Long time comin'

Happy new year! I can finally take a breath, now that the holidays are here.

I've finished the Lembas & Lace swap shawl, and I'm just waiting to unpin it. It should ship out tomorrow - hallelujah! I so want to be able to work on something for myself again.

It turned out well, though I now wish I had more yarn to make it longer, or had blocked it differently. It looks good though, and I hope my partner likes it. These kind of things can be so scary!

I'm waiting for something that should have arrived before my birthday, but in reality still hasn't even shipped. Quite irritating, but what can you do? At least now I don't have to worry about whether I should give it away.

I'm really enjoying my Kindle wi-fi. I can basically read any classic that I want, since they're all either available from Amazon or from Project Gutenberg. Too cool. Patterns also look great on it, and since I'm not doing any colorwork right now, the lack of color on the screen is a non issue. The e-ink is so easy to read, and I can forget that I'm reading a screen and not a book. I'm reading Wuthering Heights to relax today, and it's just like reading my paperback copy! For $139 and free shipping, it's one of the best b-day presents I've gotten.

I'm currently waiting for my green tomato pie to cool enough for me to have a slice. DP thought it sounded too gross for words, but I figured it was worth a try :) I'll let you know.

I'm reading the Kalevala (on my kindle) and am constantly being struck by the things that remind me of Tolkien's work. The latest was when Wainamoinen is inside a sorcerer's stomach, building a forge and tormenting the guy. It reminds me of when Carcaroth swallowed the silmaril, and it was burning him up inside. The songs of enchantment are also similar, like when Finrod is having the contest with Sauron. Sigh - people weren't kidding when they said the Kalevala was a major influence.