Post-Christmas Bliss

We had a very nice Christmas, and although I didn't make half the gifts I'd hoped to, I did get two of the three most important ones (a cashmere lace scarf for my mom, a bright pink wool/fun fur scarf for Johnnie) finished. The third scarf, for our magnificently competent and warm-hearted babysitter Marin, just was not working and I'll have to rethink it. (Or choose a new pattern, since part of the reason it failed was that I kept deviating from the pattern I'd originally chosen, which is always my downfall in knitting, quilting, and life in general....)

I feel like I did well by everyone -- I didn't go overboard at all, just chose gifts I felt they'd really enjoy, and they did. Mom loves the scarf, and Dad loves the maps, trip guides, and satellite image of New Mexico (not just for their visual impact but because they'll just enhance his back-roads motorcycling). My dear husband put me to shame (unintentionally) by giving me a computerized sewing/embroidery machine, one that means serious business (so I'd better start making stuff to sell!). My mom gave us a really cool, convenient composter (serious gardeners, you understand the cool of this), and my dad gave me some amazing astronomy software. (It's especially great since I can actually SEE stars and planets and comets and satellites here!)

The weather has been wonderful: sunny, mid-60s, generally calm -- dry, though, which always gets people here nervous. "Grass needs good snow cover to come back in spring," say the ranchers. And everyone knows a good rancher tends his grass first and foremost.

I need to upload new pictures -- shame on me, I took absolutely none on Christmas morning -- but first I have to retrieve laundry and tend to Lazarus' deepening cough. Time to brew some Osha and put eucalyptus oil in the tea kettle on top of the woodstove.

Afternoon bliss

It's a cold but sunny afternoon here in New Mexico, and I'm up in my loft listening to WUMB, reading cool Weblogs, playing with Photoshop... God do I love the kids' naptime. Laz stayed home from school today, which made my usually calm Monday morning more frenetic than I'd like -- it really sucks (for them and for me) when they can't go outside to play. So naptime came a bit early today....

I've finally finished a few languishing quilting projects: three small hangings, done mainly for practice (piecing and especially machine quilting). I definitely like the first one ("Maize") best; the colors in the "Santuario" one don't quite work for me (I think it's the adobe -- too yellowy-orange), and I should have stipple-quilted the adobe and used a different motif for the sky; and the red in "Balloon" seems overpowering. Oh well; I did get a bit better with each one, and they'll cover up some blank wall space!



I'm also putting the binding on Maggie's flannel quilt now -- handsewing that final edge is such a tedious process -- and am ready to start something new. Maybe I'll have some time this afternoon to play around with fabrics, though I suppose I should choose the purpose first, fabrics second. The knitting also continues, with another sweater for Lazarus underway:



I have a few other things on the needles but will probably focus on holiday projects for the next few weeks. Oh, and I have more lights to put up -- I would just put more up every day if we didn't run out, I love them that much -- and might start decorating indoors, too. I'm a holiday nut, I know.