Tag: valentinesday

Knitting

Red Gems

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small handknit red blanket on a blue tweed chair

Just in time for Valentine’s Day!  Although these diamonds are not of the shimmery carbon variety but a well-planned placement of textured knit and purl stitches that create the illusion of repeating geometric shapes.  The designer offered three graduated sizes: baby blanket, lapghan, and full-sized afghan.  My version of the Little Gem Blanket is baby-sized, 32-inches square; just right to provide a bit of warmth on a sedentary evening of streaming videos. 

What we designate as our TV room can be chilly on a frigid winter evening depending on wind direction.  This room has only had cosmetic improvements – new windows and the refinishing of the original maple flooring.  We have no idea as to the energy efficiency of the insulation.  Slumped vermiculite? Or, it may even be the stitched newspaper–tarpaper variety we discovered when we remodeled the 1940s bump-out bathroom addition.  Hence the need for wool warmth.

This small blanket project also channeled the best ideals of stash management.  The 650-yards of superwash wool were remnant skeins remaining after the completion of the 2022 Vivi workshop sweater. That pattern was designed in the style of boxy Danish “night” sweaters which, coincidently, displayed an elegant collection of cabled diamonds.

Writing

A Valentine Twist

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white and blue stamped and sealed envelopes framed by pick roses

The simple Christmas letter. A theme for stand-up comics and it has probably been the subject of an SNL skit or two. It is received with excitement as the chance to catch up but may elicit unintentional groans as it is withdrawn from the envelope, depending upon the letter’s length.

Certainly not of sociological merit to warrant research, but what do we know of its demise? Is it simply the victim of postage rate increases? Or, no longer needed in these TikTok days? A quick comparison of two of my personal lists – the 80-plus addresses comprising the mailing labels in the top drawer of my desk and my social media “friends” (air quotes appropriate) reveals few crossovers.

As I reported earlier, I am not inclined to make New Year’s resolutions but as 2023 slipped into a new January, I promised to try (emphasis on “to try”) and write more in the days ahead. I intended these written expressions to take the form of blog posts but I am now inclined to expand my medium from electronic page to printed paper. What unwritten rule prescribes that the holiday letter must be Yuletide greetings? Better timing might be a Fourth of July letter, a mid-summer missive, amid sparklers, s’mores or, as Nat King Cole croons “…[during] those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer; [to] dust off the sun and moon and sing a song [that is a letter] of cheer.” Or a crazy concoction of Christmas letter and sweet childhood valentines. Cannot you just hear James Bond sophisticated confidence: “Shaken not stirred” so as not to disturb the delicate lacy heart shaped edges?

This oddly timed February letter would be written while still in winter’s hibernating time – before pruning blueberry bushes; before green garlic shoots force themselves through the composting leaves; before lilac bouquets – all while endeavoring to blend holiday greetings and catch-up letter. And, if I start drafting such a composition now, I would still be just days from the previous year so that events of 2023 would not be old news and, paired with plans for the coming months, could update family and friends scattered across two continents. A letter composed in mid-winter stillness rather than frenzied holiday preparations; a greeting without chocolates, without perfume (I am seeing the Versace Eros fragrance commercial in my mind) and without complicating the florist’s second busiest day of the year.

Halfway through January, nearly two-dozen days from New Year’s Eve, I may have landed on an additional resolution – one that is easy to accomplish by mixing time, HP printer ink, and Forever stamps in a cocktail shaker of Valentine’s Day greetings.

Photo credit:  Nur Yilmaz from Prexels

Baking

Sweet Treats

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12 round and heart shaped cookies decorated with pink, red and white frosting on a clear glass plate

Every year, as we start February, a not-so-subtle shift in television advertising occurs.  The increase in ads for diamond studs and men’s fragrances (think Versace’s Roman archer on a pedestal) are aired with the intent to convince the viewer these objects will demonstrate love.

Since our household fits none of the standard marketing demographics, we never succumb – no champagne to tickle the nose or heart-shaped necklaces to store in the dresser drawer.  With a nod to the Victorian card-giving traditions, we may exchange cards although these have been given and then re-given many years over. 

Except, this year will be different.  With a nod to my friend Kim R. for offering cookie decorating classes at the recent church fundraising auction, Richard and I will enjoy an artfully decorated selection of Raspberry Sugar Cookies and Brownie Rolled Cookies.  While I will certainly not be going into the cookie decorating business, I am pleased with my first attempts at decorating these sweet concoctions.