mindless/mindful

Ah, Christmas. The whole season and holiday seems to whiz by faster and faster each year. Feels like we just put up the tree, yet it was over 3 weeks ago. It's starting to look dry and drop lots of needles now. Time to pack up and return to regular time. Boo. I like the magic and wish it could last a little longer. There's something about soft white twinkle lights that makes everything seem wonderful and happy.

The holidays tend to cause me some anxiety and tension, what with all the family visiting, trying to get together with everyone and spend as much time as possible with people we hardly ever get to see, the excess of gift-giving and food consumption...wow. It all adds up to make me want to crawl under a blanket in my comfy recliner and hide away.

So that is what I'm doing this week. I have set aside the plans I made to keep frantically knitting gifts and items for sale, ditched my plans to clean up the Etsy shop (for the moment), and dumped all thoughts of doing anything unpleasant. We have a couple of playdates lined up with friends and cousins, so I've vacuumed and straightened today. I intend to continue cleaning up a little each day, slowly packing away Christmas, easing into the new year.



After all the crazy holiday knitting, I feel compelled to pick up a hook for a change. I dug out the ziplock baggies of leftover 100% wool I've been stashing and began crocheting pretty little granny squares. SO easy, so fun, so satisfying. I've made about 20. I'll see how the color selection holds up. Maybe I'll put them together into a little blanket for AJ to snuggle under on very cold nights (100% wool is very warm, even with holes in it!), or maybe I'll pack them up and wait till the next time I have a whole bunch of leftovers and make lots and lots until I have an afghan's worth. Doesn't matter. What matters is that it's mindless and fun, and allows me to relax and ponder 2009 into 2010. As I stitch cluster after cluster my hands just know what to do, so I can mull over the past year, what I did well, where I could have done better, what I am thankful for...and consider 2010, thinking about what I'd like to accomplish over the next 12 months.

Nothing too intense, though. Mindless stitching, mindful work. A peaceful, calm end to a tumultuous year.

last of the knitted gifts (for Daughter)

I don't know about you, but I feel like I've been running around like a headless chicken these past few weeks.

Got a few more things done:


Knitted vest for Daughter. Free pattern from coats & clark website! (Too rushed to edit out the carpet in the pic, sorry.)


Knitted dolly sweater to match Daughter's vest.


Knitted dolly dress (from Handknit Holidays...a horrible, very poorly written/edited book, this pattern being no exception!)


Dolly petticoat (also from Handknit Holidays, mercifully this one was error-free.)


Dolly pullover, pattern found on Ravelry.

Now, in light of all that, I feel I deserve this:


A warm cup of (decaf) coffee, and some mindless dishrag knitting to relax with, while the children watch Rudolph for the seven-hundredth time.

Although there are still two days till Christmas...I could probably get another gift or two knitted...must fight the urge! Time to relax and enjoy!

(If anyone wants specific pattern/yarn info, leave a comment please, and I will answer. In a rush, trying to make this a quickie today!)

no time to blog...

Must



keep



knitting



for Christmas!

bleh

Ugh, we are sick AGAIN. Head colds for me & the kids this time around. If this keeps happening it's gonna be a loooooong winter.

Time to watch Tinkerbell for the seventy-hundredth time and try to catch a cat nap while the kids are otherwise occupied!

the best vest

I am so excited about this.



SO CUTE!

SO PREPPY!

My son will be sporting this wee vest for the Thanksgiving holiday. I love it, love it, love it.

Size 18 months, Patons Classic Merino in dark gray mix and cognac heather, US 7 needles. The pattern called for some kind of weird ribbing pattern, so I modified it to regular 2X2.

Did I mention that I love it??

The Nativity Story

Yesterday I sat down with Daughter, while she peacefully played with play doh, to try and gently explain "the reason for the season." As I started talking about going to church and celebrating baby Jesus' birth, she interrupted me.

So here is the Nativity Story, as told to me by Daughter, age 4.5:

"MOM, mom, mom, I know this story. Mary and Joseph looked for a place to stay. They went to the place but it was all stuffed with people. So the man pointed to where the cows and the donkeys and the horses stay. There they made a bed of straw for Mary in the hayloft. Then they went to sleep. But Mary woke up in the middle of the night, because she saw that the baby was born!"

(Daughter shrugs)

"And they wanted to name him Jesus."

So there you have it.



(Apparently Grandma has a book called "The Baby Jesus" and has read it with Daughter. I had no idea.)

just what i needed

It's amazing how bad a day can be, and then how equally good another can turn out.

Today I am basking in the glow of watching Daughter at her last swimming lesson, and being told by the teacher that she can move up to the next level after the holidays.

My to-do list got mostly accomplished over the weekend, and my family actually thanked me for scrubbing the bathroom.

Two nice, respectful, efficient men came to my house this morning and replaced our old, beat up, drafty, hollow-core wooden door that leads to the garage with a brand new, tight-fitting, fire-safe steel door in an hour and a half. My gosh, it looks gorgeous.

I took AJ for his second flu shot, and asked that he be quickly weighed. Turns out he is gaining steadily at about 1 lb/month, which is above average, even as we play around with his tube-feed calories to try and get him eating orally. Yes!

I am still reveling in thankfulness that the washing machine was not actually broken and did not require a several-hundred-dollar service call.

And the best, best, best thing - the mailman brought back the package containing two wool soakers I knit for an Etsy.com order and mailed over two weeks ago. The recipient moved and the forward didn't work for some reason. I thought the package got lost and I would have to reknit the items and mail them again at my cost. For some reason I was totally beside myself about it, and just about fell to my knees with relief and gratitude when the package showed up today. I will be re-sending the package priority mail with tracking this time!

Now I can make some tea, relax with the Christmas music playing on the radio, and work on the other knitting projects in the queue, while AJ naps and Daughter plays with play doh. Dinner is all ready (pulled bbq pork, defrosting, from a huge batch I made a few weeks back). The house is...well, it is clean enough! And there are no current laundry emergencies.

As you all know, I really, really, really needed a good day. And I am so thankful to be having one.