It’s Christmas! I’ve been busy lately so it’s nice to say I am officially on vacation now.

Last week we had our Christmas party at work. We have a big potluck on our floor. I made shortbread and tartlets and then a little salad. The shortbread cookies were delicious but I didn’t get the red and green colors quite right. They turned out pink and mint-green.

The tartlets were a failure. The shells were pretty, but the chocolate filling was bland (tasted like a melted Hershey bar) and the butterscotch filling was disgusting. So I just tossed those out.

They looked pretty, though.

The salad I made turned out delicious. Grape tomatoes, mozzarella pearls, four fresh basil leaves chopped, drizzled with olive oil and some salt and pepper. Personally, I would have liked even more basil, but I didn’t want to overdo it. I am so much better at cooking than I am at baking.

We also have a White Elephant gift exchange at the office party. None of that thoughtful, lovely secret Santa gift-exchange stuff for us! You strive for the cheapest tackiest gift you can find. I made this:

I think it was well received by the lucky person who grabbed it from under the tree.

After the party it was time for me to start my vacation. Pablo and I drove to my hometown to visit my family and celebrate the holiday. The last time I had chatted with my mom she told me about this yarn store she had just discovered in town. I was so excited to go check it out.

Oh. My. Goodness. New favorite yarn store! Silver Creek Cabin (link in my sidebar) is amazing. It probably has more yarn than all of the yarn stores in Fargo combined. I made a modest purchase, but I know I’ll be back next time I’m in town.

Regia Silk by Schachenmayr nomotta

Super Chunky by Misti Alpaca

I’ll use the Regia Silk to make some lacy black silk socks. The Super Chunky was turned into a cowl only a few short hours later. My sister wanted to work on a scarf and I thought that sounded like fun, but I didn’t want to commit to a whole scarf. So, just a cowl.

I’ve always felt like Misti Alpaca products are one of those rare indulgence things. It’s really pricey, so I’ve never considered it for any project I’ve worked on. It is gorgeous, though.

No pattern. I just cast 12 stitches on size 11 needles and worked it in seed stitch (k1, p1 on RS; p1, k1 on WS) until all the yarn was used up. Then I dug through mom’s buttons and found two I liked.

Now we’re back home again, resting for a moment until the next party. We brought home a gift for our cat (from my mom) and I had fun making a video of it.

Merry Christmas!