Starting the Holiday Rush

I was going to do a post for Thanksgiving but this is what happened.

All my relatives came over for dinner. Apparently, my mother promised them that I would cook! (It's a good thing she didn't... love you Mom). So people in this picture: (sitting down) my 4th aunt, my 4th aunt's husband (aka as my uncle), my 3rd uncle, my 2nd aunt, and my mother. Standing up in the back are my cousin (mom is the 4th aunt), my brother, and the husband of another cousin (dad is the 3rd uncle). My cousin is taking another picture from a different angle. Are you guys confused yet? My mom is the youngest of 8 kids. She has 3 older brothers and 4 older sisters. We have 25 kids in my generation (the grandchildren). You really don't want me to count how many are in the generation below me...(I'm guessing 31...and counting) For dinner, we had an earl grey tea brined turkey (seriously yummy), chinese black sticky rice stuffing, roasted beets and carrots (recipe courtesy of la canadienne), butternut squash with maple syrup, roasted sweet potatoes, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, regular plain jane mashed potatoes, and a salad of mixed greens with gorgonzola cheese and dried cherries and blackberry balsamic vinagrette. After 16 years of making Thanksgiving dinners by myself, this was one of the easiest to put together. (Thank goodness for ovens...multiple ovens.)

Now that is done and over with, Christmas is on my mind. Specifically knitted Christmas gifts. I promised my sweetie to make a scarf for his sister (almost done), a hat for my 2nd aunt (not even casted on), a scarf for my mother (in the planning stages), socks for my brother (Wal-mart seems to be a good place), a sweater for Dad (Neiman Marcus, here I come), a scarf for my sweetie's mom (maybe a modular scarf from modular knits?), and socks for my sweetie (ummmm...we'll see). I've got a lot of things to do, not a lot of time to knit them. On top of this, I've got finals in two weeks. I've got one thing to say...Oh vey! (and I'm not Jewish!) Wish me luck...and if you don't hear from me....I jabbed myself with a needle by accident...

And here is some yarn porn to keep you occupied.



Malabrigo Worsted Weight in Loro Barranquero...made into a Koolhaas (designed by Jared Flood in Interweave Holiday)
Socks that Rocks Lightweight in Undertoe
Mama Llama sock Yarn in absolutely gorgeous purple from Twisted Knitster via swap
Cashmerino 80/20 in Casino Royale by my favorite dyer in the whole wide world...the Plucky Knitter!
Malabrigo Worsted Weight in Damask Rose... (slated to be a hat of some sort)