It's beginning to look a lot like...

One more Christmas present done and checked off the list! I'm feeling very positive about my progress on knitted & crocheted gifts this year. I've finished 7 presents, started 3 others, and need to start (and finish) 2 more. For the record, this list includes 1 vest, 1 shell sweater, 2 scarves, a knit kerchief, 6 pairs of slippers (3 felted, 3 not), 1 afghan, and 1 jacket (sewn). Hurrah.

And when Christmas is over, I get to officially knit something for me! I think my first project will be the Bombshell Sweater from Big Girls Knits. For my birthday, my lovely sister Jenny gifted me with a shopping spree through the yarn store, and I picked up 4 skeins of Malabrigo Worsted in Melilla (brown to white to sky blue). So droolworthy.

Last weekend, Richard and I got the fattest Christmas tree ever. This is seriously a plus-size tree. We decided to go to Home Depot for the tree, because we were burnt out on over-priced Christmas tree lots. So, the experience didn't have the same ambiance as wandering through the lot, searching for just the "right" one, but for ease and cost, I'll do Home Depot again next year. Most of the trees were 6'-7' Douglas firs, which seemed awfull small to me, but they were at least 1/2 the price of similar trees at specialty lots. We ended up getting a 7 1/2' Noble (which we'd never had before, because Nobles are generally at least $100 at lots), and I'm in love. The line was ridiculously long, but the HD guys cut the end of the tree off (the better for it to absorb water in the stand) -- something I could never get the lots to do, and they bagged it in mesh to make it easier to transport. This tree is so fat that they had to get 2 guys to lift it onto the cutting table, and it almost didn't fit through the mesh-ing contraption. I love the fact that every day, when I come home, it just smells like Christmas.

This weekend, I have to work on Richard's new Christmas stocking. He specifically requested a stocking that looks like a cowboy boot, which should be fun. I'm sewing it, so it shouldn't take long. I'm taking the next two weeks off, so there is plenty of time for craftiness (and sleeping in). Photos to come!