Author: BeverlyArmyWilliams

Decorations Down

This weekend we de-decorated the house.  I enjoy having the festive things around the house, but I like a more spartan look better.  Not that I could really call our home spartan; Neal’s a collector, and I have a pile of books and fiber taking up space.  When I moved from a large apartment to a much smaller one, though, I learned how to pare down to the most necessary objects.  What did William Morris say?  "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or do not believe to be beautiful."  Slowly I’ve been taking my things out of storage.  Some are like old friends, welcomed back to my life and rich with memories.  Others, I wonder why I let them take up space, even storage space, in my life.  It feels good to find new homes for those things.

The artificial tree that I borrowed from my sister is on its way back to our parents’ house.  I’m appreciative of the loan, even though I didn’t like the looks of the tree.  By the way, that does not mean that the person loaning it to me displeased me, but rather that the tree wasn’t real, and that displeased me.  Is it the job or duty of siblings to please each other?  I never try, so maybe I’m a bad sibling.  I just strive to be myself.  If siblings don’t like it, as my neice would say, so sad, too bad.  But I’m just being cranky now, and there’s no need for that.

Tomorrow I go back on the treadmill.  Time to churn out a novel.

Reflections and Anticipation

I commented after reading this that a lot of us must be on the same wavelength as Scout.  I’m ready to frog my hot pink Clapotis.  I love the pattern, but the truth is, I’m not in love with the yarn any more.  The other problem?  The one I tried to talk myself out of its being a problem?  Yeah.  In January 2006 I had a lesson in gauge and switched from knitting Continental to English style.  My work just looks nicer that way, although I’m still a slow knitter using English.  Well, my Clapotis was partially knit while I knit more loosely, and partially knit since my knitting has gotten tighter.  It looks like crap to have such radically different gauges in the same piece, and since I’m not digging the yarn:  out the door, baby!  I will knit a Clapotis, but it will be out of a different yarn. 

Now that UFO is off my chest, here are a few that have creeped in (or hung around) since UFO August:

  • Neal’s 2005 Christmas socks
  • MB’s 2005 Christmas socks (um, technically not UFO as they’re not started yet…)
  • Shadow Shawl (gotta get my mojo back on that one…every time I pick it up, I’m a little confused about what I’m supposed to do)
  • Surprise baby gift with an impending deadline
  • Repair Neal’s Christmas 2006 hat (yup, knit it too short)
  • Jaywalker #2 (um, yeah.  I began them last year.)

So I guess that isn’t the worst list in the year.  Here are my knitting goals for 2007:

  • Finish the above UFO list
  • Hourglass sweater
  • Klaralund (or something else with that pile of Noro Silk Garden)
  • Simple Knitted Bodice
  • Wedding Shawl (spin and knit)
  • Craft all holiday gifts
  • Anemoi mittens

I have the yarn for pretty much everything on that list, so there’s no good reason not to knit from my stash for most of 2007.

Other resolutions for different aspects of my life are mulling around the ol’ brain.  But I think I’m off to bed now.  It’s starting to depress me to be in a room with a football game on.  Not exactly a kick off to the new year in my book, but that’s what I get for not being in a festive spirit.

See you next year!

A Resolution

I’ve decided to join Wendy and L-B’s Knit from Your Stash-along for 2007.  Here are my tweaked guidelines:

1. The Knit-From-Your-Stash-a-Thon will start January 1, 2007 and run through September 30, 2007 — a period of nine months.

2. We will not buy any yarn during that period, with the following exceptions:

    2.a. Sock yarn does not count. What? You think we are made of stone? I have enough sock yarn to make at least 23 pair of socks.  No need for more for a while.

    2.b. If someone asks for a specific knitted gift that we really and truly do not have the yarn for, we may buy yarn to knit that gift.

    2.c. If we are knitting something and run out of yarn, we may purchase enough to complete the project.

    2.d. We each get one "Get Out of Jail Free" card — we are each allowed to fall off the wagon one three times. I want to give myself a little more than one exception.  I figure once every three months is reasonable.  There’s another Webs trip in my future, I’m sure!

3. We are allowed to receive gifts of yarn. Hint, hint.  My b’day isn’t that far away!!

4. Spinning fiber of any sort is exempt. No new spinning fiber until I’ve spun at least the wedding shawl fiber.  And maybe more of that Romney I purchased last year.

I’m thinking about other resolutions and projects for the new year, but wanted this to have its own post for when the going gets tough.  I’m sure I’ll need to review this now and again!

Oh, Webs!

How I love thee, Webs!  I hit their big sale on the way out of Northampton today and scored yarn for Eunny’s Anemoi mittens (brown and pink for me, light green and dark green for my KMKS pal), two skeins of Rowan Big Wool, and thirteen (yes, 13!) skeins of Noro Cash Iroha in lilac, which I’m slating for the Hourglass Sweater, as long as I can figure out how to modify that wide neckline.  Or, maybe this will work for the Simple Knitted Bodice. 

I’m planning a yarn fast for at least some part of 2007.  I think I’ll have plenty to keep me busy!

My Semester is Officially Over

I just submitted the grades for my classes.  What a relief to have those done!  I had to call on my oldest sister for a little Excel help.  She sure made it go more quickly for me.

Thanks to everyone for the happy Christmas wishes–I hope you all enjoyed your winter holidays, too!  It was fabu to be in a room with the 17 other members of my immediate family–parents, sibs, their spouses, thier kids.  My dad spent the summer renovating the back porch so that we could all fit in one room for the holiday, and his hard work was worth it. 

My knitted gifts were well recieved, although I have to rip back the hat I made for Neal; I made it too short. 

As often happens, I got sick right after the holiday.  When I was finishing up my undergraduate degree and travelling south for the holiday, I inevitably spent some part of my break in bed nursing my bad lungs.  I’m fortunate that Neal has a good bedside manner.  He bullied me into resting on the couch with the dogs while he cleaned up the chaos that is our office/spare bedroom.  Yesterday, feeling much better, I set up my desk (we switched.  He has my little library desk, and now I have his huge antique attorney table.  I may even be able to set up my sewing machine on it!).  I have high hopes for a productive New Year, and I believe that begins with organization.

Which leads me to the Organized Elf.  Now that there is a smidge of breathing space between me and the holidays, I’m ready to go full force into this project.  If you want to join me, leave an e-mail saying so.  In the next two weeks, I’ll get the blog finalized and give access to it to participants.  There are nifty spreadsheets and lots of tips and ideas on the way, so c’mon, join me!

That nasty cold prevented my trip to Smith to look at the gardens, but we’re off tomorrow morning to check out our ceremony site.  Here’s hoping for a sunny Friday!

Merry Christmas

For the first time in 25 years, my entire family (I’m the youngest of five) will be together on Christmas Day.  The far-flung siblings and their kids are trickling in.  My oldest sister arrived Thursday night, and my brother from TN gets in today.  I’m so full of anticipation to see the 18 of us at one table.  It’s a rare event, and I plan to savor every moment of it.

I hope your holiday weekend is full of joyful moments. 

Merry Christmas!

xx

It’s Beginning to Smell a Lot Like Christmas

Img_1255 I’ve got six bags of goodies ready to be distributed to such people as the neighbors who sneak homemade dog treats to Maddie and Tilly, the woman who runs the copy room where I work (hey, when I go there just before class and ask for 60 copies, she always does it, and I want that good will to continue), the administrative assistant in the English department, the mailman…and two other lucky people.  We made chocolate-dipped pretzel sticks, and I’m just crazy about how they look.

Last night when Neal brought the boxes of his holiday stuff down from the attic, I was heartened to find some of the missing ornaments.  I’ll take pictures soon.  There are still some treasures missing, but my ex told me that his mom just gave him a bag of our ornaments that I guess had been mixed in with hers.  There is hope.  There is always hope.

I ate about six small cookies today, and my brain is just aching from the sugar.  It’s not that I live sugar free, but since I moved back east, I’ve been making a real effort to eat a healthier diet.  Living on my own I found it all too easy to eat food that was fast to prepare, but not so tasty or healthy.  One of the changes I’ve made has been to cut out my beloved cookies…no more triple ginger cookies at the Flying Star on a Tuesday night.  I sampled every type of cookie we made, and now I feel exhausted, hungover, sorry for having indulged.  I take these bad feelings as a good thing, though, as a reminder that Neal’s goal of having me reach for fruit instead of cookies is closer than ever to being achieved.

My sister and her kids arrive in 49 hours.  I cannot wait to see them.  Can. not. wait. 

Tomorrow night’s task: write out Christmas cards. 

A Week to Go

The ornaments are still missing, but I have a gut feeling that they remain in the storage area of my old building.  I plan to stop there the next time I’m in New York.  I asked my ex to go over there for me as he still lives in the area, but he didn’t agree, which has kept me sad over the weekend.  But I won’t stay sad for long.

I borrowed a faux tree from my sister.  Years ago a real tree nearly sent me to the hospital with an allergy-induced asthma attack, so I haven’t had a real tree since.  Actually, I don’t think I’ve had a tree since; I’ve done a lot of creative decorating in the past years.  I don’t really like the look of this tree, and after Christmas I may go on the hunt for a spectacularly kitschy white or silver tinsel tree.  I’d rather that than pretend a real pine.  So the tree is up, but I haven’t had the spirit to decorate it.  Tomorrow Neal will pull down his decorations from the attic, and with only a week to go, we will turn our little home into a winter wonderland.

As far as the Christmas crafting goes, I have two sewing projects, a top secret hat project, and a pair of mittens.  If the mittens don’t get done, I’m not going to worry about it at all.  I have another little project to be mailed out right after Christmas (Fetching), but that’s a quickie.

The day after Christmas, Neal, my older sister, her kids, and I will take a short road trip here to scout the gardens for our ceremony.  We’re pretty well decided on a date (if the garden of our choice is available).  We want to have our party on a different day, still to be decided.   I feel like the vision is starting to gain some clarity.

I’ve been hard at work on some useful goodies for The Organized Elf.  I’m still looking for a creative and kind soul to help me make a banner.  Anyone? 

Is This a Job for St. Anthony?

I left the house this morning full of expectation to see my holiday decorations for the first time in years.  See, when my ex and I moved from our spacious rental into our 650 square foot co-op of our very own, we stored a whole lot of stuff at his parents’ place, in the barn that is now a music studio.  Our first Christmas at the co-op, I thought we brought all of the Christmas things home and stored them in the co-op building’s storage area.  After our separation I spent Christmas in Florida with my parents, and then moved to New Mexico the summer after.  I haven’t seen these lovelies since 2002, and in the chaos of my drive across country, I left everything in storage. 

Luckily, one of my best friends knows the super at the building, and last week she arranged for him to bring my things to her at work.  Since I knew that several of the ornaments were from my ex’s childhood and quite special to him, I asked him if he’d like to sort through them before Cheryl brought them to me, and he did.  I had plans to meet my former co-workers for a celebratory lunch, so I arranged with my ex to stop by the studio and pick up my things.  When I did, light of heart, and eager for the sight of all those mercury glass bulbs, I learned that the box with those very special ornaments–ornaments that my mom remembers from her childhood–were not among the little boxes.  We sorted through everything of mine/ours that we could find in the studio storage area to no avail.  Unless they are at my parents’ house, which I doubt very much, they have disappeared.

I’m still too sad to even beg St. Anthony for help, though as a former Roman Catholic, it’s the inevitable next step.  I know in the scheme of life, this is nothing to be sad about.  These are just things, and I generally don’t worry about the loss of things all that much.  But these ornaments are just so special to me, and I feel as though I will have let down my family if I have truly lost them.

If you wondered, the Hudson River is as beautiful as I remember, and lunch was fabu.      

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