Still A Little Christmas

We went over to my aunt and uncle's this afternoon and had Christmas. My cousin Becca had bought the family a Jeopardy DVD game but unfortunately it kept freezing up and having to be re-started, which was sort of disappointing. Becca seemed to like her wrist warmers, modeled here by Rachel. They are from Weekend Knitting and were done in less than one skein of Malabrigo in Indigo.


ML, your's are not the same, so don't get all excited...or disappointed. My aunt liked her scarf, my uncle liked his Prosecco and the other family members seemed to like their gift cards. So, successful all around, I think.

I got a wonderful onion chopping device, which is nice because my current Onion Chopping Device will be leaving for college in (weep) a couple of weeks. (Man, Rachel does a great job chopping onions and garlic. I think she has the patience that I lack.) And my aunt gave me five or six skeins (I think it was six but I can't remember for sure) of Mirasol Hacho in a blend of blues and purples and touches of pink. Yum! I'll try to get a picture of that in a day or so. And Becca gave me the Pop-Up Moby Dick. It's wild. And something I saw in the store and mentioned to Mr. Pointy Sticks...fortunately, he didn't pick up on the hint. Or perhaps Becca had spoken to him.

And Alaina gave us a tower of home-made cookies and fudge. Yum again.

Current Reading

I finished Swan Song and am now about half-way through July, July by Tim O'Brien. Pretty good. I have lots of good books awaiting me, too.

In Which We Are NOT Very Productive....

Well, I couldn't have two days like that in a row, now could I?

Didn't do a lot today. Got some shopping done, got a second little birthday present for a friend, visited with my brother and his girlfriend (they stopped by to sample a lime cookie but I had sort of forgotten about them and they were still chilling...oops), bought buttons for Rachel's hat, started a Fiber Trends scarf (Oak Leaf and Acorn...in some brown Cherry Tree Hill sock that I got in the International Scarf Exchange and that I think will be great....so just as well I didn't get the brown Araucania).

And tomorrow we are supposed to get some wintery weather. Too much to hope that it'll be nasty enough to close work on Monday. Sigh. I could get into this working one day a week.

In Which We Are Very Productive...

Well, this was a busy little day...

My brother came over a little before noon and we made Green Papaya Salad together. And now the whole house smells like garlic and lime....and every time you open the fridge you get a new jolt of the smell. Man, seriously yummy.

Then we started the Chocolate Malt Sandwich cookies from Martha Stewart's Holiday 2006 cookie book. They are fairly labor intensive. You make the cookies first and let them cool (and they spread like crazy when they cook). Then you make up the filling of butter, cream cheese, half and half, semi-sweet chocolate and perhaps other calorie heavy items I am forgetting. Then you chill that and then beat it and then layer it between the cookies. And man, talk about rich! One cookie will do you for dessert. They are tasty but, as I said, sort of a lot of work for the cookie.

My brother headed over to his sweetie's house after we got the filling made and put in the fridge to chill. So I waited the half an hour and then built all the cookies. Sat down about 4:45 and started a hat for Rachel. The Hannah pattern from MagKnits. Got a chunk of that done and then Mr. Pointy Sticks and I headed over to Yamato for some dinner. Came back and by 7:30 the hat was done...except for putting on some buttons, which I will have to buy tomorrow. It's knit from Misti Alpaca Chunky (100% baby alpaca) and boy, is it amazingly soft. I'd like something out of it for myself.


It's darker than it appears in this picture...but full of colors when you look up close.

About the time I was finishing up the hat, my brother (whose sweetie was going out with a friend) came back and we whipped up the Lime Meltaways, also from the 2006 Holiday book. The dough has to chill for at least an hour and then we can slice it and bake it. Or, as is more likely, do it tomorrow. My brother went home after we got the dough in the fridge to chill.

Now....what can I knit? I started the hat for a new project and it's done. Maybe I'll pick up the baby blanket I'm working on.

Or maybe I'll go to bed.

In Which We Go A'Gley

You know...like the best laid plans.

We were all set to head over to my aunt and uncle's this afternoon but she remembered that she had a luncheon engagement, so we have postponed until Sunday. Which may be just as well, as there is the chance that some cousins will be there, also.

So...a lazy day today with reading and knitting and interneting and listening to music. Not bad. Sure beats work!

Current Reading

Actually, the book I am still in the middle of is Swan Song, but I took a break from that and read Seaworthy, which was a Christmas gift from Mr. Pointy Sticks. I had it on my wish list because it is by T.R. Pearson, who is one of my favorite novelists (on, admittedly, a long list). This book is non-fiction, primarily about William Willis who was, to put it mildly, eccentric and rafted alone in both the Pacific and Atlantic in the '50s and '60's. (Think Thor Heyerdahl, but solo. Pearson also talks about Heyerdahl and some other rafters...the '50's were apparently a great decade for rafting across oceans.) Anyway, the book was fascinating...and funny in spots. I recommend it.

Now For The Weekend!

Hurrah! I made it through work today (such a struggle) and now have four days off. Then work on Monday and off Tuesday. Not too shabby.

While I did have some work to do today, it was slow enough that I managed to finish the bonnet for the baby (still need to do ties of some sort) and got the buttons sewed on the booties. Exhibit One: The finished booties:


(They remind me of cicadas. I don't think I'll tell the new Mom that.)

And Exhibit Two - Rachel's zombie models the baby hat. Which is unblocked still and looks, as the Yarn Harlot would say, like ass:


I think that the booties will probably be too small even for a newborn and the hat will probably fit in July. Just what your baby wants in Baltimore in July...a wool hat!

Oh well, I tried.

...And All Good Wishes

Christmas Eve

Well, there was the usual mad dash out this morning for "just a few things." Cat food, buttons for the tiny shoes, some stocking stuffers, some Prosecco.

Then my brother came over and we made Cheesy-Green Chili grits for tomorrow and Kentucky potatoes also for tomorrow (and my, I wish they were for tonight) and we were going to make (or rather I was going to watch my brother make and act as sous-chef) Green Papaya salad but the papaya, which had been purchased earlier in the week, was no longer so green and had started going sort of squishy.

Then my brother indulged in a little Nethack and headed off. I got some more presents wrapped and I think I'll make some cookies in a while. If only all Mondays could be this nice.

Oh no!

I think yesterday's post used up all my words.

Quiet rainy day today...I've been working on the Hat of Tinyness and reading and napping. Tomorrow....cooking.

Current Reading

I started Robert McCammon's Swan Song this morning. 956 pages of tiny print post-Apocalyptic thrills. Whee!

I Think I May Need An Intervention

So...I go to The Black Sheep this morning really just to show off my booties (shameless hussy) and pick up 3 mm. needles to continue work on the Hat of Tinyness, but then I wander over to admire the Araucania sock yarn. You may recall that I bought a skein last week. I also, last week, bought a Fiber Trends pattern for an Oak Leaf and Acorn scarf. "Sarah," I thought to myself while looking at the pattern the other day, "I bet there's a pretty Araucania sock yarn in shades of browns that would work up beautifully in this pattern."

And sure enough, there was. Lovely browns...soft wool...browns....just...browns....

Don't get me wrong. I like browns. I love some browns. But heaped around the browns is a pile of skeins in riotous but beautifully blended colors, each one more tempting than the last. And there is one I keep coming back to which is golds, and purples, and orangey-pinks and okay, it sounds like crushed parrot or something but it was gorgeous!

"But Sarah," I think to myself in a calm and rational fashion, "you haven't done anything with the yarn you bought last week and you were really looking for something in browns, even though the browns aren't exactly thrilling you..." (Note to idiot self: I think there was a lovely skein with shades of greens...why not go for that!)

So what do I then do? Calmly and rationally wander over to the frigging Araucania Aysen and buy two skeins! Number 804, not that that means anything. But look how pretty!


Okay, it might look a little like Crushed Parrot, too, but I tell you, in person it's drop dead beautiful. And no, I have no idea what I'll be doing with it though I'm thinking a brioche stitch neckwarmer might be nice. (With credit to Grumperina for the inspiration.)

I wish I could have sat and knitted with the ladies, but Mr. Pointy Sticks was waiting in the car so that we could go to Barnes and Noble. So we headed down to Towson and the gods must have been smiling, because we found a spot right away. And I got the book I wanted to pick up for my step-mom and then Mr. Pointy Sticks kept wandering and wandering and I really couldn't complain because he was, in part, looking for stuff for me and wandering and while he wandered, I kept finding little presents for me, me, me. Which explains why I came home with Robert McCammon's Swan Song, Stephen Brust's Book of Jhereg and Maggie O'Farrell's latest which has Esme Lennox in the title. (Give me a break...it's upstairs and I'm down and my feet hurt.)

While we were there we fortuitously met up with my aunt and my cousin, Becca. I love running into people I know unexpectedly.* Such fun. I was also able to save my aunt $9 by letting her use my 30 percent off coupon on a book. And then we hit Trader Joe's and now we're home and I should be knitting.

But wait, there's more! I got a nice surprise package today from someone for whom I knit a scarf. And she sent some cute notecards and candy and some Christmas cookies and some hair ornaments and, piece de resistance (read that with a French accent, please) some adorable felted wool stitch markers. Four that look like little acorns (see, the gods are urging me to do that Oak Leaf scarf!) and one that is blue and has a weensy-tiny sheep embroidered on it! I may have to turn that one into a necklace, it is so appealing. Thank you, Kathryn!

Current Reading

I am indulging in another British mystery, though you might think I had had enough after three Bill Sliders. This one is Caroline Graham's Written in Blood, an Inspector Barnaby mystery. I have the vague feeling I might have read it before, but I am still enjoying it greatly.

___________________

* Like on Thursday evening. I was tired and didn't feel very good and we had taken Rachel and Steve out to get some shopping done and I didn't want to cook and it was getting late and no one wanted to be the one to decide whether to go home or eat out, and if we were going to eat out, where we might eat and I get annoyed because it sometimes seems that I am always the one to make the final decision and I also feel guilty that I don't just want to go home and cook a warm and nutritious dinner for my loving and beautiful family and sometimes I just wish that someone else would say, "Okay, tonight we're eating at ___!" so finally I said, "Okay, tonight we're eating at JJ's."

So we did and we had just sat down and were looking at our menu and Steve said, "I think someone's waving at you...." And it was Rachel's old friend Sarah and her mom who we hadn't seen for a year and they came and squooze in at our table and we had a wonderful time. Sarah's at Princeton and she's just incredibly cute (while at the same time being beautiful) and bubbly and vivacious and funny and her mom's really great and funny and fun to be with. We like them both a lot. It was one of those unplanned events that I think are often the best.

A Christmas Tradition I'd Rather Not Keep, Thank You

For quite a string of years there, in my twenties and early thirties, I seemed to get sick every Christmas. The past two days I've been feeling achy and sinus-y and headache-y generally bleah. I am hoping that I can kick whatever it is by Monday.

The second bootie is finished. Even Mr. Pointy Sticks, who because of his chromosomes is not naturally inclined to find things "cute," thought the first bootie was pretty charming. And asked where I got it. When I said I made it, he was properly appreciative. Or perhaps he just likes hearing me say "bootie."

And now the hat is started...I swear these size 1 needles make me feel as though I am knitting with toothpicks. But the end result is so charming.

Tomorrow I need to run to The Black Sheep (I know! What a pity! Weep for me!) and pick up some size two double-points, which I neglected to see I needed. And I may just have to look at the other Araucania sock yarn.....I mean, my arm might be twisted.

Oh, and I need some tiny buttons.

Awwww....

Isn't this just the cutest thing ever?!

Saartje's bootie, done in some C*Eye*Ber Fiber (colorwayLady J) sock yarn. The second one is about half done already and then I have to search for some tiny buttons. This may only fit the intended recipient for five minutes, but for those five minutes her cuteness quotient will certainly be raised! (If I do say so myself.)

In Which We Regret the Loss of Memory

So, I was riding home this afternoon and either saw something or thought of something or heard something on the radio and thought, "I should write something about that!" And now, alas, it is gone completely. I think my brain is full of holes.

However, I came home to a lovely surprise. We have a little Secret Santa exchange on Readerville and this year my Secret Santa sent me this book: Trail


I have been trying to take some pictures of the magnificent pop-ups in this book but they are, except for a tiny bit of color at the end, all white on white, and very hard to photograph. But there are butterflies and a lizard and a dragonfly. And a lovely little poem to tie the pages together. This present so brightened my day.

And the second pair of mitts are finished. Huzzah...and I cleverly (and it was oh, so complicated!) figured out how to reverse the spiral ribs on the second mitt so that they are symmetrical. Pretty knobby!

And now, alas, I have a nasty headache so I think I will be taking myself bedward for the evening. Well, maybe a quick stop at Ravelry first...

Poetry Tuesday

Because my daughter has so enjoyed making biscuits from my grandmother's cookbook:

Legacies

In Which We Make Christmas Cookies

Today we had to be off to have the plumber come and to get Rachel to the dentist, so my brother came over and he and I made Christmas cookies. It was fun, despite my more than a little crowded kitchen. And the results?

Double Lemon Cookies



and Chocolate Pretzels.


The Double Lemon Cookies are a crisp cookie with some lemon zest in them and some confectioners sugar/lemon juice glaze dribbled over them. I think we made the glaze a little too thin but they are tasty.

The Chocolate Pretzels are from Martha Stewart's 2006 Holiday issue and are good*. They aren't overwhelmingly chocolate-y but they were pretty quick and fun to make. They are a sturdy cookie that would travel well.

Oh, and while waiting for the plumber this morning and waiting for Rachel at the dentist's, I started the first one of the second pair of mitts. Charging right along. And I got some yarn today from Webs with which to make Rachel a hat. Yummy.
______________

* Having eaten more than one since I posted that, I think I would change this rating....they are much better right out of the oven than they are cold. They really don't have a whole lot of taste and they are awfully dry.

Griswold

Because Kitt asked:


Here's a picture of Griswold, with a clementine for scale. He's a big ole Dutch oven and would make a rather large loaf of bread. He's about 12 inches across and 5 inches tall...maybe six if you include his lid. His insides are satiny smooth.

He sure does make a good pot roast.

Really, I'm Not Obsessing...

...but I remembered another cool thing we had at Christmas. Perhaps not every Christmas, but more than once. In the bottom of our stockings we would find these balls made of wound up strips of crepe paper. They were about the size of a Christmas ornament, I guess. And you would start unwinding the paper and as you unwound it you found little charms and doo-dads. I can't remember much of what we found, though I think one year one of us got a little tiny working compass. Of course, you couldn't sell them now because of the choking hazard.

Which leads me to charms we used to get out of gumball machines. Now they used to be so cool. We had a set of magnetic Scotties, black and white. I remember a stoplight with jeweled lights. An odd clown in a sort of blend of gray and flesh colored plastic. He was posed in a ring, like Leonardo's Vitruvian man...not one of the better charms. My brother could probably remember a lot more of them. They were sacrificed in the move to Virginia, I think.

Oh God, I am getting old. Next thing you know I'll be yelling at the kids to get off my lawn.

The second mitt is well under way and the first one has all his little ends woven in. He looks much more complete now and nicer.

And the main bathroom is thoroughly cleaned. Ugh. My least favorite job. If only it would stay clean. But no...people insist on using it.

And in a bit I'll be starting this week's pot roast. Guess I'd better go start researching some recipes. My brother brought me our grandparent's old cast iron Dutch oven. Boy, is it handsome!

I Love the Black Sheep

I didn't get to stay there as long as I would have liked (or I'd probably still be there) but still, a nice 40 minute whirlwind visit. I picked up some Mama E C*Eye*Ber Fiber for the hat and booties I want to make. It was prettier in the skein than wound into a ball (I find that is frequently the case - and usually with these yarn cakes, as opposed to a hand wound ball...dunno why), and prettier in person than in this picture, but I think it is bright and pretty.


The trim of booties and hat will be in the solid green, the rest in the multi-color. I've been wanting to try Mama E's yarn so this was a good excuse.

And Tracy thrust this Araucania sock yarn at me and I had to get it....I mean, look at these colors! Yum.



And I got Malabrigo (or, as it should properly be called MMmmmmMMMmmmMMMalabrigo) for my cousins' hand warmers but I don't want to show the picture as at least one of them visit here. So there, ML! It's going to be a surprise! Though I'm already rethinking my color selections... Tracy had a pair of Malabrigo mittens worked up that she had me slip on my hands...I was almost tempted to shop-lift.

Sometime Later

Starting this afternoon at about 3, and taking a couple hours off to go to Borders and to have dinner out, the first mitt is now finished, except for weaving in the ends. It's not the best looking mitt in the world, but it sure is quick. And it looks a lot better on a hand then just lying on one's desk.

Opening the Floodgates

As long as we are talking about Christmas...

Another thing I remember fondly about my childhood Christmases...my brother and I each had our own special ornaments -- ones that we hung on the tree every year.

My brother's was about the size of a regular glass ornament, circular with a flat bottom, and it, too, was glass, but a heavy glass. Think of the kind of glass a drinking glass is made from. It was almost completely frosted, except that on one side there was a little window, surrounded (if I am remembering correctly) by a wreath of glittery leaves. If you looked into the window, you saw a small three-dimensional scene of Santa, walking toward you out of a small forest (that is, three or four little plaster trees). This scene was actually built on a little flat circle that was glued to the bottom of the ornament. One year the bottom fell out of the ornament and whoever fixed it (my father? my grandfather?) carefully glued the circle back on....backwards. So when you looked in, you saw little trees and a glimpse of Santa walking away from you. I actually preferred it that way. At some time later, the bottom fell out again and was glued in correctly and the ornament lost a little of its charm for me.

My ornament....oh, I loved my ornament. She was a glass ornament in the shape of a fairy godmother. She had a large circle for her skirt, a smaller circle for her bodice and smaller yet for her head, which went up into a long pointed hat. She had blown glass arms, too, one of which was holding a glass wand. She was deep green with yellow stars and moons painted on her dress and hat. She had a sweet painted face with two long yellow braids (out of embroidery floss or silk or something) that were glued on either side of her face. And she had a glittery silver tassel at the top of her hat where the hanger was. She was pretty big, as I remember. Perhaps 7 or 8 inches.

When I was 11 or so, my parents divorced and my mom, my brother and I moved to another state. In a scene that would have been too trite for a novel, when Christmas rolled around that year, we discovered that my fairy godmother had been irredeemably broken in the move. My brother's ornament, however, is still with us.

Awww...now I'm all nostalgic.

Today's going to be a good day. Mr. Pointy Sticks is waiting as I type this up quickly and we are heading out for some shopping and I get to go to the yarn shop! It's always a good day when a visit to the yarn shop is in the offing. I've got to go find my pattern for Saartje's booties. More later perhaps.

Sibling Non-Rivalry

I just had such a nice conversation with my brother. Well, most conversations with my brother are fun…he’s a funny guy and we get along really well. But this was one that made me hang up the phone wishing that Rachel weren’t an only child.

We started out talking about Christmas, because I asked him if my memory of his sneaking us down to the steps on Christmas Eve when I was 5 or so and showing me that Mommy and Lolly* were filling our stockings was a real memory or not. And he said that he really didn’t remember doing that (and he would have been 11 or 12) though he did allow as how it wouldn’t have been out of the question for him to do such a thing.

And then we segued into the Christmas presents we liked the best. Oddly enough, our separate choices occurred on the same Christmas…the Christmas we both got our second bikes. His was red, a three speed English bike (I think) and mine was blue…no training wheels. He remembers that he had been told, some time in advance of Christmas to stay out of the basement. He had, of course, immediately gone down there…but had somehow missed seeing the bike! So it was still a surprise to him on Christmas morning.

My bike had probably also been in hiding down there, but I think my parents knew there was little danger of my going to the basement. (It was kind of scary to me.) Christmas morning came and we opened presents and I remember my brother getting his bike and I remember getting an Etch-A-Sketch (which I think he might have broken that very day - I do know that he broke it at some point shortly after it was given to me and my mom got me a new one) and playing with stuff until my mom (and looking back from my own perspective as a parent, I am sure it must have been driving her crazy) asked me if I hadn’t noticed the blue bike. Apparently, I was convinced that the bike was for someone else…it never occurred to me that something so wonderful was mine.

Boy, new bikes. Remember that thrill of a new bike and how the spokes sparkled in the sun? Remember putting baseball cards on the wheels so they would go tickety-tickety as you rode? My brother remembers taking his bike out and doing lazy figure-eights in our street, just gliding along. I remember taking my old bike, the little red one with the training wheels and riding down the block to and along the little crab-apple tree lined cut-through to the street behind us, then riding up that street to Edmondson Avenue and back to our street, all by myself. I had to have been six at the most….can you imagine letting your six-year-old daughter do that now?

I also remember riding down the block to the Fitch's house to borrow Nancy Drew books from Nancy Fitch. The Fitches had a bulldog, named Brummel, who I think was probably a sweetie but who scared me to death. If I trundled down to the Fitch's, with my bike basket filled with mysteries, and Brummel was out on the front porch -- well, I just turned right around and pedalled back home.

From bikes, of course, in a logical segue, we moved on to skinned knees…and Mercurochrome**…and iodine. My brother remembers that we had a bottle of iodine…in fact, Lolly, being a chemist, might have mixed it up from scratch. He remembers that one of our parents had written “Iodine” on it and drawn a skull and cross-bones. I remember the Mercurochrome…the tiny brown glass bottle with the little glass rod applicator. It was a rather dreaded bottle. Though, my brother pointed out, it was sort of interesting to watch the substance change color as it dried…once you’d stopped crying.
______________

* Lolly is what I call my dad. Always have. And no one knows where it came from. For my first ten years or so I also called my mother Boppy. Again, no one knows why.

** Mercurochrome is no longer available...banned by the FDA. And yes, it did contain mercury. Hmmm....just what you want dabbed on open wounds. It was discovered by a physician at Johns Hopkins. I wonder if it sold in higher quantities in Baltimore than in other places?

Woot!

Well, I am certainly chuffed with myself tonight. I was working away on my aunt's scarf and suddenly realized that, about 28 rows down, in one of the YO/K1/YO columns, there was a loose float of yarn. I stared aghast...we're talking about ripping back two days work....in mohair.

So, figuring I was either going to have to 1) ignore it (not an option), 2) frog it all the way back (not appealing), or 3) drop that K1 stitch down and see if I could pick it up correctly again...I opted for the third. And I did it! I was able to figure out how to catch the threads and keep the YO's nicely twisted. I can't describe what I did....and neophyte blogger that I am, it wasn't until it was all done that I thought "I should have blogged this!"....but it's done. And it looks fine. Thanks heavens it wasn't in one of the YO/slip1/k2tog/psso/YO columns. I don't think I could have reconstructed one of them.

Man, I feel like such a knitter.

Yummmm

Rachel made beer bread this afternoon and this evening she made a yummy soup. (Fried up bacon, drained most of the fat, threw in chopped carrots, celery, onions and garlic and sauteed it a bit. Put in two boxes of chicken broth and, when it came to a boil, threw in pastina....so good.) Maybe I need to re-think this college business. She could just stay home and cook!

Ten Minutes Later

Whew! I just hiked up the hill in the dark and the wind and yes, all the inflatables are lit up and yes, there has been another one (Snoopy as Red Baron on his doghouse) added since Sunday. I tried taking a picture, but between my gasps for air and the tossing around of the inflatables in the wind, none of them turned out.

This one didn't turn out either but it's kind of pretty. Prettier than in person, not jiggling.

Sad News

Terry Pratchett released this information today. This is just heart-breaking news. Rachel's first comment was "Why couldn't it have been Dan Brown?" and, while I can't wish ill on others (well, not publicly), I certainly do wish that one of the brightest, cleverest, most verbally adept authors I know wasn't facing this. This news (and possibly the still gray, gray weather) has me feeling rather melancholy.

Current Reading

I finished The Quiet Girl last night and, while I enjoyed it while I was reading it, I was left feeling rather....confused? deflated? stupid? I dunno. There just wasn't much there there. Or something.

But last night I picked up the Bill Slider omnibus that I had gotten from Powell's a day or two ago. I love Cynthia Harrod-Eagle's Bill Slider mysteries and this omnibus has Dead Ends, Blood Lines and Killing Time in it. It's a big ole paperback and not the most comfortable to read. And I may even already have one or two of these books in separate editions. But hey, I get to read about Slider and Atherton...I'm happy.

Poetry Tuesday

For today, we're back to stars.

A Nest of Stars

I like the thought of the hen with her clever secret nest.

Sauna

Thank heavens for layers. It is steamy hot here at work today. One of the staff directors who has a closed office rather than a cube, was inviting people into his office to feel his desk....the actual desk was hot. I was wearing a cashmere sweater with a long sleeved Chico's top underneath and I went into the lady's room before lunch and slithered out of the Chico's top. Somewhat better.

Well, Rachel has her acceptance to University of Mary Washington for the spring semester. Yay! (I really thought she would...but it's nice to know for sure.) I am so hoping that going there will give her a taste of how much fun college can be. It'll help, I think, that her good friend Margot is there. Margot likes it, so I am hoping Rachel will too, even if she does decide to leave after a year or so and transfer to the School of Visual Arts. Now, to find out when the semester actually starts.

But, gee, this has really made my day!

I am still working away at my aunt's scarf. I've finished the first ball of yarn and may only make it two skeins long, as my aunt is a somewhat tiny person.

And I finished my dad's hat. Shhh...it's for Christmas. (My dad and step-mom know about the blog but I don't think they read it, as they have the impression that it's all about knitting. Of course, if they do read it then there is one Christmas surprise ruined.)

Current Reading

I started, and am about half-way through, Peter Hoeg's The Quiet Girl. I really loved Smilla's Sense of Snow, even though, yes, the ending was sort of weak. And I tried one of his others (Borderliners) and just couldn't get into it at all. The Quiet Girl is a strange one...the main character has a hyperacute sense of hearing. To the point of being able to hear people's emotions. He gets involved in protecting some children who can, apparently, stop time. Time jumps around a lot in this novel and, though I'm usually fine with that kind of jumping about, this time I am having trouble at times figuring out exactly when we are. But the book is still keeping me enthralled. I don't know if it'll be one of the year's best but I'll finish it at least.

Oh, and I finished Hyperion this weekend. Eh. I realize that it's the first of two, but I thought there would be a little more closure than there was. It was all a big buildup for the second book. But I don't think I liked it enough to get the second one and find out what happened to the characters.

Feats of Clay

My brother, his girlfriend and I headed down to Towson this morning for the annual ceramics department sale. We went last year and I got presents for a friend and for Rachel. This year I was selfish and only got presents for me.

Two of the professors who work at Towson are married and have a website, Claymonster. (Go look at their other stuff...check out the Frankenstein mug on the Pottery page! I'll wait.) As it turns out, both of the things I bought were made by Cat Holt, the wife, who happened to be the person to check me out when it came time to buy them.



The mug is such a beautiful shape and feels so nice in your hand. And the colors are lovely...very soft and subtle. The Monster Jug...I just couldn't resist him. In fact, when I picked him up he grabbed my hand and just wouldn't let go.


I told her that there were three or four others that I really wanted, too, and she said, "I heard you laughing at them...I turned to [the woman sitting next to her] and said, 'That's why I make those.'" So that was fun. (I was actually thinking that perhaps I should have saved Jug for a Christmas present for Rachel but she tells me it's "creepy" so I guess it's good I didn't.)

Then we headed back to my house where we picked up Mr. Pointy Sticks and headed up to the California Pizza Kitchen for lunch. Very tasty.

On the way we passed this:



"Oh look," said my brother, "it's Inflate-O-World." (Copyright to my brother.)

Little something for everybody there...Mickey, Pooh, tilting tree, Grinch (hiding behind the tilting tree), non-tilting tree, Snoopy (hiding behind the non-tilting tree), Frosty. I really should walk up there this evening and see if it isn't all lit up. Anyone want to take bets? I'm betting yes.

Current Reading

Yesterday in Borders I saw, and could not resist buying, Joe Hill's 20th Century Ghosts. What a great collection of spooky, eerie or just plain weird stories. Though actually one of my favorite stories in the book (yes, I stayed up far too late because I just couldn't stop reading them) was about an autistic (I think) kid (who is the narrator of the story) and his father, a baseball coach. Really nice story with no hauntings or ghosts, just this great relationship.

Joe Hill, in case there is someone who's not been following this, is Stephen King's son. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. (And man, does he look like his dad.) I expect Mr. King is mighty proud. His son is a heck of a writer.

Shrub: Sudden Surge in Popularity

At least in the Pointy Sticks household. The man has finally done something right. He signed an Executive Order giving Federal employees Christmas Eve as a holiday. (Though I wouldn't be surprised if Cheney was standing behind him reminding him in what order the letters went...."That's B. Good. Now U.....S....almost done.....H. Nice job! No, Mr. President, don't eat the crayon. Have this pretzel.") It's the sensible thing to do, anyway. With Christmas on a Tuesday, I think there were only about 3 people who were actually planning to be here on that Monday. (Two of them being Mr. Pointy Sticks and me...I've never minded too much coming in on C. Eve...it was always dead quiet and we were frequently released early anyway.) The government will actually save a good bit of money by not opening the offices...no heat, lights, computers...and heaven knows, the government needs to save every penny it can. After all, the Social Security trust funds won't last forever.

Maybe I'll spend the day making cookies with Rachel.

So yay...four day weekend!

My aunt's scarf is trundling along and seems to me to be looking more blue and slightly less pink. This Bollicine Etoile is really nice soft yarn. (Available at Webs. Closeout! Cheap!) So often mohairy yarns are itchy and prickly. But this is nice, even up around the face. Which is good, since that's where the scarf will be.

Last night my eye was caught by this yarn, sitting patiently beside my computer:

Which is ever-so-much-more a luscious, deep, rich poison green than it looks here. And I really wanted to grab it and start something. It's going to be a scarf for another Readerville friend but there is no reason to start it now. It's just the lure of the new. So I am valiantly controlling myself. But I have to admit I fondled it a bit last night. You know. Just to say hello.

Oh, and the pink chevron scarf made it safely to its new home and its owner sent me a nice thank you email. She seems happy with it. Good to know.

Christmas, You Say?

I turned to Mr. Pointy Sticks in the car on the way to work this morning and said, "You know, there are less than three weeks until Christmas. And I have hardly anything bought for people and I haven't done my cards and I have a Secret Santa swap I have to get done. And you know what?"

"What?" said Mr. Pointy Sticks, who knows a cue when he hears one.

"I just don't care. I'm not stressed about it. I'll do what I'll do. And that's it." I said.

The scarf for my aunt? If it gets done, great. If not, I'll show it to her and tell her she'll get it soon. The hat for my dad? Ditto. Christmas cards? Eh, think of the money I'll save...the cards I have aren't going anywhere and will seem fresher next year. (Besides, I haven't gotten any cards yet...I wonder if everyone feels the way I do?) I'll probably write notes to a couple of people but if they aren't sent before Christmas, so be it. And I am thinking that a couple of my cousins might like some fingerless mitts...but they'll probably be done after Christmas unless I really get a bee in my bonnet.

I just can't get excited.

Oh God, does that mean I'm all grown-up?

How To Burn Leave

Step 1) Make an appointment with your plumber for 3:00.
Step 2) Request and get one and a half hours leave for that day (today).
Step 3) Drive home through the snow to find a phone message from the plumber asking if they could come earlier because of the snow.
Step 4) Call the plumber back to say we are home.
Step 5) Be asked by the plumber if they could possibly reschedule because their trucks don't handle well in the snow.
Step 5) Stare blankly at your husband while he stares blankly at you and realize that you don't want to go out and do anything fun to justify that hour and a half....because of the snow!

Did I mention it was snowing?



You know, I was thinking this morning about how all the expert meteorologists we have out there now sort of take the fun out of it. There they were last night saying, "Snow expected with accumulations of about an inch." And then this morning, "Snow should be starting about 8:00 a.m., with accumulations of about 1 to 2 inches." And sure enough, at 8 a.m. I looked outside and, sure enough, the first flakes were falling.

But I guess they don't know everything. They are now saying we could get 4 inches or more. Every now and then there's a storm that comes through and sticks around for longer then anyone expects and dumps lots of snow on us. I'm sort of hoping this is one of those.

Poetry Tuesday

Not such a pleasant one today...but man, I remember this photo. I think anyone who saw it must have it seared into his or her brain.

War Photograph

And again, it's the last line to me that's the killer.

I'll try to have something less grim next week.

More later maybe...work is ghastly today.

Just A Note...

I'll add more later this evening...no time now because (Yay!) I get to leave work early.

But it's (Boo!) to go to my dentist. Oh well.

I've started a new scarf that will be for my aunt for Christmas (if it's done on time) or her birthday (if not.) Pictures tonight perhaps. Oh, and I was going to show y'all the bracelet I made. I know everyone out there is waiting with bated breath.

Later

Teeth are fine, if now slightly rattly in their gums from all the cleaning. I do love my dentist! Even (or especially) after the Year of Three Broken Teeth, Two Root Canals and Two Crowns (also known as the Year of Misery and Skinny Wallets....or 2005).

And here's a picture of my aunt's scarf:


Huh. It sort of took seeing it here to realize how pink this is turning out to be. In the ball the yarn (Bollicine Etoile from Webs) looks more periwinkle/pale blue. Now I am wondering if I should have used the darker blue I got...as seen on the top of the pile here:


She's not really the pink type.

This is going to require some cogitation. Meanwhile, I'll keep knitting of course. Someone might like the scarf!

In Which We Miss a Snowstorm and Get Our Fridge

(I sort of wish now that I had titled all my posts that way...."In Which I Show Off Yet More Boring Knitting" or "In Which I Test the Internet's Tolerance for Silly Cat Pictures." Oh well, too late now.)

So, no snow here...looks like it headed north.

The Chevron V2 is packed up and will get sent off tomorrow. Here's a last picture or two of it.



And an extreme close-up. (Colors are much truer here. The first one is washed out for some reason.)



And for anyone looking at this Classic Elite Countess yarn on Webs, you might be interested in knowing that the yarn starts out pretty soft but after you wash and block it...man, it is soft as anything. I think I might have to order some more.

And we got the new fridge. The delivery time was supposed to be between 2:45 and 4:45. The guys showed up at about 6:15. They had apparently had some hellish deliveries. Ours went very smoothly...I think it took them about 10 minutes total. And the new fridge is humming away.



We think it's happy to be here.

I Surprise Myself

The Winter issue of Knitters came today. There are actually a few things I like in it. Like the Chalk Stripes scarf. And the Winter Wheat sweater, which looks like a nice weekend sort of sweater.

And there are quite a few "uh...no"s...like this, and this, and this. Just to mention a few.

But I love the Chased Silver Sweater.

Had a nice evening tonight....dinner at Zen West (Shoot! I should have taken my camera!) with our friend, Don, and then a little visit to Daedalus, where I snagged some Christmas presents. So virtuous. The only thing I bought myself was a Pop-Up Peter Rabbit that's pretty cute.

I almost bought a Christmas picture book. When Rachel was small, every Christmas we'd buy at least one new Christmas story. And this one was cute, about a small mouse and his wish for Christmas. But really....it's not as though Rachel's going to curl up and listen to picture books with me. So I put it back.

The Chevron scarf is finished, soaked and blocking. Pictures tomorrow, perhaps. Then I can send it off to its new owner.

And this evening...well, maybe tomorrow, it is getting a little late....I start playing around with the yarn to make a scarf for my aunt.

And we get our new fridge!