1/1/11. 
New day.  New year.

I was thinking in the shower (where all the most profound thoughts seem to come from) and I was thinking that I really like January.  I know that there aren't any holidays from now until Easter (unless you cound MLK's birthday and Valentines' Day neither of which I get off from work) but I like the putting away of the holiday excess and the clean, openness of January.

Our Christmas tree takes up a good bit of the living room and while I love it and its shiny self, I also like when it goes away and I get my space and light back.  I've been sitting in the living room all week to admire the lights of the tree knowing that my time with them is limited.  There is a part of me that would like to put the decorations away tomorrow but they'll stay up one more week and next weekend I'll pack away Christmas for another year.

My last fo of the year.  I finished my cowl last night and just wanted a photo of me wearing it.  Pk was in a silly mood and was playing around and this is the best one I could get.  You can see that it's long.  I made the  long version so I could pull it up over my head like a hood and it feels perfect.  I like the pattern.  It stretches enough to hold it close to my head but won't mash my hair down or make my head itch.  I think it makes me look like a babushka. 

The pattern is Strider from Susan Pandorf's LOTR patterns (the Fellowship of the Ring collection).  She gave me the collection last year for moderating the Evenstar kal group.  I gave one of the patterns to Kate and this is the only other one I've finished.  She's releasing a large, warm wrap called Argonath sometime this week that I may take up.  One can never have too many warm things to wrap up in in January.

The yarn is polwarth/silk from drk.  It's light and oh so soft.  I used most of the skein and took one week to finish.  The chart was so easy to follow that there was very little ripping out.  I think part of it was the large blocks of time that I was able to put into it.  I think this will get a lot of wear.

Kate and I are taking part in a mystery kal called In Dreams.  It's another LOTR inspired shawl, but not round this time.  I bought our memberships and we ordered some alpaca/silk blend laceweight yarn in rust/copper/sienna colors.  Not a color either of us uses often so we decided to shake it up a little.  It starts in February so I have the month of January to finish Pk's sweater.  It's totally doable even with going back to work and all. 

We had a good time last night at my brother's house.  I love his kids.  They're funny and bright (aren't all kids?).  Maggie likes to have one of those skinny hair wrap things in her hair and they usually get one when they're in Disneyworld every September.  Pk found a kit for her to do it herself and she really liked it.  They were planning what to do when we left.  Daniel got a Science Experiment kit for little kids (he's only 4) and my brother promised him they'd explore it today.

We watched Dick Clark last night.  He is amazing.  I wasn't sure he was still alive.  All those years of looking very young caught up with him in a rush.  He's such a part of New Year's eve to me.  It's sobering to see him now.

We're going to Em's house for dinner.  She's roasting a chicken which is one of my favorite meals.  It's simple and warming and my idea of comfort food.  But first, I want to make the potato salad for dinner tomorrow.  Then all I'll have to do on pajama day is put the ham in the oven.

Have a wonderful weekend.  Hugs and kisses for everyone.