i gave in.

Because the recipients don't read this, I can blog it.

Steph, despite my pompous pride-filled attitude at your signing when I was the first to sit down [after you asked, "how many of you are knitting for the holidays?"], I have given in.

It's like this. The receptionist [but she's so much more] at our office is funny and I like her. She often gets lunch for anyone who wants it, and there are 11 of us, so that's a lot of bags to carry sometimes. When I started at the company two years ago, I gave her some sweeties from Starbucks to say thanks at the holidays. And despite her protestations that "I do it for everyone", I gifted her similarly again last year.



This year, when I realized I was sick of my day job secret santa copping out and giving me chocolate [aka "I know nothing about you so here's something you probably won't hate"], I realized I'd been doing the same damned thing for her. So I pulled out four freakisly matching yarns from my stash, and made a trip to The Sheep for a fifth with some bling, and whipped up my first sideways knit à la Sally Melville. See above. I hope she'll like it...more than the chocolate, anyway.


As I was knitting this, I realized I haven't knit anything for my mother in law for I can't remember how long. And that's not very nice, is it? So she's getting a Mimi Verylong from some shimmery Blue Heron rayon with bling [above]. As Steph says, I have till NEXT weekend to finish that, and that I can do.

What about my family? This year, I'm not leaving home for the holidays. I'm staying put. That means that I have till my next visit -- likely February -- to knit anything for them, should I finally figure out what that might be.

See, Steph? The secret is simple: make your parents move to Chicago.

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The bunny corral, for your perusal:



That's Boeing doing her business in the back. You can see they've both got room to move but are separated, when we close the cage door. It's not a bad temporary setup. Please, god, let it be temporary.

And yes, we have two litterboxes, lest you think we make the one out of the cage hold it or something. But we move one of them out of the corral to go with the bunny who might need it. We are all about containing the piddle in the Knitty househould.

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And for Scout, who asked two weeks ago:



Just a quick, vaguely blurry snap. Sorry. Busy day [we're off to the MIL for the traditional pre-xmas snorfing of caloric intake]. To the right is our blanket box/coffee table and another matching chair for Hub. Across the room is the toob of boob.

I'm particularly fond of the little silver table. That's a vintage steel typewriter table, bought at an estate sale. When I'm really flush, I want to have it sandblasted and powder coated [a la Martha] in some killer color.

The picture of Le Nemrod looks like this:



It makes me particularly happy. It was taken on my APS Elph in 2000 and was totally a gift from the photo gods. It was our last night in Paris and we were heading to the Eiffel to see the lights. The sun was setting and Le Nemrod had just turned on their signs, so I stopped for a second to snap our favorite place and then we headed onwards.

I was stunned when we developed the roll and it was absolutely perfect. Dusk against neon lights and totally in focus. And when I scanned the print of the photo, I was able to blow that tiny APS-format 28mm negative up to wall size and it looks stunning. I love good photo karma.

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So we're off. And we'll be coming home with supplies for my annual baking extravaganza which consists of one thing: really, really good gingerbread. I use Martha's cookie ornament recipe because it tastes amazing and is firm and travels well. Clearly, I'm going to have to ship some to my mama.