As a matter of poetry, I know there should be a New Year's Eve post, but there's nothing happening here, and I am horrible at remembering what went on in a year.
So. . .
I hope you have a happy NYE, however you do --- or don't --- celebrate. See you in '22.
I was asked about the patterns from yesterday. The beanie is a Patons Yarnspirations one, and, if the link works, can be found here. If the link doesn't work, just go to the Patons site and search for "Basic Beanies."
The Asymmetrical Poncho is from Premier Yarns. Go there if the link is bad.
By the way, both these patterns are free.
As you can imagine, I've been watching all the football. (Sorry 'bout your Ducks, Twinnie.) I've made headway on the hat. Finished the socks so I guess I made footway on them?
Briton isn't seeing his housemate much but says he can hear a good bit of coughing. Thankfully, Briton has the next three days off, so he can rest his body and mind. Jeff will be fine, I'm sure, but it's all so stressful. Thanks for your kind words. They've been sent along.
These are the socks I finished on Christmas Day. It's entertaining that they are almost perfect inversions of one another.
The de-Christmas-ing of the house has begun. The goal is to pack everything up in fewer boxes than I unpacked. The tree always goes last, because I hate to let go of the lights.
Briton found out the day after Christmas that his housemate is COVID-positive. He was rattled, to say the least. A negative test today seems to have eased his mind a bit. The way the house is laid out, it's not difficult for him and Jeff to keep their distance. Fingers crossed and wood knocked for both of them.
Me, I made a pair of socks.
Look at what Twinnie sent me. A beautiful journal, which gave me something to open yesterday.
In all the world of twins, I found a particularly wonderful one. Thank you, Kim.
Trusting you all had a happy Christmas Day, and that if your celebrations are continuing, they are magical, too.
The best holiday decoration possible. This house is always best when these two are here.
Merry Tomorrow to you all!
Briton is bringing Hannah (and Nellie and Theo) in tomorrow. It's the first Athens Christmas we've had in a few years. Really looking forward to it.
Are you resting up for the weekend?
In the category "Ornaments You'd Think Would Be On Kim's Tree, but Are Actually on the Family Tree," the winner is:
We bought this little toy during a trip to Helen, Georgia. (There's a year-round Christmas shop there.) We liked it enough to buy it, of course, but it took on something additional a few years ago. It started snowing and ice-ing on Christmas Eve, and Hannah's boyfriend at the time plus two of Briton's friends were here and got sort of stuck. One of Briton's friends (probably my favorite of his friends, tbh) really took to it*, and I'm doubly happy to see it every year because of that.
In other Santa items:
(These are gummies from my Holly Dolly advent calendar.)
*As in making Santa and the bear not only "dance" as they do, but having them make a running commentary on the events of that night.
I'm unsure how it's come about, but I have stockings completely taken care of this year. That is usually my "What-am-I-gonna-do?" at Christmas. I'm much prouder of that than I probably should be.
I am, therefore, a Santa with time to cuddle with cats
as opposed to the Santa who feels like this:
You?
Well, it's rainy here the week before Christmas. In other knitting parts, The Twinster is baking, Bridget is sharing family song memories, KmKat is making us giggle, while I'm taking it easy. I baked a loaf of cinnamon bread, cleaned the kitchen up, cast on a couple of pairs of socks.
The Decor Tour does roll on, though.
If you are a Christmas tree in this house, you have a Nativity scene at your base.
No, not that time, silly.* It's the time of this particular month. Children are saying, "It's a whole week until Christmas? It'll never get here." Parents are saying, "There's only a week until Christmas? I'll never get everything done."
Helping us to count down here:
(both in the hall and on the tree)
Dale loved Opus (don't get me wrong, I do, too), so he's a permanent part of our holidays. Dale also loved Snoopy, and I love Woodstock, so
Does a cat under the tree count as a Christmas decoration? If so, my streak of daily decoration posting remains intact.
I haven't mentioned that I got my COVID booster (and my flu shot) on Sunday. I've had some soreness in my left lymph nodes (got the COVID shot in that arm), which is a common side effect I'd never heard of.
And as of today, I've finished what little Christmas knitting I had to do. I delivered the hats to the people at Kroger, I finished a scarf for my mail carrier and a pair of wrist warmers for Hannah. Now I don't know what to do next. It's a freeing feeling on one level, a bit unnerving on another. What are my choices? What speaks to me? Watch this space.
In the den, where I spend most of my time
As you come in the front door, you see these
Two cross-stitch pieces that Dale did. Yep, he was a cross-stitcher, and did most of the Christmas pieces we have. I've always loved the Santa one; it's intricate and interestingly designed, and has gold filaments in it. Quite lovely.
Is this the day we start with giving the leaping lords and laying geese, or did that kick off yesterday? Asking for a friend.
Today is 14 days since my flold/clu fever broke, so I scheduled an COVID booster appointment. Then, what the heck, let's get a flu shot, too. The only sort of stutter against that plan was how I always start feeling fluish after I get the flu shot. So far today, though, nothing but sore arms.
I mentioned when I was sick that I may have done some online shopping. I did. I got another matchbox Nativity.
Michael Nesmith has died, and my heart is more than a little broken. Mike was my guy. My friends and I were the perfect targets for Monkees marketing, and we all fell hard: most of them for Davy, a scattered few for Peter, and me for Mike. (Sorry, Micky.) I'm sadder than I had imagined myself being.
I'll go with the music-ish theme for today's decoration. Hannah has always loved this one.
It plays a medley of Christmas carols, and the lamp and lantern all light up. Again, we've had it for so many years that, though the music still plays, it's scratchy and the volume is completely unpredictable. Yet, it's one of those decorations that goes in the same place every year. If it's not there, everything seems off.
It's probably not a surprise that I have lots of Nativity scene ornaments.
My ain each year, ornament or table top decoration, is to buy scenes utterly different from ones I already have. You don't necessarily think that there are almost endless possibilities, but sometimes it seems there are.
Speaking of trees, and moving to things that go under them. . . In my years as a gift wrapper at the jewelry store, as well as my years as a mother, I've disguised all kinds of things. A ring box in a series of larger and larger boxes, DVDs in shoe boxes --- you get the point. Tonight, though, I just gave up on the trickery. Briton asked for weights (10-pound dumbbells), I got them for him, and you try to maneuver a 20-pound package around a sheet of wrapping paper. And forget about any element of surprise when he picks the package up Christmas morning. Hey, I did what I could.
When my college roommate knit her first scarf, it was a super-long Dr. Who number, all in garter. She was so proud; I was proud of and hap...
