Holiday Drifting

Flurries early, pristine and pearly. Winter's come calling! Can we endure so premature a falling? Some may find this trend distressing- others bend to say a blessing over sage and onion dressing. ― The Old Farmer's Almanac 2013

December 23rd, here we are again. I feel like I was dropped into the holidays from a cloud, not quite sure where I've landed and not quite ready for it all. Given the turbulent flight we took last week to get to Winnipeg, you can almost take that literally. But here we are, in one piece and already full of holiday treats.

We couldn't bring Seymour with us. He's having his own holiday with the dog sitter. That didn't mean he could escape from the obligatory doggie humiliation of being dressed up by his mommy. I wish he didn't look so sad. He sure loved all the attention he got when we took him downtown to show him off:

I feel truly unprepared and out-of-rhythm, so much so that I turned up to my annual Christmas visit with my friend Linette completely empty-handed. I still feel sad about it... I hate to be the one to break a tradition. She didn't mind, because she knows what a whirlwind the last few weeks have been for me. She's been busy too, but she managed to crank out this adorable wee hen on the bus ride to meet us for lunch. There are no people quite as impressive as knit-people:

We've done very little since we've been here, mostly helping out at home and going out for walks and finding places to hang out that aren't too busy. We found ourselves at McNally Robinson Booksellers today, which is one of my most favourite places in town. It opened a donkey's age ago while I was still in university, and it's just as magical a place as I remembered. I even bought a book... which is a bit laughable, because I have a terrible habit of leaving unfinished books all over the house. Such is the affliction of a knitter: you can't knit and read at the same time unless you listen to audiobooks, which is something else I can't even organize myself to do. Perhaps that's a resolution I should commit to next year. It gives me an excuse to hang out more often in places like this:

But the knitting... it still takes its precedence, monopolizing my hands with its slow emergent loveliness. How could I put it down when each stitch continues to mesmerize and soothe me, even in a swirly, whirly world as this?

I'm slowly making my way through my modified Loro Vest. I'm nearly ready to join the second ball, and so far I'm really liking the result. The back is lovely with its moss stitch texture:

And I'm very happy with the way this cable choice is working out:

I have yet to memorize the pattern and am still quite dependent on the chart, but perhaps my distractedness is partially due to me stopping to admire the cable so often:

But who am I kidding? I am a victim of mindless scrolling on my phone these days. It is a terrible affliction I picked up recently, a method to soothe myself during times of unease. If it weren't for the guilt of missing another blog post, perhaps I would be doing so right now. In the back of my mind, I have other plans for other projects brewing, and perhaps when I close this laptop, I better put pen to paper and do some sketching... stretch out my mind and stay away from the humourless glow of the screen...

Or maybe I'll have another piece of shortbread. And watch some more Indiana Jones. It is Christmas, after all....

Have a lovely holiday week!