I have this really nice long post I want to make, but I have no time for the next few days.
So, for now, I have a question! My hands are super-dry. Do you have a favorite moisturizer? Lavender makes my head hurt, but aside from that, I’m open to any suggestion!
I didn’t get to show off my cool new shoes last night, since I was the only one at knitting group. That’s unless you count the guy with the cell phone turned up to 11 talking about religion in Spanish. Making lemons out of lemonade, I decided I could eavesdrop and brush up on my Spanish. Unfortunately, I remembered a lot more than I thought, and then really wished I could tune this guy back out. It was all “la fuerza sagrada” and “el Senor” about fifty bazillion times in a row. Serves me right for eavesdropping.
Did I mention that he occasionally burst into song and also made sound effects as he talked? I was doing okay until the guy he was talking to started singing “Hello” by Lionel Richie. Then I had to hide my face and concentrate really hard to avoid laughing.
Anyway, here’s the thing. When he finally lost connection with his buddy – because this guy was not going to hang up voluntarily – he powered up YouTube on his laptop and started playing music videos and singing along with them. This was in the cafe section of our local Books-a-Million.
Am I wrong in thinking that this is just poor netiquette? I mean, it’s one thing to be super loud and annoying on your cell phone, because at least then you’re talking to someone, and I can accept that maybe you have hearing loss and need it cranked up that high. But having the volume up on your laptop in public? That’s bad manners, right? It’s a new area of etiquette, I know, but that’s bad form, isn’t it?
Anyway, because there was nobody there last night, and I couldn’t get the Rowan Calmer I needed to start the Shedir hat, I decided to turn the heel on my Vinnland socks. I need to kind of watch what I’m doing when I do that, and I didn’t have to maintain eye contact with anyone, so it was a good project to work on. Unfortunately, the guy was so distracting that I carried the back of the heel in plain stockinette up higher on the second foot than on the first. Oops. I know nobody will notice this but me, but they’re for me, so that kind of does matter. I’ll be ripping back about four rows at some point.
The closest supplier I found for the Calmer is Davidson, about 30 minutes away from here. I actually have some Calmer, but it’s in a denim blue and my sister-in-law asked for “earth tones” so I have to pick up more. Looks like a road trip today!
Reminder! For a limited time, a $25 donation to my kid’s school gets you a Jayne hat, saving you $11! For kits, make a $25 donation for a kit with needles or $15 donation for a standard kit, for discounts of $9 and $2 respectively. Help kids AND save money? It doesn’t get shinier than that! Woo!
Note: the wait for a finished hat is still eight weeks long. Sorry, not much I can do about that. But you’ll still have the warm glow that comes from giving to keep you warm while you wait for your cunning hat.
Apparently the holidays upped my niceness quotient, because now I’m up to #3 if you search for “nice lady” on Google. Nicest lady, here I come!
The dragon baby hat is done, as you can see. I’ll bring it to my knitting group tonight, since a couple of our members were keen to see it.
I’m putting aside a couple of non-Jayne projects to make a chemo cap that a relative just asked for for a friend of hers. She’s requested Shedir. Of course, she has no idea how much trouble that pattern is, but compared with having cancer, knitting that hat is a piece of cake. I’ll pick up the yarn today and get started. I’m happy I can help someone in this way.
Hey, does that move me up to #2 nicest lady? No? Darn!
Merry Christmas, one and all! I hope you are all enjoying your day! Reporting on the material side of things, Emily had several items she was hoping to get but didn’t think she would. She got them, so that was great for her. And yes, she did get two Ty Girlz from Santa. The way she said “Santa is real” on her way to bed last night kind of made us think this might be the beginning of the end, so we wanted Santa to have a big showing this year, just in case.
She also got some unexpected things, like a karaoke machine from Grandma (“It’s so beautiful!”) and the Wizard of Oz on DVD from Grandpa, which she’s already watching. You know it’s a hit if she put aside her other toys to watch it. She just watched Bert Lahr’s big “King of the Forest” musical number and said, “Wow!”
Another unexpected hit was the glow-in-the-dark solar system we got for her. It’s currently hanging from the ceiling. Emily loves space, but I don’t want to just get her educational things. We need not have worried. Not only is it the solar system, which she loves, but it also provides another light source to illuminate any monsters which might be in her closet.
Steve got this super-cool monster movie calendar from the Museum of Modern Art. Emily started to pick out a Wizard of Oz calendar, then I said, “remember, we want to get something Daddy will like, not just us, since it’s for him.” She instantly picked this out. My husband LOVES old monster and sci-fi B movies. Emily could not have chosen a more perfect gift. I have no idea how she did this, since for obvious reasons we don’t let our sensitive eight-year-old watch things like “The Brain That Would Not Die.”
Emily apparently decided early on that I needed to have a pair of shoes. And that’s how I wound up with these little babies. Can you her me squealing? Apparently there’s one store in Charlotte that sells them, and they only sell them in men’s sizes. Fortunately, I have a pair of black Converse high tops so he was able to get the size fro those, since they’re apparently also men’s shoes. The clerk told my husband, “Now, you might want to get her a pair of really cool socks to wear with these.” My husband informed her that I knit my own. Ha. Take that! I can’t believe my husband went to a mall near Christmastime for me. What a guy! I’m thrilled.
More than the things we receive, of course, Christmas is about the things we share. Steve and I have already mangled “New York New York” on the karaoke machine together. Here’s hoping you and the ones you love make many happy memories of your own today.
Me: Man, that hot cocoa with peppermint schnapps was really good last night. Is it bad to go to the ABC store on Christmas Eve?
Husband: Not if you’re buying peppermint schnapps. If you’re buying tequila, that’s a different story.
Good point.
Look what
Emily is so full of Christmas that she may explode. It’s interesting to see the way her mind works. While she’s super-excited about getting gifts, she’s also doing something a little unusual. She’s making little gifts for Santa and the reindeer. Last week she made a little sign, pictured, reading “Things for Santa” and stuck it on a cardboard box.
In the box are cookies (of course), gummis (I can’t believe she’s sharing these), and assorted things she’s made. I taught her to finger-knit and she made a little green bracelet for Santa. Also, she made Shrinky Dinks (I shrunk them for her, she can’t use a heat gun) that are name tags for the reindeer to have. Santa just gets cookies from other houses. He’s loading up at ours.
Emily had to miss the Christmas cookie bake this year, so we wound up making some today. It’s been busy all day. Emily’s clearly getting some energy back now that she’s on antibiotics. Combine that with it being Christmas Eve and it’s been hard to carve time out for non-Emily things. It’s been everything from “I want you to play Chutes and Ladders by yourself” to “I want you to paint fish on my wall to cover up the blank spots.” I need ten minutes to myself!
At left: Thanks again,
Grocery shopping late at night just before Christmas is good, in that it cuts down on the crowds, and bad, in that the produce selection is awful.
Hot cocoa with peppermint schnapps is delicious. Thanks for a lovely evening, Rachel!
In other news, I’m taking a Jayne break until after Christmas. Currently on the needles is a non-Jayne order, a dinosaur/dragon hat like the one pictured at left, but for a baby. Instead of the Lamb’s Pride worsted pictured, I’m using Karabella Aurora 8 for machine washability. There are about a million ends to weave in on these, but the end effect is always worth it.
Also, Christmas-themed stitch markers. Here’s hoping it warms up soon, because what I learned from these is that the vapor from the sealant really doesn’t dissipate indoors, no matter how many precautions you take. Is that tipsiness from the schnapps or the sealant? The world may never know!
Bertha79, who now maintains her blog at karmakitties.com, sent Emily the sweetest care package! She got a kick out of all of it, but of particular interest to her was the kaleidoscope. Neat!
Also, check out the windfall from Germany! This is a package from a Browncoat to whom I’m sending a hat. I’m pretty sure that Emily is set on candy for life now. Of course, she wouldn’t agree – you can never have too much sugar!
Not only did the box have all this candy in it, but you aren’t seeing the chocolate bar or the two bottles of German beer he sent. My husband, who homebrews, was very appreciative. He’s bottled up some American pale ale to send back, so now it’s just a matter of getting past the holidays so we can return the favor for this wonderful guy.
Emily continues to cough and sniffle, and now I think she’s picked up a little impetigo. We’ll be going to the doctor tomorrow morning, and I doubt we’ll make it to our annual cookie bake tomorrow afternoon since we wouldn’t want to infect any of her cousins. These care packages are a wonderful pick-me-up during a somewhat stressful time for her. Thank you all!
Jayne hats up next for: Austria, Austria, and California.