Blizzard Shmizzard

Hi Knitters,
Madison is in the grips of yet another blizzard today with a layer of ice already coating the roads. Every school district in southern Wisconsin is closed, including all Madison private schools but guess what lucky kids have school today? That's right, mine. My sad kids trudged through the blizzard to school today because the Madison public schools are open for business. I know people think Wisconsin is all farms but truthfully we are city people. Madison schools rarely shut down due to snow because they are city schools where most of the kids live in the neighborhood where the schools are located. If not they ride the bus a short distance. I was really wishing for a snow day with my kids. I am worse than they are.

The snowbank outside my front door is probably 3-4 feet at this point. This is the kind of snow I grew up with, mountains of snow.

I just pulled out my Alan Dart Yuletide Gnome from Simply Knitting's Bumper Book of Patterns. I have had a lot of people write me to ask where to get this book and I am sorry to say I have no idea. I kind of forgot about him. He looks at home out there.

I started this Noro Silk Garden striping scarf last night. I love it. What is it about that striping yarn that always gets me? There are tons of these scarves out in blogland right now. I am following brooklyn tweed's free pattern. Fun, fun. (Hey Renee, we make at least two of the Scott's Bakery gingerbread houses every year! It is the best kit ever.)

I finished these up yesterday. What a quick, fun project. These will be wrapped and under the tree for a certain someone.

Here is one more fun holiday tip for you. I am a nut for seasonal children's literature. More than a dozen years ago I was at a friend's house and she had a decorative sleigh that she filled with Christmas books. I loved this idea and began my own tradition for the seasons. I bought this antique box right after I first got married and with every season change I pull out collections of seasonal books and put them in this box. Even my older kids love this tradition. My winter collection of books has gotten so large over the years that I fill a few boxes around the house. I do this for winter/Christmas, fall/Halloween, spring/easter, and summer. It keeps the kids loving the books because it is like they are new again every year.

The lovely Stacie sent me this link for a mini-mitten pattern. This one is good because it gives instruction for different gauges of yarn. Thank you!

I hope you are all safe and warm on this Tuesday.

best, susie