not knitting for everyone this year

As you know, I am a hand-maker-of-things. Knitting is my craft, I can do rudimentary crochet, am a not-to-shabby cook and I pride myself on my baking. I am okay with a sewing needle, a menace with embroidery, draw great stick people and can do rather a lot with pencil crayons and paper.

Since being with Dan's family, I have created almost exclusively knit items for the family for Christmas. They appreciate it, see, and it is way more fun to knit things for people who appreciate them. (A few years ago, someone in my family threw something I had knit in the garbage because there was a hole in it, not realizing it was a simple mend). So with Dan's family, that's about ten people. Then if I knit for my sister, her kids, and my mum, we're up to 14. For the past few years, almost every gift has been knitted or at least handcrafted in some way. This is largely a function of time and money, since we haven't been in a position to spend lots of money on presents, but also because of my state of paid employment. I'm finding myself for the fifth winter in a row with not much work (2007 & 2008 I was in grad school, so that sort of doesn't count).

I joke about being "a woman of leisure" at the moment, because I have so much time on my hands. I go to bed and wake up when I want. I take my time with my morning coffee, and my to-do lists for the day are generally small and flexible. All this sounds wonderful, right? To be honest, I feel terribly inefficient. I mean, on the one hand, it is very good for my health to be able to relax this way, to get some much needed rest, and I am getting some time to work on my 'stuff' (there is a lot of stuff going on in my head, I'll tell you about it sometime). On the other hand, yes, I would love to be working and earning some money, which would take my mind off my 'stuff' and provide some framework for how I organize my day. But I digress.

One toast mitten for Christmas 2009

There have been a few late-night Christmas eves where Dan and I would be madly working trying to finish up the last few gifts to take over for the family on Christmas Morning. The toast mittens in particular took WAY longer than I thought, because after they had been knit, they still needed to have the ends woven in and the liners inserted. By 2:30am we decided that John would just get one toast mitten for Christmas and the other for his birthday, two days later. That was one of those years where, after knitting gifts for everyone, I said NEVER AGAIN, and "next year, everyone is getting gift cards!"

The other toast mitten joins its partner two days later in 2009

So.

This year, because of my state of uncertainty and not knowing where I would be for Christmas, I didn't make any plans to knit things for the family. Not really. I also didn't think I had enough yarn in what was left of my wee stash to be able to pull it off in time anyway. Then, by late November, it became apparent that yes, I will still be in Canada for Christmas and yes I will be with the family on Christmas day. And I have no income. Crap. Better figure something out.

So then I got really creative. Of course I can't tell you anything about that just now, but list-making and planning and knitting began in earnest.

Now, I will say right here that I did not sign myself up for a breakneck knitting schedule, not everyone will receive knitted items this year. There will be a few small items that will be purchased, some have been purchased already, and I hope the family will understand why they are so modest. I'm sure they will.

So as I am knitting on the last thing for a Christmas gift, I am really looking forward to preparing the other family Christmas surprise, which I will blog about afterwards.

For Christmas 2010, Toast mittens are joined by the Toester

 

There is really a lot of stuff happening in my life that I simply can't blog about. All I can tell you, dear reader, is that when someone says to me "how are you?", I can honestly answer "pretty well, all things considered". I've been living almost seven months without my husband and he told me yesterday that I will see him next month, whether for a visit or for our grand road trip to North Carolina. With our luck, it would be in deepest, darkest winter. He will see the lawyer today and maybe there will be some news, maybe not. But I'm hanging in there, making the best of things. After Christmas and all this knitting/crafting is out of the way, I will turn my attention to being the Best Farmhand Ever for my friends here at backyardfeast.

the week that disappeared

Um... hi.


Where did this week go? Has anyone else seen it?

I worked my one and only day at the college library on Tuesday, had an offload on Wednesday, taught the last knitting session to the little girls on Thursday, snuck into Port Alberni on Friday, puttered around yesterday, and here I am now. Wondering where the week went.

I sort of hesitated to line up the training with the college library, because I was fairly certain I would be offered a job at the Tofino Hospital. But I went in anyway. It was perfectly straightforward, a library is a library after all. I have combined five years experience in libraries, I can check out books in my sleep.

The next day I had a boat to validate for and that was perfectly fine too. I like the plant, the people, and the guys on the boat were nice. The weather was good and the work easy.

Thursday we found out that the job Dan had been waiting to hear back from had hired someone else weeks ago and forgot to let him know. Nice. Unprofessional much? What is it with these flakes in Tofino? That very afternoon I got the call from the hospital, offering me the job of Inventory Assistant. Monday-Friday, 8:00-2:30. I get to wear scrubs! I start on Monday.

Suddenly my brain was working in different ways. It's not very often in my life that I've had work that was weekdays. It has almost all been shift work, evenings and weekends, casual. But to have a regular schedule and a steady paycheque! I spent an awful lot of time imagining. I had to call the college and let them know I was no longer available for them.

I remember from my time at the library that when I was living alone, my life was very orderly. My home, rather. I am hoping that my work at the hospital will insert some of that orderliness back into my life at home here, my craft room could sure use it!

So we took a spontaneous trip into Port Alberni on Friday. I need scrubs, and the Vancouver Island Health Authority will reimburse me. They were willing to lend me some until I got my own, but really I am just too excited. I got two pairs and discovered how comfy they are! Everyone says they are like wearing pajamas. I wore my scrub pants yesterday and was delighted.

I heard yesterday that my father has spent some time in the hospital where he lives, in Alberta. That he was coughing up blood, that he was there for four days. My sister and I were not told about this. Why? He hasn't been answering or returning our calls.

I have been doing knitting and crocheting too. I finished a scarf, finished a sock (have started sock #2), and have worked on the test knit for a new designer. I'm way behind where I want to be with my knitting but that's okay.

I've been exercising. I have an iPhone and have found a few great exercise apps that lead you through workouts. One, Body Fate, develops workouts for you based on what equipment you have. The NikeWomen app has a huge variety of workouts and they are easy to follow. I'm flipping back and forth between the two and am enjoying them both. Afterwards, I log my exercise into my LoseIt! app, the same place where I have been logging everything I eat since December 19th, and I have so far lost 12 pounds. It's good. I have never made a concentrated effort at weight loss before, but I was getting dangerously close to 200 and I was tired of feeling frumpy. Fitness, here I come.

This week: on/off the needles/hook

The Candy poncho is coming along swimmingly. I put my slippered foot next to it for scale - the slipper is felted and I can't locate the photos of those, but there you are. Two in one. I am about halfway through the last ball of pink yarn (I have more of this yarn, but that's all I'm devoting to this project) and I'll finish with a red. Then I will be done. 

These are coming along rather well too. But you work for two days on something like this and only come out with two more inches, it seems a little defeating. O well, it's lovely yarn to knit with and I am enjoying this. 

O no. I really shouldn't have started another project. And yet... This is going to be another Sideways Single Crochet scarf. I think I have enough pink yarns now that I can do this, to wear with my Brattleboro hat and my pink/white stranded mittens (when I finish them). 

 
Now these little things were out of the premiere issue of a magazine called Knitting today!. It's not a great magazine, in my opinion, but I was absolutely intrigued by these ornaments. The gingerbread man was knit first. He came together pretty quickly, but the finishing is what took a long time. The candy cane is knit flat, if you can believe it, seamed (not very tidily), and then a string pulled through to make it bend. Given how much time each of these took, I'm unlikely to ever knit them again.

This was knit last fall - a test piece for the felting process. I really should have before pictures so you can see the difference felting makes. It was fun and annoying all at the same time. 

Gratuitous Cute Kitty shot. Actually, I knit this hat a few years ago. It's unwearable (I didn't use a pattern, completely botched the shaping) so now it goes on things like kitties and fish. If you got a Christmas card from me, you might have seen a photo of fish with this hat on...

Oh! I know why I feel like I've done a lot of knitting but have nothing to show for it! I'm test knitting a Thing for a designer and I'm not allowed to talk about it yet. I can't wait though, as soon as she says Go, I will have two or more of the things to show you - I like the pattern that much.

This week: on/off the needles/hook

The BMW and Dan's birthday sock combo. Turned the heel, and am just about ready to start the intarsia for the BMW logo. This ain't gonna be easy...

 For some reason I can't get text into the Sideways Single Crochet Scarf. I finished it last night, added tassels this morning. I have a sensitivity to wool against the skin around my neck, so I'm not sure I'll actually be able to wear it.

The next photo is the Candy Poncho, on which I have not made much progress in the last week. 

Two photos above is the Brother Amos Hellfire Lace sock pattern using Malabrigo sock yarn. A pattern from Brenda of Cast On, I started these in, Oh, I don't remember now, August? And I really need to get back to them. At the very least, because I need the needles for other projects.

And last, is a pair of stranded mittens using pink silk/merino and white aran wool. The first one fits my right hand perfectly, I did the top decrease to exactly fit the shape of my pinky finger and then the rest of the fingers. The second one... well you know how it is when you are making up a pattern as you go, finish one thing of the pair, and then weeks pass before you get to the second one. Then you wish you had made notes at least for how many stitches to cast on... So the mitt on the right will be frogged this week and then restarted. I hope it happens this week. I want to get most of these projects finished inside this month so I can spend February and March knitting Cookie A socks in preparation for the Cookie A Sock Retreat in Tofino in April. Haven't yet decided what patterns to knit but I have a lovely selection of sock yarn to choose from.

Mr. Space and the Alien