Butchery ongoing at my place

I have to make this quick.

We cut the cable cord over here a few weeks ago, since all we watch is online news and Netflix, and now I have to go over to my sister-in-laws tonight to watch Downton Abbey.

I enjoyed Christmas. I always do. That's just me.

I know that there are a lot of folks out there who don't feel like this. Some people associate this time of year with terrible memories and of course I get this.

Every time I read of someone who bought it on the roads this time of year I always think great, now that whole family is going to have to think about this every Christmas. My own dear friend lost her dad on Christmas Eve and her husband on New Year's Eve and needless to say the holidays for her were just something to last through. Who wouldn't understand that?

However without that to think of for some reason, despite all the intensity of emotion that Christmas always brings out in families, I always enjoy myself. I had fun the Christmas everyone vomited, for instance, I have found times to enjoy in all crises that coincided with the holiday, in sickness and in health, in things coming apart and that person who gets glum, I don't know, I always have a good time.

Think it's maybe the bright lights.

I like those.

My made with loving hands got mixed reviews this year. Miss Scarlett loved the doll clothes and her less diplomatic four year old sister said "well I like them but not that much."

Fair enough, it was a good quote anyway.

My sweater for my middle son, the one he requested, was not one of my greatest hits. Sometimes I find it hard to transition from sewer to knitter. 

For example there was a four inch jump in the sizing and my kid ran between the two so, knowing he had slim hips but strong shoulders, I came up with the idea of going down a size in the hips and up to the next size in the shoulders. (He has a 42 inch chest so I did 40 hips and 44 chest).

What resulted was a sweater that looked so V shaped on that he did a muscle man imitation in it, my husband asked "Is this supposed to be a Superman suit?" and my son-in-law who I otherwise really like laughed so hard he fell off the couch. I was actually planning on gifting this particular SIL with a sweater for his birthday but now may do that next year instead. Or the year after that.

At any rate I had to reclaim the sweater for a major fix up. 

Now a good knitter would have unravelled it and started again but I am a risk taker and also a sewer so I looked at this differently. Seeing the sweater as fabric I knew exactly what kind of alteration it needed I figured (ignoring the fact that I have already demonstrated faulty judgment so far on this project) so instead of unraveling, I zig zagged the lines where I needed to take it in, cut right through my knitting (I sort of remember this idea for making steeks in the Craftsy course I obviously dropped out of) restitched (small zig zag, think sweater knit, in this case literally) and then inexpertly picked up new stitches around the armhole for more normal looking sleeves.

I am pretty sure all this proves is that I am an experienced sewer and probably never going to be a great knitter.

And if you don't believe me here are the pictures:

Now off I go to see if the Mr. and Mrs. Bates can avoid criminal charges for at least five minutes, if Lady Mary will ever figure out that Tom Branson really is the obvious choice for next husband, and if poor Edith can pull herself together long enough to understand that if she stops expecting the world to abuse her it might do that.

Wish me luck.