Cute Crocheted Coasters

Crochet is my new thing lately.

12 years ago or so, my dear Mother-in-Law started to crochet some baby blankets for my twin boys who were on the way at the time.  She taught me how, but I was very clumsy at it and soon put it away.  Then, my dear Sister-in-Law sent me some hand crocheted stockings for Christmas for all three of my kids that to this day we still use.  My kids know that they were made for them and it makes them so much for special knowing that they were handmade...both the blankets and the stockings.  And they're beautiful.

So, I picked my crochet back up and determinedly kept practicing until I could do it a little more smoothly.  All my projects have been afghans...with big stitches and patterns that went pretty fast and basic.  I'll show pictures of those another time.  Finally, I was ready for something not so basic.  But I didn't know what.  That is until my dear Mother came to visit for New Year's Eve.

We were visiting around the coffee table with iced drinks when my mother asked for a coaster.  Always so practical and proper, that Mother of mine.  I was embarrassed that I didn't have any.  Especially since we were gathered around a beautiful wooden coffee table that she had given us.  I was mostly embarrassed, not that I didn't have any, but because I had never thought of getting any to protect her beautiful coffee table.

So, the next day, I found a pattern online:  this pattern, but when I got to the craft store, I was disappointed to find out that the size yarn they called for was not available, nor the size hook...I guess they are exclusive to that particular company.  So, I had to improvise.  Using my inexperience as my guide, I went ahead and got the crochet thread that was available...just the typical 100% mercerized cotton...which is smaller than that called for by about half...and I made up for it with a little larger hook (2.75mm) to get them to be an acceptable size.  Here's the result:

Not bad at all!  I was pleasently suprised.  Of course I had to look up on You Tube what the heck a magic loop was.  The coasters turned out thin and lacey...which isn't a bad thing... but I was concerned that I wanted something a little more substantial.  So, as I do with my afghans that I've made, I used two strands of string together...and ended up with this:

Beautiful!  I was very pleased!  Here they are side by side so you can see the difference:

Same hook size, just worked one strand of thread on the left, and two strands on the right.  Both are very pretty!  I think anyway.  So thanks Mom!  I have pretty new coasters now...and I sent some to you too. :)

Christmas from a Carol (a little late)



Advent Wreath

I know...Christmas was over like 3 weeks ago.  Well, I'm posting this anyway...just because I want to.  Actually, I need to.  I feel proud of the Christmas we had.  It wasn't the easiest...or the grandest...or the most present-filled, generously gifted Christmas--by no means.  In fact, we found ourselves extremely short of money this year.  So much that on some days preceeding it, I wondered how we were going to get presents under the tree at all.  In fact, this year everything was going wrong.  My pre-lit Christmas tree was no longer lighting...every bulb save about 15 or 20 was out; my Christmas music was stuck on a laptop which had a distroyed screen and I couldn't retrieve it or pay anyone to do it for me;  I lost my favorite Christmas Cookie Cookbook; and my small tree that we received as a gift, which we use as a sort of advent calendar, was broken.  I had no money to remedy any of these things, and my Christmas Spirit was waning.

What did it matter anyway?  I had to work both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  It was hopeless.

One day, I was watching the Martha Stewart Show, and she had as guests, a mens accapella choir singing traditional Christmas carols.  It was all quite festive with sparkling Christmas sweaters and trees on the set, allaborately decorated.  Everyone bubbling over with appropriate cheer.  Right in the middle of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" I spilled over into a grovelling tear fest.  I am ashamed.

I sat down and tried to figure out why in heaven's name was I crying?  What I came up with was that Christmas, to me, is a time when...well.... all is calm, all is bright.  And I wasn't feeling calm and bright.  I was feeling anxious and gloomy.

My husband always complains when I start playing Christmas music, sometimes as early as November 1st.  To him, Christmas is a time of stress and hassle.  To me, it's always been the most...well...wonderful time of the year.  My memories of Christmas were always some of the best memories I had as a child...and even coming home from college.  It was a time where everyone came away from their stressful lives and just stopped and we all had a chance to just be happy...and Christmas made everything OK...and even magical. My parents always made it feel that way.  If ever they were stressed because of Christmas, it was not shown to us in any light.  And I'm really grateful for that. 

And they taught us what we were celebrating...above all...the reason we did these things was because this was the time to celebrate the birth of our Lord.  And that was made very clear.

So, there I was, crying, listening to that choir end that carol and start to sing, "Here We Go A Wassailing" and came to this realization:  everything I went over in my mind of what Christmas meant to me...what feelings I remembered from growing up... none of them had anything to do with presents.  It was family, tradition, love, and...Jesus.  I was emphasizing the wrong things.  And my kids knew that too.

That day, I went to my cupboards and pulled out some old candles, took my wreath off my door, and put together a make-shift Advent Wreath.  I placed it on the very first surface one see's when entering our home, and that evening my kids and I sat down and they learned what it was.

Basically, if you don't already know (but a lot of Christians don't), its a wreath with 5 candles...four in a circle and one in the middle.  Often the circle includes 3 purple candles that represent Christ's royalty, and one pink candle that represents the celebration of his coming.  One candle is lit each week starting four weeks before Christmas with the pink on the last week.  On Christmas day the middle white candle is lit to signify that Christ has come.  Celebrate! (Click on the link below the picture of the Advent Wreath above to read a really good explanation of what Advent means.)

So with my mind re-directed, my husband supporting me, and my kids just being their sweet selves, we had Christmas.  I came home after working all night on Christmas morning and as soon as I walked in the house we started festivities.  The Christmas story was read and the Christ candle was lit.  And what do you know!  God provided money for some presents for the kids.  Here we are around the dimly-lit tree and the Advent Wreath.

Our bibles are open on the coffee table in the pic on the left and the advent wreath is in the corner in the pic on the right.  (Please excuse the very unbecoming picture of my dog.) Wait!  Hold up!  Is that?.....

Why yes it is! There's my boys touching each other in an actual "brotherly" way!  Rare.  Usually they're wrestling, pushing, or pinging the other in the face with a football.  Humph! 

So, we opened the presents...

 

That bottom right picture...that's the Cookie Monster hat my son has been asking for for two years now.  I never could bring myself to buy it but...he's so happy...never takes it off.  (I'm shaking my head in surrender.)



Then my dear husband made breakfast for us.  Yes!  I did say my HUSBAND MADE BREAKFAST on Christmas morning.  Set the table and all.  He even put little apple slices on the rims of our glasses filled with sparkleing apple juice.  That man is so sweet.  Then he sent me to bed and cleaned up all by himself too.  That's the kind of man he is.

When I got up, he had the table set again and served a very elegant ham and potato Christmas dinner before I had to leave for work.  Very impressive.  He even had pie and ice cream. 

Since I worked Christmas, but had New Years off, my parents came down on New Years Eve.



We had a great time with Grandpa and Grandma.  Grandpa even took my dog on a nice winter walk while Grandma played board games with the kids.  And we talked...

And talked....





And had coffee and my husband talked some more!  Just kidding dear husband!  Love to hear you talk!  In fact that was one of the things that first made me fall in love with you.

And I am humbled, and tired...and have learned that God teaches us at the time when we are ready to learn...sometimes that means we have to go through some low places.  And then those places end up being the most special.