Author and knitwear designer Kathleen Taylor (grammak on Ravelry) posts a free stranded colorwork pattern on her blog every Friday. Today she posted some cute spiderman mittens for a young boy and I still have my eye on the Picot Hem Snowflake Hat.

The Teaching Company is offering two free lectures by my favorite professor, Dr. Patrick Allitt. Go HERE to listen to or download his lectures on Christmas in Victorian Britain or Christmas in 19th Century America.

I just realized I didn't take a single picture of Peaches in November! No wonder she is so grumpy. Instead here is a photo of Jack - he's not really fat but he has a wide body and short legs.

I love long-hair cats and I called the humane society in Colorado and told them I would help them out if they ever got in a Persian or Himalayan who really needed some grooming. They finally called and said they had a Persian and we went to look and there was Jack as sad as I've ever seen an animal. It was to be his last day at the shelter so perhaps he somehow knew. Of course we had to take him (after explaining to the humane society he wasn't even vaguely a Persian.) Now it is almost 12 years later and Jack's interests include chasing crickets, sleeping on pillows, and "helping" when we play Scrabble. Whenever he hears the sound of the Scrabble tiles in the bag he comes running out to participate.