X-mas '08

So long 2008

To my faithful, I am sorry for the dry spell. We were away in MA (during which time I spent very little time online) and it's been very busy since our return. With no let up in sight.

Tomorrow we'll be in Manhattan celebrating Oshougatsu (Japanese New Year) with my side of the family.

Friday my dad will visit us. Some money talk followed by grandpa-grandsons bonding time.

Sunday we have a Dan Zanes and Friends holiday concert in Manhattan which will be followed by a date for Cap and me while my mom watches the kids.

On Monday, we'll be starting our new schedule. The kids start a new swim session, and Cap and I have some restructuring plans brewing around our life, homeschooling, and how we spend our time, which will begin playing out next week.

More info is forthcoming.

But, probably, I will not be posting every day or multiple times a day, for awhile. Blogging has been a fun, creative, and rewarding process for me, and I am not intending to give it up. However, it does take up a lot of my time, and I am definitely looking at spending my time in some new and different ways right now.

In order to do this, my screen time, both on the computer and in front of the tv, are going to have to give. Significantly.

For the moment, I have to go. My eyes are drooping. I will welcome 2009 in my dreams.

Happy new year.

Amy's neck cozy

The pictures don't do this yarn justice. It's Lumpy Bumpy Yarn by Charlene (Farmhouse Yarns) in Pecan Pie. 99% merino wool, 1% nylon and hand dyed. Made in the U.S.A. by an operation owned by a woman.

The pattern is Asymmetrical Neck Cozy. I knit some extra inches and a second button hole because I had enough yarn to do so and I felt like the pattern measurements, with this yarn, were shorter than I liked. I also decided to make it a symmetrical neck cozy. Again, with this yarn (the thick and thin give it a lot of texture and the colors are wonderfully rich and varied), I felt like there was enough going on that making it asymmetrical would be going overboard.

These were my first button holes :-) The button, which is pretty perfect, I found in the $1 jar at a LYS. I am very pleased with the way this turned out.

Christmas Eve

Growing up I always loved Christmas Eve. In a way, it meant more to me than Christmas day. That feeling of fullness. Of brimming over. I was so blessed. We are so blessed.

Sag made an Ugly Doll advent calendar.

I couldn't quite capture the loveliness of this Japanese Christmas stamp in this photo, but here it is anyway. Thank you Auntie Yoshiko.

Wall o'cards.

The lamp Sandy and Mike no longer needed, the lamp we desperately needed for just this spot.
Thanks, guys.

Our upstairs neighbor, Julia, has discovered a new passion: decorating cupcakes. How lucky are we?

Kung Fu Panda on dvd.

This year, when I cast the idea of handmade gifts to the kids, they not only nibbled, they went with it. Sag made Gem a lego kit. Gem was moved by the inclusion of an apparently very valuable piece.


Sag made Cap and me a holiday themed drawing and mazes.
Gem made Sag a stocking and me an Ugly named Frostbite. The handmade gifts from my children moved me to tears. Now, those who know me well, know that this is not that hard to do. But, truly, I am in love with these gifts.

We always give each of them a book for Christmas. This year's picks.


We also gave each of them a Playmobil set.

Gem really wants a small blue Wedgehead. I searched high and low, but he has been discontinued, so when I saw the big one, I got it for him with some trepidation. I needn't have worried. He was very happy.



They really do love their Uglies.

We opened gifts tonight because we are planning on leaving early tomorrow for Massachusetts. The kids are now in bed, Gem is hoping for a backrub to soothe away the excitement. Cap is taking a break from grading to eat a little something, hoping his tummy is past its revolting.

Me, I am happy. The candied pecans are cooling in the kitchen, there's a warm and wonderful glow in our home, it's Christmas Eve. Off to go rub my boy's back.

Roger's hat

Roger was my giftee and here is the hat I knit him. The pattern is called Thorpe and it was fun to knit (though the deadline wasn't).

Knittinghelp.com was invaluable (thanks Wendy) for the immediate visual info it provided regarding how to do certain steps/techniques. With each new type of project I am definitely picking up new knowledge and skill. There was stuff from having knit socks which came in handy for the hat (namely decreasing stitches).

I am very happy to have my first hat under my belt. Though not proud of the way I left the kids alone for much of the day it took me to knit this up. Ah well...

The yarn was Valley Yarns Shelburne. It's a mix of wool, acrylic and alpaca. I had such negative experiences with acrylic blends in the recent past, but really liked this yarn and would buy it again. It's soft and thick and holds together well.

Okay. That took a lot to go to the website to create the link and not linger to "window" shop...

Anyhoo, it's a great yarn and knit up a cozy hat that I wanted to keep. I'll definitely be knitting this pattern again.

Splash of bright

Sweet chili sauce has been an answer for me the past few days. This brand has a touch of "cloy" to it, but in a pinch it is getting the job done.


In other news, my heart is presently in Forks. I finished the third book of the Twilight series about an hour ago. It is inconsistent (compared, say, to the Harry Potter series), but when it is good, it is oh so good (I am pretty much in the throes of my own personal Edward-mania :-)

I am hoping to find the final book under the tree...

And, I already have my next vamp lit lined up. Thanks, Mom!

(All matter of brightness needed to combat the conflicting emotions which accompany holing up at this darkest time of year with the ever marching on needs of children and the holidays...)

On the needles

I'm beginning to understand the reality and challenge of "knitting for myself".

I'm working on Danielle's baby blanket (which feels like it's going to take weeks), and now, suddenly, two more knits for others.

One is for Wednesday night. We're doing a "green" holiday gift exchange with our co-op dinner gang and I am knitting my person something with yarn from my stash. The other gift is for someone who has been on my short list of friends/family to knit for, especially since I recently found a great yarn which screamed her name in the sale basket at a LYS.

She got booted up to "now" when I heard that she found out her mom has cancer. Sad and terrible news. A lot of hope and love are being knit into this piece.





My honey. Taking a break from grading to go run some errands and gather us some dinner food.

Chrismukah in Queens on winter solstice

The universe aligned for us today. We were able to switch our celebrations around to avoid driving home tonight on icy roads.

We headed over to Queens this morning and were there pretty close to noon. It was festive and relaxed. The food (poached salmon, braised beef short ribs, creamy mashed potato casserole, green bean casserole, mixed salad, latkes and apple sauce) was terrific and it's always fun exchanging gifts (I received the set of novels on which True Blood is based).

My mom's tamagoyaki. This is one of Sag's favorite foods. He almost ate the whole plateful.

A sushi Christmas tree, my mom's stealth appie. Tunafish on the bottom, kanpyou (this link is a great post---I'm going to try to remember to do this for Setsubun in '09...the definition of kanpyou comes in the ingredients portion of the post) in the middle and mentai and cuke on top. Yum.

Sag and Sandy.

Gem and...I'm not sure what he's holding there.

That's Ellie semi-camouflaged in front of the speaker. It is very difficult for me to get a picture of her face, close-up. She is incredibly curious, often on the move, and loves to sing and dance. In other words, rarely still. Great for her, bad for my desire to archive that impish grin, the huge spirit infused with delight and confidence, and the drama. Oh, the drama.

The kids were very pleased with their loot. The ride back over the rivers and through industrial suburbia was punctuated by anticipation for really getting to play, read, and do.

I knew it would be hard, cruel really, to bundle them out of the apartment again once we were back, so we drove straight to Silke and Roger's.

We usually go to a local pond together to mark the solstice or equinox.

Tonight we stayed in. The grown-ups drank tea and talked computer fonts and politics. The kids played with a great set of dominoes which reminded me of the mah jongg tiles that fascinated me as a kid watching my dad play with his friends at my parents' seasonal gatherings.

We ate clementines and apples. Anna lit their lanterns (we made solstice lanterns together last year). It was a perfect glow that we all got to share together on this darkest day of the year.

Sing it with me now...

"This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine,
this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine,
let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!"