This Can't Be All

It started to snow this morning and it snowed for the three hours that I was out and about chasing all the items on my very long grocery list plus nabbing the last few gift items.  The roads got slick and snow-covered and it was slippery in the parking lots too, especially the painted places.  (they need different paint, some with sand in it or something)  I backed into the driveway to unload the bags and ended up parking halfway down because the wheels started to slide and felt like if I tried to move any more we'd end up sideways.  I stopped.  So after some lunch, I shoveled and salted so the car would stick to the slanted driveway and waited for the second wave of snow.  Well, it's 4 o'clock and it's still not started up snowing again.  Maybe we'll dodge the big part of the storm.  Maybe.  Or maybe it's lulling us into a false sense of security.  Anyway I'm in for the night with big plans to cook up holiday goodies.  Like this pan of Chex Party Mix that's wafting it's enticing aroma through the

house right now.

It was very windy on Wednesday, so windy that it blew all the loose snow around, and it was cold enough to sculpt the blown snow into ripples that looked pretty in the bright sunlight.  Doesn't it look pretty?  Does it look like it's 5 degrees with a -10 windchill?  Because that's what you're looking at.  Bring on the wool socks, long johns, foot warmers, and hats.  I'll endure "hat hair" to keep my ears attached.


Last night was the Knitting Guild's annual potluck and dishcloth exchange.  My meatballs were a hit but there were two other varieties of meatballs on offer so I got to bring home a tidy portion of them.  Oh dear, Durwood and I will have to nibble away at them.  This is the dishcloth that I brought home.  You all know I'm not much of a Packer fan but I really like the stitch she used to make it.  It's called the star stitch.  I wonder how it'd look on a hat or the back of a mitten?



Speaking of mittens I tried something I've never tried before.  I cast on a pair of mittens, one with the end pulled from the middle of the skein and the other with the end unwound from the outside of the skein.  I started with a long circular needle but I don't have a cable long enough to make it comfortable to knit two at a time (although I suppose I could use two circs... hmm, next time) so I used two sets of DPNs and knit a round or two on one, put it down, and do the same on the other so they'll be twins and I won't have to keep such accurate notes to make the second one match the first one.
 

I got to show off the Mitten & Mitten Animals to the knitters last night and they all oohed and ahhed; it was very satisfying.  And I added rounds to the foot of Anklet #5.

December 16--Cary D. Bucklin, Girl with Flowers.  April crouched in the tall grass.  She could see Edgar, the neighbor's dog, trotting down the gravel lane, his nose almost touching the rocks.  Edgar was a good dog, he wouldn't give her away by rollicking over to lick her ears and yip happily like he hadn't seen her for a year.  She sat still, knowing she was invisible from the house.  Mama had sent her out to play but she didn't want to play.  She wanted to read the book Aunt Sheila had sent for her birthday last week but Mama said it was "too nice a day to sit inside."  April said then she would read outside but Mama said her book was too nice to take outside.  Wasn't it her own book?  Shouldn't she be able to take her own book outside if she wanted?  It wasn't fair but there was no arguing with Mama.  Edgar circled around, came up behind her and sat down.  When she looked at him, he cocked his head at her as if to say "what makes you think life's fair?"

I just reached out for the mail and it has indeed started to snow again, the slow kind of snowing that sneaks up on you.  Good thing the snowblower gas can's full. Time to stir the Party Mix.
--Barbara