Christmas

Christmas has come to Train Central! And the gym downstairs is finally ready too, just in time. We aren't giving a lot of gifts this year because we don't want more stuff to move to River's Edge Bungalow in February. I always need more stationery and ink, so this is my perennial Christmas list. But what I really need, and what I want to be a giver of, is grace. Grace when I'm doing wrong. Grace when I'm bumbling. Grace when I am proud of myself if I'm doing well. Grace when I don't even know I need it. Grace for everything big and small. And fortunately, Jesus, the ultimate giver of grace, has come and showered us with grace by the sprinkling of His blood. In this season, I marvel anew that He would come to be born a baby, to die for me. But better yet, He's promised to come again.

"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain,' for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!'" Rev.21:3-5

Wishing you a truly Merry Christmas. No matter what is going on in your heart and life, the joy Jesus gives can be yours. May His joy be in our hearts all year long, until He comes again.

Knitting: the Good, and the Bad & Ugly

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!

I'm still knitting, even if I haven't talked much about it lately. I'll never have anywhere near the amount of knitted presents to give this year as I did last year, but I'm all right with that. Since Christmas means celebrating Jesus, not knitting, I am putting less and less emphasis on gifts. The more sorrow and suffering I see in the world, the more my eyes are on Jesus, the Hope of Christmas, and the less important presents tend to be. But, since we still do want to give gifts that show people we love them, here's what I've been working on for our brother in law who is serving a year's deployment in Korea.

 
It's the 'good' of my recent work. The body of the socks is in this yarn, below, Opal Rainforest VIII, color: Mr Breakdance. Fun, right? Looks more like Mr Blue Jeans to me.

The remainder, the heels and toes, is in Berroco Comfort Sock, color 1810. I like that it looks sort of camouflage. I started calling the socks Polish Pottery because of all the pretty flecks and variations. Now for the bad and ugly.

 
I'm not sure the picture does justice to how bad it really looks. Recently I've gotten a couple of books on circular knitting and instructions on toe-up socks. I used what I had extra in my yarn box for this project, discontinued Mission Falls wool. I didn't have enough for two socks, so they were probably doomed from the start. But I was concentrating on the instructions. I didn't worry about how bulky and ugly the sock was getting, I was trying the stranded-work ( using two colors at once). To top it off, the leg opening is tight, so there is no one on earth who will want to wear it. But, for now I'm going to keep it in my knitting box to remember my first toe-up project.

  
Here's some more delightful yarn I got from ebay last week. This variation of, Opal is color 6231, Mrs Flamenco. Don't you love the names they come up with? And, there's more yarn on the way! I may not have time to use it before Christmas but if Jesus tarries, this one will still make lovely birthday socks for the niece who loves purple, come spring.

Though I usually grouch at stores bringing Christmas things out too early, I cheered as we went by our town workers assembling a giant lighted tree this morning. With news of our country in peril and war around the world, more than ever I feel need of the Hope of Christmas. Bring those trees and lights out, I say. I need reminding: this world is not our home. Jesus has come and will come again. In the meantime, I'm working on gifts, and just maybe I can get a few more done by Christmas. 

Tea Time

Happy New Year! It is such fun to goof off during the holidays. The past day or so I've been using up my precious scraps of Cascade 220 Superwash Paints Yarn making a tea mitten for my new Brown Betty tea pot. Colors: Juniper Berries and Celtic which are mixes of blue-greens and greens, are perfect for a cheery morning cuppa.

Antique buttons from my dear friend Moke's Aunt Helen's button stash were the perfect finishing touch.

With such a charming way to start the day, who could resist? I hope to host many friends for tea in the coming year.

Why You Didn't Get a Christmas Present From Me

This year we knew Christmas was going to be tight because of the house that didn't rent when we left Virginia. But I realized that soon enough to make a lot of presents. The first one I made in August. Here are all the things I made. And even though I made more than I've ever made for Christmas before, I didn't get anything made for anyone outside the family, with the exception of the two pairs of fingerless gloves my friend Shikila from Bible study paid me to make. I even neglected my letter writing. If you didn't hear from me, here's why: see the culmination of my Christmas knitting below.

 Socks for Mumsy

Matching Fingerless Gloves

Kaleidoscope fingerless gloves for Shikila's daughter

Cafe Au Lait fingerless gloves for Shikila

Little Sister socks

Big Sister Socks

Arm warmers for the Pres

Cousin Anne's fingerless gloves

Dad's socks

And finally, a hat for the Pres. 

Phew! That's a lot of work, including the painting and story for Fidget. It was a good year. Happily, I received Christmas money and my favorite online shop, Yarn.com, is having a sale. So I will have to set my sights higher for next Christmas. And maybe if I start now, I can keep up with my letter writing too- so watch your mailbox. And happy new year!

Joy Along the Way

Christmas greetings to those near and far! The season is going too quickly for my liking this year. Fidget and I returned from our quick trip to Virginia delivering and varnishing paintings. Now we are both sick. Ahhhh! But there's so much to do...

This is just the time to stop and think about what Christmas is all about. Time for a walk along shore, admiring gardens and bowers along the way, finding broken pottery and pretty shells and remembering that Jesus came at Christmas time not to give us an unending list of things to scurry around doing; but to rest in Him, and His finished work when He died on the cross and rose again for our sins. 

May your Christmas be truly merry- not just the day, but may you have joy in your heart and anticipation in the days that lead up to it. If the question is of squeezing one more thing in or having time to relax with a cup of tea and meditate on God's wonders, I hope you will do the latter. May God bless you as you seek Him amidst the bustle of the season.

Work in Progress

Here's a quick view of Sakonnet, the house boat my clients lived on for the first 15 years of their marriage. Since I painted their house this spring, this will complete their collection. I am eager to finish and deliver it to them in Norfolk. Fidget and I don't have any gifts to bring but we hope to deliver Christmas spirit aplenty.

It is such a blessing that I have gotten to do this painting. The photo wasn't sent to me until I had completely given up on receiving it. I had so wanted to earn Christmas money this fall. With this and the painting of our neighbor Christie's niece Avery, there is plenty of money for gifts and to help with the mortgage for River's Edge, which remains vacant. God is good!

Knitted Gifts

I don't know how a month has gone by since my last post. But I have been busy working on Christmas gifts, so I will share a couple. If you are Cousin Anne, stop reading now before your present is spoiled. :) I am pretty sure Cousin Anne has no interest in this blog, but just to be sure, I had to say it.

A month or so ago the Pres asked for knitted arm warmers. I was making a pair of socks and he said the arm warmers would need much smaller stitches. I was a bit surprised, since I was using a size 1 needle at the moment. But I ordered a size 00 set of circular needles and had him pick his yarn. This Opal yarn was the gift of a friend who needed to make room in her yarn stash, bless her. The Pres picked two skeins from the ones I showed him, that way I was sure I would not run out, as I am not a great judge of how much yarn is ever in a ball. I just finished the arm warmers (loosely using this pattern on knitting site Ravelry as a guide) and have laid them out to block them after soaking them. Blue is not an especially favorite color of his but I think he was pleased with how they looked as they came along. Now he's agreed to forget about them by Christmas. He's a good egg.

Here is my latest project (the large pin midway is only there temporarily, so I can measure the second glove against it as I knit to be sure I come out with an even pair). This is right side out, where you can see a lot of the knit stitches. If it is worn inside out, it is a lot loopier and fuzzier, which is lots of fun as a fashion statement. These fingerless gloves will be for Cousin Anne. She, I realized recently, is the only girl in the family for whom I have not made any gloves yet. Last Christmas I made her a scarf out of the same color yarn and just found the second skein stashed away last week. Perfect! Here is the scarf from last Christmas:

I love the variations in this Farmhouse Yarn, Trixie's Loopy Mohair. I hope to get more at Knit Wits in Virginia Beach on my next trip down.

It is such fun making presents, thinking about loved ones' hobbies and preferences. My hope in giving these things is that they will be useful as well as reminders to these loved ones throughout the year that they are loved. Jesus' love for us is a year-round love, after all.

That's all I can share of my Christmas workshop for now. What are you making this season?

Secrets

 Hello and happy fall from Harbor View! I have some soup simmering and just a little bit of time to knit or drop a line. I love this time of year. Something about the cold is invigorating. And there is still plenty of time to consider making things for friends and family members for Christmas. As long as I have a minute I'll show you a secret Christmas project. I know it doesn't look like much yet. If it did, I couldn't show it here. I am partial to greens, but even so, isn't this yarn pretty?

 

Here is last year's secret project: holiday-theme quilted place mats with matching napkins! Christmas ornaments, stars, geometric designs, holly and peppermint sticks mixed and matched to make cheerful place settings for everyone in the family, and even some friends who didn't expect a gift.
 

I tried to keep one side Christmasy and the other side vaguely wintry. That way they can be used all winter. I had seen a place mat sort of like this on a wall at the local quilt shop and thought I'd try it for Christmas. They had only one pocket for the napkin, but I put two. When you have two though, you end up using them for the silverware and there napkin has to go on the plate or on the side.  

They're shown on our glass-topped dining room table, made from an old door from a slave cabin in Orangeburg, SC. The Pres made the table when we moved to Virginia three years ago; Fidget's former teacher at Beaufort Montessori and her husband gave us several special old doors when we left, and this one was our favorite. The table was perfect for our new dining room. We'd never had a dining room- or a dining room table. I love the look of all the layers of paint partially sanded under the glass.

I love being able to make things for loved ones. We are pretty low budget around here. But that doesn't mean handmade gifts can't be as special, or even more special in some instances, as store bought items. Another thing I want to make is a painting of this little scene for Fidget for Christmas. I have such a great story idea in my head. I'd love to give Fidget the painting with its own story! I think that would be a most memorable gift.What are you making this season?

Joy Persists

We have had a couple of challenging weeks here at River's Edge. But I am glad it is this season. Much as I felt empty a week ago, and I sought God for answers, I find as this Christmas week begins that joy persists in the face of sorrow. Somehow, hope in God finds light of day in our darkest times. 

In yesterday's sermon I was reminded that God knows our most difficult hurts, having had to give over his only Son for the demands of sins' punishment. God knows hurt. This is why He can be trusted with our broken hearts. He is the only One who has the power to redeem even the hardest things in our lives. Christmas couldn't come at a better time than when we hurt. Maybe you need reminding today, as I do, that this little baby, born in a manger,  came to give us hope for the future; and that brings joy in the here and now, even in this broken world. Merry, joyous Christmas.