Christmas Is A Time For Giving...

but please, please, please somebody take it away! I don't want was I was given. I could really live without it. What was this hideous gift, you ask? Well, as a hint, I can tell you it was given to me by my kids. And, no it wasn't some lopsided ashtray for a mother who doesn't smoke. It was a stomach flu. Who really needs that kind of mess on or around Christmas? Lambchop #1 got the privilege of waking up before the crack of dawn on Christmas day with the vomiting. I was allowed to save the cramping and general yuck for a few days later (no vomiting for me, luckily). Not fun. You just can't enjoy a nicely baked turkey with its rich sausage/chestnut stuffing when you've been wiping puke off a kid's chin the whole car ride up to the relatives' house. She took it all in stride, though, and had a great time with her cousins anyway. Just don't ask what gift we left behind in our wake.

So, why am I telling you all about this instead of showing photos of the fun stuff? That would be because my theiving husband seems to have downloaded the holiday pictures onto his computer before I got the chance. It's all just as well, anyway, since there weren't any knitting-related shots yet. I got tons of Knit Picks yarn from my wonderful, very generous parents. Most of it was what I requested, but there were a couple of nice surprises, too. For starters, I wasn't expecting the Merino Style yarn she accidentally selected instead of the Palette I had asked for. In the end, it worked out for the best, because the two colors I had chosen really didn't match as well as I'd hoped. And, now I have the chance to knit a cute little sweater for Lambchop #1 (already about 1/4 done) in Merino Style, which I've found surprisingly nice to knit with (let's just hope it washes well). Then, she threw in some of that new baby alpaca/cashmere blend yarn they've got at Knit Picks. When I asked her about it, she just said it looked interesting. You've got to love a mother who'll throw in some cashmere just for fun. Then, there was some sock yarn (with nylon this time - that Sock Garden felts if you just rub it the wrong way). And, some dye-your-own lace weight merino. That should be fun to play with. I'm just waiting for the day I get that stitch dictionary I've been wanting. Then, I can design a nice little shawl or something.

Another fun little gift came from my brother and his wife. When I first opened it, I was truly confused. It's was a box full of various-sized "Space Bags". If you aren't aware of these things, they're those plastic zippy bags that you can squash all the air out of to shrink your clothes in your luggage. I don't get to travel much, so however grateful I was for the thought, I was still quite perplexed. Almost a full fifteen minutes later, it hit me. For yarn! The Space Bags are for yarn. They came just in time, too, since I'm still not sure where to put all this new Knit Picks yarn. Thanks guys!

In other knitting news, I was actually able to finish the stripey cashmere blend scarf I was knitting for my brother-in-law. It stretched quite a bit in the blocking process and came out extremely soft. I'm quite pleased, and it's got me really looking forward to the cardigan I'm knitting myself with the same yarn. I'm nearing the end of the body on the cardy, and hopefully I'll soon have pictures of it and the scarf to share.