Well, my parents are on their way home.

I managed to finish all the Christmas presents and send them off, wrapped, with them, so I don't have to carry any on the train.

(I chickened out on giving my dad the prayer afghan/blanket/thing. Put it in a big box with a bow, and decided to give it to him closer to Christmas. I don't know why I'm so reticent...I think it has something to do with the fact that I don't deal well with, or like to show, strong emotion).

Finished the Tilling the Soil vest. I'm very pleased with the buttons I chose. Pictures will be forthcoming.

I also finished (last night) the "Shape it!" scarf out of Artful Yarns' "Cartoon" in the color called "Popeye" - predominantly green (spinach, I guess) but the colors remind me more of Play-Doh than of Popeye. And like someone on the knitlist commented, this is NOT the most successful yarn for all-garter-stitch. It looks muddier than I would have thought. Not bad enough to make me want to frog the scarf, but I did decide to block it (something I don't often do with scarves) to see if it looked more "finished."

Got to the new Books A Million store in Sherman. I know, some people deride it as "Books a Hundred" or think it's evil 'cos it's a chain, but after having lived in an area with a used book store (which is nice, but not real useful if you're looking for a very particular book or edition) and an "entertainment" store that has some books (but mostly as an afterthought with the CDs, video rentals, and software), it's really really nice. Bought the Stitch N Bitch Nation book - I'm a bit out of the target demographic in terms of age and spirit, but I really like many of the patterns. Love the cabled hat and also the beehive hat. May well wind up making one of the "boob tubes" (by "our" Stefanie - I tend to think of any of the bloggers I regularly read as "our" in the British sense where people talk about "our" Bill or "our" Marjorie, meaning they're one of the family). Like the wristers, am amused by the flame sweater (ah, if only I was still dating a certain chap...he'd be perfect for it).

My favorite piece though is the "knit your own rock star." However, not being a fan of punk, I'd probably have to alter to meet my needs. Perhaps make the doll of a nice brown wool and knit up a little dress, and have an Ella Fitzgerald. Or make one rather thin, with a mop of hair and a bowtie and have my own "young Frank Sinatra" (was there not an early Looney Tunes cartoon where a doll of a young Frank Sinatra was featured? I seem to remember it as one of those "bookstore" or "library" cartoons where characters out of the book came to life...). Or, best of all, make the doll in a little suit and tie, make a little porkpie hat out of felt, and have my own Charles Trenet (but of course, I'd have to knit up and unravel some goldish wool to make his lovely curly hair). At any rate, the pattern amuses me - and I mean that in the best sense of the word, it catches my imagination and makes me smile.