Fast Away the Old Year Passes

We drove down to Mundelein today to do a holiday lunch with the Heitmans. It was fun--Will was able to join us and Claire was there too. We went to the Last Chance Saloon in Grayslake, the type of old-timey saloon-y restaurant chock full of memorabilia that's fun to look at. Well, except that I was seated looking at a wall full of ornately framed pictures of guys being hanged. Let's hear it for festive decor!

We always do Christmas of some sort with Rose, Jeff,and their family. We decided a long time ago that since none of us have much family in the area, we'd be family to each other. That's worked out well. Choosing one's family is most always a fortunate opportunity to make some improvements. Or in my case, to even HAVE some family at all. Rose and I have known each other since we were eighteen-year-old college freshmen and we even found out that we have a family relationship, tenuous but genuine. I won't glaze anyone's eyes over by going into the details but finding your chosen family really IS family--now, that's pretty cool.

After lunch we had gift opening back at La Casa de Heitman, and got to enjoy the Heitman menagerie, which currently consists of two lovely doggies, Morgun and Duncan.

The two on the left are new: Rose knows I collect Christmas ornaments on skis

Back home by 5 p.m. Will left for New Year's Eve revelry with his peeps and we settled in for a quiet evening with some smoked salmon, some shrimp, and some Bailey's Irish Cream.

A quiet New Year's Eve calls for a bit of introspection. Tonight my mind is on the three old friends I lost in the space of four weeks in March of 2005. I'm remembering holiday seasons when they were a vital part of my life--back when everything was light and cheery and we didn't know that someday Christmastime would come with baggage of times and people lost forever. Perspectives get altered when death starts to take friends in my own age bracket. I'm thinking tonight about my own good fortune being healthy and content in my life and I'm sending good thoughts along to others who are remembering Maribeth, Jerry, and Kathy tonight, and to other absent friends too.

Rounding Out the Year

Here's my baby boy opening birthday gifts and admiring his brand new, completed, and blocked Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf. Yay! He likes it. He's done a bit of knitting too, so he appreciates it and admired the right stuff and said the right stuff too. Bless his heart.

Will was a great gift to our family. My father had died in the spring of that year, when I wasn't quite sure yet that I was pregnant. Will's impending arrival was something to hold on to and to anticipate throughout that year, for my mother and for me. The cliche about a door closing but a window opening was never more true than in this case.

So my dad never knew this grandson who turned out to be so much like him. To me, that will always be the most enduring sorrow about my dad's death. There just wasn't enough time.

But a birthday is for celebrating, and his always rounds out the old year in a quietly festive way. Will is our imp, our Peter Pan--all six foot four inches of him. Happy Two Dozenth Birthday!

Will drove out from the city after work. We had planned to go out for a celebratory pizza and a glass, or two, of some lovely beverage, but the roads were dicey and we all decided a pot of Cincinnati Chili on the kitchen table would do nicely. And it did.

The Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf is now ready for its closeup. And I'm happy to say that a little astute detective work on my part (i.e. finding part of a skein label was wound inside one of the balls of yarn) solved the mystery of exactly what this yarn is. It's Charisma by Manukau Wools of New Zealand, color 950, purchased at Prairie Junction Yarn in Sun Prairie. Very pleasing yarn that I would happily use again. I liked the way the color changes in the yarn were used to good effect in the scarf pattern, but quietly so.

Today was a day off for me, which was just super. A four-day weekend is a rare enough occurence. Oh wait! I'll have another four-day weekend in a mere two weeks. Ha.

Time Between

Christmas came and went in a rush. We had a houseful, and suddenly they were all gone and the place is quiet once again. Caroline and Eric flew back to Washington and Toronto, respectively, and Will went back to Milwaukee.

Will's departure was made more action-packed by the loss of his wallet. He hunted everywhere with no luck. We hunted everywhere with no luck. We went through all the Christmas wrappings, we picked through the garbage. He finally went back to Milwaukee, figuring it HAD to be among his things somewhere. But next day, he drove back out here, not having found it and now figuring it HAD to be in this building somewhere. Pleased to say the story ends happily--the wallet was found, having dropped down out of view in his room here. Now I can rest--that sort of thing is nightmare material for me, after having been pickpocketed once in Paris.

I always like the week between Christmas and New Years. A bit of the holiday luster remains, but at a much, much lower key. And I'm more than ready for that. We still have quite a bit of party food on hand, but that's coming under control too.

The scarf is still not finished. I ran up against uncertainty with the final triangle of the Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf. Not sure if it's my being dense or if the directions are the merest bit unclear. After a couple false starts, I think I'm on the right track and with luck, will finish it tomorrow. Then I can get it blocked and ready for the birthday boy.

I always did like this yarn, even though I can't any longer recall just exactly what it is. And ten minutes worth of Googling didn't turn up any answers. But it's from New Zealand--I do remember that. And it's lovely and variegated. I'm knitting it on size 7 needles. I think that gives it just the right amount of spring and bounce and loft.

And at the library today, a little Christmas miracle: A patron who has been unaccountably rude in several encounters came up to my desk out of the blue and apologized, hoping to "break down the wall between us". I was touched by the gesture--he comes across as a take-no-prisoners type guy, and apologies may not come easy to him. I'm happy to try to get off on a new footing with this guy. Never did understand what the problem was and did my best to shrug it all off.

Quiet Christmas Night

Christmas here has been a whole lotta relaxin' in front of the fire. And Christmas Eve was the same. I did have to put in a fair amount of kitchen time--grazing has continued from sun-up to bedtime. It was worth it, as far as I'm concerned. Santa was good to us and everyone is content.

The bittersweet part of Christmas is that it always brings thoughts of family and friends who are no longer with us. We honored their memory by telling some favored frequently-retold stories of Christmas Past and by making a few special recipes that always conjure up the memories. The kids have heard the stories so many times that the relatives they never knew are very real to them. Caroline made ginger cookies this afternoon, from my grandmother's recipe. A perfect touch.

This afternoon my cousin Jane and family came for holiday cheer and a laid-back dinner. The menu included stuffed shells, glazed carrots, asparagus, an excellent salad and garlic bread(both courtesy of Jane), and cherry cheesecake dessert.

I intend to do as little as possible tomorrow, and what little I do had better include some knitting. The Birthday is now looming five days away and the heat is on to finish the mutidirectional scarf already.

Hurrays!

Hurray for the greatest holiday time waster of all time--SnowDays virtual snowflake maker! I just adored cutting folded paper snowflakes and valentines when I was a kid. This site lets you relive all those childhood art projects. You can save your masterpiece, send it to friends, or just let it flutter down on the site's ever-changing display.

And hurray for the best Christmas-season gift to the country from the Federal District Court in Harrisburg, PA. I love the no-nonsense language of this ruling, and how it minces no words in castigating the Dover Township School Board members who wasted taxpayers' money on such an excursion. In this modern world, triumphs of common sense are rare enough. We need to celebrate!

The Solstice

As of yesterday, it's finally winter. This is a bit of a joke around here, as winter descended pretty definitively around Thanksgiving and hasn't released its grip even a little tiny bit. Frigid temperatures, a fair amount of snow--we are feeling somewhat mentally socked in. And our long driveway is a bumpy and icy mess, thanks to our snow blower dying last weekend. We dealt with the problem by driving up and down the drive about 50 times to pank the snow (as they say so endearingly in the Upper Peninsula). Yes, it's passable but it has the character of a washboard. An icy one. If the temps stay cold, it may remain that way for some time. Joy.

It was with this feeling of an endless winter stretching ahead that I was zipping through my blogroll yesterday and came on this lovely post from Mamacate. She writes about living with the darkness and cold, but with the sustaining comforts of inner light and warmth.

It's true--we look inward for warmth at this time of year. If we're fortunate there is much warmth to be had--the comforts of family drawing close for the holidays, the glow of candlelight, the crackle and scent of an open fire in the hearth, way too much comfort food. Winter has its compensations.

I like the idea of celebrating the winter solstice. There's something very appropriate about honoring the discernable features of the year. In doing it, we're celebrating our passage through the world and staying mindful of our own seasons and time. A candle lit for the solstice is a small spot of warmth and shelter, a small symbol of abiding.

All In All, A Good Day

It was an excellent day for people who think.

Eric, my DD's boyfriend, blew in tonight from Toronto. Unfortunately, my DD herself is suffering from the flu or something equally dreadful, and feels like death warmed over. She went to bed early and hopes for better things for tomorrow.

The rest of us had a great dinner of Black Bean and Sweet Potato Stew, a variation on a recipe from Vegan Planet. Caroline had Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. In sickness, we all revert to childhood, don't we?

The scarf recipient was nice enough to pick up Eric at the airport and bring him out here. So I had to reward him with dinner. The downside of that is: no knitting, no sewing. Eleven o'clock at night, he's still here, and I still have dishes to do!

Still and all, a special luster today. Gives me some hope. A good day.

Goings On

Work continues of the Multi-directional Scarf. It's about half done. As long as the recipient stays out of the house, there is a ghost of a chance of its being completed. But I have a great fallback--the recipient just happens to have a late December birthday. So there's always an emergency backup deadline date. That's immensely helpful.

The goodies are beginning to pour in at work. Today's haul included a box of chocolates, fancy pretzels with mustard dip, and a plate of cookies, fudge and spiced nuts. I'm-a likin' that too.

Dietary changes will happen after January 1. Enough said about that for the time being.

In the meantime, the inbox contained something a bit more intriguing than the usual forwards and spams today. Casey and I were blown away by Habu Textiles when we saw their booth at Rosemont last spring. Looks like there's a sale going on. I don't dare look too closely at the sale page on their site. But I did explore enough to see that they have kits for some very wonderful and offbeat garments, bags, and scarves. The idea of knitting a jacket in stainless steel yarn sounds like quite an adventure...

Holiday Surprises Begin

The secret is out at last--Caroline altered her travel plans in order to be home in time to attend the library teen group holiday party Friday night. And were they surprised when she waltzed in! She had volunteered with the group all last year, and was an all-around listening ear and strong shoulder to lean on for all. The picture pretty much says it all.

Cute kids. More teen party goings-on is here.

Holiday prep is going at full-speed here. We're cleaning and polishing and preparing for a party here tonight--library staff, volunteers, and trustees. A bit of wine will flow, but not enough to keep us from being bright-eyed Monday morning at 9 a.m.

A little bit of knitting is all that's happening. Very sad and sorry, but that's the way it is at this time of year. The Christmas noose is beginning to tighten.

Home Vignette Thursday

I'm in a Flickr group that shares home vignette photos once a week. This is my element, since in another lifetime I did retail visual merchandising for ten years. I was the queen of vignettes. And the queen of flying clothing--hand me a roll of fishline, a box of pins, and a staplegun, and I could make magic. Many memorable people--the words "work" and "party" were pretty much synonymous.

Those days are behind me now. My brand of magic now consists of obtaining a snowmobile repair book for someone in one day, or Christian romance novel sleight of hand (make several appear where previously there were none...).

At least I don't have to spend eight hours a day on a rickety ladder any more. And I can safely wear a skirt to work if I choose.

But anyway. It's fun to put these little scenes together, or to photograph what's already arranged. This above is my dad in his younger days.

Heading to the couch to knit.

Teapot Weirdness

Hey check it out! I got mentioned in a British teapot blog as having the Christmas teapot of the day. Thanks, Andy! Be sure to check out his regular site for a wonderfully whimsical line of teapots

This one of mine is one of the craziest teapots I've ever seen, and the fact that it's Christmas-y completes the quirkiness. None of that sappy-dopey Chirstmas stuff for me. It was on sale at Soap and Pepper and just jumped into my arms saying, "Take me home with you". What else could I do?

Art and fiber content here is really suffering. Yesterday I used up my bonus free time wrapping gifts and getting about half the Christmas cards done. Not a single stitch sewn or knitted.

Sigh.

Surprise!

Where is Kathie? At work, even though we're technically closed--our closing policy is tied to the local school district's, and amazingly enough, they decided that this was a closing-worthy day.

I was all dressed ready for work and eating breakfast this morning when I discovered that it was a snow day. Huh? We're predicted to get four to six inches, maybe, throughout the day. But this is the scene outside right now, late morning, and maybe it's just my jaded attitude but it hardly looks like a crisis situation to me.

If the dreaded snow does come, rush hour could be a bit...interesting...for commuters. So eternally glad I don't have those long drives with school kids anymore. My kids' school was located in a more urban district that never closed, and there were some days when it was mighty bad out here in the hinterlands. We were expected to get there, and we usually always did.

Insert your favorite stock comment here about winter in the good old days and how we struggled...

I plan to finish up a few loose ends here--nothing gets in the way of my getting those overdue notices in the mail--and then the Beetle and I will head for home to take advantage of a few free hours.

Footprints

Our house backs up to a lovely broad meadow. It's beautiful in a serene and spare way in all seasons of the year, but especially so in winter, right after a snowfall. The snow is sparkly and absolutely pristine. But it doesn't stay that way for long.

There is an incredible amount of animal activity around here, especially at night. We see deer and turkey occasionally, and this past summer was the season of the crane, but we are aware of much going on that we never see.

Until a snowfall. The evidence is unmistakable--footprints all over the place. This morning there were tiny lacy bird prints under the feeders, the trail of two deer so close to the house that they must have literally looked in the windows, and dog-like tracks in front that point to a coyote having been just about on our front porch. If we were a bit more techno, we'd set up cameras to try to catch some of the nocturnal rambling. Wouldn't that be a treat?

In fiber-related news: with Christmas a scant two weeks away, and my son's December 30 birthday closing in fast, it seemed about time to start the scarf for him that I've been planning for oh, a couple months now. This holiday season has been rolling out entirely too smoothly. It's time to get a little deadline tension going. And so, on Friday night, I started this scarf.

Of course, within ten minutes of my casting on, he arrived from the city, with all his gear, planning a snowboarding day with friends at Alpine Valley on Saturday. So that was the end of my knitting on Friday night. But in odd moments during the weekend, some progress has actually happened.

It's the Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf that's been all over the internet. It seemed a great way to use up about a skein and a half of the yarn left over from my first sweater, knit a couple years ago. Does it betray my relative newness as a knitter that I can no longer recall what this yarn is? It came from New Zealand...I bought it in Sun Prairie. That's as far as my brain can stretch. The colors are darker than this photo conveys--navy is the predominant color.

The waviness is due to stretch from the needle. I think a good blocking will have everything treading the straight and narrow. This is a great yarn for a directional pattern like this, and I'm pretty pleased to be able to use up some leftovers from the stash. So this will be a FREE gift!

And with this, a heartfelt thanks to the much-more-skillful-than-I knitters who design great patterns and then post them on the Internet so that hacks like I am can use them for free. A few years ago, most of what was available free in patterns on the Web was generic and tired. Now there's all kinds of great stuff out there, only a Google search away. I wish I could pay it forward, and post a pattern of my own. But I doubt if I'll ever advance into that rarefied strata of gifted knitters. All I can do is offer a humble thank you.

A Little Cup of Christmas Rant

It's official. I have had it with the so-called War on Christmas, and with the small-minded folk who promote and buy into such silliness.

The Washington Post ran this article on the trumped up controversy over President and Mrs. Bush's selection of Christmas card this year. Now I am no fan of George W. Bush or of any aspect of his presidency but GOOD GRIEF. The card shows a snowy White House scene, with the Bush Scotties romping. And the card includes wishes for a "Happy Holiday Season". Sounds absolutely charming. What fault is there to find with any of this?

Plenty. For one thing, it's not depicting a religious scene. But this gets better--some self-appointed Christmas police have decreed the card's message from the Book of Psalms to be symptomatic of some sort of encroaching secular pandemic because it's not a message from the New Testament. Now religious messages have to pass a litmus test to be decreed religious enough?

I don't think there is anyone who is not aware that religion and faith loom very large in the life of George W. Bush. Some of us wish he would tone it down just a notch, but that's beside the point. For anyone to impugn his feelings about Christmas is nothing but laughable.

When do expressions like "Holiday Season" and "Happy Holidays" become controversial? When small-minded people decide to take issue with time honored phrases that up till this year conveyed warmth, and good will, and seasonal spirit. Using "Holiday Season" is a convenient way to encompass all the religious and cultural groups celebrating something at this time of year. Is that so bad? Or perhaps some people just don't like coming to grips with the ever increasing multi-cultural reality of modern America?

Most everyone in America celebrates Christmas to some extent. Given today's relentless retail Christmas bombardment which begins around September 1, it's pretty hard to get away from it all, no matter what your heritage or creed. But you just can't assume everyone is Christian, especially when some self-proclaimed arbiters of such things define it ever more narrowly all the time.

This is a time of year of multiple holidays. Let's enjoy them all in a spirit of Peace and Good Will, and leave off with the semantical wrangling.

Please.

Imagining

I'm remembering 25 years ago tonight, hearing the unfathomable news about John Lennon's murder. And what do I remember? I was up late sewing that evening, listening to Johnny Carson, and making a Raggedy Ann doll for my daughter, who had just turned two years old.

The news broke in with the first bulletin. Such a sad moment, one of endings and disillusion for those of us of a certain age who followed the Beatles and saw in them life, and promise, and in their music the shining future where everything would be different and our generation would remake the world.

Well, in reality nothing much ever changed, and John Lennon's death brought home the painful truth that my generation was more than up to the challenge of screwing up and squandering brightness and possibility in its own unique way. Every generation is, isn't it? That shiny future eventually tarnishes around the edges for everyone. And we all have much to be reflect upon about as life unfolds.

But we go on.

In the year after that night many things would happen in my own life. My father would die, a job would be lost, we would move, there would be the challenges of the needs of a dear but troubled step-son, we would be preparing for a new baby, I would begin to make quilts. Doors close and doors open.

I keep sewing; it has only opened doors for me and enriched my life in innumerable ways. As with the Raggedy Ann doll that was born on the night John Lennon died, my sewing has marked the occasions, big and small. I will always be so grateful to have been gifted with the ability to create. It expresses what's inside, what I see, what I feel, and what I'd like to be. There's much to be sad and disillusioned about in the world today. But I always see a glimmering reason to go on--a vision of the next project is burning bright in my mind. Much yet to imagine and to accomplish.

SeemsLikeFun

My regular sewing group is called Seamsforfun, and we meet monthly at Bonnie's home in Wales, Wisconsin. How long have we been together? Five years? Maybe more? We've all known each other much longer of course. The roots of the group are among several of us who worked together at The Quilt Shop Which Will Remain Nameless, and among those of us who remain part of a congenial and loosely organized statewide online quilting group. And some of is know each other through involvement in the sport of curling.

We meet monthly. Usually we all wolf down fast food and set up and sew till 10:30 or so, but tonight was our annual holiday party. Food was the centerpiece, with gifts and Show and Tell in supporting roles. Wassail! Wine! Two desserts! It just doesn't get any better than that.

Everyone in the group has different interests and talents in the realm of quilting and needlework, everyone does absolutely stellar work and I always come away inspired. Show and Tell is always a trip, especially when someone like this queen of toile and all things ladylike, goes a little nuts and gives us bright colors and craziness.

Most everyone gravitates toward traditional quilts, but a couple of us are kind of maverick-y. Might we be having an effect?

In short, a great group--supportive, funny, mega-talented. Can't wait to get together again next month. Can we do presents again??

End of Day

It's nice to end a day like this. A nice fire, feet up, knitting meditatively. An added bonus was that Will was here, so there was good conversation.

We had a gang in today for the Packers/Bears game. The Olsens and the Heitmans came, and the boys all watched football and the girls all chatted. Tons of food. Once again, I was too carried away to actually remember to take pictures DURING the gathering.

This is the Wallaby sweater in the picture. Things are going along well. I got the pocket fused into the body and now I'm just doing row after mindless row of stockinette, working my way up to the armholes. This is Black Water Abbey yarn, color Lichen. It's a neutral for sure, but it's heathery, with every color of the rainbow mixed in. I'm liking.

I also took a big step and tackled a project from the procrastination pile. It's a tartan wool jumper, with way too much fullness in the skirt. The plan is to take it apart, remove some fabric from the skirt, and put it all back together again. And it's now all apart. I count that as progress.

Is it Monday already? Arrrrgh.

Full-Scale Assault by Mother Nature

You wouldn't describe this scene as a "Full-Scale Assault by Mother Nature"? How strange. That's what they're telling us on TV this morning, and told us all throughout the day yesterday. I'm confused. If they say it on TV, it must be true.

I love how the local TV stations turn weather such as this into a full-scale media event. Yes, it's December. Yes, it has snowed a bit. Must we have consant breathless video reports telling us that "It's STILL snowing!" and that "Traffic is snarled all over the area!" They work each weather system with the relentlessness of Anderson Cooper out in the middle of Hurricane Katrina. One would think this was something other than a meager drift of approximately 2 inches of snow, which ought to be fully expected and very normal in December. Isn't this Wisconsin after all?

I know the TV stations have huge investments in meteorological equipment and have to justify that investment and their own existence oover and over and OVER, but it's the 4th of December people, and this really isn't too bad. I suspect we will survive.

Despite this cataclysmic weather event, I was able to make my way to the mall yesterday and put in a little Christmas shopping time. Will and I met up at The Gap, special coupon in hand (it being a special discount weekend for friends and family of Gap employees, and we are fortunate to have one of those in the family). We shopped what we needed to shop and finished with a noodle-y lunch, and I had a coupon for that also. Once in a while I can keep my wits about me and stay organized.

The rest of the day was spent in food prep, fun stuff. We're having some friends in today for the Packers/Bears game. Pork barbecue is on the menu, as well as marinated cucumbers, a calico corn and bean salad, and chocolate applesauce cake, plus assorted cheese spreads, dips, and associated chips and crackers.

Knittingful Holidays

Is this perfect or what? Over at Mason-Dixon Knitting, they have been gifted with these wonderful Christmas ornaments. I sure wish I had people who sent me stuff.

Allsorts

Now I don't think I'm really borderline OCD, although this may make you wonder: I have never been able to let go of one particular childhood quirk. This isn't like a compulsion, but if I have a handful of M&Ms, I will tend to unconsciously consume them in a certain color order. The order has changed through the years, especially after they stopped making that light brown color. But basically, it's brown, yellow, orange, green, blue, red. And the seasonal assortments do cause some dithering. (And I will go on record saying that black M&Ms are just wrong.)

Anyway, my son sent me this link. This thing would save me a lot of time.

Out of work early today and into the studio. Net result: one Christmas gift completed and some much-needed straightening done. Maybe it will help me to think better.

I have so darn many WIPs sitting around in there, even on the floor. Everywhere I look is chaos, making it hard to think and plan. There's the patched-jeans cover for my daughter's papasan, still in very early stages; a winter coat that's been sitting uncompleted for over a year, lacking only BUTTONHOLES; there's a sweatshirt that just needs some quick applique...; there's a jumper needing alteration; there's a half-completed jacket from last spring.

And on and on and ON.

I got some items filed and some others put away. This alone feels like progress.