Socks Socks Socks and More Socks (cont'd)

Two months later, how about 8 more socks (for the record), picking up from where I last left off on December 31!

38th Pair (for Ria), finished January 6, 2021

Katia Olé India, #50, Spain, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[Ria is one of our faithful volunteers here in our senior community,

taking charge of the koffie hour every morning in our recreation room.

She loved this yarn in my stash because of all the brown she wears.]

39th Pair (for Astrid), finished January 15, 2021

Schachenmayr Regia, #03657, Germany, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[Astrid is now at the point where she wears my socks every day, with 7 pairs.]

40th Pair (for Diane Wilson), finished January 23, 2021

Opal Schafpate, #9757, Germany, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[At the beginning of January, I collaborated with 4 of my high school friends to make socks for them,

in appreciation for their faithful, undying, and daily support of me on Facebook.  This pair is for Diane!

Even though she graduated from Central Michigan, she took graduate classes at Michigan State

and became an adjunct professor there, teaching science to undergrads.

Lucky for her, I had this green and white (MSU!) yarn in my stash.] 

41st Pair (for Janny), finished January 30, 2021

Opal Comedy, #9833, Germany, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[This is my first "commissioned" pair of socks, meaning Janny chose and paid for the yarn.

She lives here in our senior community and is part of our Wednesday knitting group.

They all know now that if they supply the yarn, I'll make them a pair of socks.]

42nd Pair (for Dicky), finished February 6, 2021

Opal Comedy, #9834, Germany, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[Remember neighbor Dicky who waters our plants and picks up our mail while we're on vacation?

I've already knitted her 2 gratis pairs, but this one is now a commissioned pair.

She says she eventually wants one pair for every day of the week.]

43rd Pair (for Thea), finished February 14, 2021

Opal Black Dragon, #9964, Germany, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[Thea is an integral part of our community and also of our knitting group, even though she doesn't knit.

This is a commissioned pair for her.]

BTW, I finished this pair on the one-year anniversary of when I first started knitting socks last year.

If you had told me then that I would make 43 pairs in my first year, I would have LOLed.  :)

44th Pair (for Els), finished February 21, 2021

Opal Adventure, #9825, Germany, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[Here's a thank-you to Els, President of our Activity Committee (of which Astrid is Treasurer),

always ready and willing to help out whenever/wherever she can.

BTW, she chose the same yarn as Ary, another helper here, in case it looks familiar.]

45th Pair (for Janny), finished February 28, 2021

Opal Comedy, #9834, Germany, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[Here's Janny's second commissioned pair, choosing the same yarn as her friend Dicky,

from three pairs ago.  You could say we're a close-knit community.  HA!]

There you have it, one pair of socks at a time!

 

February Snow One Week in the Netherlands

Because we never know IF or WHEN it will happen, you can imagine how thrilled we were to finally get snow, even if only for a week.  Frost is one thing, which we saw in January, but snow is another thing altogether! 

We awakened to snow on Sunday morning, 7 February, as predicted.  

I didn't even go out that day except on our balcony and then on the walkway in front of our apartment.

Astrid had covered our car the day before, to protect it in our courtyard.

I took this from our 1st-floor walkway, looking down into the courtyard.

It was heavenly for me, and, if that was all I had, it would have been "fix" enough.

But lucky for me, the next day I walked home from grocery shopping and got more.

Another "fix," even though with the wind chill I barely made it home!

Seriously.

The following day, Tuesday, Astrid drove us along the dijk in nearby Vuren.

Besides seeing the snow, she wanted me to see the high water of the Merwede river on our north bank.

You can see the flooded fields, with the Loevestein Castle across the river.

This is when an outsider understands why the Dutch need locks to control their water.

So much of the area around us is below sea level!

The dijks are also important to keep out the water but are also picturesque.

When I saw the swans, Astrid knew she needed to stop.

Remember, this was 5 days before Valentine's Day.

And remember that swans mate for life!

Our English friends have lamented that we don't have hills for sledding,

but who needs hills when you have dijks!

Don't you love the winter willows!

Not much snow but enough to create some nice scenes.

We drove a bit further out into the polder to find sheep.

(No wonder we like wool for winter, right?!)

It was a splendid day, full of many snow "fixes."

On Wednesday we had erwtensoep, served up in the courtyard for 50 of our residents.

From where I stood, I looked back through our birch tree to our apartment side.

(Our apartment is one floor down to the left of the tree trunk.)

On Friday morning, after 5 days of temps around 20°F, we drove to scout out skating spots 

for Astrid, first in Giessenburg (top row) and then in Brandwijk (bottom row).

That afternoon she went back to Brandwijk to get her skating fix.

 

But one time wasn't enough, so she went back on Sunday to another spot on the Giessen river.

THAT was her real fix for skating this winter, as her video shows.

Then just like that, after Sunday, Valentine's Day, the temps immediately went back up to the 40°s F.

The winter violas outside our front door sprung back to life!

So, from Sunday to Sunday, it was like a February winterland miracle 

inserted into the calendar for all who needed their fix.