Christmas Cookies
Some traditions are hard to break. Some you never want broken. Christmas is a time of traditions. For me Christmas is a time of trying to find the perfect present to say, “Hey thanks. You’re great.” Another tradition is baking. I love baking. Every Christmas that I can remember I always helped or made Christmas cookies and candies. Last year was the one exception. Baking isn’t the only tradition I have at this time of year.
It’s that time of year again. It’s “the let’s make a scarf” traditional time of the year. Every winter since I went back to college I end up knitting a scarf. Before I left to go back to college the women in the deli showed me how to knit. They showed me how to cast on, knit, purl, and cast off. They did not show me how to fuck it up. I do that on my own. My scarves tend to be distorted things which amuse my friends to no end. I think my first attempt could be aptly described as wavy. And it was ugly, really ugly. For some reason it ended up being deep purple and red strips. I don’t know what I was thinking. So that was scarf one. Last year’s scarf was a nice deep red with flecks of gold. ActuallyI wish I had that one. It was nice, warm and fuzzy. I didn’t think I would be making a scarf this year, but today I picked up some grey yarn and knitting needles. The thing is when you only knit once a year and your only lessons were five years ago things get a little fuzzy. So we’ll see how this one turns out and how many times I have to unravel it. At the same time, I wonder why every year I knit one? One day I’d like to move beyond a simple scarf. Knitting is something I haven’t perfected but one day I would like to master. Why learn how to knit? I don’t know maybe it goes back to Grandma Mabel.
Grandma Mabel was my father’s mother. She would make us clothes, dolls, quilts and afghans. Some of these things were the most tacky things imaginable which is saying a lot since she was making them in the early eighties. Now they are treasured heirlooms, one quilt contains pieces of materials from Aunt Molly’s doll dresses, Josh’s teddy bear, and my quilt. Grandma Mabel made me a quilt with a floral pattern done in shades of pink. If anyone knows me, you know I don’t wear pink. I’m usually go around in black or dark neutral shades, so pink is definitely not my color. The thing is this quilt was made for me when I was a little girl. But, even after I graduated college, I was still using this pink quilt. The quilt is easily at least twenty years old and I love it. You see Grandma Mabel died when I was six. Her funeral was the first funeral I remember and it is one I will never forget. Burned into my memory is an image of Grandpa, Molly and Dad standing together, leaning on each other. I miss her. So what does this have to do with me knitting ugly scarves?
One day I fully intend to make ugly scarves for my children and grandchildren. One day I’d like to make quilts for my kids and grandkids to say, “I love you.” So, scarf by scarf I move closer to my goals. Some traditions shouldn’t be broken and terrorizing your children with tacky hand made gifts is one of them. So here’s to moving towards the future, bit by bit, memory by memory.
It’s that time of year again. It’s “the let’s make a scarf” traditional time of the year. Every winter since I went back to college I end up knitting a scarf. Before I left to go back to college the women in the deli showed me how to knit. They showed me how to cast on, knit, purl, and cast off. They did not show me how to fuck it up. I do that on my own. My scarves tend to be distorted things which amuse my friends to no end. I think my first attempt could be aptly described as wavy. And it was ugly, really ugly. For some reason it ended up being deep purple and red strips. I don’t know what I was thinking. So that was scarf one. Last year’s scarf was a nice deep red with flecks of gold. ActuallyI wish I had that one. It was nice, warm and fuzzy. I didn’t think I would be making a scarf this year, but today I picked up some grey yarn and knitting needles. The thing is when you only knit once a year and your only lessons were five years ago things get a little fuzzy. So we’ll see how this one turns out and how many times I have to unravel it. At the same time, I wonder why every year I knit one? One day I’d like to move beyond a simple scarf. Knitting is something I haven’t perfected but one day I would like to master. Why learn how to knit? I don’t know maybe it goes back to Grandma Mabel.
Grandma Mabel was my father’s mother. She would make us clothes, dolls, quilts and afghans. Some of these things were the most tacky things imaginable which is saying a lot since she was making them in the early eighties. Now they are treasured heirlooms, one quilt contains pieces of materials from Aunt Molly’s doll dresses, Josh’s teddy bear, and my quilt. Grandma Mabel made me a quilt with a floral pattern done in shades of pink. If anyone knows me, you know I don’t wear pink. I’m usually go around in black or dark neutral shades, so pink is definitely not my color. The thing is this quilt was made for me when I was a little girl. But, even after I graduated college, I was still using this pink quilt. The quilt is easily at least twenty years old and I love it. You see Grandma Mabel died when I was six. Her funeral was the first funeral I remember and it is one I will never forget. Burned into my memory is an image of Grandpa, Molly and Dad standing together, leaning on each other. I miss her. So what does this have to do with me knitting ugly scarves?
One day I fully intend to make ugly scarves for my children and grandchildren. One day I’d like to make quilts for my kids and grandkids to say, “I love you.” So, scarf by scarf I move closer to my goals. Some traditions shouldn’t be broken and terrorizing your children with tacky hand made gifts is one of them. So here’s to moving towards the future, bit by bit, memory by memory.
posted by PolskaMando | 8:56 AM
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