Last Christmas Hurrah

My sister and her boyfriend visited Chicago over the past two days, and we were able to exchange our handmade Christmas presents. Here is a picture of her modeling her scarf. She really seemed to like it, and even wore it a few times.

She gave me a recipe box, and included some of her favorite recipes. I love cooking, so this was a great gift for me. We are going to start a new Christmas tradition of exchanging 10 of our favorite recipes each year. I was very curious to see what kind of gift she would come up with, since she is not the crafty type. I was pleasantly surprised.

Here is a picture of me with my recipe box.


It has been an interesting weekend. My sister and I have always had a difficult relationship; we are very different, and have not always gotten along very well. As long as we avoid certain sujects things are fine. There were a few tense moments, like when she said that a lot of my belongings "were kind of ghetto" (gee, thanks!), and when I dared to bring up her smoking (always a touchy subject). Overall, it was pretty fun though.

I have to say that I'm glad 2006 is almost over. It has been a difficult year. 2007 is going to bring with it many big changes, and I'm looking forward to a new start.

Happy New Year!

Knitting the Night Away

It's not often that I knit the night away in front of the fireplace. In fact, it never really happens, but it does make for a good photo.

I finally weaved in the ends on my sister's scarf. This took two minutes at the most, but apart from this, the scarf was finished about three weeks ago. If I'm feeling ambitious, I'll block it. The yarn is amazing, and I can't wait to use it again.

This picture was taken early in the evening, before the movie and the wine, and before the candles dripped all over the place. The sleeve is now seventeen inches, and according to the pattern, it's time to start shaping the top. I may decide to add an inch or two yet, but I'll let the wine wear off before I make any hasty decisions.

Almost there, well sorta...

No photos today, but I'm excited to report that the front of Cables in Chamonix is complete. The first sleeve has been started, too.

This sweater has come along very quickly--especially considering that it hasn't had my complete attention. My goal for this weekend is to finish it up, or at least the various parts. Then comes seaming. Can't wait for that! Ha ha...

I am a little worried that it won't be the most flattering; it's made with a somewhat chunky yarn and will be quite form-fitting. It will be interesting to see the final result. At least I'm prepared.

Next on the list is some holiday knitting. I really need to get on that. Since I will heading to Florida next Thursday, I don't have much time left. So much for planning ahead.

As if I need more patterns...

The new Knitty is up! I've been wondering when it would appear. There are some cute patterns. My favorite is Corazon--I've been wanting to try Fair Isle, so maybe I will give it a go with these mittens. I also like Center Square, Argosy, Monkey and Emerald.

Actually, if I have time to knit any of these it will be a miracle. Between trying to rent the apartment, getting rid of half of what we own, and packing, I should be pretty busy. And that doesn't even include my current knitting projects!

Today I took pictures of the apartment. This is the best it has looked since we moved in. Most likely, we will be moving from a large 2 bedroom to a small 1 bedroom, so it will be an adjustment. The hardest part will be deciding what to get rid of...

Cross-Country Calling

Not much has been going on around here--unless you count an impending move to San Francisco. Yes, the hubby is being transfered. He's already there, and I'll be joining him in about 2 months.

Apparently, he used my camera to take some parting shots. This one could be captioned, "Crap! It's 8am, I haven't packed anything, and we're leaving in 4.5 hours!"

Since he left, I have embarked on something of a craft extravaganza. There has been knitting, button wreath making, sewing and more. Now I just need to focus on completing something. It's the little things like weaving in ends and tying a bow that somehow seem to languish for a week or more.

So, my goal for this week is to finish a few things and focus on everything else. Let's see how it goes...