New socks and small mystery

We got some snow yesterday--not a lot, and nothing compared to what DC is getting right now! But enough to cover the grass that was starting to show. Wet heavy stuff that I'll have to go out and shovel this morning.

It's windy, too, and all last night and into this morning I keep hearing bangs and booms around the house. Another thing I'll have to do this morning: go see what's happening on the west side of the house. I'm pretty sure a tree hasn't come down, and there's just not enough snow to make that much noise falling off branches. I just can't figure out what it is, and every time it happens, Taenzer leaps up in a frenzy of barking. It's quite disconcerting.

I finally finished my Pyroclastic socks. It was fun! The lace pattern was easy to memorize, I liked the linen-stitch heel, and the arch shaping was interesting and fun to do. I used a yarn from the Dyepot that has bamboo in it. I'm not so sure I'm crazy about it--not for winter socks, anyway, but they might turn out to be good summer socks. And of course the color is beautiful! (I pretty much drool over her colors.)

Now I'm going back to the 2009 Calendar scarf, replacing the camel-hair yarn with baby alpaca/silk from Elann.com. The groundhog says another 6 weeks of winter, so I should be able to finish it before spring!

Something else I plan to enjoy to the fullest over the next 6 weeks: chai latte. I discovered Good Earth Vanilla Chai Tea. Make a cup, add honey and a splash of milk, and mmmmmm, delicious! The Good Earth chai is better than the generic grocery store version I tried, and I think it must be because it has more cardamom (it's in the first position of the spices instead of the last) and because it has star anise, which the other doesn't. I've been drinking it out of that beautiful pottery cup I got for Christmas, and sweetening it with the vanilla-bean honey that I also got for Christmas.

I was sort of browsing tea-for-one sets--you know, little pots with a cup that fits on the bottom half--on e-bay, and came across this totally wonderful set. It has a cup, teapot, sugar, creamer, toast rack, and tray. I want it so much!! I have nowhere to put it, and I don't know that I'd use it, but I'm so in love with it! I've never seen a little set like it. The cup is a beautiful shape--all the pieces, actually, are beautifully shaped--it's hand-painted, and was made by the Gray Pottery Co., an English company (1907-1962). It's so--sort of--I hate to say "domestic," but it sort of exudes this feeling of coziness and "all's right with the world" and intimate beauty. Don't you just love it that the tray has those little shaped indentations for each piece? I should print the photos out so I can add them to my ideal house clippings. I used to have a guest room it would have been perfect for.