My husband. When I came home from work yesterday, he had set the stage for a relaxing evening at home. My current favorite cocktail (a Sidecar) was waiting in the shaker, the dining room was illumined by candles, and the Christmas tree was lit and a fire was burning in the living room. Tom was in the midst of preparing a delicious dinner as well: sole stuffed with crabmeat and scallops (from Omaha Steaks, his mother's Christmas gift to us), steamed asparagus, sauteed smashed potatoes (made with homemade chicken stock), and salad and bread. Everything was absolutely perfect. Tom is wonderful, even if a bit irascible at times. But that just makes him more lovable!
The Bad
Emma. How can something this cute
be so bad? The badness revolves around the Christmas tree. Last year Emma was pretty good with the Christmas tree. After the initial curiosity wore off, she hardly ever bothered it. This year is different. She nibbles on the lights, she nibbles on the branches, and even worse, she has taken to selectively removing ornaments from the tree. The other night as we were enjoying pizza while watching the Food Network, she wandered in and dropped an ornament on Tom's foot. Fortunately, it was one of the handmade ornaments and not breakable (the breakable ones are at the top of the tree). When Tom returned the ornament to its rightful place on the tree, he noticed there were several other ornaments laying on the floor. Sheesh. And this morning my knitting session in the living room was cut short because Emma would not leave the tree alone. She nibbled on the lights and on the branches and sat in front of her favorite ornaments and calculated what it would take to remove them from the tree. After unsuccessfully trying to persuade her to have a lap or relax on a warm radiator, I gave up and moved to the cold kitchen with its hard chairs. At last, I was able to knit (albeit somewhat uncomfortably) in peace.
The Beautiful
A vintage hand-knit sweater from Birdsong. Scroll down a bit in her post to see the cream sweater. As Birdsong says, the knitting is awesome. The sweater is a comfortable fit, perhaps a tad on the loose side, but it's so comfortable. It will look great over my standard winter turtlenecks. Here is the back neck and shoulder:
Here is the buttonband; I love the ribbon reinforcement:
Thank you, Birdsong, for gifting such a beautiful sweater. I'll definitely wear it!
Knitting Progress
The sock is progressing and today we have flappage. This is the halfway point on the heel flap:
And the inside:
See the line of stockinette stitch? That's a "seam." It's actually a one-row rib and provides a slight bit of expansion on the heel. I find it immensely intriguing.
So, the goal for this weekend is to make it through the heel. If I get some quality knitting time in, I might even be able to finish the sock before Christmas.
I just can't knit in the living room.
4 comments:
I'm so glad that Birdsong's sweater found a good home. Merry Christmas and Happy Solstice to you!
Wow! What a lovely sweater. I'd say you'll get quite a bit of wear out of that one! Just beautiful...
My Christmas tree never has lights on the bottom. It looks quite silly, but I figured it was safer. And all the ornaments on the bottom were purchase as kitty toys. I gave up a long time ago. There is no winning. The tree is just a big, seasonal plaything. ::sigh:: When did I lose all control over here???
Nice sweater! Even nicer husband! BAD kitty! Have you tried one of those stream shooting water bottles? Some have pretty good range and would allow you to give her some immediate discipline without leaving the sofa!
I understand your cat problem. This year we have red ball ornaments that are covered in little squares of glass, much like a disco ball. So, in the morning when the light shines on the tree the cats pounce all over the floor at the morning disco light.
I hope you had a Merry Christmas.
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