I have been very lax about posting during the holidays. I got so caught up in a frenzy of knitting gifts for everyone I just didn't have the time or energy to update the blog.
I did manage to get 4 hand-knits completed for the holidays, but it sure took some effort and dedication. I basically had to set all other projects aside and focus solely on knitting. I would knit in the evening, on lunch break at work, and throughout much of the weekends. (And knitting and knitting and knitting!) I did a basic striped hat for Grandpa Darrel, a pair of slippers for Grandma Darlene (I actually started these in 2012 for Christmas that year), mittens for Tami to match her scarf from last year, and finger-less mitts for Lisa. I felt a lot of accomplishment and pride in my work when I got all this done. It's actually a lot of fun to knit gifts for Christmas. I had such momentum going with knitting that I've actually started this years gifts, but what they are will remain a secret until December!
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| Tami's cabled mittens and Lisa's fingerless mitts. |
For Thanksgiving we went up to Washington to see Mom and Dad. It was a great time with lots of great food. Mom and Dad had just gotten a new black lab puppy that they named Arrow. We debated all weekend what would be the best name for this new little guy and it was actually Marsha's idea based on Oblio's dog in the movie The Point. What a fantastic choice and just perfect for this little guy. Dad better teach him how to play triangle toss!
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| Self portrait using remote and Dad's tripod. |
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| Puppy kisses from Arrow. (He was actually "No Name" dog when this snap was taken.) |
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| Claire gets her first Thanksgiving Turkey. |
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| Sitting with Grandpa. |
In December we got some sub-zero temps and lots of snow. I think -20F was the lowest I saw at our house. It was so cold we stayed inside most of the time. I did a few runs on the cold days and it was so hard on my sinuses and face that I had to take some time off.
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| Sunset on a -15F day. |
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| About 6" of snow in the back yard. |
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| Family portrait in the snow. |
I signed up for a 10 mile trail race in April. I've been getting mileage in after work before I head home. I skip my lunch break to have the time for this. Ha! That also means I haven't been knitting at work.
I also have started on a new sewing project to make a coat for Russell. It's the Albion Coat from Colette patterns. They are hosting a contest and the grand prize is a fantastic sewing machine. I would love to win that so I've been working hard the past week or so getting materials and things going for this project. I love Colette patterns and this is a great challenge for me. In the coming weeks I'll post some things about how the project is going.
Claire is getting bigger and stronger everyday. She'll be 10 months next week and she is so close to walking. I'm pretty certain she'll be walking before a year. My heart just swells with pride whenever I see her. Children are so very special.
And that's pretty much the past few months in a nutshell. I'm going to endeavour to get back in the habit of posting regularly. I have much to say and I compose a lot of posts in my head that then never make it to the blog. I need to make my thoughts a reality.
What's going with you? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading!
Love, Jane
