Christmas Knitting (Almost) Done!

Here's the Christmas knitting roundup:

For my neice, a pair of Faux-Felted Mittens (and a second pair, not photographed, for my sister) --

For my Aunt Alice, a sweater with a story --
This sweater was knit on size 13 needles with three strands of yarn in different colors held together. Aunt Alice gave me the bag of yarn and pattern (ordered as a kit from a magazine some years ago) this fall, saying she was never going to get to knit it (she has carpal tunnel problems) and so I might as well have the yarn and needles. I decided to go ahead and knit her the sweater for Christmas :) Her birthday is January 1, so I mailed both Christmas and birthday presents late last week, so she may be getting it today -- surprise! Even Don commented that it looked funny with me knitting on those huge needles. The most interesting part was crocheting the covers for the buttons -- I should have gotten a picture of me with my ipad on my lap, open to a crochet tutorial, while working on these.

Next up, the biggest project of the holiday, a sweater for my mother:
A few years ago, I offered to make my mother a sweater and she said she'd rather have a quilt. Well, it took a couple of years to get a quilt done for her, much to her dismay. Once she got a quilt she kept commenting how much she'd like a sweater like one or two I've made for myself. In August, there was a LYS near my sister which was closing and having a big sale. I scored this beautiful red Lambs Pride Worsted and made the cardigan version of Nordic Impression by Donna Kay. I have the same sweater in blue (also Lambs Pride), knitted when the boys were in 5th & 6th grade and it is one of my favorites. This one got presented with needles and yarn still attached on Christmas Day, but was finished the next day in time for Mom to wear it at the extended family Christmas party in Hermon. It fits!

And, last but not least, a Japanese Vines scarf from a cotton/linen blend yarn (Classic Elite Allegoro) for one son's girlfriend who is allergic to wool. This is the same woman I made the Saroyan scarf for last Christmas out of wool and alpaca -- they didn't tell me about her allergy until last summer. I hope this will soften up a bit when I block it. The yarn is rough on my fingers, but it is moving along pretty quickly now that all of the other projects are taken care of. She is coming to visit on Thursday, so that is my deadline.

I hope all of your holiday knitting is finished and that you are enjoying a breathing spell as you contemplate projects for the new year!

Santa Scene!

For years, we've done very little decorating outside our house. While cleaning out my parent's garage after their move last August, I inherited the family Santa Scene. The reason I inherited it is that I was there at the beginning of this project. You know how you have a few crystal clear memories from early childhood? Well, this is one of mine. My father found this pattern in one of his woodworking magazines. He made slides of the pattern and then he and I used a projector at the school where he was principal to draw them on plywood (well, real woodworkers would dispute whether it is plywood). That's the early memory - in a dark classroom, mesmerized by the magic of making the pattern bigger. Probably that was one of my earliest brushes with technology.

Then my mother painted the reindeer and Santa after my father cut out the shapes. So, this scene is at least 50 years old at this point. And, despite some uncertainty on Don's part, we have it up!
Now Don is inspired to put lights up - I guess he's getting into the holiday spirit :)

Little Treasures That Get You Through the Week

I was sharing a couple of smile moments from my week with Don and he commented that they were "little treasures that get you through the week." How true that is! Here are a few of mine:

1) Two of my students got into medical school and I learned about it just as I looked at my e-mail for the last time before leaving work on Friday. For one, it was her first admittance. For the other it was his second, but it was his most hoped for school. Nice way to end the week!

2) Another student e-mailed me a question to which I responded in my typical round-about fashion, indicating that there was no single answer and inviting him to come chat with me. He told me that he found my e-mail so thoughtful and helpful that he came to see me, then proceeded to pull out a printed copy of my e-mail with several things highlighted! Must be that wonderful liberal arts education I got that makes my e-mails so profound.

3) I finished a baby sweater which, darn it, I didn't take a picture of. But, it was cute.

4) My manicure from last weekend lasted all week.

5) My cat has sat in my lap two mornings this week. She likes to reach up and hold her head against my chin and makes me feel so loved.

6) One of our sons passed his oral defense of his senior comprehensive project. It is beginning to look like both of our sons will actually graduate from college in May (fingers crossed).

Not bad for what was actually a rather difficult week. The end of the semester is always full of tension on campus and that, combined with everyone's mounting holiday stress, the full moon keeping me from sleeping well, and the short days and early darkness really tends to make me weary. But, little treasures do keep you going!