Christmas Recap

Hope yours was merry and bright! We had Christmas (Round 2) with my side of the family starting on Christmas Eve and Phil's mum and brother came back for Christmas day. I'm bummed I forgot to take photos of Phil's Aunt Tresa and her daughters Erica and Celena with their moebius scarves that I knit for them this year. Oh well... Here are some more pics of us all having a good time: Evelyn got several cool presents this year, but one of her favorites was the cell phone. It plays music and we can record our voices on it. What her mum loves best about it though is that it's quiet enough not to drive her crazy (that's usually our requirement for toys that make noise.) Evelyn loves it, and we were all cracking jokes about her being on the phone all the time. She also got a couple of very special gifts... A Shirley Temple doll that belonged to her Great Granny:

... which she can't play with for awhile. But she did get another doll she can play with - A Raggedy Ann from my Grandma and Aunt Barb.

... as soon as she hangs up the phone, that is. She also loved the giant super-soft unicorn my sister Jackie gave her. (It's bigger than she is, but she's been dragging it around by the horn!)The boys had a blast opening up a variety of new toys and games, which they've been playing with non-stop the last couple of days.

There they are with Uncle Blake setting up the circus dominoes. Nathan's favorite gift this year was his Darth Vader costume. (I heard Santa had a diffult time pulling that one off... but that was the one thing Nathan said he really wanted when we visited Santa this year.) Jamie loved the remote-controlled trucks that my Grandma sent the best, but I haven't yet got a good picture of those (sorry, Grandma! I'll send one soon.)

Most of the knitted gifts I gave this year were scarves. Here are a couple of pics of Heather and Dallas in theirs:Heather's (and my mum's) were a drop-stitch scarf made with a ribbon yarn called Karnak.

Dallas was the recipient of a mistake-rib scarf made with an alpaca blend called Rumor (by Patons.) I finished a key-hole mistake-rib scarf last night for Phil with the same yarn - it's so soft!

Another gift a lot of people got from me this year was a set of coasters made from that "table runner" which was my first weaving project. (Remember, the one my sons decided to cut while it was on the loom?) I kept a set for myself... for the memories. Here's what it looked like before I chopped it to pieces:(I think I shed a tear or two before I got out the rotary cutter... C'est la vie.) Here's what they looked like after I'd cut them and used the sewing machine to finish the edges:Not too shabby... They reminded me of a set of tartan coasters my Grandma used to have (and my sister and I used to pull the strings out of when we were kids... I cringe when I think about that!) Anyway, I sent her a set too.

I didn't recieve a whole lot of fiber/yarn related gifts this year, but my mum did buy me a set of Louet mini-combs so I can brush out my alpaca fiber. I'm sure I'll put them to good use in the next few days! I also have a gift certificate for NW Handspun in Bellingham that my sister bought me for my birthday and I haven't had a chance to use yet.

This week we're staying home in an effort to spend no money whatsoever... Yesterday we sat around and read books (I also did laundry) and ate leftovers while the kids played with their new stuff. Today will be much the same. It feels good to not have anywhere to cart the kids off to, or my own usual commitments to keep me running around. I'm devouring a stack of books I've accumulated over the past year but never did get around to reading... and I'm sure I'll whip through some projects I've had in the queue for awhile as well. My next post will probably include goals for 2008 - If I don't get to blogging before January 1st, have a very Happy New Year!