Long Awaited

Finally, we are on the long-awaited Christmas break. This year all three of us are off from work and school at the same time, until January 2nd. Usually by December 15th or so my work slows down, but it just wasn't the case this year -- I ran around until the last moment, and even with that I felt like not much was accomplished -- thus sadly, no Holiday cards made this year. Shame on me.

Mitch was down with a cold again (second time this winter), and he was slightly asthmatic. When he got better, I was down for the second time as well. I think I am getting over quickly, thanks to the mega-load of Vitamin C at the beginning. All that didn't help with getting things accomplished, of course. Knitting included.

I did finish the socks for my friend and sent them off to her in Japan.

She lives in a snow country in Japan, and very much appreciated the socks I knitted for her last year, so I hope this pair will be a welcome addition.

I am still working on Mitch's hooded vest. I'm on the hood part right now, and with five balls of yarn to maneuver, it's been a lot of work. Not sure if I can finish it by Christmas, but I'm not going to sweat it. I am using a Japanese knitting pattern, and I've been enjoying reading the graphic pattern again.

I'm really looking forward to getting back to spinning alpaca Erin brought back from Oregon, but I wanted to get some natural brown sheep wool to ply it with. I'm not brave enough to knit something with 100% alpaca handspun that may not retain shape -- alpaca has no or very little elasticity. So I called up Nancy, my spinning teacher -- I headed to her house this morning, only to find out that she was too down with a cold. So the local sheep ranch visit was postponed, once again. One of these days, I will get to visit her and post some pictures of her sheep! For now, we'll tame our fantasy with my Christmas sheep figurines.

Erin and her family is north-bound, off to see her parents in Vancouver. She's planning a visit to a local yarn shop to look for some Fleece Artist's spinning tops (hard to get in the US) for me, among other fine Canadian yarn for herself, while she's there! I will post the colorway I am looking for by the time for her yarn shop visit.

Happy Holidays!

Peace on Earth.