Finally...I can get back to my knitting.

It is 7:45A on December 25th. After five weeks of holiday craziness, I feel as though I have my life back today. I'm sitting here with a cup of coffee having chosen Glenn Miller as the soundtrack to this morning's blog entry, and will be reporting on a new project shortly...

Last night my friend D and I volunteered to cook and serve dinner at a homeless shelter up in Salem. It was a really great experience, and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to participate. I think we served about 100 meals. I burned my finger, and ruined the clothes I was wearing. I haven't worked in a kitchen in years, and I'm not sure I was thinking too clearly when I headed up there in the clothes I wore to work (oh yeah, Einstein - wear the Eileen Fisher jacket. You don't need that anyway). My first chore was to finely chop three big garlic bulbs. Even after a shower last night and the passage of 16 hours, my hands still reek. I used a really nice chefs knife though. Nice weight and beautifully balanced - it made me realize that 1) all my knives are total crap and 2) I probably haven't even held a good knife since I was in hotel school 25 years ago. (Note to self: Get yourself a decent knife.) So I chopped garlic, D and I blended about 20 gallons of curried cream of butternut squash soup, I helped w/ the cacciatore sauce for the chicken, watched someone make caramel sauce, stirred the soup (forever) so that it wouldn't break or scorch and then helped to plate all the meals assembly-line style. It was awesome. All the residents and people there for dinner were so gracious and appreciative. I wish I could do more, and will make an effort to do more in the new year.
Check out my new orchid! It was a gift from my cleaning lady. I'm not great with orchids, but I know I won't kill it. Last year, she gave me a plant that was mostly dead when she came back two weeks later and all evidence of said plant was gone when she came back two weeks after that. I was so embarrassed. Total planticide in three weeks flat. I love orchids. I have two others, but one has been dormant for two years now I think. I should probably read an orchid book or something instead of just cursing it.

Last night I cast on Jennifer Hagen's Shredder Pullover. http://www.knittingdaily.com/media/p/37399.aspx It is a man's sweater but I'm making it for me. I had the opportunity to meet Jen over the summer when I was in Seattle on vacation, and it was one of the highlights of my year. I went over to D's last night after the dinner for a couple hours of knitting and watching Weeds. The Shredder Pullover is knit from the neck down, and the pattern starts as soon as the first row is joined in the round. I've screwed up the count on the second row twice now. I think I just have the markers in the wrong place, but I'll have to spend a couple minutes of quiet time to get this straightened out before D gets here later and I'm distracted by the Weeds/Dexter marathon we have planned. I'm using the yarn that I had originally bought to knit the Owl sweater, but I've decided not to make that one after all. I really don't like yoke sweaters. I have giant shoulders and a large bust, and I find they just don't fit me right. When I saw the Shredder Pullover in the most recent Interweave Knits, I loved it immediately. Then when I saw that Jen Hagen designed it, I knew it was meant for me. The yarn is a lovely dark gray color (pewter) and matches my Uggs perfectly. I do that matchy-matchy thing, so I'm really psyched to get this show on the road.

Okay. I have to make one final batch of nut brittle, so I'm signing off. I hope everyone has a nice day today celebrating in whatever way you see fit.

Holiday Parties and Nut Brittle

Sadly, there hasn't been a whole lot of knitting in my life the last three weeks or so. I'm trying to get the last of my commitments finished - I have one more little girl's hat and two pom-poms to do and I'm basically done. (I should mention that I'm pom-pom challenged. I don't make them often enough to ever nail them on the first try.) The last thing I have hanging over my head is a sweater, and the recipient isn't expecting it until the end of January.

Today I'm off to (high) tea at the Taj Hotel in Boston at noon. Immediately afterward, I'm supposed to head down to Attleboro for an open house, but with a foot of snow coming, I might pass on that one. In case I do go, I just whipped up a batch of nut brittle.

It is looking a little foamy b/c I JUST poured it out of the pan, and it's still about 175 degrees. Once it cools, it will look normal. I make mine w/ pecans and almonds b/c I think peanuts are boring. I don't bake, but I do crank out nut brittle at the holidays if I need a hostess gift. It's extraordinary if I do say so myself. If I ever lose my job, I think I'll make this stuff professionally. Kidding. It's kind of a pain in the ass b/c I have to stand there and stir it constantly between 250 and 290 degrees while screaming at Munchie to get off the counter and stay away from the butter.

Well, it is 10AM, and I need to be at the Taj at 11:45 so I need to scram. At some point I'll get back to talking about knitting. Bye!

Too much to do...so I'll blog.

First I need to welcome the newest member of my readership: HG. H - I never mention anyone by name, so you don't have to worry about me blowing your cover. I think most of my readership consists of lurkers, but when I'm made aware of someone who reads my blatherings, I like to welcome them officially.

On to the above mentioned blatherings: I hate the holidays. It's really been a life-long thing; I've hated christmas (which I no longer celebrate) since I was a kid. The fact that I was named after a christmas plant is just sick irony. (Mother, try not to take it personally.) The problem is that there is so much to do during this time of year. I have so many knitting commitments and my knitting time is taken up by holiday related get togethers and such - which I'd rather skip anyway. There's just not enough time in the day. So it snowed last night - I was over at my friend D's for dinner, movies and knitting then drove home in horrible weather. As it was the first snowfall, I don't think Chelsea, East Boston or Winthrop had given thought to who was actually going to salt the roads (or maybe they can't afford the salt), so they left them a complete mess. The fact that the snow actually stuck - looks like about 2-3" out there now, but melting - will insure that I don't step outside today. I will do chores instead. I'm still working on the green bedroom, and I'm almost ready to prime the walls.

I'll finish the sanding, wipe everything down and prime as soon as I finish this play by play. I'm just procrastinating.

This week on Real Sports w/ Bryant Gumbel, I saw a story on a NYC firefighter named Matt Long. I think he must be the most amazing and inspirational guy on the planet. Check him out. http://www.iwillfoundation.com/ For those of you who don't know, my left foot has a collection of deformities. Technically, they include a (surgically) shortened first metatarsal w/ a 28 degree defect, a great joint with limited extension and no flexion, and second and third metatarsals that suffer from stress reactions as a result of bearing weight when they weren't designed to do so. My foot is a giant pain in my ass. Back to Matt Long: he was a NYC fireman and Ironman triathlete who, in 2004 or 2005, was run over by a bus and completely impaled by his bicycle. He was in the hospital for five months and in a wheelchair for eight months in REALLY bad shape. He is full of rods, screws and plates. His ankle on one side and toes on the other foot are completely frozen. One leg is an inch shorter than the other, and he can barely raise one of his arms over his head. This guy went on to complete the Ironman in Lake Placid earlier this year. He is astonishing. I knew a triathlete when I first got out of college, and his training regimen was unbelievable. I cannot imagine what Matt put his broken body through to prepare for his race. Mr. Long sent me a wake-up call via Bryant Gumbel: Stop whining. So what if I can't wear cute girly shoes, I can't hold the clutch in, I can't stand on my feet very long and my friends and family call me Franken-foot? I need to focus on things I CAN do instead of things I can't do, and get my shape back into decent shape. If you get a chance to see Real Sports this month on HBO, watch it.

I was going to talk about the Swedish Yuletide Festival I went to yesterday, but this entry is getting too long. I cast on the second of my little girl Ugg matching scarves this week. It is exactly like the first one, but for those of you who don't remember:

The other thing I'm working on is the duplicate stitched Red Sox "B" on my nephew's hat. I'm headed down to Charlotte on Friday, so it needs to be done by the time I get there. This is the first time I've done anything with duplicate stitch, and I hate it. What an incredible pain in the ass! I will never embroider anything on a knitted garment again. Sheesh. Finally a knitting skill I DON'T want to learn. I'll take cables and lace any day.

Alright. Without any further ado, I must get back to the power sander. Cough, cough. Did I mention that I can't find my respirator? Figures. Bye.