I had the most wonderful vacation involving green tea, DH doing all the cooking, and reading many books on my Kindle. My one fiber-related Christmas gift was a beautiful Nordstrom cashmere scarf in my favorite color. It is actually a men's scarf but I like my scarves really long. (In case you're wondering what on earth I'm reading about mashed potato protests, it is The Food of a Younger Land by Mark Kurlansky.)
I started the pretty Cross-Country Ski Hat from Norwegian Handknits but even using the same weight yarn and a smaller size needle, my gauge was way off. I could have easily omitted one 26 st pattern repeat and still have had a pretty large hat. The Ravelry pattern page also states there is a chart error so if I attempt another project from the book I'll check the pattern errata first.
Here are some Christmas Eve photos from Santa Fe.
