It's the Little Things

It is a dark, rainy Friday here. I've taken the day off to hang out with Mo (she's off because it's a parent/teacher conference day after a week of standardized testing), and though I let my alarm go off at the regular time this morning, I decided I could allow myself to snooze once. When I came downstairs, I added a little extra coffee to the pot so I could have two full cups in my favorite mug. The news has been hard this week, so I am trying to focus on life's little pleasures, like this view I had while on my walk yesterday morning -- that tree on the right was already a gorgeous shade of orange, but I happened to catch it as a beam of sunlight was hitting it, making it look like it was on fire:

One good thing to come out of this week? I finished my socks!

Pattern: Lot of Socks by Lisa K. Ross, size Medium
Yarn: West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply (75% wool/25% nylon) in Black and Rum Runner
Needles: US 2 (2.75 mm) and US 1 (2.25 mm)
Started/Completed: October 4/October 18

This pattern is one that is a lot easier than it looks. It's mosaic colorwork, which means you're only ever knitting with one color. That does mean that my fabric is still a little wonky, despite having washed the socks and smoothed them out a little to dry. I expect that as I wear them, everything will even out. They knit up pretty quickly, which I credit to the larger-than-usual needles I was using. It's amazing how much of a difference 0.75 millimeters can make!

In addition to keeping my eye out for bits of beauty and joy, a way of dealing with the heartache in the world at the moment has been small efforts to help others. These may not directly help with the current situation in the Middle East or other places where there is conflict, there are always people in need and always people who can be helped. Yesterday I made my fourth successful blood donation of the year; this was my 17th donation since I started actively focusing on it a few years ago. And because it's been a while since I last knit one, I cast on for a charity hat:

I'm using the variegated skein from the set I used for my COVID blanket, which I think looks a little like camouflage -- not really my aesthetic, but I know someone will love it. I'm using my top-down any yarn/any gauge pattern (Ravelry link) and plan to use up all the yarn if I can.

My parents are in Florida this month, so tonight we're taking dinner over to my brother and sister-in-law's house. Today Mo and I will be baking challah and a cake for dessert, and we're going to use some of our butternut squash to try a variation on a recipe I found online (subbing sun-dried tomatoes for the prosciutto and probably eliminating some of the butter). It's supposed to rain pretty much all day, so we will hang out at home and do some crafting in between active cooking time.

There's a lot of ugliness out there right now, friends, so remember to put your own oxygen mask on first. Have a the best weekend available to you, and take care.