12 Days of Christmas

And what I mean by that is that I am now on the first of my 12 whole days in a row off from work!! Yay. Not that I don't like my job, because I really do, and I have great coworkers, but, this will be a much appreciated break. My husband is off the same days I am this year too, and we're not traveling this Christmas, so it's 12 whole days at home to do what we want. So nice!

I'm finally back here to report on my Christmas knitting. I've finished one item, the hat for my father-in-law. I think it came out pretty nicely, I had my husband try it on to see if we think it'll fit my FIL. I hope it will. It's nice and thick, since I made it from bulky yarn, Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky.



I like the color...since even though from a distance it just looks like a brown hat, you can tell it's really a nice multi-colored brown when you look close. You can kind of see that in these photos.



It's so thick in fact that it stands up all by itself! More details on the project here.

In other Christmas knitting news, I'm well on my way with the other two projects I am doing. I am actually halfway through the socks for my friend...one sock done!



So far I love the socks. I am doing a K3P1 ribbing pattern, as per a suggestion from my knitblogbuddy over at Casting Away, which is working out great! It's not interrupting the self-striping pattern of the yarn at all, and yet it's still stretchy like a K2P2 rib. I love it. The yarn is Regia 4 Fadig color in color 5164.

The other thing I am knitting is my mother-in-law's hat. For this one I'm just doing a very simple, roll-brim hat. I'm not very far along with it, but that's a quickie when I really get going. Actually today it's proved useful to have in my hands while I surf the net...I can do a couple of stitches while a page is loading!



The colors are pooling something fierce, but I hope it ends up looking okay. It's hard to tell yet with only an inch or so done. So we'll see. I honestly don't think my MIL would be bothered by it though...I think she'll just be thrilled with a handmade gift. She's nice like that. :)

I guess that's it from here for now. I need to spend a little time thinking about food for Christmas too...I'm responsible for a coffee cake for Christmas morning (I'm making the Apple Kuchen Coffee Cake from Betty Crocker, it's tasty) and an appetizer for later in the day. I like to make a puff pastry with brie and nuts and berries in it, which is always a huge hit and every morsel is gone.

Then I am thinking of making these Cookie Cutter Fudge things as gifts for family members. I might also try this Peppermint Bark as well. We'll see how those come out!

Happy Holidays everyone!