This has been a good week, as any week that begins with Christmas Day should be! This year I was able to take the week between Christmas and New Year's off (long annoying work-related story, but the ending is happy!), so it's been extra nice.
And yes, it's been frigidly cold and today it is snowing, but a) I like wintertime, and b) I'm fortunate to have warm cozy clothes and kitties to cuddle. Lots of tea, knitting, wine, reading, laughing, yummy food and treats, seeing friends and making new ones. For such a crap year, my end of year has been perfect.
I knew things were going well when I ventured over to Loop earlier in the week to return some yarn, and had the chance to have a fun chat with friends who work there. (Yes, I returned yarn - after I bought it for a specific project, it just didn't speak to me when I pulled it back out. It hadn't been wound, and I had the receipt, so now I have a store credit, which will be very exciting down the road!) When I left there, I decided to wander into the used book store two doors down to poke around. I asked the guy if by any chance he had any books by Barbara Pym. She is one of my fave authors, and most of her books are out of print. And it's even hard to track them down via the library, so I figured it was worth asking him.
SCORE!!!!!
Behold - two hardcovers, one paperback, all in nearly perfect condition! Even better? All of them combined cost me just over twenty dollars! To say it made my day was an understatement.
Then on Thursday evening, we went out to the 'burbs to have dinner with Dee and her husband Steve, and it was wonderful because a) now they live close and we can see them, b) we love them both, and c) WE GOT TO MEET GIROUX!!!! Oh my God, he is so adorable, and he was showing off his new Philadelphia Flyers nametag, and he is perfect! Needless to say, he was not as impressed with us (as one would expect of a cat), but he did let me kiss him and hug him, so even if he was just being polite, I was in 7th heaven! We had a great evening, and got to see their really lovely and festive townhouse. They took us to dinner at this AH-MAZING Indian restaurant, and then we had some of the best cherry pie ever at their house afterwards. It was so much fun, and it's so nice that they moved up here from Florida.
Also, The Tim's fingerless mitts were finished after a small (HA!) blip and he loves them and they fit!
(I'll write a post about them, including the story of the blip. It's amusing so nothing to worry about.) I also finished my Holly Berry Socks, and today will finish my For the Birds top, as all that has been left to do for a while now is the neckline, and between being busy with other stuff and then forgetting to wind another skein of yarn, it's just been patiently waiting.
I didn't manage to knit 12 pairs of socks for my Box o' Socks this year, but I did knit 11 pairs!
Although, according to The Tim (Mr. Atheist), I did knit twelve, because I'm the sort of person "who would knit a pair of socks for Baby Jesus to keep his feet warm, and they don't need to be corporeal" ... I have to say that amused me greatly! I think he thought I was feeling bad that I was one pair off, and was hoping to make me feel better. :-)
Today we are staying put and just doing things around here that we are in the mood to do. The Tim is baking olive bread, so the house smells really wonderful right now. I'm getting ready to fold laundry and make our cheeseball for tomorrow evening. And we're watching/listening to "Carols from Kings" which we recorded on Christmas Eve, so it's a very pleasing day.
I hope your week has been a good one as well. If you are in the cold/snow snap, I do hope that you and yours are all OK. Enjoy the rest of your New Year's holiday weekend!
11 comments:
That is an awesome, well-deserved week with great books, mitts, socks, and comment from Tim! I'm going out to clear snow, and then coming in to knit, drink tea, and stay warm. Enjoy your cheeseball and the rest of your vacation!
What a wonderful week you had!!! And all those socks...wow! I love those mitts. I made a pair for The Mister once and it ended up being one of our biggest fights ever when he thought it was a good idea to wear them to fix a fence. Needless to say the mitts did not survive and his flip answer was just for me to make him another pair. When hell freezes over.
Happy New Year!
Giroux wants you to know he actually loved all the hugging and kissing. It's just not appropriate to SHOW you that. He really, really LOVED the gifts (as did we) and we thank you so much for coming all the way out here.
Glad you had a good time .....I know we sure did!!! And, hope to do it again soon.
The socks look great .... I think those grey ones with the crazy stripes are awesome!!!!
Wishing you, Tim and the boys a festive New Year's Eve and the best year EVER in 2018 ---- and ..............you MUST get out to knit with Vera and I one of these days!!!
What a lovely week you're having. Those socks you made are amazing! I just started to knit a pair myself. Thank you for sharing your book/new author. I'll have to look for some of her books. Wishing you a very Happy New Year. Pat xx
Through your words, I can "see" your smile. Great to hear that your week was a good one. Thanks for the reminder to pull out my box of socks.
So glad this week has been great (no work is Always great). Love all your socks and I have one of those Barbara Pym books in a bookcase but have never read it... I want to this year.
Echoing Dee...you MUST join us!!
Happy New Year to you, The Tim and all the kitties. Oh, and I love Tim's mitts.
I'm sooooo jealous you got to meet GIroux!!
The Tim's gloves look great.
I made Dave a similar brown pair a few years ago and I love seeing him wearing them.
I can sense your Joy throughout this post, and it could not be more deserved. I'm so glad you are enjoying a week off at this time!
Freezing here in NEO; we haven't seen temps above the teens in weeks. And it looks like another week of Polar Vortexing, at least. Like you, I am grateful that I have a warm home and cats to cuddle while under my fleece blankets.
Your sock collection (corporeal) is terrific and a Proud Accomplishment. Bravo!
So glad for all of you that Dee and Steve live close, they are so lovely. I think your Saturday sounds wonderful, those mitts and 11 pair of socks sounds like a good haul to me. Happy New Year.
whoa. 12 pairs! I am impressed. May your new 2018 be filled with peace, happiness and eternal joy! Oh and lots of knitting.
I love Barbara Pym! I discovered her many years ago when I was a member of the Quality Paperback Book Club -- in the early 1980s. I ordered an omnibus edition of "Some Tame Gazelle," "Excellent Women," and "Jane & Prudence" from the club, and devoured them. I went on the hunt for the rest of her books, which happily were still in print back then. I was saddened to learn that she had died a couple of years before I discovered her writing. I was able to acquire all of her books, though, and I treasure them. Perhaps it is time for a re-read -- I haven't read any of them in ages!
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