Knitters make the world go 'round.

Okay, maybe not. Nah, I'm lying, we do! My entire life lately is about knitting... yarn, knitting for other people, Ravelry, etc. Since I joined Ravelry and have made many friends (both online and "IRL") through the site, my life has pretty much revolved around knitting since. February 16th will be my 3 year anniversary on Ravelry, and specifically the last two years on Ravelry since being part of a huge swap group of people who are so many things (thats a generalization. Specifically they are talented, kind, amazing, wonderful, giving, etc.), I feel I have become a better person.

I was listening to my very first episode of Sticks & String today whilst spinning. There was a segment about Christmas/holiday gifting, and it made me think about how wonderful and kind the knitters are that I am very privileged to know, especially since today was an amazing mail day. As you all know, I'm a total mail geek, and being in a large swap group helps me combine mail AND knitting. How wonderful is that? Well, today I got a huge box from Dawn of Knit Naturally which included a skein of beautiful malabrigo sock that I claimed from her in the swap group, and some homemade cookies. However, she also included some other little goodies for Will and I... two HUGE bags of Hershey's Kisses (fancy ones that we can't get here in Canada!), some Adaigo sweet potato tea, and some Scentsy samples (a candle company she is a rep for). I just thought it was so adorably sweet of her to include stuff randomly that she knew that I'd like, and it started making me think about knitters being super kind and generous, which was then reconfirmed when I was listening to Sticks & String. As knitters, we make a lot of gifts (or, some of us do). In said gifts, we spend hours and hours picking the right yarn and pattern combination, and knitting each stitch lovingly (or sometimes not, but trying to!), etc. To give a gift of knitting, in my mind, is the ultimate gift, as it takes so much time, love and precision.



I was lucky this Christmas to give many knitted gifts. I apparently have too much time on my hands though. My stepdad got a Mustikka cabled hat, my mom got socks (she LOVES socks), Will got socks, and my friend Jenn got socks also. Now, her socks were my favourite project I've worked on all year I think. I used some beautiful glowing Wollmeise in "Campari Piccolo", and the pattern was a highly modified version of Knitty's Salto socks. They were 72 sts on size 0 (2.0mm) needles, with tons of cabling. Beautiful! Now, to knit a pair for me (yeah, right).

Speaking of Christmas, I have news! Will and I have a new pet... she is a darling little hamster, and that is all we know! Okay, back it up here. I should explain... We didn't choose her. She, apparently, chose us. Let's go back a week and a bit. Saturday night, one week before Christmas. Will and I are sitting at our kitchen table eating dinner. I see something out of the corner of my right eye and my head jerks sideways. Nada. Will thinks I'm losing my mind (which is probably a little bit true, mind you). I shake it off and start to think maybe hes right. But then about three minutes later, I see something out of the corner of my left eye. Something white and spherical moving along the floor. My head jerks to the left, and I immediately put my feet up thinking OMG HOW DO WE HAVE A MOUSE IN OUR APARTMENT? Keep in mind, we're on the 12th/top floor of our apartment building, which isn't an old building, so its highly unlikely we'd ever have mice in our apartment. I tell Will to get over here (our table is in the corner, and beside the table is a shelf with craft stuff on it), he moves some stuff away from the actual corner, and TA DA! Theres a wee little hamster sitting on the floor staring up at Will.

This began a chase around our apartment that lasted about 10 minutes until we captured the little thing (gently, of course). We put her in a box, and walked around to every apartment on our floor, knocking on doors and asking (ridiculously) if anyone "lost a hamster". Ha. We went out several times since there were no answers, and nada. It was getting late on a Saturday night so we figured we'd continue the search the next day. Will ran out to the pet store nearby, bought some bedding and food so she could at least be comfortable while terrified. The next day we waited to see if anyone hung flyers in our building, or came knocking looking for a lost hamster, and nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. So, we decided at that point that we'd have to give up and get her a cage and stuff so she'd at least be comfortable.

We went out to Pet Smart and bought a cage and treats, came home and set it up. She was reluctant but prefered the cage to the big plastic tub we were keeping her in. Since then, she's settled in fine with us, and we even took her to my mom's for Christmas (where she had a little stocking waiting for her from my mother, who is hilarious and wonderful for doing so). At this point now, she's comfortable with us and will even eat treats from my hand and let me pet her.

Oh her name? Her name is the best part. We go a little all-out with names in our household. Her name is Duchess Malabrigo-Chunky Lioness Fluffernutter vonHamsterstein. Try saying that three times fast, Will and I have. We call her "Mal" or "Miss Mal" or "Miss Moo" (she has a chunky butt, just like her mom) for short. We like to think she is our little Christmas miracle :)