As The Yarn Turns

A Very Good Christmas

The turkey is thawing. The cornbread is ready to be made into stuffing. The apple pie has been made. The Christmas tree is up but we've had a little problem keeping it watered since the ferrets think it's a fancy water bowl.

(We don't put anything into the tree water for that reason.) The tree has been decorated and then undecorated by the ferrets and decorated again, and again.

After all, the tree is full of bright, shiny, colorful objects perfect for stealing. Today I did my periodic cleaning of the ferrets' favorite hiding places and found: one brass candlestick complete with candle, a detachable 3 foot radio antenna, several little soccer balls that Rick planned to use in a magic trick, a ring box, the mouse for my laptop, and a spool of thread. I've retrieved several ornaments over the past few days. It hard to keep stuff from disappearing in this house, especially around Christmas.

I just have a little bit of wrapping to do, and I'm done. I decided to take it easy and not get into the Christmas consumer frenzy this year. I'm glad I did. There's been no knitting frenzy other than a few catnip toys - a mouse and a square folded into a triangle. I've mostly avoided the shopping frenzy.

I did have time to bake some bread for some friends who very much deserved a little extra something this year and to spend some time with them. This is the kind of Christmas I like. No mad dashing about, just time to relax and enjoy your friends and family.

I hope your holidays fulfill your wishes this year too.

by Sydney  |

Happy Winter Solstice

Today is the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere and summer solstice for you folks on the other half of the earth. That means winter has officially started and we are having the longest night of the year. From here, the days will gradually get longer until we hit the summer solstice. I guess I'm one of those rare people who actually like fall and winter. The air feels so much clearer. Unfortunately, it also means my progress photos are usually taken at night with a flash.

We actually managed to get lights on the tree yesterday and our stockings hung. I even sent out a few cards. I think that's an all time record for me. Tonight I'll probably hang some ornaments on the tree and a few more tasks and I'll be good to go. I promised myself that I would bake something for some friends, but I should be able to get that done before Christmas. The best news, we'll be off from Christmas Eve through New Year's Day. I really looking forward to some quality knitting, spinning, and organizational time. I really really need some organizational time.

I'm still working on the Rambling Rows Afghan. It's getting some size on it now which means it's getting harder to photograph. Of course, the fact that it's the longest night tonight doesn't help either. The chances of getting a photo during daylight hours is almost impossible.

The colors don't show well. It's a combination of navy, blue, turquoise, purple, and cranberry (a deeper red). It's looking good. I'll probably take some time out to weave some ends in soon.

I'm finally feeling rested up from the weekend. There was a day or two where I was actually too tired to knit garter stitch. Now that's tired. Speaking of which, if you're interested, you can see a video of one of our magic illusions in WMV format. It's almost 10 MB and 5 minutes so take that into consideration if you're on a slower connection.

Okay I'm off to finish decorating a tree.

by Sydney  |

Back to the Real World

So where I have I been? I've been here.

And my name has been up in lights here.

Yes, that's right. Rick and I did a magic show this weekend at the local Shoals Theatre. We had loads of fun and a great audience, but now we're completely exhausted. The theater itself is so nice. It's an older theater with wonderful acoustics. It's a shame that it isn't used more often.

We've been so caught up in doing the show that our tree is still not decorated. We do have some decorations outside. We've bought Christmas cards but haven't sent any out yet. We've bought a few gifts and I just might not buy many more. If I could get by without doing the whole gift exchange thing, Christmas would be much better. I rarely do Christmas knitting except for a few small things like knitted ornaments or felted catnip toys. So everything is under control there.

Not that I don't have knitting projects I'm working on. I'll go ahead and apologize right now to anyone who has been enticed into knitting the Ramblin' Rows afghan . That's how I got started, seeing it on other web sites. It's not that difficult to knit. After doing the three types of blocks a few times, I could practically do them in my sleep. There is enough variation that it keeps you interested without being overly challenging. It can get bulky to work on as it gets bigger though, since you knit each block on the afghan rather than knitting blocks and sewing them together. (There's got to be a better way to say that, but my brain is mush.) It keeps you warm while you're working on it though. I've also been working on my socks but they've taken a back seat to the afghan lately.

The good news is that I don't really have that much more to go before they are finished. That's assuming that Katie doesn't get them first.

That's Katie wrestling the sock knitting pouch to the ground. It can be dangerous to leave your knitting around here.

I'm off to do some knitting.

by Sydney  |