Good Eats

Every time I have to buy my dad a gift, I flounder. For one, he's a guy, which means that his likes (shooting sports, fly fishing, and woodworking) and my likes (music, books, and knitting) are vastly, hugely different. For another, he tends to buy just what he likes, when he likes, whenever he likes, leaving the rest of us to scramble when it comes time to give him something. Since I found out his love for handknit socks, I've been home free. But Father's Day? Not so much a handknit socks kind of holiday. Especially if you live in Southeast Michigan, where it's been 90+ for most of this week.

So this year, I'm giving him Hermits. No, not smelly, uncommunicative cave dwellers. Cookies!

These happen to be my dad's favorite cookies. I found the recipe a few years back while browsing a Good Housekeeping and waiting for Tae Kwon Do to start. I thought they sounded like a kind of cookie my grandma gets from the local bakery which are sort of fruit cake-y with citron in it. (I know. Citron. Don't cringe. We like it in this family. We've been exposed since birth.) These are more like molasses cookies with raisins. The recipe says that they're called Hermits because back in the day wives used to make them for their sea-faring husbands who said they "kept like hermits."

They don't keep very long in this house. I'm making 2 batches (One, Classic Hermits - raisins only. Two, Berryful Hermits - changing it up with dried cranberries, blueberries, and currants.) and freezing them.

What's this you say? More yarn? Yes, yes indeed. Impulse buy from Michael's. I went looking for a 16" US6 needle for my brother's hat, and they didn't have it. They seem to never have what I need at Michael's. I'm not looking there for needles ever again. I miss AC Moore. Anyway, I passed the display of cotton, and suddenly decided that I needed some to make the Retro Redux Shrug from Lace Style. Because, you see, there's this dress... this dress the absolutely NEEDS a sweater or shrug of some kind. I have no idea whether or not the yarn's going to work. Swatching tonight.

And lest you think I'm abandoning Thermal, I'm not. Here's one sleeve done.
I'll leave you to argue about whether it's the left or the right.