Rain, rain, go away!

It is raining like crazy here in the upper midwest; and also in Pasadena, CA. I'm watching the Rose Bowl Parade where rain is pouring down on the floats and paraders! Makes one think of plastic rain coats rather than cozy knitted mittens, scarves and hats!!




In the days when snow was falling, I began these Paradoxical Mittens, by Lucy Neatby, for my step-daughter in the Pacific Northwest, where it's been raining cats and dogs this week! But, the mittens are gorgeous, in my humble opinion. Great fun to make. The pattern is great--the diamonds in the pattern extend from the front to the back and WITHOUT JOGS!!!! Perfect pattern for those who are frustrated with color patterns that jog at the new round.

My parents and my sister and her son were with us for the holidays. My youngest is now 14 and my nephew is 9.Nine is a wonderful age in boys! Their job is play, play, play, make weird noises, play, play, eat, eat, play, play. But, unfortunately, not young enough to be a true believer in Santa, but old enough to know that believing is more fun!





We did the family traditions--making cut out cookies








and decorating them










and putting together a jigsaw puzzle--with great enthusiasm since we did not do them last year in Spain.




When I saw this puzzle in a LYS, I had to get it.



My father dutifully worked on the puzzle despite the knitting theme. He even tackled the most difficult yarn sections! Go, Dad!!



















My elder daughter loved her mittens, despite the dire predictions of my youngest!



The Dale of Norway sweater for my husband was eagerly received. We have so far spent two hours trying to select the perfect color combinations. He has a grey beard and he is afraid that a lot of white in the color pattern will make him look too washed out. Therefore, we are going for a non-traditional look of color on color for the predominant scheme. The pattern is the 2000 anniversary version, with 6 colors. I'll post the colors when he makes a final decision.

Our biggest "present" was to ourselves: a commitment to spend a month in Spain/Barcelona in the summer of 2006!!! We will begin the planning next week, when my husband returns from the Pacific Northwest!!