Powell Gordon: Socks or diamonds... what's worth more this season?

I've started knitting.

This would make me feel really old if it weren't for all the young people who also knit. Lots of people knit these days - even Bob. And he's not the sort of guy you'd expect to see engaged in fiber arts.

OK. So Bob's gay, but hold on to your Christopher Radco ornaments.

You're more likely to find Bob driving his beat up pickup truck to a bar to discuss pig farming with guys wearing feed caps than decorating a Christmas tree.

The problem is Mary made some socks for Bob and he was so enthralled with how they could be fashioned to fit size 13 narrow feet that he decided to make some of his own.

Mary told him he had to learn on something simple and got him started on a scarf, which he screwed up and ripped apart.

Then he asked me if I could remind him how to get going again.

So, I helped him start over, and he's tall so he wanted it wide, but I'm afraid he'll run out yarn when it's about the size of a dishtowel.

The yarn is grape colored, but Bob's such a pig-farming, truck-driving kind of guy, he won't take any grief from anyone who might ask him why he's wearing a purple dishtowel around his neck.

That's one of the things I like about Bob. He's comfortable being around himself.

Meanwhile, I'm knitting a pair of socks for Felix. One is finished but I don't have the courage to start its mate, so I suggested Felix have one foot amputated instead.

Or put it in a cast.

I guess the amputation was sort of extreme.

Then I saw some socks in an art gallery and they were way nicer than mine - hand knit with an intricate pattern from recycled yarn, and only $11 per sock.

(I think you had to buy both of them, though with the popularity of knitting, there may be a lot of people whose favorite knitter applied a cast to one of their feet while they were sleeping to get out of having to make two socks - and you can't wear the same sock day after day.)

Maybe $22 seems like a lot for socks, but not when you consider how long they take to knit.

I figure Felix's sock is worth about $1,500, and it's not even perfect.

Socks are tricky. You have to use four little needles and keep switching from one to another without leaving big gaps. You knit and purl and increase and decrease and pick up stitches. If you don't knit you have no idea what I'm talking about and if you do, you probably think socks are no big deal, but you're forgetting that your first one was.

I don't know how I could ever make the second one exactly like the first, with the same mistakes, holes and spaces. Maybe I should just rip it out for the fifth time and start over.

Or I could hang it up by Felix's fireplace and hope Santa Claus fills it with hundred dollar bills or diamonds or something else that's almost as valuable as the sock.

Almost, but not quite.

I made a good lamb roast to serve with leftover cranberry relish. I think the tart berries are just right with lamb.

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Lamb roast

• 4-5 pound boned leg of lamb
• culinary lavender
• sea salt
• thyme
• rosemary
• garlic

Grind equal parts lavender, salt, thyme, and rosemary in a spice grinder or food processor. Cut slits in the roast and push in slivers of garlic.

Rub roast with herb mixture. Roast, uncovered in a $400 degree oven or until thermometer registers 140 degrees for medium rare.

Mix any juices from roast with leftover cranberry sauce and warm. Slice meat and serve with sauce on side.

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"Is Something Burning?" by local author Lori Powell Gordon appears Mondays in the Stillwater Gazette. Stay in touch with Lori by visiting www.LoriPowellGordon.com.

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