Just Breathe

Its a little funny, ok maybe not so funny, that during this time of hectic running around I am reminded every four hours to just sit and breathe.

My asthma has reared its ugly head and looks like it will be here for the foreseeable future. Every four hours my breathing is labored and coughing makes it impossible to do most activities. 

I have an awesome husband. Yesterday morning, as I sat on the couch with the Dragon Machine by my side he looked at me and said: "I'm staying home to take the tree down, you aren't well." Despite his massive head cold he spent the morning yesterday finding every bit of cloth in our rooms and doing laundry. He washed the walls of our bedroom and purchased covers for our mattress and pillows to give me a better sleeping environment.

Our Christmas tree we lovingly brought home is sitting outside forlorn and discarded. Our living-room looks bare and un-festive. 

I didn't cry when I saw our empty living-room. I love Christmas, it's my favorite holiday and the tree is my favorite tradition. For me the tree is a memory. It is a visual reminder of the day we went out and chopped it down. The fun we had together as a family of three. I didn't cry because I know what really matters. Not the tree or decorations, but the God that gave us Christmas and the love we have for each other.

We are what matters most this Christmas. 

Today I printed off some gift tags and the three of us sat around the coffee table coloring. Later in the afternoon I made Christmas treats and the boys painted ornaments. There is no tree or pretty lights, but we have each other and we have our few stolen moments together each day.

Take a moment, look at your loved ones, take a deep breath, and know at the very least you have each other.

Oh, and take a big whiff of your tree for me and tell me how it smells ;)

P.S. I started this post yesterday. Yesterday afternoon Stompers Mimi stopped by with a gift from a co-worker because: "No two year old should go with out a tree for Christmas." I am so thankful, blessed, and floored at this gift. Thank you so much!

Yarn Along: Bits and Pieces

I am so excited to be finally finished the Christmas Stocking I was commissioned to make. It was a huge undertaking. I have learned a lot in the process. First, never under any circumstances knit a sock flat with the seam going up the middle of the heel flap. Looking back what I should have done was knit both sides of the heel flap at the same time, ensuring that I had the same amount of rows and tension on both sides. Finally, never knit a commissioned piece so close to Christmas. My list of to knit for Christmas has not shortened since starting the Christmas Stocking. Thankfully, I have an understanding family. My husband will be getting half a pair of socks, the second to be knit in January.

Other Christmas knitting is coming a long great. I have one mitten minus the thumb knit, a hat started, and a second mitten started. Stompers farmer is nearly done, I'll be finishing the final touch (eyes) and his mittens are missing one thumb (so I wouldn't give it to him early) so I will be doing those first thing next week.

I have been devouring the Rangers Apprentice series. Luckily my sister has all of them so as soon as I finish one I can start straight away on the next. It took me a little bit to get used to the writers style of writing. He bounces the point of view from one character to another and at first I found it jarring. Either I am used to his writing, or as he writes he improves because I haven't noticed it at much as the first book. The books are fast paced, but not at the expense of losing depth of the characters. My asthma has given me plenty of time to read as I sit with my Dragon Machine several times a day so I expect to read the last three books quickly!

Joining Ginny for the first time in a long time today.

A Tale of Two Trees

On Saturday we went out in the woods behind our house to cut down a Christmas Tree. Jason and I had found it a few weeks ago when we were scouting for trees for the bed that he is making me. Like most Christmas Trees we Hambergs cut down in the forest, it was huge. 

Just like my childhood trees, we would take the top and use the rest in the wood stove (or in  this case for our bed).

Jason cut it down the "manly" way with nothing but his strength and a sharp ax.

And, like a tree from my childhood, it fell and got promptly stuck. I turned to Stomper, who was in my arms, and told him my favorite Christmas Tree story:

When Uncle Ben was your age he was too little to take out in the woods (well, he was probably younger because he wasn't quite two and you already are two). Grandfather and I had found a perfect tree, it was even bigger than this tree because we needed sixteen feet of Christmas Tree! Grandfather cut it down with a chainsaw and down it fell, about four feet. It was stuck in the trees, just like this one is!

I asked Grandfather, "Dad, should we find another tree?"

He said to me, "No, we need to take this one down, or it will fall down and maybe hurt someone."

I asked, "How will we get it down?"

He answered, "Well, I'm going to have to cut down a few more trees."

An hour and five trees later Grandfather had the tree safely on the ground. We gave a shout of triumph and went to check out our tree. But when we examined our beautiful tree we found it had a huge problem. It had two tops! What looked like one giant tree growing out of the ground, was actually two trees at the top. Grandfather cut the tree to the size we wanted and we dragged it out of the woods.

We stood staring at our tree for a few moments and I asked, "Do we separate them? Should we find a new tree?"

Grandfather shook his head, "No. I cut it down, we are using it."

When we got the tree in front of the house Grandfather had to use the chainsaw to whittle down the trunk so that it would fit in the five gallon bucket we used as a tree stand. He also had to wire the top and bottom together so that it would look like one solid tree.

It wasn't a perfect tree. But that's not what cutting a tree down is all about, it's about spending time together.

So, when we tell the story of the first Christmas Tree you cut down, Stomper, we will remember the time we spent together:

 

how you hated being in my arms and wanted to get down and run around, how the snow fell all around us, and that it was freezing cold and Papa was worried that you wouldn't be warm enough. We will remember you bouncing on the end of the tree while Papa chopped the top off with his Bowie Knife. 

We will remember how you helped pull the tree out of the woods and how proud you were to be part of the work.

Of course we won't forget to mention that Papa dropped the tree into the arms of many other trees and had to cut it down a second time. But even that didn't get the tree to fall. Papa then picked the end of the tree up and pulled it and pulled it again until finally it fell!

I am so happy to share this memory with you, Stomper, and I look forward to telling it again and again.

Advent Calendar

     

Before 

"My Aunty Anne, Aunt Jane, and Grandma Blidberg collaborated in 1982 to make me an advent calendar. Each Christmas growing up I looked forward every year to pulling it out of the Christmas box, having my Mom re-fill the pockets with the ornaments, and then every day adding an ornament to my tree. Sometimes my Dad would slip a fifty cent piece into a pocket and I would get an extra surprise that day. I still have many of those fifty cent pieces and I probably will pass them down to Stomper some day". ~ Advent

After

For the past year I have been dreaming and planning on re-working the Advent Calendar from when I was a kid. Over the past few months I have knit two ornaments, some garland, and an angel for the top. I bought some simple hooks at the craft store to hang to the ornaments from and filled the pockets with ornaments for his tree and our actual tree, prizes, and activities to do together. 

The ornaments for his tree are a selection from the old tree, some store bought by my sister years ago, and a few made by me. The sweater, bell, and angel are all ornaments I found on Ravely. There are still a few details left to put on the calendar including a way to pay tribute to the three kids who have used the calendar before him, but that can wait until later.

We are also going to use Adorenaments (It was bought years ago from www.FamilyLife.com and may be out of print), which define 12 names of Jesus, in an effort to keep the focus of Christmas where it needs to be. The Adorenaments will go on our actual tree so that when we look at our tree we will be further reminded of the Savior the little baby grew up to be.

In addition to all that I have made little cards to put in some of the pockets with Christmas activities to do with Stomper. I got the idea a few years ago when one of the blogs I read mentioned that in the advent she uses for her son she puts in little activities for them to do like: go for a walk, make biscuits, to name a few. 

Ohh, tragedy, there are typos! Gah!
(Made the cards with Microsoft Word)

With that list in mind I  looked through this list that I found via pinterest for some ideas and then came up with a few of my own. They are: Deck the Halls, Look at Christmas Lights, Go Shopping, Go to a Play or Musical, Make Gifts, Make Cookies, Read Christmas Books, Operation Family Photo, Wrap Gifts, go to Mimi's House, Grandma Day, Make Ornaments, Read a Book or Watch a Movie About Jesus, Make a Treat and Give it to Someone, and Christmas Movie Night.

I am so excited to start this tradition with my little guy!

Housecleaning & Embrace the Camera

..or rather blog cleaning? Updating? Not sure what the proper wording would be, but here it is.

1. I have removed the Evelyn Cardigan until further notice. I have high hope that I will get all the bugs cleaned up by February, depending on how my Christmas Knitting List ends (right now it's not looking too good)

2. I will have a real Year of Projects post some time in the new year.

3. The chickens are laying like crazy! Praise God! It looks like we at least got that bit right!

4. I must return to my knitting now. Here are some cute photos of the little guy during the first storm (sometime early November). I took him outside in his pj's. He of course choose this day to sleep in!

P.S. In the second photo he is throwing snow for that ball of fluff I call a dog

(Thanks Grandma for taking such cute photos!)

Linking up the with Anderson Crew today!

Bacon

I love bacon.
It is a common sentiment in the family.
However, I do not love how bacon slides off the bread when eating it.
Solution? Well, until pinterest I would have said no.
Enter the mighty pinterest.
Does it work?
Why yes it does.

Observe ...

It takes a little time, but it is so worth it!

Here is how you do it.

1. Cut the bacon in half

2. Weave four half strips together like you are closing up the top of a moving box.

3. Place on top of tinfoil in a cookie sheet

4. Bake @350 until nice and crispy about 15-20 mins

5. Eat in a BLT and have bacon in every bite.

You can thank me later.

:)

Duplicating Her Mistakes

Recently I was commissioned to re-create a Christmas Stocking. It had really got me thinking about the legacy of a knitter and their knits. This stocking has outlived both the knitter and the pattern. It has survived twenty-two Christmas's with out one repair. The stitches are firm, maybe not as crisp, and holding tight after all these years. It has gotten me thinking about the quality of my own knitting. I have been working on an advent calendar for my son and as I make each ornament I keep in the back of my mind: I want this to last for years. Each stitch may not be perfect, but must be knit well. I can imagine that the woman who knit this stocking was thinking much of the same.

I charted out most of the stocking and while I was charting it out and studying the stocking I noticed an oddity. The number of cast on stitches was rapidly decreased after the name had been knitted by 10 stitches.  I began to wonder: Am I re-knitting her mistakes? Twenty-two years later am I looking at a beautiful finished product and planning on remaking her mistakes? I think about my own knitting and how I will make a mistake, but keep going as long as it doesn't alter the overall product. Will someone, someday, go back and re-create my mistakes and wonder: Why did she decrease like that?

 

The knitting is slow, as the needles too small for the yarn, and I recently had to rip back several rows to correct some of my color work. I hope that even with my small mistakes, it will become as well loved and cherished as the original. I am nearly done (I am working the gusset right now) and when it is complete I will breathe a sigh of relief. I will have accomplished at least one Christmas wish this year.

Happy Thanksgiving

I have posts to write. Lots of ideas.

Sadly they are all locked in my brain.

Right now my hands are busy cooking and knitting.

I hope to post something on Friday!

Project Report

In my absence there has been knitting. I think I have three projects on the needles right now (a scarf, a cowl, and a sock), and some flying off!

I finished the Christmas Bell a while ago. I think I'll add a bell before I declare it 100% finished. The goal is to have two more ornaments knit before December 1st!

I started the Sock for Jason for the second time. This time not in secret. I had him try it on, and it fits! Cue the music! I have turned the heel and now I am started the foot. The plan it to knit just the one at first while I work on other projects. 

I knit a farmer for my son for Christmas, I've named him Charlie. The pattern is from Spud and Chloe at the Farm by Susan B Anderson. I like the pattern, all by the legs. You can find my notes on Rav.

Unfortunately all my Christmas knitting has been put on pause until I can finish a paying gig. A relative of someone at my church is paying me to duplicate a Christmas Stocking. I spent an hour or so creating a chart to match and now I need to buy yarn. It should be an interesting knit. 

I've been thinking about my own Christmas Stocking and I'm not sure how to proceed. I'll be looking through some patterns to find one, but I'm leading towards this one wouldn't that be awesome looking with presents stuffed inside it?

I think after the holidays are over I will need to re-evaluate my list and add to it. If I get done what I plan to before Christmas most of my list will be done!

Charlie

I recently knit up the doll "Chloe" from Spud and Chloe at the Farm. I am a huge Susan B Anderson fan, she has never knit or created anything that I haven't immediately loved. This doll is not the first toy I have knit from her patterns. I have knit "Tuck" quite a few times and the cow from the farm book.  I like the ease of the construction and how quickly s/he came together. It is knit in the round, as most of her toys are, and once you are done all that is left is to assemble. All that being said, I am not in love with this doll.

I don't like the legs.

I am debating taking them off and knitting them again, but I probably won't.

The legs, they are like toothpicks. They sort of just stick out looking uncomfortable and unnatural. Maybe it's because I made her into a boy? I will be making a face for him, but I will do that the week before Christmas so that I am not tempted to give it to him before then. Once his face is on he will have some real personality.

I used the stitch from the sheep (in the book) to make the hair and it came out super cute. I knit a wig and then attached it, I will be doing that from now on when I make a doll. Making hair that way is so much easier, why didn't I do that before?!?!

I knit his overalls with out a pattern and didn't do too bad. Next time I won't start with so man stitches because by the time I got up to the waist it was too big. Not sure if I should make some more clothes for him or not. If I was knitting this for a girl I'd make a bunch of clothes, but a boy won't be as interested in getting it dress and re-dressed, I think. I may make a sweater or pj's or something so that he can change it if he wants to.

I had to hide him from Stomper because every time he saw the farmer he shouted, "Baby!" and scooped him up. Gwendolyn got a new dress too. I was going to make her a little shrug, but it's turning into a scarf for an adult instead, unless I get tired of it, then it may become a shrug after all!

I am so excited for Christmas!