Z is for ...

... Zosted.

When I was a little girl, age six or so, I drew a picture of my mother. In it she was reclining in a chair. My caption: "Mommy is zosted." I used to wonder why she would have been zosted, and then I'd remember that if I was six, then my sister was five, and my little brother was three. Our older siblings were nine and twelve. So? Zosted.

Me? I am zosted, too. The end of the year finds me weary, not feeling my best. I have been working too hard and not getting enough rest, and all that blue blueness didn't help, either. But now ~ now that I've begun my weekend off, and now that the New Year is about to unfold ~ now I can relax and rest and welcome it. I won't be zosted for long.

~:~

So that's it? We've reached the end of the alphabet already? And you say it took the whole year? Wow. Thank you, thank you Anne, for having this wonderful idea. I've stretched and created and pondered my way from A to Z, and I decided that since I began with a picture of Miss Annabelle, I'd end with one, too.

Ready for the New Year

After sunset, Long Beach, Sag Harbor
December 29, 2006

I want to knit in these colors.

I have one more day of work before a two-day break. I am so full of plans for my weekend/New Year! I love to spend the holiday quietly ~ I try to go to the ocean to welcome the year, and I always clean something up in my house (a symbolic gesture, to be sure).

I want to cast on some new knitting, too. Will it be socks? The newest Petals Collection yarn, Lenten Rose, is looking pretty and soft. Or will it be Grumperina's Shifting Sands scarf? I ordered Sundara's beautiful Somewhat Solid Sport Merino in "Navy over Marine" just for this project. Or maybe I'll just finish spinning the Corriedale batt that's on the bobbin...

I'll be back with my ABC-Along Z. I've had it planned for quite a while!

The turning

As usual, Christmas arrives whether I am ready or not. Whether I am able to handle it or not. Whether I am in control of my feelings or not. And as usual, I'm okay. Thank you for your kind and funny and thoughtful comments.

I don't have unreasonably high expectations for Christmas, as many people do, or a desire to make everything happy or perfect or just the way I remember. I don't retreat to the attic to weep over my "ruined" holiday, as my mother did one year. I am good at letting things unfold, at embracing the bitter that comes with the sweet. But I am not so good at fending off the faded reminders of things that make me sad, at least not at Christmas. I tend to feel like I am standing knee-deep in some strong undertow, and it takes a lot of work and energy to stay upright.

But here I am, back on shore. My feet still hurt from those final few days at work, and I could use a week off. But I had a wonderful day with Judy and her family, laughing and relaxing and giving and receiving.


See the lovely (but blurry, sorry) picture of the hearth in Judy's living room? All the stockings hung with care? Wait a minute, what's that bag? Why, that's my Christmas stocking, the stand-in for the lovely hand-knit one that I left back at home. I remembered everything else, but not my own stocking. Humbug (for a minute, until I couldn't help but laugh).

T. loved her Feather and Fan scarf. When I can, I'll post pictures of the other scarves I've been working on. One got away, but L. will surely let me take a picture of it one of these days. I made her a simple white lace scarf with a strand of Elann Baby Cashmere and a strand of Crystal Palace Kid Merino. It's really pretty, and it looks wonderful on her. I've just finished a farrow rib scarf in Patons SWS, and I'm working on the final scarf of the gift quartet, another farrow rib in Blue Moon Pink Granite (one of the sock club yarns) and Kid Merino.

My next knitting job is to put the finishing touches on a bag for my mom. I'm hoping to get down to see her in a week or so, and she'll get her Christmas present then.

After that, I can turn back to my own meandering knitting path. I have a few plans, nothing set in stone. I have a Red Scarf to finish (or re-do, really), and there are a few pairs of socks that are almost done. A scarf or two, a long-neglected lace shawl, nothing pressing. I've decided that there are a few unfinished projects that will be sent to the frog pond in a bit -- I've lost interest in those Hippy Crunchy Blue Moon socks, for one thing. If I'm not attached or too invested in something, I'd rather free up the yarn for a project that I really care about.

Some of my plans for next year will just make me happy, and others will stretch my skills. At the top of the list: I would like to become One with the Reeves wheel. That will take some time, but I've got it. The days are growing longer, winter means more quiet time, and I can't wait to settle down with my wheel and some of the lovely fibers I've been collecting.

All in good time. Right now I need to recuperate from everyone else's shopping frenzy, and get my little home back in order. There will be plenty of time for knitting and spinning before long.

It's coming on Christmas

I adore Feather and Fan. It made this lovely (yet strangely Rastafarian) yarn look ever-so-much better than it did when I was knitting the scarf in Farrow Rib. Here's a close-up:

Delicious.

Yarn: Fleece Artist Peter Rabbit (70% Angora, 20% Nylon, 10% Wool) in a color whose name I can't recall.

Needles: 5mm/US9 Addis.

Specs: The scarf is 6" wide by 60" long, and I used almost the entire 273 yard skein.

Time to knit: less than a week of evenings.

I think this will be a Christmas present for my co-worker T., who, when she saw it in progress, gasped and asked if she could buy it from me. No way. It'll make a fine surprise.

I've been inspired (or else I'm just crazy) to make three more little scarves for the other women who work at the store. I'm fortunate -- two of them are away until next week, so I'll have extra time to get theirs done.

Time is something I'm really short on these days. I haven't been able to appreciate the season yet. I've yet to put up my little tree, but I did manage to haul it out of the closet. A wreath is on the door, the envelopes and packages have been sent to my family, and I've gotten as far as creating an image for my holiday card.

I got to do a little more shopping today, my last chance before Christmas to drive to far-flung stores. I'll be working every day through Christmas Eve, so anything else I need will have to be gotten locally. Our village has some really nice little shops, and I know I'll be able to do all the last-minute things on Main Street.

I'm in my usual mood this year. It's not a bad mood, exactly. I'm not terribly depressed. My heart aches a little, though. I miss my family, miss being near all the people I share traditions with. I miss my tribe, the sisters and brothers with whom I stood on the stairs or in the hallway, in a line from youngest to oldest, while our parents made sure Santa had put everything in the right place. I miss that music box recording that meant we could finally come in the room. I miss my grandmother's sweet rolls, and my father's plaid woolen bathrobe. I miss the Christmas village, with the skater with the broken foot. I wish I could be little again, just at Christmas, in the middle of my big, crazy, funny old family.

As I was driving home from Sag Harbor this afternoon, the melancholy lifted a little. I acknowledged the effect this place always has on me: I chose to come here, and I don't regret it, and I get to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. I have another family to be with on the holiday, and they love me.

I don't want the old days back, because of course they weren't all shiny and bright. I have plenty of new, sweet memories that I've accumulated in my thirteen years here. And yet...

Y is for ...

... what else?

The Big Event

It was a wedding!

The lovely bride M. and the handsome groom F. were married at the front of the bookstore on Wednesday afternoon (between the magazines and the calendars).

Why marry in the bookstore, you ask? Because this is where they met several years ago, when M. joined F. and the rest of us on the staff. This is where they became friends, and where they became more than friends. It's fitting, and very sweet, that they asked if they could hold their wedding here. Thanks to the generosity of our employers, the store was closed for the day, and we put on a wedding.

This is what the bookstore looked like on Tuesday afternoon. The usual, only with brand-new, brighter (and hard to take photos in, because it's really not this intense) lighting:

This is what the bookstore looked like on Wednesday morning before the arrival of about sixty guests. Emptied of books, lots of flowers, white cloths on the display tables, and chairs all around:

The counter was cleared of books and replaced by these:


Where more books had been, there were roses and hydrangeas and poinsettias:


The most amazing wedding cake was baked by L., who is another member of the staff family. It was absolutely delicious:

I don't have any pictures of the aftermath. You wouldn't want to see us replacing the books on Thursday morning, trying to find a place for everything. If it came off the table, doesn't it make sense that it should fit back on? You'd think so, but you'd be wrong. We finished, sort of, on Friday, in time for me to unpack the shipments from Wednesday and Thursday (more books!). My hands hurt. My feet hurt. The store is back to normal, though. The customers, for the most part, were enchanted when they learned why they could not shop on Wednesday.

And M. and F. are married, and it was a happy afternoon, and I'm so honored to have been a part of their special day.

~:~
So that was Wednesday. The other Big Event, and it's really big: The Wonderful R's celebrated their thirteenth birthdays yesterday! Happy Birthday, you two! Our Second Annual Girls' Christmas Shopping Day happens today, so I'd better get going.

By the way, I do still knit, though not much until my hands recover.

Monday morning drive-by

Let's see if I can get this written and published before I have to get ready for the day...

Presenting:

Jane's 2006 Knitter's Review Retreat New Beginnings Tilting Block Shawl!

The pose.

The close-up.

Specifics:
Yarn: Spirit Trail Fiberworks 100% Bluefaced Leicester (five 200-yard skeins)
Pattern: "Tilting Block" from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury, page 263
Dimensions: Approx. 22 by 80 inches, blocked
Needles: Addi Turbo 5mm/US 8
Time to Knit: Did time really pass? 11/12/06 to 11/30/06 (unless you count blocking, which had to wait till 12/3/06)

The blocking.

~:~

This will be a busy week -- there's a Big Event happening at the bookstore on Wednesday, one that's only marginally book-related. We're busy with the preparations, but trying to remember that we have to sell books at the same time. I'll have all the news, which is good news for a change, after it's over. There will be pictures and a story, too.

Whew! I made it! There's still time for another sip of coffee before I have to get going. I don't know how Bess does it...

X is for...

and

Hugs and Kisses. Kisses and Hugs.

XOXO,
Jane