I enjoyed a great class yesterday (only got one wrong on my quiz!) and today we enjoyed a wonderful time decorating our tree. In between, I finished my big Christmas gift project. I can't show the whole thing because the recipient is a reader, but I can show a little snippet. This is a pattern from Der Feine Faden, and for once I actually used the fibers that were called for (except the sheep - I used GAST for the white ones).

Here's the sneak peek. I finished the linen banding to end in points and sewed some of the lovely Kelmscott thread rings to the top to hang it by. I'm pretty pleased with the results. :)

And now for the really fun pictures: the tree trimming! I love this part of Christmas - it may even be my favorite part of the whole celebration. I think back to childhood years of decorating the tree with my parents and brother, of Christmas trees and family times that I enjoyed years ago. I hope that my kids will remember happy nights like tonight when they're older and at that age where kids seem only to remember the things parents did wrong .... After we finished decorating, we sat around the tree and drank big mugs of homemade cocoa. It was one of those moments where it suddenly all clicks into place and you can simply feel happy in the moment. What a gift - the best holiday gift I could hope for.