Laurabelle’s Blog

Four years ago, I knitted gloves for Jeff. These were not just any gloves; they were fingerless, with a mitten-top that could flip forward to cover the fingers. I even made the thumb flippy by means of a large buttonhole. (I have never seen either gloves or a glove pattern with a flippy thumb; I don't know why no one else has done it since it's so amazingly easy. I didn't have a full pattern I liked, but I took a glove pattern for the right gauge and substituted a better thumb (and mitten-end) from another mitten pattern.

That first pair of gloves kept Jeff's hands warm at Lena Lake and for almost four more years. He nearly wore them out; the holes were becoming pretty obvious.

And then he lost one of them on the way to visit my family for Christmas. He was pretty upset about it; those gloves were special to him both because I made them and because they were awesome. He had cold hands for a couple of months after that.

I have a ton of catching up to do on this blog. I'll start out of order, with Christmas.

I spent the fall in a frenzy of gift-knitting. This was part of the reason for my hiatus from blogging; I felt I couldn't blog these projects for fear of giving away the secret. Not that most of the recipients read my blog, but one never knows.

The first-finished (way back in August) was a lace shawl for my sister-in-law. Jeff helped me pick out the yarn, a nice peachy-pink alpaca. The pattern is Miss Lambert's Shetland Pattern for a Shawl from Victorian Lace Today. I dropped one stitch in the whole shawl, but I picked it back up later and sewed it in. I can find the mistake, but I bet no one else will see it even if they're looking for it.

A few days ago I gave you the holiday bullet points. Today you get the slide show.

I knitted Christmas presents for a number of people, but I only have pictures of those I sent to Ralph and Lori. These I finished and mailed at the beginning of December, so I didn’t even see them at Christmas (even though I saw Ralph and Lori). Lori’s birthday present was a pink, flower-shaped cotton chenille washcloth. I made a number of these in various colors, but I trust that the partial duplication has not bothered anyone so far. I gave a bar of scented soap with each washcloth.

Lori’s Christmas gift was a hat and scarf in a brioche pattern, with blue and white Lamb’s Pride bulky wool yarn. In some respects it was a pain to knit, since the pattern is effectively double-layered and thus takes twice as long to knit. However, it was easy enough once I got into the rhythm, and I am very happy with the results. I hope it will keep Lori warm in the cold Pittsburgh winter.

I knitted a checkers set for Ralph. This includes a checkerboard, a bag for the pieces (plastic buttons), and a bag to hold the set. The checkerboard is double-sided and reversible, which was interesting to knit. I also included a rule and strategy book for checkers, since I wasn’t sure whether Ralph played checkers.

Snow-bound Mount Rainier is spectacular from the air. I took this photo from my window as the plane passed by on the western side of the mountain.

This cute little house is on the grounds of the Gruene Homestead Inn, where my family stayed in New Braunfels this December. We have stayed there several times while visiting my grandmother, and I have fond memories of it.

This is my grandparents’ headstone. The date of my grandmother’s death has yet to be attached to her side of the stone. The inscription reads:

Fred Burdette Curry
US Army WWII
Jan 31 1912 – Mar 13 1998

Mary Baker Curry
Loving wife and mother
Apr 23 1912 -

I have not enjoyed the last couple of Christmases, primarily because I felt that I was old enough to exchange presents like an adult but didn’t have enough time to make presents or money to buy them. I was ashamed of the gifts I was able to give.

Last Christmas I had made a few knitted presents but not as many as I wanted, and all were very small. I resolved to start making presents for the next Christmas in January, so that I’d have enough time. I didn’t want to have another miserable, angst-ridden Christmas.

As one might expect, I didn’t start in January. I was too tired from the last Christmas, and I had other knitting projects plus sewing, tatting, etc. In fact, I didn’t even start planning for Christmas (much less knitting) until the beginning of November. However, I had a good bit of free time this fall, and my ambitions were also fairly attainable. I have presents to give my family and a few friends, so I’m happy. This will be an excellent Christmas.

Ten days later, it’s Christmas, everyone else is asleep and I really should be too, and I’m finally getting around to blogging again.