The Hampstead reveal and what I did with my Christmas vacation...

Hampstead Wreath

Yes, thank you, we have a had a lovely holiday week.   Christmas Eve we sang in our church choir.   Hubby, T2 and I love to sing choral music so this was a real treat for us.   The whole service was dedicated to music.   It was beautiful.    Christmas Day was quiet and easy.   We did not go anywhere and had only my mom over here.   We cooked our ham in the slow cooker which added to the ease of the day and came out very well indeed.    After dinner we snuggled in the living room to watch Christmas movies (Christmas Story & It's a Wonderful Life, among others).   Even the weather was  just right in that is was pretty cold (for FL).   

Hubby and the boys have had the whole week off.  The boys held a Dungeon and Dragons marathon here one day and Hubby and I took off by ourselves on another.   Saturday we met with the rest of my family for a bigger holiday celebration.   Sunday was especially nice in that we did absolutely nothing.   There was no where to go and nothing pressing to do.  We ate left-overs and stayed in our PJs.  Hubby & the boys played video games until their eyes crossed (unusual for Hubby, less so for the boys)  I read a book  from beginning to end, then knit until bedtime.   It was wonderful.

What you see here is my finally finished Hampstead Wreath.   After agonizing over how to embellish it (Flowers? Holly? Pom poms?), I happened upon this wooden plaque thingy at Michaels.   Not only does it match my color scheme but "Peace" is unabashedly my fondest wish for the new year.

P.S. The book of the day, was The Haunting of Maddy Clare, a period ghost story combining elements of Downton Abby with Ghost Busters.   It was a perfect fluffy read for our lazy day.

Start as you mean to go on....

If it is true that how you spend your New Years Day sets the tone for the rest of the year, then we are in for a very good one.

We started our day disgustingly early but it was all up hill from there.   It turns out that some folks we know have made a tradition of meeting on Jax Beach to watch the first sunrise of the year.   It was close but, as you can see from Hubby's photos we managed to get up and going in time to welcome the day.

Once done with the ooo-ing and ahh-ing, we all headed off to a local cafe for a delicious breakfast, followed by a very long walk on the beach.

It was pretty darn cold when we met up, and still chilly after breakfast, but between the later hour and the exercise, we all started  heating up once the serious walking got going.   We must have made for quite a picture as we all began peeling layers of clothing and footwear off.   I started out in long sleeves with a coat and scarf.   By the time we arrived back at our car, I was barefoot, in yoga pants and a tank.   I was not the only one, either.   Thank heavens for the Florida habit of dressing in layers.

The boys slept through all of this but have been happy to join us for an afternoon of Dr. Who, knitting/video games, and junk food (my no junk food rule is always suspended for New Years Day and Superbowl Sunday).

So, assuming all goes according to plan, our coming year should include beautiful mornings, good friends,interesting conversation, knitting, family time, Dr. Who, and a nice mix of healthy and junk food.   Sounds like a plan to me. :-)

...and a Happy New Year

Happy New Year, my friends.   

May you all be blessed with love and laughter, peace and joy.

Merry, Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas

Nameless Comfort knitting…

Soon after discussion of a Comfort Shawl Group began at our church, an interested party emailed me asking for a recommendation for a shawl pattern that could be worked on straight needles.  I had been planning to hand out copies of my Simple Joys Shawl which absolutely positively cannot be done on straight needles (36” circs at a minimum).   After some Ravelry research I recommended the Very Easy Ripple Shawl.   Since then, I have given it a lot of thought and decided to come up my own wrap pattern to pass out to the group (Members are welcome to make any shawl or small blanket that they like.  It just helps to have something on hand).

I tried a couple of ideas that I did not care for.   The simple garter rectangle was boring.   I tried garter with a stockinette ruffle on either end which showed more promise but I could not bring myself to finish the sample (Even so, I may recommend this as a “get started” shawl if I get someone who is really daunted by the prospect of more than plain knitting).   What you see above is actually my third attempt to come up with something with enough interest to keep me engaged but still simple enough for a beginner’s comfort level.   It is only about a third of the way done but I am really pleased with  it.   It is heavily inspired by the One Row Lace Scarf.  I love the look of it but found the pattern hard to keep track of (given it has a four stitch repeat, the problem is obviously mine).     So, in addition to widening and lengthening the pattern, I also changed the order of the stitches so that the repeat lends itself better to a count of three.   I love the texture created by centering the decreases, which also creates a really nice slight scallop at the beginning (and hopefully the end).  So far, so good.  

Once finished, and before it is given to its intended recipient, I will get full photos and make the pattern available on Ravelry as a free download.

Are we there yet...

Connecticut School Shootings

Is it time to discuss gun control, to talk about healthcare, to find a way to protect our children, to stop arming the unhinged?  Are we going to continue to wring our hands while accomplishing nothing or are we finally going to step up and demand substantive changes.   Just wondering.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Newtown, CT.

Some days I don't knit at all...

So here it is, my new haircut (blown out and not).   It is not exactly what I wanted but I do like it better than the long hair I have been sporting for the last couple of years.   I had a much loved (literally since she is a family friend) hair stylist up North and was lucky enough to connect with someone down here whose work I admire.   The only hitch being that she is very hesitant to cut my hair as short as I would like it.   I am not looking for pixie short, just a shorter bob than this one.   I am trying to tell myself that I should wait a couple of weeks before getting it cut again but am feeling anxious to have exactly what I want.

The last time was up North, I asked my niece about an unusual menu format that we were seeing a lot of.   She told me that it was trendy but that since I had moved to Florida, I would not know about that.   This was said, not in a snarky or nasty way, but in a very matter of fact way.   The very ease and truth of the comment hit this Jersey girl right where it hurts, my NY metro sense of superiority.   I had been saying for some time that we had moved to the provinces but, OMG, was it showing?   Horrors L.

With that in mind, I have been putting more effort into keeping up, which has had the added benefit of helping me feel less isolated from my past life.   I read the NYTimes every day, and try to add the Washington Post & Times of London on Sundays (I do LOVE my Kindle).    I have followed the The Sartorialistfor years but have started paying attention to more than the scarves. After some trial and error (there really is a difference between trendy & stylish), I settled on My Style Pill as my other favorite style blog.   

Christine has a passion for all things style that makes her blog just plain fun.   Added to that, her style choices are more real world than some of the others.   What I really love about her blog is that as well as her clothing (& accessory) choices suit her, they also suit me without making me feel like one of those women of a certain age whose attempts to look “young” make them ridiculous.   Mostly, I have ended up combining things I already own and feeling pretty darn good.