Our Team Holiday Garden was awarded with second place: 

See the happy gingerbread people? This is the outdoor view from my workspace, the area I call "The Well", but my friend Jan calls "The Courtyard".  See how a decorative tree can brighten up  HVAC equipment?

We had pretty things like this sled, which looked ever so lovely when there was snow on the ground.

This cat lives in this tree in the garden all year.  We festivized his environment.

Sadly, we were not victorious.  The first place winner was Team Arctic Adventure:

And really, how could the judges resist these playful sea lions?

Or the handpainted, textured ice berg, complete with Abominable Snowman?

There were polar bears.

And penguins, apparently on holiday from the southern hemisphere.  All in all, a fine entry.  I was almost happy to lose to them. 

Sadly, Katie took the Christmas Crap decorations down before I had a chance to take photos.  She did give me one of the decorations from their office.  Because I had fallen in love.  I was not the only person to become enamored with this lovely little bit of holiday spirit.  If you read the note, you will see that someone else thinks she deserves her.  May I introduce you to someone who has given me hours of pleasure inside my head:

Crack Pipe Angel. 

I'm starting an experiment.  Daily photos.  The purpose:  to gain photography skills by experience. 

Here Goes Day One, Scenes from a Friday:

0743:  Meds picked up at pharmacy, and delivered to car.  Check.

0749:  My desk space, with flowers from the prairie, awaiting the workday.

0752:  One lonely, uneaten cupcake remains from yesterday's baked goods.

0754:  steeping the morning cuppa.  Tea.  Earl Grey.  Hot.

1043:  Driving back from the first visit of the day.  Really need to get this taken care of.

16:51:  Work Day complete, driving toward home, toward those growing thunderheads?

17:15:  Home to have a look around the garden, including these lovely clematis and raspberries.

Home, to watch the bees on the balm.

1720:  The Ice Cream Truck is coming!

Ciro, for one, is not pleased.

This evening's project:  Hedgehogs, x3.  (those knitterly blobs on the right will be cute little hogs one day)

. . . to Dash Riprock "Prewash" Dolph. 

Lover of the snowfrisbee.

River-dipper.

Enjoyer of views.

Couch-snuggler (as I'm working on the podcast).

Mad shedder.  (no, wait, that's a fleece)

Trail maintenance volunteer and Goodwill Ambassador of the Superior Hiking Trail.

One of my two favorite guys.

Journey On, Dash.

I have been lax about this blog, indeed I have.  I haven't even posted a photo of that SunnyMonterey shawl post-blocking.  Here it is: 

And the back view:

The pattern is from Alison Jepson Hyde's Wrapped in Comfort.  It's the Monterey shawl.  She says, if you look at the shawl pattern upside down, it looks like jellyfish.  Like this:

Episode 9 of Knitajourney Podcast is uploading today.  The theme is "Story" and I talked a bit about knitting a story, or starting with a story and ending with a knitted object.   I said I would post a photo of something I knit using this process (this is where the courage comes in). 

So, the words were:  tinkle, loyal, warmth, hope, apple, Orion, sun, ladder, violet.  And the sentence I came up with is:  Loyal Orion's violet twinkle: hope's ladder to the sun-apple's warmth.  That was my beginning, and here is where that journey ended:

And you can see Orion, and the color, violet, and the ladder of hope, and the sun-apple up in the corner.  And though he wasn't part of the story, the constellation of Sirius right behind the hunter -- where else could he be?  If my photography skills were keen, you would be able to make out the beads on the triangl-y bits of hope on the ladder-steps, and also see the sparkling of Orion's stars.  And though I'm seeing reflected that concrete thought process that is so much a part of my character, still I'm pleased with the results.  I also fell in love with the tweedy yarn that forms the background of this piece.  I can't remember what it is (sorry).  In person, it's a deep teal.  I made this piece while I was in a teal blue / sea green sort of phase.  The hope bits are in a sea green sort of colorway, of Waikiki.     
Looking at this photo makes me want to play with yarn. 

Episode 5 of Knitajourney Podcast went up a couple of days ago.  I talked about relaxing with our knitting.  And snowbiking. 

This is going to be a year of shawls, for sure.  I have just finished SunnyMonterey, though it has not yet been blocked:

It's the Monterey Shawl from Alison Hyde's Wrapped in Comfort.  I sure do love this Alpaga yarn, from Plassard.  It is no longer being manufactured.  Sigh.  I have nearly two skeins leftover of this lovely golden, sunny yellow.  I'm considering getting my hands on some brown apaga and double knitting something warm and beautiful.

This one is in progress:

It's Lliclla, from Helen Hamann's Andean Inspired Knits.  I'm using the leftovers from the asymmetrical cardigan.  I'm cutting it a bit close on the yarn.  I will need one more skein of the gold color.  A friend of mine is making the same shawl, and she tells me she will line it.  I'm now thinking about that, also. 

Upcoming is another shawl for a friend, made of this beautiful stuff:

Yep, Alpaga again.  Alison Hyde says in her book, you can make up your own pattern for a shawl just by inserting your own lace patterns for yoke and body.  So that's what ahma gonna do.  I will probably have one skein left over.  Do I not need something to put this with, also?  

Then there's the wool-silk-cashmere pictured in the previous post.  It will soon begin its journey from balled string to drapey shawl.  Something Orenburg-inspired.  I have the pattern worked out.  It's the needle size I haven't yet committed to.  I don't know that I want to spend a good chunk of the upcoming year with a shawl on size 2s.  Size 4s is comforting to me.

That's four shawls.   I'm not addicted, no.  And I'm not in a rut, either.  I like to think that I'm just gleefully lost in the wonderworld of shawls.