2009...

Happy New Year's worth of knitting projects & stash collection building efforts to all and may all your stitches be right! Nancy Miller

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I have been a bit busy and when I have not been busy I have not been around the computer. So now I have a bunch of catching up to do. I will have to do it in phases that I can not promise will be in chronological order. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and were able to spend time with family and friends.

The Advent calendar worked out well and the T's enjoyed it. The manger for the 25th was fun to do and was done on the 23rd, whew! [Never underestimate the power of JITK (Just In Time Knitting!) (btw, I was done two days early.) In truth I used three of the sweaters my Mom sent us but it was nice to have different colors.] The criss-cross is I-cord and the yellow arch is shaped with increases every row and then short row shaping at the top. T3 and I stuffed it to hold the shape. I added the "hay" because, well, I had the right color. Some times that is all the reason I need.

Baa Baa Black Sheep

I was at the library at T3's school yesterday, I am the volunteer Librarian, and was checking in some newly donated books. I have to look up the titles online to determine the Accelerated Reader information which is how the library is organized. Anyway, I came across "Baa Baa Black Sheep" by Iza Trapani and was very tempted to borrow the book for myself, for a long time. This particular version has 10 verses, if my memory serves me , and is about a knitter. This story is about a knitter who has to say "No, I don't have..." but in the end, I do have this knit wonder for you. Enjoy. Be warm. Feel my hug. Be my Friend.

As I read through the knitting blogs and Ravelry the theme this time of year is knit gifts. Who to knit for, what to knit, how much knitting can we get done, who appreciates our work, who is no longer getting knit gifts, etc. There are people who give a knit gift with the approximate number of stitches. We knit because we love to but it is still a lot of time, money and skill. I toot my own horn on that. My knit gifts also say Enjoy. Be warm. Feel my hug. Be my Friend.

I want a copy of the book in every room and one to give to every knitter I know. Thank you Iza.

Jolly Ol' St. Nickolas....

The day after St. Nick came T3 and I were snuggled on the sofa. As we sat there looking at the fireplace and stocking he asked "Mom, if you happen to wake up and catch Santa putting presents under the tree, can you actually see him?"

God bless the children of the word.

Advent...

This is the time we spend preparing our hearts and homes to celebrate the birthday of Jesus. As our lives change we find our traditions do too. The day after Thanksgiving is saved for cookie baking with my Mom and Sisters (including my sister-in-law, sister really) and the boys took the kids to the movies. Dinner was left over turkey, of course. My Mr. and I agree that Christmas goes through Epiphany, so we don't decorate until the middle of December. I always have our stockings separate from the rest of the decorations so the T's can hang them for St. Nicholas on Dec. 5th eve. Every Wednesday is church. All the congregations we have belonged to have served a simple dinner before service which helps full schedules and is great fellowship. My family started a name exchange within the siblings way back (we tend to be practical, almost to a fault.) As our family has grown we continue and have done this where some years we can keep it secret and others, not so much, but still we always exchange at least a tree ornament. Some years are lean and some are fat. I think every family has such traditions. When to open presents, where to put the nativity set, what is on the top of the tree, what to eat... This is the glue that holds my memories to the present. This is what binds the holiday to my heart. Our move has made some of these traditions impossible to participate in. No cookie baking, but Mom sent a care package of goodies, xoxo Mom! I have not yet found the Advent calendar but made progress on the knit one I am working on. We will have to find new places for our decorations. We have a mantel for the stockings and I got a garland for the mini knits. I cleared a space for the tree and hope to get it set up today. The rest will find new happy places to remind us of Christmases past and lead us to Christmases of the future. I miss family. They are always in my heart and more often in the front of my mind as our decortations bring the rush of memories. Spend this season giving love as God loved us and sent his Son to earth.