dear santa

Oh, the crunch before the holidays. Work is crazy busy and even though I have a hundred things I should be doing tonight, sitting at the computer is about all I can manage. But I will quit my whining.

I have been wanting to show this fabulous nesting doll for a while. She is handcrafted by local potter/artist Julie Moon, who is still showing her work at Art101 in the UpCountry store on King Street. Anyone in Toronto looking for a unique gift should take a look - they are wonderfully charming.

Next up, a tower of knitting. I have started three new projects in the past three days - as if I wasn't busy enough already. I also visited (and purchased at) three knitting shops this weekend: Knitomatic for lovely Koigu, The Knit Cafe for Fleece Artist merino sock wool, and Romni for Xmas goodies for a certain special Mom that I know. So much wool, so little time.

Then lastly, the message I wish I could send out to everyone. This card is by Snow & Graham, and my camera doesn't do the letterpress justice. Suddenly I'm craving the camera my friend Max has - a Sony Cybershot DSCT10, which takes decent video and the most incredible macro shots I can imagine from a simple point and shoot. But alas, I'm not sure that Santa can afford it this year...unless I can justify that it's a tiny price to pay to have videos of Sadie with true audio. That's a good argument, right?

'tis the season

We have a tree! Well, we have a potted shrub that will eventually go in the front yard, but this is the closest thing to a Christmas tree that I'll ever get. Jay isn't so fond of Christmas for completely understandable reasons and most years I plunk dead branches in a bucket of sand and hang my ornaments off the bare twigs - it may sound awful, but really, it looked pretty great. Even so, the scent of pine and real greenery is by far my first choice. Sadie's eyes just lit up when I plugged the lights in last night (my brother's birthday is today, so my Mom always tried to have the tree up by now) and she has been describing each ornament and counting the cardboard stars ever since. I took photos of two of my favourite ornaments - the first is one that Jay made (there's a little bit of Christmas in him yet!) It's a rubber baby frozen in epoxy and when the light comes through the bubbles just glow. The second is a see-through scene with one little girl looking out a window from inside and then another little girl looking in from outside. My Mom gave it to me in 1984, and it's just so charming and sweet. It's the one I'm excited to see every year - and I have to say, it suits this whole "live" tree much better.

I just hope my neighbours can forgive me for digging a huge hole out in the front yard that will stay empty for at least another month. Oops.

warm feet

With winter looming and a busy work schedule, I figured the time was right to finally attempt socks. I started with small toddler socks, but that didn't make the project any easier. The first sock took four, yes four tries until I got it right (at least the small scale wasn't so heartbreaking to undo). Needless to say I was well practiced for the second sock and it was a smooth knit. Sadie likes wearing them around the house but only on top of other socks, so I can't say they are very practical. However, I do agree that the process is quite magical when the heel takes shape, so I think more socks are in my future. And maybe for my feet next time.

In case anyone wants to know, here are the details:

Pattern: Two Tone Socks from "Simply Baby" by Debbie Bliss
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino
Needles: 5mm DPNs
Mods: None, except for needle size. I did the 6-12 month size, but with larger needles than called for. Oh, and I only used one colour.