Christmas Busyness ...

I've been busy ... but not completely with all-things-Christmas. I've been crocheting a lot, making little gifts that I want to give people (and not really intended for Christmas, just because I wanted to do it.) And there have been some errands to run, lunch with friends, and yesterday I spent baking cookies for my sweet hubby to bring in to work.

There have been cards to write and trips to the post office. And phone calls. Lots of phone calls (some to friends and others to figure out why I'm running low on funds in my mom's checking account and trying to make address changes obviously not made when we moved.)

Yesterday was a phone day. I spent 3 hours (yes, 3 as in three) on the phone with an old friend who was feeling kind of down. Truth was, I was feeling a little down too. Sometimes all the merriment of preparing for Christmas can get to you. I'm hoping she felt better when we got off the phone -- I know I did!

One thing that she said that really brightened my day came up when I was relaying a story about how my father had picked up a man stranded in the Blizzard of '77 and drove him as far to his house as the roads would allow. The man didn't really have good protective weather gear on and was going to have to brave the blizzard to make it up the road the rest of the way home. I had recently given my father a scarf I had made -- my first ever crochet project and it seems my father cherished it. He gave the man his scarf but insisted on exchanging contact information and asked that the man return the scarf. When he didn't (in a timely enough manner apparently) my father went to his house and got it!

We laughed about how I was so into crocheting then (I must have been telling her that I had a few projects going now) and I told her that on Thanksgiving my brother had sent me a picture of himself in the woods where he was hunting. I think I had sent him a text wishing him a Happy Turkey Day and encouraging him to stay warm. He replied, "All is well, have hat sis made me." And on his head was a hat I had made him for Christmas some 30 years ago. I couldn't believe he still had it -- and wore it!

Well, my friend then shared that her husband (we've all been friends forever) still wore the hat I made for him some 30 years ago each and every day! She said he often puts it on and says "Thanks Barbie! Warm again today." I was flabbergasted. He still has that hat? Again -- I couldn't believe it.

I guess what struck me is how some gifts stay with us. I'll be honest, I don't remember giving the hats to my brother or our friend. I know that I've made a zillion hats and slippers over the years and liked to give them as gifts. It just really has touched my heart as I'm finding myself getting back into crochet that things I made years ago are still around and still being used!

Now the whole reason I wrote this post was not to talk about crochet or gift giving. It was because I felt guilty not having written anything in the past few days. The truth is that I rather like coming to my blog and seeing the pictures of my Christmas ornaments first thing. They make me happy (I made all the ornaments that are shown in the pictures -- well, except the balls.) I realized I love handmade things and especially like to see handmade things USED year after year.

So for the moment I'm giving up seeing pictures of my Christmas tree on the upper fold of the blog. Maybe later today I'll get a chance to take some pictures of ornaments we've picked up during our travels this year ... they make me happy too!

Moral of the post: Make gifts from the heart and with your hands ... as they bless others you just might find yourself blessed as well. Merry Christmas!

There Are No Knit Sweaters In My Future ...

I'm trying to learn to knit. Now a pair of wrist warmers may not seem like much of a challenge to most but it represents (to me anyway) hours and hours of focused frustration. LOL.

Seriously.

I got together with a woman I met through the internet (via Meetup Groups) who gave me a few pointers and helped to get me started with this knitting project. I've only done crochet prior to this and to be honest, these wrist warmers represent my second attempt at knitting. I have made a dish cloth prior to this ... which I refuse to use since it's such a prized trophy of my accomplishment! (It's stuffed in a bag under my bed.)

I made so many mistakes the first time around with this that I ended up ripping it out and starting over. In fact, I probably started over at least 10 times. I realized that with crochet, I'm comfortable with what the end result should be -- I have a pretty good sense of how to tweak my stitches if need be, how to detect mistakes early on, and how to rip out only that which needs to be ripped out if it should come to that. With knitting, I don't realize I've made a mistake until it becomes blaringly obvious. I don't know how to fudge to get back on track virtually unnoticed, and I don't know how to rip out and then get the stitches back on the needle without going back to the very beginning.

I wonder how long I'll stick with knitting.

For the moment, I am at least going to try to finish up these simple wrist warmers. I'd like to give them to my mom (maybe for Christmas.) They really are just rectangles of ribbing. The long sides get stitched together next to the wrist and then again above the thumb to make for "fingerless gloves."

Here's what I've got so far. I really do love the colors although the picture doesn't really show it off well. This one is close to being done (maybe another inch or so left to knit before starting on the second one.) I would like to get this project finished up in the next day or so as I've got crochet projects going that I'd also like to finish (and start!)


Note: I used Red Heart Yarn "Aspen Print" medium weight worsted yarn. Size 7 Needles. The pattern was a simple ribbing stitch ... CO 32 (or 38 for a larger hand/wrist) and then K2, P2 across for each row until the desired length is reached.

From Down In The Dumps To Smiling Again ...

It seems like I've been on an emotional roller coaster since moving in May. I don't know if it's just been such a stressful year (dealing with the decision of whether to accept the transfer offer my husband received, totally cleaning out our house and then packing and moving) and now that we're finally here and somewhat settled I feel like I can finally exhale ... or what? Whatever the case, suffice it to say I find myself up and down a lot these days.

We've had a lot of company recently and while I love spending time with our friends and family, it can be a little stressful. I'm sure I'm not the only one who finds that when guests are visiting there is a need to be "on" all the time. And that means when the company leaves I'm not only sad to see them go, I'm exhausted. This time it's taken me almost a week to recover!

Anyway, after spending a couple days moping around I feel like I'm bouncing back. I'm diving into a few new projects and interests and I'm excited to be busy.

First -- I just picked up a book from the library that I've been dying to read. It's called Stay and it's written by Allie Larkin who hails from Rochester, New York (my hometown!) I'm told the book has many references to local landmarks (such as my beloved Wegmans) so I'm anticipating some snuggle time by the fire as I devour it.


Second -- I have a new crochet project that I'm very eager to start. My little William LOVES owls (as does his mommy) and I found this great pattern for an Owl Hat at RAKJ Patterns. I went to Michaels this afternoon and picked up all the yarn I'll need to whip it up. I can't wait to get started on it. I might even make a matching hat for his mommy :) All I need now are some measurements to make sure I'm making the right size.


Third -- I also just picked up Liberty! The American Revolution (it's a PBS Video Series DVD set) that we're really looking forward to watching. We've been doing so much exploring of historical sites here in Massachusetts lately that it's piqued my interest in learning more. We've watched a few documentaries on George Washington and Concord, and now I'm hoping this series will kind of tie it all together for us. Very excited about that! (and especially that I was able to get it through our wonderful library system here and didn't have to buy it!)


Well -- that's it for the moment. I'm looking forward to a fun weekend that will start tomorrow when I meet my friend Kay (we went to college together and happily ended up living in the same neck of the woods after all these years!) for lunch.

Things are looking up.

I'm Learning To Knit (Or At Least Giving It a Valiant Try!)

One craft that I've always wanted to learn is knitting. When I was a teenager, my mother took up crocheting (I believe as a way to help keep her hands busy as she tried to quit smoking and so she would not take up eating instead) and she taught me. I loved it and spent many long drives up to our weekend cottage in Canada crocheting afghans, slippers, hats, and scarfs.

I still like to crochet but I find that the majority of the patterns I'm drawn to these days are for knitting. Since I would rather do just about anything than clean the house have a little time on my hands these days I decided maybe I could try to teach myself the basics.

I bought a pattern book and watched some youtube videos (especially good are the ones by Judy Graham aka Hollywood Knitter to the Stars) to help get started. I have to admit, I started and then unraveled about the first 5 attempts. But finally, I managed to make this dishcloth.

It's not without mistakes ... in fact, looking at this picture they're pretty obvious! But it's a start and a not-too-bad first attempt.

I bought some yarn to try another pattern in the book and plan to get started on that in the next day or so. I am also already attempting to do a little designing of my own -- I'd like to make a hand muffler for my mom (who's hands are always cold and every time I see her she has them wrapped up in the bottom of her shirt!) I couldn't find an easy-peasy pattern for beginners so I'm going to see what I can come up with on my own.

So that's what I've been up to in the craft department ... just what I need, another hobby! But with trying to lose a few pounds, I like the idea of keeping my hands busy when the TV's on. Like mother, like daughter :)