Holiday prep....

No black Friday shopping for me...... My goal each year is to get most of my shopping done by Thanksgiving Day.  That leaves me last minute knitting instead.....YIKES!

This week, I finished these socks, which will be gifted:

 Ok, a better photo:

Nothing too exciting about them.  Opal yarn. Dark Blue and greys.  They will wear like iron....of that, I am sure.  Opal can just not be beat for longevity!

I also made one of the storage bags for BG.  (And of course, I couldn't let the rest of the fabric go to waste - after Christmas, we'll have matching bags!)  I especially love the lady-bug lining fabric. 

I plan on this being a home for his Christmas "Mutant Ninja Turtles".  He really seems to like having a place for his toys - and I'm all about encouraging organization.  If nothing else, it helps him not lose small pieces. 

He is into "Knights in Shining Armour"  right now, and I so hope it lasts through Christmas!

He has a few guys, and we have been very creative in making a DIY castle.

I hope he'll be as excited as I am when he opens this on Christmas!

 And this:

I did fall victim to a very good sale at Toys R Us.....I did not intend to buy two castle type structures, but the smaller one was a sale that I couldn't resist.  And, as usual, he's somehow divided his guys into the good guys and bad guys, so a knight master needs two castles!

I cast on the next knit gift at the theater yesterday evening.  We saw Lincoln.  Extraordinary!  I'd highly recommend seeing it, if you get a chance.  We saw the new James Bond movie a couple of days ago too.  I'm not a JB fan, so.....enough said. 

Anyway.... it's another "Summer Wind" infinity scarf, out of some oh so soft Marigoldjen yarn.....contains a bit of cashmere!  It's her MCN sock yarn blend, in the colorway "Sunset".  I love those little pops of color!

An update on the Cardinals.....the hubbs has seen him!  All four birds are dependable feeders now, about 7am and again at about 5pm, they stop by for a good meal.  The squirrels are enjoying the ample supply of food to be found in our yarn!  And, as if they didn't already have enough to eat.....

I'm sure they will enjoy (trying) to dig up and devour these tulip bulbs.

The nice guy at the garden store (who sold me the very premium bird food) gave me two bags of tulip bulbs - free.  So...with a little help from a chicken wire barrier, HOPEFULLY we'll have some tulips in the spring.  We'll see.....!