Lots of Christmas knitting...

Christmas started early this year... On Ravelry, I was part of a 'Glitter & glamour' exchange, which meant a whole group of grown-up women decided to send each other fun, useful or just plain beautiful gifts, simply because we want to ;) This was what hit my doormat one afternoon (well, actually, the postman had to ring the doorbell...)

And inside? A whole pile of packages, and chocolate coins. My own little helper was on hand to help...

See that look on his face? That's him begging if he can please, please, please have one of the chocolate coins...
And after we unwrapped all the gifts...

I had a desk full of yummies, a soft scarf, black soft yarn, a new circular needle and glittery body lotion... And as luck would have it, we drew each other, so while I was unwrapping (blogless) Cloudhead's package, she opened mine... She got some of the snowflakes I crocheted over the last few weeks...

Snowflakes were crocheted galore over the last few weeks, as some were also donated to Midwinterwol, and sold, with the proceeds going to the Shepherds of Balloo, who lost their sheep pen and sheep dog to fire a while ago... You can still donate money to help them make sure the new pen looks even better and will be more successful than ever.

After the crocheting was done, I focused on knitting again. I had two big Christmas deadlines this year, and made both! Although, really, the second one was finished after midnight on Christmas eve...

First, I finished my Carlina scarf on Friday... 

Blocked and relaxed, it's 160 x 50 cm and she weighs in a just under 90 grams. A beautiful scarf, which I wore to the Christmas eve children's service and to dinner at my mom's on Boxing day.

I had to fold it over, otherwise it wouldn't really fit on the bed... The colour is a gorgeous dark green, and it fits really well with the dress I finished a few weeks ago!

It's so hard to photograph yourself! ;) Anyway, it looks great, trust me :D (and no, I do not have a double chin, it's just the way I'm grinning and trying not to get my face in the photo)

The second Christmas deadlines was for these little minxes... 

 The socks from the Garnstudio Advent calendar which I saw and just HAD TO KNIT. Sometimes you get those projects that just stick in your brain...

It has a fun combo of reindeer (which seem to be eating each others droppings...) and Norse motifs, just beautiful! I knit the second sock in less than a day, starting on Saturday around 2, and finishing just after midnight...

I wore them all day Christmas, and am wearing them now. But wait, what's that wheel???

Yes, it's Tory!!! She arrived just before Christmas, and waited under the tree patiently until I got to try her out on Sunday afternoon... with the roving from Dutch Wool Diva, of course...

I just know we'll be very happy together. This is our first mutual product: Frostbite, a soft mix of Merino, BFL, Corriedale, silk & Firestar. Pure yum. What to knit from it? I don't know yet... It's just about sport weight... 

For the rest of the year, I'll be cuddling up under my sock yarn blanket, which has been neglected long enough. It's a lovely project to just while away the hours, watching kids' movies, listening to them play* and just relax... 

*Things not yarn-related:

We were faced with, literally, liters of puke over the holidays... Apart from me, everyone got a tummy bug... luckily, I can say it wasn't my cooking... ;)

Batman even puked DURING Christmas dinner.

I have now honestly washed out every bit of bedding the kids have. Washed out, I am...

We're still left with Christmas pudding and brandy butter. Luckily it'll keep for a bit ;)