Sunday, December 10, 2017

This Season


I am sitting in my warm home feeling fortunate. The morning is cold but the sun is shining. I have hot tea in my mug, a jumble of knitting projects in two bags at my feet, and books piled up on the coffee and end tables. This past week I put out a few Christmas treasures. At the same time I stepped away from the news feeds to honor this season. As with many things in life, less is more.


I am enjoying this small collection of angels. When I was a girl, one of my grandmothers bought four little red angel/bells because she had four grandchildren. I am her oldest grandchild and can recall how she lined them up on top of her boxed television set and added one with each new baby in her family. Over the years she added angels for five more grandchildren and the first few great grandchildren. After she died, my sister and I shared the collection. Later I inherited two angels that belonged to my mother-in-law. None of these pieces were expensive and a couple of them have texture that resists dusting. The first four and the ones from my mother-in-law date from the 1950's. They all bring back memories. I remember helping my Grandfather wind garland around a gas lamp post in their front yard. I remember helping Gram wrap gifts in white tissue paper, adding what she called "seals," the early version of stickers. When I bake, I recall the cookies and candies she set out on a table on her unheated screened back porch. To be allowed to walk around the table and choose homemade goodies from tins was a treat and she treated us often.

Early last week, I knit two small ornaments because I wanted to try them. I used left over self striping sock yarn and knit one in an evening. I found the knitting a little tedious, especially the sleeves. Two are enough for now. I put the red/green/blue one on our small tree and tied the pink one onto my youngest niece's gift and sent it to her in Montana. My mother stitched the placemats and they are a treasure.


I finished the three color cowl. It needs to be washed and blocked. The Contrail shawl grows by a row or two every few days. I cast on Micah's hat out of multicolored yarn. I am improvising a pattern. The ribbing is K2, P2 and the body is a 6/2 broken rib. I'll work out the swirl type decreases when I get to the top. Christmas fudging might be required. These projects do not have deadlines. The hat and shawl are my knitting for the Knitting for Peace Project. Last year I knit the peace project cowl and enjoyed it. This year I purchased the shawl pattern and am following Christina's blog posts. She offers the pattern for a minimal price with some proceeds going to charity. I don't often buy patterns until I am ready to cast on but I wanted to support her efforts. I may or may not knit the shawl but I will be knitting somewhere on December 21. 

May you find peace in this holiday season.

 





6 comments:

  1. What lovely Christmas decorations you have! I love that circle quilt and the angels...oh my they are darling. Thank you for sharing those memories. I love the tiny sweaters and love the start of your grandson's new beanie. Susan B. Anderson has a free, ribbed hat pattern. Maybe its numbers are close to yours?

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  2. Your angels and the memories they hold are simply wonderful, along with the sense of peace that your words bring. I, too, am enjoying the contentment of knitting in my warm house on a cold and snowy evening, and enjoying seeing your Christmas treasures (and Micah's wonderful hat!) Thank you for sharing!

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  3. I love your angels and the story behind them :) Cute and lucky lucky you. I can't wait to see the three color cowl, I'd like to knit that one day. The wee sweaters are so cute!

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  4. I love your angels story. And your sticker story! We carry our loved ones with us , a bit closer than usual I think , at the Holidays. My mom had angels but not a certain number. Yours are dear~!! Your tiny sweaters are so so sweet. Perhaps one day a century from now, someone will remember you by them

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  5. Beautiful Christmas decorations! LOVE the placemats and the tiny sweaters.

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  6. Love the trip down memory lane...just wonderful and evoked my own memories. The sweaters are too cute. I think you are on a peace roll! Thanks for sharing some of your peace.
    Cheers~

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