Cheated

  We live in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains. It's January 12th. Know how much snow we've had? 4 1/2". Four of 'em in October. Nearing the end of a long tough week at work, made worse by a rip-roarin' stomach thing that left me feeling gutted by a backhoe, and dreaming of the weekend. We may not see snow but we're going to finally get some fresh, cold, crispy air (sounds like lettuce). I see spicy tea with honey, hot chocolate, blankets, and knitting by the fire. I'm making one of my sons a blanket (which will end up stashed away as a Christmas present, which will make me feel tremendously virtuous and ahead of the game in November!). Tried this thing over and over using circular needles and it just wasn't working for me. Then I got an idea from one of my favorite knitting resources to do it in squares and then 'sew' it all together with yarn. It's a checkerboard stitch, done in solid color squares (well, okay, square-ISH; measurements were off so it's actually going to be rectangles) of varying hues of blue, and will be sewn with cream-colored yarn.

  After the abundance of Christmas, when Linda and my sister had similar thoughts and each gifted me with roving in a dozen shades, I was faced with a dilemma. Between roving (alot) and yarn (a relatively small stash, but still), and assorted supplies for knitting and felting, the cedar chest simply couldn't keep up. It was already covered with four ugly totes, and still wool was tumbling about, begging to be used as Lola toys. A chance drive-by had alerted us to a barrister bookcase available at a very reasonable price and so:

Voila! Colorful, cozy, accessible wool--and I was able to bring my woolly books out of hiding! On top I put a wooden toolbox I'd bought for Linda years ago that hasn't been used because it was too impractical. It's perfect for storing everything from knitting and felting supplies to business cards. I even made myself a list of what's in what drawer, which is fantastically organized as long as I don't forget what drawer I put the list in (psst! it's in the top drawer; remind me if I forget, please).

I smile every time I walk into the livingroom and see all those colors begging to be touched and played with, glowing in the firelight.