Friday, December 29, 2006

time for knitting again

As usual, Christmas went by in a flurry of activity, and now life begins to calm back down. In and amongst the presents, the cookies, and the Christmas cake we somehow forgot to finish making (!), I had time to work on a couple of projects. Astounding!

The first is a basic tam, using the pattern in Mary Rowe's Knitted Tams book and that luscious Mountain Colors hand-painted yarn that I bought at Windsor Button in November. I flew through this one, finishing it in a mere two days after casting on. I'm not a huge fan of variegated yarns, but I like the way this one made almost a spider-web pattern, with the swirls of the decreases looking like a subtle shadow-spider.

It will need a little elastic around the ribbing to help keep it snug, though. I've made two other tams using Mary Rowe's pattern, and the small amount of 1x1 ribbing isn't enough to keep the hat on my head, especially in Boston's sometimes ferociously windy wintry days. A little bit of cord elastic, though, and this hat (like the others) will suit me perfectly.

There's something almost unbearably optimistic about a tam or beret, I think. You can't help but wear it at a sort of jaunty angle, which never fails to give me a jaunty attitude.








Next is a work in progress that should be finished very shortly. My two stepkids gave me the most thoughtful gift--two balls of Artful Yarns' Flirtation, a wonderfully nobbly yarn just right for a playful scarf. This yarn has been a very quick knit, and I've finished up one skein and am midway through the next one. I love the way the colors fade from one to the next, with a texture that reminds me of the toy poodle I had many years ago. (My mother used to say that it would be great to save all the hair from that poodle to knit into sweaters. At the time, I thought she was nuts, but it's not sounding so crazy to me these days. How many people do you know have an authentic poodle scarf? :)

And today I made a trip to one of my favorite metro-Boston yarn shops, Wild and Woolly in Lexington, for some yarns to make hats for my stepkids. The purple hat I'd made last week was woefully too small, so that became a winter hat for Portia's American Girl doll, and I will start again for one for Portia. And Throsby could certainly use a warm hat to keep his ears warm on his paper route, so I will be making a double-layer wool hat for him. More to come as I make progress on these ones.

Friday, December 22, 2006

never start a knitted gift this late!

I should know better. In fact, I've patted myself on the back for knowing better. But then I succumbed to the temptation to make a knitted gift at the last minute.

Bad news.

About a week ago (not quite the last minute, but close), I found a wonderful pattern for a hat (Piggle from the latest issue of Knitty). I picked out the most wonderful purple yarn (Dalegarn) and started knitting. It was a lace pattern, which was new to me (despite having knit for 30 years!). Finally got the whole thing finished, and it was just adorable.

And it's too small.

It's supposed to be one size fits all, but it's not going to fit. Was it my gauge? I didn't do a test swatch (bad Tracy!), so that's the likely reason. And I know I don't have the time, patience, or fortitude to do it again in time for Christmas.

So, looks like I'll be stretching out Christmas into the new year.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

the cardigan, at last!

Here is Aidan's cardigan, finished at last! The sweater is deliberately a bit too big, because this boy grows at supersonic rates. He loves the sweater, despite saying it's itchy (hardly!), and was very keen to wear it the very day I finished it. Phew!

Next to him is Douglas wearing a cardi I made a couple years ago. Yes, it's a hand-me-down from his big brother, but that's the benefit of having two boys. The sweaters have two lifetimes this way!

The Christmas cake is in the oven, courtesy of Delia Smith and two enthusiastic sous-chefs (alias Aidan and Douglas). Yes, the cake is about three weeks late, but better late than never!

Later today...the Christmas tree. The holiday is fast upon us!

Friday, December 15, 2006

to be jolly

It's been a hectic week, what with doctors' visits for checkups, work, school visits, etc. I finished Aidan's sweater and put the buttons last night, and he's proudly wearing it today (though part of it is covered with an enormous "I had a checkup!" sticker he received from the dentist today). Pictures to come as soon as I wrangle them out of my camera.

But to keep the healthy habit of blogging going, here's a little meme for the day, thanks to Amelia at My Fashionable Life.

Egg nog or hot chocolate? That’s a difficult choice. Either is fantastic, as long as they’re homemade.

Does Father Christmas wrap presents or just set them under the tree? Here the tradition is changing. When I was a kid, Santa put the unwrapped presents under the tree. But there weren’t any other little kids in the house, so it was clear that every unwrapped present was mine. Now that Santa visits my two boys, he wraps and labels the presents so they know whose is whose!

Coloured lights on tree/house or white? Mostly white. We—meaning I—broke down and bought some lighted reindeer for the front yard. I haven’t giggled that much in ages as when I saw them lit up for the first time. Who says Christmas is just for kids?

Do you hang mistletoe? No. Too many years of seeing it grow like the parasitic weed that it is in the trees in my Texas backyard.

When do you put up your decorations? It’s an ongoing thing. It all starts to come out after Thanksgiving, but the tree will go up this weekend.

What's your favourite Christmas dish? Do cookies count? I love the cookies my mom makes—Dutch speculaasjes. Just the best ever!!

Favourite Christmas memory as a child? I remember the sense of wonder and awe the year I was five, when I came into the living room and saw that Santa had really been there. I’d thought I’d heard him up on the roof on Christmas Eve, and how happy I was when I saw he’d brought me the Little Kiddles dolls and dollhouse that I really really wanted.

But I also had a very special Christmas the year I lived in Austria as an exchange student. Though I was sad to be away from my own family at Christmas—the first time I’d been away—it was wonderful to experience the holiday with a loving family with traditions of their own, some familiar, some not.

When and how did you learn the truth about Father Christmas? I don’t remember when I actually stopped believing, but I remember when I started to question. I asked my mother if there really was a Santa, and she told me that he would continue to come visit me as long as I truly believed. And he continued to fill my stocking until I had kids of my own…

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? I did when I was a kid, but no more. Why spoil the fun?

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Complete mishmash of ornaments I’ve collected over the years. And this year, we’ll add my mishmash of ornaments to my husband’s for a truly spectacular tree.

Snow! Love it or dread it? Depends on the time of year. The early snows are the best, simply magical, but by April, I’m getting r-e-a-l-l-y tired of it all.

Can you ice skate? Only under duress.

Do you remember your favourite gift? Actually, my favorite gift wasn’t one I received, but one that I gave. Way back in the 1980s, I was a member of my high-school yearbook staff. We had a big clear-out of one of the storage closets and came across some yearbooks from the late 1960s and early 1970s, all in brand-new condition. They wanted to throw them out to make room, but I saved a few of them from oblivion. And I gave them to my sister, who had never gotten the yearbooks while she was in school but really regretted it years later. I gave her back a piece of her childhood, and that was simply the best.

What's the most important thing about Christmas for you? The joy of children.

What's your favourite Christmas tradition? Making Christmas cookies. And this year, I can get the boys involved in the floury, frostinged mess!

What tops your tree? Um, not sure yet. We’re combining ornaments for the first time this year, so we’ll see what my husband has for the top of the tree. I’d made an angel for the top of mine years ago, but she looks a little demented. I wouldn’t mind it if she were replaced…

Which do you prefer: giving or receiving? Giving, by far. I just find it so much easier thinking of ideas for other people.

What's your favourite Christmas song? Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmastime. It’s just so cheery!

Candy canes? Thanks, but no thanks…

Friday, December 08, 2006

Mom, it's itchy!

I'm so close, so close to being done with Aidan's cardigan. It's all sewn together. Every stray end of yarn has been woven in. The cardigan is at home, blocking as we speak. All it needs now is buttons.

So last night, just before blocking it, I had Aidan try it on. I just had to see how this work of art would look on the handsome lad. And wouldn't you know, he wanted to pull it off right away. Mom, it's ITCHY!!!

How could that be? He was with me when we chose the @#$%& yarn. He tested every skein of yarn at the shop for itchiness and proclaimed this one to be entirely, unreservedly, without question free of itchiness. ARGH!

Do they make yarn out of polar fleece?

Monday, December 04, 2006

short season

Well, that was a short season. Went back to the store for those yummy scallops, only to find out they are no more. Sad Tracy.

On the knitting front--I'm slowly making progress on the buttonband for Aidan's cardigan. Once that's done, I just need to find some buttons and I can race ahead to the next project. I'm so ready for this one to be done. It's beautiful, but I'm ready for a new challenge.

Okay, so I announced (weeks ago!) that I would be starting a sweater for my husband, which I will do. But, I've been vicariously watching Yuki knit lace, and I'm tempted to start a lace project. I've never done lace before, and it looks really intimidating. Sure, I've been knitting for about 30 years. I've knit all sorts of Aran sweaters. But lace just looks so...hard. Still, I think it might be fun for a new challenge, but I may just be kind to myself and save it for the new year. Right now, I have plenty of challenges on my plate!

I don't have to finish any knit projects for gifts this year, thank goodness. I made a vow to myself long ago never to knit to a deadline. That's the best way to ruin all the fun! But I still need to do 90% of my Christmas shopping. I know it's still 3 weeks until Christmas, but time has a way of sneaking up on me...

Like yesterday, for example, when Tim and I planned to take the kids to get a Christmas tree. We'd talked about it the day before. We even drove past the place we'd like to get one, just to make sure they had trees this year (yes!) and that the place looks suitably festive for a Christmas-tree-acquiring event (yes!). And Sunday came and went, and we totally forgot about it. Both of us. Didn't remember until this morning.

How could I forget about Christmas???