A Felty, Thankful Break

Thankfulness

Ahhhhh... the sheer bliss of 4 1/2 days out of the office, of not having to ponder a single legal question.  My mind has turned to marshmallow fluff, my shoulder muscles are so relaxed that my neck feels 4 inches longer, and my forehead is as uncreased as a baby's...

How I cherish holiday breaks!

Anyway, DESPITE the fact that I didn't host the Thanksgiving dinner this year (which means that the dust bunnies were safe for yet another weekend), it has been a quite productive few days.

First, I stole Nathan away from school a few hours early on Wednesday so that we could help with the Thanksgiving Meals on Wheels program at Cretin Derham High in St. Paul.  This program started over 30 years ago when a kind couple decided to invite 12 people to Thanksgiving dinner that they thought could use a good meal, and has grown over the years, to the point where this year a total of 18,400 meals were provided to those in need (!)  Thanks to the generosity of an army of people who give their time, as well as some truly generous and wonderful local food providers, including Hormel, which supplied the turkey this year. 

Nathan and I showed up around 2:00 and helped tape and stack almost 3,000 boxes (he comes in really handy for stacking the top layer!).

Then I went off to help peel hundreds of potatoes, and Nathan helped set up 48 tables out front, where the meals are transferred to an army of drivers the next morning, who distribute them throughout the city.    There were so many people that the evening's work was completed in just a few hours.  I didn't join in for the morning session this year, but according to my uncle Jack, everything went smoothly.  It also really helped that the weather was so mild - 50 degrees on Thanksgiving Day is a rarity in these parts.

I had a lazy Thursday, watching movies and knitting on my felted trellis bag, as our family celebrates on Friday instead.  So on Friday, I got up and made Nathan's obligatory pumpkin pie (the one part of the Thanksgiving meal he likes), sweet potato casserole (my own favorite -- I would gladly skip the turkey, but this is essential), and mashed potatotes, and green beans. 

And then in the early afternoon, we headed to Geoff and Mary's, where Mary had been cooking all day to produce this beautiful cranberry/blueberry pie:

And this magnificent turkey - she put it overnight in a salt crust with lemon peel and herbs, and then rinsed and baked it.  It was just perfect.

Here is my friend Laurie enjoying some pie, with Geoff (as always) hogging the dish-doing portion of the evening; he is wonderful that way.  I didn't catch photos of them, but Mary's nephew Brian and Nathan were there as well.

And here is my beloved Uncle Jack, the kindest person I know.  He devotes so many hours to helping other people, from the meals on wheels to lecturing at Hazelden (he's 34 years sober and has supported a lot of people in overcoming their addictions) to helping a dear friend get over the loss of his marriage and a cancer diagnosis.  But the best part about him is that he never loses his sense of humor, his great laugh, his faith in the world.  Whenever I am blue, I call him and he kicks me in the butt and reminds me of my blessings and helps me snap out of it.  I wish everyone were lucky enough to have a Jack in their life.

Did Somebody Say, Felting?

I know, I know -- I was supposed to use the break to finish embroidering the Florentine Shrug, but somehow finishing the Rose Trellis Bag seemed important; I knew I had to felt the Rose Trellis Scarf, and a Pignoli bag for my sister (check out the free pattern at Berroco.com), so it somehow made sense to get it all knitted up and have a felting party!  So, after Nathan and I came home Saturday night from a day at the Brickmania lego train club, I started felting away.

Here are the pieces of the Rose Trellis Bag pre-felting; I should have held it up to one of the dachshunds so that you could see how IMMENSE this sucker is, pre-felting:

And here are the pieces of both Trellis projects, all laid out to dry.  I used sewing pins to sort of hold the flowers in shape while they are drying. 

I am not quite sure what to do about the top of the Rose Trellis Bag.  It seems whenever I felt a bag, the top rim comes out all ruffly.  I even tried to hand-felt it tighter in the sink with soap and hot and then cold water, and it shrunk together a bit, but not enough.  I'm thinking I might try to run a thread around it and synch it up, and then try to felt it some more.  I know Nicky is visiting relatives in West Virginia for the holiday, but I'll check in with her, too, to see if she has any advice.

And here is my sister's Pignoli bag:

See - the top is a bit ruffly!  I'm hoping it won't matter for this pattern, as you synch it up along the top edge with cording.  The other unusual thing is that it is knitted in alternating bands of stockinette and reverse stockinette, but somehow these are almost completely invisible after the felting, although you can see them still on the one on the Berroco website (sigh - I hope my sister isn't disappointed...).  Now I'll just have to wait for it all to dry, and then I can do some assembling.

On Other Projects...

It occurs to me that I had better get cracking on the 2012 Special Olympic Scarves - the deadline is coming after the start of the new year.  But in the meantime, I've been working on the Damascus Dream Dress.  Here is the skirt portion. 

In order to figure out if I have enough cotton yarn to lengthen this portion, I had to get started on the woven neckline/bodice portion:

 

If I can get each side of the neck done with just about a ball or so, I should have enough to add an inch to the skirt. 

Well, in what remains of this last day of break (sniff, sniff), I need to do 5 loads of laundry, pay bills, and do a little cleaning.  Oh, and get going on embroidering that Florentine Shrug... (guess which of these will actually get done today!  Hint-- it will be the one involving yarn!)

XOXOXO, Mary

 

 

Comments

[Linda]

Happy Thanksgiving!

I can't wait to see the floral trellis pieces all assembled. For the ruffled edging on your floral trellis bag, maybe you can work covered floral wire through the top edge to keep it straight? It comes in green, so it can be concealed in the edge.
The embroidery on the Florentine Shrug is just so beautiful. I can't wait to see that all finished, too. :)

[Barb]

I'm assuming the knitting won out over laundry, bills & dusting? Those pesky chores do get in the way of fun, dont' they? I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving - you more than earned your place with all the work you and your son did helping with the Thanksgiving dinners. Is that your Uncle Jack that you knitted the 'turkey leg' hat (& didn't it disappear?)? He looks like a sweet, wonderful, fun man.

I can hardly wait to see the finished trellis pieces, too! They look beautiful just waiting to dry. Felting is so interesting - sort of like alchemy to me!! I think there must be some magic involved.

Thanks for the updates!!

[danielle]

I am enjoying looking at all your projects, but just wanted to let you know if you wanted to try the Pignoli bag again - you can always make one for me! LOL
To me the best thing about turkey is - leftovers! Hot and cold sandwiches! So much better thanon turkey day!!!!

[Cynthia]

Wow! What a wonderful Thanksgiving! Hooray for holidays and all the Jacks in our lives! Your knitting is so awesome! I love all the felted roses and bags! I had the same trouble with the top of the bag being wavy on the last bag I made. But I managed to get it to be a cool bag anyway! I would pick knitting over laundry any day! I hope you are well and happy!