Hello, Frenemy
I had a maudlin post half-written last night about mourning Christmases past and blah blah how hard the Christmas season is on adults. Thank goodness I didn't bother posting it. Tonight, you get a happy post instead about how busy I've been making this a happy time for myself and my family. I have to say, I've been working very hard to balance keeping traditions I enjoyed as a little kid, creating some new traditions of my own, and reigning in my drive to do every single damned thing possible for a perfect holiday. We've been keeping it pretty relaxed and real, and that is good. Yay!
One tradition we had when I was growing up was an advent calendar. My mother had made one out of cross-stitch embroidery, and every year sewed Hershey's Kisses to loops all over it, which we then got to cut off each night as a treat. I didn't go to that extent, I just bought one that involves moving button ornaments up to the Christmas tree, but Julie love-love-loves it and looks forward to moving a button each evening.
So, since the last post, I have checked several items off my to-do list and started in on a few more.
The holiday cards are done, with the exception of sending return cards to people that send us cards that somehow were not on our initial list as they come in. I had to go buy an extra box of cards because I miscounted my original list, but luckily there were still the same ones at Target. Joe was a huge help in getting the cards written, and he didn't even complain much about it.
The washrags are finished, washed, and wrapped up with the hand made bars of soap I bought at the craft fair a few weeks ago. I can hardly wait till Thursday to give them to Julie's teachers, and if I never knit with flax again it may be too soon.
Oh, that ball of yarn on top of the washrags? I let myself wind it from the skein as a treat for finishing the wash rags. It's the Fino by Alpaca with a Twist that my SP9 pal sent me. I'm going to make myself a scarf out of it, but I have not yet (in my mind) earned the right to cast on just yet. This yarn is really nice. Soft, shiny, fluffy and I just know it is going to be warm. I had mentioned in my questionnaire that I was interested in trying Kidsilk Haze, but I am so glad she sent me this beautiful stuff instead. Thanks, Secret Pal!
Oh, and speaking of Secret Pal goodies, here are the fingerless gloves I knit up with that Morehouse Merino wool she sent me. The lighting here is kind of off because I was trying to get a picture of the stitch definition. These are really soft and warm, and I am going to put them in the gift-game we play at my cousin's house every year on Christmas Eve. The pattern is my friend Jean's, and is available at the Yarnery in St. Paul.
The menu and grocery shopping for Christmas is done, with the exception of a few fresh veggies that I will buy later in the week. I'm keeping a running list of what's left to pick up, so that's under control.
My office room is still a pig sty. I did at least strip the guest bed and the sheets are in the wash right now. There are simply too many projects going at the moment for me to sort through everything, but I'm confident it will happen soon.
I still have not wrapped the rest of the presents - I did a bit of sorting this evening, and it is going to take me an entire evening to wrap them. This is 90% of them - I still have to unearth the other 10% from their hiding places.
I started the sewing project this evening - hence the title of this post. My dear frenemy has come out of the closet for a visit.
On the one hand, I have a very nice sewing machine. It is user-friendly and reliable. On the other hand, I really don't enjoy sewing at all and tend to curse up a storm while I'm using it. I sit there counting the moments till I can walk away, go sit on the couch and knit. I at least reached the point in the project where I can go do some ironing of hems, which is still odious to me but can at least be done in front of the television. I downright hate the iron, but I suppose I can get over having to use it this once.
As a motivating factor, here is a picture of the crazy-nasty old curtains I am replacing:
Those are Peanuts characters, and there are some really sexist comments on there like "I'm too feminine for this game".
Now for some gratuitous cute-kid pictures. Sophie is picking spaghetti noodles off her bib and eating them.
Julie, still wearing her purple tutu, has dressed Daisy cat in a tutu as well. I can not believe how much Daisy puts up with from my girls. I had my back to Julie for about 30 seconds while she did this, and I immediately took the thing off her after I got the picture. So funny, so sad.
One tradition we had when I was growing up was an advent calendar. My mother had made one out of cross-stitch embroidery, and every year sewed Hershey's Kisses to loops all over it, which we then got to cut off each night as a treat. I didn't go to that extent, I just bought one that involves moving button ornaments up to the Christmas tree, but Julie love-love-loves it and looks forward to moving a button each evening.
So, since the last post, I have checked several items off my to-do list and started in on a few more.
The holiday cards are done, with the exception of sending return cards to people that send us cards that somehow were not on our initial list as they come in. I had to go buy an extra box of cards because I miscounted my original list, but luckily there were still the same ones at Target. Joe was a huge help in getting the cards written, and he didn't even complain much about it.
The washrags are finished, washed, and wrapped up with the hand made bars of soap I bought at the craft fair a few weeks ago. I can hardly wait till Thursday to give them to Julie's teachers, and if I never knit with flax again it may be too soon.
Oh, that ball of yarn on top of the washrags? I let myself wind it from the skein as a treat for finishing the wash rags. It's the Fino by Alpaca with a Twist that my SP9 pal sent me. I'm going to make myself a scarf out of it, but I have not yet (in my mind) earned the right to cast on just yet. This yarn is really nice. Soft, shiny, fluffy and I just know it is going to be warm. I had mentioned in my questionnaire that I was interested in trying Kidsilk Haze, but I am so glad she sent me this beautiful stuff instead. Thanks, Secret Pal!
Oh, and speaking of Secret Pal goodies, here are the fingerless gloves I knit up with that Morehouse Merino wool she sent me. The lighting here is kind of off because I was trying to get a picture of the stitch definition. These are really soft and warm, and I am going to put them in the gift-game we play at my cousin's house every year on Christmas Eve. The pattern is my friend Jean's, and is available at the Yarnery in St. Paul.
The menu and grocery shopping for Christmas is done, with the exception of a few fresh veggies that I will buy later in the week. I'm keeping a running list of what's left to pick up, so that's under control.
My office room is still a pig sty. I did at least strip the guest bed and the sheets are in the wash right now. There are simply too many projects going at the moment for me to sort through everything, but I'm confident it will happen soon.
I still have not wrapped the rest of the presents - I did a bit of sorting this evening, and it is going to take me an entire evening to wrap them. This is 90% of them - I still have to unearth the other 10% from their hiding places.
I started the sewing project this evening - hence the title of this post. My dear frenemy has come out of the closet for a visit.
On the one hand, I have a very nice sewing machine. It is user-friendly and reliable. On the other hand, I really don't enjoy sewing at all and tend to curse up a storm while I'm using it. I sit there counting the moments till I can walk away, go sit on the couch and knit. I at least reached the point in the project where I can go do some ironing of hems, which is still odious to me but can at least be done in front of the television. I downright hate the iron, but I suppose I can get over having to use it this once.
As a motivating factor, here is a picture of the crazy-nasty old curtains I am replacing:
Those are Peanuts characters, and there are some really sexist comments on there like "I'm too feminine for this game".
Now for some gratuitous cute-kid pictures. Sophie is picking spaghetti noodles off her bib and eating them.
Julie, still wearing her purple tutu, has dressed Daisy cat in a tutu as well. I can not believe how much Daisy puts up with from my girls. I had my back to Julie for about 30 seconds while she did this, and I immediately took the thing off her after I got the picture. So funny, so sad.
posted by Shelly Kang at 10:38 PM
3 Comments:
That's a cute advent calendar idea! :)
My sewing macine is my frenemy too! I feel the exact same way about sewing vs. knitting. Good luck on your Christmas dinner!
What an hilarious kid/cat/tutu picture! My cat won't hold still long enough for me to get a picture of the antlers we bought her one year.
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