Allyson's Birthday

I now have a niece who is three years old. Yesterday was Allyson's birthday. We actually celebrated on Sunday afternoon. The birthday party didn't have quite as many presents as Christmas, but the ones there were went over pretty well. She had a Tinkerbell themed party. Grandma made cupcakes complete with Tinkerbell toppers and papers, and we had Tinkerbell cups, plates, napkins, and headbands.








Mom getting the cupcakes ready.


















Allyson preparing to blow out the candles.

















Lauren watching the festivities.

















Allyson enjoying a cupcake (notice the frosting mustache).

















Time for presents!









We had a good time during their visit. They all left early this morning so we said good-bye to them last night. I got to play with both of my nieces quite a bit yesterday. Lauren finally warmed up enough to be around me without her mom for a little while (just in time for them to leave). She still called me (and everyone else) Papa the whole time. They are both cute little girls. I'm sad to see them go, but I should be able to see them again this summer. Maybe by then Lauren will be able to say my name.

Presents!

The last few days have been filled with presents. It started out on Christmas morning. Allyson and Lauren particularly made quite a haul. Santa (i.e. Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Papa) spoiled them rotten. The biggest hit was the toy grocery carts. They got one for each of them, but Allyson still freaks out if Lauren even goes near hers. Allyson seems to like the Tinkerbell suitcase we got for her, and Lauren likes the stuffed dalmation puppy we got her (Allyson likes that, too). It's funny to watch the two of them. If Lauren goes near Allyson's stuff, Allyson freaks out, but if she plays with Lauren's stuff, that's okay. Right now I guess Lauren's too young to care what's hers and what's not. Perhaps in not too much longer they'll both freak out when the other touches her stuff. What fun!

The presents we got for people all seemed to be well-received. Mom was surprised by the scarf I knit for her, but really liked it. The biggest surprise for her was the nice leather jacket Dad got for her.


Yesterday, she wore both of these presents together.

















I also knit a scarf for my sister-in-law, Amy. It turned out really pretty, though not as long as I would've liked. It still works as a scarf, it's just a bit on the short side. Amy was sitting on the other side of the room from me when I took this picture, so it actually shows the whole family, which is kind of fun.



Justin is wearing the hat that I made for him. He liked it and wore it the rest of the morning while we opened presents. I also made a hat for my father-in-law, Mike. I'd made him one a couple years ago, but this one is much nicer. Also, while I'm not a big fan of the color, he really likes it. The last present I made for anyone was the vest I made for Donna, my mother-in-law. She knew I was making it, but I wouldn't let her see it until it was all done. Unfortunately the pictures I took on Christmas morning of her with it on were all blurry, but I did take a few pictures of it sitting on a table, and those turned out pretty well.
The pattern for the vest is one I came up with myself. I'm pretty proud of it because it looks nice, and it actually fits Donna.

These were all of my knitted presents for the year. The last two, Mike's hat and Donna's vest, were both done kind of last minute. Donna's vest was last minute because I was busy and didn't have time to start it until two weeks before Christmas. I actually finished it on Christmas Eve. Not bad, especially for making it up as I went. The nice thing about Donna knowing about it, is that it wasn't weird for me to constantly ask to measure her. And that made it so I could get it to fit her the way she wanted. She's thrilled, and said she was going to wear it to work today. I got a bunch of stuff, too, that I had asked for and a few things I didn't ask for. Michael got a new Garmin GPS from my parents and we've been playing with that the last couple of days. I got some yarn, hiking boots, a Longaberger basket, and a few smaller things. It was definitely a good Christmas.

Merry Christmas

One of the greatest things about living here again is having family close by, especially during the holiday season. I'm particularly blessed to have parents and in-laws who get along. Since we've been married we've all celebrated Christmas as one great big family. This year my brother Justin and his family came up from Colorado. We all crammed into my parents' house for Christmas morning festivities. Michael's parents joined us and we all exchanged gifts. It was so fun to watch the little girls opening their presents and the squeals of delight that followed. It's been the perfect Christmas so far. Lots of fun with the opening of presents, breakfast all together, and lots of snow. What more could a girl ask for.

Papa

To his grandkids, my dad is Papa. To Lauren, we're all Papa. We realized Monday that she was calling my mom Papa as well. Yesterday she was calling me Papa. It's cute, though. When one of us walks in a room or catches her attention in some way, she gets this little grin on her face and says, "Papa!" in that breathy little girl voice only small children can do. Yesterday Allyson and Lauren were at the kitchen table and I walked in. Lauren looked at me and said, "Papa," and Allyson said, "That's not Papa, that's Jessica!" It was really cute. So, now I'm Papa, too.

Well, it's Christmas Eve and the knitting is officially done. I still have to weave in ends and steam block the edges, but that shouldn't take too long (I seem to say that a lot about these last projects...). Three more presents to wrap: Donna's vest (once the weaving and blocking is done), Allyson's Tinkerbell suitcase, and Michael's last present which was supposed to be here Monday and isn't yet. The snowstorms between Portland and here delayed its arrival, but according to UPS it should be delivered today. Just in the nick of time.

On Nieces, Christmas Knitting, and Snow

Well, it's been a busy few days around here. The snow has continued to pile up. Justin and Amy and their girls arrived safely yesterday morning at about 3:00. I spent most of the day at my parents' house visiting with them and Michael came over after work. I'm still finishing up a few Christmas presents and was working on a hat yesterday. "What're you doing?" was a frequent question from both girls. Mom gave Allyson some short wooden needles and some scrap yarn so she could "knit" too. For her this consisted of wrapping the yarn around the needles again and again until it was an unrecognizable mess. When I asked her what she was making she said it was a sweater for my daddy, but it was kind of small. When Lauren asked what I was doing and I told her I was making a hat her response was "Ooooooh." She then proceeded to tell me something, but I'm not really sure what it was. They're funny little girls. Allyson warmed up to me pretty quickly this time. I think it helps that she was old enough to really interact with us when they came to visit last October. Lauren's in a mommy phase and doesn't really like anyone except mommy or daddy. Yesterday my mom was playing with Allyson in the bedroom they're sleeping in and Mom said, "Hi, Lauren!" Lauren looked at her and started wailing. She likes to look at Michael and I. At one point when she was wandering around the house I held out my hand to her and she gave me five, so I took that as a good sign.

They're fun little girls and it's good to spend time with Justin and Amy. This will be a busy, fun week. The Christmas knitting is nearly done. I finished the bulk of the knitting for the vest on Saturday, blocked it out that night and left it to dry all day Sunday. I started the hat Sunday and finished it yesterday. The picture I took of Allyson wearing it with my phone didn't save for some reason. I've started putting the vest together. I have one more side and shoulder seam to sew, then the edging around the collar and armholes to knit, which shouldn't take too long. I should be able to wrap it tomorrow (hopefully).

Here are the promised pictures of the snow from the other day.




This is early Thursday morning. It continued to snow until around 4:00 that afternoon. The snow did settle some on Friday, so it was more dense and less deep. It snowed more Sunday and yesterday. When I was getting ready to go to my parents' house yesterday morning, it took a good half hour for me to get my car out. Michael had cleaned it off Thursday morning around 9:00, but there was still about a foot of snow on my car yesterday. Plus, I tried to shovel our walk, since it snowed Sunday afternoon and yesterday morning, but only got about halfway before I decided it was too much work and was taking way too long. I did have to shovel some around the car. The snow had drifted up almost over the wheels. Plus, all the snow that was on my car ended up in front of and next to my car. I had to dig a bit from in front (I was backed into the parking space) so I could pull out without high centering the car. I did all this with jeans on, which was not the most brilliant idea. By the time I was done, my jeans were covered in snow from the knees down. I had to come back inside and change before I left. Yay for snowpants.

Walkin' In a Winter Wonderland

Today is officially a snow day. The Idaho State Police have issued an advisory that non-emergency vehicles should stay off the road. Does this actually stop people? Not really. Last night around 7:30 Michael shoveled our front walk (for the second time) and when I went out to check on him, it made me want to play in the snow. All my childhood snow cravings came back in a rush. So, once he was done, I bundled up in all my snow gear and we headed out. We went for a walk, which sounds crazy but was actually a lot of fun. I tried to make a snow angel just behind our parking lot, outside of the gate that keeps cars from coming in that way. That was not the greatest idea. I'm not used to snow this fluffy. It's been so cold lately, that the snow's moisture content is securely locked in crystals of ice. This means it's not suitable for making snow balls, snow men, or snow sculptures of any kind. This also means that, despite it's depth, it's not a good idea to fall backward into a snow drift on top of asphalt. Now, I didn't really hurt myself, but I was definitely expecting a softer landing. The walk was really cool. Christmas lights in a snowfall are so pretty. Michael took a couple pictures with his phone that I'll post later.

It snowed all night long and all of our plans for the day have been cancelled. I was supposed to have lunch with my friend Juanita, but that didn't happen. We'll reschedule, though. But I was looking forward to that, for sure. It snowed all night. I think we've broken records. And there's no sign of it letting up anytime soon. Michael has shoveled five times since this started, and probably needs to again. We actually walked to his parents house (they don't live all that far from us), but that was the longest walk to their house I've ever made. The waist deep snow made for slow going. It's fluffy, but it's deep. We've been camped out here since about 10:00 this morning. Michael's being nice and snow-blowing his parents' driveway. It'll be an interesting walk home, that's for sure.

Wool Socks

I love wool socks. They are wonderful. Wool tends to get a bad rap, and many people think of wool as a synonym for "itchy." While there are definitely wools that are itchy (especially if you're allergic to wool, which I, fortunately, am not), but not all of them are. There are some very nice, non-itchy wools. And socks made from this type of wool are the best socks in the world. Particularly if you live in a northern climate (such as Idaho) where it snows and temperatures can drop below zero for days at a time. Sadly, I only have two pairs of wool socks. My first pair of adult socks are made of a variegated green wool and keep my toes nice and toasty. Here they are:


The other pair I finished a couple months ago, but I'm not crazy about them. They were my first experiment with double knitting, where I knit both socks at the same time. Because of this, they are knit from thicker yarn than is usually used in sock knitting and they don't match. This is intentional, so that I could tell the socks apart as I was knitting them. The more experienced double knitters use the same yarn for both socks so that they end up with a matching pair, but since it was my first time I did not do this.


As you can see, they're a bit odd looking. I didn't weave in the ends because I don't really plan on wearing them. Although, I did wear them on Sunday under my boots when it was ridiculously cold. My other wool socks were in need of washing and I was desperate for wool socks to keep my toes from freezing. Fortunately for me, I now have enough sock yarn for at least six pairs of socks. My mom got me a bunch of sock yarn for my birthday. I started one already, but I only have the toe done.

Thoughts

I've now been on my Christmas break for about a week. Traditionally, I use this time to catch up on sleep. Strangely, that it not happening this time. I like sleep. Sleep makes me a happier person. For some reason, sleep does not always like me. The last couple nights have been not good. I even took something to help me sleep last night, and I was really sleepy, but took forever to fall asleep, and I still woke up a lot. Then I woke up at 5:30 or so and couldn't go back to sleep. I did finally sleep a little more from about 8 - 9:30. I don't like this. Normally I would try to exercise more, or something, but it's ridiculously cold outside, so I don't really want to go for a walk. Though, today is warmer than the last couple days, that's not saying much. According to weather.com it's 9 degrees Fahrenheit right now and actually feels that way, too. The last couple days the windchill has been pushing us down significantly below zero.

In other news, I finished one of my last Christmas present projects. It only needs to be blocked, which I will do tomorrow. The vest for my mother-in-law is progressing nicely. I think I'll probably finish the left front today, which puts me ahead of schedule. I'm at the armhole shaping point right now. From here on to the end of this section goes more quickly. It looks like it'll get done in time for Christmas after all.

Christmas time is here!

There are officially ten days until Christmas and counting. And I'm not done with all the presents yet. There are two still on the knitting needles. One is nearly finished, which is good. The other, a vest for my mother-in-law, is less than half done. Considering I just started it on Friday, though, I'm doing pretty good. The right front is finished and I'm about to cast on for the left front. According to my calculations, I'm right on track. I managed to stay this way by staying up until 2:00 in the morning to finish the right front, but that wasn't entirely by choice. I went to bed at 10:00 and got back up at 11:30 when I was no closer to going to sleep, and in fact feeling more awake than I did at 10:00. So, I got up and finished the right front. Since I'm not using a pattern, but designing this myself, the neckhole shaping was a bit of trial and error. Now that I know what to do, the left front should go a little more quickly.

This vest is my second venture into knitting something I've designed myself. The first was a hat commissioned by a lady from church for her daughter for Christmas. The daughter was wanting an earflap hat, but her mom couldn't find any in colors her daughter would like. So, she asked me to knit one for her in pink, purple, and white. This is what I came up with:




I'm pretty pleased with it, I must admit.

All of my actual Christmas shopping is done, though. I did order one more thing for Michael last night that he'll really like. According to my calculations, it should be here around the end of the week.