RETURN OF THE LIGHT

Anyone who knows me knows how crazy I am about Christmas -- but today is a day I celebrate, quietly and joyfully, almost as much. The 'return of the light' has always been a big deal to me -- not because I celebrate the Solstice, per se (but I love to honor those who do, and the history of those who have) but more for practical reasons -- I love daylight, and the more of it, the better! I have always felt a little less safe driving at night, and since we moved to this neighborhood, even walking at night. So turning the corner to longer days ahead is always a day worth noting!

Trepidation about driving in the dark didn't stop me on Friday when I relieved Michael of his 'child care duties' -- I decided to take the boys out for a drive to check out some Christmas lights. We picked up burgers at Beacon Drive-In and then cruised through the Oak Bay area singing Christmas carols -- it was lovely!



And these ones weren't even prize winners -- we may go for a longer drive this week, after Hailey gets home, and check out more! Even Oak Bay Avenue looked Christmas-y:

After Mischa got off work, I stopped in to the Knotty by Nature social on my way home to pick up the last of the CommunityKnitters.com donations, and I'm sure glad I did:

There were two children's sweaters and three pairs of socks in the batch, as well as several hats!

On Saturday morning I drove out to the church that hosts the dinner where these knitted goodies are distributed.

No one was at the main hall yet so I didn't get to see how it all looked, like last year, but the smells coming from the kitchen were heavenly!

THANKS TO YOU, community knitters, we delivered 368 KNITTED ITEMS to Extreme Outreach this year! That's a LOT of warmth ... and once again, I'm so impressed with how knitters step up to the plate when there's a need like this. (And we can all start knitting for 2010 anytime ... our goal every year is 500 items, and we've never quite reached it!)

We had the boys overnight on Saturday, and after supper we took them to Bear Wear 2009, a fundraiser for the Queen Alexandra Foundation, which has helped River a lot. I gave them each a 'twoonie' to place a vote for their favorite bear, and we had lots of fun checking them all out.

Yesterday I knitted! I've wanted to try the 'Houndstooth Check' pattern for a long time, and when River asked for black and red socks, it was the perfect opportunity. I've never been crazy about stranded knitting or intarsia, but this pattern is worked in only one color per row -- it's the use of slipped stitches that creates the effect.

It's been a quick knit, which is a good thing -- I still have a few more items on the list for Christmas knitting!