Loot!

Christmas reinforced for me how very blessed we are in so many ways.

Here was our tree:

Look at all that insanity. We only had 7 people there! It took us 4 hours to get through everything...granted, our tradition dictates opening gifts quite slowly, but I think this is still a record.

I took photos of everything I got that was for me specifically, but I was too lazy to take photos of stuff shared by me and C.


The quintessential Italian cookbook. I can't wait to make everything in it. (Well, OK, not everything. I noticed a recipe that involved boiled calves' feet. Not happening.)


Yes, this is a peanut butter and jelly spreader. Awesome. No one needs this, but it is fabulous.


Quite possibly the most exciting gift...this means that today's post will be the last one containing cell phone photos (unless I randomly need to take a photo somewhere and only have the phone with me). The new camera is charging now and then it will be in business!


I love silly kitchen implements. This one is particularly apt because the only slotted spoon I have is HUGE, so this makes a good mid-sized one.


Switchplate for our kitchen light. Now people will know this light switch is for our kitchen (people get confused because the switch is not actually IN the kitchen).


Yum. I probably WILL make almost everything in this one, at least once. There are some amazing looking recipes here...and it looks like some good reading, too (how chocolate is made, etc).


Dorky, yes, but I needed one. I am horrible about checking my tire pressure, mainly because I did not have a tire gauge. This will ease my mind as my car's low-tire-pressure warning light is constantly on because my snow tires don't have the special super-expensive valves that communicate with the system.


I hope this one is good. I'm looking for more decent sock patterns.


And while I search for a good pattern to make socks for ME, I have these awesome down booties to keep my feet warm (did I mention I am constantly cold all winter?).


Pasta that my Mother-In-Law picked up in Rome (she got there the day before we left). I can't believe she traipsed around Rome and Florence for 2 weeks and didn't break a single one of these (they are about 2 feet long). That short one is just short, not broken.


Really looking forward to getting through reading this, and making some stuff, after all the praise this book has gotten from fellow bloggers.


Don't tell me what happened. I have not yet seen Season 7 as we have no TV here.


This looks kind of fun...though I have to admit I am getting annoyed with Debbie Stoller lately. Maybe this will change my mind.


This is a duplicate, but I have no complaints. Who can possibly have too much coconut body butter and scrub from the Body Shop? Not me!


I have wanted this for ages but never been able to justify it. The elephants' trunks are hooks, for hanging small items like keys..the giraffe is just for decoration. Now to decide where this will go...

And I just realized I did forget to photograph a couple gifts. Let's leave it at this - I am spoiled.

Happy holidays to all. :)

It's finally done!!!

Yes, I have finished my Christmas knitting as of today. Here are the photos (not counting the finished pair I posted a couple weeks ago):

For mom (left wrapped at her house on Sunday after my visit):


For C:


For C's mom:


For C's aunt:


Now maybe I can think about making MYSELF some socks!

Meanwhile, here is a blocked sweater that I finished in April but will wear on Monday for the first time.

It's not especially flattering (so you will get no photos of me in it) but it is warm and comfy.

Finally, I promised a pic of what I made at the glassblowing event (I still don't have ownership of the photos of me making this though).


Merry Christmas everyone! I will post again after the holiday, and more often now that all these socks are done!!! :)

If only every workday could be like this...

So for Christmas, my boss today took us to a glassblowing studio where we got an hourlong (very cool) demo and then we each got to make something. I made a paperweight, but I don't get to bring it home for another couple days (it has to cool down very slowly or it will shatter). Anyway, I don't have photos yet, as someone else was taking them, but I know for sure they were taking photos of me as I was working on my piece, so I'll be sure to post them (um, depending on how awful I look). Then we went out to a fun Japanese restaurant for lunch, and then after that (around 2:15) we got to go home. What a great way to end the week :)

Anyway, here is the necklace photo I promised:


Finally, here is my progress on the sock I started Sunday.

Not as fast as the last one, but I have been crazed this week and haven't had much time. I'll be working on it for a minimum of 3 hours tonight though, so I plan to at least get the heel turned and the gusset stitches picked up...ideally I would manage to get the gusset decreases done, but we'll see where that goes. Knitting does get a bit slower when chatting. :)

Quick Update

Yesterday morning my friend Bobbi and I went to Caribou Coffee for a little caffeine and knitting. We hung out for a couple hours and met lots of nice people who wanted to talk to us about what we were knitting (of course I was working on a sock which intrigued a lot of people). Anyway we had so much fun that we are planning to do it again on Friday night (I always sit around the house knitting on Friday nights anyway).

I am about halfway down the leg on the current sock. It's moving slowly, partly because I had no time to work on it today (maybe I'll have 20 or 30 minutes just before bed, so that means one pattern repeat). I was hunting down my dress for the work Christmas party this weekend. I bought one on Saturday, only to find out when I got home that one of the straps was damaged. I went to one mall at lunch today - no luck, but I went to another one after work and was successful. I also picked up a necklace to go with it - with this low neckline I think it needs one, even though I almost never wear jewelry. I'm posting a photo of the dress, haven't taken one of the necklace yet, but it is a gold chain with big loops, threaded with a red velvet ribbon that matches the dress. I'll try to post a photo tomorrow. The dress looks more purple than it really is - I think it's because the walls in the room are purple. Anyway it's more like the color of a nice cabernet. :)

Snowbound.

Right now I am stuck home due to a foot of snow - they just now came thru with the plow, so I'm going to go into work for a half day, as soon as I get off this conference call (at least that I could do from home).

Here is what I have been working on, to the exclusion of blogging, cleaning the house, keeping in touch with people, etc.


Retro ribbed sock #1 for M-I_L...


Pair of "fake Fair Isle" socks for S-I-L...


Retro Ribbed Sock #1 for mom (just completed an hour ago)...


All of these have been started and completed in the past month (if you follow my blog you know it normally takes me a month to do ONE sock). I have 2 more Retro Rib socks to do, and then I need to finish the red and white patch socks (I posted sock #1 from it awhile back and am only about halfway through #2), all before Christmas. The craziness is not quite over yet.