Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. I promise sorbet for a work-related potluck and find in-season blood oranges at Trader Joe’s. It turns out surprisingly sweet (like orange candy), but brilliantly hued.

2. As I’m walking home from an afternoon out and passing the local elementary school playground, I think, “That kid sort of looks like Holden.” It is, and I spend a pleasant quarter hour catching up with Susan and her family.

3. I love the library’s website, because it lets me put things on hold and then they’ll just reserve them for me when they’re next available. This week, two titles I’m really excited about have come in: Neil Patrick Harris’ autobiography, styled after a choose-your-own-adventure book from the ’80s (which I cracked open on the train home), and the first volume of Ms. Marvel, a superhero graphic novel (which I’ll pick up at the local branch over the weekend).

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

Look! It’s actual knitting I’ve done this week! I mean, it’s a pathetic amount (and horribly lit, sorry about that), but given how little I’ve knit the last month, I’m pleased. Plus, because it’s a test knit of a cowl pattern, I know it’ll get done in the next couple weeks.

The book I started over the weekend as I was nearing the end of a couple others. It’s Nina Bankovitch’s Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Celebrating the Joys of Letter Writing. I’m only through the introduction and first chapter, but I’m enjoying it so far.

Today’s Ten on Tuesday topic is 10 Things I’m Happy about Right Now:

1. The orchids my uncle sent me the birthday before he died are still alive. One has three flowers and fresh growth, and a second has buds that ought to reveal themselves before my birthday next month.
2. I checked around before I hopped on the Southwest fare my mother let me know about. I found a flight that leaves from the airport five miles from my house (rather than an hour away) for less money.
3. I’m heading to see my folks for a long weekend in a couple weeks.
4. I figured out a new-to-me stitch (with help from commentary from my fellow test-knitters) without having to bug the designer.
5. We took the Christmas tree out last night and they were picked up for recycling by the city today.
6. My hair is long enough to wear in two pigtails.
7. My knees don’t feel 40 while I’m playing volleyball and don’t start until after I’m home. (They still feel fine now, but I know they’ll remind me of their age tomorrow.)
8. Rudi made crepes for dinner.
9. My tank top is soft and sparkly.
10. The last few days’ weather has been pleasantly warm. I sat out in the sunshine yesterday at a cafe, reading and knitting, and today when I ran out for a sandwich, I didn’t bother with a coat.

How about you? What’s making you happy right now?

This week has been… well, it’s been unproductive. I’m hoping that this weekend will include some sleep, which certainly couldn’t hurt my chances of improving upon it next week.

I’m hoping to get a bunch of things done this weekend, in addition to the sleeping:

• Enjoy the last few days of our Christmas tree. I’ve been really impressed at how supple it’s remained, holding onto its needles and continuing to look pretty as it crosses the six-week mark tomorrow since we cut it.
• Soak up sunshine. I desperately need to spend some time in the light. Tomorrow and Monday’s forecasts look clear, with Monday’s looking warmer. Tomorrow I may seek out a sunny window, but Monday should definitely include some outdoor time.
• Make use of the rainy day. Sunday is looking gloomy, but I need to spend some quality time indoors getting stuff done. That would be a really ideal time to tackle some overdue chores.
• Work on my new knitting project.
• Wind some yarn.
• Finish a book. (I have five actively in-progress. It’d be nice to move at least one of those to the completed pile.)
• Book a plane ticket. I want to see my family next month and there’s a fare sale on Southwest.
• Get the bin out of my side of the closet and empty it. The fake milk crate we used to store half our Christmas ornaments in broke the day of our holiday party and has been thrown away. This bin is large, annoys me, and takes up valuable real estate in my closet. Moving it to the other closet will fix my problem, but I know it’s going to raise some fit issues there, too.
• Get caught up on my journaling class and my beta reading.
• Make Restaurant Week reservations.
• Look for a new pair of jeans. (Most of mine are no longer work-appropriate and I’d like to fix that.)
• Write my reading wrap-up post for 2014 — and publish it.

It’s a three-day weekend for us, so the odds of getting some of those things accomplished are good.

What’s on your weekend to-do list?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Climbing the pathway up Book Hill toward the library in Georgetown, I notice that it’s lined with the green shoots of spring bulbs pushing their way skyward.

2. Realizing the public library is just on the next block when you really need a bathroom.

3. The sun is setting after 5 again, making late afternoons seem not quite as forsaken as they did a month ago.

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

I’m actively reading two books right now. The Amazing Thing about the Way It Goes: Stories of Tidiness, Self-Esteem and Other Things I Gave up On is Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s 2014 book essays. They feature her typical humorous, yet poignant approach to storytelling, but this time are about things other than knitting. The two essays I read tonight, for instance, were about competing in hurdles back in school and the importance of photos. One or two in a day is about my speed, though, so the book, although small, is lasting me a few days, which is nice. The fiction I’m working on is 2 a.m. at the Cat’s Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino. Set around the holidays in modern Philadelphia, it’s the story of a young girl, who’s recently lost her mother and whose father is having issues coping, who wants to sing and the jazz club she discovers is not especially far away. It’s told in alternating points of view from a few different people, including one of her teachers and the club owner, in short chapters according to the time and I haven’t quite figured out how it’s all going to fit together into a cohesive whole. It appeared on several best-of lists last year, though, so I’m hopeful that it does.

I haven’t been knitting much at all the last couple months. I’ve been feeling down and getting past where I’m stuck on every in-progress project seems insurmountable. I know that dealing with that is a two-pronged approach (1) Start a new project and 2) pick one work-in-progress and knit a few rows on it each day until stops being hard/stuck/not done.), but I just haven’t had it in me to match up yarn, needles, and pattern.

I have been poking around Ravelry, though, and one of the designers I follow had a bunch of patterns she wanted test-knit by early February. One of them was a scalloped cowl that seemed more than reasonable to accomplish in three weeks, so I contacted her and downloaded the pattern this evening. I think I’m going to knit it in this pretty single-ply from Plain & Fancy Sheep Company, but we’ll see how it feels once it’s wound up. I also pulled out my Lightning Shawl and may see about making it my first reinstated project of the year.

Yarning along with Ginny.