'Tis the season!

I finished Mary! Though it took several tries (and an extra trip to Wal-Mart for just the right shade of embroidery floss for her eyes) I managed to give her a peaceful expression. And a good yarn hair day. And a 'the hills are alive' posture! That last one was unintended, it just kind of happened. I'm hoping it'll sort itself out when I give her a baby Jesus to hold ;0)

All that's left to do is colour on some cheeks with a red pencil crayon. (I kid you not, that is actually what it says in the pattern.) I figured I'd knit up a test swatch to practice colouring cheeks on. I've come too far to mess it up with improvised craft cosmetics! LOL!

Oh, and Julian loves her too. When I started to put her together, he would come over and ask to see her and then ever so gently pet her while exclaiming "nice nice" and since I finished her last night, he can't help but exclaim "wow" everytime he sees her. I feel that I've done right by Mary and also by my son. Somehow, I've managed to pass on my admiration for needlecraft to my toddler...and it makes me very proud ;0)

And then, in a prelude to Christmas, our dada woke up before dawn and drove to the nearest toy store to stand in line for the new Nintendo Wii which was launched today. (It's his Christmas present this year...actually it's a present for both of us because I enjoy playing wholesome Nintendo games too! I got hooked in elementary school when I received the original Nintendo for Christmas. I never got any extra games for it but I got really good at Super Mario Bros which is to this day my favourite game ever - though Tetris and Dr. Mario are very close behind). Well after standing in a very civilised line for 2 hours, he did manage to get his hand on the coveted console and was back at home ready to try it out just as Jujube and I finished breakfast.

And then of course we had to try it out. You know, to make sure it worked properly ;0)

Merry early Christmas!

* Specs for my Virgin Mary: the pattern is from a Sirdar booklet (number 285) called "The Nativity Collection" and designed by Alan Dart. I knit it using Knit Picks Palette on US1 needles (note to self...the blue ones). My gauge was different than the pattern called for because of my yarn substitution. I threw caution to the wind and made no adjustments to account for my different gauge and somehow she turned out perfect! Yes, I am counting my blessings ;0)