Home for the Holidays

I am back! Once again I have returned, unscathed, from the land of the in-laws. Such wonderful people... it was a week of much laughter, much fun, and much FOOD. That family can COOK - I think they even managed to fatten me up, something my own family has been unable to do for thirty some-odd years...

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season, filled with love and light. My holidays are a bit extended this year, as I will be celebrating Christmas with my own family here in Colorado on Jan 2nd. And as such, I had a wee bit of extra time to finish up the family's knit presents. Hooray!

Since my husband got himself a bad-ass new camera for Christmas, he graciously offered to take pictures for the blog. So here we go!

For: Momma :D
Pattern: Weekend Cardigan by Ivete Tecedor
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Superwash, doubled, in Fired Brick
Needles: Size 10
Mods: I knit this in the round and added a few decreases to the body for shaping. I also added toggles all the way down the front.

For: My sister

Pattern: Central Park Hoodie by Heather Lodinsky
Yarn: Elann's Peruvian Highland Wool
Needles: Sizes 5 and 7
Mods: None

For: Nana, the knitting matriarch

Pattern: #107 Bobble, Bobbles Everywhere by Nora J. Bellows
Yarn: Cascade 220
Needles: Size 10

I'm so excited to give her this gift. Bobbles have been a running family joke for years... I think she'll be over the moon about this bag. I'm SO pleased with how it turned out!

There are many resolutions in my near future... not the least of which is to have a fantastic new year and wish you all joy in the coming days and months!

'tis the season indeed

I am, by involuntary action, a cynical person. I tend to believe the negative things more than the positive. I don't know why - it's certainly not by choice - it's more a habit that I fall into and forget how to get out of.

Every once in a while something smacks me out of this. Today I read a post that actually caused me to shed tears in the realization that such wonderful people exist in the world. This knitting community has touched me far more with the graciousness of good than I ever expected it to, and I am very, very grateful to each of you.

If you are reading this... you are charged to do something good today. Give a random gift. Call someone you haven't talked to in a long time. Buy lunch for the homeless guy on the corner. Something good. Something unexpected. Bring joy.

If you are the one who inspired this post, you'll know who you are. You're off the hook. And thank you for smacking me.

Back in action

After a month of sheer craziness, I finally have a moment to sit down and rest. Snow is drifting by my window and there is that utter silence that snow brings, broken only by the dog snoring and my typing. It's really quite nice.

So. What have I been doing for the last month? It's been a hectic four weeks! We had family in town for Thanksgiving, so there was all the attendant madness there. My mother's family is nuts anyway, so having them around is always an adventure. :D Work is keeping me on my toes and extremely busy - I've been learning a lot of new things, which always makes me feel like I'm just flying by the seat, you know? Fun but exhausting as well.

In the last two weeks Soundvice had its first show with the new lineup, and Dave and I have been to the mountains twice for music for him. The first was a 36 hour ski event they played at, and this past Thursday his band opened up for Ziggy Marley in Vail... that was fun. Dave's brother was in town too - I don't think he'd ever seen Dave play, so it was neat to see his reaction. Other than that, we played tourist in Vail and drove back through a mad snowstorm. They closed the pass just after we got through...

As for crafty stuff, I have (for the most part) finished my xmas knitting. I have the buttons to sew on and the button hole band to do on the CPH, and I need to find clasps for my mother's weekender. The ones I fell in love with are too too big. Sad. Last night I dove into the mad yarn barfage that was my bobble pile and I sewed them all up into neat little balls.... pulling them out of their tangled mess was an interesting process. Behold the pre-bobbles:

THAT was exciting. The dogs even got involved, as one of them took off with a blue bobble and the rest of the pile went dragging after her... and then they made a game, as I ended up chasing them around the house as they stole bobbles. Ahh, fun stuff.

I took out my sewing machine a couple weeks ago and made some pretties for myself. Primarily a grey shift dress with some lacy bits. I don't have a photo, since my camera battery is nowhere to be found, but pictures will eventually ensue. I'd forgotten how much WORK sewing is. It looks like it should be so simple...

Contrary to popular belief...

... I am not, in actuality, dead. I will provide updates and yummy pictures soon. :D