Friday, March 23, 2012

Thoughts of Christmas and Serendipity

I have 8 grandchildren and 2 honorary grands... that makes for 10 Christmas gifts (let's not even talk about birthdays right now, okay?) and a major dent in the budget.  Oh.  What budget?  Did I mention I'm in grad school and the upcoming year is an unpaid practicum and internship?  As. in. zero. dollars.

So, if you will recall an earlier post, I have recently decided to take one evening and enjoy time with friends and teach them how to knit.  Remarkably, I must be a great teacher (or they are all knitting savants) because they're pretty much independent and taking off in all different directions!  I could sit here and feel useless, or I can make myself useful and knit Christmas gifts for everyone!  Now, some of you (the knitters) are thinking "of course!" and the rest of you are thinking "are you crazy, girl?"  Yup.  I'm crazy.  And so it began.

With some yarn I had purchased years ago, I began by creating a poncho pattern to fit two of the girls.  That's what you do when you can't find what you want.  Of course, two cable ponchos later, I realized I had a bit of yarn left over AND the pattern I wanted suddenly appeared.  Oh, well.  With the extra yarn?.  Presto! Matching ponchos for their American Girl doll wannabes. 

Now on to the little ones.  A trip to the store was disappointing as the yarn I wanted was out of my price range, and the available yarn was - well - yuck.  Back home, I contented myself with the idea of looking online when my husband made an amazing find.  While searching for something in the nether regions of the third floor we rather optimistically call the "front spare room", he came across a bag that I had forgotten all about.  Several years ago, upon my mother's passing, my sisters dumped all of her yarn and miscellaneous knitting and craft materials at my house.  Apparently, people who don't knit don't like yarn.  Who knew?  Anyway, this wasn't just any ordinary bag of yarn.  It was an entire bag of ecru colored cotton yarn - enough to make a queen sized bedspread!  Oh, boy.  Cotton yarn. Serendipity.  Lots of it.  Lots and lots and lots of it!  Do you realize how many sweaters I can get out of that bag?  Me neither, but I'm working on it.  After consulting with Facebook friends and the mother of the children in question, this pattern by Sirdar was chosen and knitting began.  I'm in heaven.  And wondering what delightful buttons I can find to add to the sweaters.  Merry Christmas!  Happy Spring!

No comments:

Post a Comment