A finished pair of socks!  I bought this yarn in Rhinebeck because it was colorful and fun and at the time seemed to reflect the fun we were having.

And then the reality of finding a pattern that would allow the colorful yarn to shine without looking goofy.

I remembered Monkey socks which are made for this kind of hand painted yarn and it didn't fail me.  These will make my feet feel like they're having a party. 

I do not know who made the yarn since it had no tag on it other than the fact that it is a merino/nylon blend and it was 22 dollars.  It is not particularly soft and fuzzy and it is rather thin. I thoroughly enjoyed working with it and lovelovelove the results. 

This pair (well, one is done and one is started) is made from one of Zen Yarn Garden's Artwalk choices.  It's a merino/silk/cashmere single.  No, these socks probably will not last as long as some, although the silk will give them some strength as well as help them shine.  But (and this is a big but), working with this yarn was a constant pleasure.  It is soft and these colors are pretty true so it's beautiful.  It's just a plain sock pattern because in this case, I really just wanted the yarn to be the star.  The inspiration was Andy Warhol's Pink and Blue shoe. 

He did a series of shoes in different colors and this is one of my favorites.  The yarn is so evocative of the painting.  Next month is Monet's Irises.  (I can't wait!)

Our weather here has been so weird.  The temps have been up and down and there has been lots of precipitation.  Lately it's been in the form of rain but we have had two snowfalls.  One of them came after we put up the outside lights and it buried our snowmen.  You can see the stars (and in the front right corner, the rosemary bush which is hanging in there despite the cold), the bright spots in front of the stars are the snowmen.  Their little hats are just peeking out of the snow.  It took about 4 days of melting for them to make themselves visible again.  It's a good thing they're water resistant.

We took down the Christmas things and put them away for the year on Sunday.  It's a chore but this year I cleaned out the boxes and got rid of decorations that have seen better days.  I did keep the construction paper Santas that the girls made in Kindergarten (even though El tells me every year that it would be OK with her if I got rid of them) but I got rid of some things that held no sentimental value and were just broken or worn.  We carefully wrapped things in paper and put it into containers and Pk will put it all on shelves downstairs.  He wants to straighten out the rec room shelves and make them organized. 

What is it about this time of year that brings out the urge to purge the clutter?  I think it's partly due to the fact that we can't get outside as much as we might like but whatever it is, I'm glad for the feeling to be kicking in.  There are some closets that really need a good purge.

It's hard to take in that it's January 15 already.  We are two weeks into the new year and things are moving quickly.  We have 2 weeks until our new computer system at work goes live and I have been working hard to help get everyone trained and up to speed.  I still anticipate some issues but hopefully (as long as the system works) everyone will adapt quickly.  We are a building of social workers and we don't tend to be early adopters when it comes to new technology.

Pk has been enjoying the availability of soccer games now that we have a television.  He gets up early on weekend mornings to catch his favorites and plans his weekend chores around the matches.  I will admit it makes me smile to see him enjoy it so much.  I put on an audio book and spin while he yells at the players and rants about coaching. 

So, not much new here.  How about you? Is 2014 treating you ok so far?