A trip down tree memory lane...

I had always wanted a real Christmas tree and so when I moved into my first apartment 5 years ago, I wrestled one up...literally. A tree merchant had set up shop in our grocer's parking lot 3 blocks down the street and one evening, I coaxed my 9 year-old neice to come pick out a tree with me. It was snowing outside and everything just felt right...

While she was putting on her snowpants, she wondered aloud how we would get the tree home and wouldn't it be too heavy to carry. In my best no-duh voice I asked her "are leaves heavy?" '"No" she said. "Well" I said, "It's just a piece of wood with leaves on it." She beleived me and off we were practically skipping down the street, both brimming with excitement.

We picked out the biggest tree we could find and paid for it. The merchant, an older lumberjack type, asked us where our car was and I explained that we only lived a few blocks away and would carry it home. He chuckled under is breath and said it would be much too heavy for us girls to carry. I was so offended and being passive-aggressive said nothing but wanted to show him.

Well he was right. We could barely lift the thing off the ground. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction and urged my neice to just hurry along holding the tip while I held on to the heavier trunk end. I just wanted to make it to the other side of the building where our lumberjack friend wouldn't be able to see us struggle. We huffed and we puffed but we made it out of his sight.

We dropped the tree in a thump and were at a loss for what to try next. I didn't want to just leave the tree but it really was heavy. I decided to pick it up and hug it upright while following my neice's voice since I couldn't see through the tree which was at least a good foot and a half taller than me. What a spectacle we must have been. The sidewalks were slushy and slippery, it was dark and lots of foot and car traffic was milling. I was sooo embarrassed. My neice on the other hand was practically rolling on the ground with laughter.

I carried the tree upright probably for another block setting it down to catch my breath every 5 steps because as it turns out, leaves ARE heavy when they are frozen and still attached to the tree! It was during one of these pauses that I looked up to see my boyfriend (now husband) running down the street toward us. It was a knight-in-shining-armor moment! Turns-out he had driven past us on his way to visit me, noticed the spectacle, parked the car and came to our rescue! I'd never been happier to see him. He took one end, I took the other and we made it home.

It's one of my best Christmas memories to this day. That tree was trouble though: right in the middle of Christmas dinner, we all watched in horror as the tree which had been sitting in a bucket tipped over in a loud thud and sploush. Not knowing quite how to dispose of it, it stayed on my balcony until June of that year when I tossed it over the railing one evening and my sister and I sneaked it into a construction dumpster next door and that was the end of that.

I'm glad to report that we now have an artificial tree! I'm thinking of putting it up next week-end. Gotta time it right. Last year we put it up during the first week of December and by the time Christmas rolled around, I was just so sick of it and wanted it down before new years. So the second week of December it is! Or should I wait until the week before Christmas?

Silk waves scarf

My week-end was a dream! My husband, Julian and I hung out in bed until noon on Saturday morning being comfy together and singing Beatle songs. My husband went to get Tim Horton's for lunch, which we ate in bed, and then we got up and dressed and decided to get an early start on Christmas shopping this year to avoid the crowds. We didn't really have a plan or a list yet we managed to find nice thoughtful gifts for almost everyone in one store, Julian was happy and smiling the whole time, we came in under budget and get this...even wrapped the gifts when we got home! Pinch me someone!

Then on Sunday, we went to visit my sister in the city who just returned from a month long trip meeting her in-laws in Algeria. It was really nice to have her back home, safe, and sound and to hear that her in-laws like her as much as we do. When we got back home, our own in-laws dropped by to watch the Gray Cup game. We ordered pizza and had a great evening despite the Alouette's loss :0(

The only draw back was that I didn't get much knitting time in. I was itching to knit something during the game but all the projects I had on needles were intended for people who were there. Result: while I'm ahead on Christmas shopping, I'm behind on Christmas knitting. What I thought would be a 2-day project turned into an almost week-long affair. But after a push today, I'm glad to report another completed Christmas project, this one the silk waves scarf from Ram Wools. It's for my mother-in-law who grew up in Maine and loves the ocean. So when the winter months drag along, she can look down at her scarf and daydream about warmer weather and the sound of the surf.

The scarf is a basic feather and fan pattern, but the twist is that it is knit lengthwise across resulting in lovely scalloped edges. Silk and silk chenille are used alternating every fifth row which creates a neat effect at once silky smooth and warm and cushy. The silk was wonderful to knit with, but the silk chenille made my hands and fingers tingly which was unpleasant. I have yet to block it and though the pattern says doing so is "IMPORTANT" I think it looks pretty good as is so we'll see.

What to start next?

Lace fairies

Samantha's Branching Out pushed me over the edge right into the frenzy over this Knitty pleasure. In fact, this is a blatant copy-cat scarf! It was my first adventure in lace knitting and I really didn't expect it to go so well...but it seems as though the lace fairies were with me during this short and enormously satisfying journey.

I knit it up in less than 10 glorious hours! This was such a fun knit and I am thrilled with the result. I knit it up using Bernat Satin in a cream colour (I have so much Bernat Satin in the stash...it's top of the line Zeller's yarn!). Anywho, I knit it on US7 and, like Sam, I also knit it in two separate halves (13 pattern repeats on each side) grafting them at the centre so that the ends would match. Bonus, I love the flowery pattern created by the graft-line.

It is only after I had completed it and started looking up how this blocking thing works anyway (would you believe I've never blocked anything in my life before) that I learned that acrylic is apparantly "unblockable." Imagine my horror! There were some ramblings here and there about killing acrylic (which frankly sounds too violent - afterall, this was a satisfying knit) and others about steam blocking by hovering a steaming iron over the garment (without touching it) and letting it cool and dry before unpinning and handling it.

I tried the latter. Not only was it quick, but the results were terrific (the pic below shows the scarf half blocked - I didn't have enough pins to block the whole thing at once). The Bernat Satin softened up considerably to near cashmerey goodness and the pattern really opened up notwithstanding the gained 1 1/2 inches in the width of my scarf and an extra foot in length. My finished scarf is 7 inches wide by 60 inches long.

Well that's another Christmas gift down. This one for my mother. I think she'll love it ;0)

Cheers!

P.S.: I found that writing down each row of the pattern on a separate index card and flipping as I got to each row minimised frustrating screw-ups. Will definately do that again in the future for pattern repeats. Just one of the many tips that I picked up by reading this thread on Craftster.

No need to panic...

I found the pattern for these fingerless gloves with a mitten hood in the Lopi pattern book I'm using for my husband's sweater. They are knit up with Lopi on size 9's and consist of less than 40 stitches per round. Sound too good to be true? Well it isn't!
These can be knit up in 1 day! The glove part sounded tricky to me since I've never knit gloves before, but by the time I got to the fingers the pattern started to make sense to me and turned out great...the first time. No ripping here ladies. Stitches are then picked up at the back to make a mitten hood to keep those fingers warm when you don't need 'em.

Bonus: These mittens are actually so functional AND warm enough that I think even a GUY would wear them. I don't know about you, but all the men I know wear those leather gloves all winter long that are so not appropriate for Canadian winters. I think they wear them for the functionality. Well these glove/mitts are even more functional I think because you can easily pop the mitten hood off (you can do it with one hand) and there you have fingers to answer your phone, fumble for keys, open a Joe Louis, dig in your pockets for whatever it is you've got in there...when you're done pop the hood back on and there you go keeping your hands warm again! There is even a buttonhole in the thumb to pop out the tip. Seriously folks, these are the perfect man mitts!

And using up only 1 1/4 balls of Lopi, we're talking under $10 per pair. Needless to say, I've found that perfect Christmas knitting project for all the men on my list this year, and at a day each...I can breath! No more need to panic. It's going to be okay!

Phew!