The new year

Ahh, Christmas has wound down, the New Year is here, and all is fresh and new, if a bit dreary here in the Northwest! I've always found it hard to consider January the beginning of the year, when so little is alive and happening. By the time my birthday rolls around in February, the first of the Spring crocus and daffodiles have started to bloom and then it really does feel like a new year. Another year older, another year gone by. And usually by then I will have thought of a good resolution for the year.

So for now, I'm still working on clean up from Christmas! I'm one of those folks who like to get the tree on the day after Thanksgiving and leave it up until the 12th day of Christmas! This year it will probably come down in the next day or two, but with all the winter darkness, I cherish the wee lights on the tree.

And in lieu of the more normal Christmas clean up, we spent the last days of our vacation doing massive tile work in our bathroom! We (by which I mean my husband) tiled the vanity countertop and the bathtub surround. It looks beautiful! I've always been inspired by blogs that show a "corner of the house" and once this remodel is finally wrapped up, I'll post some photos!

For now, here is a bag that I made while teaching the Favorite Things Everyday Bag class at Bolt. I forgot to get a photo of it after I put the square wooden button on it that the closure loops around. I gave it to my mom for Christmas, for a knitting bag. It's a great size bag for lightweight things like that. If I used that big of a bag for a purse (as the "Everyday" part of it implies), I'd load it too heavy to carry!