Yuletide Blessings

Well, I hope you all had an amazing Christmas? I’ve had such good fun. It’s officially been a white Christmas here, although the snow has now melted. I went to see Avatar in 3D on Christmas Eve with M. I gather there’ve been lots of arguments about the social implications of the film, but if you take it on face value, it’s a visually beautiful film; just what you’d expect from a James Cameron film. The night-time scenes on Pandora are particularly beautiful! We’ve also seen part one of the new Doctor Who Christmas special, The End of Time; I can’t wait to see part two, the Master and the Time Lords return, and David Tennant steps aside for the next Doctor! I’ll be sad to see him go, he’s been an excellent Doctor, but I’m interested to see the new Doctor, especially as he’s a local lad (from my town). M and I have been playing Super Mario Brothers on the Wii, which is great fun and allows us to play co-operatively. We managed to complete a particularly difficult world last night and we were jumping round the living room in a mad victory dance afterwards!

I was totally totally spoilt this year!! Not only have I had a lovely Christmas day with my family, but I had some fantastic gifts; I’m almost speechless with the awesomeness of my gifts!

M gave me a TomTom Pearl, a girlie SatNav in a pearl colour and pretty swirls all over the casing. This is fabulous because my sense of direction is truly appalling and since my last SatNav lost the will to live, I’ve kind of been avoiding driving into the unknown. She also comes with a handy little satin pouch to carry her in. She has lots of extras which do things like directing me to the nearest garage/police stations/vets and will direct me on foot or by road…she’ll also give first aid directions, what to do in the event of accidents, etc. Fantastic! I envisage Pearl and I will have some amazing adventures together!

I also got Wii Yoga from my Mum, some funky gardening gloves and a lovely embroidered purse,

a GorillaPod (an articulated tripod) for my digi-SLR, from my brother. This has got moveable grip able legs which will wrap round tree branches or railings, anything like that.

My sis gave me an Indian style necklace and a bracelet, also some green glittering liquid liner and a fun sign which states that women and cats do what they want, and men and dogs should just get used to it! I’ve hung it where M can see it every day just to remind him*lol*

And my friend G gave me a lovely copper and glass seahorse wind chime with glass beads, and a cat calendar

M’s Mum gave me a snug-bug blanket; a huge blanket with sleeves so that I don’t get so cold in the evenings, especially when we’re lounging on the sofa with a movie! She also gave us a huge tin of Quality Street chocolates, I’m going to be as fat as a barrel by the time I get back to work!

And then when I got home, M surprised me with gift number two; a Blackberry phone!

I then had to whip up a little sock for it to protect it, so I knit this up in double quick time on Boxing day, whilst M & C watched Laurel and Hardy. 

I just used a 3k 1p rib in the round and used a 3 needle bind off to secure the seam. It fits nice and snug!

In fact I’ve been knitting like a fiend for the last week or so and I’ve finished a couple of major projects which have been WIP’s for quite a while! I finished these basic ribbed socks.

I also finally finished my BPT Hoody!! Woohoo! Celebrations are in order! This has taken me almost a year and a half to knit! Other projects have kind of got in the way. It’s a bit of a sad story that goes with this hoody, I started knitting it the day Dad died, as a way of keeping my sanity whilst coping with all the chaos involved with the death of a parent, and also the long process of repatriating a body from overseas, since Dad died on holiday in France. Sadly it’s a little big for me now since I lost so much weight, so I might shove it through the wash to see if I can resize it a little. Failing that, I may try lining it with fleece or something, or using it as an overcoat. I’ve got to find a long zip for the front too.

The oversize hood is wonderful though and gives it a nice Elvish drape round the face.

My current WIP is a snowball boa for my Mum; a scarf made from white pompoms.

There’s something very appealing about pompoms, isn’t there?

Pom pom, tiddly pom!