So, I've already started doing a bit of Christmas shopping (mainly looking at catalogs as they come in, and marking pages if I think there's something that would work as a gift for someone).

but now, I see something *I* want to put on *my* list.

it is The Song of Hiawatha stole at Blackberry Ridge.

I love stoles, of course, and I love to do lace knitting. But this is special to me, because my relatives are from Northern Michigan, around the area called Hiawatha National Forest (true, the actual poem is set in Minnesota, but heck, Minnesota and the U.P. are culturally and ecologically very similar). I miss that climate, I miss the people up there and the history of the area.

I have a nice old Heritage Press copy of the Song of Hiawatha but I've not read the whole thing through yet. Maybe I will have to read it while I dream of making this stole.

so it made me smile when I saw the stole. No, I'm not going to order the kit; as I said, I've blown my fall yarn-budget. But I am going to mark the site and when it seems not-too-obsessive to begin suggesting Christmas presents, I'm going to e-mail the link to my father.