December 29, 2007
Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas ...
We certainly did :0) - Christmas Day was sunny and frosty and fun. Since then tho' we have been existing in that weird half-light that so often makes for a Scottish winter.
It hasn't been properly light for 4 days now .... we need the lights on in the house all the time and the streetlights find themselves strangely indecisive - flickering off one minute, only to sputter back on half an hour later as the light levels drop again.
Perhaps that's why Hogmanay has always been such a big deal for the Scots. Now, particularly in the big cities, it has become a sanitised, tailored, marketed "event" but in the dim and distant when I was young, it was always just a giant hoolie.
I grew up in Edinburgh and long before the massive, international, tickets-only do was invented (in 1992 I believe), it was a huge street party for the locals. Thousands of people would gather in the Royal Mile around the Tron Kirk clock tower and when it struck midnight, it was wild. The cheering, the kissing and the drinking. You could never get a taxi, so long cold walks to wherever the party was were the order of the day.
Nowadays New Year is more a family thing for us. Al's folks have always taken it very seriously and we have a set pattern. The family gathers at his father's house at around 11pm where the waiting begins. At 5 minutes to midnight, Alan is dispatched to walk round the block whilst everyone else is given a fresh drink, the room is tidied (on occasion even hoovered !) and we wait for the bells. Al, as a dark man (it should always be a man and never a red head or a minister - who knows why !) is the perfect first foot after the bells, bringing good fortune to the house for the coming year.
So he and I always have a strange midnight experience. He alone in the street watching the fireworks go off as the City Centre celebrates and me in the house with the rest of the family ... but without him at the crucial moment.
Given that I've only been venturing over the door when the need for bread, milk and loo roll has forced me into it, I've had a lot of knitting time on my hands. Venezia has been growing again - but I discovered last night that in the space of the last 2 inches I have made 2 colour mistakes - using the wrong shade of green and neutral.
Having slept on it, I've decided to take the Persian carpet approach and leave the imperfection. Ripping back 2 inches of stick to itself shetland yarn would be hell and the colours are so close (which is why I made the sodding mistake in the first place !) that only other knitters would be likely to notice it. And you're all too polite to point it out aren't you ???
As a little mindless TV knitting, I've taken comfort in mitred squares and I do believe we're in danger of having a finished blanket fairly soon. That is if I can resist the tempation to cast on something new ... there may have been some swatching going on too but I'm still undecided.
Knitting photos next time I promise - so long as daylight has returned to us - but in the meantime a little peek at Christmas Chez DollyDimple.
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December 24, 2007
'Tis the Season
Merry Christmas Everybody.
My life is richer for your presence within it. :0))
December 21, 2007
December 11, 2007
'Twas the (fort)night before Christmas ...
and all through the house .... quite a lot was stirring actually but hopefully no mice :0)
Thank you kind peeps for your words of comfort in my uber-stressed moment the other day. I don't know that I'm any less stressed but I have now reached that blissful state of acceptance when you just know that it ain't all going to get done. Most of it. But not all.
The Christmas shopping is largely done - yay ! My only anxiety being that a major item we've got for the girls is coming mail order and it isn't here yet. I know there's still 2 weeks to go but I shall not be happy until it's here.
The Christmas knitting (seeing you asked Yvette !) is very nearly done. Only the remains of a sleeve and a border to go. I can't show you any of it here as people are too nosy in this family but I'll try and get it onto Ravelry later so some of you might be able to have a peek :0)
I did say that I've accepted that some things just aren't going to happen so you can guess what that is on the knitting front. I'll give you a clue. It's big and black ......
I'd like to say that by dint of good organisation I got through last week but it was more grim determination. However, school shows, dancing exams and the Bridgeton Burns competition are now finally all past.
My fabulous Drama Queen middle daughter pulled out all the stops and did really well in the competition. She came first in her age group both for Verse Speaking and Solo Singing - I'm positively aglow with pride :0)) Now we just have to survive the school discos and Christmas parties and then I can collapse in a big heap under a mountain of (as yet) unwrapped presents.
I can't show you any FO's so how about some yarn pictures instead ? A recently arrived early pressie ....
8ply Silk Merino from The Knittery in Australia. It's not quite as pink as it looks - more lilac pink in real life but it is every bit as goregous. Now I just need a pattern...
I've been toying with the idea of Manon by Norah Gaughan
but I'm not sure. It might take some re-working as it's written for an Aran weight and the yarn is DK - using bigger needles might take the structured look away from the pattern ?
The other one I like is this free one from Garnstudio Drops Design
which is at least a DK pattern.
What do you think ? Which would you go for ?
Although I've been a bit lax on the blogging front lately I have been reading other folks and decided to join in with Pay It Forward.
The idea being that acts of kindness are done without expecting something in return, just with the hope that person for whom you do something kind will pass on their own act of kindness. And so it goes on.
I'm a great believer in Pay It Forward, karma, getting back from life what you give, so this really appeals to me - and it's Christmas peeps, so COME ON !
Here’s how it works. I will make and send a handmade gift (possibly knitting possibly not - I sew too !) to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange.
I've no idea what the gift will be yet (I may do some snooping to see what you'd like !) but you will get it within 6 months - by the end of June. All you have to do is Pay It Forward by giving the same undertaking on your blog.
Interested ? Leave a comment !