Christmas and beyond....

So Santa came and went and it was all good.

Xmas morning the sprogs were at their dads so I got up around 9:30 and went over to my neighbours for some coffee and conversation which was a very humane way to begin Christmas!

I picked up Madeline and Alex at 1:00 and came home and opened gifts. Because there weren't a lot of presents under the tree we took our time and enjoyed opening one each and getting to admire each other's presents. I gave Madeline a Real Meal Easy Bake Oven which she liked enough to try the macaroni and cheese (it is a stretch to call it that). Alex got a Robo-pet which is BEYOND COOL. Seriously. Even if you don't have kids this thing is fun! And if you or your significant adult is a bit of a tech geek - you'll be enthralled by the mechanical genius.

I think I've mentioned before that because I don't have a partner and we celebrate Xmas with my family separately, I normally buy myself some stocking stuffers and a few gifts to give myself from Santa to keep the belief in Santa Clause alive. I did this the first time last year and discovered it is a lot funner than I thought it would be. I think this is because I am an instant gratification type of person. So packing up the gifts and not playing with them is hard for me. So I am truly excited Christmas morning to finally get my hand on my presents! This year Santa gave me a lovely earring and necklace set - bronze with nice red stones in it (how did he know I needed some red jewellry!), Nicky Epstein's Knitted Flowers, the most recent Knit.1 magazine and the new Koigu book.

More books arrived from my parents: Odd-ball Knitting (which I'm not in love with) and Sally Melville's Knitting Experience Book 3: Colour which I have glanced through and seems to have some interesting ideas and techniques.

Right now I am knitting up a few washclothes to "adorn" my last gift to give to my good friend Sandra, a beginner knitter who made the mistake of saying to me, "I wish I knew how to knit dishclothes." Did you know that you can fit four "cakes" of wound Bernat Handicrafter cotton in one of those cylindrical wine gift boxes? Well, you can! I finished one ball-band cloth from Mason Dixon and am working on a modular one I really hope will work out based on the Koigu book instructions for diagonal squares - I am determined to make this without having to sew a seam!

Sorry for the lack o pictures but my camera batteries are recharging...and frankly? I'm at work (shhhhh!)