Helllllloooooo Out There!!

Hi.


Yea, my bad.


It's been a month!!


In that month, however, there has been significant action around here...



(Now, just in case this post looks really wonky...I've decided to multi-task--- because that's what we do--- and do some typing while the pictures are loading; so we'll see if I can put it all together when it's done.)



These images are presented in no particular order, but trust me, I had wild and wonderfully witty stories to share about all of them...but I forget.

And while we're waiting...I feel pretty good about the whole Christmas prep thing. I may be, oh, what's the word, completely unrealistic (?) in my optimism, but you know...it's gonna come anyway, whether I'm ready, finished, prepared, tired, sore...doesn't matter; December 25th will come on December 25th and I refuse to kill myself in preparation for the day after December 24th and the day before December 26th. Been there, done that and (my favourite) bought the T-shirt!

Images not ready yet.

I've had some good news over the past few weeks and some good times...
Christmas parties with friends is one of the best things about this season.

Here's an example of some of the cookies that I made for our "Cast Off's Christmas Party"

I LOVE our Christmas party. It's just us...15 of us...and WE ARE ALL JUST THE BEST PEOPLE EVER!!! ( if I do say so myself)

Another Christmas Celebration that I had the honour of attending was for the lovely ladies that I have met through Wellspring at Doane House. (Men are welcome, but they usually don't stay with us for too long). I made this for our hostess. She knew the owner of the yarn shop where I purchased this yarn, Hand Maiden Cashmere and Silk, long before I did, and the funny thing was...I just bought it 'because'. I even started knitting it 'just because'. And then one day...a light bulb went off (I was trying to think of a word to describe a sound effect for a light bulb going off and then decided writing "a light bulb went off" would make it more clear for all of you) and I realized that the scarf I was knitting was for M. She took it out west with her when she visited her in-laws and it kept her nice and warm...and that's a good thing.

Unfortunately we recently lost a special lady to Breast Cancer, and while we celebrated the holidays, she wasn't able to join us and a few days later she was gone. We're all very sad and will miss her tremendously. We shared many tears at Doane house...tears of laughter, tears of fear, tears of anger...but at no time did we shed tears of loneliness, because we were always there for each other. Always. Anytime. We were a found family when we didn't know who or what we were looking for...there we were.

And then we're gone.

So, here and now. That's what know for sure. Here and now. (sorry got a little deep there, but I miss our friend)

So, the family and I got to go see a Raptor Game. The kids had a blast!! Me? I had wine. hehe

This is my daughter and I celebrating another 3 pointer for the good guys.

We lost, but it was a really wonderful afternoon.

More knitting...

Remember L? Took up knitting and was whizzing through Misti Alpaca like nothing? (still going strong, by the way)
Well, she's a hockey player and she organized a very successful tournament a few weeks ago; so I donated these for their fundraising efforts.




I made a pair of guards for her last year...(or was it the year before?) anyway she and her team mates thought they were great!! (I made a pair for my son too...he --and my husband--laughed, and the dog ate one) Anywhooo, because she said that they were so popular I went with putting together a pink pair with some minor modifications from the pattern as written on Knitty. The case I designed; yes, I designed, to go with it so that the guards could be stored in it on the bench and keys, cell phone, etc. could also be accessible. The ladies were tickled and expressed and overwhelming demand for more. hehe :o)
I'll need to follow up with the original designer, but I think this could be fun.

So, yes I've been knitting. I've been producing knitted items that should then leave a void in the stash.

No worries.

There's been stash enhancement as well.

There we are, caught up a little bit. I'm working on one last 'would really like to get it done for Christmas' knitted item, but have run into pattern design issues and am, right now, as we speak, waiting for clarification from the designer himself (yes, himself)!!

I love knitters.

Do you get that?

I'll try to post sooner than later.

Take care all.