i made it through christmas, but...

I'm not so sure about new year's! So everything worked it's way out to have one of the better Christmas days, ever! Christmas Eve was spent at my BF's sister's place. That was nice, and mostly quiet. Then I got up Saturday, and made food to bring to my parents' house...some last minute cookies and a rice pilaf.

My Mom's lunch was good, as usual. But late...as usual. She was still in her sweats when we got there. Needless to say, that's not how she wanted to be seen. Everyone loved their gifts, especially the hand knits stuff. I also got some great stuff...to tell you the truth, my family puts up wish lists, so I got exactly what I wanted.

Next was a quick stop by my grandmother's house. This was the low point of the day. Unfortunately, there is still some feuding going on between my dad's siblings. To accentuate the positive, I did get to see a few of my cousins that I haven't seen in a while. And, my grandmother really like the flowers that I brought her.

After that, I dropped my home to get rid of some leftovers and some excess baggage. Then, it was back to the sister's house. By the time I go there, my BF's family was pretty much drunk and in rare form. My family rarely serves drinks, not even wine with dinner. His family is as close the other end of the spectrum as you can get. We stayed up til about 2 am then passed out watching Space Ghost. The next morning I made the mistake of going shopping with BF's sister and mother. I've shopped with the sister before and that can be pretty enjoyable, but the two of them together was much too much.

To make a long story short, we went to the sister's on Friday and got conned into meeting for breakfast on Saturday morning. Got very little sleep that night. Had a great time Saturday night, when we saw the Carlsonics at the Black Cat. This was a super cool show. Not only is the band really good, but I got to hang out with on of my good friends from high school.

Finally, after spending much of Sunday recovering from the rolling hangover of the last 3 days, we had both families over to our apartment for dinner. Woohoo! I made it!

Almost ready...

Christmas is so close it hurts! I can feel it...of course, it could just be the sleep deprivation setting in. Yesterday I stopped on the way home and picked up a few things for my BF. We usually celebrate in February, combining Christmas anniversary and valentine's day. This year, since we're actually in town at the same time, I got him some things to open on Christmas.

I'm also coming to the end of my to-do list! We're heading to trader joe's this evening to pick up stuff for my dad. He's getting cheese and nuts...I'm not kidding and it's just what he asked for. We're also going to try to get some wine to bring to my parent's house. TJ's just happens to have the best prices on wine (and everything else). So, it looks like I'm gonna have another long day.

frenzy!

I'm trying to get everything done in time...really, I am! But I think I'm going to have to go into frenzy mode pretty soon. I tried to work really hard this weekend but after a point I just couldn't take it anymore. Yesterday, I realized that I had been working my fingers to the bone for everyone else in my life. I just needed to do something for me! So, I took a long luxury shower and did a number on my hair. An hour and a half later, I was ready to face the world again...and will have good hair all week!

Once I was refreshed, I went to the grocery store and got everything I needed to make cookies. This year I'm making 5 kinds:
-chocolate chip
-oatmeal w/ cranberries (a request from my BF)
-chocolate toffee blondies
-sugar cookies
-butter cookies w/ milky centers

I was able to squeeze out 3 of the 5 last night and I'll be back in the kitchen tonight making the rest.

1. List your five favorite beverages.
marker's mark on the rocks, iced tea w/ lemon, vanilla stoli w/ ginger, revive vitaminwater, and chai

2. List your five favorite websites.
digsmagazine, chicknits, craigslist.org, readymademag, and knitty

3. List your five favorite snack foods.
chips&salsa, popsecret homestyle, cinnamon graham crackers, pocky, and grapes

4. List your five favorite board and/or card games.
scrabble, boggle, monopoly, life, and shoots&ladders

5. List your five favorite computer and/or game system games.
solitaire, tetris, ddr, the sims, and minesweeper

One more week!

Just 7 days! I've been working overtime trying to get my cousin's gifts finished. Would you believe I finished a hat in about a day? I had cast on for the thing on Monday night, and got about 2 inches into it when I realized it looked way to small for an adult head. So, Tuesday morning I frogged the honeycomb band and started over. I added a knitting session at lunch yesterday and was able to finish it that night on the bus ride home! (I hope to get a picture of the finished hat tonight).

Once the hat was finished, I cast on for the first of the arm warmers. I'm going to used the general pattern form the latest Interweave, adding the honeycomb pattern to the openings. I've already worked about 4 inches. I'm going to make them slightly longer than suggested in the pattern, maybe 8 inches instead of 6.

I now know what I want my BF to give me for Christmas...at least one part. I want to get a manicure! Maybe on the 30th, so my tips will still be nice for New Year's Eve. And, that way maybe I'll be able to resist knitting and give my poor hands a rest. The drawback to this plan is that I wouldn't be able to knit on the bus trip to NYC.

Crafty Beast

There are just 10 knitting days until Christmas. (yeah, I'm a little worried). I'm inches away from finishing my cousin's scarf. I'm hoping to finish that on the us this evening. Just in time to cast on for the hat. It may seem very ambitious, but I hope to have the hat done by Thursday, leaving a week to knit up the two wrist warmers. The only reason I'm setting such a close goal is that I usually knit a lot faster in the round.

new yarn!

I got my shipment from Smiley's! They delivery rate is so quick, it's sick. So, I got some Patons wool to finish my cousin's hat and warmers. And, I couldn't resist getting some yarn for me. So, I ordered yarn to make Marsha.



I've been looking in my closet every morning for a black cardigan that goes well with slacks...you know something good to wear to work. But, I keep realizing that I don't own such an article of clothing! I figure this will do nicely...and it's just a little funky so I can wear it on the weekends too!

1. Do you enjoy the cold weather and snow for the holidays?
Yes, Yes, and Yes! It's been nearly 20 years since there has been snow here on Christmas.

2. What is your ideal holiday celebration? How, where, with whom would you celebrate to make things perfect?
Quiet day at home with family. This year is the first time my BF will be in town for the holiday, so I couldn't ask for more

3. Do you do have any holiday traditions?
My family doesn't have any unusual traditions.

4. Do you do anything to help the needy?
Hate to admit it, but no.

5. What one gift would you like for yourself?
I want to get a good blocking surface to finish my knitting projects. Something that folds up when not in use...I know, I know...I'm a dork!

everything's coming up...paperwhites

That's right...All of a sudden things seem to be taking off. The first two sets of bulbs that I set up have nice sized shoots coming out of the bulbs. They look to be about 2 inches tall as of yesterday afternoon. I think the little desk lamp that I set up above them is really helping. The lamp doesn't give off very good light, but I think it probably helps to keep the area a little warmer. For now, I'm leaving it on from the time I get up in the morning until I go to sleep at night. I'll be happy as long as the plants I want to give my Mom and Aunt are close to blooming at Christmas.

The best looking ones are the second sets that I put together. I did one in a small glass vase...probably the one I'll keep for myself. This is the only one I did in a clear container and what I like is the fact that you can see the roots growing. If only there was a way to get more vases like these and transfer some of the other ones over. My second favorite is a group of 4 that I put into a small ceramic planter. That on has soil at the bottom with some decorative glass pebbles on top. I will most likely decorate the planter with ribbon and give this one to my BF's sister.

2 down, 2 to go

I finished the second washcloth this morning over a cup of coffee. I'm going to be knitting morning noon and night until the 23rd (at least). I'm hoping to have the 4 washcloths done by the time I get my yarn order from Smiley's. I had to get some more yarn to make the hat and arm warmers for my other cousin. I'm hoping to pull off those two items within a week. I know I'm cutting it close, but I've gotta give it the ol' college try.

I also made a promise to BF that I would take a break from knitting once Christmas is over. By then I'm sure my little fingers will need a break. Of course I don't mean a full knitting shut down...I'm thinking more like a slow down. I'll probably just pick a couple of projects that I can work on the bus in the morning. I'm also thinking about joining the DC stitch 'n bitch. I recently found out that a group has started at a cafe close to my apartment on Sunday afternoons. The other knitting groups in the area meet in the suburbs on weekday nights. And, as a bonus the cafe that they go to is a place that BF likes to hang out at already so maybe we could turn it into a Sunday afternoon outing for both of us.

deck the halls...FaLaLaLaLa La-La La-La

The lights are up in the hallway. It's actually something that I've been wanting to do since we moved in, but I've been too lazy. Now that they're up, I expect that they will stay there until we more out.

We also got our tree. It's smaller than I wanted but it was free! We went to Ikea on Sunday and they were selling trees. It was the last day they were available at the store, so they were free if you spent $50 or more...and as we all know, it's super easy to spend $50 at Ikea. Last night I bought a tree stand, put the tree up and put lights on. I'll post some pictures once there are ornaments on the tree.

dentist visit

There's one thing that you should know about me...most things are all-or-nothing in my eyes. I've neglected my teeth for the last few years. I either didn't have dental insurance, or the time off of work to go to the dentist. Well, for the first time in a long time, I have both. And, ever since the accident, I've been really focused on my teeth. Nothing else matters as much as becoming comfortable with my smile again.

So, yesterday I had a good ol' fashioned dental check up. Most people hate going to the dentist. Me, I'm kind of indifferent. I kind of like the feeling of someone cleaning my teeth and reaching all of the spots that I just can't get at very well. I had a few spots of really bad tartar build up between my lower front teeth -- they call it calculus for some reason. Anyway, this isn't the first time I've had this build up even though I brush and floss daily. For some reason I just can't take care of this myself. But, in a matter of minutes, the dentist had it out.

They only bad news is that my dentist says I need 3 fillings. She wants to take out 2 that I've had since high school and re-fill them. And, she wants fill a hole in a cracked tooth...cracked by the tongue ring I used to wear, not the bike accident. So, I'm going back on Saturday so I can get it in before the end of the year.

no doubt

My fear from yesterday is gone! I finished the first of the four washcloths that I'm making my cousin. I even haves some scraps of yarn to spare! Once, I joined the petals, the inside of the flower goes very quickly.



I'm also making her one in red, white, and black. I already cast on for the black on this morning and managed to eke out 2 petals!

shadow of doubt

I started working on one of the washcloths that I hope to make for my cousin's gift. She's going to be moving out of her parents' house in January and I want her to have something different. So, I'm making her 4 flower shaped washcloths, the ones that are featured in the new Interweave. I'm done with the petals, and just joined the five this morning. But, I'm watching the yarn ball get smaller and smaller...to the point where I doubt that there will be enough to finish. I've got my fingers crossed, 'cos at this point in the game I don't want to have to order more yarn. I'm also going to make some cute soaps to go with it. So, this a gift idea that I don't want to ditch.

just a block away...

Mom's SSC is done! I set it up to block last night, and it should be ready for ready once I get home. It turned out even better than the one that I knit for myself. I guess I really did work of out all of the kinks. Instead of the garter stitch and eyelet rows, I did a seed stitch. The same for the ribbing at the bottom and the facings. It made a big difference...as the edges are less likely to roll. Also, instead of the single button, I'm going to put a ribbon facing on the fronts and put snaps for closure. Now all I need is some coordinating ribbon!

no snow day :(

bread, milk, toilet paper!

There's a possibility of snow tonight and through Saturday. That means that an unscheduled run to the grocery store might be needed to get through the weekend!

On the bright side, if they close the government (as they are prone to do during snow) I might get the day off. And that means I'll have plenty of time to get crafty with my Christmas gifts!

a late arrival

I finally got my paperwhites yesterday! From all accounts, it take about 4-5 weeks for them to bloom. I was hoping to have them close to that stage by Christmas. But, now that it's exactly 3 weeks before the big day I have some doubts. I'm going to go out after work and look for a few nice vases. With any luck, they'll be set up this evening.

I'm going to give groups of these flowers to my mom, aunt, probably my BF's sister. Oh, and don't forget about a set for myself!

home alone

I've had the whole apartment to myself since last Wednesday and it's been great! BF went home to visit his dad for Thanksgiving and I've been on my own. I got so much done too. I was able to finish hanging the icicle christmas lights in our hallway. It's a lot longer than I thought it was. I even had to go out and buy another string to finish the job. We've been in the apartment for about 6 months now and this is the first real decoration that has been put up. I'm going to leave these up year-round. I also went and bought more stuff for our tree...The thought right now is to buy as much stuff as possible so BF can't say no to getting one!

It was also a great week. I started the scarf for my cousin. Since I was going over to my parents' house I couldn't bring the sweater that I'm making for mom. So, I whipped out the black wool yarn from my stash (inherited from a co-worker whose mother had been hoarding the stuff since he was a boy). I looks like I'm going to have enough for the scarf, hopefully about 7-feet long. Then I'm going to buy more yarn to make the hat and warmers. I chose a Honeycomb stitch that looks kind of like this:



And, I think that I'm going to design the hat to have the same detail that the brim then stockinette for the rest. The arm warmers, I'm going to make using the latest Interweave article with the Honeycomb detail at the openings.

Last night I joined my Mom's SSC. I know it won't be long now. This will be my project to work on at home...I'm aiming to have it done before this weekend!