Post-Holiday Hangover

I think Charlie speaks for all of us in the above photo. Christmas was fun, but it takes a couple of days for us to rest up and regain our energy. Only 362 days until we have to do it all over again!

Not that the past few days have been completely devoid of activity, mind you. A couple of friends of Greg's are coming to visit at the end of the week and are staying overnight, so we're trying to create even a minimum standard of cleanliness and organization here. I even braved the post-holiday returns crowd to run over to Kohl's and pick out bathroom stuff to coordinate with our new Seurat "Afternoon on La Grande Jatte" shower curtain. (They're artists. They'll get into it.)

Having the week off has done wonders for my knitting productivity as well. I finished a Wicked Cool scarf for my sister-in-law (red Galway with gold Berroco Tassel FX and a coordinating shade of Eros), and have started a second pair of socks. This pair uses a lovely rust-colored shade of Kroy Socks with yellow, blue, and green streaks that spiral nicely around the cuff. (BTW, I wore my green pair for Christmas.)

The felted bags have finally dried out, so I spent yesterday adding the finishing touches. Here's Jody's fabulous Andes bag with a Fimo button I found at the Yarn Basket in Portsmouth:


Kathy's bag is in Charcoal Heather Lamb's Pride with another one of those Fimo buttons. I needlefelted the sheep onto it. I'm getting better at needlefelting designs; I still do them free-hand, but I'm getting the knack of building the design as I go along.



(Note the glimpse of the quilt in the background. Isn't it gorgeous? My friend Ann made it for me for Christmas. We used to cross-stitch together when she lived in California, but she has taken to quilting in a big way now that she lives on Vancouver Island and is surrounded by quilt shops.)

Finally, the piece de resistance. My friend Libby had requested a bag with a needlefelted Beardie on it. I wasn't at all sure I could carry that off, since I'm rather drawing-challenged, but I kept adding wool to the design until it looked somewhat like an actual Beardie. (Seamus snoozed next to the table as I worked, so he served as a partial inspiration for the design.) Here's how that one turned out:



I'd do this again sometime. Every time I make another sheep, it turns out better than its predecessor. Maybe after a few needlefelted Beardies, I'll get one I'll be satisfied with. (Note to self: Get over to Halcyon Yarn and pick up some gray roving.)