Category: Home and Family

I liked making the Embossed Leaves socks so much (more below) that I wanted another pattern that has lots of dimension and is fun to knit. I chose Monkey (from the Winter 2006 Knitty). The yarn is Mountain Colors Bearfoot in “Thunderhead.” I haven’t used this yarn before (gasp!) and I reallyreally like it. These socks will be for my niece Rachel, who chose the yarn almost a year ago when we were yarn shopping in Maryland. She wanted gloves, but has decided that socks are good, too. Good thing for me, considering my current single-mindedness. So, Rachel, don’t hold me to a deadline, but tell me how long your foot is, and one day soon you might have Monkeys on your feet.

There has been more purging of the messes in my house. Yesterday I began on the closet, and by the time I was tired of it I’d taken four big bags to the dump, and another big bag to the charity bin. I had to make a couple of desperate calls to get permission to throw away certain things, but aside from those moments of doubt I did pretty well. Not only did I remove heaps of stuff from the closet, I consolidated as well. I’m not finished in there by any means, but at least I can see the floor now!

While I hadn’t intended to, I opened the boxes of Stuff that my nieces and my sister packed for me when we sorted our mother’s apartment a year and a half ago. They were in storage till last September, and they’ve been in my kitchen since then. While I had an idea what was in them, I had been avoiding the task of opening them up, not wanting to deal with the bittersweet emotions that I was sure I’d find inside. Well, girls, it sure was fun to see what you decided to burden me with! I love the one blue plate, and the silverware, and the old napkin holder. The three dogs are sweet, and so are my Dick and Jane readers. The bread knife and the cups and bowls are old friends I’m happy to have. But the rusty tin of old birthday candles?