Days of Snow & Soup

Steve and I went out for coffee this morning and wandered into the ODU bookstore afterwards to browse the sale books. I bought a copy of Felt Jewelry and Billy Collins' Ballistics at thrift store prices. After I made my selections, I sat down with a copy of Artful Blogging and was excited to read interviews by Leslie, of A Friend to Knit With, and Sarah, of Thistle Downs Wool Design, blogs I keep on my blog roll and love to read. I thought it was pretty exciting. The rest of the magazine gave me some ideas I may incorporate into my creative life and as a result, onto my blog. Still mulling though.

Steve and I walked down to the beach after we got home; it was much warmer than the other day, but the horizon looked so unusual. Still some snow remaining on the dunes, but not much of it left on the sand. It was a lovely walk, though.

Here's one of the project bags I ordered from Ysolda; I ordered three different designs and this one is Stef's. The other two left the house before being photographed. So sweet.

Finally took a photo of the red scarf I originally intended for myself, but am now going to gift to a friend instead.

Here's what's newest on the needles: a Thermis cowl using the Quince & Co yarn I bought for myself, right before Christmas. So very soft, and I loved making the Thermis pattern last year and have been wanting to make another.

As for the soup, we've had vegetable, vegetarian chili, and now I've got a large pot of potato soup simmering on the stove. Snow always makes me want to hunker down and make bread and soup. Basic comfort food, especially after all the excess of Christmas feasting, don't you think?

Sunrise and Snow

I woke to a gorgeous sunrise sky yesterday morning. As usual, the photo doesn't really convey the richness, but this will have to do. We don't get icicles around here too often so these were picture worthy.

Finished my hat, which took twice as long since I had to knit it twice. I forgot to switch to the larger needles after the ribbing and it was way too short, so I ripped it back. It's still too short for me if I want my ears covered, so unless it blocks out larger, it'll go to one of the girls.

Mere and I ventured out yesterday; she had a hair appointment and some returns to take care of, so we went to lunch afterwards. It was a nice opportunity for us to spend some one on one time together. She's spending a few days at her dad's so I won't see her much more before they head home this weekend. Melissa left today for Blacksburg as she has to work, although she'll be back next week for about five more days. And Stef is here until the middle of January.

It was great having them all here together for a couple of days, making chili, soup, bread, cookies, tea, and coffee. It'll seem awfully quiet now. It's always hard for me to adjust, but going back to work on Monday will most likely take care of that.

Our New Year's Eve plans will involve taking down the tree, putting all the decorations away, and cleaning. Probably a little knitting too, I'm guessing. How 'bout you?

Snow on the Beach

We wrapped up in everything we had for our walk to the beach. Melissa in her "new" thrifted hat (I didn't knit it, just found it at the thrift store). Mere and Ollie on the beach.

Stef taking photos. (She's wearing a hat she made out of Rowan Cocoon and handwarmers I made her last Christmas.)

Mere, Stef, and Melissa. (Mere's wearing a hat I made out of Manos and had stashed away in the gift pile and Steve's scarf. Melissa apparently has NO handknits on; not sure how that happened!)

The girls and Ollie.

It was lovely.

After the Snowfall

Steve made some progress shoveling snow this morning before going in to work. The skies were still quite grey, but we didn't get any more snow.

Closer to noon, the skies cleared and the sun came out, making everything sparkling! We got over a foot; the truck bed was nearly full.

I'm so fascinated with the way the snow piled up, although Steve didn't enjoy having to dig out his truck quite so much.

We were very lucky not to lose power with this type of heavy, wet snow.

Snow chairs anyone?

Last year we found out that it was less hectic for everyone if we had the kids over the day after Christmas, which happens to be St. Stephen's Day, a coincidence my husband, Stephen, enjoys. We did it again this year, even though we had blizzard conditions, because our children refused to listen to us or the authorities about staying off the roads. I was worried about them but once they arrived (oddly all at the same time), I was happy. It was a great day of gift giving, game playing, and eating. Many rounds of Apples to Apples and Scattergories were played.

Mere, Ryan, and Stef stayed over, so we'll hang out again today, knitting, playing games, and eating. I made bread to go with the soup Steve made yesterday and the vegetarian chili I made this morning that's simmering in the crock pot. I put fresh rosemary on one of the loaves. Next time, I'm mixing some in the dough itself.

Right now, Mere is winding some of her Christmas yarn, and Stef and I are both knitting ourselves new hats. She's making the Star Crossed Slouchy Beret, using the skein of Osprey yarn from Quince & Co. that she found in her stocking, (I'm a good stepmother!) and I'm making Cranberry Sauce using a skein of Shelter in blue (Almanac) that I bought at Purl in October, but saved as a Christmas gift to myself.

We're also planning to take a walk down to the beach in a bit. I'll post more snow photos after the walk. Hopefully I'll burn a few of the thousand or so extra calories I've eaten this past week. Loving the sweat pants a little too much!

Snowy St. Stephen's Day

It started snowing last night and it's still coming down. We have over a foot of snow, which counts as a blizzard around here. These photos were taken around 4 p.m. and I think the light is so interesting. Very blue.

I love the snow furniture on our back deck.

It's a heavy, wet snow, which thankfully hasn't brought our power lines down.

On Christmas Eve, we had cookie making, using Purl Bee's recipe. When I say "we", I mean Mere and Melissa made them. They were their gifts for the grandmas and the aunts, who loved them. The girls usually make cookies or candy and give them on thrifted plates, which I think such a good idea. They used to make ornaments when they were younger, but now food is the gift of choice.

This is Mere, putting them together.

Random photo: my finished owl mittens, with the beaded eyes; they were a much better choice than the buttons I originally tried.

Now I'm in a sort of knitting limbo. I think I want to start something big, but I'm not sure what yet. So my plan is to finish some more of my in progress projects while I think about it. I also started a hat for myself, despite not being a hat person. I'm trying the Cranberry Sauce pattern, using some blue Shelter yarn I got for Christmas. I'm hoping it'll be close enough to a slouch hat to look okay on me. And I had Mere unravel my Awbrey cowl, since even though it was pretty, it was too snug to be comfortable. I'm not sure what I'll reuse the yarn for yet, maybe some more coffee cozies. What's in your after Christmas knitting queue?

Christmas Eve

Peace. Joy. Compassion.


Wishing for these gifts for you.


Wishing for these gifts for me.


Peace. Joy. Compassion.

The Eve of Christmas Eve

I actually did take a walk on the beach yesterday; the day was very grey. As usual at this time of year, the beach was deserted, just the way I like it.

I coerced Melissa into modeling her new glasses and the scarf I made her last year, before she headed out to meet up with friends.

Made a coffee sleeve out of Noro Kuryon last night; so easy, I'm going to make another.

And finished the Awbry cowl out of Noro Bonbori. Love the look, but it's pretty snug. I think either larger needles on that yarn (I'm a tight knitter) or trying different yarn would yield a looser cowl, but I definitely like the pattern. Very quick knit too!

Today is crafting day, while we wait on Meredith and Ryan to arrive from Connecticut. I'll definitely post photos of the process and the products!