Its a new year. The kids have returned to school. Connor's therapy schedule goes back to normal. Richard's office and teaching schedule return..

Its a relief, and also a little sad. Vacation is over.

But... the contract project was finished and shipped off (Its a horrid pattern. I wouldn't suggest it to anyone. I'll talk more about it.. if, when, it makes it to the site or catalog.) The previous one I returned is now up on the site, but I'm not telling which it is until I receive my catalog. This all means, I can go back to knitting what I want to knit.. when I want to.

More relief.

I've started another Gretel, a woven stitch scarf, which will likely be frogged - its not coming out the way I expected, the second basic sock is on the needles. I have plenty to keep my hands busy.

With that said, I haven't made resolutions, but I have set goals for myself. They are..

Get organized or be more organized. I'm sick of looking for obscure paperwork. Or for seasonal clothes for the kids. I need to organize them better in the attic so that they can be pulled out easily.

Make a routine and stick to it. Connor's sensory issues demand this. And some behind the scenes family happenings will also require this.

Be more creative. Not just knit already published patterns. Finally get down to brass tacks with the shawl design mulling in my noggin and get.it.done.

Spin more. And ultimately use more self spun yarn (which means BUY LESS commercially spun yarn.)

Family menus, where we all eat LESS meat.

Cook more. I love to cook.. I should be more adventurous in the kitchen.

Research buying a violin. I want to learn to play one. I've put this goal off for years.. its time to research buying one and actually learning!

I meant to take a picture before we cleared the driveway, but I forgot.. and it was much more important that we got the driveway clear. I kid you not.. there were 5 foot drifts up to the wood fence. And the area between the stone wall and the front of the van had drifted in. When I was able to back the van out this morning, imprinted in the packed snow was our license plate!

But with all that yucky winter weather, it sure was nice coming into the living room and sitting in front of this..

The fireplace/chimney technician was so nice. He didn't even charge me full price since hes a neighbor (only living 2 blocks down the street. Us Valley folk gotta stick together ya know!) He declared the chimney so perfect that he didn't even need to clean it. He also made my day by alerting us that both fireplaces.. the living room and the office, share a chimney. Each arch up to form an upside down Y and merge. That means that the fireplace in the office is safe to use as well!

While I very much like the heat from a traditional hardwood, roaring, crackling, fire.. I cannot stand the smell. I swear the whole house reeked like a smoky link on Saturday. Instead we've been using store bought fire logs. Its a trade off.. I know.

What else did I do this weekend? I finished Christmas shopping. OK.. I need some stocking stuffers, but I'll pick those up when I hit the market on Wednesday evening. I also got to visit with Patric a bit while he cut my hair (its growing out nicely!) And lastly, I learned that when you mix holiday shoppers with people trying to get last minute needs before a big storm hits, you end up with lots of traffic, long lines, and extremely irate people. It wasn't fun. I left at 8:30 in the morning. I didn't get home until FIVE!

After dinner, Richard and I sat down to watch "Super Bad", and well.. it was super bad. We heard so many great reviews, but this just sucked to the extreme. There were a few funny parts.. big time laugh out loud funny parts, but they certainly didn't make up for the rest of the movie. One of the worst movies I've seen in a very VERY long time.

Thanks for the tips on Eucerin. I've used it in the past, but I can't stand the way it makes my skin feel when its on. I mean, really can't stand it. I've toughed it out a few times, in the name of cracked skin, but I also don't think it works all that great for me. Instead I've been using Mary Kay night cream (the thick pink stuff) then putting on cotton gloves at bedtime. Its definitely helping. But shoveling lots of snow has set me back a bit.

Just taking out a minute, in my hyper scramble towards the holidays. Shopping, baking, cleaning, shoveling snow. Oh and a pesky contract knitting deadline in which I'm very likely to pass and be late, by at least one day if I'm to get any sleep at all this week! Again I'm grateful I'm not doing much of any holiday knitting this year, or I'd be in big trouble. I tweaked my right wrist, and as usual with this time of year, my skin is dry and cracking, no matter what brand of lotion I use, or how much I use of it. This ailment has made meeting any sort of knitting deadline a little tricky.

But last night, as I trucked along on the deadline project, Richard helped the kids write letters to Santa. I missed the first part of the conversation, the part in which urged Richard to remind them that there are indeed some children who don't have a light in their home to write their letter to santa. They go to bed hungry at night. And have no heat to keep them warm.

Cassidy proceeds to start her letter to Santa by saying..

Dear Santa,

First, please bring the poor people some light bulbs..

And for some reason, Alex thinks he'll be getting not only a Wii, but also an XBox360, aaannnnd a Playstation 2. Oh.. and an iPod and Gameboy DS!

Dylan, sweet kid.. only wants more Lego Star Wars kits (which are not in the already purchased and nicely tucked in the attic, Santa stash. This means some more shopping.)

Today the skies clear a bit, allowing warmer temperatures to melt the 7" of snow that fell yesterday. This will permit some last minute shopping tonight and tomorrow morning before the skies open wide to take another wintery shit on Saturday evening into Sunday. Oh joy. This also allows time for the glass/window guy to stop by on Saturday to fix the window in Cassidy's room that Alex broke by pushing Connor into it (!!!!) No injuries thankfully (what is it with this kid and windows?) As well as the chimney sweep guy to come inspect the fireplace and give it a cleaning. If it requires any serious repairs, we will not have a fire on Christmas morning and it will have to wait. Keep your fingers crossed that all that is needed is a little cleaning.

Now back to those knitting needles with deadlines..

That little project I was working on last week, only briefly mentioned? Well this is it. This was my mindless, "I need a break from that shawl" project. It knit up so incredibly fast, and the best thing of all, it actually looks good on me. What you can't see in this picture, are the vintage buttons from my Grammy's collection, holding down that strappy thing. I looove the buttons. They are absolutely nothing special, except that the color perfectly matches this yarn.

Pattern: Woven by Thea Colman (a lucky find at Ravelry)

Yarn: UK Alpaca Luxury Alpaca (dk weight) in mossy green

Needles: Addi Turbo US#5 16" circular (dpns for the last few rows at the top decreases)

I'll definitely make this again, though next time I'll make it a teensy smidge longer, like only a half inch or so.

And something not done..

The Boutique Scarf by Pamela Grossman.

I remember Pam posting about this scarf on her blog way back when, and longing for the pattern. Well she came through and put it up for sale as a download at Collage. Its lovely, its easy, and I'm actually more than halfway done! I'll probably be able to finish it up tonight while I wait for Cassidy to finish her Brownie meeting. And perhaps you recognize the yarn? Its the shimmer merino/bombyx from A Piece Of Vermont that I finished spinning at the end of October.

Knitting will seriously slow down now, except for the contract project, as the holidays loom near. I have so much to do. I'm not done shopping.. gifts or feast fixin's. Lots of baking to do. Lots of wrapping. Lots of decorating. My list grows by the minute.

Our snow fall as of 2:30 PM, and its still snowing. New forecast predicts an additional 7-10" by tomorrow afternoon. The streets are pretty clear right now, but that will likely change as the temperature dips at sundown. Richard has to teach again tonight (ugh!) And please, oh please, not another snow day tomorrow.

Loren says "enough complaining" but ugh.. I just hate this weather. I'm soooo over the "thats so pretty" stage, and have moved quickly into "Florida doesn't sound so bad" territory.

Nancy commented:

I trust Richard got home ok.

Indeed he did. And early too (I called him to let him know the roads were horrid and perhaps he should send his students, many who commute quite a distance, safely HOME.) Tonight however, I'll be in the same boat as last night.. worrying.

I realized shortly after posting earlier this evening, that it has indeed, been a while since I uploaded a picture. Again, this has been mostly to do with my inability to share publicly what I've been working on.

So in that, and also in wanting to document the first "real" snow storm of the season, I got out my camera. Seriously though, its snowing like crazy. And I'm incredibly worried about Richard, as he teaches the first class of the quarter tonight (Why don't schools close around here? The streets are HORRIBLE!) I went out shortly after getting the kids settled, to do a quick sweep of the driveway. Doing this, there wouldn't be so much to shovel later this evening when I'd need to get it all clear for Richard to come home. By the time I got to the end of the driveway, the beginning had an inch of newly fallen snow. And news10now has upped the accumulation prediction to 10+ inches in Syracuse. Oh Joy.

Looking out my side door, through the yard, and across the street to our neighbor's decorated house. Can't really see the snow falling though, can you?

How 'bout now?

Since moving to central NY, I've done nothing if not bitch endlessly about this lake effect crap. It never stops. But honestly I'm generally pretty tickled with the first snow. Its beautiful, and peaceful, and it makes me want to bundle up and go caroling. That is, if only Richard were safe at home.

I didn't get much sleep last night *yawn* and I've been dragging my behind all day long. My long list of things to do as of nearly 4PM, only has two things scratched off. Among them, I intended to pull down the bins of Christmas decorations today, but I completely lack the energy. I know once I get them down here, I'll want to start decorating.. and I really shouldn't.. yet.

You'll notice the total lack of knitting on the blog lately. Its because I'm still working on projects that I can't show just yet. The first being my holiday spinning guild project (our holiday meeting is on this coming Sunday. After then, I'll be showing it off!) I'm close to finishing... oh so close. Maybe another 3 or 4 repeats and I can cast off and block. The second is the latest contract project. My deadline is looming.. and I'm only halfway done. I'd love to have this one behind me (I'm not enjoying this one.. at all.)

And of course, despite my pledge to not knit anything for Christmas this year, I am going to try to get four of these done before Christmas morning for the kids. Of course they have stockings already, but only the older three have matching ones, since I purchased them before I got pregnant with Connor. They are adorable stockings.. very Dr Seuss-ish.. but I really want them to all match.

Off for a coffee refill, count the minutes until I can order Chinese take-out, and try to fold another load of laundry without yawning.

See, I skip a few days, then return with lots of pictures..

Behold.. Momos. Mine aren't as pretty as the ones on the wiki link, but I bet they taste better! And you can be sure, I definitely ate more than three. I only put three in the bowl for the purpose of taking a picture!

Fellow fans of the Loopy Ewe will recognize what arrived in my mailbox on Saturday. See, once you place your sixth order, you become a "Loopy Groupie". I knew about the tote bag, but I wasn't expecting BONUS yarn! Whoa Sheri.. very nice surprise! And truth is.. I didn't even realize this was my sixth order, so my "Loopy Status" really was a surprise! If you are the type that cares about what I bought... I ordered the SKNITches Kettle Drum "Cherry Bark" bamboo/merino/nylon sock yarn there on the right. The surprise sock yarn is two skeins of Shibui superwash merino in the "Breeze" colorway. Squee!

I couldn't pass up the hand painted fiber sale at Spunky Ecclectic. Isn't this colorway amazing? See? My favorite colors! Three bundles of blue faced leicester (I swear this is my new favorite fiber!) Amy's colorways are beautiful.. and the selection of fiber, vast. More Squee!

I knit this hat for myself last week, using the Sublime merino silk cashmere dk that Byrony sent me over the summer. Well apparently my ability to pull off the hat look has expired. Good thing Cassidy can though! What a ham, huh? And thanks to Rosa for linking to bighugelabs where I made the mosaic. (What a find!)

Want to know which pattern? You can get the pattern here.

Lastly.. Talk me out of driving back over to Marshall's in Fairmount to buy these shoes. I tried them on yesterday. I almost bought them before I talked myself out of it with my usual mental argument : Shoe whore - You idiot, Christmas is coming - Heating season - Gas up to 3.31 a gallon - We really want to buy a new sofa - And the TV is on its last legs - But I waaaaant them - $110.00 retail, compared to the $38.99 price tag at Marshalls...

See the inner struggle at work here?

Wonder if I can sell off some yarn to buy the shoes because I.can't.stop.thinking.about.them!