Just Sit Back & Knit

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve! Here is what my knitting projects are looking like right now...

Socks for my dad (Mission Falls 1824 Wool: almost four skeins, Sockulator II used for the pattern). I was hoping my to make my mom a pair in maroon, but never got there. These need the ends woven in and need a little clean up (get the dog hair, etc, off of them)

Mittens for my neice who turns four on Thursday. She lives in West Hollywood and really has no need for wool mittens but requested them nonetheless. (Mission Falls 1824 Wool in several colors although I probably used less than a skein all told. I made up the pattern as I went along after reading several mitten patterns.) I need to knit the thumbs and weave in all of the ends by Tuesday since she and her family will be going home then.

Slippers for my dad - his birthday is two days after Christmas. (Cascade 220 - two skeins of the brown, one skein and a smidge from the second of the orange. Fiber Trends wonderful felted clog slipper pattern in men's medium.) I need to finish the second sole for the second slipper (each slipper has a double thick sole), weave in all the many ends, felt and dry them by Wednesday.

In addition to knitting I just finished my last batch of candy and stuck it in the freezer so I can distribute it later today. I've got a little bit of wrapping left to do (including finding a present I bought for my husband and hid too well). Jason's Mom is in town with us until very early tomorrow morning so we'll have Christmas with her later today, before going to my family's big, annual Christmas Eve gathering. Oh, and it might be nice if I showered and ate at some point today.

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I missed my weekly Random Thoughts post on Thursday, so I'll give you a few now.

I'm done with work.

Christmas is tomorrow.

My sister finished her quarter and got an A in both of her classes (she's a grad student, single mom and hard working case manager at a non-profit that does more good for the world than I could ever hope to do). We're all very proud of her - good job Jess! She's frantically knitting a beautiful version of the Wool Peddler's Shawl from Folk Shawls for our mom for Christmas.

My belly is dancing right now.

My due date is forty-four days away.

I'm going to have the best baby ever.

I'm so very blessed.

Merry Christmas.

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The day after Christmas a number of years ago, I was driving down a country road in Texas. And it was a bitter cold, cold morning. And walking ahead of me on the gravel road was a little bare-footed boy ...

"Mister, we had the wonderfulest Christmas in the United States down to our place. Lordy, it was the first one we ever had had there....

And, Mister, I wish you could have seen what was in that wagon. It's bags of stripety candy and apples and oranges and sacks of flour and some real coffee, you know, and just all tinselly and pretty and we couldn't say nothing. Just kind of held our breath and looked at it, you know. ...

And all of a sudden, papa, he broke out in a big grin again. He said, "Dad-blame-it, Sam Jackson, it's a sure a good thing you come by here. Lord have mercy, I liked to forgot. Old Santa Claus would have me in court if he heared about this. The last thing he asked me if I lived out here near you. Said he hadn't seen you around and said he wanted me to bring part of this out here to you and your family, your woman and your children."...

And us young'uns started playing Christmastime. And it's a lot of fun, you know. We'd just play Christmas Gift with one another and run around and around the house and just roll in the dirt, you know, and then we started playing Go Up To The Kitchen Door And Smell. And we'd run up and smell inside that kitchen door where mama and Sister Jackson was a-cooking at, and then we'd just die laughing and roll in the dirt, you know, and go chasing around and playing Christmas Gift.

And we played Christmastime till we just wore ourselves out....

Like I say, Mister, I believe that was the wonderfulest Christmas in the United States of America.

--
excerpts from John Henry Faulk's Christmas Story
listen to it, read it, love it at NPR.org

Random Thoughts Weekly

I pulled a groin muscle on Saturday while putting Christmas lights up in my kitchen. It still hurts and seems to be getting worse.

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I'm super swollen today - my hands, feet, face even, althought that might be lack-of-sleep-puffiness. I left work to go get celery (a good natural diuretic) at Trader Joe's and ended up getting a package of "Mini Lemon Blueberry Scones" also. There are six scones in the package, one scone is one serving and I just ate three and want another.

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I frequently have backaches, especially while at work where my job keeps me confined to a chair all day long. I have a vibrating/heating chair pad to easy the pain a little, however, I use the vibrating function sparingly because the baby moves around a lot when I have it on. For all I know, the little one is dancing to the vibrations, but what if he/she is scared? I could be jiggling his/her semi-smooth brains around!

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My favorite TV shows right now are Dexter, Medium and Law and Order: SVU. I have to say, I think ER and Law and Order are slipping.

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Babel is the only movie I've seen in the theatre this year and I absolutely loved it. So I was very glad to read this today: "'Babel,' a searing film drama about cultural gaps among people around the world, earned seven Golden Globe nominations on Thursday to lead a surprising range of contenders for the widely watched movie honours.

'Babel' drew nods for best drama, best director for Mexico's Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, supporting actor for Brad Pitt and best supporting actress for both Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi, among its nominees." (from Reuters UK).

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February has become my favorite month (my due date is the sixth) but Jason thinks that I'll have the baby at the very end of January.

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So far I have two Christmas presents for other people, but only one is wrapped.

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I had a very good poli-sci teacher in college who said THE number one domestic issue facing America today is racism. I remember being surprised at the time, but I can hardly disagree.

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I've begun to lactate.

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Lastly, there are those that are calling for peace and calm. The presence of peace is justice. Many are not calling for peace, they’re calling for quiet. They want us to shut up and suffer in silence. If you want peace, you give justice. You don’t tell people to shut up when they’re hurting. You find out their pain, and you resolve the pain. And people wouldn’t be hollering if they weren’t in pain.
Reverend Al Sharpton
--
in response to the killing of Sean Bell
by New York City Police officers.

In the U.S., we pretend there is no class or that we are almost all satisfied members of the middle-class. Class struggle? What's that about? Are you some kind of Marxist? The evidence is clear and unambiguous. There is massive and growing inequality and huge disparities in wages and benefits. The average CEO earns $42,000 a day. Wall Street bankers and traders are getting year-end bonuses of up to $50 million. When the privileges of the ruling class are not being justified, their existence is being denied. And the politicians, with some exceptions, enable the rich in amassing ever more wealth.
Michael Parenti
--
from his speech entitled "Race, Gender & Class Struggle"

Random Thoughts Weekly

I'm worried that I might have Listeriosis.

I want to make this gnome, but probably never will.

I still haven't done any Christmas shopping.

I haven't been doing my midwife-mandated walking or prenatal yoga for almost two weeks.

I've stopped talking to anyone I work with, unless they talk to me first or I am absolutely required to. I've only got eleven and a half more days here, so I think I'm slowly starting to shut down. My mind is already elsewhere.

I'm breaking my "no knitting Christmas gifts rule" - because, hey, I have so much free time between now and Christmas. I can't say what I'm working on, however, because the recepient(s) might read this.

My mom likes my blogged Christmas list.

I'm more tired than thoughtful today.

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Lullaby and good night, with roses bedight
With lilies bedecked is baby's wee bed
Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blest
Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blest

Lullaby and good night, thy mother's delight
Bright angels around my darling shall stand
They will guard thee from harms
Thou shalt wake in my arms
They will guard thee from harms
Thou shalt wake in my arms
--
The Cradle Song which evolved from Johannes Brahms' Wiegenlied

Random Thoughts Weekly

If you remember, I'm quite the persnickety eater. Part of an e-mail exchange between me and my sister that occurred yesterday:

me: how long is pancake batter good for?
I made some last night & had more for breakfast
this morning but there is still about a cup and a half left.

jesse: Sometimes you will get a grayish film on top
after a day or two, but I think the batter is still good for
3-4 days. If you get the gray film on top, just scrape it off.
It is just oxidization and the batter is fine.

me: Ummm, are you serious? You expect ME
to scrape GRAY FILM off of my food and eat it anyway?
I think I'll just make all of the pancakes tonight
and then i can toast them in the toaster oven as I want them.

But you know what? I forgot to make up the pancakes last night. Today I pulled the jar of mix from the fridge, and wouldn't you know it, not just gray film, but gray sludge was floating on top. I scooped some off, poured some out and mixed the last of it in (!!!) and damned if those were'nt some good pancakes I had for breakfast this morning.

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We start our childbirth classes tonight.

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I haven't done any Christmas shopping, gotten out any decorations, thought much about what I'll get for people or figured out when I'll do any of the above. I think I'm having a hard time believing that December starts tomorrow.

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Getting out of bed has become a bit more difficult, I kind of need a running start to heave my body up. This morning I kicked my legs off the bed to get up enough momentum for the rest of my body to follow. Unfortunately poor Ted sensed my intention and stood up just in time for my feet to connect with his throat. Poor guy started coughing and making other strange throat noises.

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I think that I might only have sixteen more work days until my maternity leave (of indefinate length) begins.

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The baby has been moving a lot in the past few days. It's so much fun--I could sit and play with my belly all day long. If I have knitting for those times when the baby is sleeping, of course.

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My ribcage has expanded by almost four inches in the past seven months.

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I like these quizzes.

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It's about time I read Désirée again. And the Glass family books/stories.

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Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.
--
Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca, 1938.

A woman can usually get what she wants from a man
if she has a well-developed figure.
--
Annemarie Selinko, Désirée, 1951.

For some minutes, before she fell into a deep,
dreamless sleep, she just lay quiet, smiling at the ceiling.
--
J.D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey, 1955.

Random Thoughts Weekly - Thanksgiving Day

My Nana has (something like) twenty-eight great-grandchildren (by my quick count). She'll add four more in the first four months of next year.

It is very strange, but in a fun way, to be eating breakfast and have your belly jump up and down in your lap.

This is going to be the best Thanksgiving ever as far as food goes. I can eat lots of mashed potatoes and clover leaf rolls and turkey, only to be hungry again two hours later. Then, leftovers! And sour cherry pie (Thanks, Jess!)

This is also going to be the best Thanksgiving ever because my husband and I are going to my in-laws again (as we've done for several years now) but my whole immediate family is coming too! I couldn't be more excited! And once again the travel distance is, oh, a mile, maybe?

Bob Dylan's newest album, Modern Times, is absolute perfection. I love, love, love "Spirit on the Water."

I'm three-quarters of the way through my pregnancy.

If I wear a skirt to Thanksgiving dinner I need to shave my legs. Maybe I'll wear pants.

Thank you for life, family, friends, love, literature, knitting and this wonderful, wonderful belly I've got.

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Find ecstasy in life;,
the mere sense of living is joy enough.
-- Emily Dickinson

I stand in awe of my body.
-- Henry David Thoreau

Random Thoughts Weekly

I've decided to attempt a weekly feature, posted each Thursday. Hopefully, I'm not searching for a smittin'.

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There is a button on my keyboard that deletes entire posts as I'm writing them. I hate that button.

Déjà Vu. Don't tell a knitter, wrapped up in her lovely new Clapotis that she looks like she's freezing. She's not. Here is why. Once upon a time in the far-away land of Japan, there was a man. His name? Eisaku Noro. This man made beautiful, beautiful yarns. In what was clearly a stroke of genius, he created a wonderful yarn that he called Cash Iroha. He even offered it in a beautiful teal color that happens to be one of our *warm* knitter's favorite colors. The *warm* knitter bought lots and lots of the beautiful yarn to make a beautiful sweater. Only the sweater pattern was called The Hourglass Sweater and our *warm* knitter became pregnant and not at all an hourglass. But she loved the yarn anyway and decided to make something one size fits all, and since she still eats french fries and has nothing against french kissing or french toast, she picked the lovely Clapotis pattern--the scarf/wrap with a French name that was designed in France, by a non-French genius knitter, Kate Gilbert. And when the *warm* knitter finished the French scarf/wrap and wore it to work and was not at all freezing because she is a knitter and is prepared for cold situations and always has something to keep her warm. The End.

Don't tempt fate by glibly predicting how your knitting will progress by writing something like this:

Now I have to complete this sock with the tubular
bind off from The Knitting Answer Book by Margaret Radcliffe
(the more I use this book the more I love it) and cast on for the other...hopefully I'll be able
to finish the second sock sometime today or this evening.Because if you do the knitting gods will smite you and once so smitten you will spend three? four? six? hours binding off and ripping back those thirty little itty-bitty stitches on US #1 dpns because no bind off is attractive while retaining the all important quality of allowing circulation to continue.

Pregnancy and wooden chairs, even padded ones, don't go together for nearly three hours. Especially not at a seminar about an update to a software program that I hardly know to begin with. And again, not when "lunch will be served" translates into to-go containers each with a sandwich, a teeny-tiny bag of chips, grapes of questionable quality and a cookie. I don't eat sandwiches. I don't like having to wonder if I accidentally ate a moldy grape. But I do like knitting and getting paid for it. Another pair of wool soakers grew several inches today.

It isn't "on accident" it's "by accident."

I am so disgusted.

I'm often surprised that more people don't use cloth diapers. I am also often surprised that I don't use (and dispose of) less disposable plastic baggies.

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Do I dare
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.
-- T.S. Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
1917