Busy weekend

We had one of those busy, productive weekends. On Saturday I made a batch of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies to send with my oldest son on his camping trip. Teenaged boys ALWAYS appreciate homemade cookies. We kept a few out to fill a bag for our neighbors who gave us Lucy. Later in the day the boys and I made our first batch of gingerbread cookies. I love gingerbread cookies but I'm not the best at rolling out dough so I don't make a lot of cut out cookies. Gingerbread cookies, however, are a tradition and my middle son is a stickler for tradition. Jeff and the middle son also went out to cut down the tree that we tagged in November.

On Sunday we needed to pick up the oldest boy from his camping trip, get him home to shower and drive him to Youth Group. We also picked up Lucy from the neighbors so she can live at our house now. While oldest boy was at Youth Group I did grocery shopping - following sales and coupons at two different stores. After Youth Group and grocery shopping we came home for dinner and decorated our tree. I love decorating the tree. As we go through the ornaments the boys pick out their special ones - the Lenox rocking horses they got from their aunt the year they were born, First Christmas ornaments, silly ornaments from Mimi (like the police car with a siren that works), and ornaments they made. I also tell them who gave us particular ornaments or when we got them - though by now they know most of this and may tell me first. Our tree will never make any decorating magazines but I love it and all the memories it holds.

On Saturday I was determined to do the short row heel on my second First Toe Up Trekking sock. It took me three tries. I got the rhythm and really understood it on the second try but I dropped a stitch almost at the end and had no idea how to pick it back up because of the wraps. I couldn't fix it so it looked okay so I frogged. Again. I got the heel done on the third try and then knit a few rows of the leg. I'm not enamored of the short row heel. I can't say I like the way it looks. At some point I need to find a real live person who can sit with me while I knit one to point out a better way to do things (my LYS owner was very, very helpful but she doesn't knit socks and had never done a short row heel before). Until then, I'm sticking with my regular cuff down socks.



To reward myself for all that hard work, I cast on for a pair of Dublin Bay socks. The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill in a colorway called Tropical Storm. This is my first time using Cherry Tree Hill yarn. It's wonderful! The yarn is very sproingy and soft. It's going to make wonderful socks. It was impossible to get good lighting this weekend but I tried anyway. I've got the cuff almost done - even doing the k1p1 ribbing called for in the pattern because I like the way it flows into the lace. I'm going to have to force myself to finish that second Trekking sock.