Good friends, good conversation....

Isn't that what Christmas is all about? Well, before I even get to that, I promised a lot of people a picture of Mom's shawl. Yup, that's what I made her. Really a stole because it's rectangular, but that's semantics, isn't it?

Yeah, I'd definitely prefer a better pic of me, but that's the shawl. Mom was wondering what color she should make her poncho and scarf and stuff like that. Hmm... let's see. She wears a lot of blue, but she really loves red, etc. I figure there's no worry with this baby. It's got them all...

One of the students who live in the complex where I work did this for me. Thanks, Mary!!!! I couldn't have done it without you!

Youngest daughter got a gorgeous camera as her big present and I know she took a ton of pics yesterday. I'll see if I can sort through and get some of the various socks and scarves I made for presents. The girls haven't told me yet if their socks are even the right size, but I hope they try them on today. I'd like to know because it's time to shop for some more yarn. Lisa Souza, love ya babe, but it's time to get some more Cherry Tree Hill Supersock yarn. And I've been dying to get some Gypsy Girl yarns. (www.stonebarnfibers.com) In fact, Mom passed a skein of Tainted Love over to me. The colors weren't coming out right in the socks she'd started, so she gave it to me. I use 12 sts less in my socks and some colors just work better at different st counts.

I ought to know that one. Shelby's socks? Boy, what a mess. First, I was making them in Lisa Souza's Gendarme. They were absolutely gorgeous, but I have to totally rework my st count because the yarn is more a lace weight than a fingering weight. So I ripped that out and tried Shelby's in Cherry Tree Hill's Rose Garden. Wouldn't you figure that simply adding 4 sts to the pattern made the green section lump all together in one area? Yup, would have ended up with a very lopsided and mishmashed green stripe down the back of her leg. So I finally called Mom and she had Gypsy Girl's Watermelon Tourmaline. Whew! They came out simply gorgeous! (Hoping youngest daughter got pics of those. They really are fabulous!)

So what did I do with the Gendarme? I doubled it up and made it into a scarf for my friend, Linda. I did the quick and easy scarf design from Knit Picks where you YO every stitch in every 3rd row and then drop the YO when you knit the 4th row to make "holes". Then get a ribbon (I used 7/8" ribbon in a gorgeous peach) and thread it through the "holes". It came out very, very pretty.

So what's on the fire for today? Well, I really should trot myself off to the gym and start working off that lucious potato salad and ham from yesterday, but I think it's too risky. With the bed head on top of my noggin, I'll definitely be scaring small children and animals. So I might skip that one and get back on schedule tomorrow. More spinning today. I got the spinning stool to go with my wonderful Kromski Prelude wheel, so some more spinning is definitely in order. Best of all will be tonight. Concert in Hartford at 8PM. Trans-Siberian Orchestra to round out the holidays with an evening of heavy metal Christmas music. This is Mark's first time seeing them and I'm making him go. (He was nice and offered his ticket to Linda if she wanted it. He's not getting out that easy... ) For all his trepidations, I know he'll love the show.

So enjoy your after Christmas bonanza and drop a line to let me know what you got! I'm going to see if I can keep the girls out of the mall for one more day. Today is almost as bad as Black Friday with the madness. Yeah, I've got money burning a hole in my pocket also, but I'd rather miss the crowds if possible. (It's never entirely possible, which is why I prefer to shop online, but that's a whole 'nother post. )