deepgreen18

This is my first Christmas while blogging. As some of you may know, my family started officially celebrating the holiday two years ago. We started buying presents in an organized manner last year. There are many and varied reasons why this was not a family tradition until now. Basically, we were humorless Baptists, or influenced by the like. Not really, if there is one thing my family has, it's a sense of humor. (The baptist thing is true, though) We still are, technically, but we're getting out in the world in ways we could not before.

Enough about tradition! Let us examine the present. I am still finishing the dang afghan, not much progress since last time I wrote. I have finished my Christmas shopping. All that is left is the wrapping. The thing about buying presents: it's a crapshoot. You could go and buy something on the list they have published, or you could be creative and try to match their tastes without getting them something they expect. I do the first, mostly. Dad does the second. Getting something people love is hard, getting them something they hate is about the same, the middle of the road ("Oh, that's nice") is the easiest to attain.
Gifts are not the end-all and be-all of the season, and treating them as such is folly. But if they aren't, what is?

I realize some people don't like their family. My older sister can only stand us for a few days before retreating to her home four hours away. However, what is life without relationships? The group, herd, pack, family is the reason any human is alive today, and on some level we know that. It is our nature to be with others, and so we celebrate that in the middle of winter, when we really need a pick me up. That's my interpretation of this crazy ritual, anyway. I refuse to be overly stressed out about cookies, dinner, or presents. The traffic (so many people!) is what kills me.
My sister is coming in tonight, rather late. That is her tradition. It goes along with one holiday with her family, the other with her fiance's. We have plans. The parents are going to Florida. There may be lots of fun, cooking, movies, etc. Or this could get rather stressful. We will see. I have many 'escape' plans at the ready: knitting, reading, hiding, and so much more. I feel like my entire life has prepared me to deal with this holiday.

Wow, I ramble on pretty long sometimes. Wish me luck!
Greene

My apron, she lives! I believe I started this lovely and wonderfully finished product July 5th or 6th, and I was hoping to finish it the 1st of August, but I went slightly past it into the 2nd. Less than a month is very respectable for an apron that was 83 stitches across and had 8 stripes of 14 rows, plus a waist tie of 15 stitches per row with approximately 500 rows. That equals 16,796 stitches, and that is a slight underestimate, because there was some increasing that is too complicated to calculate this late at night. I don't even feel very intimidated by that number, since I am figuring it out upon completion. This took many hours, obviously, but was a very interesting and worthy project.

I need to take pictures and show everyone. This is a very pleasing accomplishment because I love the finished object. The journey is not nearly as interesting as the use and show-off time I'll get out of it. Yes, I like the spotlight. Especially (and usually only) when I've done something well.
A few notes on the apron itself: It is four colors, pink, purple, white, and yellow. These are all pastel-like baby shades. I played with the straight knitting because that was too boring, and I whip-stitched the waist tie and body together. Overall, a very soft and protective-feeling garment (its made of chenille yarn), and I think that it will be used in the kitchen once, just to irk Mom, who thinks that it's too pretty to get dirty.

Now, onto bigger and better things. Well, better, at least. You can't lose a skill you're constantly practicing. I will be swatching Victoria's top for a few days until the 8th, and then off I go to conquer the Ravelympics!

Until next time,
Greeny