Well, I did decide to decorate my mantel for January. It looked kind of empty after I took the Christmas stuff down.



This is an overview. To the left is a sort of Santa Claus figure I got several years ago. I decided to leave him out for two reasons: first, I simply like him, and second, he looks enough like the old "Grandfather Frost" figures that I think he is still appropriate for January. Next to him is a pink depression-glass bowl (Hi, Diann!) with a large silver ball-type ornament in it. I got the ornament in a gift swap and it's way, way too big for my little tree, so I never used it. I decided since it was silver and sparkly I'd bring it out. I've also got the various pieces of pressed or cut glass (including a little clock - hey, it has a crystal casing) scattered around. (I decided not to move my AAUW plate or my vials of knitting needles and crochet hooks). I put small white candles in as many things as I had candles for.

There's also a garland (you can just barely see it in the photo) that I made by stringing clear glass (and some plastic) beads onto thin wire. (The beads were leftovers from a tree-ornament making extravaganza of several years ago).

I'm pretty happy with the overall effect, especially as it is entirely from stuff I had on hand - I'm not big on going out and buying a whole season's worth of decorations (and especially not, like some people do, buying them, using them once, and then discarding them). That's not to say I'm BANNING myself from picking up things to decorate as they seem appropriate, just that I'm not going to use the "canned" decoration that is all-of-a-piece from a single store.

I'm even happier with the effect when the candles are lit:



Oooo, pretty. (The candles are NOT as close to Grandfather Frost's hem as they look. I am extremely careful about candles and the fire danger they carry. I'm actually contemplating what to do for February as I'd like to have pink and red candles and also some of the fluffy pink and white stuffed toys I have, but I'm not happy with the thought of the two things being in close proximity).

And here's a closeup showing the lit candles.


I'm seeing the value now of just picking up the occasional vintage or antique thing "because I like it" even though I may not have an immediate use for it. Most of the container-type things were purchased to hold nuts and such when people come over but they do nice double duty as candleholders.

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I also did my first experimental-try of a new recipe today. I happened to grab the December 2005 Cooking Light and I found the Two-Potato Latkes recipe in there. (Yes, I know, the "correct" time for making latkes was a month ago, but the recipe looked simple and good). I had never had latkes before and I have to admit at first it was kind of a surprise - I am conditioned, I guess, to expect that things with sweet potatoes will be sweet. Once I got past that surprise, I decided they were pretty good. If I were to make them again I'd cut back on the onion and garlic though - for eight latkes (about 1 lb grated baking potato and 1/2 lb grated sweet potato), there is 1/4 cup grated onion and 1 clove of garlic, which made them a little strong and the onion flavor sort of dominated (maybe that's traditional, but I'd have liked more of a blend of flavors).

The recipe made 8, and I ate 2, so I'm hoping that heating up the leftovers either in the oven or in a pan on the stove will be successful. (I don't think that microwaving would be too good).

Another thing about the recipe - they recommend sour cream and applesauce as garnish/sides. So I made homemade applesauce, which I rarely do (I usually just open a jar of Musselman's organic unsweetened). I'm glad I didn't believe the recipe and add the sugar they told me to - it would have been way too sweet, even with the lemon juice I added (to keep the apples from discoloring). I like my applesauce tart, and I also think the tartness complemented the latkes well. (And sour cream is, if not a necessity, very desirable to have).

Another thing - they suggested shredding the potatoes and onion using a food processor because it's "faster." One thing I've learned is that I'd rather put in the time and elbow grease up front and hand chop (or in this case, hand grate) the ingredients, rather than spend the time and frustration cleaning the darned food processor later. (I have a food processor but I rarely use it).

(I suppose if you have a "Maggie" to clean up after you - or if you have a deal with your Significant Other that you cook and they clean up - then using the food processor would be more fun. But I'd just rather wash a knife or a box grater than disassemble and clean a food processor).

And there's also something kind of meditative about chopping or shredding by hand.

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I did receive a few knit-related gifts for the holiday. Got three skeins of Trekking sockyarn (I THINK it was Trekking - I've not looked at it today). One in a very pale cream and tan variegated which I think I will use for lace socks, and two of the tweedy self-striping kinds. I also got a ball of "Kathmandu collection Aran," which is a yarn that has a small amount of cashmere blended in with the wool.

I've already knit that up and will post a photo sometime. I made a small scarf out of it.

I also got two books: "Knitting Nature" by Norah Gaughan and "One Skein Wonders." Two different books but two I'm glad to have. One Skein Wonders, as you'd guess from the name, is filled with small projects that can be made with a single skein of yarn. Some of the yarns are familiar - lots of projects using Kureyon or the various Lorna's Laces produces - and some are more obscure. I made a curly-ended scarf (you knit short-rows to make it spiral, then do a neckpart kind of like the Seaman's Scarf) out of the Kathmandu. There are more projects I'd like to do out of that book, some for charity, some for gifts, some for me.

(I bought a skein of Kidsilk Haze - which I have never worked with before - at Ewe Knit because there is a shawlette pattern in the book that calls for it and I wanted to try this yarn that some knitters call "Kidsilk Crack," presumably for its addictive properties).

(It was also really nice to have a local yarn shop to visit. I think I went three times in the less-than-three-weeks I was there.)

Knitting Nature is different from One Skein Wonders - it's mostly "big" projects (sweaters, ponchos, a throw). There are several sweaters in there I want to make - the one that depicts the turbulent behavior of a stream, and the Ram's Horn sweater, and the sweater-coat with the hexagons all down the front. And I really want the tam that mimics the pattern of seeds on a sunflower because that's a pattern that's intrigued me - well, since I was a child. I've tried many times to draw it without much success.

I love the idea of taking different fields - math and biology and knitting - and combining them and making something beautiful. (Even though some of the projects are not quite to my taste, many of them are quite beautiful). And I find it inspirational - I keep going back and looking at it. And it makes me want to try to design my own kind of biological-math things. What, I'm not sure yet. But when I look at it it makes me want to. Maybe I'll start by figuring out some biological-math socks.

I also want to read some of the books Gaughan referenced when discussing biological/natural mathematics and geometry, like the D'Arcy Thompson book - which I've never read and probably should have.