Ten on Tuesday: 10 Things To Do Inside When It's Too Cold To Go Outside

It hasn't really, technically, been "too cold" to go outside this winter, but it's all relative -- sun, clouds, wind, precipitation (in any and all forms), and accumulation all play their part with temperature to determine the weather and whether it's "too cold."

I recall that during a week-long stretch of around -25F several years ago, it was too cold for the kids to go to school.

I remember stoking the woodstove to keep the house warm at -50F several years before that, and my dad phoning home while on a trip to +50F Oregon. Um, that's a big huge difference!!

Whatever the weather, it can change in a heartbeat. The secret is to Be Prepared. Luckily, we all have wool and we know how to use it!

1. Um... KNIT!

2. I like to knit, cuddled up in woolens, cuppa something hot nearby, catching up with the Netflix queue or DVR'd TV shows.

3. Visit the LYS. This may seem strange, but are you even "outside" if you're just going from the house to the warmed-up car, the car to the shop, and back again? It'll be so cozy and wonderful and, trust me, you will not be alone. Call first, though, just in case it was too cold for someone else!

4. Make some soup (see all of last week's entries) and maybe even bake some bread.

5. Clean the house. Or maybe just vacuum. Or dust. Or sit down and knit for a bit while you think about it and whether it's the right day. (I am only motivated to clean on the very brightest of sunny days.)

6. Tidy up your immediate workspace.

7. Organize/re-organize patterns and stash.

8. Plan your next big project, or finish your last big project.

9. SEW!

10. Frog a project...

I spent a couple of hours on Friday night ripping apart the scrappy Log Cabin square (shown here below a Parcheesi square) and winding up little balls of yarn. I love it for what it led to (namely, Parcheesi), but I was just never quite THERE with it... I'd knit in some of the ends as I went along, but there were many more than I'd just never woven in... It's been years; there's a lot of good yarn in there; time to move on!

There's some Hundertwasser at the center (so many great memories)! And cashmere -- the little ball-in-waiting is leftovers from the sweater and hat knit for Cara's baby shower! As I've been hexi-not-puffing along, much of it will undoubtedly become knitted hexigons. But who knows what might turn my head tomorrow.

I love knitting with scraps and memories. That purple and green hexi at upper right is the original (failed) combo for my first Stripe Study shawl; the green and pink number below it is my Cerasifera; and the purple and pink one is made with the same yarn as Different Lines.