Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Most wonderful time?

Many people feel that Christmas day is the best day of the year. Not me, I'm partial to the 26th. Why?

Reason #1: No pressure. There is nothing to do. None of that 'oh goodness I only have 12 hours left what did I forget to do?' madness. You don't even have to cook, which brings me to reason #2...

Reason #2: Leftovers! I ate leftovers for every meal yesterday. Yes, I even had pie for breakfast. Since ham, mac and chese, and corn are some of my kids favorite things to eat there was no effort to get them to eat.

Reason #3: Your kids disappear. Seriously. Children are so excited on Christmas their behavior is birderline psychotic. Too much to look at, too much to touch...it makes them crazy! See?
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On the 26th they are still super~excited, but now they've inventoried all of their loot and are ready to get down to some serious playing! We didn't see the kids yesterday until it was time to eat (leftovers!). We even got to watch some movies in the middle of the day...in our PJs :o)

I'm sure there's more reasons, but you get the idea. My point is I spent the day yesterday on my couch, in my PJs, watching movies and eating leftovers! Does it get any better than that? Don't get me wrong though, preparation for the holiday is fun too. The kids had a ball making cookies and it only took me a couple of hours after we were done to clean the flour and icing from all the crevaces in my kitchen. And who wouldn't enjoy wrapping presents with help like this?



All in all, it's been fun but I'm ready to get back to normal. Is it January yet??

*if you work in retail (as my sister does) forget everything I said about the 26th being awesome. If you work retail my hat goes off to you.

Now on to the knitting! I promised some pics didn't I? Ok, I've got a couple of gift scarves. This one is for our little neighbor. It was for her 7th birthday and what 7 year old girl doesn't appreciate a little sparkle? I used TLC cotton plus and some eyelash...name escapes me right now but I think it starts with a T? I got it from one of the LYSs a loooong time ago!


Then we have the Chevron scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I used one skein of variegated pink and one of green Koigu. The pattern called for 4 skeins but since the recipient isn't 7 feet tall and I can't imagine that she wants to use it as a head wrap like in the picture I stopped at two. Here's a closeup of the stitch and color. She really liked it!


Last but not least I made a mulitdirectional scarf for my son's teacher out of Noro Kureyon (#148). Here he is modeling it on the morning we wrapped it up to give to her...

Yes, the pic is kind of dark but less face it...my photography is less than stellar on a good day. At 6am it's, well, even more challenged.

Almost forgot, you can see pics of what I gave Kerry at our gift exchange here on her blog. Being the genius that I am I forgot to photograph all the stuff before I wrapped it up.

In the midst of all this gift knitting I managed to knit something for me! I knit a scarf long ways out of Blue Sky organic cotton. Man is this stuff soft! I'm hoping I have enough left over to do a matching hat, or maybe one of those pantas? Isaiah likes it too

It's long and skinny and matches my coat. Perfect!

Of course Christmas did not come and go without knitting loot! I got the book Alterknits and a GC to Borders so I can shop during knit night (sock book perhaps??), enough Cascade 220 to make Rogue, and a GC to kpixie...yay!

It seems as though the natives are getting restless so I'm going to bring this to a close. Hope everyone's holiday was a merry one and that you all are enjoying the last week of 2005!

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Calm before the storm

It's quiet and the baby is asleep, as he should be after fussing all night long! I'm enjoying a MUCH needed cup of coffee before I have to grocery shop, clean, and generally get ready for the holiday.

So in this calm before the storm that is to be my day I figured I'd give you a quick update to let you know that I'm still alive. I've been gift knitting, so I have some pictures to show you. I've also been involved in a couple of swaps and bought a couple of books. I'll have a better update this evening, after dinner and basketball practice.

Until then, I leave you with what Phoebe's been up to...

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Tis the season...

for runny noses and coughing. That's right, all three of the boys have got the funk. My six year old came home early yesterday and stayed home today. He's laying on the couch looking pitiful. The four year old doesn't seem any worse for the wear, but then again when has a little snot ever phased a four year old? The baby is his regular old happy self except for the coughing. Oh, and the wrestling with the booger bulb! Boy do kids hate that thing!

In spite of all this I have actually been knitting! Perhaps it's because when the kids are sick you are pretty much confined to the house watching Noggin or whatever. And they nap more :o)

Even though I've been knitting/crafting I can't really show you anything just yet. Why? Because it's been gift knitting/crafting and the recipient(s) may read the blog. I should have some pics tomorrow or the next day because our knit group gift exchange is tonight. Of course I'm going to be late because hubby has to work until 6. Just my luck!

I ordered some Brooks Farm Four Play to make Ella and it got here in like 2 days! This stuff is something else and even though the price has been raised a dollar I will definitely be getting more of it. It's beautiful and an awesome value! I got the poppies colorway and as soon as I'm done with the frenzy known as 'gift knitting' I'll be more than ready to cast on for Ella!

That's all I have for now. I'll be back later this week with updates and pictures!