Favorite Things

Christmas Day is full of my favorite things.  It’s full of family, food, fun, and, um, time to knit.  I particularly enjoyed watching the kittens advise the teenager on the roasting of the Brussels Sprouts.  She even tried tasting them, but discovered that she preferred to supervise.

I love using my grandmother’s china pattern on the dinner table.  I have been slowly adding pieces of this pattern as I find them (it’s Noritake Japan’s Whiterose) and have enough for Christmas dinner now.  It is such a delicate pattern and it brings back all those memories of Nana’s wonderful holiday dinners, which seemed to appear effortlessly on the table.

It’s amazing how just the right present can really make people happy.  For instance, my Mom got the four year old a remote control dump truck, which led his Daddy to get right down on the floor and play with it for an embarassingly long time, claiming he was "just getting it set up."   The four year old, however, he who is interested in emulating Aragorn and other Lord of the Rings Heros, was enchanted with his new bow and arrows.

And also with his sword and shield.

It is really amazing how the right present can bring a smile to even the most surly, unimpressable faces in the family teenagers.  I can’t tell you how glad I am that I got up at 2:00 a.m. and stood in line in the freezing cold the day Nintendo released the Wii.  The best news?  They’re actually all sharing it and having a great time together.  I love that they have to stand up and move around for the sports game.

Finally, it would not be Christmas in my house without the beautiful stockings My Aunt June has knit for us over the years.   I absolutely love these stockings and have been talking with her about learning to make them so that I will be prepared for future generations (that is, if we survive raising the current one).  She made these stocking when we had only two children, and then made stockings for Ellie and Ollie the year that each of them was born.  Aren’t they incredible?  She has done them for the entire family.  They are such a tangible expression of her love.

As for my own knitting, I’m really going to have to wait to show it — dead camera batteries.  I do have this one rather off-kilter shot of the socks that were finished late last night as we sat around.  For those of you who are keeping track, yes, that is the the stray dog  our new dog Trouble, who has a rather unnatural fascination with wool (is it the wolves to sheep thing?) and who I suspect is going to live up to her name.  I also have a gorgeous wooden bowl my Mother-in-Law got for me.  I filled it with some of the prettiest yarn I have ever seen. My friend Susan gave me Handmaidens silk yarn.  It is truly incredible.  I bow down to Susan’s fortitude for being able to give it away — she is a better woman than I am.  It would have never left my hands.

More photos later, and, while I’m thinking about it, if anyone is interested in joining a start up Yahoo Group of hand-dyers/painters of yarn using procion, acid, or natural dyes (as opposed to kool-aid, etc), please let me know!  We’re hoping to put together a lively group of yarn dyers who are already familiar with the basics and want to discuss ideas and processes.