Winding down

I woke on Christmas morning to this strange and beautiful sight:

Christmas Morning comes to my door, 7:00 AM

Which, happily, became this:

Sagg Main Beach, Sagaponack, 11:30 AM

It was raining by sunset, though. I had some help with my last-minute wrapping before heading out the door:

And then I had a lovely Christmas Day with J and her family...

Even the camera was tired by 8:30 PM

...and a quiet, relaxing Boxing Day in my own little home. I am still struggling to recover from the last push at work, so I need some quiet hours at home with Miss Annabelle, Comfort Knitting, and some good music. Thanks to J, I have this new-to-me artist to enjoy.

~:~

This week between Christmas and the New Year is always a reflective time for me, and I can feel myself begin to settle inward, to wrap myself up in my own thoughts. I try to tune out the external chatter, to become quieter and slower on purpose. It's a time for breathing deeply, and doing nothing too demanding.

I cast on a new pair of socks last night, even though I told myself I would wait. They're going to be the definitive Happy Feet socks. I did a little online yarn crawl, too, ordering a few skeins of Socks That Rock and some Fleece Artist Merino. It's Cara's doing; she posted a beautiful picture of some Fleece Artist yarn, and that gave me ideas...

I'm looking forward to a nice long winter of knitting socks and maybe a sweater, of spinning silk and merino and a little bit of cashmere, and of making room for the real Rick Reeves wheel that I decided I get to have after all.

It's time

"Love came down at Christmas,

Love all lovely, Love divine;

Love was born at Christmas,

Star and angels gave the sign."

Christina Rossetti

It's time to put up the little tree, drape the lights, and arrange the ornaments. It's time to smile and remember what these treasures mean -- this little sheep was my mother's when she was a little girl, as was the blown glass ball -- and they represent love and family to me.

It's time to celebrate the Solstice and the return of the sun. It returns ever so slowly, it seems, as winter is just beginning. Winter is for peace and quiet, for knitting and spinning, for looking inward and making plans.

It's time to let the frenzy recede, though only in my own heart, because the next few days at work will be anything but calm and peaceful. I say I am taking the day off today, but that's not true. After I post this I'll be on my way to the store to order books. Silver Spoon Cookbook, if I can get any. Illustrated Elements of Style. Tasha Tudor's version of Night Before Christmas. Anything else? Oh, I'm sure there is a long, long list.

It's time to say Thank You to all of you who read this, who have shared your knitting and your lives through your writing, who have made me laugh out loud, who have opened your arms and hearts to me this year, and who have become my dear friends.

It's time to sing and dance and celebrate with loved ones near or far -- with nog or cider, with too much chocolate or too many cookies (or both). Off we go, then!

~:~

Edited at 5:30 pm to add: The phone rang as I was deep into decorating the tree (I've gotten as far as lights, and antique tiny shiny things, and the handmade stuff is next). It was my so-called "not obsessed about knitting" sister, reporting that she was just in Stitch DC buying some mohair for a scarf, and she found "something called Noro." Need I say more? Oh, and I already sent her a copy of At Knit's End for Christmas.

Come into my parlor...

...said the spider to the fly. It began innocently enough. Here's part of an email from my sister:

"I grabbed some yarn on impulse at Michaels yesterday...I want to do skinny scarves for my book group. Or do you have a pattern? E."

Then the real journey began:

"...found another skinny scarf pattern that’s my old favorite...big needles for a lacy look...just want skinny with some texture...Am I getting on your nerves yet? E."

There was a bit of back and forth, a couple of phone calls, some progress, and:

"After messing around, I am progressing with the pattern you gave me...looks good, so I’m going to make a scarf for myself. I decided it’s too ambitious to make six scarves by Dec. 21 after not having knitted for 20 years. I’ll never be ambitious about it, but it’s fun anyway...E."

Within ten days, we were almost there:

"I am beginning to understand how you can get hooked on this knitting stuff. In trying to find patterns on the Internet for a dog sweater, I found my way to The Knitting Garden, and I want to make everything—scarves, a purse, different little wraps. And some of it isn’t very hard, so it’s not threatening. Forget sweaters, though—too risky! Time for a conference call. I need a new headset so I can knit while talking. :) E."

And finally, we have arrived at our destination:

"No, I have not been knitting during work hours."

I love my sis. She's funny and smart and the Best big sister. But she'd probably kill me if she knew I was posting the evidence of her latest addictive obsession little pastime for all the world to see (nobody tell her, okay?). When the spider (that would be me) catches the fly (that would be her) she wants to share the good news.

My own knitting? A sock heel here, a washcloth there. Nothing major, but all good. I need to get going on the Christmas shopping, though -- right now, today. What makes me think I can bend time? Eleven days is eleven days, and I'll be spending eight of them at the store helping other people with their shopping. I have a tree to put up, festivities to attend, and cards to make (yeah, like that will happen), and the last time I checked it was December 14th.

Visions of...

...sugarplums? Or two poufy silk jewelry pouches for two sweet R's who have just turned twelve (and have had their ears pierced).

~:~

I've just had the best online yarn-buying experience. I decided to order some hemp yarn after all, so I headed over to kpixie for a few balls of Hempton and some AllHemp6. I ordered a pattern for a bag, while I was at it. This was on Wednesday morning, and he box arrived on Friday morning! I've read about the great service that Jessica and Missa provide, but this was more than great. I'm going to become an instant-gratification girl if this keeps up. I started this yesterday:Hempton is nice yarn: 50% hemp, 50% cotton. We'll see how it does for a washcloth. I'm knitting this one on size 3 needles because the yarn just seems to want it that way. I began making a bag, too, but there's not enough to show off yet. The AllHemp6 is a bit hard on my old hands, so I can't work with it for extended periods, but it's knitting up nicely.

~:~

My hands are worn out from work anyway, and I have to remind myself that they can use a rest now and then. My whole self could use a rest, but with two weeks till Christmas, there's not much chance of that. I'm pacing myself, and trying to put as many quiet moments into each day as I can manage.

Today will be a puttery day. I seem to be in the middle of about five sorting and tossing projects, all in different corners of my apartment. It has to be done sometime, and if I want to make it Christmasy around here I have to clear some space.

So on with the Christmas CD's -- Emmylou Harris' Light of the Stable, George Winston's December, Shawn Colvin's Holiday Songs and Lullabys, and A Charlie Brown Christmas, of course! And there's a party over at J's tonight, because two R's have to celebrate, you know.

Cause for celebration:

I finished something! Not only that, I like it. And it looks just the way I wanted it to look. The main yarn is Manos Multi-Color in "Woodland." The cuff, toe, and heel are Manos Semi-Solid in "Olive." I decided to switch the colors (I don't know why I thought that I had to make the main color solid, when the multi-color is so beautiful). I gave it the spotlight it deserved, and I'm happy. This version is cuff-down, and has an after-thought heel. I used size 7 double-pointed needles and cast on 52 stitches. Easy-peasy!

I'm ready for Santa to do his thing. And I feel a lot better now that I've given myself this present!

And speaking of gifts, the KR Sock Yarn Round Robin made its way to my mailbox! Lella sent this wonderful ball of Meilenweit Fun:

I'll have a hard time resisting it for now, but it's nice to know that it will be there when it's dark and dreary and I need a knitting boost. I am determined to work on my other unfinished socks, a bit at a time, until they are closer to completion. Only one pair is for a gift, and they're almost done, so my determination won't have to last very long.

This little KR project has been so much fun. I sent some yarn to Jayme -- it wasn't too hard to plunge my arm down into my sock yarn stash and come up with something I thought she might like. It was Lorna's Laces in the "Bucks Bar" color.

We had another, heavier snowfall on Monday night. It was very cold and windy yesterday afternoon, and my fingers nearly froze when I got out of the car to take this picture of Noyac Bay:

Those waves are wind-driven. It was bracing, I tell you, absolutely bracing. I could hardly breathe, but I stayed there long enough to turn around and get this:
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I am so fortunate to live in a place like this. This particular place, Long Beach, is on the way to Sag Harbor and my PO box. Every single time I drive by this spot I am grateful -- for the extraordinary character of the ever-changing light, for the sweeping curve of the rocky shoreline, for the beautiful colors of the water and the sky. I am always wishing I had my camera with me. Yesterday afternoon I did.

First snow and two treats

What a surprise this little snowfall was! It was still dark when I let Miss Annabelle have a peek out the door, and it's been snowing steadily up till now, when it seems to be changing to rain. The little finials on my railing always remind me of people, especially when they are wearing snow hats.

Thank you all for your thoughtful comments about my last post. It's good to know that I have so many knitting kin. I've managed to stop careening (ramming into a brick wall will do that) long enough to step back and breathe (thank you, Martha), pare down the list and set a few goals (thank you, Cindy and Amie), and try not to let it get to me (thank you, Laura).

It has always been one of my creative goals to knit -- or spin, paint, weave, cook, whatever -- what feels right (thank you Margene), so here's my First Treat:I bought some Manos and began to make myself a new Christmas stocking. With this one giant sock I can have it all -- a fast knit with nice yarn and a lovely Christmas stocking to replace the really ugly one I have now. I'm using new techniques, too -- it's toe-up and will have an afterthought heel. Can't pass up an opportunity to learn something new, can I? I'm hoping that giving this gift to myself will make the holidays a little bit easier to take, too. I'm too hard on myself, and I'm working on changing that.

I've made a little progress on my Jaywalker sock. I'm not a complete Jaywalking Fanatic like some people, but I think I like this sock. It's working now that I'm using Koigu instead of STR. Sorry, little skein of Moss Agate, you'll have to wait for another pattern.

So I don't think I'll do too much today besides some giant sock/therapy knitting. Out in the world, I mean. I see a snowy day off as an opportunity to curl up and watch movies and knit. I'm still recovering from yesterday, when we did a huge book event at a local school. I spent the day bent over a table, writing out credit card numbers and book titles -- which could have been awful, but for my Second Treat: I got to sit near an icon for most of the day. She and her daughter, both well-known children's book authors, are very nice and extremely generous with their time. I came home with a tired back and sore tootsies, but I'll live.