the christmas miracle scarf and matching hat were a hit!

we had a very nice christmas. travis' cousin really seemed to like the seed stitch keyhole scarf and matching hat that i made for her. she even said she loved the seed stitch pattern and the color. everyone oohed and aahed over them, and it was a very satisfying reward for my efforts.

here's me modeling the finished product. i'm going to have to find a new model, i'm sick of looking at pictures of myself!

oh, i forgot to mention -- i did block the hat and scarf and i really like the results. it made a huge difference on the linen/acrylic blend yarn. so now i'm convinced that blocking is definitely not just for wool. thanks to everyone who gave me lowdown on blocking.

the receiving end of things also went well. we received fewer gifts this year, which is a very good thing, and they were all very thoughtful. i got the knitting book i wanted! i also got this freaky little "20Q" toy... has anyone tried that? it's just a cheap handheld toy that plays 20 questions with you and guesses what you are thinking. it's so good at it that it freaks me out. it's kind of addicting -- we played it the whole way home from pennsylvania.

although i had planned on taking a break from knitting after christmas, i couldn't wait to try out my new knitting book. i started on some legwarmers in an eyelet pattern for my friend cameron. i'm using some blue red heart supersaver that i have leftover from the long striped scarf i made travis. so at least it's a break for my wallet, if not my hands.