Boxing Day

With Christmas Day already past, I'm beginning to feel the old year sigh its last, and sense the whispers of the new year to come. I'm ready to welcome it. Boxing Day is a good day to be at home, get some rest, and enjoy the beginning of winter. It's not too cold, but not warm; not exactly sunny, but not cloudy either. In between is a fine enough place to be.

Christmas was happy, peaceful, fun, and lasted just the right amount of time. This was the first of many lovely gifts I opened yesterday:


My sister Ellen knit this beautiful scarf for me! She modified Wisp from Knitty, making it narrower and without the button detail. It's so warm and soft, and it's even more special because this is the first thing anyone has knit for me. We three sisters are a crafty bunch, for sure.

I sent her this pair of Maine Morning Mitts, along with her very own signed-by-the-author copy of The Knitter's Book of Yarn:



I put the finishing touches on this Ripple Lace Linen Basket Liner (by Amy King from KBoY) for Judy and wrapped it up, but I knew that it was too small to fit her favorite bread basket. I'm going to undo the bind off row and add another couple of inches. She loves it, though, and I'm pleased that the whole family will get to enjoy something I knitted for them. The yarn is Euroflax Originals Linen in Mustard.


Sundara makes it very difficult to finish any of the knitting that is already in progress. The second mailing in the Autumn Seasons Yarn Club was this "Mossy" sock yarn. I might have to cast on a pair of Nutkin socks before the week day is out!

I hope your own Boxing Day is just right, whatever you're doing today, and that you're surrounded by the love of family and friends, as I am --

~:~

P.S. I almost forgot to report on my little mother (it seems like ages ago that she was back in the hospital, not just last week). She was home before Christmas, and spent yesterday afternoon surrounded by family and good food and lots of presents. Thank you to everyone who sent wishes and prayers!

Sweet tree

Here's my little Christmas tree, all decorated and sparkly, on my (finally) neat and tidy kitchen island. Isn't it sweet?

These are some of my snow people, and the little cardboard houses given to me by my sister Sarah. She thought I needed a little group of houses like this to remind me of the village we had when we were children. That one - with its very tiny houses, mirror lakes, and porcelain skaters - was our mother's when she was a child, and now it lives at our sister Ellen's house.

These are the beautiful wool felt trees made by my crafty and talented sister Sarah. She was inspired by this pattern. I just love them!

This is the Koolhaas hat I made for my coworker C. It's Malabrigo worsted merino in the Roanoke colorway. I used size 7 dpn's and knit the pattern exactly as written. I had such fun knitting it, and it took me just a few days from start to finish. I hope it will keep C warm all winter.

Here's a soft and cushy close-up.

I've also been working on a couple of top-secret last-minute Christmas projects. I photographed one before I sent it off, but I hope I remember to snap the other one!

So it's coming on Christmas. At about this time last year I was in a deep, dark funk. I was tired, melancholy, and uninspired by the season that had always brought me joy and hope. This year, though, I'm more myself. Not quite the Santa's elf I've been in years past, but my heart is in it, and I'm looking forward to what comes after we close up shop on Christmas Eve.

I've filled my little home with all the things that make me happy at this time of year - little bits of old and new that mean Christmas and Winter and Joy. My few shopping trips and a couple of knitting marathons mean that I have special gifts to give to the special people in my life, and there's wrapping to be done.

On this evening I'm surrounded by my Christmas while I wait for news about my little mother's latest hospital admission. What else can happen, we ask ourselves? She is in good hands, we're not too worried, and both of my sisters and one of my brothers are there. My heart is a little tattered, but safe yet.

Catching up

Where did all the days go? Wasn't it just Thanksgiving? It's already the Remarkable R's birthday! I have gifts for my favorite fourteen year olds, and there's a party this evening. Until it's time to go I'm happy to be home, and to have a chance to write.

I have been away from the blog, but there has been knitting. I've been meaning to take some pictures and post. It's just that the days are getting so short, and my time at home in the daylight is almost nonexistent. When I am home it always seems to be cloudy, or else I am under the weather myself...


This is my version of the Palindrome Reversible Cable scarf, which I found on Ravelry, naturally. My yarn is Foxfire Fiber and Designs Cormo and Silk DK. I made a couple of modifications to suit this yarn, including adding two rows to the repeat to give the cables a little room to relax, and I'm really pleased with how it's going. I began knitting on Monday night, in anticipation of needing a few days of mindless knitting.

On Tuesday I had to have a wisdom tooth "extracted." I hate that word. I suppose I must have thought of myself as lucky back in my twenties, when everybody else had their wisdom teeth taken out and I didn't have to. But now? In my fifties? Yikes. I'm okay and healing quickly, but this was the beginning of a long process of repair that will last for months. That's where mindless knitting comes in.

Last night I began a little not-so-mindless Christmas knitting for my coworker C:


It's Jared Flood's Koolhaas hat from IK's Holiday 2007 issue. I'm using Malabrigo in Roanoke, which is a rich chestnutty brown, and US 7 needles. I love the pattern, and it's another one of those complex but not hard knitting experiences that I enjoy. C deserves a special gift. It's been a long and crazy year, and he's been our first line of defense against any and all insanity.

I haven't found either good enough light or a teapot-like object that does justice to my cozy, but here's a little cable (and cat hair) close-up anyway.


I'm blessed with yarn bounty these days! The luscious Malabrigo, the luxurious Foxfire Cormo Silk, and two more yarns dyed by Sundara. The first is the final Petals Collection yarn:


It's named Magnolia. It will take its place in the stash next to some other gorgeous sock yarn for the time being, because of this:


It's the first installment in Sundara's new Seasons Yarn Club. I chose Autumn, and received 1000 yards of Copper over Bamboo Silk Lace. This amazing yarn is hard to photograph, especially on this grey day (there are many more beautiful examples of it on Ravelry). I'm thinking I might make Mim Felton's Juno Regina.

I'll decide in the New Year, because I want to begin something lacey and different. I have many possibilities in my queue and yarn in my stash to make whatever I decide on.

In the meantime, it's back to the cables and laundry for me!

All cozy

I've been doing a little knitting! This is the Cabled Tea Cozy from The Knitter's Book of Yarn. I finished one side a few weeks ago, but I had to wait for my Malabrigo order to arrive before I could start the second side and keep going. The green is Lettuce, and the blue is Indigo. I like the way they go together.

This pattern, designed by Jennifer Hagan, is just my kind of clever. There are all those interesting textures and cables and varied backgrounds, a sweet little i-cord handle that's kitchenered together, a simple stockinette lining, and lots of i-cord bringing everything together. Besides, it's fun!


I took these pictures this morning, after I had seamed the two sides together. Since this cozy will be lined I decided to crochet the seam. It was an easy out, I know, but I like how well the halves fit. I moved on to the very cool seed stitch i-cord that edges the seam, and not long after the photo shoot I was attaching it all the way around.


And now, after spending a wonderful afternoon knitting and watching old movies, I'm working on the lining, which is picked up around the bottom edge and knit in the round. There's another i-cord to make, and about six inches of lining left to knit, and then I'll have a beautiful cabled cozy for my non-existent teapot.

My dear friend Kris pointed out that he has not one, but two teapots in his house. And he uses them, too. Merry Christmas!


In keeping with my own weird tradition, I've already finished my KR Retreat New Beginnings project. It's the Diamonds and Pearls Shawl, also from Clara's book. Shelia January is the designer of this piece and several others in the book that I'm looking forward to knitting.


The yarn is beautiful worsted weight silk/merino dyed by Jen Heverly of Spirit Trail Fiberworks. I used just one 200-yard skein, less than the pattern suggests, because I was working with a very different type of yarn than Shelia used in her design. The finished shawl is a bit smaller than the original, which is just right for me.The fabric I was getting was perfect on US 9's so I didn't want to go up a needle size just to make it bigger.


I began knitting on Sunday the 11th, and I finished on Wednesday the 21st. I did a quick blocking this past Sunday afternoon (love those blocking wires!) and by evening I was prancing around the house with my pretty new shawl on my pajama-ed shoulders. What could be better?

Thank you all for your comments on my Thanksgiving post. Balancing the demands of work and my need to feel close to family and friends is always tricky, but I seem to manage. I sometimes feel like I'm on the verge, but verging isn't always a bad thing. This year, as always, I spent a lovely day with Judy and her family. We created and enjoyed a wonderful meal, laughed a lot, and spent hours in good conversation.The store did well on the first holiday weekend, the customers were in fine form, and I remained sane. I can't wish for more than that.