Warm Christmas Wishes From Stitchville

PS: Having gotten into a blogging drill I am finding it hard not to blog ;)

Day 24 - The Climax

This afternoon I took some time out of the Christmas Eve preparations to make this star. This also complements the advent heart I made to 'anchor' the advent pouches onto. I thought it would be a fine symbolic gesture to crown the tree tonight of all times, which reminds me of my childhood Christmases when we actually decorated the tree on the Christmas Eve morning!


After a special Christmas Eve supper and then sending kids off to bed (at least one night in the whole year it actually is easy!!!) I cast on for the last pouch. Throughout the duration of this 'project' I indulged in a wide variety of yarns to choose from - the colour, fibre, texture and weight of which were all totally dependent on a whimsy, MY whimsy... I would choose freely and sometimes impulsively, knowing that I will get to make quite a few more choices in the days to come. Tonight was quite different. I knew that I could only make one more choice, this year at least. And I felt a bit apprehensive of the deciding moment. So I closed my eyes, stayed still for a second or two, opened my eyes - and chose this...


...because it reminds me of winter berries :) The yarn is Habu bamboo in red (col.5) and I absolutely LOVE it!

Well, this is it for the Advent Calendar. It was first conceived as a KAL project, but that aspect of it did not materialize and, nevertheless, it was perfect just the way it happened. Do feel free to make your own version of the tactile Advent Calendar next year if you like the look of this one and the (slightly off the wall) interpretation. It is fun and it also is a test of sorts. I highly recommend it. It definitely helps to keep track of time and contributes greatly to kids' excitement about Christmas. I particularly like the non-instant gratification aspect of the experience.

Finally, I would like to credit a Norwegian friend of mine who shared with me the Scandinavian Advent tradition of daily storing of little gifts for someone loved. I completely forgot about this conversation which we had quite a few months ago. The idea was planted and has germinated and been adapted quite intuitively in this project. I only remembered this conversation a few days ago and was stunned by how I was unconsciously influenced by it...

Day 23 - Fragrant Home

I opened one of my yarn drawers with a plan in mind - Rowan Summer Tweed in tomato red or chocolate brown... No idea where this thought came from. Anyway, there I was scanning the contents of my extensive stash when I saw this Araucania Pehuen in blue, still in a skein (easily distracted!!!). I took it out without thinking much and wound it into a ball. Out came 3.75mm needles (I needed to compensate for the time spent listening to the choir at St. Paul's Cathedral singing Christmas carols earlier on today and a gorgeous smelling activity I set up for children in the morning. It turned out that O's little fingers couldn't quite cope with the pointy cloves and I was promptly turned into the person in charge of his pomander, which very effectively diverted me from knitting).


I admit I haven't thought this through properly. I should have photographed these pomanders before dusting them with orris root powder, but there you go - I got carried away!

Day 22 - Heightened State Of Creativity

The culmination point is getting closer all the time and I seem to have entered a heightened state of creativity and - it follows - productivity. Having spent about 2.5 skeins worth of time on the sweater, I was reminded politely by my children that the pouch no. 22 was still missing, despite the evening hours drawing in and B.E.D. time approaching.


So I got on the case with the pouch no. 22.

This yarn here is Hotaru by Noro, and if you have been following this calendar adventure of mine you know that I have already been there and done that, except it was green. Nevertheless, here I go again:

I love this yarn, although it doesn't quite meet my 'natural fibre' standard (containing 68%cotton and 32% of polyester). It is like a magical daisy chain - simply entrancing.

And if that was not enough for one day I have about an hour of work ahead of me tonight. I'm looking forward to it... I'm not telling you what this thing is. It smells of lavender :) I shall reveal the secret very soon.

I'm in a swing!

Day 21 - Will Power

Today's pouch is made of Mirasol Sulka in sage.


I spent most of the day working on my son's sweater. I have been caught out. He hasn't got a single warm sweater that fits him well at present. All I can say in my defense is that he is growing rather fast, and I have resisted the urge to resort to an easy solution, i.e. visit this place. Don't get me wrong - I do like Boden, but not for knitwear. I am a knitter for heaven's sake!
This is a snippet of the sweater in progress. May I say that working chunky alpaca and wool mix on 6mm needle feels like riding a lightning. The progress is stunning!


There is something else I would like to put on record today. It's an excerpt from a book I have found on my bedside table this morning and opened randomly and the first thing I saw was this:

"Will power!" retorted Arkad. "What nonsense. Do you think will power gives a man strength to lift a burden that a camel cannot carry, or to draw a load that the oxen cannot budge? Will power is but the unwavering intention to carry a task you set for yourself to completion. If I set for myself a task, be it ever so trivial, I will see it through. How else can I have confidence in myself to do important things? If I said to myself, 'For a hundred days, as I walk across the bridge into the city, I will pick up a stone from the road and throw it into the stream,' I would do it. If on the seventh day I passed by without remembering, I wouldn't say to myself, 'Tomorrow I'll throw two stones which will do just as well.' Instead, I would retrace my steps and throw in the stone. Nor on the twentieth day would I say to myself, 'Arkad, this is useless. What does it help you to throw a stone every day? Just throw in a handful of stones and be done with it.' No, I would not say nor do that. When I set a task for myself, I complete it. Therefore, I'm careful not to start difficult and impractical tasks, because I love leisure."

"The Richest Man in Babylon" by George S. Clason

This book looks very interesting indeed. I think I might read it from cover to cover to find out what's it all about.
The paragraph above struck me as it is exactly what I am doing with the pouches! Exercising my will power.

Day 20 - Pouch Strain

I am feeling it, but bravely ploughing on with the pouch thing. Basically, I have managed to stay on top of things, but the intensity of pre-Christmas prepping is getting to me a little. Mostly in that there seems to be not nearly enough hours in a day to do all the things I want to do!
I'm far from compromising though. Tonight, after a busy day involving dashing across the river to the South Bank to meet a bunch of friends, shlepping all the way to West End, and then to meet a student for an hour of tutorial on Upper Street (I am forgetting to mention the fairy light mission here - yet elswhere, and a stuck District line train, but nevermind that) I have picked up 2mm DPNs (the smallest I own I believe!) and bravely cast on for yet another pouch - using Jitterbug by Colinette - not exactly the chunkiest of yarns :/ I sort of new what I was doing, but could not help myself - the idea was there all day and I just wanted to follow through on it!

May I present pouch 20.

Day 19 - Red Is... Gone

And the thing of today (other than producing this Kauni pouch) was seeing Mother Goose at the Hackney Empire Theatre.

Dy 18 - Red At Last!

And if that wasn't enough back on track again!

Day 17 - Down To The Wire

I continue to be posting 1 day late. Yesterday I went out... All the way to Richmond (it's way out!) to see some friends I haven't seen in ages. The Christmas social commitments list is, shall we say, large. It was a frock night, for me at least (any excuse is good, right?). My vintage 1930's hand made coat came out, and so did my vintage beaded purse - after all it was going to be a night of leisure and socializing (I do manage to kick my habit of carrying everything with me all the time once in a blue moon. The purse is so small that even my mobile phone is too large for it!) My gorgeous friend and "chauffeuse" appeared at the door and off we went... Did I mention a very small secret bag containing a ball of fine pure silk, a set of DPN's, tapestry needle, and small scissors?

Well, the evening was so exciting and full of conversation, laughter and delicious food and wine that I sort of forgot all about my pouch duty.

Until we were back on our way home that is, driving past the Natural History Museum, V&A, Harrods, Piccadilly Circus, and so on. Me and my needles in a flurry of action...

11.40pm - cast-on
11.50pm - increases nearly finished
11.55pm - knitting even and FAST
11.58pm - nearly ready for the decreases!!!
All of this whilst maintaining an animated conversation on tricky subjects and explaining the contemporary Advent Calendar concept.

Say "goodbye" (xx) and get out of the car.
Get into the house.
Throw myself onto the sofa, still fully dressed.

00.03am - darn it! darn it! I nearly did it!
00.05am - finish decreases
00.07am - weave in the ends (where is that needle?!)
00.09am - ribbon
00.10am - go to the advent thing and hang the pouch
00.13am - camera at the ready, I can do it! The post will only take a minute or two.

Darn it! The battery is gone!!!

So here we are. It's 12.48pm on the 18th and the picture is loading now.

Down to the wire. And lost. Nevermind. Today is a new day. I will manage this time.

Day 16 - Back To (Nearly) Black

This pouch is made of Habu bamboo in charcoal. Love it! Actually this tiny pouch is a prelude to the prelude for a dress I am sketching at the moment. It's a great low commitment way to get a feel for this yarn. It's exciting as last time I had enough head space to be designing dresses was a rather long time ago. It's not a gigantic project like this one, but a lot more tailored, a lot less seethrough, and - in case you haven't guessed it already - without seams. Oui. Oui.

Day 15 - The Very Essence Of Subtlety...

... is perfectly captured by this masterpiece of colour dyeing.

I was hoping to be getting into "real" red today, but as it appears with this yarn, subtlety is its thing. So here I am - closer to red than yesterday but still a long way to go. The thing with the pouches is that they are small. I will certainly come back to it, but for tomorrow I have planned something else. A little diversion of sorts to prevent myself from getting into a real state with the Kauni thing.

Day 14 - Carrot!?

Today was a day of creating - totally against the biblical notion of rest. Actually, Sundays are not exactly what I remember them to be when my maternal grandmother was setting the tone! Anything goes these days, and today was mostly about making ornaments for the Christmas tree, which appeared here early this year due to some of our friends not being around this Christmas and visiting today for a special festive hello before flying off... I was all consumed by stringing beads and making fancy chains whilst chatting to friends and being served endless refreshments by our chef du jour.


Today's pouch was inspired by this yarn here. It's the stuff that Kauni cardigan is made of (yarn available here). Well the idea was to try and get to the red layer, but I have clearly underestimated the meterage here. I knitted and knitted and the pouch was getting deeper and deeper... Finally I decided to stop. At least until tomorrow.
Believe it or not, nothing was further from my mind than a carrot when I started this. And here we are - a carrot resembling pouch!
I therefore dedicate it to my son, who adores carrots.

Day 13 - Luxurious Pouch

Today's pouch is made of The Good Yarn Stall bamboo yarn. Pure luxury outside + pure naughtiness inside pretty much sums it up.

Day 12 - Oxymoronic Day

I had a productive day that consisted of doing "nothing". I haven't been very well this week, which is a rare occurrence, hence I am completely unused to it. I pretty much spent today (as well as the rest of this week) on the sofa, under a duvet and with a cup of steaming hot lemon tea by my side, relaxing and surrendering to my temporary lack of vitality. All of that time I was knitting Christmas presents. At times I couldn't see properly as my eyes seem to have really had it with this cold, but I persevered and am very close to completing all the projects I need to have ready for this Sunday. I have several more small projects planned, but am tackling them one at a time to avoid getting too overwhelmed...

This meant taking the focus off the Advent Calendar and, although I have kept up with the daily pouches, I haven't had much time to think about them or to plan. Instead I have opted for spontaneity and am letting myself be inspired quite literally as I pick up the needles to knit them! It's been fun. Today's pouch is made of novelty Noro cotton yarn. I love it! I have slightly changed the formula to one where I cast on 20 sts, increase in 4 evenly divided sections, and then decrease in 8. This pouch makes me think of spring :)

Day 11 - Popsicle Moment

Right. I had this skein of popsicle-coloured Colinette merino for ages. And it jumped at me when I rummaged through my stash today...

Day 10 - Angels Rock

Well, I should have known this was coming... Having boasted of how very on top of blogging I was the day before yesterday, I have missed yesterday's post! It's not a total disaster as I am on track with the pouches (Louis sees to it - he is my "pouch alarm"), but I have been reminded not to congratulate myself before the proverbial sunset.

OK. Down to business. Lovely sari silk from The Good Yarn Stall is the main character in this pouch story. I adore this colour!
It's SOOOOOOO zingy!


And the highlight of yesterday was Nativity at my daughter's school. The Angels rocked!

Day 9 - The Liberty Pouch

I am on the roll with this blogging Advent thing. I even saved a draft of a message for today's post yesterday. Completely unheard of! I admit, the title of the draft read "Day 9 - " and there was not a single word in the message box, but nonetheless I feel very accomplished for managing that!
The reason there was only half a title there was simply because I had no clue what today's pouch might be about! And as it happens the idea crystalized in an organic process - completely naturally and spontaneously...

You may have noticed (or not, as the case may be) that there is a new item on the dashboard as of today - an article about fair trade and textile industry. I researched, pre-digested and edited this for your benefit and with raising awareness of its impact (or the impact of its absence as sadly is mostly the case) in mind. My interest in this subject dates a long way back. The thought - or maybe I should call it a vague notion, a pre-sentiment, an intuition - was nurtured through the heart and mind expanding dialogue work and a whole lot of soul-searching and looking for something that would be a true reflection of who I am and what I want my life to be about.

You may ask me where it all leads... It leads home. The reason I chose knitwear design is that it is like my second nature and I am free and at ease with it. I know it is an area in which I can excel and achieve and I truly feel that - given that I put work and strong commitment into it - there truly is no limit to my self-expression through this medium. AND it does not require the smallest compromise on my part as it fits perfectly with other commitments in my life. Phew! There it is!

But of course there is more. My perception of reality has been irreversibly altered by the dialogue work I have been (and still am) part of and as a result I find it much easier to act from a less selfish place when it comes to my choices in life. This extends into putting some effort into understanding how stuff works; stuff like trade, like our human micro (friends, neighbours) and macro (nations, races, cultures) interrelations.

And I now know that - if I am to be true to my heart - I cannot expect any other human being to aspire to less than I do, if they so choose.

I want my family to be happy and I want the best for my children - I want them to be healthy, well educated and able to realize their full potential in life. I want myself to be fulfilled, happy and healthy and my work to be appreciated. Why shouldn't a woman born in a remote part of the world and in poverty, who is - as I am - full of love for her children and dedicated to her work, not be fulfilled and rewarded by it, just like I am!?

Let's face it - the old trading model belongs with the dinosaurs!

So there I was, getting a feel for this lovely hand-spun alpaca produced by a Chilean co-operative, by means of turning it into yet another Advent pouch, and I meditated on the subject of LIBERTY, also known as FREEDOM. Freedom to be aware and generous and caring, and freedom to, ultimately, contribute to someone else's freedom. When I opened my ribbon box the first ribbon I saw was this...


Perfect!

Day 8 - My Grandmother's Rolling Pin

Whenever I need to be quick 3mm DPN's come out and the number of stitches plummets. Today's pouch is Habu Uran again, this time doubled up with Debbie Bliss alpaca and silk blend. And the reason today was busy is that Christmas knitting projects are now on the needles, and my grandmother's rolling pin was out tonight, as I was making a mountain of gingerbread biscuits. The family tradition of biscuit baking goes on - to children's delight.

PS: I forgot to mention why on earth my grandmother's rolling pin was given such prominence in today's post. Well, one of my very earliest memories is that of me climbing on my tiptoes in my grandmother's kitchen to put my chin on the surface of a large wooden table and seeing her rolling out the pastry for biscuits with that very rolling pin! I must have been 3. Today my youngest child was playfully stroking the smooth wood of this old family heirloom and listening to the stories of my childhood. This month is the 13th anniversary of my grandmother's death.

Day 7 - The Sheep-Inspired Pouch

Today's pouch is made of double strand consisting of Stitchville's fair-trade silver grey hand-spun alpaca and Uran in natural white. It brings to mind fluffy clouds and countless sheep on jade green welsh pastures. A happy thought :)

The day of rest perhaps it was not, but I am committed to - at least - getting an evening of rest, so I will keep this post prompt. Something I would like to put on record before I go is that this Advent project is proving to be an excellent exercise in disciplining myself to be consistent and steady. And it makes it very unlikely that Christmas will take me by surprise this year!

Day 6 - On Christmas Cards

An article attracted my attention in today's Guardian. It is featured on the front page of their Money section. It is full of very enlightening information on how the charity cards' business works.

For example, did you know that "some charity cards now selling in Harrods give just 3.9% of the sticker price to charity."

"The Charities Advisory Trust advises to seek out charities' own cards, which donate at least 40% of the sale price, but now you can go as close to the full 100% as possible. The Sreepur Village outreach project is offering handmade cards produced in and around their village, 40km north of Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka. The women make the cards at home using paper made from locally grown jute. They are paid a fair wage, and it allows them to earn an income without having to leave their young children."

The cards can be purchased here.

Harrods does not need my charity, after all.

Today's pouch is made of Bee Sweet yarn.