On knitting. Again

While finishing the Drifting cardigan this loveliness was already calling me.

I had purchased five of these generous skeins, dyed by Plain&Fancy Sheep&Wool Co. at the Taos Wool Festival in 2012, plenty for a sweater. 

I decided to go without a pattern and to make this up, copying the fitting of a favorite shirt of mine.

There was swatching, measuring, calculating, sketching, more calculating. Then I re-calculated  (*sigh*, yes, way too much math, if you ask me), I cast on and voila!

 I hope that it will all come together, because this sure looks pretty! New Mexico colors, I think!

 As I went through my pictures I stumbled upon these from Christmas. There are always some hand knitted gifts like the dark blue and purple cowl that I made for my mom using some supersoft Malabrigo merino yarn from a yarn store in Hawaii. 

While it sure looks lovely, never mind me and my knits, cause I'm an old pro - here comes the exciting part...

What really means the world is a gift that my daughter gave her Oma. Because this girl started knitting just last year! 

It was really for the longest time just a piece of knitted fabric, that she kept working on to practice her new skill until just a week before Christmas. That's when she decided that she had to turn this thing into a Cowl/Neckwarmer/Miniscarf - capitalized, yes! - for Oma. With the obsession of a determined mind she went to work and finished the second half of the scarf just in time and she did it all by herself, even casting off! I only contributed by sewing on the button for closure - the girl had to sleep at some point!

That she chose to give her first ever knitted piece to her Oma meant so much to me, because, you know, that's where it comes from! The art, the knowledge, the wisdom of the working hands, it comes from the generations before us, from the women, who preserved it for us, the daughters and grand daughters.

Oma was a lucky woman this Christmas, but in fact we all are.

seasonal

We have officially started the holiday season - school's out, yep.

Teachers gifts have been made, given and were happily received as well as liked, purpose done.

I gave several custom made pouches - how did you guess? Only one ended up photographed, the one for the turtle loving 4th grade teacher.

And I am knitting. Trying to finish two hats and one pair of socks. Hhmm, the thought of those socks already gives me a headache.

Another earflap hat in a larger size - more realistic!

This one I just listed in my Etsy shop.

While it is still snowing here in beautiful Albuquerque we have a fire going and our Ike naps on his favorite spot these days.

May your holiday season include many happy moments for you and your loved ones, too.

the happy season

What starts off with a lot of nice ideas for nice handmade gifts for nice people, family and friends, usually ends up as a chaotic scramble to pull things together at the last minute.

Imagine the mother, sitting in the dining room at 11.30pm before the last schoolday, fixing the little goodie bags for the enrichment teachers and the big goodie bags for the teachers after making the handmade gifts for the teachers. Or. The last seam on the totebag for the piano teacher was closed about an hour before she got here for the last pre-Christmas lesson. This list could go on and on. You get the picture.

However, all the rushing and running came to a halt for three special events.

One was the arrival of grandma from Germany - not all is lost! Where I am crazy, she is calm, where I am chaos, she is organized, where I go beyond things, she fills the basics (think laundry, dishes...), sounds good, huh?!

Then setting up the decorations. Over the last years the Christmas bins have been growing slowly and steadily. I find things in thriftstores, buy them in stores or handmade, or get them as gifts, some vintage, because friends know, that I like that. I am attached to all of them and love unwrapping every single piece and finding the perfect spot.

The third is the picking and the set-up of the Christmas tree. Traditionally the whole family goes to pick the perfect tree, then we decorate. This year it is even more special, because the kids did the decorating almost all by themselves with the help of grandma. The tree is perfect!

My wish for you... may your tree be perfect as well and may your Christmas be peaceful and happy!

P.S. If you wondered what became of the un-desired pants - a friend's daughter, sweet little Skyler, 3 years old, got them. Though she does have to grow a little before they will fit, mom thinks they will be perfect!