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 The weather has finally turned chilly enough to bring out the hand knit mittens and heavier shawls. I wear light shawl just about all year. The clocks turned back to Standard Time and everyone is suitably groggy. This morning I took my car in for snow tires, so I have the excuse that I am stuck at home on a chilly, rainy day. I have some computer work to do, but I find it so frustrating when each click is just one teeny bit different than it used to be. It feels like the laptop is not listening to me.

 Now that Hallowe'en is over, I can earnestly and openly launch into Christmas preparations. I will take inventory of all the knits and gifts I have gathered throughout the year. Not a spreadsheet, but there may be coloured markers.
First: I made Delia Smith's Christmas Chutney as encouraged by the Bakery Bears Podcast. I had almost all the ingredients anyway and my DH loves vinegary things. It has to sit at least a month. Then we'll see if it can grace our turkey sandwiches.

 We had a road trip to 88 Stitches and enjoyed everything about it: the company, the yarn selection, the picnic in a riverside park, and the tea at my place after.

 I am a bit of a parking freak. We were taught in the Medical Corps to always park so you can get out easily. Next to us, this behemoth parked in two spots and knocked over the midwife sign. Sigh.

 I picked up some Sweet Fiber in Winter for a Duchess of Devonshire shawl (also by Bakery Bears).

 After driving a friend of a friend to the airport, I was trying to find my way back to the familiar, and I came across the new old yarn shop in Abbotsford. The manager has bought it and made it her own with luxury yarns and wide open spaces. She continues to be friendly and interested in the knitters.

 My secret knitting is starting to wear on my. I think making a fingering weight men's large sweater may have been folly. The first sleeve is nearing completion. Perhaps I will block the front and back today while I'm home. But I think the worry that D will never wear it has me balking. If there are lurkers here, please keep this project a secret. It has been more than a year in the making.

 Much more quickly, I finished the baby blanket for my great niece for Xmas. When I found out that her big brother did like the one I made him, I jumped into the project that I had planned for her birth present. His blanket stays in the car and can get all messy and washed as intended. This makes me happy.

Even with the heavy rains, there are periods of calm when I like to get outside and enjoy the paths just as they are. I don't long for the summer flowers or heat. This is a lovely time to be doing just what is coming up.