Christmas Wishes

Well it took me a while this year but I am FINALLY in the Christmas spirit. It's been snowing like mad here in Brussels which is unusual for Belgium but it's meant that one can't help but feeling Christmas-y.

I finished up Shazza's Birthday pressie in the nick of time and was surprisingly challenged by what I thought would be a simple triangle scarf. After fiddling with it and conferring with Rosalind at Kaleidoscope ( My local yarn stone and second home) I finally worked out the appropriate increases. I added metal beads and silky tassels at the ends

to give the scarf some weight and some elegant finishing. She seems happy with it and for that I'm glad. If anyone would like the final pattern I came up with, just let me know.

But let's get back to Christmas.

This time of year always involves more time spent at home and I've been working on a great sweater in a plum color. I love having some warm and cosy yarn in my lap as I rock out to Elvis singing "Santa Bring my Baby Back to Me" on the iPod!

This afternoon my beautiful babies and I even came up with my very own version of the famous " 12 Days of Christmas". Try to sing it while you read, k?

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me

the gift of cre-a-tiv-ity

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me

2 knitting needles and the gift of cre-a-tiv-ity

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me

3 balls of Mohair, 2 knitting needles and the gift of cre-a-tiv-ity

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me

4 pattern books, 3 balls of Mohair, 2 knitting needles and the gift of cre-a-tiv-ity

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me

5 GOLDEN SCARVES!

4 pattern books, 3 balls of Mohair, 2 knitting needles and the gift of cre-a-tiv-ity

On the Sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me

6 Chica's stitching, 5 GOLDEN SCARVES!

4 pattern books, 3 balls of Mohair , 2 knitting needles and the gift of cre-a-tiv-ity

On the Seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me

7 skeins a spinning, 6 Chica's stitching, 5 GOLDEN SCARVES!

4 pattern books, 3 balls of Mohair, 2 knitting needles and the gift of cre-a-tiv-ity

On the Eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me

8 balls unravelling, 7 skeins a spinning. 6 Chica's stitching, 5 GOLDEN SCARVES!

4 pattern books, 3 balls of Mohair, 2 knitting needles and the gift of cre-a-tiv-ity

On the Ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me

9 stitches slipping, 8 balls unravelling, 7 skeins a spinning, 6 Chica's stitching, 5 GOLDEN SCARVES!

4 pattern books, 3 balls of Mohair, 2knitting needles and the gift of cre-a-tiv-ity

On the Tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me

10 people purling, 9 stitches slipping, 8 balls unravelling, 7 skeins a spinning, 6 Chica's stitching, 5 GOLDEN SCARVES!

4 pattern books, 3 balls of Mohair, 2 knitting needles and the gift of cre-a-tiv-ity

On the Eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me

11 lacy leggings, 10 people purling, 9 stitches slipping, 8 balls unravelling, 7 skeins a spinning, 6 Chica's stitching, 5 GOLDEN SCARVES!

4 pattern books, 3 balls of Mohair, 2 knitting needles and the gift of cre-a-tiv-ity

On the Twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me

12 cabled cardies, 11 lacy leggings, 10 people purling, 9 stitches slipping, 8 balls unravelling,7 skeins a spinning, 6 Chica's stitching, 5 GOLDEN SCARVES!

4 pattern books, 3 balls of Mohair, 2 knitting needles and

THE GIFT OF CRE-A-TIV-ITY!

So there you have it. I wish you all a lovely and creative holiday season. Enjoy the time with your families and try to take a minute to reflect upon the good things that have happened to you this last year. I hope you made the most of the people around you. I was speaking to the daughter of a friend of mine who told me of an interesting conversation she had with her mother. In the conversation she compared life to knitting. She said "When you knit, you make mistakes. You leave it and you think that it'll be alright and keep going. When you finish, you lift up your work in front of you and when you see there are holes throughout your piece you can't be proud. It's just like life. When you make a mistake, don't put it in the back of your mind and just think that it's ok... Fix your mistakes...FIX YOUR HOLES"!

An interesting metaphor from one of my favorite 8 year olds! I hope that in the upcoming year, I will try to "fix" as many holes as I can so that when I look back on my "work", I'll be proud. Big Love to Lily Flynn for laying that "purl" of wisdom on me!

I see my knitting as a gift. Even if it's not a gift for someone else, it's a gift to me. I find it increasingly difficult to focus on one thing for extended periods of time but knitting is an exception. To me its an outlet for creativity but also a kind of meditation. When I knit, everything else that has been occupying my scattered mind gets pushed aside. Wait now...yes, it's coming to me..."Zen and the Art of Knitting"! Don't laugh too hard now. Think about the sense of accomplishment you get when you see what you've made. In this age of too much technology, be proud of something you make with your hands!

Enough of a sermon for ya? Blame it on the sentimental time of year but just think about it ok?

Again, Happy holidays. Now quit reading and get back to your knitting will ya!

Big Christmas Love,

G.

One Down But About Five to Go

Kindly forgive my laziness! I haven't posted in a bit. It's been busy, busy, busy in my house lately and for the last couple of nights I've been knitting under a tight deadline. My Mom was visiting and I was trying to get this sweater done for my handsome Nephew, Gus. The sweater was supposed to be a birthday present for him in, wait for it, October but on account of my knitting ADD I'd been picking it up and then picking up something else plus I managed to hit London and Istanbul for a bit, and well, you get the idea.

Why the deadline? I wanted my Mom to take the sweater home to Canada where I'm from and where my sis and my Mom still live. REALLY didn't dig the idea of mailing from here in Brussels and didn't just want to plop my hard work into an envelope if ya know what I mean. Mind you it's still got to make it's way from Toronto to Vancouver but as a Canuk I have a kind of blind faith in the Canadian Postal Service. Shhhh, don't jinx it.

So there! It's done and I hope he looks KICK ASS in it! He's a fiesty little man and I thought it was only fitting for him to have a pirate sweater. FYI I was thinking Johnny Depp more than the Jackass pirates of late. Just to clear up any confusion, as if.

But enough of showing off. I gotta keep going. There are presents to be made not to mention I've been shopping ( Moi, surely not!) and I got the most beautiful Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran in an Aubergine color. It's got some crappy yardage and will probably only knit about 10 cm per ball of the sweater I've decided to make but its SOOOO soft and I just had to give it a shot. I just HAD to.

THEN there's this beautiful la Droguerie "Soyeuse" that just came into my local yarn shop. It's the palest of pink and when Rosalind, the co-owner showed it to me I just

HAD to have it. Are ya seeing a common "thread" ( Ha, I kill me) here? Tragically, I think I HAVE to have a LOT of things.

Suffice it to say that I''m knitting up a storm. The pirate sweater for Gus was in Navy blue which was a gigantic pain in the butt only because my vision is failing me and I was dropping stitches all over the place when I tried to knit in the evenings. Gotta get my eyes checked!

Now I'm working on something in a dark purple which would normally be ok except that I just HAD to have these wicked pimped out needles in multicolored stained wood and the needles are the same color as the effing yarn!

Alright so this is not the greatest photograph and you can SO see the needles from the yarn but just trust me. It's a challenge. Things are further complicated by the fact that its actually three different yarns spun together. It's a prezzie. I have high hopes for it even if it does my head in. Awesome needles though right!

Stay tuned for further updates.

I'm supposed to be hanging with my knitting group today but things have kind of fizzled out of late. The time of year has meant that people just don't have the time to pop in to knit for a couple of hours. I'm guilty of not showing up either last week. I hope someones around this aft because I'm showing! We've had quite the cold snap here in Brussels and that's meant I've kept my outings to a minimum. When Belgium gets 5cm of snow they shut the schools! While initially this made me laugh, as someone who grew up with heaps of snow in Toronto and Montreal, I began to take it seriously when I saw how many of the Belgians drive under those conditions. A Nightmare would be the best way to describe it.

I'll leave you with this smile. Yesterday I was at my son Max's winter band concert. I had to drop him off early so the kids could get themselves sorted. This meant that I had an hour to kill so I grabbed my knitting to bring with. Was it the most social thing to do? Don't know, but I would have rather done that than just people watch plus I'm knitting in Garter stitch so I could watch WHILE I knit. A friend came up to me and said " Oh I used to knit. Yup, I did for a bit but then I realized that I was really much better at BUYING yarn than knitting! I've got ton's of it at home". In typical Gazelle fashion I started to wonder...Is that me???

Nope nope nope. Onward and this is certainly true of knitting; Upward!

So now you're all caught up! Would love to hear about and see what everyone else is knitting so let me know. I'm planning to put up the tree this weekend and before I decorate I'm going to go a little crazy with some yarn. If it doesn't look ridiculous, I'll post a pic. Happy Christmas Shopping everyone!

Peace,

G.

Just One More Hit. I Mean Row...No, I Mean Hit

Good God how did this happen?

This normally type A girl has gone and got herself a real live, true blue addiction!

I've been knitting for most of my adult life and have been really disciplined about completing one project before embarking on another...until now. All of a sudden I've got four projects on the go and I'm thinking I'm just a wee bit outta control.

On top of that, I just don't seem to be able to stop. I'll be talking to a knitting chick being all normal and stuff, you know, talking about the weather and things, and the next thing you know I'm bringing the conversation around to knitting again. It seems to be all that I want to talk about. Today I described my new yarn by saying " I just want to drape it all around me and sleep in it".

The other night, I woke up at around 4 ish and you know the first thing that popped in to my mind? Was it something important? World hunger perhaps? Was I stressed? No, I thought about the sweater I'm working on. To say that this is tragic would be an understatement. I mean really Gazelle,REALLY!

But here's the thing. It's not just me. I am NOT alone. A friend, who shall remain nameless until she outs herself by commenting, has admitted her addiction as well. She confided that when she should be joining her man at bed- timish, she stays with her knitting, wanting to finish up those last couple of rows before she has to start her decreases. In the end she goes to bed much later than normal...

Another friend who will reveal herself in her own time admitted to "fixing" her daughters knitting the other day unbeknownst to the child. Upon seeing her daughter's frustration, she told her " Oh it's fine, just leave it with me" and THEN, proceeded to undo more than several rows so that she could make her daughter happy. Superior parenting or Obsessive Compulsive Knitting Disorder? You be the judge.

Like most addicts I justify my addiction. I have knitting for when I'm waiting around in my car;a scarf. I have day-time knitting; a sweater for my nephew and I have my night-time work on account of my vision is crapping out and I can't see my day-time knitting in low light because I'm working with navy blue Alpaca. Then I have the projects that I didn't even think I wanted to knit. The yarn was just SO damn beautiful, I just HAD to have it! I'll figure out what to do with it after consulting my other addicts. Can you see the circle getting vicious already?

Is it just us? Come on, it CAN'T be just us? I promise man, I'll kick tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll get myself sorted.

Keeping it in the Family

Isn't this great? Some of our chicks with sticks have not only been busy improving THEIR knitting skills but have also been teaching their kids how to knit.

I recently had the honor of attending the very cool Birthday party of the beautiful Lily Flynn. The theme: A knitting Party! Here are a few shots of Lily and HER knitting buddies in action.

Lily's Mom made cupcakes that looked like balls of yarn and she and Her eldest daughter Bella sewed up goodie bags full of yarn and needles as well as a knitting journal. How great is that? Both her Mom and I were curious as to whether the children would be able to stay focused but they were loving it. As the evening wore on, they didn't even want to stop!

Check out Cristy and her beautiful girls! Don't Caroline and Catherine look like their are having a blast?

It warms this old girls heart to see that not only is my Motley Crew happy with their new talents but that their children want to participate. All of my buddies have younger kids so I think it's fabulous that they have passed this creative prezzie down to the young ladies in their homes! Time with my daughter, Sophia is passing so fast and she will be turning 15 next week. It seems like just yesterday I was knitting for her before she was born. I just KNOW that my Chica's are appreciating the time that they and their girls are now enjoying together. I feel as though we need to snatch whatever Mummy and Daughter moments we can with our girls before the next chapter in their lives begin.

Happiness is: KNITTING WITH OUR DAUGHTERS!!!

Cheating on my Girlfriend

Yes Chica's today I was unfaithful to my knitting!

The knitting girlz and I decided to take a sewing workshop at our favorite yarn shop in Brussels. Is that considered cheating? I mean my yarn is still my one and only but I just wanted to give something else a go. Perhaps I can get them both to meet? It could be the start of an exciting threesome... Mind out of the gutters now! I meant that perhaps I could trim my knitting with fabric. Did my knitting force me into the arms of another project? Perhaps I'm just trying to justify my infidelity? Go ahead and judge away. I had a blast today and after all, variety is the spice of life non?

Holla back!

Snoods to the Left of me, Snoods to the Right...

All hail the SNOOD!

Is it just me or does the word snood sound like some sort of creature from a Dr Seuss book?

Anyhoo all the cool fashionista types are wearing them and guess what? They are SO easy to make. Cristy is just starting her first one and Shazza is working on her second. C and Shazza's girls are also busily sorting out their own. Shaz is definitely leading the trend and is working on one for a bud. Thus far we've been working off of a pattern that our yarn shop lady recommended to us. Just cast on a whole shwack of stitches and work up until you feel like you've had enough. Easy peasy right. Now if I can just get Shaz and Cristy to model theirs, I'll post a pic.

FYI the prune colored snood is from Burberry, the Burgundy one is from is from The North Circular and the grey one is called "Snood Dogg" and is from one of my all time fav wool sites; Wool and the Gang.
Have I made one yet? Yes but I hate the one I made plus I'm kind of a traditional scarf girl. I gotta admit that I'm starting to cave though. The only thing keeping me from zipping over to the yarn shop tout suite is the fact that I bought yarn for two different projects just YESTERDAY. Good God what is wrong with me...Gentle with your responses svp.

Here is Sharon's first completed creation modeled by the much sought after model, Lynn. Disclaimer: Lynn is NOT a knitter and she is quickly becoming weary of my knitting banter. I believe she often thinks we should just shut the Fuck up about it all. Big love to Lynn for her infinite patience and support as we continue to piss her off and knit instead of working out.

Mucho Lovo,

G.

If You Knit it, They Will Come

I just cannot get my head around it and I am truly thrilled!

For years I've been knitting quietly on my own suffering the "slings and arrows", aka catty comments, of women who have come in and out of my life and have laughed at me for it...Until now.

I've been living as an Expat House Frau in Brussels, Belgium for almost three years ( which is a pretty good gig if you can get it) and recently I've had the great pleasure of meeting a group of women who I am fortunate to call my friends. I love good food, THEY love good food. I love wine THEY love wine. I love a Limoncello after a girlie lunch, THEY love a Limoncello after a girlie lunch. And they'll EVEN drink mine for me when I can't finish. Now is that friendship or what? I mean what more could I ask for right?

But wait, on top of all the mischief we've been making over the last couple of months, they have all, and many of them with great speed, become knitters. I mean really, to say that I have died and gone to gal pal heaven would be an understatement!

At first I thought it was a joke. I thought it would be a fleeting thing which they would get bored of in a couple of weeks. I tried to stay cool and reserved about my enthusiasm but when they got psyched about it, how the Hell was I supposed to contain myself?

The result is nothing short of amazing. We meet once a week to knit and chat and we meet at each others homes to help each other and create. We even meet at yarn shops around the city because I think we are becomming addicted! Some of us are just getting started while others have taken the yarn and run with it. Stay tuned for some fabulous photographs of our creations.

This Blog will hopefully be a hilarious and engaging account of my experiences with them and our "Misadventures in Yarn"!.