I'm thankful for ... socks.

It was an ... interesting Thanksgiving. This was the first Thanksgiving in my life I didn't spend with my parents, or with my dad. My boyfriend's family lives out of state, and his kids went to visit other family members they rarely get to see, so it was just the two of us. We didn't even plan anything for dinner, and so I ended up sitting on the couch All. Day. Doing nothing but knitting on my niece's socks for Christmas.

Finally in the evening I started to get hungry, and I said, "What are we going to do about dinner?" The only thing I had on hand to make was Hamburger Helper. I've had strange Thanksgiving dinners before (last year I think it was beef stew) - but Hamburger Helper really didn't seem like a great Thanksgiving dinner.

My boyfriend came up with a good point ... what's the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, sans turkey? Stuffing. Mashed potatoes. Gravy. Sweet potatoes. Pumpkin pie. Well, we had all of that but the sweet potatoes.

So he made us dinner of stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, and corn, with little pumpkin pie bites for dessert. We had the canned pumpkin and condensed milk and spices, just no pie crust. So he filled muffin tins with the pumpkin mix and just baked them like that, in paper liners. We topped them with Redi-Whip. Mmmmm.

It was pretty good, and we did the traditional thing of painful overeating, and overall had a good day.

Meanwhile, here's a picture of the progress of Socks The First. I have 3 pairs to make in time to mail for Christmas. It's going to be interesting. For the record, that second sock I only just started Thursday morning, and did all that in one day. It's amazing what an entire day on the couch watching movies can do for knitting progress. (I know, some of Those Knitters could have completed a whole pair of socks in that time, but ... for me, this is good, and I'll take it).

While I was taking pictures, I snapped this as well ... a close-up of those luscious Harmony needles from Knit-Picks. These are really beautiful. I will say that knitting with wood needles - even good quality ones - with merino wool on socks, with tiny stitches, can be a little 'sticky' from time to time. I think, ease-of-use-wise, I prefer my Addis. But these needles are so gorgeous, I choose to cope with the slight stickiness and use them anyway. This picture doesn't really do them justice. And the small sizes (these are 1s) don't have the same pattern as the ones shown on Knitpicks' web page, these are more simply striped - but still way cool.

So now we're off to brave the madding crowds. I generally refuse to shop on Black Friday on principle, but I actually have to go out, to one store, for two things - neither Christmas-related. I have been desperately jonesing for a new entertainment center for our TV, in my ongoing (sometimes futile) attempt to spruce up the house. Right now it's sitting on a trunk, with all the accouterments on a flimsy table beside it.

I'm very picky about furniture, and despite months of looking both online and in local stores, could not find an entertainment center I liked ... until recently, when I found the perfect one for only $70. But we never went and picked it up, so we're going out today to HOPE they still have one left.

And I need to get a birthday present for my boyfriend's youngest, whose birthday is next week but I will only see him this weekend, and must have it before tomorrow.

One brief foray into the madness, then I'll be locking myself back into the house for the weekend.