Snow Day

All my  Christmas packages went in the mail yesterday (Priority Mail, Ouch!), so I can amuse myself now without worrying that I'm taking time out from gift projects with deadlines.

Mom sent me a Christmas check, which I cashed and made a beeline for Barnes & Noble. I had been longing for a reckless book feast and the time has come! Shana offered to come with me, but I went alone this time so I could lollygag around reading snatches of the finalists and having a peek at books I've seen online but were not candidates for this trip. Somehow  no one really enjoys watching me pick through books for hours at a time! I made a beeline for the decorating, gardening, and crafts section, then basically pulled up a stool and looked over anything that had any appeal at all. It was lovely to dip into lots of books and decide which will be stacked up next to my reading chair. The winners:

The view from my kitchen door today

100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet, by Leslie Stanfield
The Knitter's Book of Socks, by the wonderful Clara Parkes
The Country Almanac of Housekeeping Techniques that Save You Money, by Richard Freudenberger
The Embroiderer's Handbook , by Margie Bauer
Interweave Knits Accessories 2011
And the December 19 & 26 issue of New Yorker


I browsed ferociously in the sections devoted to chicken husbandry, gardening in New England, and home decor, but stuck to crafts books for my purchases. The used book store around the corner, Isaiah Thomas Bookstore, carries lots of gardening books with a regional focus, so I think I'll go there first for those. For home decor I like to look on line and at magazines. For my knitting and craft books I really love the pleasure of a pristine new book with beautiful pictures, and I do indulge in new books because I keep them forever unless I pass them on to another knitter. I rounded out my shopping extravaganza with  pair of fleece pajama pants and a packet of shortbread cookies to go with my books.

I stopped at Trader Joe's while I was nearby to see if they had some tahini. They do carry tahini sauce, which suited my needs - the most recent batch of hummus was a little bland and really needed tahini and lemon. Trader Joe's also had KETTLE CORN COOKIES. The. Best Cookies. Ever. They are absolutely delicious and I did not even try to resist. I can't get out pf Joe's without some delicious snack.



On the needles right now - plain socks in Virginia Tech colors and a pair of Cookie A's Monkey socks in a turquoise and black from Plymouth Yarns Happy Feet. I don't know why, but something about the Monkey sock pattern makes it seem to go much faster than plain socks. It's just so much fun to see it growing like crazy!