Spinnerettas Studio. Half my fiber stash is from her shop and I'm eagerly awaiting new exciting colors. The prep and the dye job are always great and she does colors in blends that seem to speak to me.