Being on my own at Christmas has the potential to be very lonely. But I'm lucky that it doesn't happen that way for me.
Yesterday, I went to morning service at church -- something I haven't done for quiet a while due to my work schedule that keeps me up so late on most Saturday nights -- then spent the afternoon and evening at a friend's house sharing Christmas with her and her family. They've been so wonderful, practially adopting me as another sister in the mix. I love hanging out with them! They spoiled me rotten yesterday with gifts and tons of good food. Love you guys -- you know who you are! :)
Christmas eve ended with 11:00 candlelight service at church, complete with a beautiful rendition of "O, Holy Night" sung by a friend who has a wonderful operatic soprano voice. It's truly special to hear her sing. And the candlelight service is always part of what makes the holiday truly special for me. The only thing that would be better is if our former pianist could have been there. Unfortunately, he's away for another couple of years and I miss him lots.
My sister sent a package a couple of weeks ago and when I opened the various bits and pieces, I discovered that she spoiled me rotten! She sent me copies of Victorian Lace Today, Arctic Lace, and A Gathering of Lace. Isn't she wonderful! Now my dilemma is what to cast on for first, which is a very, very nice dilemma to have! Had she stopped there, I would have been overjoyed, but there was more! She also included a cookbook from a cancer support group in her area (she's a five-year breast cancer survivor, a true hero in my book), a copy of The Apartment (one of my favorite old movies), and a $25 iTunes gift card! ACK! I told you she spoiled me! I think she has more than adequately covered Christmas, my upcoming birthday, Valentine's Day, and at least one ' just because' occasion. Thanks, sis, you rock!
My brother kept the merriment rolling by sending three bottles of Napa Valley wine. I'll have to make sure to keep the lace knitting and the wine drinking on different schedules or they'll surely wreak havoc with each other.
I have been doing a little knitting since I finished all my Christmas projects. I've made three more cranes for the KnitNotWar project -- formerly referred to as KnitNoWar until someone else grabbed the domain name out from under them. Only one has been felted so far. They make up really quickly and I plan to make a whole host of them, way beyond the ten that the project requests come from each knitter. I think they'll be lovely strung together for decorations for next Christmas or just because. And it's a great way to use up leftover wool yarn, too.
I also started a pair of felted clogs, using the tried and true Fiber Trends pattern. One is almost complete. I used Patons Classic Wool in black for the sole and Lion Wool Prints in Majestic Mountain for the upper. It's true what they say -- half way through, I decided the designer is a genius. I think these are going to be a very warm and cozy item to have around in the next few cold months. I also forsee lots of them being given as gifts next Christmas. Wow, is it conceivable that I could be planning that far in advance??? Amazing.A bit more progress has been made on the Feather and Fan shawl, but not much. I think I'm going to invest in a size 9 bamboo circular to finish it, though. The yarn is quite slippery and I think the bamboo will be a better fit to help keep me from dropping stitches -- something that's happened several times but is, fortunately, easily and quickly fixed in the simple stitch pattern.
I did a swatch with the alpaca I have that will become something from one of my new lace books and it's perfect for many of the projects. After turning pages all morning, I've decided to start with an 'intermediate lace' project from Victorian Lace Today. I cast on for the Large Rectangle in Spider Net on page 24. My ambition is to finish it before next Christmas! :)
So for the rest of today, I'm curling up on the couch with my cat and my knitting and watching movies. On tap we have several Christmas regulars -- A Christmas Story, Trading Places, Love Actually, and perhaps It's a Wonderful Life -- as well as two from Netflix I haven't had time to watch yet (Hitch and Calendar Girls) and many others I haven't watched in way too long. I will run out of time well before I run out of movies I'd like to watch!
I hope your day is filled with things that make you smile. May your toes be warm, your tummy full, and your heart overflowing with joy!
No comments:
Post a Comment