The thermometer outside my kitchen window reported a bone-chilling two, count ’em,  two sorry degrees this morning.  So, I checked the weekend forecast, hoping for a sunny reprieve.  Snow and ice starting on Saturday afternoon, lasting into Sunday.  Not exactly what I was hoping for, but par for the course around here this year.

Yet, even with this bleak forecast, as in life, there’s always a ray of sunshine somewhere; sometimes, we just have to look for it a bit further down the road than we’d guessed.  “Wintry Mix” – innocent enough words on their own; one monumentally nasty affront, as a team.  If we can just get through Sunday’s “wintry mix”, there’s a chance – mind you, it’s just a chance – but there’s a real, bonafide, 100% maybe-almost-reasonable chance that my poor, downtrodden thermometer might actually get revved up all the way into the 30’s for a little bit of…you guessed it…rain – glorious rain!  Yes, kids, before too terribly long, things might actually warm up around here.  One of these days, the black-brown mountains of frozen roadside nastiness really will give way to tender little tufts of green.  Really!

Until then, if you’re as starved for spring as I am, at least we know we can count on our knitting to lift the doldrums.  Here’s a little dose of green for you, to warm you up and tide you over:

Ladies’ “Shamrock Mittens” by Mary Ann Stephens. Knit in Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift 100% Shetland wool yarn. Downloadable PDF available through the designer’s online shop here.  Also available through Ravelry.  Spindrift yarn packs available through the designer’s shop here.

Shamrock Mittens kits using Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift available through the designer’s online yarn shop.