Happy Holidays!

Hope your holidays are the very best! Check out the link below!




http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1739840856



Oh those monkeys!

Mug Exchange a Blast!

Every year for the past 11 years I have hosted a Christmas Mug Exchange at my home. It is really a blast and this year was no exception....literally. Friends gather and in a somewhat civilized manner exchange wonderful Christmas mugs. There is a lot of stealing from each other and a bit of name calling and hair pulling, but all in all the past years have been pretty uneventful. Until now. Witness the mayhem.

....a small fire under the cider....
























....a little smoke....




















.......white powder on shoes.... (this takes dreaming of a "White Christmas" to a whole new level.)




















Thanks to my daughter, Erin, for having the level head, pulling out the fire extinguisher and taking matters into her own hands to put the fire out. I was of no use as I was hysterically laughing through the whole episode. Thank goodness she was there. Erin, you have just seen your future.

After much window opening, vacumning and disposing of the cider warmer (outside). The fun continued.

Here is "tiny dancer" modeling some festive glasses with "ette mae" (on the left) and "hot flash" (on the right).



















"hot flash" a little perturbed that someone might be think of stealing from her...




















...a little singing....



















....we even had some knitting going on!


























That Trish is really an over achiever. But we all still love her.

The best part of the whole thing was the fun friends gathering together! And no one can ever say that my mug exchange is boring. This one was a roaring success.

The joy of giving.......and receiving!

I recently joined the Ravelry Holiday Swap. This is a sway that is a little different in that you don't actually make anything for your pal. It's a swap to pamper your pal and send them some yarn from your stash and a pattern for them to knit. Well my pal was AWESOME! "Slipping", aka Dianne from Iowa City, Iowa sent me this!






I opened the box and the goodies just kept coming! Snowman toe socks, Burts Bees Tips and Toes kit, Sleepytime Tea, handmade stitch markers, Lindt chocolate and best of all the pattern for Cookie's Monkey Socks that I have had in my Ravelry queue for lord know how long! The yarn she sent is Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn in the colorway Foxy Lady! What a great package to open after a long day of Christmas shopping! Thanks Slipping! You're the best!