Tag: holidays

Advent Scarf

Posted on Posted in holidays, knitting, scarves and cowlsTagged , , 15 Comments

A few years ago I really wanted to knit this scarf:

📸 Tricia Weatherston

I still want to knit it! (That’s a tried and true test for spending my knitting time in a quality way.)

I’m late to start an Advent scarf. I have a cone of sport weight Frangipani gansey yarn (worsted spun with great stitch definition) in off white that I think would be perfect, though. Should I cast on? (I think the answer to that question is always YES.) Or I could add it to next year’s December knitting list, which is more rational and realistic, especially since I have a couple of gift knits to finish.

Are you a December Advent knitter? I like it as a way to count down the holidays. I didn’t put anything in my Advent chest this year. I was disappointed when I created my own yarn Advent with leftovers. I thought I was really clever, tricking myself. Oh well. Maybe next year I’ll purchase some new little things and fill in with chocolate.

Here is my updated Holiday Watch List of titles I’ve seen so far:

  • All is Bright
  • Krampus
  • Rare Exports
  • Hjem til Jul
  • Gilmore Girls holiday episodes
  • Great British Baking Show holiday episodes
  • Great American Baking Show holiday edition
  • A Christmas Story Christmas movie (a worthy follow up to the original)

Have you any new holiday movies or shows you are watching this year?

Christmas Eve, Clintonville Style

Posted on Posted in holidays, lifeTagged , , , 5 Comments

In 2011, Bob and I moved our big, blended family into an old farmhouse in our favorite neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. Clintonville is a special place, and although it is growing and changing – along with the rest of Columbus – we still enjoy calling this crunchy-granola enclave home.

Long before we arrived, the neighbors at the end of our street were lining their curbs with milk jug luminaries on Christmas Eve to light the way for Santa’s sleigh. For us it was a new tradition, which includes spontaneous caroling while walking down the road to view the homemade light show.

We had so much fun this year. The neighbors seemed to enjoy our caroling and they lit off fireworks after dusk!

Enjoy my original version of the Clement Clarke Moore classic, with a local twist.

A Clintonville Visit

T’was the night before Christmas
And all through the ‘Ville
All the neighbors were stirring
On Glenmont’s small hill.

The rats in my compost
And the deer in your grass
Scurried to gather
A long night’s repast,

While the owl in the tree,
And fox in the ravine,
Hunted their dinners
From the rodentia teem.

The children were gathered
In the family bed
Expecting some presents
From the big man in red.

The moms and the pops
Raided recycling bins
To save the landfill
From more plastic sins.

They took to the Ave
And lined up the jugs
Filling each with a light
To guide Rudolph’s red mug.

Friends gathered and sung
The old carols of yore
Like the Whos in Whoville.
Like George Bailey’s choir.

Hanukkah, Christmas,
Solstice, and Kwanzaa,
They sang all the tunes,
Including the stanzas!

The frost, how it sparkled!
The candles, how merry!
Lighting the way
For Yuletide’s sprightly fairy.

At the end of road
Came a jingling hoot.
It was Clintonville Elvis
In a red Santa suit!

He strolled with intention
Toward Ye Olde Savor Growler
And waved to the revelers
Who heard the man holler,

“Ho, hippies! Yo, yuppies!
Whoa, hipsters!,” in a drawl,
“To everyone, everywhere,
Happy Holidays, y’all!”

This post is part of the Virtual Advent Tour at spritewrites.net.

virtual advent tour.jpeg

Big Knitting Christmas

Posted on Posted in scarves and cowls, what makes me tickTagged , , , , , Leave a comment

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Somewhere along the way, I picked up a Yuletide tradition that says whatever you do during the 12 Days of Christmas will represent what you will be doing throughout the entire New Year. That’s a lot of pressure! That means I don’t clean (because I hate it and I don’t want to do that ever) and I take off work the week after Christmas, if I can.

(I should mention I celebrate those 12 Days from the Winter Solstice through January 1. Traditionally, the 12 Days are Christmas Day through January 5.)

As a knitter, I take this pretty seriously. It means I need to do the following during the next 11 days: (Happy Winter Solstice yesterday!)

  1. start something (no problem)
  2. finish something (pressure)
  3. design something
  4. try something new
  5. knit every day
  6. blog every day

At the last minute I decided I wanted to knit a gift for my favorite 9-year-old. It needed to be girly, chunky, and hopefully sparkly. I went to Yarn It and Haberdashery and found this scrumdilliumptious yarn from Knit Collage. The sparkles are minimal, but the colors are so perfectly girly without being too sweet, and it’s so soft, and has the loft of cotton candy! I’m smitten.

I’ll be knitting a big cowl for her. I won’t see her until New Year’s, so I have the week to make it. And I get to check off number 1 and number 2 on my list!

Normally, I’m not a big knitting fan. Give me some worsted wool and size 7 needles, and I’m in knitter’s heaven. Big thanks to Esther at Yarn It for loaning me her size 19 circulars for this project. She offered a pair of size 50, and I took one look and said that did not sound enjoyable, so I am making do with 19. (Flashback to learning to write on a Big Chief tablet with a giant pencil.)

What are your knitting plans for the Yuletide?

Word of the Day: Big