Ah, February. The third month of winter. I have this quirk where I consider winter to be December, January and February. Spring is of course March, April, May. Summer, June, July, August. And fall/autumn is September, October and November.

The actual weather doesn’t always cooperate with my ideas, as often we will have snow in November or March and then the seasons get blurred.

But generally things follow a predictable path. And predictably, many of the people I interact with at work are moaning about the weather and itching for spring. They see a bit of sun and get impatient.

There’s an incontrovertible fact about weather. We can’t control it. So my view is that you might as well accept it and make the best of it.

One of the podcasters I watch is Ali from Little Drops of Wonderful (and also the vlog This Little Wonderful Life). She has a type of seasonal affective disorder that’s opposite to most. Rather than getting down in the winter, she feels low in the summer. She can’t stand the heat (which thankfully is not usually too extreme when you’re in England).

I can relate a little. Summer is nice for a lot of reasons but being hot and sweaty and unable to sleep comfortably makes it less fun. Spring and fall are comfortable, temperature-wise, and seeing nature’s changes is wonderful.

But there’s something about winter that’s so comforting. Obviously it relies on the beauty of a well-heated home. But as nights draw in, days grow shorter, and I get to add more blankets to my couch and bed, I feel very content!

Yarn crafts in winter are ideal. Especially if they keep your lap warm at the same time. This sweater isn’t quite large enough for that yet but I did just reach the point where the stitches fit nicely around the cable. This is another Sporto sweater (from knitty.com), this time with the Scheepjes Truly Scrumptious yarn that I bought last year.

It’s a little grayed out in this light, but the colourway is Spirulina Bites and is a pleasing shade of green. It coordinates well with the Caspian interchangeable needles!

The yarn is an aran weight and I’m knitting it on 6mm needles. I am hoping that as the sweater progresses, I’ll have an Aha! moment and figure out the best way to incorporate the two contrast colours.

Over the winter our “hygge” group has been meeting quite regularly and there is usually some craft content like knitting or crochet.

Today we had a special get-together, where a few people came to my house and we set up our sewing machines at my dining room table. We had an ironing station and a cutting table.

We had a teacosy theme, though one friend sewed on a different project. My first finish was a tall sleeve for my French press. I opted to cover the whole thing but left the top open for the plunger which sticks up while the coffee brews. The fun kitchen appliance fabric was a gift in December.

The second finish was a basic cosy for my large teapots. One friend had brought a template and I enlarged it a bit. Maybe too much. But it’s pretty.

The third was tougher.

I have a smaller teapot and chose a style that has a circle for a base and two rectangles for the sides. The cosy can stay on while pouring the tea. Sewing the sides to the base was a challenge and even though I added bias binding to the exposed seam allowances it was somewhat messy. I sewed a drawstring from the dachshund fabric and decided to add grommets to cinch up the top.

It’s not perfect but it’s cute.

I think I’ve waffled on long enough for today. Enjoy your February!