Knitting Round-Up 2010
It’s that time of year when we look back and say… “Is that really all I knitted this year?!” I actually threw in my first real sewing project just to pad it out a bit. All links go to Ravelry, but you can also get more info on my crafts page.

1. Baby Surprise Jacket, 2. Crochet Baby Blanket, 3. Sam Socks, 4. Swirl Hat, 5. Maile Sweater, 6. Miller’s Hat, 7. Absinthe Socks, 8. Albert the Magic Pudding, 9. St. Brigid, 10. Tigger Hoodie, 11. My first skirt!

Day 7 of Christmas Vacation
A quiet one. In the morning I did a quick soak of some kidney beans and then got my Best Baked Beans going in the slow cooker. I knitted two swatches for one of my Easter Show projects but they’re both looking a bit big. Hm. Miss Fee came over with a Giant Bag O’ Tango to help me pick colours for Paper Dolls (which I am toying with the idea of cardigan-izing). The Snook and I also loaded up Fee’s car with compost and peat and vermiculite for her garden (since I have given up on the idea of ever producing veggies in our shady space). Plans for NYE dinner tonight are firming up nicely, so we made a shopping list and headed over to the Broadway to stock up. Back at home, dinner was hot dogs and baked beans and coleslaw. (So good!) Afterwards, we started our second batch of ice cream for the guests: Alton Brown’s Burned Peach Ice Cream!

Day 6 of Christmas Vacation
I got up early because Miss Fee was picking me up for a run. We headed to Iron Cove to run the Bay Run. It was a beautiful day. (That’s another 6.85km off my total, leaving me with 2.6km to go!) After a shower back home, the Snook and I headed into the city to run a few errands. He got computer parts; I got some sewing supplies. Then I headed to HCF Dental to see if I could get an emergency appointment to fix a broken tooth. (I was eating a toffee on Boxing Day when a bit of tooth around a filling went CRUNCH and disappeared.) I didn’t have to wait too long and within an hour I was out the door all fixed up. He’d had to drill a little bit though, so I’d had a local anesthetic and the whole right side of my face was numb for hours. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful: I had a nap; I finished the crochet baby blanket; I made some banana ice cream. I also watched the Carbo family’s entire series of 8 YouTube videos documenting all of Christmas morning. The highlight was seeing my nephew Penn open our gift and leap to his feet shouting “MOOMINS!” That was great. 🙂

Day 4 and 5 of Christmas Vacation
Yesterday morning I went for an 8.65km run around Newtown and Sydney Uni. It was perfect weather – cool and drizzly. The rest of the day was a flurry of cleaning and tidying. Our friends Steve and Kate (the ones who got married at the Jenolan Caves) are visiting from London and we were hosting them for the night. Kate’s allergic to cats, so I made a valiant effort to at least reduce the number of cat fur tumbleweeds floating along the floor. (She took drugs; it ended up being okay.) The Snook made us a beautiful dinner: slow-roasted beef rib roast (from Neil Perry’s recipe), perfect french fries, and a salad of baby spinach, bleu cheese, and nashi pear. We also had loads of cheese and wine and Christmas pudding (not to mention hunks of torn-off gingerbread house). We played Rock Band way into the night.

This morning we all awoke to the smell of freshly-baked bread from the bread machine (again, courtesy of the Snook). After Steve and Kate left, I went to Newtown to meet up for an impromptu knitting lunch with Miss Fee, JP, Ailsa, and Kylie. Great conversation and company! When I got home, the Snook and I ducked over to Broadway to pick up a Christmas pressie for ourselves: a little green ice cream maker. (The drum is currently in the freezer. Tomorrow we’ll try out some of Alton’s Banana Ice Cream.) For dinner we just nibbled on leftovers, mostly cheese and crackers. Is there anything better than camembert and quince paste on a cracker? There is not. I have also made massive progress on the crocheted cotton baby blanket, and I’m now adding a scalloped edging. I think I’m getting the hang of this crochet thing!

Day 3 of Christmas Vacation
Yeah, I had two whole days of productivity before the Slack Fairy landed. After some fun phone calls to the fam this morning, I spent the whole day crocheting and watching videos. I finished all the squares for Olivia’s blanket and I’ve started joining them together. Yay for slack. 🙂