Even Bigger

My coat feels as if it is reaching elephantine proportions. Elizabeth Zimmermann famously said of turtlenecks that one should knit the collar "until you are sick of it--and then knit some more", or words to that effect. I'm at that stage with this coat, which is knitted from the top down. I'm past the pockets and down in the region of the thighs. I feel as if I've been knitting forever. I have two balls of wool left, and then I'll be forced to stop. In the meantime, the entire thing is like an unwieldy blanket. This is not a project to work on in the heat of summer. (I should add that although the coat is big, the portion that I blocked a few days ago has a beautiful drape as well as a gorgeous halo.)

While I'm slogging away, I'm keeping myself going with the audio version of Lucinda Brant's Alec Halsey mysteries, set in Georgian England. These are somewhat dark, character driven novels narrated by the brilliant Alex Wyndham. My hands are engaged in a numbingly repetitive process, but my imagination is fully engaged.
Eventually, I'll reach the point when this behemoth of a project will be ready for blocking, and at that point I'll have to make a decision about the buttons. And the pocket linings, which I just might make in a contrasting colour to provide a bit of "pop". Brick red? Mustard gold?
And for once, my timing is spot on with the season. We are having (so far) an amazingly early spring, with temps in the low teens (Celcius that is, for my American readers)!!!

Yes, snowdrops in February. We used to see these at this time of year when we lived in DC, but this is extraordinary for Kingston. The lake has not properly frozen all season. I might actually get to enjoy my knitted coat very soon.