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Four Pillars

Tinking Turtle Raverly

Updates, Holidays, Naughty Numbers

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I’ve been sucked into plans for Christmas, but today I find myself with another rainy day and a pot of warm tea to keep me going through the afternoon.

Mr. Turtle and I pulled out the Christmas decorations out of the attic over the weekend, put up the tree, and decorated the living room and dining room.  I have extra fir branches to make into a wreath later this week, and perhaps some garlands to hang from the walls.  Last night I rubbed my hands in the branches of the tree, and enjoyed the scent that permeated my hands.

I have two super secret projects I’m working on for Mr. Turtle and my mother-in-law, and a couple of other hand-knits I made over the year to give as gifts.  A full post will have to go up after Christmas, when I’m not in danger of giving things away.  Meanwhile, presents that we ordered online are rolling in, and things are shaping up to finish nearly on-time, as far as I can tell.

Business – wise things have been a mixed bag.  I have a glove pattern that should be done, except my tech editor keeps catching numbers problems that aren’t working.  She’s doing exactly what she’s supposed to do – which is to catch problems before they make it into a publication.  BUT!  I just want this darn glove pattern done!  I want to wave my magic wand and just will the numbers to work!

… I’m told it doesn’t quite work that way.

Still, several other projects are in the works that will reach fruition come the new year, so I’m trying not to get discouraged.

I’ll leave you a picture of the naughty gloves, which I’m determined to get right!

How to pack Hand-Knits and Hand-Crochet projects for a Trip

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This Christmas and New Years was spent at Michael’s family property, called “The Farm.”  It’s a property about 45 minutes out of Charlottesville, VA, in the middle of practically nowhere.  We were going to be there for ten days, so I knew I needed to pack strategically.  You see, when at the Farm, there is no internet access, and no cell service.  Reading material is limited to whatever someone else has left there.  It’s a lovely place to spend holidays, because while there, it’s necessary to unplug and relax.  The drawback?  There isn’t really much to do, besides split wood and eat fruitcake.  I knew I needed to strategize.

I needed to pack in a serious way – foresight and planning was needed.  The last thing I wanted to do was finish working on a project and have nothing to start.  The farm’s also rather drafty, so in addition to works in progress, I also needed some serious socks, hats and blankets.  I packed nearly all of my hand-knitted socks, two of my favorite hats, a lap afghan (which also needed repairing) and a suitcase full of yarn.  I also packed about a half-dozen knitting and crochet books and a couple of magazines, in case my hands got tired.  Then, as a precaution, I also went on Webs and ordered some yarn I’d been meaning to pick up, to arrive at the farm.  Just in case, by some mysterious event, I managed to finish everything else I had to work on.

This was a great plan.  Over the next few days, I’m planning to share how my packing played out.  So for the first story, the importance of staying warm while jeep cruising:

There are certain rituals that are observed at the farm.  In the evening, one must pile into the antique jeep and take a tour of the property, surveying the field, stream and woods that make up the acreage. Even Michael’s 94 year old grandmother (with 2 hip replacements) manages to partake of the jeep ride.

Mr. Turtle and his grandmother, known as Oma.
Michael and his grandmother, known as Oma.
I learned how to drive a manual on the jeep, a couple of years ago.  While I normally sit back and enjoy the ride from the back, on one of the days when Michael wasn’t feeling well, I decided it was my turn to drive.
The jeep needs force and concentration, when you are getting her started.
Since it was more than a little brisk (though nothing like this week), I decided to augment my long underwear and 2 pairs of socks and hand-knitted hat with my lap blanket (which, incidentally, being more square than a traditional blanket, was the perfect length to keep me warm while still being able to drive).
Thus, the importance of hand-knits when packing.

The Holiday Season

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Somehow, I’ve managed to book every weekend between Thanksgiving and New Year’s with traveling/big event.  Which is not particularly bad, as I’m going to get to visit with good friends and family.  But it does mean that my weeks have to be incredibly productive, as I try and get everything that needs to be done for the business done.

It also means that things like tidying up and cleaning?  Have gone right out the window.

Yesterday I had to stop and take a look around the guest bedroom, which seconds as my workroom (for things like finishing, yarn storage, and storage of teaching materials).  It is a disaster.  And since I have no shame, and I figure there are other people out there who value things other than tidiness, I thought I’d share.

Below you’ll see the state of the guest bed.  Blankets and pillows are thrown to the top of the bed, as I had some rush blocking last week that I needed to get done.  You can see the towels I used to block (thankfully dry) folded near the pillows.  On the left is a tree that my husband brought home from work.  There’s the open Canon box, as my driver for my camera cards that is installed in my laptop isn’t working, and I now have to download my pictures off the camera with the cable.  There’s an open box of holiday decorations, as our attempts to put away Fall/Halloween decorations and pull out Christmas ones has gone in fits and starts.

Looking to the left of the tree, you have my dress form (with padded shoulders as I was blocking something that needed more room around the shoulders), a trash can where not quite everything made it to the can, and an overflowing bag of fabric.  Most of the yarn is tucked away in the shelves, thank goodness.

On a Rubbermaid container, I’ve got a random assorted pile of my hand-knit socks, pulled from the washer (as I don’t tumble-dry my socks), and haphazardly tossed in the room, with the vague intention of hanging them on my sock blockers.  This was about a week ago.  The socks are dry.  They never made it onto the sock blockers.  Next to that we have a half pot of tea that I’ve since remembered to bring into the kitchen and empty.

On the right of the door is my work desk.  A few days ago I covered it with the paper I use in my lightbox, with the intention of setting up the lightbox over it.  That never happened.  Instead, you’ll see an electrical cord running up in the back of the picture?  That’s going to one of my two work lamps, clamped to one of the two tripods I have.  Both lamps are shining on the table, so I can take pictures.  As long as I’m careful of shadows, I don’t have to set up the lightbox.  It’s also been where I’ve been working on finishing, so you’ll see a various assortment of tools exploded about, along with a pile of yarn scraps.

The one shining beacon is the bookshelf, where I’ve managed to stay organized, mostly out of necessity.  This is where I keep finishing projects that are in the queue.  See them all tidy?

Yarn Bowl and Ripping

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This MLK weekend Michael and I went home to his parents.  The trip was threefold: we wanted to exchange Christmas gifts with his family, Michael needed to do some work for his father’s company, and I needed to meet with the wedding photographer for wedding photos.  It was going to be a really packed weekend.

There were some great highlights to the weekend: I had a lot of fun with Michael’s mother and Michael’s family friend and neighbor (Sue).  We met with the photographer to do studio shots, and then went to the church that Michael’s parents help build for some “location” shots.  It was great.  We also worked on a surprise that I can’t talk about much more, because Michael might see.  We also did some great wedding planning with Michael’s parents, Sue and her husband Larry.  It was lovely.

There were also some real lows to the weekend.  I had a lot of nervousness about making sure my dress was ready and getting ready for the photos.  Doing hair and makeup is not my strong suit, and in previous occasions I’ve always had the luxury of having a room-mate, my mother or my sister available to help me.  (Or basically do it for me.)  I can style my hair, but nothing fancy.  I really spent a lot of time stressing about all those details before the photo-shoot  and it culminated in a bit of an emotional meltdown the morning of taking photos.  I ended up crying, which only distressed me more (because my eyes are getting red and face blotchy).  Michael managed to talk me down, and I was able to turn it around, but it was quite a bit of a low point.

Also, on the train ride home I managed to realize that my math was REALLY off for the sock design I’m working on right now.  It involves slipped stitch cables, which really draws the fabric in tight.  After getting a few inches into the ankle, I gave the sock a REALLY hard look, and decided I had to put the stitches for the afterthought heel on a holder so I could try on the sock.  The sock didn’t even get over my heel.

So… Rip rip rip went the entire weekend’s work.

Not a great feeling.

I came home really sulking about the need to rip.  Michael and I began unpacking, and that’s when my mood began to lift.  One of the things to come out of our suitcase was two Christmas gifts.  One, the yarn bowl that  you see at the beginning of the post.   Sue gave it to me, and it was a lovely gift.  A yarn bowl is something I’ve been wanting (we’ve had them at The Yarn Spot), but couldn’t justify buying for myself.  The one Sue gave me is lovely – SO my colors.

The second gift?  It involves a story.  Michael’s family is big on doing slideshows when they get together to share what has been happening in each others lives.  I love the tradition, both because I get to show off my photography, and because I like sharing our adventures.  When Michael and I went to Assanteague I took a picture as we watched the sunrise.  When we showed it to Michael’s parents it apparently left an impression. For Christmas they had it printed and framed for me.  It meant a lot – that they would treat my photography as something worthy of being framed and shown off.

So I guess you gotta take the highs with the lows – and hold the highs in your mind and let the lows go.  Meanwhile, I’ll be knitting.

Mom’s Bowl of Fruit

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I thought I had written about the other present I made for Christmas, until it was pointed out to me that I actually had not.  This set of gifts comes with a story.

My mother is a registered Dietary Nutritionist, and she’s constantly looking for ways to engage her clients and classes and demonstrate healthy eating.  When we were younger and the food pyramid had just come out, McDonald’s released little toys in the shape of fruits and vegetables, milk, cheese, bread, etc. to support the release of the food pyramid.  She had the whole neighborhood scouting out the toys so she could get the whole collection.  Over the years we’ve gotten her stuffed animals from Ikea in the shape of vegetables and fruit and other things.  However, lately her demo toys have become quite ragged, and some of them broken.  After a none-too-subtle hint that she’d like some new toy fruit to use, I took up the challenge to create my mother a super-awesome bowl of fruit and veggies.

What did I make her?  Well, I needed a good selection, and I wanted ones that were both iconic, and some that were harder to find (IE: don’t come in your typical plastic toy selection for children)  I made her: an apple, carrot, broccoli, pumpkin, cherries, pomegranate, peas in a pod, and a little set of cherries.  She was really excited.

I love giving things I make to my mother.  On Christmas day she was wearing one of the pairs of socks I made for her nearly two years ago.  She takes good care of the items I make for her, follows the washing directions, and knows how much time each of them takes me.  Like most mothers, she also treasures them the same way she treasures the holiday ornament made out of marshmallows when I was three – important and precious not only because they are lovely in themselves, but because her children made them.  Inspired by my mother, I’m hoping to make a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables this year – a series of patterns so that anyone can have cute vegetables where they need them.  I just got to do some more testing – some of the ones I made for my mother are great and could be written up and published within the month… others, I need to take some time to think about them.

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