The Week Before Christmas

Tis the week before Christmas and all through the house, the knitter is not knitting not even a mouse. However I am dreaming about the next projects. My sister and I spent a day together last week and visited Knit.Paper.Scissors, a local yarn shop. I picked up this skein of Rowan Felted Tweed. I plan to knit something in the round to see what kind of gauge and fabric it produces. It comes in many beautiful colors.

Yesterday I baked pistachio shortbread. The drizzled white chocolate and chopped nuts made a delicious mess. The recipe suggests cutting the shortbread with a fluted pastry cutter, a gadget I don't own. Thinking dough is like doh (flour, salt minus dye) I used a clean playdoh cutter but it wasn't sharp enough. So much for my clever work around. The cookies have unique shapes. As a friend once said, "presentation is not a strength." They taste good though. Baking is one of my favorite holiday preparations so I am grateful for the baking time this week. When I was working, the holidays often went by in a blur. Chocolate cappuccino slices and Gram's Spritz round out my list. Maybe I'll try one new to me recipe. I usually take a small cookie plate to a few neighbors.

I knit a few rows on the textured shawl but not enough to photograph. I did finish the autumn socks. They are a nice addition to my sock drawer. The alpaca, merino, nylon combination is warm and long wearing. Ribbed socks from this yarn (five pairs over the last decade) do not lose their shape anymore than any other of my hand knit socks. Classic Elite yarns has gone out of business so this is the last pair I will knit from this yarn. I think Personal Threads in Omaha may still have some stock but I am determined to knit the last three untouched skeins of sock yarn into socks before buying more. No worries about running low in a snowstorm as I have plenty of leftover scraps of sock yarn!

I read Island of the Mad, a Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mystery by Laurie King. Although the story includes some interesting history about Venice Italy, I enjoyed it less than others in the series. The plot didn't take off until midpoint in the story, or so it seemed to me. I am rereading Where The Crawdads Sing and loving it. I find rereading a way to notice more detail and think differently about a book. In this case, I'm not sure if the difference is the format (audio versus hard copy) or that I slow down to savor the prose because I am not reading to figure out the ending. Perhaps some of both. This book is the January selection in my local book group. The group discussion will be an added bonus.

As I link with Kat and the Unravelers, I wish you the hope and peace of a gentle holiday.