Seasonal living was one of our goals when we first started homesteading. Infrastructure was the priority in the beginning, and as we've gotten house repairs, outbuildings, food production, and fencing established, our lives have indeed become more seasonal.
Over the years I've learned that spring, summer, fall, and winter are more than just designations on the calendar. Because we spend so much or our time out of doors, I've discovered is that seasonal living is actually quite nuanced.
Sweater season is notable in my mind because it's pretty much the end of hot weather. There's no fixed calendar date that this happens, basically sometime during September or October. The house is still warm enough that we don't need a fire, but mornings are a touch chilly and so a sweater feels good. In the warm afternoons, all that's needed is a t-shirt or a long sleeve shirt if it's cloudy or the breezes are cool.
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| My favorite old house sweater |
My
favorite house sweater is one I knitted years ago from some of my first handspun yarn. It's so old that it predates even my fiber blog. I sill have the pattern (now discontinued) and I think the fiber is Corriedale, although it was so long ago I'm not entirely sure. What I can tell you is that it was some of the first yarn I spun where I was finally able to control the size of the yarn. The cuffs had to be repaired several years ago for fraying, and I no longer had the original yarn, but I matched it close enough.
Sweater season signals it's time to finish our winter preparations. Dan has been working on firewood periodically all summer, but now is the time to finish splitting the last of the pile and fill the household wood boxes. I work on filling the kindling baskets. The chimneys and stoves are cleaned out. I start sorting my summer wardrobe, set aside what needs to be mended or turned into rags, and swap most of it out for long sleeve t-shirts, vests, and warmer skirts.
As the nights grow cooler, our big kitties (Katie and Meowy) start to spend the night indoors. It won't be long now before it will be time for that first fall fire in the woodstove.
