Thank goodness it's all over!
Aw, Christmas wasn't that bad, really. In fact, it was the best of my grown-up life so far. My mom came up from Phoenix, my sister stayed with us, and we had lots of family time and a TON of presents. My boyfriend got me something really incredible - a handmade stuffed capybara. The craftsmanship is incredible and I've named him Horatio (as in Hornblower).
My mom got me a whole slew of books: Hip to Crochet, The Celtic Collection, and The Green Mountain Spinnery Knitting Book. Two of the gift cards I got (Joann and Barnes & Noble) will be going towards knitty things - yarn and The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques (and whatever else I feel like picking up in order to get free shipping!). The only other crafty present I got was a scarf knit by my boyfriend's mom, stripes of various Lion Brand boucle. It's crazy and strange, so it's a very fitting gift for me.
The gifts I knitted and crocheted were very, very well received. I'm so happy that my family really appreciates such things. The teeny-tiny sweaters were raved about. Two of my cousins (both girls) also received scarves. One of them was the merino and Fizz scarf I made ages ago, and another was a really stylin' alpaca one. The latter I was very proud of. It was made from a yarn exactly like Peruvian Collection Cuzco, in ivory. I knit one ball on size 17 needles (in an hour!), then added a biiig, old button so the short scarf could snug up around one's neck. The large stitches made it easy to button it without a button hole. My cousin loved it.
The Lopi sweater I knit for my sister fits her absolutely perfectly (without checking gauge or having any clue what size she'd wear). And she loves it, too!
Back to knitting!
I'm so happy that I can now knit whatever I want without regard for deadlines. Saturday night I finished another one of these (I wore the pair on Sunday, and it turns out my aunt is in the process of knitting socks out of the exact same yarn). Last night I picked up the Rhapsody in Tweed sweater and am now about 10 inches into the back. In a fit of ohmigod-I-can't-do-any-more-damn-holiday-knitting-right-now last week, I re-started the Flower Basket Shawl, and I'll add a few more rows to that after I'm done here.
Because I got offered and accepted a job today, I decided I deserved a little stash enhancement. Enter the Boxing Day sale at Red Bird Knits (thanks to Laura for pointing me in that direction!). I'll be receiving a 4 oz. skein of Jaggerspun Zephyr in steel, a skein of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino in Old Rose, and a skein of Schaefer Yarns Anne in blues and greens for 40% off. I can't resist prices like that.
I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas! Happy new year if I don't check in before then!
Tipper @ 11:15 PM * link
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