Bad weather sucks

Well, this was supposed to be Family Christmas Weekend at my Mom's but due to freezing conditions and snow in the valley, we're staying put. This means there will be no family time at all this Christmas, and it will be another year of Christmas at home, only distinguishable from any other day by the opening of our presents (at this point, to my knowledge, we have 2). Oh, and prime rib and cheesecake for dinner, which admittedly is quite abnormal. And fatty.

But also not having family time means I can just mail any unfinished gifts after Christmas instead of rushing to finish them. You might be wondering how I can have unfinished gifts (besides the Pretty Blanket Which Will Take Forever for my Mom), since I started knitting them months and months ago? Well the answer is LAST MINUTE REQUESTS. Hooray for people who neglect to tell you until the week before Christmas what they want- and it includes handknit items! This is forgivable of the 8 yr old with slacker parents (he wants fingerless gloves- easy peasy), but less so in the 20-something knitter. In her defense though, she said no problem if it wasn't done by Christmas. Oddly enough, it probably will be, but it sure isn't making it to Seattle by mail in 5 days, especially since I'm currently waiting for my newly-dyed yarn to dry so I can start knitting.

That's right- simply knitting is not enough for me, I've taken one more step into the woolly and wonderful world of fiber arts by taking up hand-dyeing! It's actually really easy and fun (though similarly to knitting it's much less fun when it's not turning out properly). I'm using food coloring and Wilton's frosting paste with citric acid, so I can do it in our crock pot, no worries. It's so cool to blend colors, dump the dye onto white yarn and turn on the crock pot, only to come back later to colored yarn in clear water. Thus far I have dyed 2 skeins of fingering weight silk & merino yarn light greens & blues for my Aunt's shawl (she's doing well, but hasn't started chemo yet) and now some bright green aran wool/ cashmere for the last-minute gift, a slouchy cabled beret which I hope will well-received, even if it is late.

Other than the dyeing and blanket, I'm also working on a cardigan for myself. I was supposed to sub once this week, but it too got canceled due to nasty weather in the valley- school here was in session, but sporting events in other towns that required teachers to miss school were canceled. Last weekend I made panforte, a Tuscan Christmas dessert we enjoyed in Siena (tons of ground nuts and chopped homemade candied citrus peel- it took FOREVER). Thursday I attended R's office holiday party, did a lot of running around, and made applesauce cinnamon cake for craft night, which we hosted. I also read Yarn Harlot (much of it out loud to R, because it was so funny). I'm definitely a very different type of knitter, but I did thoroughly enjoy the book.

I guess it's time to make Christmas cookies now, eh? Maybe glazed sugar cookies, which are one of my favorites, though labor-intensive. And heating up the oven helps keep the house warm; you can really see why things like casseroles and baked dishes are traditionally winter foods- not only do they warm you, the also warm your house! It must have been important in the days before central heating. Speaking of toasty warmth- I'm going to go help put up my birthday hammock in the garage to enjoy the glowing fire. So as a jolly old man once said- Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!