Yarn-Themed Christmas

I no longer have 28 miles of yarn. Because I had a yarn-themed Christmas.

Or maybe I should say I had a bit of a knitting-themed Christmas because it wasn't all yarn. I got two much desired knitting books (The Knitted Slipper Book and Scottish Knits)(and used a Christmas gift card to pick up three more: Knit to Flatter, The Sock Knitter's Workshop, and the visually insane Op-Art Socks). Each book has at least one pattern that I want to cast on for right now but I am making Dan more socks, so I will have to wait a tad.

I will also have to wait until I finish a bit of lacework that I have decided I simply must do. Because I have something pretty that needs covering to keep kitties out: my brand new knitting bowl!

It's fab and I love it and it is amazing how much easier it makes knitting. It even works well to move my yarn around lap- and arm-rest-kitties. I only used it for a day before we went of to St. Louis and I missed it while we were gone - that is the kind of difference it makes. Delightful.

Of course, there was yarn in my knitting-themed Christmas. I met a new yarn store in St. Louis (Knitorious. It's awesome. If you are in STL, you should go there. Even if you don't like yarn) which was delightfully dangerous. And since yarn stores are like potato chips, I was not able to stop at just one. I ended up with yarn goodness from the in-laws and from Dan for Christmas (and a little from myself, too). Okay, maybe it was more than a little.

               

So yeah. Now I have 31.7 miles.

Eh. I'm okay with that.

Christmas

Last week, Dan & I were in the Midwest, visiting his family for Christmas. It was a good trip, but I'm not going to lie: I'm happy to be home with the kitties. I missed them a lot. (Poor Emmett is still so new he squeaks and we were worried about how he'd take us up and disappearing. (The answer is: freak out, hide from the pet sitters and be scared of us when we came back before (eventually) deciding to be a massive love Emmett. He woke me up at absurd o'clock this morning purring incredibly loudly, tromping all over my head and shoving his head violently (and repeatedly) into my hand).) The kitties are happy that we are back, too. (Gidget has stuck to my side since we've gotten home like she's afraid I'm going to leave again. She is currently using my wrist is a pillow. Not helpful while typing.)i

Anyway, while it turned out nice, the trip didn't start out all that great. This was what we ran into in Oklahoma:

Oklahoma is not normally that white and ice-covered. (Though it is normally that boring.) Of course, after the ice and snow started, the roadtrip became even less stellar as we (Dan) got a speeding ticket. 69 in a 55. Oops.

But then things got better because were got to where we were going (without additional snow or speeding tickets) and got to visit with family and do Christmas-y type things. (There might have been a yarn-buying trip or two in there, too, which I'll get to in a later post.) Aside from normal family-visiting-type things, we did have a bit of touristy fun. We went to the Missouri Botanical Garden's Garden Glow.

It was massively crowded and quite chilly, but very pretty. And I enjoyed it even more because it resulted in a picture of Dan and me that looks like it was shot on a bad 70s background.

That picture amuses me greatly.

And speaking of amusing, we ran across this somewhere in Oklahoma.

Hot Mama Pickle-in-a-Pouch. And even more amusingly, the part of the pouch that is covered by the box? It says "Sassy Pickle". Yep. Just what everyone needs when dealing with the boringness of Oklahoma. A Sassy Hot Mama pickle. Yum.

Dan Socks

Dan now has a second pair of knit socks! These were his (slightly belated) Christmas gift.

They are the first pair of socks I've made without a pattern, so I'm quite pleased with how they came out. If I were to do them again, I'd probably change the chart up a bit to make the pattern pop more, but overall I'm happy. Especially since Dan likes them and that's kind of the point, isn't it?

And, lucky him, I'm working on another pair of socks right now that will also go to him. (Birthday present maybe?)

(And yes, I still have a sweater to finish. I just need to put on buttons and sew the button band flat. It's on my list!)

Emmy & Ollie

Emmett and Olive are becoming quite the little friends. Most of the time their interaction is play-fighting, but recently Olive has started licking on the other kitties, particularly Emmett. Of course, their grooming sessions seems to devolve into roughhousing, too, but I think they enjoy it. And they are really cute.

I Might Have a Problem

Out of curiosity, tonight I figured out how much yarn I have. And the answer?

28.1 miles.

I'm not sure if that's good or bad. 28 miles. I mean, that's more than a marathon's worth of yarn. But it's actually on the low end for a lot of what I've seen on Ravelry. (I've seen as little as 5 miles and as many as 120 miles but around 60 seems normal.) But yeah. More than a marathon.