vestiges of a very good year

A Kiwi Santa finishing up the last minute preparations for a very English Christmas dinner in the sun.

all visitors great and small were catered for.

Please don't scroll down if swear words offend you

my eldest bought me a very apt gift - just in case anyone around here forgets!

It has been a year of changes, for good and bad, a year of consolidation and building on the growth of the past, now is a small time for reflection and then a New Year and new growth to plan for, we have a lot of work to do on our home - initially maintainence, repairs and decorating - then hopefully some renovation and re-building.

Personally - I have re-joined the gym, and my body has welcomed the old routines,I have taken great pains to ensure I attend hairdressers and manicure appointments, I'm not getting younger and I have no plans for plastic surgery or botox in my future - so I'm starting to work harder at taking care of what I have - in a way I'm being renovated too!

Just Jussi has changed too due in great part to Ravelry, I have met wonderful new friends and learnt so much about why people like my designs - the comments and messages have often overwhlmed me with their kindness, changes are still in store - I see an interesting journey in front of the knitting me this year.

The children continue to delight and confound us - babies and kids are relatively uncomplicated creatures, teenagers are another lifeform and then you realise that your children are now adults, as flawed and beautiful, damaged and dazzling as any other human, you realise that your protective instincts were stifling, and your decison (against your better judgement) to allow your 15 year old daughter to leap from a sailing ship into icy cold water, to trust her body to rise to the surface and breathe godammit! was a seminal moment in her life - the moment she really understood that she could.do.anything.

I hope that you to had a Merry Christmas and that the New Year brings you joy

Holding it together

so, a while ago I thought it may be a good idea to seperate the blog I used while we were in OZ and the "corporate" justjussi.com blog - and as blogging seemed to take a lot of time, I made the decision to remove the family and personal stuff (mostly...) and concentrate on the knitting.

Life's not like that.

Justjussi.com is not a corporate...it's just me, and some family members who help out when things get busy, I realised that what makes it special is the fact that it is small, handcrafted and personal, that removing the day to day minutiae of my life actually devalues the process I go through in creating my designs, the do-overs, the cat running off with the Habu (only the silk - he likes the smell) the neglected husband eating beans on toast again because I completely forgot dinner.

I have tried to keep my blog tidy and elegant, worked at paring away the unnecessary - but seriously, it lacks soul! The reality is that Flash has moved his office out of my studio - but has replaced it with a 56 inch tv and all the associated techy stuff, 2 armchairs and a wine fridge, the cat is busily stalking my ribbon collection and I have 10 different piles carefully arranged on my desk and table awaiting my attention - I wish they would disappear as quickly as the contents of the Green and Blacks sampler sitting beside me.

If you knew that the reason I haven't finished my Christmas knitting, or the sweet cabled sweater I have been working on for probably months now was that I haven't be able to sit quietly for weeks now without sad thoughts enfolding me - that frantic busy-ness has been my saviour, and that now that the shock is subsiding I am once again able to pick up my needles and feel the calmness, the smooth yarn flowing through my fingers, the soft scrape of bamboo needles, the peace that comes from repetition.

If you knew why I had missed magazine deadlines and begged off requests for designs, stayed home from Knit Rangers and had taken up gardening like a fanatic.

If you knew that my family has been torn asunder, that my Mother is - as I told friends on Sunday - broken-hearted, a phrase I have now examined and will never again use lightly.

Then you would know that my sister, my Mother's only other child, has taken my neice and nephew to live in England, on a whim with no rhyme nor reason, or with reasons known only to herself. My sister suffering from an emotional malady we can only guess at, has sold everything and moved across the world, away from a loving supportive family - keen to offer Nanny's, cleaners, daycare - whatever she needed, and into uncertainty at best.

and you would know that now I have said it, that I am mostly back, that the blog is more than the business and the knitting is more than a hobby.

Christmas shopping

I've had a great week, indulging in one of my greatest passions - clothes shopping (though you wouldn't know it to look at me!) my favourite collection had their 6 monthly sale on the weekend, and I "saved" a fortune. Flash enjoys shopping for me just as much as I do, so there was no sneaking the bags into the wardrobe. My favourites would be the Jailbird dress and a skirt from their winter collection - painted silk with witty details and a fascinating construction. I think I am well and truly set (for another 6 months)

I've also been buying the Christmas presents for our girls, they are all earning their own money now - so I've told them I'm not buying clothes, dvds etc, just meaningful, handmade jewellery or art ( as meaningful and handmade as you can get for a reasonable price - remember there are 5 of them!) , they have come back to me with some beautiful pieces: jewelsvine is in New Zealand and has some funky, cute jewellery, strausilver not in NZ - but irresistable all the same, and I'mm thinking about these little vases for my Mum.

Have you found some special gifts this year? tell me, I'd love more ideas and I have to find something for myself ...I did find a handmade ceramic vase at the Lopdell gallery up in Titirangi, but Flash said "no" the cat will break it...he has threatened to buy me a Wii...noooooooo!

Oh and I almost forgot - for the man himself..."ties that don't suck" I have had to restrain myself from giving them to him early- they are that cool!

and no Blaise - you are not getting a puppy.

memories of autumn

Possum/merino blend in russet and Habu wool/stainless steel in deep avocado green

Machine-knit basket stitch with stocking stitch ends
Soft and squishy, yielding and malleable, sculptural and wrappable.

Socks knitted on 2 circulars, with afterthought heels
cushy, soft possum/merino striped scarves for conservative men
a fairytale hood for a faraway child

Christmas gift knitting, thinking warm thoughts in summer