Yarn Along, Chilly November

  

Gone is any trace of summer and really autumn, too, and I don't know what to call this now since it is too early to be winter.  I have settled on calling this the Season of Cold Fingers.  We have been keeping our thermostat set high in the evening since there is a noticeable chill in the house after the sun goes down, yet my fingers are stiff and cold as I knit still.  I hate to run the heater so much, especially this early in the year but with highs in the low 30s and lows in the teens now, my frugality has to take a back seat to daily practicality.  So I sigh as we bump the heat back on and wish for a wood stove that would at least give the illusion of coziness and a place to heat my frigid fingers. 

My oldest baby girl turned five yesterday.  How can that be?  In the pictures above you can catch a glimpse of her newly pierced ears, which she is quite proud of.  I finally got to see the Bulle I knit for her a couple months back being modeled and I think it fits her perfectly, oh I love it so!  What an adorable pattern, I just wanted to eat her up all day today.  I will definitely plan to knit that one again, it seems like this one will be a staple in her wardrobe and she didn't  even complain of any itch to her skin through the shirt underneath it like she often does with handknits (thank you KnitPicks Stroll!).  Her favorite feature is a tie between the sweet Little Red Riding Hood buttons I found and sky blue pockets that are just barely peeking out at the bottom of one of the pictures up above. She also received some handknit wristwarmers and a darling dusty blue Leksak tunic knit for her by her Mimi (my mom) which I will take pictures of soon.  She is all set for this cold weather, let me tell you!  Happy birthday, my dear Lyddie-girl.

I am knitting several gift-ish things that I can't describe too thoroughly in these annals.  

And I haven't had a spare minute to read this week (so what kind of Yarn Along post is this, really?) other than a few pages in The Molehill, v. 1, a compilation of short stories, essays, and poems by some of our favorite writers, singers, and songwriters.  Just an excellent short story by Walt Wangerin Jr. that I disappear into during quick hideouts in the bathroom.  Other than that, the reading is sparse because of a big birthday party, out of town visitors staying with us, and serious Christmas preparations happening now on top of all the normal demands of a busy life with three small children.  I resolved to have all the gifts bought and wrapped by the end of the first week of December if at all possible, as well as have a few batches of cookie dough in the freezer, Christmas cards printed and sent, and the indoor and outdoor decor done.  This timeline has been helpful and has helped me stay on track and be motivated - something about seeing it all broken down makes it feel that much more doable, though I am pushing it back a week because of the birthday week and the fact that this doesn't account for our American Thanksgiving since the writer is Canadian. We'll see how I finish out the plans but so far there is no reason to think I won't be able to meet my goal and minimize the stress of December. 

So now I am probably at least halfway through gift planning and purchasing now.  Can you see my happy dance?  I am hopeful it enables me to happy dance through December as well.  The last few years... well, the last five years... have been difficult when it comes to holidays - happy but difficult.  I have been either pregnant or had an infant for all five of those years, I think, and this is the first year I feel like I have a bit of sanity in approaching the season. 

So this week I will still continue to not-read, most likely, but am looking forward to the beginning of a new CraftLit book (HerLand) starting Friday.  I finished The Woman in White recently.  I have also been hooked into the new podcast "Serial" (what is the grammatical convention for podcasts anyway - quotation marks?  Italics?).  Seriously, look that one up, it's fascinating! 

Today?  Hoping to get a family picture for a Christmas card, which explains the high levels of red strewn across my bed as I attempt to get everyone coordinated.