Two of you asked in the comments what I'll be doing before Christmas. Well, let's see...
We'll go away next weekend to see some friends. We'll be staying in a hotel and Bettina is coming with us, of course. I just hope this time the hotel room doesn't have wallpaper. The last time we were in a hotel Bettina realized at the ripe age of sixteen what wallpapers are really for.
But other than that we'll be staying at home, hopefully relaxing and getting ready for Christmas. I probably have to work for a couple of days in December, but I still have over three weeks off work. Three weeks sounds a lot, but I'm pretty sure I can think of something to do. Ahem.
Running rampant
Here are some of my recent purchases over the internet.
I wanted this book when I saw the Winter Wonderland sock in this site. It's too late to do anything this year, but maybe next.
I really shouldn't be surfing because I see things like Alyssa's mistake rib scarf. Meet my new friends.
From left to right: Whimsey, Ginger and Libby. [Add a sheepish voice here.] Not to mention their five pals, all from Brooks Farm, Texas. The picture doesn't do their colours justice, but I'm sure you'll see more pictures of them being knitted up.
I haven't abandoned my LYS, here's some yarn I bought for the felting projects.
Lopi will turn into kitty beds and Alaska will be Fuzzyfeet, I hope. Hopefully I will get the right gauge with Alaska. As I didn't want to run out of yarn, I bought a whole bag of them. For some reason the LYSO recognizes me instantly and always greets me with a wide smile. She must be a very nice person.
Now looky here.
These are soaps and candles from Twig's Wicks and Wood. The ones in the jars are candles, Christmas Memories and Cinnamon Spice (mmm, really spicy!), the golfballs are bubble bath balls and there's a silver maple pen as well. Every time I use the soaps, people will think I'm crazy because I keep sniffing at my hands because of the lovely scent. And then there's this, which takes us to the next subject.
Vanilla and hazelnut. And ivory.
A rant on customs officers
I've had several shipments from the US in recent years and the customs officers have always been very helpful and nice. Until now. Today I met two obnoxious individuals, who will be referred to in this post as Dumb and Dumber.
When Mrs. Dumb saw that I had papers for two packages from the US, she greeted me with this: "Oh no... YOU'll have a lot of work ahead of you." That's funny, I thought the customs officers were there to do the actual job. Begrudgingly she agreed to take my papers, all the while complaining and grumbling. The Brooks Farm yarn went okay, but when she heard about the soaps and candles she hurriedly asked Dumber to step in, as she had to leave early. Some 20 minutes went by merrily. NOT.
Dumber: Oh, this is a hard one. Candles, soap AND a pen. That's three different groups of products.
---
Dumber: What's hazelnut and ivory?
Me: Well, hazelnut is... hazelnut.
Dumber: I know THAT! But what's IVORY?
Me: That's the colour.
Dumber: Oh, they're colours then, not soaps.
---
Dumb [who is almost ready to leave from work]: I've counted the till and there's money missing. [Why wasn't I surprised by this?] Did you pay the tax at all?
Me: Yes I did, and you gave me the right amount of change, because I checked. [You can see I'm getting a bit edgy here.]
---
Dumb: Oh, there isn't any money missing after all. I just punched in the same thing twice.
When I finally got my boxes I asked Mrs. Dumber where I could give feedback on their "service". She seemed genuinely surprised, so I suppose they give shitty service to everybody and nobody bothers to complain, as they don't have to deal with customs very often. Mrs. Dumber then went on to explain that my case was "a difficult one". Hey, let's not forget those three groups of products! Excuse me, who was I talking to? A brain surgeon? A rocket scientist? No, a petty customs officer who tried to act as if it was some superhuman task to handle two boxes from the US. And I will complain about their "service". This is the third time ever I've complained about poor service, but I think it's worth it. Besides, I've got another shipment coming. Two groups of items, from the US. Need I say more?
Knitting projects
Christmas gifts are a priority right now, but I suppose I could get back to my three WIPs... *gasp* Scarf Style is a wonderful book that gave me a lot of ideas. But... how many scarves can one person have? Hang on, I'll count them.
Nine. That's not so bad, is it? There's room for more, right?
That reminds me: I really need to use yarn from stash as I've run out of containers the sofa looks like a yarn display there's no more room behind the stereo otherwise the moths will beat me to it. I would like to knit a cardigan, and the Irish tweed might be suitable for Bpt. I'm also thinking of doing the Geometric Star jacket by Kaffe Fassett out of this pile. And I need another hat! A kitty hat looks like a fun and quick knit.
Books
I'm reading Yarn Harlot's first book. It's quite different from what I expected, but in a good way as it has actual meditations (Duh! Why did I think it would be anything else?). If you've got the book, so far I think the best one is on page 45. Tee-hee, crochet!
And if you've wondered why I keep The Da Vinci Code on my reading list for months, I'm waiting for a time when I could read the book without any interruptions. I've tried to read it before going to sleep, but that just doesn't work as every chapter ends in a cliffhanger. So that's on my December to-do list as well.
The Great Declutter Project
I've decided to get rid of the clutter in our flat. This means I will go through all the cupboards and closets and I will also get rid of piles of newspapers and magazines I have accumulated over the years. Realistically thinking I probably can't do all that before Christmas, but I'll give it a try.