Rudi got some time off to clear his head yesterday morning, and I got some this afternoon, when I spent a couple hours at a cafe reading and luxuriating in the sunshine.

This is the view behind me of the Uintas:

And this is off toward the west and the Oquirrhs (pronounced like ochres):

We’re out in Salt Lake dealing with some family stuff that is taking a lot of mental and emotional energy — but it’s not my story to share. For the next little while, I’m probably going to go light on content, so my apologies for that.

Three beautiful things from today:

1. When I arrived to see Rudi’s mom, she was eating with gusto the dumplings that the aide had made especially for her.

2. Salt Lake has put a mask mandate into place, which makes me much happier about being indoors.

3. I got to walk in the sun a bit today.

Someday, someone’s going to write on my gravestone, “Really liked sleeping on couches.”

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Lovely sunsets in Florida and Utah (we caught the first part while we were walking in a park and then I made Rudi pull into a cemetery so he could see what it became after that).

2. A kind Moldovan tech who speaks Russian to Rudi’s mom and who offered to make her some varenyky (Russian pierogi-like dumplings)

3. Pizza outdoors on New Year’s Eve with Sarah and Rudi

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

Greetings! It’s been a few weeks since you’ve seen any knitting in these here parts, since I went dark before the holidays as I was working on a Christmas present for my mom, who reads this blog. (Hi, Mum!)

As you can see here, I am still working on her Christmas present, despite this being the project (work or otherwise) that I most wanted to finish by year’s end. But the great thing about knitting is that it will be a great shawl when I do hand it over, hopefully the next time I see her — maybe next month? After all, it’s bigger than a babushka now!

I started a new book this evening, another Christmas romance. It’s overdue back at the Virginia library from which I borrowed it, but the 8 inches of snow we started the week with made it impossible to return it on Monday when I’d planned to, and then I had to get on a plane on Tuesday afternoon. So I figured if it was going to sit unread on my coffee table until I got back to town, it might as come with me and get read. Plus, I suppose I can always mail it back if need be.

Head over to As Kat Knits to see what others are reading and crafting this first week of the new year!

The start to 2022 has been a little more distressing than we’d expected, which means that until I happened to check Twitter on Monday evening and discovered the Bout of Book Twitter chat going on, I’d neglected to see that we’d come back around to our thrice-a-year readalong.

I did follow up the Twitter chat by finishing two books — one in print and one audiobook — so whatever happens the rest of the week is icing on the cake.

Might you be interested in participating?

The Bout of Books readathon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It’s a weeklong readathon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 3rd, and runs through Sunday, January 9th, in YOUR time zone. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are reading sprints, Twitter chats, and exclusive Instagram challenges, but they’re all completely optional. For all Bout of Books 33 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

Come join us!