Life's a Stitch

At our Chicks With Sticks Christmas Gathering I discovered something totally cool. These are tiny individual LED lights that can be used like teas lights without the fear of starting a fire. I can whole heartedly appreciate the concept (See my post of December 8th). Beyond the safety feature, the options are endless. On each plate for our Boxing Day dinner for 20, I placed one in a tiny clay flower pot and buried it with fake snow. They produce a beautiful glow. Just Call me Martha, quite out of character for me.

The Boxing Day event was a success. In the morning I didn’t think I’d be up for it. I’ve had what I though was a low grade migraine thing going on for a week. It peaked on Christmas and Saturday night was miserable. After four doses of Imitrex I still had it. It was particularly bad when I bent forward, reminding me of a past sinus infection. Talked with Ms. nurse-to-be, my daughter who will graduate in April, and she suggested I take some sinus tablets. Sure enough I felt like a new person in time for the party. Seriously, I had lost two nights of sleep thinking I had a migraine.

 

Back to knitting tomorrow!

I am entertaining 20 for Boxing Day and will be in no shape to post. Skal!

Our Christmas traditions:

 

1. Tree goes up Christmas week, each year one child  places the angel on the tree and their name and date are written on the bottom of the angel to avoid future fights.
2. Church on Christmas Eve or in the morning.
3. Santa puts the tinsel on the tree while delivering the presents.
4. Gifts are opened in the morning. Stockings may be opened before parents are up and kids may not awaken parents until sunrise. These days, parents are up before the kids.
5. Duck for Christmas eve dinner or Christmas Day dinner. These meals are scheduled according to when our Danish style celebration is held.
6. Our major celebration is a Danish cold table, this year on Boxing Day. The photo is of last year’s kids’ table. They have decided that they don’t want such hierarchical terms – kids’ table and adults’ table, so we’ve opted for the east table and the west table. This year we’ll have 20 for cold duck, smoked fish, cheese, devilled eggs, and pickled everything including us after a few shots of Aalborg Akvavit.

Hoping the true meaning of Christmas brings you peace and comfort despite the current condition of our world.

I have an ongoing beef about “traditional” Christmas family newsletters. I made a commitment to myself a number of years ago that I would only send them if I could come up with a unique design that reflected the reality of our lives. So, in the spirit of creativity, here is our Christmas letter: Download christmas_04_3.doc .

Merry Christmas from the Boesencrew 

I wanted to share with you a neat knitting story that appeared in my comments on Tuesday. I made a scarf for my friend, Rosie, for her 50th birthday. It was made from Anny Blatt Honeymoon, now discontinued. Rosie wrote:
“I wore your scarf when I subbed in the autistic program at Westover School in Stamford, CT. One little boy looks me in the eye, touches the gorgeous silk and angora scarf and spoke. He initiated the words OOOH Scarf, Feels Soft. That was a milestone on his academic chart.” That makes me smile.
Now, for the recipe:

Cranberry Pear Port Sauce

An unoriginal name for a wonderfully simple and delicious recipe

1 bag cranberries

2 peeled pears, cut into cubes

zest and juice of one orange

1 cup sugar (less if you like it less sweet)

1/2 cup port

Throw it all together in a pot, cook until cranberries pop. Serve warm or cold. It’s great over brie, melted in the microwave, or over cream cheese. Enjoy!

What a day it was today. Chuck is home for the third day with a high fever and hacking cough, the girls were driving back from WA and the car died 42 kilometers from home; presumable the clutch. I know it’s 42 kilometers because the towing company charges $40 + $2/km and I know what I paid. I went to drive the 45 minutes to pick them up and there was an accident on the highway so I couldn’t reach them. The nice tow truck driver delivered them to North Vancouver with the car. Then I dropped a pitcher of orange juice and a plate of roast beef on the kitchen floor and called two friends for sympathy to find neither one home. Calgon, take me away! I had a two year old once, who responded to that with “If you’re going with Calgon, I’m going, too.”
Here’s a last minute finished object – the drop stitch Tartlette scarf, a quick, quick knit. They should all be this easy!

            

                                                                        

Chuck used to work at the Health Department in Community Health Promotion. The staff were quite the team and despite the fact that the department was abolished years ago, they still have staff parties at least twice a year. This year the Christmas party was at our house. It wasn’t a huge department, maybe ten people. Since last year’s party two of them have died, so I was feeling a bit nostalgic and planned a toast in their memory. I’m upset with myself because I forgot to do it. It was a good party, though. I love the fact that we can fit 12 around our dining room table.

One of the guests brought along her 21 month old. She is affectionately known as the Stepford baby and lives up to the title. This child eats anything, warm or cold, smiles on command, keeps herself entertained and sleeps anywhere. I had a child, who, until she was four, would not drink anything unless it was warmed up. No Stepford babies in my house.

It feels like the holidays have officially begun with all the kids home. Mari brought her poncho home to wear for the first time! She’s had it at school all semester but pointed out that it’s tough to wear a backpack or a jacket with a poncho. I don’t know why we didn’t think about that ahead of time.

Finally, a new project; the beginnings of a quick knit drop stitch scarf made from Tartlette:

I have asked my three kids for an indication what they might want for Christmas given the late date: the youngest, age 14, male says "I had that all figured out in September and you told me it was too early and now I have forgotten everything;" The middle, age 19, female has made a detailed list including five novels, clothes and things that already belong to me as in my car and my favourite teapot; finally, the eldest, age 21, female – shoes. I have no idea who she inherited her Imelda like tendencies since I rotate between three pairs of shoes, but shoes are her biggest luxury. Eldest gets points asking me what my list is. I told her I didn’t really have one and she said "You can’t go around buying for everyone else and not have a list your self." She is being very sweet. Practically speaking, I would like a gift certificate to Urban Yarns in Vancouver or the books Knitting Into the Mystery or the Shop On Blossom Street. A very knitterly Christmas.

I’ve been thinking about this, though, and you know what I want for Christmas? An address in England. I have been working on Christmas correspondence and the addresses there are so quaint. Two of my friends have no numbers in their address, except for the postal code. They live in descriptive places: "The Oaks, Tickleberry Traffordshire, Cheesewich." If you’re reading this, Sandra, I’ve changed it slightly to assure your privacy (that’s privacy with a short "i" as in "it").

My husband grew up in a Minnesota town of 600. Everyone lived on rural routes. Now they have addresses with nine digit zip codes. Granted, the town has grown, but the need for a nine digit zip is beyond me. I don’t want a nine digit postal code in my address.

A strange Christmas list item, an address in England, but then again, I’d always wanted a boulder in my garden. Instead, I have one in my basement. They built the house around it. You have to be careful what you ask for.

On the knitting front, I have re-started my Autumn silk cardigan. I’m not posting a photo because I’m not quite as far along as the last pre-frogging picture. Not much knitting time this week!

…on the banister with care. We haven’t gotten around to building the mantle over our fireplace so the stockings line the stairway. These are the stockings I made for Chuck as an anniversary gift just after Mari was born. The items on the stocking represent something important in each person’s life at the time. When I made them I bought enough felt in case another needed to be made.

From stockings to socks: I’ve made two pairs of socks this past year, one out of Reggia and one Mountain Colors Bearfoot yarn. I was so disappointed with the Reggia socks because the ribbing stretched terribly and they behave like slouch socks. It doesn’t matter how many times I wash them. The Bearfoot, however, are wonderful to wear. The problem is that when I made the Barefoot socks it was during the summer at a time when it was too warm to wear them. I had started a second pair of Bearfoot, but was so put off by my Reggia socks, I frogged the project and am now halfway through a horseshoe pattern scarf. Now, fickle pickle that I am (my mother used to call me that any time I changed my mind about something), I’m thinking about frogging the scarf and turning the Bearfoot back into socks. It’s the process, right? Not the product.

Have you seen these? I am not a cookie eater and I’ve never liked Oreos unless frozen. These are the limited edition holiday Oreo – covered in white chocolate or chocolate mint. There is an exception to every rule. I will eat these cookies; perfect with chicken milk (see Monday). When items like these appear at our local WalMart they sell out quickly. I bought 13 boxes to get us through the holiday season. The next day I found six open boxes all over the house, where ever Bryant decided the mood struck there was a box. Even in the shopping bag I found an open box with one cookie missing.

I can relate this to knitting. Growing up, I though Red Heart yarn was called Oreo yarn. The heart on the label looked like an O to me and to this day I still think of it as Oreo Red Heart yarn.

The Christmas catalogues seem to arrive daily. LL Bean has spent an inordinate amount of money trying to get my business. I’m sure I’ve had eight catalogues in two months.

When Mari was two she liked to look through the Sears Wish Book. She would find toys she liked and say "Mawie want dat," in her uniquely gravelly toddler Mari voice. I’d say, "Someday, when you have a job, you can buy that with your own money." From then on she would look at the toys saying," Mawie buy dat dumday."

Fast forward eight years, Mari says, "When I grow up I’m not going to have a purse full of coupons like you and I’m not going to wait for sales to buy things."

Add another seven years and she and I struck an agreement. I would set an amount I was willing to spend on items of clothing, and if she wanted a brand name she would have to kick in the rest. One year I had a limit of $30 on a swimsuit (Costco’s price for a Speedo), she spent $75 on a bikini.

Now dear Mari is in college.  She hits the sales and uses coupons. Next thing you know she’ll be joining her dorm’s knit night.

I have found a pattern for my Manos Del Uruguay, it’s the scarf from Stacey’s blog (October 26th post, second one down on this link). It’s really pretty, perfect for this yarn.

Update: I have just done a swatch in the Herringbone pattern from Stacey’s. It’s really pretty, but I’m not sure I like the front and back looking so different on a scarf.

Gracee hasn’t had her usual Christmas grooming. The kids like her better as a shaggy scottie. Now if only someone would brush her. Whoa, those eyes look spooky!