Aftermath

Christmas is almost over. Andy's mom is leaving this afternoon, and tomorrow we'll have a little low-key celebration with my dad. Everything went really well. The most important thing: Andy's mom enjoyed herself. She talked a little about her husband, but mostly in a fond, smiling way, there were only a very few tearful moments. I had a few moments about my mom as well, but, thankfully, we had planned for some alone time in the Christmas itinerary, so it was alright. Lots of great food, lots of wine, sparkling, hot and otherwise, movies, conversations ... a lovely time was had by all.

There was the odd fiber-related gift, too. I found out that the muggle in my daily life actually listens to my fiber rants.

Yippie! Not pictured, but ditto on the yippie: Spin to Knit. It's not pictured, because I left it where Andy's mom was sleeping, and she wasn't up when I took the photos. Obviously, I'm not going to choose my first colorwork project from The Celtic Collection, but it's sure fun to look at and remember what one could be working towards. The Knitting Calendar speaks for itself, I think. What better thing to have on your desk every day? :o)

Oh, yeah, remember what I said about saving the money from the Knit From Your Stash Challenge? Buzzzzzzzzz. Thanks for playing.

Yes. It is. In the flesh, or wood rather. A beautiful, perfectly preserved Ashford Traditional, a used one, thankfully. And it's all mineminemine!!! Andy had wrapped the parts except for the wheel, and he gave me one of the side bars to unwrap first. I recognized it right away, but I didn't want to say anything, in case I was wrong. I might have shouted "Yay, an Ashford!", when he was really giving me a (much needed!!) bookcase or something. But the next thing he gave me to unwrap was the flyer, so the shouts and tears were a safe bet then :o). It is even better than I had remembered. It spins like a dream, and so do I, if I do say so myself. Okay, like a dream of a wet-behind-the-bobbin beginner, but still.
The only thing it was missing was the lazy kate that usually comes with it. But hey, I can splurge on that, I would like to have the one with the brake anyway, and besides, I made do without one thus far.

I love these gifts for more than the obvious reasons. Andy gave them to me because he knows that wool is an important part of my healing process. He said so a few weeks ago and told me that he would support me in that in any way he could. Looks like he meant it, huh?

I still have almost a week of vacation time left, and I'm going to spin up a storm here. And, by the way, Knit From Your Stash is still very much on.

Another great fiber-related gift is the new desktop computer ... she says nonchalantly ;o). Andy refurbished one of his old ones for me, which means that loading a webpage or email or processing a photo will now take fewer than five minutes (I'm so not kidding about the five minutes!). Which means that I might be in the mood to take more pics and update the blog more often. The gift includes the reformatting and streamlining of my laptop once the new computer is installed and everything, so I can keep it for trips. Andy doesn't count this as a "real" present, because it's all his old stuff, but I do count it. There was a lot of time and work and parts involved - and in the end, it's a new computer for me, no matter where it came from.

Gifts and food notwithstanding, the best thing about this Christmas was/is connecting with people who are important to me, be it by card, email, phone or in person. It took a hell of a lot of heartache to get through to Christmas this year, so my family and friends are more important to me than ever. And not just over the holidays.