alisonknits

What is WITH people?!?!

I'm sitting here at my computer, absentmindedly looking out the window, which faces the street.  I see someone pull over, pause, open the sun roof, and throw garbage out of their car onto the curb in front of my house.  I am seething.

Littering really pisses me off.

A lot.

Just felt the need to share.  Thanks for listening.  And please - don't litter!

Sockapalooza

As I mentioned recently, I've been on a bit of a sock kick lately.  Yesterday I finished this pair out of Trekking:

Trekking is wonderful in many ways, not least of which is its generous yardage.  These came out a bit too big around, and I made them taller than my usual socks with a 1.5" hem, and I still had plenty of yarn left over.

I knit them from the toe up, and I knit both socks at once on two circular needles.  I'm weighing the benefits of knitting two socks at the same time.  On the one hand, it eliminates the dreaded Second Sock Syndrome, to which I am highly susceptible.  On the other hand, it takes away some of the portability, since I found it important to do half a round of one and half a round of the other, with no stopping, lest I forget which direction I was going and accidentally make more rows on one than the other (rather like knitting two sleeves at the same time). 

I knit the heels last, as an "afterthought heel."  These are similar to a toe of a top-down sock, and I think I prefer them to short-row heels, especially when using striping or patterning yarn. 

As soon as I finished this pair, I cast on for my next pair, out of a yarn called Crazy.  This time I'm just doing one at a time, but still from the toe up.  It's going faster, as the yarn is thicker than Trekking, and I'm using size 2 needles instead of 1's.  (It's funny how size 2's seem like big needles after all that time on 1's, and even 0's for the hem.)  I tried on the sock in progress last night, and I think this is a little too big also, so I'll probably rip back.  When I was trying it on, Scott thought it looked like a hat on my foot... then things got really silly...

SockFace wishes you a Happy New Year!

Extraordinarily Gifted

We've had a lovely Christmas here at my house.  My husband's whole family (6 adults) came to stay the weekend, and his parents are staying the week.  I cooked a feast - I don't cook much but when I do I go all out - and we opened a lot of presents.

I know very well that Christmas isn't all about presents, and I feel a bit shallow going on about all the wonderful items I received.  Suffice it to say, my family was very generous this year.  And there is one special handmade gift that means a lot to me.

My sister Meredith and I haven't always been the best of friends.  Born 3 years apart, by the time we were teenagers we seemed like night and day.  I took after my mom - outgoing, always taking charge of things, while Meredith took after my dad - shy and retiring.  School came easily to me (so I slacked off and got B's), while she struggled with a learning disability.  I always was obsessed with drama, Meredith didn't have any one special interest.  Until in high school she took a photography class.  She showed talent and great enthusiasm for photography, and my parents - delighted that she finally was expressing interest in something - built her a darkroom in the basement.

I can remember one conversation in the car with my mom (we always had the best talks in the car) when I commented about how different Meredith and I had always been, and she smiled sagely and suggested that we may be more similar than I thought.

When my mom died I was 22 and Meredith was 19.  We were getting along okay by then, but my mother's death forged a bond between us and our relationship shifted.  I think somehow it became important that the loss she was experiencing was as close to my own as I could get.

Meredith isn't as into photography as she used to be, but she's taken up a variety of arts and crafts over the years and shows great creativity and skill at them all.  This past year she took classes in stained glass, and I'm honored that she gave me the project that she worked on all this semester - a box.  It is absolutely beautiful.

Isn't my sister talented?  I'm so lucky to have a sister, one who I not only love, but also like.

Loss and Perspective

The other night we decorated our Christmas tree.  As I was pulling out all the Christmas stuff from the various hiding places (what, you think I'm organized enough in my new house to have it all in one place?), I smelled a distinctly musty smell.  This was to be expected - a lot of it is really old.

But when we opened up the plastic container that held most of the ornaments that we've had since I was a kid (or earlier), it became clear that this was no ordinary musty smell.  Water had gotten into the box when the basement flooded a few months ago, and there was thick mold growing over most of the ornaments.  Anything that was made of paper, cloth, or vegetable matter was ruined.

Among the ruined ornaments were many that my late mother collected (I miss her so much during the holidays especially), and many that my sister and I made as children.  As much as I enjoy the holiday season - and I really do - there's been a big hole there for the last six years since my mom died.

I'm really sad that we lost these treasures.  I had a good cry about it.  But I'm okay.  In this year that has seen such devastation from natural disasters, I think of all the thousands and thousands of people who have lost everything, and can't get too upset.  I am blessed with so much. 

Including a wonderful family.  I gave Scott an early gift of the Santa hat that I knitted this weekend (he saw the pom pom sticking out of my knitting bag), and he loves it.  Is there any better feeling than seeing a giftee not want to take off the thing you made for them?

Specs -

Yarn: Plush & Frog Tree Merino held together for the white parts (I wanted the brim really soft); Lamb's Pride Bulky for the red part

Pattern: made up on the fly... if anyone wants it, email me and I'll jot it down for you.

A Christmas Poem

This is the poem I read in our "Lessons In Carols" service at Arlington Street Church this morning:

  One of the oxen said
"I know him, he is me - a beast
  Of burden, used, abused,
  Excluded from the feast -
  A toiler, one by whom
  No task will be refused:
I wish him strength, I give him room"

  One of the shepherds said
"I know him, he is me - a man
  Who wakes when others sleep,
  Whose watchful eyes will scan
  The drifted snow at night
  Alert for the lost sheep:
I give this lamb, I wish him sight."

  One of the wise men said
"I know him, he is me - a king
  On wisdom's pilgrimage,
  One Plato claimed would bring
  The world back to its old
  Unclouded golden age:
I wish him truth, I give him gold."

  Mary his mother said
"I know his heart's need, it is mine -
  The chosen child who lives
  Lost in his Lord's design,
  The self and symbol of
  The selfless life he gives:
I give him life, I wish him love."

~Dick Davis
Written for the 1982 Carol Service of Nene College, Northampton

Holiday Cheering

It's been a real pity party around here lately!  I managed to snap out of it, and am now feeling much more zen about the whole holiday thing.  And thought I'd post a few other good things as well.

• It's so good to be back in the groove of teaching again .  I've had several classes this month, and they're going quite well.  I was particularly happy with how my finishing class went last Saturday, and got a lot of positive feedback.  It's nice have this back in my life; I thought it would take me a long time to build up my teaching again after moving.  It helps that I was in the right place at the right time.
• I'm suddenly in a sock-making frenzy.  Well, I'm really enjoying the socks I started a week or so ago, and have been alternating between those (which are for moi) and my Christmas knitting.  And having just decided on a sort of generous gift for my dad (no, it's not a snow blower), I feel the hat I was going to make him is optional.  So yesterday I bought more sock yarn.  Like, three different ones... and I might just be piggy and knit them all for me.  (But Scott sure would like the brownish one... curse his giant feet!)  (There would be a picture here, but I can't figure out where I saved it and I'm in a rush.)
• I did add one holiday project to my knitting list, but it will go quickly.  It's a Santa hat for Scott.  He'll get a big kick out of it.  I did the brim in Plush combined with a white merino, and the red top part will be Lamb's Pride. 

Okay, that's all the good stuff I have time to write about.  Off to teach more knitters...

Hitting a Wall

Why do the holidays always have to be so stressful?  Every year around now, I hit a wall.  And something's gotta give.  I realized the other day that I haven't had a full day off in weeks, and I only have one day to myself (next Monday, if anyone's counting) before Christmas.  And I have six in-laws descending upon my house sometime around the holidays to stay for several days.  You'd think I'd know by now when I have guests staying in my house, but you'd be wrong. 

There are some saving graces.  I've done most of my shopping online this year, and I'm knitting very few gifts (which won't be posted until they're gifted, as recipients could be reading this).  I made an executive decision to push back my website launch a little bit more, and to start off with fewer patterns.  It is necessary for my sanity, and for quality-control.  I'm actually excited about participating in this Sunday's Christmas service at Arlington Street Church (I get to do a reading, of a poem that I picked out myself - I'll post it after the service, it's lovely), and I'm also excited for our three Christmas Eve candlelight services (at 5, 7, and 9pm.  Come on down if you're in the Boston area - all are welcome and it will be beautiful!)

But there is much anxiety.  Did I buy the right gifts?  Do I have enough time?  Will I get my house cleaned for all the guests?  Will there be any Christmas trees left by Sunday (my first opportunity to buy one)?  Will my patterns and website ever be ready?  Will they be any good?  Will I ever get back to my yoga practice?  I'm going to bed early, in hopes of at least addressing the last one.

Snow Day

Yesterday we were hit with a big nor'easter.  I had a class scheduled for the morning, and since we hadn't worked out a clear cancellation policy in advance, I made my way to the store to teach.  Fortunately, I did have one student (who was happy to get a private lesson), so my driving in wasn't totally in vain.  On my way over, my car skidded a bit, but it wasn't too bad.  I figured my drive home would be okay, since I had heard that the snow was going to drop off in the afternoon.  Boy was that wrong.

Around 2pm Hannah (the store owner) comes in from her lunch and tells me to go home right away, because we're now supposed to get 3" an hour for the next several hours.

The drive home was quite an adventure.  First, I got in the car and remembered that I was nearly out of gas.  I figured running out of gas on the side of the highway in a snowstorm sounded pretty horrible, so with wind whipping the snow all around me, I brushed off the car and made my way  s l o w l y  to a gas station.  I nearly got stuck in the entrance to the gas station, but mananged to get in.  At the pump the machine wouldn't read my card - it was probably too cold and/or wet.  I paid inside and ran back out to pump my gas.

Eventually I got on Rt. 95, and it was snowing so hard I literally couldn't see anything but white, and the tail lights of the cars ahead of me.  I followed them.  Slowly.  Breathing slowly, trying not to freak out.  I thought a lot about a book I'm reading, Time Shifting, which is all about slowing down and living in the moment.

My wipers kept caking over with ice and snow, rendering them ineffective.  After a while, it stopped snowing, but the roads were still very bad.  Traffic slowed to a stop as cars and trucks got stuck.  A few times, we were stopped so long that people were getting out of their cars and walking around.  (That's when I got out my knitting...)

I made it home in one piece, my commute, normally 20-30 minutes, having taken 2 1/2 hours.  But at least I was safe and warm!

When my father got home a short while later, he commented that this was the worst storm he had ever driven in.  That made me feel a bit better - if this is as bad as it gets, I can handle a New England winter.

Epilogue: this morning my father started shoveling our driveway (of which Scott had shovelled about 10') at 6:30am.  When I left the house around 8:30, he was still shovelling.  Think we should invest in a snowblower?

Weekend Knitting and other fun

This past Saturday was my Last-Minute Holiday Gifts class, which was attended only by my friend The FemiKnit Mafia and a friend of hers.  Hence, it was even more informal than my typical classes - which are usually pretty informal!  It was a lovely time, and I think they even learned some things.

Wanting to provide a few options for gifts to work on, I made a swatch in mohair of an easy lace pattern that I thought would make a lovely - and quick - scarf.  Although neither student ended up working on this project, I kept knitting on the swatch during the class when they didn't need my help, and then picked it up again later while watching the BBC Pride & Prejudice on DVD.  (Aside to Amanda and any other Colin Firth-obsessed readers: I get it now.)

Soon, the swatch became a scarf as I knit the entire ball of mohair. 

And here's the pattern, my holiday gift to you:

Yarn: 1 ball of long-discontinued Karabella English Mohair (109 yds); substitute Classic Elite La Gran Mohair, or any other worsted-to-bulky mohair... or whatever you like.
Needles: Size 10

Cast on 15 sts. 
Rows 1 & 3 (wrong side): purl.
Row 2: k1, (yo, k2tog) to end.
Row 4: (ssk, yo) to last st, k1. (Vertical Lace Trellis pattern from Barbara Walker's Treasury of Stitch Patterns.)

There's more weekend knitting to discuss, but this post is getting too long.  I'll leave you with this fun quiz, hat tip to the Mafia:

The Traditional Princess
You are generous, graceful, and practical with both feet planted firmly on the ground. You tend to be a little on the old-fashioned side. You value home, hearth, and family life and love to be of service to others.
Role Models: Snow White, Maid Marian
You are most likely to: Discover a hidden talent for spinning straw into gold.

What Kind of Princess are You? - Beautiful Artwork (Original Music is BACK!!!)
brought to you by Quizilla

Slacker

When I was younger, starting with elementary school, I was frequently told that I was not living up to my potential.  I have always procrastinated and frequently passed assignments in late.  In college, I don't think I started writing a single paper before midnight on the night before it was due.  It became to seem sort of pathological - I mean, midnight the night before?  Of course, hardly any of them were completed on time.  My work was good once it was finally done, but I often got marked down for lateness.

As an adult, my procrastination issues continue to plague my life.  Sometimes I feel that I am a very lazy person.  I look at my father, who among his many excellent qualities has one of the strongest work ethics I've seen, and I wonder how we could possibly be closely related.  This is a man who is one of the first people in the office in the morning, toils diligently all day and produces excellent work, and then goes home and does many projects on the house on weekends.

Me, I roll in at 10:15, read personal e-mail and occassionally blogs during my frequent breaks in the workday, and don't want to lift a finger on my days off.  What's wrong with me?

Okay, I have two jobs and also teach and design.  My church job often involves evening meetings.  But really, I doubt very much that I work more than 30 hours a week at all my jobs combined, and I can't seem to find the time, energy, or will to do laundry or the dishes.

Or complete my patterns.  I thought maybe I'd wake up early and do some work on them in the mornings before work, but instead I just sleep until the last possible moment.  I haven't been doing yoga either.  These are things that I really want for myself! 

I'm actually sort of torn.  I feel that I need to be more productive, at home and at work.  But at the same time I feel that Americans are too obsessed with productivity.  My dad thinks I work very hard.  Maybe he's right and I'm just torturing myself.

What do you think?