PS.

Happy New Year!!!!! (I'll be back!)

The little angel on the wash clothes was from Target (1.99).

The baby sweater yarn was DROPS Alpaca, color number 7300, lime - and
color number 7120, light mint. It's incredibly soft!

Sheesh. It's done.

This little darling took F.O.R.E.V.E.R to knit. The 1.5 mm needles did not speed things along.
However, it's done. It's cute. It's soft.

The pattern is free. (Drops Jacket - knit sideways) It's a clever pattern and easy. But because of the tiny needles, it is not for the feint of heart. (faint/feint? oh who cares) The only seaming I had to do was under the arms. The buttons won't fit through the holes, so I'm off to my LYS to find a smaller set. There are a pair of pants that are supposed to go with this sweater, but you won't find me knitting them.

And some gratuitous photos of our last winter storm. I LOVE snow, so I'm very happy!!

Dancing Around the Christmas Tree with Jolasveinar

Each December, the local Icelandic community puts together a Christmas ball for the children. I don't know exactly how traditional this is. Do they do this in Iceland? Or is this nostalgic longing brought to life in the form of New World Christmas traditions.

It begins with singing and dancing around the Christmas tree. This is a little awkward since most of us don't speak a lick of Icelandic and know none of the songs. This year, they included some more well-known favorites like Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.


At some point in the dancing, the Jolasveinar show up to play tricks and make children laugh (or cry, depending . . .) They share candy treats and join us in the dancing and singing.

These two darlings were decked out in the Icelandic national costume. There are variations - I wore one for my mother-in-law the first year I was married, but I thought it was supposed to be tied like Swiss Miss and was soundly pounced on when I entered the room by little old Icelandic ladies letting me know in no uncertain words (mostly in Icelandic, so it went over my head) that I was wearing it all wrong. Let's let these darling girls carry on the tradition, shall we?

The best part - my boys are still not to old and cynical to join in the revelry.

The Christmas Presents that WERE.

I really didn't get much knitting done in time for Christmas. Isn't that the way of things . . .

However, I managed to send off this Clapotis to my BFF who moved to Texas without me.Let's see. I used a US size 7 and the yarn is Misti Alpaca Pima Cotton & Silk - Hand Paint. It's a soft as butter, by the way. I did not get a great picture, so I'm hoping my beautiful pal will take an amazing picture of her wearing it so I can post it here! hint hint

And then there were the dish rags which one can knit while watching Heroes or Dexter or Lost . . . which starts soon.


I used a US 9 and some of that cotton yarn you can buy at Micheal's Craft Store. The one in the middle is a solid purple and a mixed yarn held together to make a sort of hot pad. If I did it again, I'd go down a needle size or so to make it a bit tighter and I'd make the hot pad bigger.

TTFN

ps. oh, that baby sweater? As soon as I publish this post, I'm going to finish it. I'm on the last button band! Can you believe it? And yes, it is knit sideways. I'll post the details here soon!!!

Happiness is a dog park on Christmas Eve.

Merry Christmas.

Holidazzle

It is a dark and quiet morning. The kids are still sleeping and I'll be waking them soon for their last day of school in 2009. There are only a few days until Christmas. There is a savage snowstorm moving in soon and all is peaceful. There is still much do to - wrap up the last gifts, clean the house, bake and cook - but for now, I'm enjoying this quiet moment. Happy holidays and merry Christmas. Take a minute for yourself to just sit and enjoy the season.

These are pictures from the Minneapolis Hollidazzle parade. It marches down Nicollet Avenue every night for several weeks each Christmas season. It's your typical parade with the exception that everything is covered in Christmas lights, including the people volunteering to be in the parade.

There are people inside those Christmas bulbs. These were a favorite.
Heh heh. Even public transportation was decked out. It is getting dark around 4:30 now, so what a treat for our pale eyes!

HEH HEH

I got this from No Patterns who got this from Panopticon. I'm knitting like a mo-fo on that #$@# baby sweater on 2mm needles and the baby is growing bigger every day! Yes! Postpone Christmas!!!

He's gonna find out who's naughty . . .

Destashing is like going on a cold-turkey diet. It just doesn't work! So of all things, I bought some more roving. It's called Vixen the Reindeer and it's Wensleydale wool. I have no idea what that is, but I loved the name and the color. Think I'm going to spin it into a single ply and then knit a Lacey Baktus (rav link) for myself.

You can purchase your own lovely reindeer colorway over at Sheepish Creation. 4.3 ounces for $15 - not with shipping.

Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With Strings

This really is a brown paper package and it's tied up with string. There is a wonderful woman from Norway with an amazing blog "On The Needles" - really, amazing - I'm not just saying that like it's some old cliche. She lives in a fjord in Norway and paints a lovely portrait of her life there, among the sheep and the children and the boats and the weather and, of course, her knitting and sewing.

A few months back, Marit asked for 'volunteers' for a Pay-It-Forward. Are you kidding me? I said YES! And so yesterday, I found a brown paper package with Norwegian stamps and I jumped for joy.This is a bit of the card that her daughter made for us. It is just so . . . so . . . Norwegian!
There were two skeins of lovely Norwegian wool in a deep evergreen color that will make a toasty pair of socks . . . or maybe mittens. . . Hmmmmm. I'll have to think about that.

She made tiny stockings for each of my children with their name stitched on one side and the year on the other. There was chocolate and lollipops - I did not get my camera in time. The candy was devoured!
There were treats for my husband and myself as well. She had also sewn little cone shaped bags (I call them May-Day bags, but they must have another name). And there was some chocolate involved there, too. I'm not sure - we eat chocolate so quickly here that it really was all a blur. I have a new favorite chocolate - Krokan Rull by Freira. Ooooooooh so fudgy and delicious with bits of toffee to boot.Now, best of all - she stitched up a fabulous bag - lined with bright fabric and pockets for all of my knitty things! I think I'll use it as my school bag too. It's huge, roomy and sturdy. I. LOVE. IT. It smells of lavender because she also included a luxurious bar of soap made by Norwegian nuns. And it's MINE ALL MINE! I plan on lighting some candles and having a nice hot bath soon.

Marit, you are an angel! God Jul to you and yours!!!!!!!

HAPPY KNITTING!

Hellooooooo out there!

I am still here. And for those of you who requested yarn, I have your addresses and yarn I'll eventually get off my duff and mail those to you. I have not forgotten!!

Knitty has their new winter issue out and I was tickled by a few. Especially one that was meant to show off off the random think and think spinning I've been trying out. It's a sweater called King of Confidence. I want to show you a picture, but it's from Knitty's website and I'm pretty sure that kind of borrowing is not allowed. . . (anyone? anyone?)

There is a sock pattern for handspun yarn, too! Although I think that a Noro sock yarn would work, too . . . but I've sworn that off forever...

AND believe it or not, I have been looking for a hot water bottle cover and lo and behold - there is a penguin knitting pattern for exactly that!

OK. That's all. I know I've been gone. I am still working on a certain teeny sweater for my niece and something else for my BF, but it can't be shown until after Christmas.

Happy Holidays!