Tree Elves

These guys.  I really like pulling them out and settling them under the tree once the ornaments are hung and the sarong is draped and clipped around the base.  Their names are Vincent & Abercrombie.  Vincent's the one that blends with the decorations and Abercrombie's in traditional Christmas colors.  They're brothers but not twins.  Abercrombie's fraternal twin, Elmer, lives in Kentucky with DD.  She and I crocheted them on Christmas Eve about 10 years ago.

I got the tree decorated during the football game yesterday.  I made the executive decision to stop with the ornaments already with about a box and a half of them to go.  I think it looks fine.

 

Last night after supper I managed to knit a couple inches of body onto the Black & Blue Shrug.  The pattern says to knit until it's 15" from the top of the shoulder but I want it longer so I think I'll go to 20".  I have tons of this yarn so I can make both the body and the sleeves longer and still have leftovers.  Speaking of how much yarn I have, my friend KW texted me that she'd entered all of her yarn into an Excel spreadsheet and was aghast to discover that she had over 32,733 yards of yarn, give or take a few random skeins that avoided the round-up.  I went over to visit/knit with her yesterday afternoon and took my laptop so she could show me how to get all of my yarn stash onto a spreadsheet too.  Surprise!  On the stash page of Ravelry, there's a button on the upper right that says something like "send to excel" so I did and made her feel better instantly.  Because I have over 117,000 yards of yarn in my stash.  I need to learn to knit faster-or something.



I know they're not good for the roof but I like the way icicles look.  It's another gray and dreary day, which makes me feel like crying or sleeping, but it's not bone-chilling cold.  Just damp, which is a whole other aspect of cold seeping into the very core of your being.


December 18--Anonymous, Christmas Bells.  Janine heard bells.  Light tinkling bells in the distance.  She walked toward the sound which floated on the cold, clear air.  The sun on the fresh snow was blinding but she was happy to see blue sky after so many gray, snowy days.  Her boots crunched in the snow and her breath billowed in white clouds as she walked.  Over a little rise she saw a stone church in the distance.  The bells were louder and there was a crowd clustered around the door.  It burst open and a bride and groom came out.  The people threw snowballs instead of rice or birdseed which Janine thought would hurt.  But everyone was laughing, their laughter blending with the pealing bells.

I should be downstairs wrapping the gifts that didn't get shipped off this morning but I think I'll go find something to eat. Gift-wrapping is hard work.
--Barbara