A Sort-Of New Year's Day

 January 1st doesn't really feel like New Year's Day to me because I had Jewish New Year back in September.  Being a teacher reinforces this feeling that the year begins in September. Nonetheless, I am having a lovely day. It started with a quiet cup of coffee and working on my Guernsey Wrap:

Mid-morning I headed out with some friends for a walk at Indian Lake Park outside of Madison. It was snowy and beautiful and not too cold. Afterward we had a potluck lunch together. And tonight I'm having both my family and Keith's over for a very casual dinner.

Rachel never was a fan of winter, and now that she's lived in Miami for 18 months, she's struggling with our very mild winter. As a result, there are blankets scattered about the house. Which Naji appreciates:

I hope you are having a lovely January 1. May we all have a healthy and happy 2016.

A Sleeve, Some Books, and Snow!

I'm hoping the fourth time will be the charm. This is my fourth attempt at knitting an adult sweater. And I just won't feel like a "real" knitter until I can wear a sweater that I knit myself! My first three attempts ended up in the garbage; that will not happen this time as I'm using good yarn (Briar Rose). Without further ado, I present the first sleeve of Harriet's Jacket:

It fits so far, which is more than I can say about my previous attempts!

I picked up these two books at the library yesterday:

I love Cathie Pelletier's novels, and A Year After Henry is as good as her previous books. The story is set one year after Henry's death through the eyes of his wife, mistress, and brother. Sixty pages in, I'm mesmerized.  Even though I couldn't finish Just Kids, Patti Smith's first memoir, I picked up M Train. We'll see if it grabs me.

I finished Life Drawing and it was OK. I will warn you that it gets very, very dark as it nears the end.

Yesterday I was able to take this photo:

Finally we got enough snow (barely) to get out the cross country skis! My friends are in better shape than I, so I had to struggle to ski for 90 minutes -- but I did it! It felt great. If I could ski all year round, I would be in great shape. It's the only exercise that I truly love.

Afterward we went to one friend's house for hot chocolate. A perfect afternoon!

Looking forward to catching up with everyone in the post-Christmas week with Ginny's Yarn Along.