12.28.05
Belated Christmas Wrap-Up
I hope everyone who celebrated Christmas this week had a great one. Mine was terrific, thanks for asking! As my parents are divorced, we tend to celebrate Christmas Day Observed with one or the other, either the day before or the day after the actual holiday. So it’s always 48 solid hours of Christmas Eves and Days, and the nice thing about that is that you don’t feel like the whole thing went by so fast that you barely got to enjoy it. By the time we’re driving home after the festivities of Christmas Number Two have drawn to a close, I usually feel pretty thoroughly Christmased.
This Christmas was a particularly good one, and one of the highlights was the set of four gorgeous scarves that my mom knitted for me, my sister, and our respective Matts.
Mine is a cashmere silk blend (I’ll ask my mom to provide the exact name of the yarn in the comments) and it is luscious. It is so soft and drapey, not to mention warm. I have had it off for all of about two waking hours since receiving it. I like to think it’s a good around-the-house scarf, but then, I am the sort of person who thinks nothing of having an around-the-house parka or around-the-house snow pants, so pretty much any winterwear is “around the house” acceptable to me (not to Matt, but no matter). Still, this is a particularly exquisite scarf to wear any time.
Speaking of scarves as Christmas gifts, I was absolutely thrilled by my boss’s reaction to the Ruffles scarf I gave her. I had such misgivings about it, to the point where I came very close to giving the scarf to Goodwill and giving her a box of chocolates instead. Well, either she loved it or she did an Oscar-deserving performance of loving it. It was my most gratifying knitted-gift-giving experience yet. I also got a good reaction to my many mini sweaters, and my sister loved her bag. This positive reinforcement will probably result in an even more insane slate of knitting next Christmas.
I also received a few knitting-related gifts, including a couple pattern books, the Yarn Harlot’s latest, the premiere issue of Knit Simple (I’ll try to do a review at some point), two gift certificates to two of my favorite local knitting stores, and, best of all, a ball winder! This is a seriously fun knitting toy! I spent a large chunk of yesterday winding whatever unwound skeins I could find. I’m a dork.
It’s not that I really hated spending time winding balls of yarn by hand, but there is something deeply satisfying about the compact little yarn cakes that a ball winder makes possible. Hooray for yarn cakes!
So now that the Christmas knitting is over, what’s next? Well, I plan to stick pretty closely to the “on deck” list over on the right over the next couple months. The priority right now is the Reversible Rib Shawl, which with hard work and a genuine miracle will be done for my mom’s birthday on January 30. Once that and a couple more gifts are done, I am committing to a couple months of selfish knitting. It’s time for me to make an adult-size sweater for myself and one for Matt — I’ve planned to do it for ages and have always been derailed by other projects. But now I’ve made them New Year’s resolutions, so let’s see if that does the trick.
One final interesting note: Minty Fresh alerted me to the fact that someone nominated me in the “Best New Knitting Blog” category over at the inaugural Knit Blog Awards at Queer Joe’s Knitting Blog. This is surprising and flattering in equally (huge) measure. Whoever nominated me, thank you — I would kiss you on the lips if I could. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it from nomination to finalist, so you can’t vote for me. Actually, it’s probably good that I’m not in the voting-for tier, or I would have to put the entire rest of my life on hold so as to devote all day every day to hitting “refresh” to check the standings, ultimately becoming profoundly depressed when I fail to reign supreme over all the other new knitblogs. Just knowing someone out there likes me is good enough for me!
Amy said,
December 28, 2005 at 10:10 pm
We all love you Rachel. You would have had my vote, hands down.
You and yours look so cute in your scarves. I wish we had cold enough weather to wear them down here. It was 80 degrees in Houston today. Yuck!
I knew your boss would love her scarf. How could she not??
Amy
blossom said,
December 28, 2005 at 10:13 pm
wow, what a great christmas you’ve had. the picture of you guys look so cute, matching scarves and glasses… love it.
so do you need a swift to complete the yarn winding exp? i’d recommend oregon woolworker. best!
and i wanted to let you know that all the little sweaters you’ve made are amazing.
have a great new year!
Laura said,
December 29, 2005 at 11:02 am
Someone needs a swift…
It must be nice to have your mom knit for you. My mother used to knit for me all the time, but now she said that she doesn’t have time and that I knit much better than her anyway. *sigh*
Angela said,
December 29, 2005 at 4:52 pm
Just found your blog and what a kick! I was totally amazed at all the mini-sweaters and other projects you managed to get finished!!! Great job!
Jaime said,
December 30, 2005 at 12:22 pm
Your scarf from your mother is really beautiful! And YAY for your ball winder. I don’t really mind (most of the time) winding by hand either but the little yarn cakes are so much prettier. :-)
Carry said,
December 30, 2005 at 12:47 pm
What luck to have a mom who knits as well! Nice gifts AND someone who likes to go to the yarn shops with you.
Cool ball winder. I put one on my list, but alas, will have to wait until I get one of those nifty JoAnne’s coupons in the mail. I used to think I would always want to wind my yarn by hand, but that’s when I was still a fairly new knitter and only had one project at a time. A winder would save time. ;)
Oh, and you know what I currently use as a swift? Two high back kitchen chairs…works great! (though it looks like your method would be fun to watch)
Mothhair said,
January 3, 2006 at 1:33 pm
Since you asked, Rachel, the yarn I used for your scarf is Kashmir by Trendsetter. It is absolutely my favorite yarn ever in terms of (1) how it feels on the needles and (2) how it shows stitch definition. I also love the pattern (which can be found at http://knitting.about.com/library/blscarf2.htm). I’m glad you like it, Rachel!
Rachel said,
January 3, 2006 at 1:41 pm
Holy crap, my mother made me a scarf out of one of the world’s most decadent and luxurious yarns! I definitely was not a good enough daughter to deserve that.
Suzanne said,
January 4, 2006 at 4:06 pm
What a close-”knit” family (groan)!
Rachel, you are one of my favorite bloggers and you would have my vote. Your words seem to capture and express some of the ways I think about things and I love your reviews.
Great work on the coronet and all those little mini-sweaters. They represent true dedication
Emily said,
January 7, 2006 at 1:05 pm
Ball winders. I love them. ♥
I love all the gifts, either to you, or from you. And it’s great your boss loved Ruffles.