Still Life with Cats

You asked for it, you got it. Enjoy some holiday pics.
Or:
What I did on my Christmas vacation.

First let me say that it was one of the nicest Christmases in memory – no quarrels that amounted to anything more than giggling, everyone was home, and even though I was Bounced at seven in the morning by two younger sisters, all was utterly fabulous.

Bethany and I drove down on Tuesday, cats blessedly silent in the back of the car. At one point on the drive, we had a rainbow to our left and deer to our right. Oh, the central coast. (There’s snow on what I call the Steinbeck Hills, the low mountain range that separates his valley from the sea he wrote about.)

Got home in time to…. knit. Yep. Did a lot of knitting. Felt a bunch of earthquakes. Was woken early Wednesday morning to a 4.6 followed eleven seconds later by a 4.4. I get queasy before earthquakes, so I had rather an unsettled night. But these are the kind of earthquakes I like – you know they’re just rumbling by. There’s never that moment of thinking “Is This the Big One?” You can just lie in bed and enjoy the rolling. (Wonderful and necessary site here.) Aside – I can’t be flip, though, when it comes to the recent earthquake in Iran. I just can’t imagine…..

On our way down, we hit a hobby store and I grabbed some yarn to make an emergency oh-shit-I-forgot-someone hat. Hat went well. But oh-shit-I-forgot-her-son, so I made some fingerless gloves, which I’m very pleased with! No pattern, no inspiration other than T-minus four hours and a dash of panic.

I also worked a bunch on the sleeves of the Rachael cardie (AKA WingIt) and cast on for some more Koigu socks.

And look! Everyone got knitted goods!

Beth got Koigu socks! (Can’t remember colorway, but the boys know.)

Mom got a hot water bottle cozy (100% silk). (And the hot water bottle came with it. Good thing, ‘cause she had just bought a new one, which she heated and thoughtfully placed in my bed, which burst upon sheet contact. This wasn’t discovered for another hour or so, enough time for the water to spread from coverlet to mattress. The only thing I could grin about, while sleeping between the stacks of towels, was her present, wrapped and under the tree.) Didn’t get a good pic of this, sorry.

Dad got a Marsan watchcap! (Alpaca, forgotten brand.)

And the Super Secret Project is revealed for those of you who didn’t see it on Rob’s site: Christy’s sweater, Harry Rodgers.

An homage to two of her Great Loves, Harry Potter and Fred Rodgers (couldn’t quite squeeze Lord of the Rings in (damn, should have used NZ wool….). She dug it. See?

Damn, I couldn’t WAIT to give this to her. That’s the best part about Christmas.

Other gifts:

From the folks, Christy got a bodhran. Think she likes it?

And from Dad (mostly), Mom got an……

Accordian! Actually, what she first said was, “Oh! What a terrible thing to do to someone!” We’re not sure whether she meant it was terrible to get it or to give it. But she loves it. I think she snuck it down to the garage to play it later in the day. But I was taking a Christmas nap, rain falling outside, EmmyLou Harris’s new album on the stereo, Christy cooking turkey in the kitchen. I couldn’t follow the accordian sounds, tempting as they were…..

Oh, and on the getting side, I got a ton of cool things. Like this:

A Japanese-made swift from Mom (via the boys ) that came with the best translation sheet. It’s the All-Powerful Reeler. “To close shake gently as you do your parasol.” Um. Okay?

And check it out: Dad invented the Magic Parabola.

Do you get it? It’s for reading and knitting at the same time! God bless him. It’s very clever, actually. I was impressed. But now that I’m home and I’ve experimented a bit, I’ve found it works best in two pieces. The thin board works well propped in the lap, a bit of yarn tying the book down and open. Or, and I like this best, just the stand, the front feet hanging off the chair and resting on the legs, scraps of yarn holding the books pages open (Koigu and Paton’s seen here).

Isn’t that just the best?

I got other wonderful things, too.
A present from the East, from a new friend who is already priceless to my heart.
A tummy-ache from too many goods made with real cream.
A chat with Em, who’s as wonderful in voice as she in writing.
The opportunity to play Cranium with my entire smart-but-crazy family.
An incredible dinner, seen here (gotta love a Nikon with a timer).

(Oh, yeah, you can see here that Mom was gifted with the Sweater-I-Hate. Looks fab on her. She said, “Oh, I was HOPING you would give it to me.”)

Lord, I MUST be about done, mustn’t I? The kitties had a good time (Digit only growled fitfully and Adah set a new world drool record) and snuggled as close as I’ve ever seen them (adversity in the shape of Mom’s cats drawing them closer).

And they, as do I, hope that you had a wonderful Christmas, or Kwanzaa, or just a good day to chill out. Mwah, darlings.