We had frost here too. But in St. Louis where we're expecting snow over the weekend, it's a little less exciting!

I want a little cold weather! It's been near 80 all week here in Atlanta. I've slept with my windows open every night this week.

Wow, really?!? I was first?

The Dolphin Cats' water was frozen this Ayem!!!!
WOO!! Christmas in the Valley!!!

I'll share my weather with ya.
You can wear knitted goodie all day long.

I love cold weather. The idea of an ant doing a sit spin...tooo funny

And! I went to my library yesterday (very trepidaciously, I might add) there was nary a porn surfer in sight. In the middle of the day.You must have all the perverts out there :)

19 degrees this morning in Idaho. Although we are having an easy one (no ice storms or heaps of snow), I am still ready for spring to come! My 90 year old house is a drafty old thing. brrrr! Enjoy your handknits :)

Come to WI, you can wear all that hand-knit goodness AND a snowsuit! It hasn't snowed for 3 days now, I think that's a record for this December so far.

Hey Laurie!!!
Did you know your book was reviewed in the latest issue of the British magazine "Simply Knitting"?
Great review!

Favorite Laurie quote, possibly ever: "I knew a day would come when ants could ice skate on my Jeep's little canvas rooftop!"
It's been in the 70s and 80s for the last week in NC and I'm loving it. Maybe I should move to CA so I'd have warm weather year round!

We've finally got some cold weather here in North Texas! We've had higher than normal temps for quite awhile now and with the holidays here I just couldn't get in the mood.

Although last year, when I emailed my brother, who lives in Denver, pictures of the one day that we had one inch of snow, he laughed at me! They had a blizzard! Oh, well, it's all relative, hee hee.

Could ya send some of that due east!!! Here in SC it's been near 80 all week!!! I'm ready for some cold.

I am so glad you got a chance to wear those prettyful gloves! They sound DIVINE!

Guess what? I started one of your roll brim hats and ran out of yarn after it was only about 3-4 inches long - it makes a PERFECT ear warmer thingy! I gave it to a gal at work and she simply LOVES it! It looks really cute worn kinda like a headband, but across the forehead and ears to keep warm. Heck! I could use skinnier yarn and make headbands too!

Thanks Auntie Purl!!!

I also made one of your roll brim hats! But I put a pony hole in it.

I'd take a picture for you....but I'm at work...Right now, there's approximately 8 inches of snow piled on the sides of the roads from plowing. There is at least 3 or 3 inches of snow flattened out everywhere else. The wind, and there's lots of it, was so fast and cold yesterday, that it LITTERALLY AND ACTUALLY TOOK MY BREATH AWAY!!!! The snow gets blown out of the ditch up onto the roads and makes it hard to see where the road is. Right now, the temperature is -9. yes. negative nine degrees. I really honestly have no idea why anyone lives here.

I'm glad your weathering there! it's a change of pace, at least. Is there mass confusion in all the suburbs?!?!?!

its supposed to be a tropical 10 degrees ABOVE zero tomorrow!! I'll have to break out my neon pink tankini!!!

BOOTS! Did you put on the boots?

wow! you're having the exact same weather as we are!

Meh...had frost today, had frost yesterday, and the day before, and ice for three days before that. Snow expected tonight.

I grew up in Orange County though, and remember when frost was novel :) I even saw it snow on Huntington Beach once.

ants doing a sit-spin...LOLOLOL. The jeep's ragtop is in great condition...do you moisturize it or something? It does look as if it would be chilly in there though...stay warm!

Yay, Laurie got cold!! We're in nastiness today, raining and mid-40s. Frost will happen this weekend, mid-20s are forecast for the lows. Yipes! The gloves sound dreamy.

it was -1 in Minnesota this morning. i didn't wear a hat.

Sage and I know that we women don't don the hats in Minne-SNOW-da until it's colder than -14 windchill, or we're going to be OUT for longer than it takes to walk from the car to the office building...so maybe if we're watching an outside hockey game....

but FROST in LA?? Wow! How "cool" is that? (heh. I know. I'm a geek.)

Probably 12 or more inches of snow in Boston and close to six hours to drive the 25 miles home yesterday afternoon. Lawdy! The only consolation (really, there is none for six hours) is cozying up in yummy knitted hats, scarves and gloves!

Yay for brrrrrrrrchillycold weather! Love it if it is icy and clear rather than cold and damp.

So pleased you got to wear handknits and fabulous gloves but feel we should be told about the boots psychomom refers to?!?

You can have the (estimated) 8 inches of snow that's in my front yard...along with the 2 inches of ice that was sandwiched between the first 3 inches of snow and the last 5.

I hurt my right hand yesterday shoveling and chopping ice off the driveway. I dont normally do that kind of heavy labor, so I wasnt used it. And then, last night, I ended up crocheting for four hours on the shawl I'm making for my sister's birthday. This morning, I feel like I sprained my wrist.

I cant crochet OR knit now! I'm so sad...and I only had 2 rows left on the shawl... *hanging head in shame* I should have just stayed up till 5am and done those last 2 rows. Sleep is overrated.

ditto to the wisconsin comment! we have 13 inches where i am! snowball anyone? :-)

That made me giggle so hard. The little ant doing a sit spin. Now I want to watch Cutting Edge (the first one - not the others that will never grace my memory again) again.

I think those of us with snow could get together and ship you some. But not in Boston. Our storm is being melted away (39 degrees, baby).

Wow, here in London it's been cold but we only got our first frost the other day I think.

Come to Boston! You'll never put those gloves down!

Its in the 80s here in S. Florida and humid, so it doesn't feel like Christmas to me. I'll be in LA next week, so I hope it stays cold so I can wear my new hat and cuddle up in a scarf and drink hot chocolate without passing out from heatstroke.

Yay! for weather in LA, for those of you who want it. I'm glad it feels like Christmas now for you.

I'm one of those mutants who love the 70's and 80's we are having in December. It feels just like Christmas to me even with the high temps here in NC. I can look at all the decorations and feel the spirit and be perfectly comfy in the 70's. (However, it does make it difficult to wear nice hand knits or buttery soft leather gloves.)

I am SOOOOO jealous... We had our office Christmas party today (don't ask). How do you manage to summon up any sort of Christmas-y feeling when it's 85 degrees? I don't necessarily demand snow and ice, but temperatures that require long sleeves would be a plus...

We've got 11 inches of snow...ya'll want some?

I just found your blog, and love it! I too am a transplant to LA, been here about 5 years. Moved from Nor Cal where I got frost and rain a lot. Still make fun of our 'Storm Watch 200X', but gotta love it! I just take my vacations to cold regions of the world to get my weather fix. Friends always laugh at this, but I think it's perfectly normal.

So happy to have found your blog. Maybe one night I'll show up at a SNB event over at Farmer's Market. Never been, but sounds like a fun time!

Oh, wow! Frost? That reminds me of growing up in Texas, when we would have snow days for about half an inch of snow and barely any ice! But I agree, that's what handknit goodies are for! We've all been stockpiling them all year for just such an emergency! But now that my family has been up north for a few years, I've found that the handknits are much more... appreciated. They certainly get a lot more use! :) Oh, and this is my first post, but I just want to say I love your blog!

That's what I get for sleeping late...I missed the frosty frost!

That looks kind of like my jeep, only in better shape than mine. For some reason, whenever you talked about your jeep, I pictured you in an older Cherokee, I don't know why.

I'll send some of the cold weather we've been in for the last week...this morning it was 14 degrees.

Ha. Born and bred in Minnesota, I was in northern Florida when it snowed. Serious panic ensued: schools were closed, accidents happened, worried citizens emptied stores. This was like half an inch. But it made me realize that if you're wearing flip-flops and a t-shirt, snow might be something to panic about.

That said -- and I kid you not -- it's 8 degrees in Minnesota right now. I was collecting final essays at the college where I teach, and a student came to class in just that: flip-flops and a t-shirt. From the outdoors.

A bit similar to Mary - this morning I was at the pediatricians (a place for SICK kids, hello?)and a mom came in with her daughter, about 2 years old. The mom was wearing cropped pants and sandals and the little (sick) girl was wearing a sundress - spaghetti straps and all....and jelly shoes. I live about 10 miles north of Laurie, and it was a TAD chilly for normal California wear. Brrr. I had to bite my tongue not to say anything mean to the mother. Maybe they were actually from Minnesota, so this seems warm to them.

Man, traffic must have REALLY been hell this morning.

:)

I tend to prefer the 118 days myself, but it's nice you got to wear your gloves. =)

Hi Laurie,
I've just read yesterday's and today's posts. I'm a retired librarian, and I love libraries. I started my career in the public library of "unnamed midwestern" city in the early 70's, where we considered ourselves the "average person's university". This was before pc's. Period. The central library had it's own red-coated, baton-wielding security force, whose job it was to keep the street people from sleeping at the tables in the Periodical Reading Room (aka the drunk tank), and, from drinking their hooch or wearing mirrors on their shoes in the Reference stacks. The guards would make them leave if they smelled so bad they made other patrons sick. No, we did not have print p0rn, but we did have medical texts and a wonderful Art Refernce department. I later heard that because of a lawsuit during the '80's, the library staff could no longer discriminate against such folk, even if they harrassed others verbally and physically blocked access to the library. The directors of public libraries, and their staff, are forced to walk a fine line between censorship and public decency, and I don't envy them in this era.

Did you have hordes of panicked people frantically buying milk, bread, and toilet paper in the (highly-unlikely) event that the stores were going to be closed for days on end???

Like we do in Boston every time there's a storm coming. Sheesh. And I don't want to hear about the Blizzard of '78.

The grocery stores are nuts here in Wisconsin before snowstorms too. Everyone mobs the store in their SUV's and stocks up on necessities - sometimes using two carts! It's funniest when they do this and we get nothing but flurries.

I'm wearing fleece pants, a fleece pullover and puffy chenille socks INSIDE. I usually sit under a blanket too. With our highs in the 20's, the house never really gets warm enough. I can't wait for the -10 and -20's we always get in late January.

I'm glad it feels like Christmas Laurie! Stay warm and make good use of all those scarves you've knitted. Pile a couple of cats on if you get chilled. That's what they're there for!

I could have used your gloves today. It actually snowed here today. We're about 10 minutes from the Mediterranean (if you're a bird and don't have to take the windy roads). I think it last snowed here in the late 70's or something. The kids loved it. Now it definitely feels like Christmas. Of course it was all melted a few hours later, but still...

Also, about the passport thing you wrote the other day. I was shocked about the no-smile rule too. My 6-year-old had quite a bit of trouble with that. Try telling a kid not to smile and see what happens.

And, I would suggest going to an actual photographer who does wedding shots and stuff but also passport pictures. That's what we did because that's what we near the consulate that we went to. They were the best passport pictures I've ever seen. My daughter's was actually pretty. Just a suggestion.

Ooh, and a tip my husband was given when someone came out to do a little photo shoot of him for a magazine article on his wines...

Lift your tongue inside your mouth to touch the roof of your mouth with it. You can do this while smiling or not. Apparently, it helps reduce the appearance of double chins. You didn't mention that you get a double chin in pictures, but I sure do. Even at my skinniest I've had problems with that. I'm all for any suggestion to get rid of that.

Ant hockey! I want sideline seats!

We had our first frost awhile back here in Baton Rouge and then we have had an unseasonably warm past couple of weeks, around 80, as in TWENTY DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL FOR WEEKS! But Rush Limbaugh and his homies are still desperately insisting there is no global warming. Jeezus.

But even as I type this a cold front is finally coming again and we are expecting a frost tonight and a light freeze tomorrow. Yay, winter! Or at least what passes for it here.

Happy Christmas to you and your family! Especially Grandma!

Come to the Northeast Laurie, lots o' snow and ice here. I think I'll do a sit and spin on top of my car.

here in indy, we've got 3-5 inches of fresh snow, with another band of it -- from just west of the city, all the way across illinois and beyond -- coming at us. i gave my live-in granddaughter her 6th-birthday coat and matching snowpants today -- 11 days early. she wore 'em out in the snow for an hour or so. then i ran them through the dryer so she could go to a concert with another of her 4 grandmas and her daddy tonight and play in the snow at grammy's tomorrow.

i'm figuring the schools will be closed on monday, because the side streets don't get snowplowed. ever, unless it's privately contracted. so the school buses often can't make it into enough subdivisions to be safe and worth having school. of course, that doesn't keep most bosses from expecting most employees to be at work. SOOOO glad my daughter's on college break instead of in the middle of finals like last wk, so if the schools are closed, she can stay home w/her daughter.

it's not cold enough to for people to skate on the retention ponds, and probably won't be until january -- if at all. but if cats played hockey they might get a good game going tomorrow. but, of course, cats wouldn't play hockey. that would involve teamwork -- not in their nature. every single one of them would want the puck all to her/himself.

enjoy your little taste of winter. and merry christmas to you and yours!

p.s.: i love, love, love "dd&cinch" -- i've been blessedly single (with kids, cats, dogs and from time to time fish and pet mice) for 13 years now, but i sooooo could relate!

WEATHER??!!HUH!! My work just called me ( retail shopping outlet store...I'll give you a hint: in London you "mind the ---") to tell me we are officially having a blizzard and to call in at 11 to see if they need me to come in.......
Ha! I was too tired and achey(and old!) and snow bound to show up today anyway!!.....The snow was almost past my boot tops when I went outside to let my chickens out.( no worries....they have plastic around the coop to keep them from snow drifts).
I'd be happy to send you a five gallon bucket O snow anytime!!!!(with a side of fresh eggs!!!)

Perhaps a cartoonist is aware of your cats and sweaters contest?? Today I found this Speed Bump cartoon:

http://www.arcamax.com/newspics/4/442/44230.gif

Snowstorm here last Thursday. Five-hour commute. Another snowstorm today. Tree-trimming party canceled. Bah, humbug.

(But frost is very pretty and mostly harmless. You should visit here along about October, when we have lovely brilliant foliage and frost every morning.)

Dear Laurie,

So sorry about your library incident. May I offer a plan of action? Don't be deterred; the next time you see this freak go up to him and ask very loudly why he thinks it is appropriate to look at vaginas in the public library. Do everything you can to make him as uncomfortable as you can. If it is his right to view it, it is also your right to embarrass him for doing it. What's better, if he says anything nasty to you you can have him banned for harassment. I'm gonna try it at my library next week.

Congrats on the frosty jeep coating. I've always loved cold weather, too. When I lived in San Antonio it was quite confusing to not have any seasons except hot and not quite as hot. Now I live in Philly where we have hot, tolerable, and occasional snow.

Thanks for sharing!
Jaimie

We have a snow day in SE Michigan, but that's not nearly as exciting as the fact that you got a frost in LA! Were people doing crazy things because it was a sign of the apocolypse?

What you haven't mentioned to all your readers is that Los Angeles County has an 11,000-ft-plus mountain in it that gets snow every winter (as do the shorter ones around it, of course). I'm in Lancaster, on the other side of the San Gabriels from you and in the same country, and the only reason we don't have frost here every morning is that we don't have any humidity.

The first year we moved here there was a snow storm with some snow on the ground and we were astounded to find out that all the schools and businesses were closed for a itty-bitty little inch of snow. Whenever a few flakes of snow fall, people stock up on food as if the Donners or Alferd Packer lives next door and they'll only be safe if they have a supply of frozen pizza.

No wonder we usually spend the winter in Palm Desert. It hasn't snowed there in recorded history. We're going down in mid-January this winter, which is really late for us, but life has been complicated here.