Cure for the winter blues

I usually love winter--love the clothes, love the comfort of being warm inside while it's cold outside.  I love the expectation of snow and how pretty it looks.  This year though, December is getting me down.  Maybe it's because Thanksgiving came late and the golden days of autumn were gone in a weekend, it seemed.  I was particularly blue yesterday and decided to hit the 

LYS in search of some retail therapy.  What I found, was Kristin Nicholas's "Kristin Knits."  It's full of vibrant designs from the color lady herself.  Sitting right under the book was a big pile of Nashua Handkints "Julia"--which is Kristin's signature yarn.  Yes, I did fall for the strategically placed yarn, but the colors were so bright and gorgeous and I loved the idea that, without thinking, I could exactly duplicate the fun knits in the book.  So, I bought enough for a pair of socks for my little sister (who is hibernating with her new baby) and a pair long-overdue mittens for my big girl.   

I immediately cast on for the socks, in hopes of finishing them before my next yarn shipment arrives.   The endpaper mitts are still a WIP, but two days of tiny colorwork had me seeing stars, so it's nice to switch to a mindless knit for a while.