My knitting basket runeth over

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. We had a frenzied two days of opening presents. It was wonderful. I may have to throw out every toy they already own to make room for all of the new loot.

It actually all began on Thursday when my Mom came to visit. As she was putting her coat on she told Meaty that there are presents at her house for him. He was very excited and demanded that we immediately go to her house to get them. I told him that we could go on Sunday and open his presents. We argued for a few moments before he conceded defeat. He then demanded "Gammy, go get my peasants and bring them to me." She almost did it, only a person with a heart of stone can resist my son. Luckily my heart is granite. Much to his great disappointment there was no bringing of presents that day. But the idea of present was planted in his mind. All he could think about was "peasants."

On Saturday Prince Meaty was up at the crack of dawn ready to go get his peasants. We went to see my In-Laws that day. During the drive I re-cast on for the red sweater. I've decided to begin with my personal adversary: the sleeves.




Once we arrived, we played with cousins


We opened presents, fed ducks, and had a good time. Then we cleaned up and his extended family came over. There was food and laughter and more presents. Highlights from that day include my little pink drill, The Greatest's Michigan flag and this



I got 10 ounces of alpaca. It came from an alpaca farm that is literally five minutes from my in-laws. It is un-dyed. That brown is the natural brown of the alpaca. We went to their website and we think we know which alpaca it came from. It is impossibly soft and wonderful. As you can see I've already balled one hank and begun knitting a test swatch. It knits beautifully and has a nice drape. I'm not sure what I'm going to make yet, it must be wonderful. I think it would be nice for a lacy shawl, or maybe a scarf. I'm kicking a few ideas around in my mind.

Then the next morning the children woke up to this.



Pork Chop received her much coveted Cinderella Castle. Meaty's favorite gift was his huge fire engine. It really is fortunate that Santa brought him a fire engine, as the castle has caught fire four times. Bird was just happy ripping paper off packages, but she does seem to enjoy her new chair.



Everytime the commercial for this chair came on she would watch and laugh. When she opened her present she seemed unimpressed with the colorful box. But then I put her chair together. She sat in it, put her hands in her lap and then just looked around for a moment. She then threw her head back and just laughed and laughed and laughed. I think she likes it.

There were even a few goodies under the tree for me.

I got these



I've always wanted a pair of boots like this. They are so comfy and fit surprisingly well for shoes I didn't get to try on before buying. I just love them.

I also got this



It is a beautiful shade of blue/gray, like the perfect summer sky before the storm. The Greatest did good didn't he.

But the fun wasn't over yet. We then went to my Parents house where there were more cousins, presents, and cookies strategically placed near the edge of the counter where little hands could grab them without adult intervention. (the ham was also near the edge of the counter, for some reason they didn't abuse their ham privileges the way they abused the chocolate.)

The "kids" (aka The Greatest) also got me a foot spa. Last night after the kids went to bed I sat on the couch with my foot spa and cast on for this



I may or may not change the border lace, but for now I really like how the center panel is turning out.

Lest you think The Greatest went unloved. He received clothes, tools, a computer game, a curl bar, and (I think this was his favorite gift) a coffee grinder. He spent the evening laughing and playing Burnout Revenge (also new) while I was happily knitting. He is now busily brushing his teeth with his new Sonicare toothbrush. I think he had a nice time as well.