Now that's someone I can knit for...(and some other Christmas thoughts)

So I'm starting to get good at knitting things that aren't scarves. And this Christmas I actually heard: "YOU MADE THAT!" rather than "oh... did you make that?" So that's my major motivation this year - to make more stuff for more people. She got me:

KiM's NoT dEaD hat for Kimberly (sissy)

And she helped too:

Wisconsin Lace Scarf for Emily (step-mommy)

And he really motivated me also:

The Enterprise Gloves for Kirk (bro)

Dad and Grandma got gloves and socks respectively and they will probably be getting more (because they liked it). Tan and Sharman got washcloths and made me want to knit them anything their heart desired because they were so appreciative! AND thanks to Tan and Paul, I'll have more time to knit! They gave me a swift and ball winder that is likely to save me 2 hours of center pull ball winding - that I've been doing using the back of a chair and a pencil.

Oh yeah, and so Christmas in California was awesome. The 60 degree weather and charm of the Buringruds made it that way. I thought for sure we'd spend most of our time hanging around Grandma's house, but we did end up getting out a little (sometimes with all 18 of us - not to mention the other 11 that eventually made it there for Christmas Eve). We went to Berkley to Telegraph Avenue for the Christmas Street Fair. The highlight of the fair was the chanting Hari Krishnas that occasionally paraded down the center of the street.

But our big event event was the 49ers game. My Uncle Dana put on an awesome tailgate party for us and we got pumped up for my cousin's halftime show (throwing footballs into the back of a truck).

Even Santa came to the game

I've never been a huge football fan, but going to a live game is so exciting and it sort of changed my mind about football. I think it's best expressed with this picture of my sister (also not an avid football fan):

Oh yeah and the 49ers won!

Christmas Eve was beautiful, we had a big dinner and Grandma got everyone to go to church - which was a Lutheran children's program and quite entertaining. The kids were yelling their songs out at some points - "OH OH - star of wonder, star of light." And I'm pretty sure the choir director was encouraging them for our amusement.

So it was a great place to be for the holidays, a bit hectic because we left on Christmas Day - but totally worth it because we wanted to be in two places at once for Christmas. And after it's all over, I know I'm not the only one that thinks it's been way too long and that we should do it more often.

Can I get a nap?

Wow, this weekend was crazy! Friday night Sara, Todd and I went to The Golden Compass. Everyone, de-bunch your knickers and put out the torches - it is only as religious as you want it to be. It's a pretty close portrayal of the book and the actors they picked were perfect for their roles. The armored bears were definitely the best part and the ending was only slightly disappointing. Say no more, I will say no more.

Saturday, I did shopping. I managed to find everything I needed for chocolate babka, cinnamon taffy and chocolate dipped graham crackers (yes, my eyes are bigger than my stomach and my schedule) at the Baker's Cash & Carry. Then it was off to do the grocery shopping, laundry, and pick up books at the library. I didn't get to watch the Robot Chicken DVD yet, but I did watch some Christmas classics.

After all that, Todd and I went to get our Christmas tree. It was funny, throughout much of the trip Todd kept saying, "Can't we get a small tree this year?" Then all the sudden he stopped saying it and we ended up with the biggest tree we've ever had. I asked him later what happened and he told me that he saw some other people buying a small tree and couldn't help picturing how small and boring it was going to look in their house. So we got the big one!
Sunday I made cookies and worked on Christmas cards. The cookies, rugelach pinwheels, were a surprising success. I ruined the first batch, but the second batch turned out pretty and un-burnt. Then we were off to Tan and Paul's for their tree trimming party. Woah, motherload of snacks! There were red beans, 7-layer dip, cheese balls, artichoke dip, onion dip, lots of cheese, 4 kinds of cookies, maple candy, chocolate cake and I'm sure I'm leaving something out here, but it was all so good! We decorated the tree and watched one of the kids dance a ballet, she's just turned 3 and I'm convinced she'll be a star. So, it's been fun and busy and maybe I'll go to work tomorrow so that I can take a break.

Days of December

I've noticed a lot of online advent calenders this year.  There's everything from cookies to plushies.  So I thought I'd share the sites I've been visiting day after day.

Cookie of the Day
Craft of the Day
Lime n Violet's Daily Chum Advent Calender
(you have to scroll through for this one)
Tan's Countdown
Sew Mama Sew's Handmade Holidays

There's also some really good Holiday projects out there right now.  I love these print-your-own Cardigan Cards and Yeti Gift Tags.  And this Matchbook Advent Box and 19th Century Inspired Ornament are terrific.  And I seriously wish I could crochet so that I could make these Turtles as a gift.  Some things are meant to be shared.

Christmas Secrets

I've been finding it very hard to post here lately, as everything that has been going through my head is a secret. I am especially excited this year by all my Christmas secrets. I've been out of school this semester and I've had time for some homemade secrets. It may be a little selfish of me, but Christmas presents are so much more exciting when you think you may have MADE the most perfect, wonderful, thoughtful thing for a person (I'm not totally delusional, but I like to think some of my love-crafted presents will be cherished by their recipients). For everything else, I've tried to be really good and shop on Etsy. I made this pledge, that is a bit harder that it looks (when it comes to shopping for a husband), but I've done pretty good and found lots of very cool stuff. This is not necessarily what I've bought, but just cool things I found:

Dog Bone Art makes these hilarious cupcake cards:

No Demographic prints these rock'n t-shirts (among many others):

Four Seasons Fragrance mixes up lovely seasonal scents.

I'm not pregnant, but this maternity shirt from Discobelly really hits the spot:

On the subject of monkeys, I found a few things that I'm bananas for (sorry!). Toast and Jam makes these great monkey hats:

And Sock Monkey Cards makes greeting cards that really express how we are all feeling this time of year.

Anyway, that's all for now. Soon, I hope to think about something that I can talk about... :)