I gave my sister a mitten for xmas…
She’s open-minded. She gave it back so I could knit the second to match.
Actually, none of my xmas knitting was (or is, even at this point) finished on time. I tried.
I had hoped to set aside some time ‘off’ in December (really, this year, I have not had too much time I would call a ‘break’ aside from sitting at the ball diamond some evenings and lately, at the rink) to knit and continue home renovations which have been on hold since the spring. I whipped the last ‘big’ box of yarn off to it’s retailer on the 19th, and for the rest of the week painted the kitchen cupboards during the day and knitted during hockey games at night. I know, I was a little demented by that point, but I still thought I had a chance of finishing something.
Frankly, I like knitting so much more than shopping, so I was going to knit (darnit). And, I really expected, despite all the hullabaloo of visiting family and holiday stuff, I would be able to squeeze in some sort of a break for myself over the last few weeks of December. You know, once the bird was on the table and wine was poured, breathe that big sigh of relief and put my feet up.
In the case of the mitten(s), they were a ‘plan b’ started on the 22nd, after ditching project one which was giving me headaches and finally got to me to the point where I kind of pitched it on my desk rather violently and grumbled at it. I was trying to work on a pattern prototype (you know, multitasking) which was going to also be her gift, but I couldn’t manage to read my own spreadsheet charts accurately. So I finally, at the last minute, moved to plan b, which I’d put on the back-burner earlier in December. I had kept the pattern in mind to knit a pair for myself; but, well, knitting for myself is really quite a privilege these days. I saw this version around blogland, loved the colour combos and knew I had similar yarn in my stash (dark brown Cascade 220 and some light worsted merino I dyed a few years ago which had not been knitted yet - I’m fairly certain there will be enough to make myself a twin pair, if time ever permits). I also decided to copy her version of the band as well as avoiding the braids (don’t get me wrong, I love doing braids, but time was an issue and I can purl much faster than I can knit a braid).
In the end, all the Christmas prep and fuss and knitting anxiety turned out to feel quite frivolous, anyways.
On the morning of the 24th, sometime just before he woke up, my dad had a stroke.
As any of you who have weathered a family medical crisis will know, things just go to the crapper when someone is sick. We were able to get him to the ER in good time, and he made it through with some residual issues in his right arm and hand as well as a little bit of language trouble. He is expected to make a 99% recovery with therapy.
In short, phew.
I am not one to be complacent - I try to remain considerate of the whims and changes and surprises life brings. After all, both of my babies (now thankfully, healthy) wound up in NICU shortly after birth and are here because of medical intervention they received. I spent years helping out with my mother’s extreme health issues. I have weathered many personal crises which have turned my world up-side-down. I know things happen, but this event was almost more than I could shoulder, given I had been running quite seriously on batteries for the last several months and given my dad and I are very close. We have seen each other through a lot over the years.
My husband jumped into military mode in the kitchen and served up xmas eve dinner and helped to get things organized for the 25th. It wasn’t the day we were all expecting, without my dad at the table, but with four kids present, something had to happen which made it ‘Christmas’. If it were not for him, I’m sure I would have wound up in the loony bin at some point last week.
In any event, I’m taking this weekend to hopefully try to get my batteries recharged (and perhaps even finish up some of these knitting projects?). I’m very much looking forward to getting back on the horse next week - I have many goodies up my sleeve just waiting to get out there.
And, folks - send out hugs to those you love. Complacency sometimes gets the better of us.
All the best in 2008 to everyone.
