lifelong knitter

ADVENT

Tonight we light the first candle in the advent wreath and welcome the LIGHT into these shorter days and darker nights....take a moment and join us...hold someone's hand and pass the blessing!
The smell of the Christmas tree....the first layer of twinkling white lights has been draped. The kitties are prowling, waiting for a chance to pounce and shake the branches...sigh. Tasha Dog is on guard, vigilant and hoping for extra "good dog" treats.
Gingerbread is baking, carols are playing, what could be sweeter than this?
So may it be for you and yours...
Blessings,
this day as always...

O Tannenbaum!

Today is the day we get the TREE! Kiddos are positively elated, and I have to confess that it brings out the little girl in me as well....oh goody, the SMELL of a fresh tree....
We unwrap all of the ornaments from years past... lovingly stored in tissue paper...from my childhood and theirs...bubbling lights and a little tinsel...sigh.
My heartstrings are playing the song from the Charlie Brown Christmas special...
and last night by the light of the fireplace, I finished the Parisian Painting mitts for my studio partner's Christmas gift. One strand alpaca + one strand Italian virgin wool....size 4US needles and Melanie's fabulous pattern....wow. One down, um.....way too many to go...
12 days until surgery....send white light and extra prayers....
Gotta go find the tree skirt, everybody sing.....Jingle all the WAY!

I'm staying HOME

Although the circulars are falling out of the newspapers and reminders are everywhere that THIS is the biggest shopping day of the year....I am not going to be anywhere NEAR a major shopping mall. On purpose. Not just because I loathe traffic and go into sensory overload when confronted with hordes of maniacal shoppers on a Mission to procure the latest fad, but because there is simply nothing I NEED or WANT at a mall.
I remember the Sears Wish Book. When it arrived, the four of us took turns drooling over the glossy pages. We had an elaborate system for "sharing" this treasure, but nobody was allowed to mark up the pages. We all kept separate lists as I remember....until we were old enough to get the NEED vs.WANT lecture from my Daddy. What do you really WANT? He'd ask....and then the Lesson would begin. What do you NEED to DO to get what you WANT is till a mantra I use with myself when I am trying to solve a problem or overcome some feeling of lack. So today I am asking myself....what do I WANT? I want for nothing. My children are happily watching a movie after having breakfast and meds. We are going to putter around here, maybe go for a walk to the park later. I have what I NEED, too. Which is a deep sense of appreciation for these simple joys. My children are happy, and have the skills they need to become independent, compassionate, caring human beings. They love to be productive and useful, so later today we will find a home for some of our leftovers, gift a couple of dozen cookies, donate to the Food Drive.
Daughter bird has been knitting scarves for the homeless, decorating the Hall Tree with all of my stash yarns....we may go deliver those, too. Extra treats for the animals, we'll donate to our local humane society as well. I'll play the guitar this afternoon...I've discovered my hands ache now when I don't play! I've passed the blisters stage, and am relaxed enough to actually produce something resembling MUSIC.
Here's hoping you are Happy and Healthy and Warm and Dry, with enough Love to keep you satisfied.
A little music, a little grace, some knitting in front of the fireplace.....
SO MAY IT BE!
Blessings this day,
as always!

Gobble, gobble

We're in Turkey Day mode....Watching the parade in our jammies, planning the cooking strategy. our tradition is to bake cookies in the morning after the parade (to get the oven warmed up, dontcha know....) and then go into full scale COOKING mode....break out the Holiday music and sing! Daughter bird is in charge of the kitchen and does a fabulous job of coordinating everything.
BOY bird is so independent, I can hardly believe my wondering eyes. Miracle of miracles, I am so thankful for the many abundant blessings in my life...
My children are happy and healthy, lovely compassionate human beings I am proud to know. We have a safe warm roof over our heads, food to prepare and companion animals to share the bounty.
Family is faraway, spread around the globe....but near in our hearts.
Friends top my list of blessings to count. Old friends who have known me a long time and still love me, what an incredible, immeasurable treasure. Friends who live far away, but are close in spirit, whose children feel like my own and whose joys and sorrows I am priveleged to share...we give THANKS for the technology that makes this possible! New friends, especially this circle of support and sharing I have been blessed with in the last few years, open the possibilities endlessly.
We will gather at our table this year, bow our heads and hold hands, and think how amazing the Grace truly is. Be here with us in Spirit, to enrich our lives in ways we never imagined possible, and we will be with you and yours, wishing you
BLESSINGS, this day,
as always!

Oh BOY, oh boy!

I'm in nesting mode, getting the BOY's room ready for his Thanksgiving visit...
The windows on the Mommymobile are frosted over for the first time this year, but the sky is that incredible shade of autumnal blue, and I am making my lists and checking them twice.....
On my Artists Date yesterday I went back to the music store and played the Holy Grail for an hour. I didn't REALIZE it had been an hour until the manager tapped on the glass and pointed to his watch....sigh. It was heavenly to be in a soundproof womb of a room, alone with a guitar. No cell phone reception, nobody asking me "Do you know where the (fill in the item du jour) is?" and then of course the follow up question after they can't find it, even though it is usually just where I said to look...."It's not here,can you get me the (BLANK!)?" sigh. Anyway, I was happily playing, loving the way the neck of this particular guitar seems to feel so RIGHT in my hand....and this guy walks IN to the soundproof studio, talking (supposedly) on his cellphone. ACK! Go away, I'm having this incredibly intimate.....
NOW he does the thing I hate the most. He begins to speak much louder about things he THINK will impress me. He sees the guitar I am playing and asks me if it is MINE. I plot my escape route. I say icily that I am TRYING to play it but it is awfully hard to HEAR when someone is yelling on their cellphone to the head office...do you MIND? Clueless, he continues to talk, and does not leave the room. I turn my back and try to play. He does NOT get the hint and continues to do his schtick....grrrrrrrr.
I slide the guitar back into the case and LOCK it while he has his back turned momentarily. He walks out into the showroom to try and impress the young woman who is working at the counter. He asks for a particular brand of expensive reeds...she arches her eyebrows when he mentions the WRONG instrument
in conjunction with said reeds. She gives me the *gag me with a back hoe* look as I slip out the back door behind the sheet music, jump in the Mommymobile and check my rearview mirror for trailing slime.
Ewwwwwww. Here's the worst part. I KNOW this guy. He didn't recognize me....and he was entirely out of his element in a small music store in a rural part of the South....but I came home and checked the pictures from the trip to Australia....YEP. I never forget a face. Okay, that's hyperbole. I have an uncanny recollection for faces, and the auditory equivalent of a photographic memory. As soon as I heard his voice in the showroom, my internal five alarm alert was raised. He was dressed in sailing clothes in the middle of the day on a Tuesday during hours when the Market is open...code red alert.
I have no idea why this upsets me so much. Aside from the total lack of tact, I mean, which ruffles my feathers on any given occasion, this was just plain WEIRD.
Guess the Turkey Day parade started a little early this year....

Dream Weaver

Oh sure, now that I've been raving on about how great Typepad is...this morning we had a post-eating-no-comments accepted meltdown. sigh. So Sorry.
I am a huge Melanie Falick fan. Unabashedly so. When Knitting in America came out, it joined Kaffe Fassett 's books on the coffee table...eye candy,all.
So of course I ordered Weekend Knitting and figured I'd have it to enjoy once the holday madness settled down to a dull roar. Thanks to ANN, I opened it last night and started the mitts. WOW. Not that every project isn't a keeper, and don't get me started on the beautiful photography and...yes, well.
She wore those mitts while writing Knitting in America...I must have some...writing mitts! *HEE*
Thanks Ann....mwah! Different gauges and different hand sizes...well written easy to follow pattern...AND..it functions! They function, whatever...WOW!
Are you humming Oh-oh DREAM Weaver....
giggle.
This is Danger Girl,
reporting LIVE
from jammie central...

Monday Monday

If the title to this post causes you to begin humming....we need to form a team for the "name that tune" portion of the Knitbloggers Virtual Slumber party. I think this soiree should coincide with the drawing of names for Em's fabulous gift exchange idea. Selfishly of course, this would mean I could actually participate, being entirely confident I will be well on the road to recovery by then. Extremely cool pajamas (extra points for literary references) will be worn, chocolate will be faxed (I've almost figured out how to do this....) and much hilarity will ensue. Knitted items will be shared, and swooning will commence.....Webcams are getting cheaper by the minute....do we dare???
What did Danger Girl have for breakfast? Glad you asked. LUNA bars chocolate peppermint dipped in strong black coffee......in a really big cuppa. YEP. Gotta get myself motivated to swab the decks and clear out some space....I'm feeling cluttered, and Turkey day is nearly here....
Don't let the Turkey goblins get you down....

Wardrobe!

I'm ready for my close up! I have three FABULOUS handmade silk eye patches, generously and beautifully crafted by my studio partner....a PARROT (purchased at the Halloween wharehouse) and now I'm on a search for Pirate pj's....cuz wouldn't that be just the coolest?
I am so grateful that I will be able to have Thanksgiving with both of my children home to help me count my many abundant Blessings...and that duaghter's 21st (ACK!) birthday will be celebrated a few days before the surgery. I'm hoping that I'll be at least able to participate in the Christmas and Hannukah festivities...that's the PLAN, anyway.
This scarf yarn is the yummiest. Not only does it look like candy, it FEELS so incredibly kittenish.....sigh.
I got one of my Christmas present early. Geek Girl that I am.....been craving an ipod. Now I can download all the goodies from NPR and audiobooks and music and oh joy oh bliss...how cool is this?
A Pirate with a parrot and an ipod....
This is Danger Girl,
reporting live
from the TECHNOGEEK department
of the Audio Channel.....

Fuzzy Wuzzy

Actual HOLIDAY knitting! *hee* This stuff is SO fuzzy and delicious...Berroco PLUSH, for those of you keeping track.
Daughter bird is playing handbells on a float in the Christmas parade this morning....Hope your day is filled with sweet music and tidings of great JOY!

Holiday Knitting

Almost every set of needles in my collection has something in progress....A swatch here, the beginning of a scarf there, two wave shawls, the always present HAT of the week...it must be NOVEMBER! Yep, without giving away what I'm knitting for whom and why...I woke up this morning in a knitting panic. Last night I was happily humming Christmas carols after having received an invitation to go caroling with a Madrigal group and the Math Goblin showed up....with his evil horde of calendar goblins.
Nasty, slimy lot, these. Persistent.
Saaaaaaay, he sniveled from his perch on the back of the couch....Any idea what Day it is? How many actual knitting days there are left until the Pack and Ship deadline? Oh and lookee here, we have a surgery date in let's see......how many days?
Yeah, yeah, go take a hike. Everybody knows I'm having surgery. If they don't get the usual hand made goody this year, they will understand. They will love me any way....
Note to SELF: DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS MIND.
I happily continued to knit the Koigu square...ok now just ONE more row and then I am really going to sleep. Really I am...REALLY (yawn).
To sleep, perchance to dream....ACK! Wide awake at 2AM with a mouthful of cat hair. Ooooof. Small paws, with claws, kneading the heck out of my flannel Tigger jammies. GET UP! Feed the cats,and then it kicks in. The DREAD. Seeds planted earlier by the Math Goblin begin to expand exponentially.
OMG. I'll never get it all done.
Poisonous weeds of doubt and fear germinate rapidly, spreading like Kudzu...
Right on cue, the hordes are back, clambering over each other to hurl invectives at me...
What a mess in here, why can't you just start one thing and finish it like a GOOD girl? How much have you spent on yarn? You'll never amount to anything sitting here on the couch, knitting!
NOW WAIT JUST A MINUTE!
It is almost 4AM. I am tired. I am going back to sleep now. You guys wanna stay up and do the knitting yourselves? HUH? Cuz I don't see YOU doing anything useful or decorative or even the least bit productive, so do SHUT UP and MAKE something of yourselves or you will have to wear little pink hats with matching booties..in squinchy CHEAP acrylic. Here, let me turn on the light and take your measurements....
POOF! gone.
Another hour and a half of fitful sleep, not the restful dreamy slumber I am after....might as well just get UP. The Panic comes back. In waves.
YOGA. Morning Pages. Brainstorm. List. There that's better.
Here's the PLAN: If you are on my List, and I do not finish your gift before my surgery, you WILL in all likelihood, receive a lovely gift card from Heifer International with a donation made on your behalf.
Please be patient with me.
I'm in the trenches,
Fighting the Goblin Wars.
NOW. Where IS that Lute?