As proof that I can still finish things that I start knitting, I give you the last two pairs of socks I have finished.  And both are mine.

 

Both are made from Roxanne's Art Walk Sock Yarn but both are different.  The one on the left with the leaf design (still one of my favorite patterns to wear and to knit) is what she calls "smooshy" yarn.  And it is smooshy.  The cakes are bigger than the non-smooshy ones of the same yardage.  It's a bit more orange/brown than the photo and I love it.

 

The blue one is a simple lace pattern made with a cashmere/merino blend.  It feels so soft and nice to work with.  I really love it and despite the fact that I seem to have a lot of blue clothes, I don't make blue socks very often.  These are not very tall socks so the picot cuff works.  I like the way it looks and don't know why I don't think of using it more often.

 

I forgot.  I finished another pair!  I made Pk another pair of what he calls Fire Socks (since they are mostly red and yellow and orange).  He wore out his other pair and I gladly replaced them.

 

There is something so satisfying about kitchenering that last few stitches of a sock or binding off that last few stitches of a cuff.  They are a huge number of stitches but still relatively small and portable.  I have three other pairs in the works that will all be mine.

 

Does that sound selfish?  Maybe.  I didn't do any knitting for the holiday this year.  I didn't think to start early enough and I am not into the stressful deadline knitting thing that so many people seem to thrive on.  They must thrive on it since they never seem to learn and do it year after year.

 

Me?  Not so much.  I knit for pleasure and when I knit a gift, I don't want to be rushed.  The few times I have tried to meet a deadline I didn't enjoy it.  I'm thinking of Sock Wars and even the Tour de France.  The first one I took part in, I wanted to make a small shawl and ended up making an unsatisfactory piece because I rushed to finish it and didn't stop to fix mistakes. 

 

This morning I downloaded some new audio books and my spinning wheel is feeling a bit neglected so I think we'll spend some time together, if I can stay awake.

 

We are a House o' Plague.  Pk brought home a nasty, congested, wet cold with him from work.  I am managing to fight it off for now (but I've been rather sinusy as we undergo a change in atmospheric pressure).  He did well yesterday with hot tea, chicken soup and rest.  Today, however, he's feeling a bit of cabin fever and is headed out to work on the garden bed.  We've had a bit of frost and he wants to get the bulbs in and finish preparing the rose bed. This is the color of the roses I want to put in the bed.  I spoke to the people at the local garden center and they said the plants come into the center in April so we'll go and get them in the spring. 

And what else is going on around here?  There will be pie baking on Wednesday (or Thursday morning) and fruit relish will be made today in preparation for the holiday on Thursday.

 

We are going to Em and Jim's house for dinner for Thanksgiving and so I can bake the pies in the morning because she will be cooking the turkey.  The fruit relish is better if it's made a few days ahead of time so I'll make that today. 

 

Sunday we'll have what Pk calls Second Thanksgiving.  I'll cook our turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes and more pies so we can have sandwiches for lunch.  I'll also package up leftover turkey, stuffing and gravy into a dish that can be frozen and put in the oven for one night in December when we are busy preparing for the other holiday that is fast approaching.

 

It's very windy today and the fall leaf show is over.  Only the oak trees (which seem to hold onto their crisp brown leaves all winter long) are not naked this morning.  I'm going to make some ricotta donuts and omlettes for brunch and then some onion soup and focaccia sandwiches for dinner. 

"Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think."

~Gautama Buddha

 

Sound familiar?