Secret Christmas Knitting Revealed

Phew - the craziness of the holidays is finally over. My super secret knit gifts were well received, I am pleased to say. My mother was the proud recipient of Urchin.


Here you see it blocking in all its glory. This was knit with Reynolds Andean Alpaca Regal, a glorious yarn - soft, smooshy, and loverly. If you count, you will see I only knit seven wedges; it was getting rather large, so I called it "good 'nuff." Mom says it's still a little big; she'll try to gently felt it.

My sister Yaya got a pair of Fetching fingerless mitts and a matching headband, both knit with Classic Elite Inca Alpaca. I cannot say enough about this yarn. I love love love it. I'll be buying more for sweaters for both the Hairy One and me.


The picture is dark - it's actually the Stonewashed Mix. Yaya says they match her coat perfectly.

In other holiday related news, Santa made a special trip to our house on the 23rd to bring the monsters tickets to Disney World. We went on Christmas Eve and had sooo much fun. The crowds were insane, the lines were long, and the food was ridiculously over-priced. To balance out that negative, the park was beautiful, everyone was cheerful, and my monsters were impeccably polite and well-mannered. We had no major melt-downs or blow outs. My kids rock.

I also had a chance to revel in my passive-aggressive bitchiness while at the park. Let me set the stage: it's about half an hour before the light parade; areas of the "streets" are roped off for spectators to sit and watch the parade; the only open area is right behind the only group standing (all adults) . Enter stage right: Super Bitch Mom!

In a very loud, sugary-sweet voice I tell my children, "This is perfect, guys! This is the area where everyone sits to watch the parade, so everyone gets to see. As soon as the parade starts, everyone will sit and everyone will get to see the beautiful floats."

It was fabulous! The standers looked around, realized they were standing in a sea of sitting spectators, and they hightailed it out of there. We had a great view of the parade, and the other parents near us quietly applauded me. I am a queen; I just need a castle.

Sad News for Pratchett Fans

Terry Pratchett says it best in his own words.

Only he could make me laugh while annoucing such sad news.

Who's got the Mojo?

Today is going to make or break my holiday mojo. We start the day with the Reindeer Run, a 5K run/walk held every year in our hometown. Bubba and Bug will be running about half the run this year; I'll follow them on my jingle-bike.

Next, we rush off to Breakfast with Santa. The jolly old elf makes a special appearance every year to have pancakes with the kids and raise money for needy families. Last year Bug was in tears from the excitement; hopefully this year is not so traumatic.

So, you'd think that would be enough, no? No. We still have the library book sale and the holiday parade.... I haven't even mentioned the holiday knitting that must be finished this weekend! Sheesh.

I will definitely need my favorite invention of the twentieth century.

I was tempted to list myself as my favorite invention, but I resisted! This is the one thing that I will immediately replace should it break.

If you look at my sidebar, you will see I have finally launched my Etsy store, Turtle Cove Soaps, handmade at the House at Two Palms. Take a minute to visit the store and send me a convo to tell me what you think. I have listed the best of my goats milk and specialty soaps, and of course I'll be adding more as the pass my exacting standards. Right now, I am working hard in my secret laboratory, developing a knitter's salve. It will soon be for sale in my Etsy store and my LYS All Strung Out.

Not for Ed or the Faint of Heart

Sorry, Ed; you may not want to see this.


We've decided Bubba is part shark.

Things you never expected to learn

I give you the Coolest Thing Ever.


I started this rubber band ball over three years ago, adding two or three rubberbands with each day's mail delivery. I started it because, really, what else do you do with 3,000 rubberbands? I never expected that it would be the Coolest Thing Ever.

The story starts on Wednesday. The monsters had a doctor appointment, and they each had shots. They were such troopers! I gave them some acetaminophen, ice cream and ice packs, and we thought all was well.

Thursday, Bubba tells me that his head hurt so bad at night that he couldn't sleep. Being an extremely scientific mom, I put the back of my hand on his forehead, and sure enough, he was running a fever. His school has a "No Fever" policy, so Bubba went to work with me! He camped out in a conference room with cartoons, color crayons, and a sketch pad in the morning.

After lunch, Bubba was feeling great. He even helped me stuff envelopes! (Trust me, that's love.) He was prowling through my office while I tried to write letters and sort files when he said, "Mom! What's that?!?"

"What's what?"

"That super cool ball?"

The rest of the afternoon was shot. We went outside on the green and played with the rubberband ball. Let me tell you, this thing can bounce. It loses almost no kinetic energy! Roll it against a wall and it will come tearing back at you at Mach 10.

I don't think I have ever had so much fun at work. And it really was a productive day.


To give you some idea of its size, here's another shot of the Coolest Thing Ever. It is roughly four inches in diameter when measured with my thumb.


Peek-a-Boo is less than impressed.

Whoo - Hoo!

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Sudsy Interlude

I've been playing with colors in my soap. Both goats milk and olive oil soaps are notoriously hard to color, and my soaps are heavy in both. This is what I've got so far:

Plumberry

The Plumberry was supposed to be a soft shade of pink swirled into the soap. Instead I've got a blush of pink on top of the soap. Oh well, it's still pretty!

Forest's Edge

This is a mix of sweetgrass and juniper scents. It is a soothing blend of sweet and earthy, and currently one of my favorites. Unfortunately, the soap moved too fast for swirling, so I layered the colors. The end result inspired the name Forest's Edge.

I'm antsy to keep going on this learning curve, but I had to order more supplies. They should arrive on Wednesday. Until then, I guess I'll knit!

You know you want them

No craftiness tonight, my friends, just pictures of my monsters. Last night Bug was so tired he couldn't even get in the chair. Poor guy.

And Bubba's mouth has gone into overload. His adult tooth is about to burst through his lip!

There's no pain, and the tooth underneath the swelling is almost out, so we're not worried. It just looks so gross!