Sunday, January 06, 2008

Christmas knitting and Christmas presents and Christmas pneumonia

Considering the amount of knitting I did for Christmas, it would seem entirely reasonable for me to retire happily to a sheepless/goatless/alpacaless mountaintop to while away the hours pelting passersby with rocks and insults.

Instead, I have happily continued to knit during the holidays and beyond. I guess you could say that this is Christmas knitting in that I knit it during the Christmas break.

Skully hat


This skully hat is for my nephew - and it is possibly too small. He's got a huge noggin and when I pulled the half-completed hat onto his head during the Christmas morning festivities, his eyes bulged out a little. It is perched rather precariously on my own enormous noggin for this photo and shortly after taking this photo, I had to pop my eyes back into their sockets. It was tricky, yes. Thanks for asking.

I have already purchased yarn for an alternate hat.

Inspired by the post Christmas lull and the ingenuity of Jared ("Brooklyn Tweed" Flood, I pulled out some Malabrigo cast on for and quickly completed the Koolhaas hat:

Koolhaas Hat


I loves it... but alas, I cannot wears it. It's too small for my noodle. Into the present stash it goes.

On New Year's Eve and New Year's Day I knit mittens for my coworker. She had purchased the yarn, intending to knit herself a scarf but was uninspired by the yarn. She offered the yarn to me and I offered to make mittens for her.

I'll get a photo of them next week.

I used the chunky yarn mitten pattern in Weekend knitting as my pattern, modifying only the cuff - making it ribbed instead of plain. She's got the coldest fingers of anyone I know, so I thought her little hands need all the help they can get.

For Christmas, I received some really nice knitting-related presents from family and friends...

You've already seen the Imogen Kit from Mr. Happy...

During a December get-together which involved "Guitar Hero" at 2am, Jak surprised me with this:

Prezzie from Jen


Isn't it adorable? My little sheepie measuring tape LOVES his new home. Someone who works for/with (?) her husband makes these. I'll find out who it is and link to her etsy site. (I wonder if she thinks this will get her those French Child's socks any faster?)

Dad and Ivy gave me (among many other awesome presents - seriously, stop spoiling me) this awesome Vera Bradley tote and lunch bag:

Vera Bradley


You say lunch bag, I say, "Sock project bag!" They're just 7 different kinds of awesome! Pink Elephants, people! PINK! ELEPHANTS!

Also, I feel very much like Mary Poppins with this tote. It's so roomy! I'm going to pull a lamp, a hat stand, a mirror and a measuring tape out of it at KOL some night. Don't say I didn't warn you!

(Just as a side note here, how handsome is my dad in his new hat?

Dad's Christmas hat


The beard is new-ish*. Doesn't he look like a courier de bois? He's just completed a portage with his canoe and his pelts and is resting at the trading post before heading back out on the trail. - Dad, if you grow whiskers, you know you have to take some teasing.)

And possibly the best present I've ever received:

Made just for me, with love, by Grammy


Handknit socks... made by none other than my amazing grandmother. They fit me perfectly. I was so excited when I opened this present, I leapt across the room and hugged her to bits. I'll try to get a better photo of the toe decreases and the heel. They're pretty cool.

Just to review - here is my adorable Grammy:

Grammy with Flower Basket Shawl



She also knit me a pair of plain black mittens to go with my winter coat. I love them and have worn them every day since she gave them to me.

I also gave her the huge stash of leftover yarn that the KOL crew agreed that she should have after the big stash swap at the end of the summer. She was as pleased as punch that you ladies thought of her. She held up the sport-weight yarn and said, "This makes the nicest mittens." I wound all of it up for her on my ball-winder, so she'll have lots to work on... once she's been sprung from the hospital!

Since their Christmas visit, my Grammy has landed herself in the hospital. She's got pneumonia for "The 100th Christmas in a row" - her words, not mine. She was feeling quite awful in the middle of the week and called my aunt, who then called for an ambulance. Grammy conveniently got sick in the midst of a miserable snowstorm in New Brunswick and was snowbound in her house. The firetruck had to drive through her street before the ambulance could get in. I asked her if it was a ploy to get out of the house because she was Shack Whacky. She denies that she was bored at home... and is bemoaning the fact that she is unwell to the point that she is unable to read. My grandmother rarely goes a day without knitting, some sort of crafting or reading. At 89, pneumonia is quite a serious illness. The doctors are taking good care of her... and I just pray that they don't rush her out of the hospital too soon.

She needs to feel well enough to knit before they let her out!




*My father had a beard from before I was born until I was 14. When he shaved it off, I was so shocked at seeing his whole face, that I cried. It was like he had removed his nose. This is the first time he's grown it back and kept it since then. I kinda like it.

9 comments:

  1. My dad bounced from bearded to beardless throughout my childhood. One time when I was 15 or so he came downstairs with a big dumb grin and stood in profile to me, showing off his newly beardless chin. "Looks good!", I said. Then he turned to face me, and had only shaved the one side (beard and moustache) and left the other untouched. I wish I had a picture. Being the guy he is, he got distracted and ended up going into town for a few errands with it like that before shaving the rest off.

    Hugs to your Grammy. Sounds like you two are lucky to have each other.

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  2. What a cute picture of your grandmother! Love her scarf/shawl. Hope she feels better soon. That's so hard to shake. My father once shaved his mustache and my mother didn't notice until he told her days later!!!

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  3. Anonymous9:44 a.m.

    Your dad is a handsome devil (he looks very Gordon Pincent in that photo). I hope your Grammy is on the mend, pneumonia can be so scary.

    Holy stash. Do you know that I have gotten my stash down to my rectangular basket and my smaller round basket? However, my productivity is down (but, 2008 IS the year of the thesis).

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  4. Yes, very Gordon Pinsent in the Shipping News.

    I love little cute grannies. My husband's granny is a tiny little Dutch woman that I think is so cute, I always want to fold her up and put her in my pocket so that I can just take her out every once in a while and hear her accent. My own granny is no longer on this mortal plain, and I miss her at Christmas. She had this awesome stuffing ritual that seemed to take three weeks. Hope your gran heals up nice and quick.

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  5. Anonymous3:01 p.m.

    My dad was in the navy for all of my childhood so he wasn't around so much. One time he came back from sea with a beard and I wouldn't hug him, wouldn't look at him, and wouldn't talk to him. There is a picture taken just after we got home from picking him up with my brother and I on the couch, I am one whole cushion away and my bro is cuddled up next to him. He shaved it off right after the picture. Oh a good note he won the contest they had for growing the beard.

    Catherine:)

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  6. Love the Koolhaas. Love the bearded daddy (you know I like men with full beards - I married one!). Love the wee granny. :)

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  7. Healing hugs to your Grammy.

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  8. I hope your Grammy is able to knit soon!
    I too got to experience the mountains of snow in NB this year.

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  9. Man, that sucks - best wishes for a speedy recovery to your Grammy.

    But, I couldn't leave without saying: pink elephants AND paisley? You are so lucky. What a combination! I love the bags.

    Jen the Aussie

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