The Big Reveal

The big reveal was the big event of Christmas morning. Today I gave my family members the scarves I knitted for them, and it went as well as could be expected. There was no mocking laughter or stunned silence, just a simple offering of thanks.

My mom and sister-in-law were the most impressed and most vocal in expressing their appreciation for my work. The brother who provided the wavelength frequencies for his favorite color was okay with the color of his scarf, even if it probably didn't fall within the range he gave me. My brothers, dad, and great aunt seemed happy with their scarves, which is about as much of a reaction as I can anticipate from this bunch. Asking for a degree of satisfaction is likely to garner a measured response.

It's funny when everyone is together and you start to understand why you are the way you are. From these last couple days I can see why I tend to be a worrier, although it's something I've been trying to work on this year, and why I have a sarcastic streak. With eight people crammed into this tiny house, it can be a bit much, which shouldn't be taken to mean that I don't love my family but rather that it can be tiring to be around them all day for a few days. I trust that this is how it is with most families.

My mom wanted to know why I learned to knit in the first place. I told her that I thought it would make for a nice surprise if I made something for everyone and that Kristin had spoken highly of knitting's ability to relax the knitter. Of course, whenever I mention a woman's name, it follows without fail that the questions "is she single" (no) and "does she have any friends" (yes, although obviously there's more implied than curiosity about her social popularity) will be slung at me. I understand why she asks, but it's the burden of the single person to face these questions when the inquirer acts as if finding a girlfriend/wife is as simple as selecting one off the shelf at the grocery store. (I'm not missing that aisle, am I?)

My mom was pleased with what I made for her, but God bless my sister-in-law for her enthusiasm for what I'd done. She had the most complimentary things to say. Better yet, she paid me the ultimate compliment by wearing the scarf in the slightly cool house. Having made something to be worn, I felt very good to see her wearing it. I felt the same way when Kristin wore her scarf to an evening screening last week.

I wasn't the only sibling to make something to give others, although my presents were intended to be used as is. My youngest brother, the one who usually says very little, encased his gifts to my other two brothers in blocks of wood glued and nailed together. Getting to the actual gifts was quite labor intensive. I got off easy, having mine--a Chinese cleaver, for who knows what reason--wrapped in aluminum foil and paper that was duct taped. And yes, this was in addition to the gift wrap. I'll admit that it was funny, but it took a fair amount of work for my brothers to get those gifts opened.

Since my knitting was no longer a secret from my family, I was free to knit as much as I wanted. You better believe I took advantage of it. I finished the first two balls of worsted weight yarn I'm double wrapping and made decent progress on the next two. I'd like to think I'll finish tomorrow, but I know that packing for my parents' move looms.

My aunt and uncle came over for awhile. If I had known they would be here, I would have knitted scarves for them too. For my aunt, seeing me knitting may have been enough. I didn't know that she knitted, but she had brought hers along. We sat on the couch and knitted while my mom and dad prepared lunch. I could tell that she was tickled that I knew how to knit. I think she said that my uncle knitted was when he was a boy. I confirmed with her and my mom that my maternal grandmother was a knitter. I guess it runs in the family a little.

So Christmas has come and almost gone, and I have to give some credit for the day's success to knitting. As stressful as the run up to the holiday has been, knitting helped ease the tension and gave me a big reason to look forward to the day. The products of my knitting seemed to make others happy. I think that just about says it all.

Next...depends on how much time I spend getting my parents ready to move.