I Felt Good. (tee hee) Grammar for Knitters.

I've been in a knitting frenzy. Okay, maybe not a frenzy, but I'm having fun. I finished my knitting needle case and though it didn't turn out "perfectly" (mainly, due to my lack of precision) I rather like it. Now I just need some empty needles to put IN the case... so many of mine are occupied with half-finished projects. In order to accomplish this task as I did on Christmas Day, I had to actually quickly teach myself to crochet. This was accomplished through the help of my Grandma's how-to-crochet book I found at her house when I stopped to borrow a crochet hook. I can't believe I forgot this simple detail in the construction of my case. However, I still managed to work up some button loops. Yay!


In fact the felting process was so cool I immediately tried to felt something else. I got an idea to make a little bag-like purse out of the extra pink... that plan transformed into something a bit more and I actually really like how it turned out. I managed to create this one in two days!

Here are the before and after felting shots.

the front

the back

the front

the back

the crocheted buttonhole

Of Christmas Parties and New Recipes ....

One of my favorite things to collect during parties and gatherings are new recipes and this year during vacation I was determined to try each one. First I made biscotti from a recipe I got from Pam. It seemed so easy; I guess that was my first warning. I made it to go with coffee when my Midwestern Position pal, Sara, made an in-person appearance at my apartment for a morning coffee the day before she had to head back to PA. The visit was great... the biscotti was not. I am determined to try again and when I have it mastered I'll post the recipe and pics.

In the meantime I'll post a yummy low-cal fruit dip I acquired at a holiday party I attended for the readers theatre group. It was a great time and so fun to hear the stories of a new crew of friends. I may be the youngest one there but it's far from a dull time. One couple were former owners of a square dance supply store. I love that. They talked about how back in the day there were square dance clubs and groups that met regularly... and they sold all the music and outfits anyone could want. I haven't square danced since one fall retreat back in 1993 and before that grade school. Something in me sparked and I just can't get it out of my head how fun that would be to try again. For now, I experimented with the dip. After all, I don't have an outfit to wear!


Low-Cal Fruit Dip

Mix the following three ingredients well:
1 package of sugar-free vanilla instant pudding
3 oz. of orange juice concentrate
1 1/2 cups of milk

Fold in 8 oz. (or 1 cup) of low fat plain (or vanilla) yogurt --don't use a mixer.

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

On Christmas Eve I attended a candlelight service at the church of my childhood. As I drove home at midnight, I was struck with the wonder and beauty of a perfectly clear star-filled sky. If I could have captured it on film it would have looked like this only BIGGER and with visible constellations brighter than I remember seeing them before.

My trip home for the holidays was an emotional one as it will be the last with my Grandma. I spent the day with her in her hospital and I knitted and visited while she lay there drifting in and out of sleep and she offered me nothing but a blank look punctuated only by the glimmer of recognition she had for my brother when he stopped to visit. She's so thin it's like looking at a different woman... now without the smiles or any physical response it's like she's already gone.

I have volumes of words to say and they were choked in my throat holding back that flood of tears that I am scared to really cry. I fear starting and never stopping. Instead I chatted about school, plans, craft projects.... I told her funny stories and I sat in silence... knitting... being there. I believe that even if she can't respond she knows we are there... at least while we are there. That she hears and may not even understand who I am or why I am there or what I am talking about... but she knows love and it's important that she is filled and surrounded with that too.

At the evening service I sat alone, missing my companion. My Gram. I sang the familiar songs and listened to the scriptures and I lit my candle from the one held by Lyla B. and got a hug with sympathetic eyes that knew as she gripped me who I was missing and what I was feeling.

After I visited Gram, I had to go to her house... empty and waiting... like she's coming back any minute even though she's been gone for more than six weeks. I had to be there to drink in her smell... to feel her... the real her. I miss her already. It was an odd holiday and it had a slightly empty worried feel, but I believe that God tried to give me a little gift. Something simple... something beautiful in that night sky.


*********
Update: My grandma passed away on December 30, 2006 in the wee hours of the morning.

What is Christmas Without the White Elephant?

Each year our staff has a holiday party (often in March... because the timing works out better) but this year we managed to fit one in before the holidays. We drink, we feast, we laugh a lot... usually during out gift exchange. Shari brought in one for the record books and now we will all know to avoid the Pringles can-shaped gift next year... that can holds a treasure that is too much to behold. Of course, our regular gift giving wasn't enough and this year Max felt I needed a special gift all of my own. Allow me to present the man who gets turned on night and day in my den of iniquity.

From now on we'll have to muddle through somehow.....

I've been ordered by my friend Susan, the Queen of Christmas, not to get all "grinchy" on my blog this holiday season... but I must be permitted this one bit of holiday gloom. I recently read an article in Entertainment Weekly on the Christmas carol "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and believe it or not, I was greatly amused by the story behind this popular song.

It was first recorded in 1944 by Judy Garland in the film Meet Me in St. Louis and it's a bit somber. Yet this song had an even more sadistic version that preceded it. Check out the lyrics and see for yourself. Here's the Judy Garland version:

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,
Let your heart be light
Next year,
All our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the yuletide gay
Next year all our troubles will be miles away

Once again as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who were near to us
Will be near to us once more

Someday soon we all will be together
If the fates allow.
Until then, we'll have to muddle through somehow
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now.

And here's the original one that Garland refused to sing because it was just TOO depressing....

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
It may be your last
Next year we may all be living in the past

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Pop that champagne cork
Next year we may all be living in New York.

No good times like the olden days,
Happy golden days of yore,
Faithful friends who were dear to us
Will be near to us no more.

But at least we all will be together
If the Lord allows.
From now on we'll have to muddle through somehow.
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now.

Merry Christmas to Me!

About a week ago I discovered this funky fabric made irresistible by the drastic markdown at Hancock Fabrics. In one day I whipped up this lovely little comforter-type blanket-quilt thingy. All that needed finishing was the yarn ties I used to hold the batting in place... I am not quite up to full-on quilting. It turns out that it takes a LONG time to do all those little ties, but I'm done and she's cuddly and I've got all of Christmas vacation to break 'er in. I've never been one to welcome anything PINK into my life, but this one seems like candy!

Seven Songs I've Been Craving Lately....

Crazy by Gnarls Barkley
I'll Take You There by Staple Singers
Hate Me Tonight by Blue October
Don't Go Breaking my Heart by Elton John
Groove Me by King Floyd
Unwritten by Natasha Beddingfield
Knock Three Times by Tony Orlando and Dawn

And by craving I mean, I can listen to these songs over and over and over insatiably. I know it's a little weird. ButI do this a lot. And it's not like I ever actually get "sick of them" but I just find myself moving on to some different song....

More Lefse Follies

This past weekend Marci and I decided to try the lefse making one time on our own... just for kicks. Hmmm.... How soon we forget. We made three double batches and managed to roll out and grill two of them but energy was subsiding and so I left the rest of the potato mix (sans flour) to do on my own later in the week.

We spent a couple hours on Saturday mixing the potatoes and visiting and knitting and blogging (some of my favorite things) and then as a sort of bizarre treat we dished up bowls of some of the potato mixture and snacked in the living room while we listened to John Legend on CD.

On Sunday we worked for about three hours and while we differ in our styles of rolling and grilling, I think our lefse turned out pretty well. Of course, my apartment still smells of potatoes days later.


Then on Wednesday just as the floury potato smell was beginning to fade I turned on the grill and added the flour and started to grill the lefse rounds in the final batch. I was pleased that the entire process of kneading and rolling and grilling and packaging took only two hours and I decided to leave the mess for later. I still have dishes piled high and a fine coat of flour covering everything within a 20 foot radius!

Works in Progress

My knitting needle case is nearly done. I have been sidetracked by a yummy charcoal scarf that is also nearly complete.

On the case I've gone from 30 inches of red knitted obnoxiousness to a felted piece that measures 20" b y 15" and it turned out pretty well for my first felting attempt.

The cables I am knitting for the inside of the case are surprisingly easy to do. It's sort of thrilling to attempt something and have it turn out exactly as it should. Yay!

I have my buttons poised and ready to attach and before the weekend is done I expect to have the whole project complete.

My soon to be done new scarf is made from a yarn that is made from Marks & Kattens Natura yarn: part wool, part alpaca, part acrylic and part viscose. I'm very pleased with how it's turning out. I found a pattern for a "checkerboard pattern" and it's a "kind" of ribbing but entirely different from the red scarf I completed earlier this fall. I was sure that this would require 3-4 skeins of yarn because of how small they were but I'm just starting my second skein and I'm already over halfway done.

I may be able to use this yarn I love and learn how to make mittens next.

To help with the counting of the rows for my pattern I invested in a row counter. My knitting supplies have grown to include a cable needle and row counter. Where I will stop it's hard to say.



On order: Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller

(I was going to purchase this for my good friend Marcia.... but she says she's getting it for Christmas... I guess it's just going to be a treat for me.)

My Baby's First Concert

This week when some staff members from school decided to volunteer as ringers of the Salvation Army bell, Marcia and I took out the harmonicas and let 'em wail. Or perhaps I should say we squeaked out a few Christmas carols hastily practiced before we left school.

One of my favorite bits of praise was "Hey, I could tell what song THAT one was!" It's amazing how much easier it gets the more I practice or the longer I play. I do get sloppier and more tired but I also get more daring and willing to make mistakes. Watch out world. I may have found my instrument and it's not the "spoons!"

Reading to Young and Old Alike

At the high school where I teach, in an effort to promote literacy and giving, I have tried to encourage the idea of reading to small children at the Headstart program across the street. Students in our school jumped on the chance and before long I had a list of 25 volunteers to draw from. Our plan is that one day each week two students would select picture books, practice reading them, and then we'd "perform" for three different classrooms. Our first day was last Tuesday and it was a rousing success. Comments my students made were: "That was FUN!" and "They sure are an easy audience to please." I was thrilled it went so smoothly and I am looking forward to getting more high school students involved.

Later that night I gathered with ten others in a readers theatre group to perform at the local senior citizen's center. We read an old radio play... or actually an episode from a popular radio series. Perhaps some of our audience members remember the original Fibber McGee and Molly shows. I had a small part and it was rather fun to try this. Readers theatre is a nice way to perform: no memorization, props, or movement... just reading and I only hope our audience was able to actually HEAR us.

When these events were scheduled I didn't put two and two together but later I had to laugh that I was reading to both ends of the spectrum and if you counted the high school students I often read to during the day... you might say I had the full spectrum before me today.

Reading, Watching, Listening..... November in Review

What I Was Reading in November
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

I finished all of these titles and didn't "love" any of them. Never Let Me Go is one I was wanting to read for months after reading a review and I have to say it left me a bit disappointed. Mainly in the ending. It was grim and hopeless... perhaps THIS BOOk is to blame for my gloomy spirit lately. Ha! I Feel Bad About My Neck, a collection of essays by the writer of When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, was amusing but aimed at a slightly older female demographic. The Glass Castle is a memoir that was fairly gripping from start to finish. Her opening paragraph guaranteed it.

"I was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a Dumpster. It was just after dark. A blustery March wind whipped the steam coming out of the manholes, and people hurried along the sidewalks with their collars turned up. I was stuck in traffic two blocks from the party where I was heading. "

For some reason, though, I didn't LOVE the book. There were times early on where I felt like her narrative voice didn't ring true. Later as I was more gripped by the subject matter I no longer noticed. The story also made me sad and angry. It made me just want to cry "Why?" .... yes, we are to believe that this woman, our author, has made it... has survived... has displayed that necessary resiliency to flourish despite her parents.. however I just felt so frustrated that her parents who were so creative and intelligent and wonderful in small ways could somehow screw up so big. Well, I'd recommend reading it if you are interested in reading a memoir that details a family unlike any other.

What I was watching in November
On TV
Grey's Anatomy
The Bachelor in Rome
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Two and a Half Men
The New Adventures of Old Christine
The Office
Desperate Housewives
Brothers and Sisters
Alias Season Five

This month Six Degrees seems to have disappeared and Brothers and Sisters wasn't on last week. Are we already losing the new shows? LOST dealt me a bitter blow by putting things on hold until February. The Bachelor in Rome was okay. I am not sure why I watch it other than to have something on while I am knitting. I wanted him to choose Sadie. Maybe it's my fondness for San Diego. But I am sure he and Jen will be happy. I actually didn't really love any of the women or him on this show this season. Oh well. Grey's Anatomy can still make me cry. Desperate Housewives is somewhat annoying lately. I think I just enjoy the comedic sitcoms best of all. Alias Season Five was released on DVD on Nov. 21st and I'm still watching it. I can't wait to see how all this Rimbauldi stuff resolves itself. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this show.


On DVD
The Notorious Bettie Page
Lucky Number Slevin
Mission Impossible 3
American Dreamz
Sylvia
Over the Hedge
The Pink Panther (2005)
The Da Vinci Code

This has been a slooooowwww month for movies and me, mainly because life has been anything but slow. None of these films were terribly remarkable to me. I felt that The Notorious Bettie Page had a bit of a Inside Deep Throat feel to it because of the subject matter. It was a decent film, but it didn't change my life. Lucky Number Slevin was entertaining with its twists and turns and much like most films of its kind I really liked it. It was a bit too bloody for me at times though. Mission Impossible 3 met my expectations for a sequel +1. American Dreamz had mixed reviews and I can sort of see why based a bit on the overall "feel" of the film. Still, in my opinion, no one could argue with the entertaining plot. Overall, I really enjoyed the satirical look at our country, its leaders and shows like American Idol. I thought Hugh Grant and Mandy Moore were terrific and Dennis Quaid did an excellent job in his role too. Sylvia just bummed me out. It was pretty much like I imagined the story to be based on the little I knew of her life and death. I always had a slightly different view of Ted Hughes though and I was wondering how accurate this film was in that regard. Over the Hedge was a huge Thanksgiving hit with my siblings and I only got to see part of it since I was cleaning up the kitchen and putting away leftovers when they started the film. The Pink Panther was pretty funny and I only wish I had seen the original more recently. The Da Vinci Code is one that I was warned not to bother seeing. I didn't think it was terrible. I am not sure I would rush out to read the book based on this either. Though, I do love Audrey Tautou and she was one of the leads.


At the Theatre
Flicka

This was the film I got to see at Curt's Theatre back home with my dad. I thought it was a little flat. Tim McGraw and Maria Bello made great rancher parents.. very believable and I thought it all worked... but as my dad said later, "it was a little slow." I sort of want to read My Friend Flicka now that I've seen this film.... out of curiousity.


What I was listening to in November

I pulled out my newest CD... The Weepies a few times this month. I also listened to the Walk the Line Soundtrack a few times as well.
When we did our lefse fundraiser I even listened to some Christmas music... and some Connie Smith, Patsy Cline, and Johnny Horton just for mom.

Here are my MP3 shuffles of the month of November (golly.... just one of these again!)-------------------------
Nov 3

Jingle Jangle by The Archies
The Dignity of Man by Donovan
Free Money by Patti Smith
Easy to Be Hard by Cheryl Barnes from HAIR
(I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear by Blondie