HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Has it already been a week since Christmas Eve?? It's been a blur of still more food, fun, friends and family, I can tell you that! Yesterday morning I took Audrey to the train (to go up to Parksville to visit our mutual friend Bev) after an overnight visit here with us ... and then got to spend a few quiet moments alone at Clover Point to watch the sun come up .... aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh.

Then Jason stopped in before supper to collect his last Christmas gift which I hadn't finished yet -- this was my favorite knit this Christmas, partly because I knew he has just the right quirky sense of humor to enjoy the finished product -- and, as I predicted, he loved it!

(It's called the sock monkey hat, of course, and it's a free pattern on Knitty.com. The wrist warmers he's wearing are crocheted, and were a gift from a friend of his...)

Today I'll drive out to the ferry for the 5th time this week, to take Hailey, who has to be back in Whistler this evening.

Then I think I'll do nothing ... for the next three days. Except knit, of course... my reward for doing all that Christmas knitting? I cast on a shawl for myself! It's called '198 Yards of Heaven' on Ravelry, but I'm knitting it in a bulky weight yarn and adding at least one repeat of the pattern, so it'll be a lot more than 198 yards by the time I'm done.

AND SO IT WAS

Every year, I wish for a Christmas full of family, friends, fun and food ... and so far, every year, that's what I get! (I also wish for love and peace, and get those, too...)

We had our big family dinner at Mischa's, as usual, but on Christmas Eve this year instead of Christmas Day. That allowed us to 'chill out' on Christmas Day ... after brekkie and gift opening, we ate leftovers and just hung out together for the rest of the day.

It's all about the boys...

My pics are all lousy this year (I'll blame the lighting in Mischa's apartment)...

 

Michael and Mischa were there, too, but I didn't get any pics of them -- or of Mischa's new guy, Joe, or Mike from Galiano, or Jeff, who were all there, too!

I think the biggest hit under the tree was probably the tech deck park that Joe created for the boys...

Tech decks are miniature skateboards - and Joe, being a pretty decent carpenter, created a to-scale miniature skateboard park for them!

I did oodles of knitting, really I did .... and never took a single picture before I gift-wrapped everything and gave it away! Everyone got socks, of course, and I managed to finish a lap blanket for Jason, hand towels and wash cloths for Hailey, cowls for Julie and Trisha and a toque for Joe. What I *didn't* finish was a small project for Jason and pillow cushion covers for Mischa - still working on those this morning!

Joshua arrived day before yesterday, and today my friend Audrey arrives from Calgary for the day and overnight; then tomorrow we'll have dinner at Penny and Robin's -- and then I'll be ready for this...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It's 6:15 a.m. on Christmas Eve Day, and I've just wound the last hank of wool I'll need for the last Christmas present I'm knitting. It's a man-size toque in a bulky weight yarn, so I should have no problem finishing (she says as she knocks on wood with crossed fingers...)!

We're having our family dinner at Mischa's tonight, so I'll go put the turkey on this morning, and then leave the girls to do the veggies while I go to Knit'n'Cafe this afternoon.

From our 'house' to yours, I hope all of you have the most blessed Holiday Season ever, and may much love, happiness, health and peace be yours (and ours) in 2011!

HAPPY SOLSTICE

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Christmas, but today is also one of my favorite days of the year -- "the return of the light" is always worth acknowledging!

Even though I'm rarely up past 10 pm, I made an exception last night in order to see the lunar eclipse. There were a few clouds trying to block it from time to time, it was really cold out (the wind was blowing abou 35 kts), and we had to strain our necks to look almost straight up above us, but I managed to get a few shots of it. This one's my favorite (in the rigging of our neighbor's sailboat):

And, since I was out on the dock anyway, I got a picture of a few other lighted boats in the marina...

MUCH knitting has been taking place, and still much more to do -- I got my flu shot yesterday and my arm's a bit sore today, so I hope that doesn't slow me down!

Last Friday at Knit'n'Cafe, we presented Kevin and Sidney, the owners of Serious Coffee, where we meet, with a little Christmas 'goodie' bag in appreciation. Catherine M. knit the hats! (Didn't you know we're the SERIOUS knitters?)  :)

Aren't they adorable? (And the hats are pretty cute, too)!

THE MV COHO

I was talking to Mike on Galiano this morning - he called to tell us that their power was out (it's blowing 35 kts out there right now) but that he'd fired up his generator and had a heater going so he was okay.


I said that I'd have to go down to Clover Point this morning for a little 'storm watching' and he commented that there shouldn't be any boat traffic to speak of since anyone out in that would be a complete idiot.

I remembered, when he said that, that someone told me a few weeks ago that the Port Angeles ferry, which crosses the Juan de Fuca Strait at least twice a day (double that in the summer) has never missed a single crossing! So I googled that, and here's what I found!

Pretty amazing, and I'm sure it's absolutely true -- I've seen it out there in pretty big seas, 'tacking' like a sailboat to keep the bow into the wind.

The Coho is part of the Washington State ferry system, but she's been a fixture in our harbour for over 50 years, so she 'feels' like ours!

Today's agenda: MUCH knitting. I just found out yesterday that someone I wasn't expecting will join us for Christmas  this year, so I have to whip up a toque today! :)

BUSY TIMES

As I'm sure it is for most of us, it's a busy time!

We had a lovely drive up-Island to have lunch with Julie day before yesterday ... except for the snowing at the top of the Malahat. Well, Michael liked it, I didn't! Driving back from Ladysmith we could tell that it still looked pretty gloomy at the summit, and then saw one of the Highways signs, and it said, "MALAHAT .... SLUSHY AND SLIPPERY" ... and since it was also almost dusk, we opted for the 'World's most beautiful shortcut' and took the Brentwood ferry instead!

I had to be back in time for the Victoria Hand Weavers and Spinners Guild Christmas potluck, which was also lovely! Everyone brings their own place settings ...

... and we had an amazing variety of food:

The Guild had also issued a challenge to create tea cozies, and several people responded, so they drew names and exchanged their cozies last night -- some very clever and artistic ideas, that's for sure!

The evening finished off with a white elephant sale, which meant that (even though a few folks went home with fibre that the previous owner hadn't wanted) there were lots of laughs!

I spent yesterday running errands and shopping with Mischa, and today .... I think I'll go be a spinning imposter at Wendy's house. I *do* have knitting to do....  :)

THRIFT STORE FIND

So I stopped in to Value Village on my way home from running other errands yesterday -- I buy the Michael's Craft Store plain white paper gift bags, and like to decorate them with cut-outs from recycled Christmas cards, so I needed to find a package of old assorted cards. I found some, but then this caught my eye...

I don't usually go for those little ceramic 'village' sets that are so popular at Christmas, but this one was a bit different. It's bigger, for one thing -- about 6-8" tall. And it's pale blue, and had a blue Christmas light inside it - so it would fit in to my 'winter wonderland' scene in my living room really well. Besides, check out this detail....

The chimney cap in the fist picture reminded me of a little knit toque, and then, in this one -- have I just been knitting too much, or does that look like the end of a scarf to you, and a bit of I-cord under the windowsill?

So I paid $3.99 for it, brought it home and plugged it in ....

... and was turning it this-way-and-that to admire its cuteness, when I noticed this detail ....

Isn't that just about the most adorable Christmas decoration EVER??