Forging during winter has it's drawbacks.
You gotta make hay while the sun is shining. Or in my case, make knives when it's so f@#%-ing cold you can't feel your face. Being a backyard blacksmith with orders to fill and, living in the arctic of the U.S. (Minnesota), makes working during negative temperatures a necessity. Sure, I would love to be inside sipping on a Rusty Nail and snuggled with my sweetie but those knives won't forge themselves. So off I go, bundled up in my Sorels, deer hunting coveralls, and official Blackbird Blade Company stocking hat (branding is branding even if I'm frozen stiff.) And for as long as I can stand it, I put hammer to anvil. I tell myself that it's not so bad and that the cold keeps you sharp. I'm sure the Donner party told such hogwash, too, right up until they started eyeballing each other for dinner. Cold is cold.
Some day I will have a fully outfitted shop, complete with heat, but today I simply dream of the hay making, sun shiney days of spring.
Stay warm and forge on everyone.
