Wow, so Christmas was great! I had to make a trip to the grocery store on Christmas Eve, but other than that, 2 whole days of rest.
We had a neighbor over for Christmas Dinner and my mom's friend Mary came to stay for a few days. My brother also came over and gave me the most awesome present. A FULL SIZED keyboard. It is beyond awesome. I haven't played since using Daniel's piano at his house when he was alive. :) It felt sooo good to run my fingers across keys again.

I also got a ball winder, so I spent Christmas night gleefully winding yarn. My arm wore out before the novelty wore off so I'll be getting out my totes of yarn and winding them on New Years eve. I also received More Sensational Knitted Socks and the Pattern a Day 2008 calendar.

I also received new clothes, shoes and other good stuff. It was nice to just relax and not have to go anywhere or do anything.

Sydney also got sick on Wednesday before Christmas. I came home and he was running a fever. I got him to the vets Fri afternoon and its just a fever from some sort of infection. He has always gotten them and his tests have always come back perfect except for high white blood count indicating an infection. We never have any answers. This vet at least seemed to be willing to look further. Thats a start. He goes back on Saturday so we'll se what they say then. But for now he is behaving like his normal self, thank goodness. :)

My good friend Janet gave me 15 crocheted squares done in Christmas colors. They were so pretty. I seamed them into a 36" x 60" throw for the back of the couch. It came out GORGEOUS!!!! My mom absolutely LOVED it!


I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!!!

Okay. Lots going on. Much crazy-ness.

:) Can't wait for knit night tomorrow.

I'm never ever ever ordering Chinese food for lunch again.

Ha! I always say I want to be a better Blogger but back to back posts? No way!

Its getting close to Christmas tree time. Some people make New Years resolutions. Not me. I reflect under the Christmas tree. Yup. Under it.

It began when I was a kid and we had this very round 6'tall tree. Mom used to put the stand on cinderblocks to make it look more proportional and also so she would have room to put the packages under the tree. My favorite thing was to decorate the tree and that night, when everyone was in bed I would sneak back out, turn the tree lights on and lay with my head under the tree watching the lights twinkle and shine on the ceiling. I would lay under there for hours and eventually it bacme a ritual for me to contemplate my life as a gift. I would reflect on the year gone past and consider how I had valued others and myself. Who were the gifts in my life? Did I recognize them as such? Who inspired me to be a better person? Did I inspire others? Then I would consider the upcoming year. What did I want to change? What could I do better? When I am under the next tree, what would I like to look back on and be proud of accomplishing? After getting a mental list of things for the upcoming year, I would put pen to paper and make a list. That list gets wrapped and put under the tree and I open it on Christmas morning.

I have only skipped this ritual once, the year Daniel died. I kinda forced myself to do it last year, since knowing him was one of the greatest gifts I ever received but I still had a hard time with it. I suppose these things are supposed to get easier with time, so I'll be patient.

I had already decided lace knitting was on my list for next year. I have started and frogged several projects. I always miscount, drop a stitch, or make some other silly mistake that I can't quite figure out how to recover from. It is also hard to concentrate on lace projects because I can't think straight when its loud and my house is rarely quiet. I also have never been able to read charts. Just. So. Confusing.

Anyway, I thought I would be quite proud of myself next year if I could complete a "real" lace project. Lo and behold, my good friend Mara from knitting group shows up with a gift of Brown Sheep Nature Spun in Limestone, a dark limey green which I love and tells me I should start the Qiviuk Webs Scarf. (confusing instructions and charts, OH MY!) "Quick! Cast on before Jeanne comes in and (lovingly) smacks your hand!!! I started right then and 2 hours, and 1 complete frog later I had triangles!!! I was quite proud. Last night I have ignored the impending-sense-of-doom-Christmas-knitting and worked on this scarf. (Shame on me!!!)

So I am beginning to tackle next years goals this year! Thanks and much love to Mara aka (Professor, Chart Reading 101) for the yarn, encouragement and copious amounts of blind faith.

Wow. Its freakin December 6th. This year has gone by SOOOOOOOO fast.

I haven't really even started the Christmas shopping, although I have a bit of a jump on the Christmas knitting.

Currently on the needles:
Scarf for Gift (1/3 done)
Scarf for Gift set (1/2 done)
Bed jacket for Mom (meh, don't know if she would use it) (1/100th done)
Socks (1/3 done on each)
Jaywalker # 2 which glares at me reproachfully every time I walk by. Jaywalker # 1 has long since been done. ::sigh::

Still to cast on:
Fingerless gloves for Gift set
3 Berets
1 Hat
1 scarf

Finished:
2 Berets
1 Calorimetry

So yeah, I have some knitting to do. :) I can get it done though and I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't know they knits were going to great homes where they would be cherished.

The winter Knitty is up and I think its the best issue ever. There are several patterns I want to make including Jeanie, Halcyon, Azure and Chevrolace. They are going to have to wait...

By the way, what does it mean when your Ravelry queue is LONGER than your list of FO's? What? Covet? Me? Noooo....

YAY!!! We have a new LYS!!!!

Crazy for Ewe opened a shop in LaPlata!!!

There are some nice brands, including Pagewood Farm sock yarn. I got a hank of Golden which is lovely. I want it to be socks but it keeps whispering "shawl". We'll see who wins this argument. Maybe I just want it to be socks because knowing I am an 80's fanatic, Becky said I would be "Walking on Sunshine". How awesome is that!

Currently, the lighting in the LaPlata store isn't too bright so they are bringing in track lighting in the next week or 2. Until then, they are closing at dusk. Although purchasing yarn by touch alone sounds tempting, its not something my budget will allow at the moment. (100% silk, cashmere, angora and royal alpaca anyone?)

Martha, who is working the shop is very nice and has a great knowledge of product and some great ideas. Stop by and say hello! Stock is increasing daily-and I hear Malabrigo has been ordered!!! Imagine. A Malabrigo sourse 15 minutes from home. *faints* My wallet is soooo gonna hurt.