new season: new socks

I haven't jumped on the whole knitting socks bandwagon. And I've been knitting for twelve years. But here it goes.

It's already taken a few turns. They were supposed to be for my boyfriend. He's currently living in New England and freezing, and being a good girlfriend who knits, I decided to make him warm socks for him. So I ran out to my local yarn store yesterday, and got a really bright ball of sock yarn, to combat the grayness of New England winters. 

Cue our Skype date last night. He actually measures his foot and his favorite pair of socks for me and I discover. . . 

There is no way this sock is going to fit him. And I am way too far along to want to rip it out, find a new pattern, and reevaluate my sock-making abilities.

So these socks will be for me. 

Thankfully, he thinks even my attempts at sweet, thoughtful Christmas presents are encouraging and is not fazed in the least. He is willing to wait patiently. And he was even bragging to his friends that his girlfriend is making things to help him stay warm. 

Just about at the heel. I'll post on how that goes! 

gift yarn

Buying Christmas gifts can be hard. What on earth does this person want? What will not be shoved guiltily into a closet to collect dust? What will I probably forget about so that I don't feel bad that my gift was relegated to the closet? 

Buying yarn for knitters is also hard. 

It's like buying lingerie for a friend. Which, in fact, I did receive this year. My lovely roommate introduced me to the world of lace panties this Christmas. 

So for several Christmases, I have received no yarn. Although it's something I will definitely love and use, most of my family has shied away from that gift. 

Until now. 

My grandmother gave me a lovely wrapped box. When I unwrapped it,  the box says "Holiday Bless This Home Tray." I thought I had a new serving tray for the apartment that I'm going to get next July. But when I opened it, I was amazed to see seven gorgeous balls of Willow yarns, which I have not used before. 

And the dreaming begins. What will I make? I have so much of this color-shifting yarn, which, by the way, is machine washable. :) I have four balls of a dusty, desert rose color way and three of a blue, green, purple color way. I'm thinking of a circular vest that spirals outwards. 

Any suggestions? What are the best gifts you gave this year? Do you give your knitting friends yarn or yarn related goodies?

gray cabled hat (finished)

I finished the gray cabled hat about five days after I started it. It is so rewarding to be able to start a project and not have it drag on forever. I loved working with the Quince and Co yarn, which helped keep me motivated.

It turned out beautifully and my friend, Alyssa, loves it. It will help keep her warm over Christmas break in New York. :)

How are your Christmas projects going? Happy Christmas!

Christmas redemption: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

My red nail polish is chipped. It's broken. So much like me. 

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, it's a plea, a begging, Emmanuel, God with us, I need that. I need Him with me. With us. 

Brokenness is all around me. A graduate of my college was killed by his brother a few days ago. My friends struggle with which parent they going to see first when they go home on break. Families regather for the holidays expecting conflict and tension. The homeless in my city are cold. And wet. And yet it's Christmas.

People rush around the city buying decorations and gifts they can't afford, hoping to please friends and family they may not even genuinely know or love. Because being fully loved requires being fully known. And being fully known is dangerous. And threatening. And vulnerable. 

Where's the beauty in this? 

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. 

He's coming! He has come! Hallelujah! He cares to come sit in my pain and my brokenness, in the pain and brokenness of the world, of my neighbor, of my city.  

Psalm 147:3-5 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them. Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.

He is the Divine Namer. That's who He is. And by naming us, He knows us. Knows us in our most vulnerable place and still says 

I love you. Knows us and all of our wrong and still says I'll die for you. Knows us and all of our pain and says I'll know your pain, too. He doesn't just want our happiness, pasted on smiles, singing Christmas carols and decorating the house. He wants our loneliness, our loneliness in a crowd, our broken hearts, our anger and hatred, our loss. He wants us. 

When Jesus became a little baby in a cold stable (the King of the Universe didn't even get a proper home) and slept on a pile of scratchy hay, and slept surrounded by the smell of cow and sheep manure, He was saying something very loudly. I'm here. With you. And I'm not leaving. I'm here for everything that's broken, to heal it, to walk beside you, to weep with you. Later in his life, when his friend Lazarus died, he wept. He didn't just sweep in on a white horse in shining armor, but He sat down next to Lazarus' sisters and wept.

And He sits down with me. And with you. And He weeps. He wipes away the tears running down my face and still whispers I love you.

So if this Christmas is less than what we see on the Hallmark Christmas channel and you are feeling empty or disappointed, please remember, Christmas is our celebration and our reminding ourselves (because we forget so easily) that Jesus is with us. And that He is whispering I love you. 

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. God with us.

(The inspiration for this post came from Ann Voskamp's raw post 3 keys that salvage any christmas about redemption at Christmas). 

the beginning of the gray cabled hat

A few weeks ago, while going through my winter hand knits, my roommate requested a gray hat. I sent her a few different patterns that I found on some lovely knitting blogs. She picked the 3am blue cable hat from Smariek Knits. 

On Black Friday, I went to Warm N' Fuzzy and purchased a light gray skein of Quince and Co. Osprey yarn. It was the best Black Friday ever, going through a yarn shop with very obliging knitters chatting about their Christmas projects. 

Osprey is 170 yards of worsted weight, three-ply 100% American wool. It's a blend of Merino, Roulette, and Columbia wool. It's durable, soft, and squishy. Look at Quince and Co.'s website! It's beautiful! It's like a woodland walk in rows of squishy hand knits and gorgeous trees. All of their yarns are named after different birds. Their thicker yarns are named for bigger birds and their thinner yarns are named for the littlest of songbirds. Among the yarns are Owl, Puffin, and Chickadee. All of their yarns are produced entirely in the United States in a mill in New England. The story of how the company is very sweet and definitely worth reading.

Pictures of the finished hat will follow soon. Happy Knitting! I hope all of your Christmas crafting is going well. Merry Christmas!

Crafting Alphabet C: Christmas

As Christmas approaches, I want to have a focus on why we celebrate Christmas. Not the panic or stress of Christmas shopping, buying gifts that will put me in debt, but focusing on God's grace in my life. I don't deserve His daily mercies that are new every morning. Lamentations 3:22-23 says: "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning, great is your faithfulness." 

As finals press closer and stress builds, I try to take a few minutes every day to knit a few rows, read my Bible, breathe. 

Over Thanksgiving break, I had a wonderful time visiting with family and got to go on a few walks through the park near my home.

Here's my sister modeling the blue hat I knit this summer from New England Knits with a swirly, fluffy scarf that I learned to knit this week. I didn't make that particular scarf, I made another like it. It's fun to see my sister layer on the hand knits for the winter weather.

My other sister happily modeled the beret from last week on this blog. 

When I returned to school, I put up some little white lights and put a little Charlie Brown Christmas tree in my window. I made Christmas wreaths with friends a few weeks ago while singing Christmas carols together.

I'm currently working on a pair of gray hand warmers. Pictures will follow. 

In the meantime, please leave a comment about what you're doing for crafts, reading, or any other traditions this Christmas season. Are you making your Christmas gifts? Knitting? Any other crafts? What are ways that you and your family celebrate Christmas? I love to hear new ideas, so leave a comment!

Why do I knit?

I knit to satisfy an urge to create. I love using my hands to make things and I love to give gifts, so knitting combines this. I knit to wrap my family and friends with a tangible object that will warm them and encourage them. Currently I'm busy knitting Christmas and birthday gifts for my family and friends. You will be seeing many gift projects on this blog until January when I can begin working on my personal projects. Gift knitting provides me with the opportunity to try new stitch patterns or a new yarn. I also want my gifts to be practical: something the recipient will both love and use often. I don't want the gift just sitting in a box, so I try to notice what colors the person wears, and what kind of item they would appreciate (scarves, hats, mittens, etc.). Relatives and friends have been very helpful by telling me what colors their mother or friend wears so I can create the gift for them long-distance without seeing them regularly.

I'll begin posting pictures and stories shortly. Until then, Happy Knitting!