I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

But it’s green and gray instead as usual. Oh well, my family guests won’t have to worry about driving in slippery conditions. Nobody around here can manage in the snow. Even a centimeter has them freaked out before it even settles on the ground. In my whole life I can only remember 5 or 6 actual White Christmases so it’s not usually a problem. Darn. However, last night poor Santa needed a rubber dinghy instead of a sleigh and the reindeer needed water wings. It rained so hard! Right now though, I can see a sliver of blue sky under the gray. But it's not permanent.

This is just a short breather before the storm of cooking and visiting. I just can’t keep myself from blogging anyway even when I should be doing something else. Turkey (aka The Bird) is already stuffed and in the oven then it’s KP duty on the mountains of spuds needing peeling. The other veggies (baby carrots and broccoli — no Brussels sprouts for this girl!) will get tucked into pots to await their turn on the stove. I’d share the turkey liver with the cats but I like it and they don’t (and neither does the T-Man) so it’s all mine for lunch! Yum. I have enough cutlery for the Thundering Hordes but since I don’t have a dishwasher, we’re doing paper plates. Hate the garbage this creates but I’m not washing that many dishes, assuming I even had enough. Paper breaks down into compost along with the napkins and the turkey bones. Besides paper plates (Royal Chinet!) are traditional along with the fact that the family is just too darn big now to have a sit-down meal at any of our houses. We’ve always managed just fine. You do what you’ve gotta do.

Meanwhile, I have a Finished Object — two actually! I completed my Fingerless Mitts last night while watching Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas”. (Love that movie! Gets me totally in the spirit of the season. Really! OK, I’m warped.) See my mitts.

Fingerless Mitts
Started: December 16, 2005
Finished: December 24, 2005
Pattern: Marnie MacLean’s Del Mar from the Winter 05/06 issue of Spindlicity
Yarn: handspun 2-ply sport-weight from Aurelia rovings, one ply each of Boysenberry Glitter and Tamarillo
Needles: 3.75 mm Clover Takumi bamboo dpns (set of 4)
Comments: I didn’t quite follow the pattern. (So what else is new?!) I used smaller needles than called for and knit the larger sized mitts to compensate. They came out just right. I divided the knitting into the front lace half on one needle and the back ribbing divided on the other 2 needles. This worked very well. I didn’t do the recommended crochet around the thumb area. It looks perfectly nice the way it is and I didn’t want to tighten it up any because it fits fine.

Looking forward to tomorrow’s quiet...er, this evening’s festive gathering. Hope everyone else is enjoying theirs too. Merry Christmas!