The Downton Abbey Dilemma/Obsession

Does anybody else get to the end of Season 3 of Downton Abbey and just want to go back to season 1? I do this over and over. I think season 5 was good and season 4 was okay - but every time I get to the end of season 3 I just want to go back - and it becomes a cycle. I want to watch Tom and Sybil fall in love again and the triangle of Mary, Matthew and Lavinia. I want to watch Edith's moments of growth and listen to Lady Violet and Lord Grantham make the world seem like an insightful and funny place. I want to laugh and cry at all the right moments.

I don't want to be stuck in season 4. Yes, I end up rather fond of Rose in the end, but it takes a while and I don't quite get there in season 4. And so many plot lines seem forced. And, why do the characters always have to die?

And so I think I'm going to go back to the beginning - to the scandal that begins it all (Kemal Pamuk).

OK - now that that is out....

I have been knitting - I just have nothing to show for it. I started an "easy" wrap pattern that I've had to rip out 3 times. Re-starting 229 stitches on a needle 3 times can make you cranky. Sometimes the easy patterns are the ones that trip me up the most - which seems to be the case here. Or, perhaps I just don't like working with 229 stitches on my needle. 229 possible mistakes.

I also finished a hooded thing for my son, but I'm pretty disappointed with it and am going to try it again - in different yarn and a little larger. A four-year-old only grows at this stage.

I have about five projects started and I've decided to go for a small win and try to knit my first pair of socks. I'm hoping to finish these in the next few days. I'm just about ready to turn the heel of my first sock. A big accomplishment if I can get through it. I'm also in the process of trying to change knitting styles from English to Continental - for better tension and to knit a little faster. With all these projects and yarn stashed up - and clearly not enough time to devote to them - I need to seek out a different solution. So I'm trying to make the most out of the time I have to knit by learning to do it a little faster.

In other news.... I made these little slices of heaven recently....French Macarons and Madeleine's. The citrus Madeleine's were wonderful - the chocolate, not so much.

And the Macarons.... well, let me just say that I will make them again. A little slice of heaven right here on Earth.

So, I told you that I would bake from time to time. Here is a success! I can make edible French pastries. "Put that in your book!"


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