Prom Dresses I Have Sewn

Last night was "Snowball", a fancy dance at the high school. Katherine likes to design her gowns; I get the construction part of the projects. She would be satisfied with a masking tape hem and safety pins for the final fitting, so she is an easy person to please. My sewing standards are a little higher than that and the girl looks good in a dress, so all of the outfits have been successful.

Shoes, hair, make-up, jewelry, self-tanner, flowers, undergarments, swing dance lessons - Katherine takes care of all that. There was no date (a guy?) so her dad did the driving on snowy roads. Nine to midnight - three hours of fun.

Socks with Clocks

From the book Folk Socks, by Nancy Bush, this is the sock version of Stockings with Clocks, a design "inspired by the country stockings found in many parts of Europe". They are made with Lang Jawoll yarn in Oatmeal on US 1 needles.

Snowshoes

It was too cold to be outside for awhile this month so I resolved to go check out three of the local gyms. I only managed to walk in to one and I didn't last long. I don't think I am a gym person. Besides the weakness of the overall atmosphere, the $150 membership fee and the fact that I have to drive somewhere to exercise put me off. I was glad when the temperature rose to 20 degrees. I strapped on the snowshoes and have been back out in the fresh air. The first day I was breaking trail and up to my knees. It has been progressively easier since then and way better than that gym.

Tinkerbelle

(click to enlarge)

It snowed 19 inches yesterday. There was very little traffic at the airport. Tinkerbelle was the only passenger plane that made it out and that was only because it had landed before the snowstorm started. Dave took some pictures of the plane being deiced on the apron. It was deiced again while it sat in takeoff position at the end of the runway. The snowplows made a sweep down the runway, pulled off to the side and the jet followed the plows on a takeoff roll. A Fed Ex prop plane took off and that was it for the day.

The Cul-de-Sac

Pretty but Cold

I am a shut in. My brave neighbors are out skating and skiing, snowmachining and sledding. We went for a walk and our skin hurt. Our legs felt bare and moved stiffly.

So, instead of winter sports, we have savory dinners, with spicy sauces over rice. We have Netflix and Blockbuster and NPR podcasts. I have melancholy poems to read. The phone rings and it is one brother hauling fuel on a Nevada highway, then it rings again, another brother hauling a whole tanker of fuel across the Atlantic Ocean. Heading for Spain, driving to Elko.

We shared a turkey and all the sides with friends downtown. Katherine was with her mom on Thursday so we will conjure up another feast with her soon. Thanksgiving is a holiday with a false history that somehows keeps an intact core. Most of us are thankful for our rich lives and that is what we celebrate.

St Peter Port Stripes

I have been neglecting the blog and the knitting while watching The Sopranos on DVD. It would sound better if I was busy staying in shape or learning to speak Spanish but it wouldn't be true. Tony, Carmella, well, they do speak a little Italian...

These socks, St Peter Port Stripes from Folk Socks by Nancy Bush, are my third pair from the book. I have pair number four on the needles, but they are mostly just sitting there. I like to have this link with the past, these very traditional socks in my hands as I knit them and then on my feet as I wear them. These hail from the island of Guernsey and were all the rage in the seventeenth century. They were knit by the islanders for export. The hand knitting industry provided a major source of income in the Channel Islands for more than 200 years. Apparently Ms. Bush created this pattern based on a written description found in a letter from a Parisian merchant. History comes alive.