Christmas knitting.

For the past five years, I've knitted dishcloths for my kids' teachers and presented a set of three with some handmade soap during the holidays.

Why dishcloths?

• They're fun to knit.
• The cotton yarn makes a sturdy, mildew-resistant, longlasting dishcloth.
• I get to play with patterns: Ballband and Chinese Waves, Waffle and Checkerboard, Grandma's Favorite and Tweed, Circles and Lineoleum.
• They're gender-neutral - everyone can use a dishcloth (or three).
• They're practical AND unique.

The teens have a total of 12 teachers between them. The volume of knitting will go down next year because my oldest heads to college (I don't think college professors are expecting gifts from parents). I'll actually miss the lengthy giving list because that'll be another door closed on my kids' childhood.

I'm nearly finished with the teachers' sets. Next, I want to knit some for hostess gifts and just-in-case giving.

And a few more for myself. My last batch, knitted a few years ago, is finally showing some wear.

Knitternall 100 Giveaway Reminder:  When my "followers" total 100, I'll give away a hand knit lace shawl in your choice of colors to one chosen at random! (The pattern is Haruni by Emily Ross.)

Happy knitting!

10 Ways I Know It's Christmas.

In the past few days . . .

1. Decorated the house and picked out the annual perfect tree at Home Depot. $24 7' Douglas Fir. These trees are fresh and last well into the New Year. (Side story - I'd given up on the Douglas fir because all they seemed to have left was little 6' trees. But the tween forged through the stacked up inventory, to emerge triumphant with the last taller tree in the pile. So she's the Christmas tree elf this year!)

2. Ordered the last Christmas gifts. Yay.

3. Knitting madly to finish teacher gifts and something special for my mom.

4. Listening to Christmas music on Live365 - I'm a huge fan of streaming radio and music broadcasts on the internet. I listen to Sky FM's free classical music at work and enjoy jazz and folk at home.

5. A Christmas Story has started popping up on TV. Hello, Ralphie - it's great to see you and your folks again.

6.  The kids are cramming for finals. Nothing like added stress to make the holiday break even more of a relief.

7.  Chrismons! I've been working with the ever-energetic and wonderful Laura to coordinate a 17-year tradition - Chrismons hand-made by the Presbyterian Women at St. Luke's. This Sunday we'll attend both services and hand more than a hundred to the children of the church.

8.  Christmas cards are arriving. I mailed ours this weekend and now look forward to catching up with family and friends via photo cards and annual letters.

9.  Christmas-centered services at church. Ah, the warm embrace of scripture, familiar carols, children's festive clothes, the Living Nativity, holiday sweaters, fellowship parties, and the lighting of the Advent candles. Simply wonderful.

10. Baking, baking, baking. Snowball cookies and buckeyes, cheese straws and pumpkin bread, peppermint bark and fudge. Yum.

Ho, ho, ho!

Have yourself a DIY Christmas . . .

The Brits have been down this road before. They've made do, scraped by, and found contentment in the most basic needs met.

So when I saw this headline, "Britain rolls up its sleeves for a DYI Christmas," I felt a definite kinship with those savvy make-doers.

Homemade gifts and cooking gifts from scratch looks set to make a return this Christmas

Sales of raw ingredients including flour and mincemeat have surged while shops have seen a rise in demand for knitting yarn, craft kits and make-do-and-mend accessories ranging from plastic storage boxes to buttons.

The trend has been described as a rejection of ready-made or throwaway products, increasingly associated with unchecked consumerism, and a renewed emphasis on home and family life as less money is spent in pubs, restaurants and cinemas.

This isn't just about the economy - although that's surely a factor. It's about facing the realities of gimme gimme gimme, use it up, there's always more . . . right?

Nope.

I'd better get back to my Christmas knitting queue. Can't let the British out-DIY us for the holidays!

Knitting wishes for Christmas

Just a few weeks after our son was born, we celebrated our first Christmas as a family. It was quiet and modest, a peaceful time together that became the benchmark for all future Christmas celebrations. In church for Christmas Eve, at home for Christmas Day, and three gifts for each child . . . just as the magi honored the Newborn King.

Certainly there are gifts from family and friends and wonderful gatherings throughout the holidays, but Christmas Day was and is just us, a few well-chosen gifts, a stocking full of candy and trinkets, the scent of homemade cinnamon rolls and coffee drifting through the house, and hours lolling in our pajamas.

Those traditions continue today at the Knitternall house. We'll have dinner at home, drive around Dunwoody to see the Christmas lights, and be at St. Luke's for the candlelit Christmas Eve service at 11:00 pm. For breakfast, I'm baking a new cinnamon roll recipe - one by Alton Brown's that is absolutely perfect. I've made them twice, and they don't last long.

Our kids deliberate carefully as they prepare their wish lists. They ask only what they really, really want, with some gentle guidance from us. T and I, too, tend to be somewhat pragmatic about our wishes.

A has a few manga and Wii games that he'd enjoy on his list.



AG is into shoes, journals, and animals.





I'd like to have a fire pit. I have a perfect spot for it in the back yard.

T wants some new sneaks, something simple - not flashy. And ties are always welcome, especially those with his favorite shade of federal blue.

The economy is scary and this is not a good time to go overboard. But since we've always kept things simple and focused on the spirit of the holiday, our Christmas will be just as meaningful this year as it always has been.

I can't wait to savor those cinnamon rolls!

I'm Starstruck and housebound.

I'm housebound with a sick kid, so it's time to show the latest completed project. Starstruck is based on the Six-Pointed Star by Barbara Breiter. Her design is simple and works up quickly - I made this entire strand during a road trip to North Carolina earlier this month.

I used some quirky Rhythm wool by Yarn Treehouse I picked up for a song through eBay. The self-striping qualities of the wool are interesting, and it felts up pretty well. I was able to complete 9 stars with one skein.

I initially connected the stars point-to-point, but that method didn't translate well during the felting process. So I snipped them apart, then used a tapestry needle and extra Rhythm to tie the individual stars together. The result is really cool.

In idle times through the year, I'll make up a bunch of stars and decorate a tree for my knitting room next Christmas.

Knitting up a party

Glad tidings . . . I've finished my knitting gifts, satisfied the hard-to-find yearnings for friends and family, baked the last batch of cookies and breads for exchanges, and settled in for the heart of the holiday.

Today I'm leaving work a bit early to attend the Christmas party for my knitting circle. I call it "my" knitting circle even though my job now precludes regular attendance. I love the ROCKers - such a delightful mix of personalities that meld beautifully together. I have my treat to warm up in the Nature Center kitchen, a knitting project in hand, and I'm on my way!

The St. Luke's Presbyterian Church Rockers (Reaching Out Through Crocheting and Knitting) has a mission of creating layettes for stillborns through Share Atlanta, a wonderful grassroots bereavement organization that does wonderful work for parents of children who don't come home from the hospital. That's awfully hard to say, let alone experience. We create luscious, soft blankets, hats, and booties in a range of sizes, from premature to full term. Nurses wrap the babies in these hand-knit gifts and give parents time to hold their child and say good-bye. The parents keep the sets as a keepsake. I try to make one set each month . . . our circle has made hundreds of sets in the past two years.

The Einstein Coat is still in progress - the lower section is half finished. I want to finish it pretty soon because it already feels heavy and warm. I added a few inches to the length so it'll hit me mid-thigh. Since designer Sally Melville cautioned that the coat lengthens with wear, I hope it'll eventually come to just above the knee.

One of my many pleasures is teaching phonics to preschoolers. My business, Preschool Phonics, means I get to stay in the preschool world long after my own children have moved on to tween and teendom. After six years, my little "graduates" number more than 220, which means I run into familiar faces at the grocery store, elementary school, music studio, pool, and everywhere in Dunwoody we roam. They love to tell me what they're reading. Introducing them to phonics concepts is the core of the classes, but nurturing excitement about reading is equally important. It's so much fun to see those light bulbs click on.

Then, of course, comes a time when they don't recognize me anymore. Hey - three years is a long time to a seven-year-old! That happened at my son's most recent Boy Scout meeting, a Court of Honor when he was recognized for completing 100+ service hours and receiving the Presidential Service Award (wow). A little Phonics friend was there, watching his own brother advance in rank. M didn't recognize me at all! Ah, well. I have enough memory for both of us.

Making Do Pointer #4
School - whether public or private - will not meet all of your child's needs. Since my children were in preschool, we've had "Mom School" during the summer. I've focused on content that was inadequate or not mastered so that my children could be comfortable with each subject. I've seen many discussions about the concept of summer school in the home - that kids need time off, that summer should be carefree. An hour in the morning isn't a burden for my children, and it's such a habit for them that they are completely comfortable with the lessons. Part of Mom School is also reading for pleasure. I want to make sure, particularly as my kids get older, that t hey continue to read books they enjoy because required reading takes over so much of their time in the upper grades during the school year.

In medias res

As always, I'm between things. Just returned from AG's choir practice and waiting to go pick up A from Mock Trial practice. T in New York on business and sure to check in shortly. Dinner a medley of hurried bites - cereal for A, mac & cheese for AG, and PB&J for me. Just not enough time for more. Somehow I need to finish three more dishcloths before heading to North Carolina on Saturday AM for the annual N family Christmas gathering. And there's a freelance writing project on my desk, a web site to update, tuition receipts to log, a class to prep, and laundry to do.

I'm sure Scooter the Wonder Dog would appreciate a walk, but that's just not going to happen tonight.

Yet I feel rather peaceful at the moment. Because my life is constantly in medias res. I've learned the value of living in the moment. Having a child living with acute Crohn's Disease keeps us all very much in the moment. (Thank you, God, for Remicade, amazing pediatric gastroenterologists, and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite.)


Tonight I wore my "vest of many colors," a painterly mix of stash remnants that turned out pretty well. The pattern (definitely more like a recipe) came from Dazzling Knits: Building Blocks to Creative Knitting by Patricia Werner. It's called the Ojo de Dios Vest, and it was a pleasure to make. No more than 25 or so stitches on the needles at any time - very transportable and an easily memorized pattern.

Waiting for the phone to ring. Perhaps there's time for just a few more rows on those dishcloths . . .