Knitting the Blues

I Love My Toes In the Sand.

Have you noticed I like taking pictures of my feet at the beach?Warning:  If you are weird and get all queasy about toenails and talking about them, skip this blog for today.  While not all that graphic, I have found that some people are really funny about toenails.  You've been warned!

Well, here it is, the 31st and I'm blogging (on the 29th for me, but the 30th for you-that is every day for two months, people!!!!). My little feet in the sand. With painted toenails. I didn't get a pedicure before I left and wouldn't have gone for one anyway (they were just that bad). I painted them after I had been in Maui for a few days and my husband said that he was glad, because they were looking pretty narly. Well, thank you very much for telling me! Mostly for not telling me, for pity's sake, if they are that bad say something! I have to admit that I have a bit of a problem lately with what is sometimes known as runner's toenail, but for me it is more the hiking and the habit of letting my teeny tiny toenails grow out a little bit long so that they look good when pedicured up. The slightly too long nails combined with either tight running socks and ill-fitting hiking boots had left me with damaged toenails that looked all white and icky. On top of that, I am clumsy and after a few times hitting my right big toe against things, that one broke at the base and turned all bruised and black. (If you dare-and it is a painted toenail, not an icky black one-you can see where it is broken in this shot.) Not a pretty thing at all, but you get used to what is happening on your own feet. I'm happy to say that the broken toenail has survived the trip, even with fins on to snorkel. I was sure it would finally give up the ghost and fall off, but it hangs on by a thread and I am happy for it. I have helped it along by taping it down and gluing it into place. I had visions of painting my nail bed to camoflage a half grown in toenail, but it has made it and the nail growing in underneath is about halfway there. Combine all of that with my injured ankle and my feet, much put upon and abused, have served me well through rain forest hikes and running in the sand (well, my ankle didn't particularly care for that and protested), snorkeling and barefoot romps over lava rocks. I think that if they knew tomorrow was the final day they would be jumping for joy. Okay, maybe not literally jumping, but definitely celebrating.

Because Setting Myself Up For Failure is a Habit(And Why Should Norma Have All of the Fun?)

View my page on Blog 365

Hey, did anyone even notice?  I have blogged every day for TWO months now!  TWO.  Well, Norma beat me to the big announcement, but of the group of MoFos that supported each other through NaBloPoMo, we are apparently the only two crazy enough to try this.  WAIT!  A news update!  Sandy has also joined!  w00t! I'm not promising enlightenment and wisdom every day. Heck, you'd be lucky to get that once in 365, but there will hopefully be something each day for the next year. This will seriously challenge what I consider a post. I have made some movement in that area, I have actually posted without pictures over the last two months. I have posted about things that have nothing to do with knitting. Or my family. I have also been a little more lax with the editing (you may have noticed that one). The challenge for Norma will be to post all seven days per week, not her usual five or six. The challenge for me will be to work through those times that I go weeks without posting. When I hit those mental or emotional blocks that usually keep me from posting, I'm going to have to give myself a kick, get out of bed and get on the job. I have a feeling it will keep the knitting moving along as well. Nothing like peer pressure and the need for blog fodder to knit a few rows, right?

The rules for this challenge mention changing the date on a post so that in reality you may have a post published on every date of the year, but you might not have actually written on that date. I really hope to write on or previous to the date of each post. I'm not saying that I won't use that little out if I need it, but I'd rather be up-to-date or ahead of the game if I can. This post, for example, is being written on December 26, but won't be posted until the 30th. I'm not sure I will have internet access for the next few days, and I have been so good for the last two months, I wanted to be sure to have a post up. This announcement, of sorts, is the perfect way to end the year.

To rest up (and because I will be travelling home over the 30th and 31st) there may not be a post on the last day of the year. There might be, but just in case I want to be sure and wish you all a wonderful New Year's Eve. I hope you are celebrating just the way you choose and that the next year will be happy and filled with abundance. See you next year. Every.Stinkin'.Day.Of.It.

Saturday Sky

Are you tired of rainbows, yet?

Added from our trip on the Road to Hana, only pics. I'm dead tired and can't even think of telling you about them right now. I promise, when I get home my flickr photosets will be even better.

Weasley Sweater Ornaments

Ooops! I forgot the details! These are the knitting that kept me occupied on my flights to my vacation destination. I sort of made up the pattern based on what I remembered of the mini sweater ornaments in Last Minute Knitted Gifts. What I remembered turned out to be only a slight resemblance to what I actually did, so I guess I made 'em up myself.

• Pattern: Mini Weasley Sweater Ornaments, loosely based on the ones in Last Minute Knitted Gifts
• Yarns:  Rowan Felted Tweed (colors 133, 158 and150) for the sweaters
• Yarn:  Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift, color 230 for the monograms
• Needles:  Size 5
• Cast On:  December 20, 2007
• Bound Off:  December 22, 2007
• Monogrammed:  December 23, 2007

I knit the first two in four pieces and joined them to work the raglan decreases, but hated stitching them up enough to work the rest of the bodies in the round. These knit up so quickly and the girls loved them. I made eight in total (so far) and each family member received one with their own initial and the girls each got one with an "H" for Harry.  I'm afraid to tell you how much I love knitting with Felted Tweed.  I can't wait to make a whole sweater for myself out of it.  Yum.

**Edited to add the following:  Because I was unsure if I would have internet access for the last few days of our trip, I have written the posts for the rest of the year in advance. As it turns out, I do have a connection so I may be adding some pictures or anecdotes to the previously written posts. This may make them seem disjointed, but, well, I don't care. Here are some photos from the last day or so. There is a lot more to the days, I have been taking more than 350 shots a day, some days up to 600. (It's all thanks to that setting that lets you hold the button down and keep snapping pics one right after the other-and yes I know it has some technical name, but I haven't the faintest idea what it is.) I'll share a few. K?

We went to a Luau. Fun. The girls thought he was hot. Heh.We beached at Lanai.I thought this was a beautiful stump.I really need to figure out more with my camera. I love the shots I got, but I know it can do more, and I have to stop being afraid of the flash. My flash has different intensity settings, I should check them out.<While it wasn't the sunniest day here, I still managed a little bit of a sunburn. This was one of the shots as we came back into the harbor on Maui. The mountains are entrenched in clouds and no rainbow in sight. Still gorgeous.

All for the Best Banana Bread on the Planet

"Let's go for a drive." There is something that is heard all over the country on lazy Sundays and holidays, and that is what we decided to do. I wanted to see some surf and we had heard that the ride along the Kahekili Highway that leads to the North side of the island was the one to take, so off we went.

Understated WarningsOne wrong move and.... Yes, that is a really high cliff.The view as we drive it"After you." "No, after you!"The reason you really don't want to go over the edge.The promise that had us conquering our anxiety and pushing on.It really is a green treehouse!Who can resist free samples? Or the chance to get out of the car and take some deep breaths.I wish the view at my job was this great. And they sell an average of 100 Best Banana Breads on the Planet each day at $5 a loaf. Where do I get this job?Hungry for Banana BreadOnly one of the dozens of great views on this terror ride drive.And us in the way of the view.

On top of everything the wind was howling like you read about. That last photo was taken with the camera perched on a rock using the timer. Pete was against it, sure we would lose the camera off the cliff, but we managed it anyway. It was a great drive and the surf and views were spectacular. "But wait," you say. "No pictures of Banana Bread?" Sorry. No false advertising there. It was Just.That.Good.

Just for Norma: Cinnamon Buns

Mmmmm. Yummy.

Norma, you would so love it here. Well, for a lot of reasons, but the cinnamon rolls are to die for. They are a staple with breakfast or brunch all over the islands and as many as you have are as many different versions of the cinnamon roll that you can imagine. I have learned that while I am not that discriminating, give me bread, cinnamon, sugar and butter and I'm happy, the girls are a bit picky about their icing, nuts, raisins. What I have decided is that my favorite would be loaded with raisins, coated thickly with a lemony icing and smothered with pecans. I will be attempting to come up with the perfect one when I get home.

Christmas Day, 2007
(Look, I'm wearing my Indigo Ripples Skirt! I love it!)

We set out to midnight services last night and I was really hoping that I would find some Christmas spirit there. Old fashioned I may be, but I love the carol sings and the tradition of celebrating the birth of Christ in a church setting. We were blessed and cheered to be a part of a service that was a blend of American and Hawiian/American traditions. From the blowing of the Conch shell, the call to worship sung in Hawiian by a lovely young woman, the O Holy Night solo in English and Hawiian and parts of the mass sung in Hawiian it was just wonderful. We sung Silent Night in Hawiian and English while four young ladies performed an interpretive native dance to the words. It was so beautiful and was exactly what I was looking for, the Christmas spirit. While at home we are not practicing Catholic, I was so pleased to have had this church recommended to us. (And have you ever seen such a buff Jesus on a cross?)

Merry Christmas in front of the tree

Mele Kalikimaka!

Christmas Eve Ornaments

Yay! I finished them. You can't tell, but there are blue and green Weasley sweaters there hung on garland in the lobby. The other guests are wondering who that crazy lady was, taking pictures of tiny sweaters in public. Heh. We are off to midnight-ish church and then a Mele Kalikimaka. Many of your Christmases will have started before ours, I hope they are wonderful.

I Love Those J-I-N-G-L-E Bells.......

Well, it is almost over. The barrage of lights, sales, advertisements (the ones for the mall jewelers have to be the worst), tacky yard displays, crowds and music. Would you be surprised to find that Maui does have a radio station that plays all Christmas music all the time? I was. It seems, I don't know, out of place somehow. But I love it. I love the Christmas music. I start listening on Thanksgiving and work hard at hearing all of my cds throughout the season. It was all I listened to on my flights last week, I listen to it at the gym and while running, I foresake all other music for the entire season. I'm sure that I am unlike some of you, feeling a little sad to have to put it away. I won't until about a week after New Year's Day, so if you still want a cuppa and some relaxing holiday sounds, my house is the place to be.

That is not to say that I love all holiday music without discretion. There are some songs that, truthfully? Never should have been written. Here are a few categories of holiday music. I am sure that some of you will agree with my choices and some will be shocked that a song I hate is their all-time favorite. Or one that I cannot get through the season without is one that makes you want to stick needles in your ear drums. I have limited the selections in my lists to a few, but it took some work. I'd love it if you would add some in the comments. Make my lists more complete.

Starting right out with songs I hate:

• Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer
• I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
• Domenic the Donkey ( I mean.  Really)
• Silent Night by Stevie Nicks
• Absolutely any holiday song by the Beach Boys

These songs I am pretty much done with after the first or second time I've heard them:

• Jingle Bell Rock
• Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
• Feliz Navidad
• Haul out the Holly

It seems that every artist feels the need to create a new holiday classic. Some really should not have:

• Step Into Christmas-Elton John (the admission is free?!)
• A Christmas to Remember-Dolly Parton
• Wonderful Christmas Time-Paul McCartney (and he was a Beatle?)
• Last Christmas-Wham

Some have had success adding to the genre:

• Please Come Home for Christmas-Eagles
• Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)-U2
• Thank God It's Christmas-Queen
• Christmas All Over Again-Tom Petty
• Do They Know It's Christmas Time?-Band Aid

There are some really great remakes too:

• Nuttin' For Christmas-Smash Mouth
• Twelve Days of Christmas-Relient K
• Run, Run Rudolph-the Muppets
• Merry Christmas Darling-Jane Monheit
• Baby It's Cold Outside-Jane Monheit and Steve Tyrell

There are some people that I just never, ever want to hear sing holiday music:

• Barry Manilow
• Neil Diamond (who told him that was a good idea?)
• Gloria Estefan
• Celine Dion singing Feliz Navidad

Some songs have only really been done justice to by one (okay, maybe two) performer:

• Blue Christmas-Elvis Presley
• White Christmas-Bing Crosby
• White Christmas-The Platters
• Santa Baby-Eartha Kitt
• Holly Jolly Christmas-Burl Ives
• Baby It's Cold Outside-Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
• The Christmas Song-Nat King Cole and
• The Christmas Song-Johnny Mathis (I love the bass in this one)
Then there is the music that, because of childhood nostlgia or some newer and great collections have found their way into my life, it just would not be Christmas without. This is a very abbreviated selection from that list:
• Bing Crosby's album, Merry Christmas
• Johnny Mathis-all of it
• Ray Conniff Singers-all of it
• Manhattan Transfer-Christmas Album
• A Winter's Solstice-especially the fifth and sixth collections
• Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass
• Vince Guiraldi-Charlie Brown Christmas
• The Grinch (Original Movie Soundtrack)-I listen to this one at the gym, some of the songs should appeal to the grinch in everyone.
• Kathy Mattea-Good News

As I said, these are only partial lists. I usually add to my library of holiday music every year and this year I added the Josh Groban and Chris Botti albums. Both are wonderful. So, what are your favorites and hates of the season?

And of course this year, Mele Kalikimaka is at the top of the list of faves.

Gingerbread houses courtesy of the staff where we are staying. I love the frosted mini wheat bricks and the snowmen inside the ginger people's house. And of course the snow. I'd have had palm trees on mine.

Saturday Sky

The view from our balcony, December 22, 2007The view in my nightstand drawer.
Pick one, you have a choice.

Edited for clarity: Those are the books found in the nightstand drawer in the room we are occupying. I kind of like it.

Thanks so much for all of the comments about yesterday's pity party. I'm feeling much better today. Snorkeling, sailing and eating way too many fattening foods can sometimes have that effect on a person. I hope you will all understand that I probably won't be answering much email for the next week or so, but I am reading the comments and they cheered me. Most of you are too nice to me. My favorites were from Cyndi, it is always good to have a best friend that tells it like it is. I quote, "No sympathy!!," and Claudia who is all about the blue. Very uncharacteristic for her, but like most, blue skies and blue waters do it anyone. So, for Claudia:

Sailing The Blues

WARNING!Extreme Fatigue and PMS Are the Co-Authors of this Post.

Sixteen and a half hours from door to door. Aside from travelling across the country and over the Pacific, this is what I have accomplished:

Weasley Sweater ornaments in all phases of construction. Most are seamed and the ends are woven in, but I had no scissors to snip all of those threads. I have since started one more. My goal was ten, but I think I will cave at eight. That means that the Christmas Eve ornaments for my girls this year will be one "H"arry sweater and one sweater with their own initial each, and Pete and I will have personal monograms only. I am totally fine with that.

Okay, so I have had around three to four (not all in one sweep) very interrupted hours of sleep in the last 42 hours. And you know what? I can't sleep right now! And my period is taking its sweet time, prolonging my PMS. That is the only excuse I have for the following pity party, which I KNOW I shouldn't be having. Somebody out there might get it though (Pete does not, not one bit). There is a little part of me that is sad (PMS) to be missing a snow day before Christmas. Listening to Christmas music on my iPod while I knit my way here made me miss the baking I would be doing, the tree I would have finally decorated and the snow that piled up after we left. I know it, right? I'm a nut case! The thing is, I love our seasons and it is one thing to leave winter in March for a get-away, but the idea that I'm missing a White Christmas, something that doesn't happen as often in New England as you might think, is making me sad (read: PMS) (and fatigue induced schizophrenia). Before you go thinking I am an ungrateful and spoiled betch, I am totally thrilled to be here with my very growing up family. I know how fortunate and blessed I am to have this chance, to be able to save up to afford it and how most of you would love to trade with me. I know that! I'll be over by tomorrow after some sleep and as I'm snapping more photos from a catamaran. I'm sure I will. Meanwhile, in case you are silly enough to have any sympathy for me, this is a scene from along the road on the way to the hotel. Not white, but it is something else, isn't it?

P.S. I hope I'm coming across as I mean to, not as a spoiled brat. I am just a little sad and really tired. I know putting it out there will probably offend someone and I totally don't mean to and I don't want to seem as if I am rubbing my wonderful opportunity in your faces. This is really how I feel at the moment and I'm not usually one to share so much "feelings" with the whole internets. I promise, you'll see me get happier as the week goes by.  And thanks for everyone who wished us well and fun times, I haven't had a chance ot check all of my email yet, but I know we all think of each other, don't we? Now, food. Then hopefully, sleep.

In Which Terry Milks the Amaryllis for One More Post

Unretouched photo taken with my new camera. Unretouched photo taken with camera and polarizing filter. Polarized photo, retouched. Or just touched.

I really need to figure out some things with the camera, but the polarizing filter is pretty nifty. There is a down side. To get the best out of a polarizing filter it is best to be looking through a view finder to make adjustments and this camera doesn't have one, just the window. So I just keep turning the filter and clicking away in the hopes of getting something decent. I should have also fiddled with the amount of light I was letting in and I did not. All things the require more thought processed than I have, apparently.

So, it seems that after stopping by to read my blabber for over a month and a half (!), you may be getting a break from me. In a few hours the family is packing up and heading off for a big ass vacation. I'll be bringing the laptop, so if I have decent internet access you won't be done with me yet, but the daily dose? I make no promises!

Soaring Eagles Mittens

Soaring Eagles Mittens

• Pattern:  Mittens from The Knitter's handy book of Patterns by Ann Budd
• Yarn:  Plymouth Colorspun Worsted, color #7518
• Needles:  size 6
• Cast On:  December 16, 2007
• Bound Off:  December 18, 2007 

I just think these are the cutest little mittens and I had the warmest feelings in my hands and heart as I knitted them. I think I would enjoy the holiday season so much more if we passed on the stress of gift giving and just knit for charity instead. I loved thinking about the children whose hands would be cold if not for the effort of the knitters that sent mittens (and slippers) out for them to receive as gifts and they will be in my mind often on Thursday when the party takes place.

I made the larger pair first and loved the matchy-matchy stripes. I am quite busy right now and was going to send off just the one pair, but the yarn kept whispering to me, "knit me. I have another pair of mittens in me, cast on." Call it inspiration (oh hell, call it procrastination) that beckoned, but I just couldn't help myself. I sat around in my pjs (skipping Pilates!) and knit the second pair. I was quite charmed with the way they matched my pajamas.  The only little glitch was running out of the green on the second thumb.  I came "this close" to pulling out the first thumb to make them match, but needing to get them in the mail and get to work had me sending them with that tiny little quirk. So I sent them off by express mail today with no guarantee that they will arrive on time, but I have faith that on time or not these mittens will, sometime soon, meet their destiny warming just the right hands. This knitting for charity thing? It is everything it is cracked up to be.

The Only Thing Better is a Reservation

I love good food. Eating is fun, too. Growing up, I was treated to foods from many lands. Did anyone else's family have the Time-Life Foods of the World Series?  My mom loved those books and through them we were introduced to (among so many things) Beouf Bourguignonne, real german potato salad with bratwurst and saurkraut and my personal favorite Paella, which would be my request for my birthday meal for years (including recent ones-yes I have always had expensive tastes, the saffron, lobster, scallops-they would be my birthday gift).  Fanny Farmer and Julia Child were also dog eared and smeared with ingredients from much use.  I learned to appreciate great flavors and cuisine from all over and am sure it was a genetic blessing that I still managed to be a skinny little thing.

I'm not so much a fan of the cooking (my mom can't believe she raised me). I used to like to cook, or at least I tolerated it well, but things being what they were, or my family being who they are, any affinity I had for cooking was beaten out of me. First there is the vegetarian. Some nights it is okay. Those are the nights we are having fish or salads or something without meat. Then there is Pete. Pete hasn't a sense of smell. I don't mean that in the way most men don't have a sense of smell (making or breaking most marriages, I am sure), but Pete is smell blind. He has some hilarious stories of the torture and abuse he endured at the imaginations of his brothers. They thought he was making it up. They would parade a complete menu of smells past his olfactory member and get no reaction. They did get a reaction from the smelling salts up the nose. Turns out you don't need a sense of smell for those to have an effect.

Anyway, without a sense of smell also means without most of a sense of taste and a revulsion to a lot of things that make flavor in food. Celery, onions, lettuces, many vegetables are not tolerated by Pete. Then there is Erin. She is just picky.  Gillian is the only one that will not sit at the table picking around things with her fork, she doesn't turn her nose up when I tell her what is for supper and never asks, "Are there (onions, celery, meat, tuna, eggs.....) in here?"  I watch cooking shows, browse magazines like Cook's Illustrated and the website Epicurious salivating and dreaming, but the thought of spending my time only to have my family choose PB & J or cereal douses the flame in my food loving heart.  It is worse now that the only people left here to feed are Pete and Erin.  Not the receptive crowd one would hope for. 

To top it off, Erin won't eat leftovers.  Can you even imagine?  I mean, when I decide to put down the knitting needles to cook, I usually make something that will keep me out of the kitchen a second night.  I love leftovers, most things taste better the second day anyway.  And I am so.not. one of those really loving mothers that will make multiple meals for multiple tastes.  If you don't appreciate what I've put out there then you are on your own.

All of that to say, I had my vegetarian chili again tonight and it was delicious.  Even better than last night and I think you know why.  No.Cooking!  w00t!

Finally, I sit.

I'm taking a minute away from my knitting to post. We were snowed in today, mostly. I mean, I could have gone out had I wanted to, but I like my snow days and in I stayed. For a lazy snow day, my day has been exhausting. It started early, but by about one-thirty the downstairs of my house was a little bit better than just presentable and I had done some Pilates and hit the showers. Straight out of the shower I was making chili and vegetarian chili, drinking lots of tea and still cleaning up behind the kids making guacamole, cookies, more cookies. By the time I sat down it was probably about four-thirty and that was short lived as I had the dinner mess to clean up. It does feel good to sit here in my straightened-up home, almost relaxed as there are no dishes or other chores screaming at me, and knit some mittens for some kids that need them. I'll have to overnight them to get them there on time, but it will be worth it. I'm probably going to purchase some manufactured mittens to send along as well. I'm not much for charity knitting (except for the Prayer Shawl group I run at our church), I give my time in different ways and my money too, but this time I feel that I should. Plus, Sandy did offer mittens. I'm working my tail off to get a second pair knit and increase my chances. I'm off to knit like the wind!

Because I Want To Be Just Like Vicki When I Grow Up.

Stealing this meme from Vicki, the one in which you relive the first sentence from each month of your blog. I think there is a bit of a theme to the beginning of some months.

January

I'm baaaaack!

February

Hooray! Mum made us socks!

March

It was a great little get-away.

April

Alrighty, then. The unveiling of this sweater is long overdue.

May

First things first, I guess. I keep taking these short (or not so short) blogging breaks.

June

July

Well, for today only one sock, but a SOCK! is what it is.

August

That photo is from last Thursday at the beach.

September

Let's review, shall we? I find a yarn I like.

October

It is well documented on the pages of this blog that I post in fits and spurts with weeks of silence in between.

November

I love, love, love my skirt.

December

Somewhere along the way this: Turned into this:

Well, I am finishing strong!  It's been a great year so far.

Not Intended to be AmaryllisCam ala the Blues

But it is starting to look like it, isn't it?

A second bloom.Brought a second bud.Filled with the promise of beauty.

From Icy Cold to Boiling Hot In One Quick Post

Snow,
It won't be long before we'll all be there with snow
I want to wash my hands, my hair, my face with snow. Snow.
I long to clear a path and lift a spade of snow.
Snow.
To see a man entirely made of snow.Where it's snowing all winter through
That's where I want to be
Snowball throwing, that's what I'll do
Oh how I'm longing to ski
Through the snow oh, oh, ohThose glistening houses that seem to built of snow
To see a mountain covered with a quilt of snow

In my favorite holiday movie Bing and Rosemary are singing this song on a train headed to Vermont. The romance of winter in New England has been written about, sung over and idealized by so many more than just Irving Berlin. Most of the time those picture perfect visions are fiction. Unless you are pretty far north in this region there are winters that we hardly see snow, and when we do it is hardly ever convenient. You know, like on Christmas so we didn't have to dream of a white one. That is what that song is really about, isn't it? The glamorized movie version of the perfect Christmas? Right.

So, while today it is beautiful from my vantage point, home by the time there was a few inches on the ground, snuggled in with Christmas music and a yummy dinner, it downright sucked if you were travelling. Just ask Norma who was trying to get away from Vermont for a few days and Margene who spent the week preparing for her arrival.  As Norma would say, "Frack!"  Actually, I think both Norma's and Margene's quotes were not exactly G-rated, don't you?

My travelling was limited to some errands and the gym. By the time I left the gym I was beat, cold and hankering for a nice hot cup of tea. Luckily I had started the water this morning before I left the house.

All Hot, All The Time.

Isn't that the best thing ever? My mom gifted it to me a Zojirushi Electric Dispensing Pot for my birthday and I love it. It boils water and then keeps it warm to the temperature you choose (208, 195 or 175 degrees) for as long as you need it. Last night I set it to boil for the morning and was able to brew a cup of tea right after I stumbled down the stairs. For the rest of the day my family and I had hot water on demand. Want hot chocolate? A cup of tea? Coffee? You barely have to think about it and BAM! it's there. Depending on exactly what you want, you may have to wait a couple of minutes for a reboil, but not long. I've been keeping it at the green tea temperature for the day, and warmer later. Gone are the days of boiling the water, leaving it to cool for my green tea and then forgetting about it until I have to reheat. And do you even know how many tea kettle lives have been spared?

Because the Best Parts of the Holiday SeasonAre the Holiday Sweaters

You can click for a larger, scarier sweater.

Go make one! I'd love to see everybody's funky holiday sweaters. I was going to make one with all of the adornments upside down, but I spent a lot of time just figuring out how to save this and get it here. Computer geek, I am not. Thanks to Michelle (go look at her creation!) my blue holiday sweater is here to cheer you. (Questions on how to save this and get it on your blog may be directed to her. Heh! Only kidding. Sort of.)

Am I Coming? Or Going? Or, Despite the Appearance of ActivityJust Standing Still.

There is so much on my to-do list. Well, there would be if I would just sit and make the list.

Then I could focus, do something and strike it out. I love that.

Then it wouldn't feel as if I am spinning my wheels, doing things, yet making little progress on what needs to be done.

The bags I need to finish lining for a job would be finished, packing for my trip would have started, I might have chosen a sweater to knit from all the ones on my list, I could have started the mitten for charity, the hats for my nieces........

Instead of making a sweater here (if I can figure out how to save it, I'll share, but you should so make one-thanks to Michelle for that link), reading blogs, burning making quiche, friending people on Ravelry (I'm knittingtheblues on Ravelry, wanna be my friend?) answering a few days of emails, posting to my blog......

And playing with my new camera, focusing an amaryllis flower and not a single thing that needs to be done. I'm screwed.

And hey-I love those photos with the new buds nestled into the first bloom. They look so cozy, like a baby in the womb.

Oh, and apparently I have been spelling this word wrong all year.  w00t!  Word of the year for 2007.  Let me hear it!  w00t! 

Striped Scarf on Soprano

Noro Striped Scarf

• Pattern:  Noro Striped Scarf in the style of Brooklyn Tweed.
• Yarns:  Noro Silk Garden, color #203 and CEY Wool Bam Boo, Color #1672
• Needles:  size 6
• Cast On:  December 1, 2007
• Bound Off:  December 5, 2007

A quick trip into the city to hear Meagan sing and give her a scarf to keep her neck a vocal chords all warm and cozy.  Now everybody wants a scarf.  These are fun and I love putting the colors together, so it is possible that the ones that are asking might get one.  Would definitely make easy travelling knitting.

So, the scarf.  The colors are not even close in that photo, but that is a whine you hear all of the time from me.  It is a whopping 75 inches long.  I love that length, it works well for a bunch of shorties like us.  The yarns are different weights and you can feel the texture difference between the stripes, but I love it, the Noro really commands the scarf. 

Meg had a little solo in the concert tonight and it was lovely.  I wonder why I am always a little bit surprised?  I mean, I expect her to be good, but it is always a little better than I expect, which, considering her tuition, is a really good thing.  If I didn't hear improvement, well, you know. 

Trying To Get Into the Spirit of the Season, orHey! Bloglines! I'm Over Here!

Up until about twelve or fifteen years ago I would spend part of Christmas Eve looking out at the night sky, knowing for sure that if I looked long enough I would see Santa's sleigh. Truly. I mean, I know! But, there was still a part of my heart that was young and filled with Christmas hope and excitement. These last several years I have not come close to that in Christmas spirit. More accurately? I have become a Scrooge. The song Where Are You Christmas? fits. I hate the shopping, the thousands of people on the roads, the commercialism, the pressure and stress.  Even if you are going out to run simple errands you have to deal with chaos. I listen to the music throughout the season, music that I love, and it only helps a very small bit. I think I know what would bring the spirit back, but unfortunately with all of the things I have to do, there is no time to do the things I want to do. I end up spending so much of the season with people I'd rather not, doing things I'd rather not, listening to their music, eating their food and just plain getting through it. For years my favorite day of the season has been December 26th. No obligations, no pressure. Just my music on the stereo, my knitting, my tea brewing.

Anyway, my intention here is not to have a downer post. I'm trying to do a little something every day to soothe my holiday soul. Today am eating chocolates, cookies, drinking holiday tea (let's just ignore that this will make me feel guilty for the cookies) and swiping this meme from Birdsong. (Oh, and she is having a spectacular Blogiversary giveaway.  Check it out!)

Christmas Meme

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?  I love wrapping paper, those neat gift boxes with the folded corners in lovely colors with bright bows.  Love.
2. Real or artificial tree?  Well.  Growing up my brother was had a tree allergy of some kind, so we had artificial trees.  When I started my family I couldn't wait to have a real tree.  We would spend hours finding the perfect, no wait!  This one, no look at that one!  Look, that! is the perfect tree.  We would cut it down, haul it home, Pete would balance it and we'd decorate.  It was wonderful, keeping the cats from bringing it down, watering it, vacuuming up the needles, I loved it.  No matter that maybe Pete had a tree allergy of some kind.  Then, one Christmas Eve the girls and I came home from participating in the candlelight service, around 12:30 a.m. to find Pete gasping for air on the sofa.  Alright, maybe I'd been ignoring some of the symptoms, but he never really complains, so the sickness was a bit of a surprise to me.  Longer story short:  Pete and I spent a few hours in the emergency room, came home and I had to be Santa all by myself (hadn't pre-wrapped a single thing) and the tree left the house on Christmas Day.  So, artificial.  Pre-lit.  Pretty nifty.
3. When do you put up the tree?  Usually the first weekend in December.
4. When do you take it down?  Weellll, that varies.  There was that year we took it down on Christmas Day (heh).  It is possible that one year we celebrated St. Patrick's Day by taking it down, but I could be confusing that with Valentine's Day.
5. Do you like eggnog?  Like it?  There are reasons I try to never buy it.  My hips.
6. Favorite gift received as a child?  I had some good ones.  I loved my Chrissy doll.  And Mrs. Beasley.  Or Drowsy.  And I always loved any crafty thing I got, knitting, needlepoint, cross-stitch kits.  They were my faves.
7. Do you have a nativity scene?  Several
8. Hardest person to buy for?  I hate shopping, they are all hard.
9. Easiest person to buy for?  Myself.  I don't usually shop and when I get out there I find all kinds of things I didn't know I needed.
10. Worst Christmas present you ever got?  Well, when Pete and I were first dating I had not yet trained him in the ways of natural fibers and what I liked.  He got me two really cheap-o acrylic sweaters that didn't really fit, but it was really early in our relationship so I said nothing until a few years later.  He wondered why I never wore them....
11. Mail or email Christmas cards?  I always mail out a huge stack of cards.  Although time isn't up yet, I might pass this year.
12. Favorite Christmas movie?  Easy.  White Christmas.  Oh, wait.  This version of A Christmas Carol.  No.  It's a Wonderful Life.  Muppet Family Christmas.  Jim Carey's Grinch.  Elf.  A Christmas Story.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?  Well, I haven't yet....  I'm not usually this late.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?  I don't think so, but I would.
15. Favorite thing to eat on Christmas?  We usually host a brunch and I love the salmon quiche I make.  And bacon.
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?  Clear.
17. Favorite Christmas song?  Oh, you have to be kidding!  The first one I listen to every year is Snowfall by the Manhattan Transfer.  Is it my favorite?  I'm not sure, but the list of faves is for another day.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?  Traditionally we have stayed home.  This year we will be travelling.  "Where to?" you ask?  Let's just say that my new favorite Christmas song might be Mele Kalikimaka.
19. Can you name all of Santa's Reindeer?  Yes.  It just takes a song.  "You know Dasher and Dancer...."
20. Angel or star on top of tree?  Angel.  I'll take a picture of it for a future post, I made it some years ago.
21. Open presents Christmas Eve or morning.  Mostly morning.  We have a tradition on Christmas Eve.  When we get home from the late service we open one gift.  The girls always get new pjs, an ornament (intended to leave with them when they start their own homes) and a Christmas themed book.  For a couple of years we have been recycling the books, as we own so many of them.
22. Most annoying thing this time of year?  I think I covered that.  Oh, and the bad music.
23. Do you decorate your tree in any theme or color?  Not our big tree.  Just an eclectic mix of ornaments we have collected over the years.  We also have a smaller tree that has only Campbell's Soup ornaments, but not the balls.  We have the entire collection of balls as well and they hang from roping over the fireplace in the family room.  I almost forgot to order this year's set until last night!
24. What do you leave for Santa?  Fudge and milk.  He usually eats the fudge, and then helps himself to a beer and/or a glass of wine.

Well, there you have it.  No tagging, just steal it if you want, I'd love to hear other Christmas stories. 

 

Saturday Sky, My Birthday Edition

Finally! A hint of blue for my birthday!

That Margene!

She always remembers my birthday.Even if she doesn't always remember my name! :)

Well, she is older than me, dontcha know.

But I am older than Maryse, but only by twelve days. The countdown continues.

Eye Candy Friday, the Paperwhites Edition

Paperwhites are lovely, but they sure do stink. I don't know about anyone else, but I have been waiting for AmaryllisCam and have been dissapointed to date. C'mon Sandy. I almost did it myself, I planted my Amaryllis, but I'll be away and might miss the bloom. The internets are depending on you!

I know this has been out there before and what it says about me that I am enjoying it immeasurably, I don't know. Go ahead, turn the sound on and click. I was going to actually write something more, but I really need to go shake some people up. Besides, after heading over there, none of you are coming back either.

Just a Couple of Random Things

First, before your eyes blur over and you start to skim I have a little survey question that I hope you will answer.  If you were taking a finishing class, what three things would you expect or want to be covered in the class?  That is the important thing I want to know for today.  Now, feel free to read or skim or comment on anything else in this post, if you are so inspired.

Striped Scarf

That scarf is much greener than I can capture. Well, on your monitor it may well be the green it really is, but on mine? Not so much. I'm striping Noro Silk Garden (color #203, bright olive, dark green, denim, grey) and Classic Elite Yarns Wool Bam Boo (color #1672-artichoke green, but really a bright olive). It is so pretty in real life and Meagan has laid claim to it, so there it is. I am down to the last few yards of the yarn, I might finish it tonight. I love the other Noro stripe that I am knitting (the yarn I was waiting for has arrived, so I should finish it soon), but I have been somewhat obsessed with striping the Noro with a solid yarn. This attempt was okay, but I'm hoping my next is better.

How are you doing with the 21 day brain bombarment? Wondering what I decided to work on? It was difficult for me, I had so many things I wanted to change, but this being a stressful time I decided to work on something that is so small, but so important. My current flossing habit goes something like this. One night I floss, the next night I floss. The next night I am so tired that I put it off to morning and then forget. Ditto that night. Days go by...... You get the picture. So I am making sure to floss for the next 21 days. Well, nineteen. I'm on my way. My plan is to do this once a month next year. I'll be 21 daying myself into the perfect woman. Whoot!

So, you guys are funny!  After yesterday's post it seems some of you are taking a hard look at the stash, hoping not to burden the kiddos (or whomever has the honor of digging through your stuff) and others think, "Screw 'em!  It's my stuff, I like it, it's the sign of a well lived life and deal."  I have to say, I'm on the bandwagon with the "Screw 'em" crowd.  The only thing I will be considering when purchasing yarn, fabric or any other crafty thing will be my pleasure or the pleasure of the person I am intending it for.  If I manage to get through it all in this life, great.  If not, maybe by then my kids will be fighting over that Rowan Magpie.  Could happen.

Today I Glimpsed my Girls' Future.

The mother of a friend of mine suffered a stroke last year before Thanksgiving.  Strokes are tragic, as we know, and this woman has been left unable to speak with the exception of "Oy!" which she uses to get attention and communicate, has lost much of her mobility but not a single bit of her whit.  She is right on top of things, reminding her husband that he needs to register his car, asking for manicures, and being sad that they have recently had to sell the family home that she has lived in for over forty years.  She is also a knitter.  I use the present tense, because once a knitter always a knitter, but she is no longer able to create with yarn.

Shelly, my friend, is not a knitter.  I got the call, ("Can you help me go through all of this yarn? I don't know what to do with it all!  There are so many sweaters that she didn't finish!  Can you help me with that?  Maybe I should just throw it all out.  But all of her hard work!")  Going through the stash of yarn and UFOs Shelly was amazed at the number of partially finished projects.  "Terry, do you do this?  Start something and then just get bored with it and start something else?"  Ha!  With every bin we opened, "Oh my God, Terry.  Where did she get all of this yarn?  I don't know what she planned on doing with it!"  Boxes of pattern books and binders of pattern leaflets, "Maybe I should just throw all of this away, you don't have to worry about it." 

The patterns and yarns spanned the many years of my knitting.  Bernat booklets that my mom used to knit from and some that I knit my first sweaters from.  Lopi yarn in the original put-up of skeins that needed balling up.  Yarns of every type of fiber and weight.  Aran knits, socks, baby sweaters, blankets, a Kureyon entrelac, knit after knit after knit.  We made a pretty quick survey and separated some things out right away for donation to the local senior center, they are always on the look out for yarns to make baby hats, blankets, sweaters and mittens.  The better yarns were set aside to be dropped off at my house so that I can thoroughly organize them and (keep your eye out at the beginning of the year) sell them off or donate the rest.  I'll be finishing some of the projects, others will be frogged and the yarn set up for re-use. 

At one point Shelly was close to tears over the time her mom didn't have to finish these projects and the work she had put into them.  I looked her in the eye and said, "Shelly, if your mom had stayed healthy and lived another 25 years I am quite sure that this would be the same.  She would still have started things and finished some, had the intention of finishing others and left you with bins of yarn to sort through."  Somehow, I don't think she really gets it.  I do.

I was going to take a photo of some corner of my stash, maybe from the game fiber room, possibly that corner of the basement, the closet in the hall.  Instead I leave you with this thought.  All I could envision all day was my girls standing in front of bins of yarn and half-finished projects, dazed looks in their eyes, scratching their heads, with not a clue as to what to do with them.  Are you seeing something similar? 

On Traditions of Chili and TVs

It is our family tradition to have chili for dinner on the night of the first shovelable snowfall of the season.  There are years that we have waited into January or February for the first chili meal of the winter.  Today we had snow, a no-school day (not a no work day though) and chili for dinner.  When it comes to the chili I am no great chef, I use this recipe, adding beans of course.  Meagan has been a practicing vegetarian for about six years so I often make the chili I have grown to prefer which I once blogged about.  I love the squash and the beer flavor, it is more a bean and vegetable stew than it is chili, but very tasty.  Today I made only the meaty chili and it tasted the same as always.  I also took a picture.  Not a good one, but I see that Carole is always showing pictures of food on her blog and I thought I could be like her.  Well, she actually cooks, I just toss in the contents of spice packets.  I did brown the meat and I take props for that.

We will celebrate another tradition in our home tonight. About half way through the third quarter of the Patriots' game (GO PATS!) Pete will bemoan the lack of a television in our bedroom. Actually, we only have two tvs in the house, one in our family room and with the pretty recent addition of a finished room in our basement, a tv for the kids to have when they have friends over. The television has never been an object that I have paid that much attention to. Early in our marriage we had a television that I thought was fine. Sure, we couldn't see the puck when we watched a hockey game, but we got the gist of it all. I couldn't see the point in replacing it. When we were finally forced to, I had to admit that visual proof of a goal was pretty exciting. Some time ago Pete started dropping hints about High Definition televisions. I could not justify that expense. How much better could it be, really? Well, this fall when Meagan moved into her apartment in Boston and took the basement tv with her I caved for a nano-second to Pete's arguments (Planet Earth is in HD, I work long hours, I make the money, I should be able to spend a little of it on something I want, blah, blah, blah) on my way out of the door to spin night. I sort of expected that I had bought some time, we would do it my way (research, over-examine, wait for a sale....) and certainly I could put off the purchase for weeks. Pete, on the other hand, saw his chance and took it. I arrive home about two hours later to find the box in the living room.

As thrilling as it was to see the hockey puck, man oh man! Planet Earth does look better in HD. And sports! Not only can you see every play practically from an athlete's perspective, you can see the eye color of fans in the stadium. And the evening news? So crisp and clear! I'd love to know just how much make-up those anchors need now. I have been pretty confident, until lately, that I would never be subjected to the scrutiny of my maturing image in HDTV. Then we got our new camera. A camera that photographs and then can display your shot on your HD television. I figure my options are to stay out of family photos for the rest of time, cosmetic surgery or somehow trip and fall into that tv. How long do you think it would take Pete to replace it?

Advent of Habit-A Challenge to Bombard Your Brain

First, I have to tell you all that Meagan was tickled pink that so many would take the time to wish her a Happy Birthday.  She is filled with happiness and wants me to thank you all.

It is said that it takes 21 days to form a new habit.  Well, the thirty days of blogging has certainly gotten me in the groove, or as Sandy says, maybe I have found my inner blogger.  Whatever it is, it just seems odd not to check in with the blog today.  Well, that and procrastination, but more about that in a minute.

In my search for the "21 days to a new habit" idea I found a couple of interesting websites.  The Power of Goal Acheivement Is In the Habit.  The idea is when you find yourself not acheiving your goals, daily repetition can change your outcome.  Illustrated in this blogging grrl for sure.  This writer is addressing college students, but the concept is the same.  Oh, this one is good.  All scientific about bombarding the neuroconnections and neuropathways for 21 days straight.  Bombarding.  I love that.  It makes creating a new habit an actual chemical and physical change to your brain and body.

" Brain circuits take engrams (memory traces), and produce neuroconnections and neuropathways only if they are bombarded for 21 days in a row. This means that our brain does not accept ‘new’ data for a change of habit unless it is repeated each day for 21 days (without missing a day)."

That is too cool.  Twenty-one days is nothing really.   This last thirty days of blogging felt like such a mountain on the first of the month, but the time flew by and now it really does seem to