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The Judge is perturbed.  He caught me packing.  He thought clothes might be more helpful on our trip than this:

At a bare minimum, I need primaries plus black and white in Golden’s acrylic pant, some brushes, a few rubber stamps and stamp pads, gouache, a rubber stamp alphabet, scissors, gel mediums and some papers and ephemera.  This is traveling light.  I’m not sure why he doesn’t understand.

Then, I added another layer (there really are some clothes down on the bottom):

Let’s see — that would be the Muench Touch Me for my Vintage Velvet scarf, the second ball of Peace Fleece for Ollie’s vest, some Colinette sock yarn I thought I might swatch, and the big red blob is Ellie’s Cahaba River Jacket.  The blue yarn is the rest of my Clapotis yarn.  Let’s just say that I’m being optimistic and bringing it all along.  We were told today that they are expecting 12" of snow near one of the schools we are looking at, so I’m preparing in case we get snowed in.

I hope I can blog while we’re on the road.  I’m looking forward to seeing snow — real snow — for the first time in eight or nine years.  I went to college in Maine (Bates) and I still miss the snow terribly.

This is just a quick note, because we are on the way to Atlanta today.  We have more new additions to the informal ATC swap, and I am (hopefully) adding links as quickly as I get them.  Forgive me if I make any mistakes — I’m down a couple of brain cells because I’ve had a migraine for that last few days that I can’t quite beat.  I’ll try to make any more additions/corrections as soon as we get back from Atlanta.

Inspired by Paper Whimsy images and my sudden desire to scrap collage backgrounds for ATCs I have this one to show y’all now and a few more to add to my trade list when we get back.

I’m struggling between giving into the migraine and trying to tough it out and knit the Clapotis, which I can pretty much manage with my eyes shut, on the drive to Atlanta.  I hate the idea of doing nothing during that perfect 3 hour stretch of knitting time.  I’ve just finished the increase sections and would love to make headway on the straight sections today.  We’ll see.

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.

Poor Bob.  He had to stop eating his breakfast cereal at the kitchen table because Harry Potter, our darling Maine Coon now-too-big-to-be-called-a-kitten Cat, kept sticking his head into the bowl uninvited.  Bob thought he could outsmart Harry by eating his cereal standing in the middle of the kitchen.  Bob was wrong.

In knitting news, I have started two new items in anticipation of lots of knitting time during Nutcracker dress rehersals.  First, an Anthropologie Shrug in Colinette yarn.

And second, a Cahaba River Jacket for Ellie — because anyone who wears her Oh Jan dress every single day (see picture below for today’s version) deserves to have lots of hand knits.

Here she is.  Who knew Oh Jan was so versatile?

I’m off to another busy day.  In addition to the usual, I’m doing the final preparation for my TV shoot tomorrow (I promise to share all of the details!) and, we have a four year old birthday to celebrate!

Sometimes, I just crack myself up.

Thanksgiving is a wonderful opportunity to stop and take stock of life — ahead of the spontaneous combustion of the holidays and the forced reflection of the new year.  I probably don’t just sit back and think — really think — nearly as often as I should.

One person I am hugely grateful for in my life, and this is shocking because she is a heathen when it comes to fiber arts doesn’t knit, is my mother-in-law.  For years I have teased my husband that I only married him because I like his mom.  She is unerringly good company, lots of fun, and knows how to speak her mind.

But the reason I want to do this today (and I know I’m safe because her internet connection is out so she can’t read this and catch me saying nice things about her) is because she personifies all of the  qualities a good mother-in-law, really, a good friend, should have.  I hope I can be the same way she is when my children are grown and married.

The thing about Mom is this:  She is unfailing supportive.  It doesn’t matter if she agrees with you or disagrees with you.  It doesn’t matter is she doesn’t get why it matters to you in the first place.  She let’s you know, explicitly, but also with little things that she does, that she cares and she thinks you’re wonderful and that she is there for you — 100% there for you.

This may sound to good to be true and I don’t mean to make her sound like a pollyanna.  If you were doing something dumb, like spending your money on crack instead of cashmere yarn, she would not sit passively by and watch.  But when it comes to issues like working moms versus nonworking moms, extended breastfeeding, goofy daughter-in-laws who express mail organic produce to make baby food, etc., she simply notes how wonderful you are, without regard to whether your choices are the same choices she would have made.  It would be a much better world if more people were like her.

The context my appreciation of her is especially large in has to do with our son Teddy, who many of you know was born with a congenital heart defect as part of a genetic disorder called the DiGeorge Anomaly (and also here).  DiGeorge kids struggle with many physical illnesses, including heart and immune system problems.  Teddy has done well medically speaking, but it is a lot of heartache.  He was diagnosed with  Nonverbal Learning Disorder in fourth grade.  I have a bit of a background in special education, enough to have caught the problem before it was formally diagnosed and also enough to know that this is a learning disorder that is different enough that it is not amenable to treatment in the typical fashion used for dyslexia, adhd, and the more commonly encountered learning issues.  Frankly, we have struggled as parents with taking the right steps for Teddy.  Often, we have realized only too late what needs to be done.  But throughout that struggle, Mom has been my cheerleader and support system, adoring Teddy no matter what the latest report cards shows, believing there is a place for him in life, and, even when we are resolving issues that seem to have no answer, making sure I know that I have her support 100% and she believes we will find the right answer.

This is my Thanksgiving meme for anyone else what wants to answer (and has read through this long and uncharacteristically photo-less entry).  On a deep level — who in your life has had a strong impact on you, and what charactertisic of theirs would you like to be able to develop in yourself?

As an aside from this blogs usual posting about knitting and making art, I wanted to tell you all about a wonderful, heartwarming experience I had this morning.

I voted.

It is pouring down rain in Birmingham, Alabama. The hard, driving kind of rain that keeps people inside of their homes. But there was a line outside my polling place when I showed up to vote at 7:00 a.m. My neighbors. My friends. African-Americans, asians, hispanics, white people, people with two, three, and four children in tow. It looked like America.

In Jefferson County, Alabama, where I live, we have seen some ugly campaigning this cycle. Slick Washington operatives poured resources and personnel into what I would have thought were races of only local interest — races like Alan King’s, the probate judge. The probate judge is the person in charge of determining which votes get counted in an election. King’s opponent used racial hatemongering and outright lies over the last few days in a last-ditch effort to beat a candidate with far superior experience and qualifications.

Other elected officials — people from both parties — brought the truth about the false allegations made against Alan King to light. I received email after email in the last few days from people eager to insure that their friends knew that King’s opponent tried to pull a fast one. I expect the voters here will return Judge King to office with a high margin of support. It might seem innocuous, but I’m proud to live in a community where elected officials choose telling voters the truth over party affiliation.

Last night, one of our neighbors came over to talk with us about the candidates and the issues. We had a great time together. He had already been to visit two other friends who knew some of the candidates. Another friend mentioned she was researching judicial races before voting.

This morning, I had the chance to vote for a highly qualified woman to be Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and an equally qualified African-American jurist to take a seat beside her on the court. I looked around me and saw my neighbors voting. The line was even longer when I left than when I came in. Whether it’s raining or not where you are, I hope you will go and vote!