Distraction

Elena's elementary school lets parents and community members check books out from their library. I find that really convenient because I'm at school a lot anyway, and it lets me have the chance to pop in and browse books during a spare moment instead of making a special trip to the public library--not that that's hard, just that I have to wait until 10, instead of a quick scan at 7:30, so there's the whole packing-the-boys-along thing to consider. Anyway, while I was scanning through the school shelves looking for the second How to Train Your Dragon (because I believe in knowing about the books my kid reads) I decided to pick up a copy of Artemis Fowl. I read the whole thing straight through with enough time to run to the public library and grab the next two before picking up Elena. It's that good. It reads like a combination of crime drama and spy novel, which given the title character is a 12-year-old criminal mastermind is absolutely understandable. That was Wednesday, though. I finished the third book last night, and while that was, luckily, a good stopping point, I can't wait to start of the next one. We're heading out to the library's story times in about half an hour so that I can swap out my books while they have fun.

I also cast on for the start of the Christmas Queue, last night, since I'd finished my books by 8:30 but had no car. Elena's up first. When she was little, I fell in love with a style of sock at Gymboree--a lattice pattern up the instep, ribbed top, and a picot/scallop edge. I must have bought these sames socks in a half dozen colors, I loved them so much. I'm attempting to make new ones (in her favorite color, red, of course) but with a bit of a twist. She's not a little girl, anymore, but she's not big either. I want to merge the two into an anklet, still with the lattice, and picot edge, but drop all the ribbing. She doesn't fold her socks down, these days (and they wouldn't stay put id she did), so I think that'll work well. Plus, that's less work for me. Win-win, I say.