A Curious Statistical Anomaly

I seem to be in a nesting mood lately. Maybe it’s because Christmas is this month and that brings to mind hearth and home, family, and love. Today I made bread and soup for supper.

I also worked on the baby sweater for a friend’s impending family member. I’d gotten a copy of 101 Luxury One-Skein Wonders. It seemed like a good way to use up some yarn that I bought just because I loved the feel of it. Most of the time these single skeins are not enough for anything big but they felt so wonderful to the touch that I succumbed to purchasing the one skein that I could afford. The problem is those single skeins just go into protective baggies and sit until I go through my stash and take the time to touch and pet them all over again. It’s not like you can put a wonderful skein of yarn on display under glass and have visitors not think your just a few degrees off plumb — so they sit in the stash unseen and unappreciated except my me.

101 Luxury One-Skein Wonders seemed like a good way to actually use some of these yarns, turning them into useful items to be worn and and displayed in more socially acceptable manners. However there are some limitations to the book.

There are a few shawls but mostly the projects are ones that can be made using the yardage in one skein. Of course that yardage changes depending on the yarn weight: lace weight 217 – 1662 yards; superfine weight 164 – 875 yards, fine weight 55 – 315 yards; light weight 54560 yards; medium weight 77 – 650 yards; bulky weight 65 – 478 yards.

The book is set up with the photos in the front. A couple of the photos are of the same item with different weight yarns. All the photos are in color and clearly show the product, but you only have the single view. So, you can’t see what the back of the item looks like or what it would look like open or displayed differently.

Next the patterns are listed by yarn weight with a notation as to what page to find the photo on. None of the patterns have a schematic of the item (this isn’t important except for sweaters, usually baby sizes). Directions list Size/Measurements, Yarn requirements, Needles needed, Gauge, and any other supplies you might need. Stitch patterns are usually text though there are some charts. (I wish everything had charts as well as text but then I’ve gotten fairly good at turning text to charts on my own.) The instructions seem clear for the patterns that I read through. I started the Baby Bamboo-Merino Sweater and so far the instructions are clear and easy to follow.

The book also has an Appendix with a list of all the designers with a short bio for each one; sizing guidelines that would be extremely useful for any knitter; a list of the abbreviations used in the book, a Guide to Yarn Weights, a Glossary with illustrations for some of the words/techniques, and an Index of patterns.

The sweater that I started is made from Naturally Country (75% Microdenier Acrylic 25% Merino Wool, 3 Ounces/85 Grams, 185 Yards/170 Meters, Color: Sunshine). I loved the feel of it in the store. It’s washable and dry-able, so good for a baby and very, very soft. The only problem I’ve had is that it splits fairly easily at least with my needles (sharp points). I did have two skeins so I could leave the body on the circulars and knit the sleeves separately. But I, just this afternoon, finished the body and now just have to do the crochet all along the edge. So, I think two skeins are needed for this but then the pattern said it needed 265 yards anyway so that looks about right.

I can’t seem to find my crochet hooks so I’ll probably do a big search tomorrow and post a picture when I’m done.

But, it looks like the book is a keeper and will be useful for some of those other single skeins that I have.

It’s now December. That means Christmas is just on the horizon (23 days from today — yikes). I’ve got my December cup. Isn’t it beau-ti-ful? I saw it in October and fell in love with it. To me it screams December/Christmas with a bit of Dr. Seuss thrown in for giggles. So, hopefully this cup will see me through all the stress and strain of the holiday season.

I love Christmas with all my heart. Not the commercialism of Christmas but the spirit. The love that just seems to come out at Christmas time. Though after the stampedes on Black Friday and the resultant deaths — its seems that the spirit of Christmas has been lost in the greed of Christmas. Maybe the reading of A Christmas Carol should be mandatory for everyone during this month.

I love that story and the movies made of it. I think I own at least four variations on the story. Believe it or not, The Muppet Christmas Carol is actually the closest to the book.

I’ve heard too many parents who are convinced that the only way to show love to their children is to spend, spend, spend. Too many children equate how many gifts they get (and how much they cost) with how much their parents love them. And everyone is trying to keep up appearances with some mythical family named Jones.

Love can’t be measured in money and things. It springs from the heart and is best measured in time — time spent listening, time spent together. Gifts are fine but they don’t replace or represent love. A gift is a thing, a possession that will in time break down, fall apart, stop working, or be outgrown. Love only grows stronger as time goes by (probably why it makes such a nice song title).

Our Christmases have always been sparse on gifts. At first because I was a single parent working two full-time and one part-time job while going to school. Luckily most of my jobs were late evening and night, so I could spend some daytime with my son. But Christmas was a time to open our gift (that’s not a misprint — gift, singular) have a good meal, watch Christmas movies, play games, cuddle up with hot chocolate and have me read to him. As time passed things changed, but Christmas has always been a time to spend with family — visiting, talking, laughing, just being together.

So, in these economic hard times, think about purging your Christmas gift list. Keep it to immediate family. If necessary eliminate the adults or draw a name out of a hat for the adults, and buy for the children. Set a monetary limit you can afford and stick to it. Have a contest to see who can make the best gift from found items or under a certain amount.

Decide if traveling over hill-and-dale is worth it. Is it now time to start your own Christmas traditions in your own home and phone/ICU/IM family to wish them happy holidays? We stopped the holiday visits to those outside the nuclear family when we moved out of state and found they still expected us to come to them. Now we have our own traditions of Christmas. We cuddle up and watch Christmas movies while dinner cooks or admire the tree and spend time being together. Of course, Christmas is now just the two of us (son stays in Rhode Island for that holiday).

The trick, especially now, is forget what you’ve done before. Don’t spend more than you can afford — and that means limit severely the use of credit cards. Try to think of interesting ways to make the holidays fun for the family that don’t cost a lot of money. Visit some of the free events in the area — here we have many Festival of Lights places that take donations per carload. Some places are free. Many museums have Christmas displays — take the family. Maybe a local theater is having a production of A Christmas Carol. Talk with your children about the changes you want to make and ask for their help and suggestions — you may be surprised by their response (positively surprised). Children are more aware of what’s happening around them than most people give them credit for and if you ask for their input, they just may be willing to understand and help.

Anyway, the object is to have a very Merry Holiday without going into debt or being trampled in a stampede, or worrying about that mythical Jones family — while many people may have the same last name, I don’t think they exist.

Once more, I made it through the beginning of the month rush to get the zines up and live on the first. Stayed up very, very, very late last night to get the last reviews in. My fault being late and rushed since I hadn’t figured in just how behind having a holiday in the month was going to put me at the end of the month.

Normally, it’s not a problem having a holiday during the month but this time we had company visiting. I like to talk and spend time with people visiting so…less time reading and writing — but, on the plus side, more time knitting and doing handcrafts while talking.

Anyway, if you’re interested, visit SFRevu.com for science fiction and fantasy reviews. If you’re more of a mystery reader check-out Gumshoe Review. If the latest in technology is more your thing visit TechRevu.