Do you hear that? That’s the sound of millions of children world-wide, young and old, typing up their obligatory post-Christmas blog updates. So here I am, clicking my heels (and the keys on the keyboard), adding my 2¢ to the blogosphere this fine Thursday morning. (Okay, I lied. It’s not fine. It’s cold, wet, and gray here in Huntsvegas.)

My Christmas vacation has been wonderful so far, and Christmas day in particular was grand. I arrived in Huntsville on the 19th without a hitch, and I’ve spent my days mostly watching movies, shopping, drinking coffee, spinning, dyeing, and knitting with various family members. Mom and I went to see Enchanted, which I highly recommend for those who like to giggle, and the other night, we rented Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which no one in the family had seen but me. (I tried to buy or rent Kill Bill and/or Fight Club as well, since Dad hasn’t seen either of them, but no place seemed to have them, even for rent! I could have gone up to Best Buy, but it’s all the way up on the other side of town. Screw that. I’m being lazy this holiday season.) One particularly goofy afternoon, we stood around the computer and watched Marx Brothers clips on YouTube. (Lydia, oh Lydia, oh have you met Lydia? Lydia the Tattooed Lady.)

Tuesday morning, we all sort of rolled out of bed and decided that this Christmas morning would not be one for the photo album. I donned the traditional Santa hat and passed out gifts to people. I made out well. A while back, I put together a Christmas wish-list of various items, and almost as a joke, I put on the list the new iPod Touch. I didn’t expect to get it, because it’s so expensive, but it was a wish-list, after all… So imagine my surprise when I opened up my present under the tree and it turned out to be a new Touch! I’m having so much fun playing with it. You have no idea. I’ve even found an NES emulator for it online, so I may install that and play me some Super Mario Bros! CJ got me a spiffy new apron (much-needed), and Mom also made me a seriously squishy, comfy pair of socks with some yarn from Neighborhood Fiber Co. using the Whisper Lace Socks pattern. (Ravelry link)

Whisper Lake Socks in Neighborhood Fiber Co. merino sock yarn

I apparently brought tears to Mom’s eyes when she opened her gift from me – the hand-knit, hand-dyed Seraphim Shawl I made just for her.

Seraphim Shawl, knit for mom using hand-dyed Henry’s Attic Carrera (50/50 merino/silk)

Mom and I have also been doing some spinning and dyeing this holiday break. I brought home some yarn blanks with me, and we spent one afternoon playing in the dye lab. I’m quite pleased with the results, too. See?

4 oz. of Merino/Tencel blend

3.5 oz. of Kona fingering superwash merino

5.5 oz. of Carrera merino/silk fingering

I wasn’t actually as pleased with that last one as I expected to be. What I envisioned when I was dyeing it was something much darker and more vibrant. I mentioned to Mom that I would likely overdye it to get it darker, and she seemed sad about that, because she loved it so much the way it was. So, I ended up gifting it to her, since she’s gifting me with a bit of her yarn stash. Having a fiber-enthusiast in the family is fun. :)

We’ve also been spinning. Mom had 8 oz. of this fiber that she really liked the feel of (it’s really nice merino), but she wasn’t crazy about the colors. She split it and gave me half. She’s spinning it up and then plans on overdyeing it once it’s plied up. I broke my 4 oz. in half and am currently spinning half, but I overdyed the other half. And I absolutely love the overdyed fiber. I can’t wait to spin it up! Check out the difference – it’s crazy!

The original fiber…

… and the overdyed fiber

Knitting, spinning, and dyeing aside, I’ve mostly just done a lot of bumming around. CJ and I went to Target a few days ago, and I pulled out the camera for some goofy shots.

Yesterday, CJ drove me down to Birmingham (since my car is sitting at home in Raleigh) to visit my friend Johanna. We met Johanna in downtown Homewood, but only after a quick stop at Knit Nouveau for their annual holiday sale. Sadly, I didn’t end up buying any of the sale items, but I did happily walk away with a bunch of yummy goodies!

Handmaiden Casbah merino/cashmere/nylon sock yarn in colorway Monarch

Fleece Artist Blue Face Silver spinning fiber in a variety of reds (150 g)

Louet merino/silk spinning fiber (4 oz.)

Guess I was in a red mood that morning. Anyway, so then Johanna and CJ and I went and got some coffee and wandered around, catching up. It’s been a year since I’ve seen Jo, so it was good to see her.

So now that I’ve posted about a million photos and written all about my Christmas vacation so far, I’ll end this and leave you with one more photo of a pretty kitty, our no-longer-a-stray cat, Loki. (Everyone loves a picture of a cute kitty.)