decade’s end

Woo, what a Christmas & Birthday whirlwind! So happy about all I’ve received, of course, highlights including a lovely owl pendant; yarn; a wonderful home-made personalised calendar; and some super stationery. One of the best things post-Christmas/Birthday is spending gift money and gift cards… I found The Best Shoes, which I have to take a photo of. They’re like leatherette ballet slippers (but all man-made materials and therefore cheap at $13) and they’re ballet-pink with teeny string bows.

Also I got an awesome crochet book:

And I’ve already started on quite a few things from it.  The Lace Bowl has been made, and will make its feature appearance on New Year’s Day at brunch… I’m working on the trivets, and have been busy working on my favourite things: these flowers

So fun, and so scrumptious using up the last odds and ends of my lovely Rowan Pure Wool.

I’ll be finishing 2009 and the first decade of the New Millennium happily: with a four-day weekend! Since I had to work on Boxing day and the day after, I am super-glad to have the next four days completely free. 2009 was a year with its ups and downs, so I’m wishing really hard that 2010 will bring even more joy and stability.

So long, 2009– Happy 2010!

merry christmas!

The merriest of Christmas wishes to everyone!! xox

PS: It’s only five more days ’til my birthday!

stockings

When I was growing up, my mum made my brothers and I handmade Christmas stockings (we still use them at my parents’ house to this day). Mine is a lovely needlepoint design, and my brothers have cross-stitched and felt applique ones.

Last year, Himself and I decided against stockings, and then he proceeded to fill mine with treats which made me feel bad for not doing his (we promised!!!). Anyways, the ones we had last year were cheap, plain ones that function well but leave much to be desired design-wise. And of course, I love pretty things.

This year I was inspired by many crafty projects I’ve seen online, and I decided to remedy the sad stocking situation. I don’t have (or know how to use) a sewing machine, but I can stitch things together by hand. So I didn’t start from scratch; I bought two $1 felt stockings from Dollarama (woo, I love saving money!) which already had some appliqued designs sewn on.

I was thinking of getting plain felt ones and sewing my own designs on, but of course this year Dollarama was all about the already-decorated stockings and the only plain ones had furry trim and other frightening details. So yeah, I bought two stockings, making sure they had blank spots up at the opening so I could embroider our names on them.

Oh my goodness, I forgot how much fun embroidery thread is! I used to make friendship bracelets, and worry dolls, and even do some cross-stitch when I was a kid, but I haven’t bought embroidery thread in ages! Wal-Mart was selling a package of 36 skeins (with a few doubles of certain colours) for around $5, so I got the package yesterday and here’s what’s happened today:

I worked freehand, and used what I think is called back-stitch, which allows you to keep your stitches pretty well in line. For anyone interested, the back of the stitches look like this:

I’m absurdly pleased with them so far, but I do plan on adding more embroidery around the felt design areas, like maybe some stars or other little things. Just to make them more personal.

PS: You’ll notice that this year, I won’t be fooled– his stocking already has goodies inside! Ha!

yule pleasures

Having worked retail more recently than I care to remember, I’ve never been one to put up decorations and start listening to Christmas carols in November or (horrors) even October. I got enough of that force-fed to me at the mall. Even now, retail-job-free, I cringe when I hear carols playing November 1st.

Nevertheless, today I have begun to slowly accept the holidays into our apartment.

I wrote and addressed all my Christmas cards…

… and received my first couple in the mail!

I put out a few holiday things:

(incidentally the second one isn’t meant to be an ad for Smarties, haha… it’s just they were the only treat left from a huge box of halloween candy given to us.)

I even started wrapping some gifts, and I’m in love with my polka-dot themed wrapping paper!

I love polka-dots, and they don’t seem too overly Christmassy, so I can use any leftover paper for other gifts too.

We haven’t put up a tree yet, for fear of what the kitten might do to it. She wasn’t around last Christmas, and I’ve got a feeling she’ll make things interesting this year.

It hasn’t snowed enough yet for the snow to stay on the ground, but I’m sure it’s on its way. This evening Himself and I are off to the mall (not the teensy local one, an actual regular-sized mall) to see if we can get some gift-shopping done. I know a lot of people have trouble shopping during the holidays due to the crowds, but I actually kind of like seeing a bustling crowd, as long as I’m not getting shoved by some crazy person who’s bee-lining right at me.

I do love all the hot holiday drinks that places are serving now, like gingerbread and peppermint flavoured lattes… mmm. One perk of Christmas shopping is treating yourself and your love to a nice piping hot drink, as a reward for doing so well. Shh– don’t tell him, though.

PS: The Prisoner ended badly. So badly. Apparently there was a 5th unpredicted way to disappoint me with the final episode, which they did. After it was over, I actually said: “I guess I wouldn’t have minded the gorilla.”

december

December should be all about:

• piping hot mugs of coffee or tea (current favourites being caramel flavoured coffee & irish breakfast, green, or green & black teas)
• curling up in bed or on the couch with cosy magazines and dense novels (awaiting the December issue of Country Living UK, and re-reading Wives & Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell)
• snuggling with a kitty cat (or a boy… or both)
• lots and lots of knitting and crochet

My Rowan blanket is done: the perfect start to December!

It is super-snuggly, really. The yarn is so springy and warm. The kitten seems to especially love it; can cats tell natural fiber from synthetic?

My favourite square is this one:

And I managed to squeeze out six rows of edging…

There’s a teensy bit of yarn left over for something small… not sure what, yet.

Tonight we’re finishing up the last episode of the (new, remake/reinterpretation of) The Prisoner. I love the original series, and even forgive it for its inconclusive, random ending (hey- randomness can be good). Patrick McGoohan IS The Prisoner, and Portmeiron IS the Village (*blush*… I know geeky amounts of Prisoner facts). So anyways, Himself and I decided it would be worth watching this new one, if only to compare it to the original.

Well, it’s turned out to be pretty bad (despite Ian McKellen (!!) being Number 2), and I can’t stop saying “That’s Not Supposed To Look Like/Sound Like/Be Like That!”… and yet, I have to see the end. Because the original series never told me (or anyone), straight up, what the hell the point was of the whole thing, I have this tiny tiny hope that the new miniseries might answer it.

I’m at least hoping I won’t be totally confused at the end of it. I would be the most disappointed if it ended either

1. with a cliff-hanger (can’t stand loose ends!)
2. with it all being a dream (… “and then he woke up… ‘What a strange dream!’ he thought,” and so ends millions of crappy stories that six year olds could have written)
3. with a gorilla mask (because that’s how the first one ended  and, really, don’t we fans deserve more?), or
4. with aliens somehow involved. Please please keep the aliens out of this one, thanks.

I can’t actually conceptualize what would be a satisfactory ending, but I keep my hopes up…

PS: Oh, and I just remembered. They even changed the font in the Village. I mean, really.