So, it seems that Christmas is coming up soon. I have exactly one Christmas present made and eight ordered. That's it. Though I have several other things planned and in process. I have this baby sweater to finish for a shower, one Christmas present that is started, one Channukah present that is nearly finished, but still may not make it to our friends in time, and nothing else done. Also, Sea Smoke kind of got subsumed by Thanksgiving. I'm working pretty madly to get it published in the next week.


The last couple weeks have been pretty great for me, in terms of yarn, though. I had my Paradise package show up, Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere in deep, jewel, peacock colors, Peacock Room was dyed specially for the club, plus one MadelineTosh club had its last package this month and another started up this month, so I have two from them. The last shipment from one Magnolia club was DK Twist in a dark, plummy, maybe wood rose color, Satomi, and the first package from the other Magnolia club was a gorgeous silk and wool blend that is a new base, 50/50 DK, in a mallardish blue green called Wavelength. The colors this month are really me and go rather well together. I'd like to turn the cashmere blend into a beaded shawl, and the 50/50 DK into a sleeveless top (I have just enough), but I'm not sure what to do with the DK Twist, yet.


I've finished two books, though. One was for fun for me (and to see if it was appropriate to let our boys read it) and the other was for Elijah and Amira's lessons. The Heroes of Olympus Book Five: The Blood of Olympus was a good conclusion to the series. I'm still not thrilled with all the topics Riordan introduced (especially as they seemed forced and not naturally flowing from the story or characters) or with the increasingly vulgar language that was used by the characters, but we're letting the older two boys read it, and are not sure about the rest of the kids. Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of 'The Iliad' was fun, and we enjoyed this story to go along with their history studies. I still come out of the Iliad thinking that Oenone is the only sympathetic character, and just barely.



Also posting to Keep Calm and Craft On

Labels: Books, Design, Homemaking, Knitting, Yarn, Yarn Along