It just got real

Yup, even on a Sunday, here I am, posting so I don’t fall behind on Luis and Gifts.  I took a little break from freaking out about yarn and how I somehow don’t have any of it that I need this morning (how is that possible? Can you tell me how you can have a stash like this and it can’t have what I need in it? HOW I ASK YOU. HOW?) to go with Luis and his mum and dad to welcome Santa to town.  Luis did great this year – impressive, since the queue of children before him all sobbed helplessly when plunked on the big man’s lap, but Luis told him nicely how old he was (he held up two fingers, which is slightly less effective than words when wearing mittens, but such are the trials of a Canadian toddler) and when asked what he wanted for Christmas, said “A train and a truck please.” (Noted: Luis, who swaps back and forth between Spanish and English depending on his audience, correctly pegged this Santa for an English speaker.)

luisypapanoel 2014-12-07

I’m glad I took the time to go with them. It’s easy to get bogged down in knitting (oh man am I in trouble) and wrapping (I wrapped four things, so that’s something) and cleaning (I give up)  and forget to do all the things that make the season so much fun. (My favourite thing about that picture by the way, is not Luis’ shining face, it’s the fact that one of Santa’s eyebrows has come loose of it’s moorings. Fantastic.) So, since today is officially a “get it going on” day, rather than a blogging day, let’s do this thing, shall we?

What’s Luis hanging today?

The young master decided this morning to hang the acorn.  La bellota. (If I’m learning Spanish, you can too.)

acorn 2014-12-07

I have a great picture of that one, because it charmed me so much.  A wee little thing, so organic and perfect. I used this pattern, and scraps of a pretty tweedy yarn I had.  I needed it to come out pretty tiny, so that’s a light fingering weight knit on 2mm needles.

acorn2 2014-12-07

When I asked Carlos why he thought Luis picked that one, he said that he thinks it’s because Luis likes this Spanish ham – “Jamon iberico de bellota” which I don’t know squat about, but apparently is a ham that has a distinctive flavour, because they feed the pigs acorns.  (I think that Carlos is projecting.) This vegetarian auntie can’t quite get down with that reason, but I think next year I might knit Lou a salad. (One must leverage one’s influence where one can.)

Gifts for Knitters, Day 7

Dear non-knitter who loves a knitter. This one is quick and easy, and provides you with a rule, as well as an idea.  Your knitter loves anything with knitting on it.  (It’s better if it’s not actually knitted, because they could make that themselves, you dig?)  For this theme, you just have to find regular stuff that looks like knitting.  I love this dish towel. (It’s in my kitchen right now) and these pillows work too (remember sheep = knitting.) So do these candles from Ikea, and this teapot.  Good hunting.

51 thoughts on “It just got real

  1. Oh, hallelujah. If I move fast, I even know where the leftover yarn from the tweedy browngold socks I just finished is. Bless you. (You’re impressed by Luis calling the language — I’m impressed by his remembering Please.)

    • Got to agree with Rams: he sounds like a little gentleman.

      Also? I can’t quite tell– are you maybe a little proud of what a lovely little fellow he is? A bit fond of him?

  2. How nice to reed a post on a sunday. This kind of made my sunday. I decided on 6ply sockyarn for christmassocks. Kind speeds things up. Seeing Lous calendar is fun. My daughters always have the paper ones with pictures inside. Even my 13 year old daughter enjoys opening a door every morning.

  3. Love the acorn – I have some many squirrel and chipmunk toys that could use some permanent food.

    But there is no way I would use the tea pot… imagine trying to get tea stains from around all the knitted designs… No way. Pretty Teapot on Pretty Things shelf.

  4. La belotta is precious as is Luis. You are so lucky so enjoy. Love the unique candle and teapot ideas.
    Thank you for your weekend posts.

  5. Pingback: It just got real | Yarn Buyer

  6. I just caught up on the Advent calendar doings and I really enjoy seeing the ornaments and Luis’ reaction to it all. I’m hardly the person to tell you it was all worth it but I’d be really pleased if I were you.

    • I am also eager to view a knitted salad. Please, Stephanie, when the holiday madness is over, would you present us with one of these?

  7. Am enjoying seeing all of your advent calendar items. Very creative!
    And thanks for the gift ideas….though the shopping is turning out to be one for X, one for me 😉

  8. It is so much fun to see what Luis picks for the calendar. I wonder how much this ordering will resemble next year’s. I note he has not yet selected any of the knitted knitting yet. (The candle and teapot are too much fun!)

  9. My favorite thing about that picture is that Lou is wearing The Hat. I too am impressed by Lou’s remembering please.

    Panic thought: did you knit a train? It must be done before the salad ….. I mean really, salad on a tree? Coals to Newcastle m’dear.

  10. Thank you for the Luis and Santa Picture! I have a 2.5 year old grandson in my life and this makes everything in the world more charming and fun.

  11. I’ve tasted that ham and it would certainly inspire me to hang acorns on a Christmas tree! Luis has excellent taste.
    I, too, am so impressed by the “please.”

  12. I’m glad I’m not the only one mightily impressed by Luis’ “please” but then I’m 63 and let a couple go ahead of me in the checkout yesterday because they had only one item and “Santa’s watching.” Yes, I actually said that out loud. They were very respectful and thanked me more than once, and probably burst out laughing when they got out of the store. I don’t care, I’m enjoying my insanity, also this time of year it’s good to hedge your bets vis a vis Santa.

    And I just went and ordered me one of those teapots, it’s adorable. Also that acorn, omg, it’s too cute for words. Harlot, you have made a treasure.

  13. Steph – I know you’re busy as all get-out and won’t read this,but – a few days back, in the post with “Optimism” in the title, I commented on Handwork Hardware’s site, that they’ve got something they’ve labeled as a chatelaine, in addition to the dp storage tube, and man is it cool. I think the post got marked for moderation because I put links in. Anyway, I just got mine and it is super cool, with all of the gadgets shown in the photo of it, and a little glass nail file to boot. I am so glad I ordered 2! Suitable even for knitters that can’t stand dp needles.

    Also I commented that I had found your (cough,cough) lunatic project inspiration for next year – on the GARNETHILL dot com website, the fair isle advent calendar, which is sold out and may be taken off the site soon. That should drive you as nuts as this year’s advent calendar. Or nearly. (All caps for Garnet Hill because otherwise the r and the n run together.)

  14. The first thing I noticed on today’s blog post was the owl hat Luis is wearing, made by his Auntie Steph. Adorable (hat, Luis, and Auntie)! Then I totally missed Santa’s askew eyebrow until you pointed it out. Selective attention on my part?

    Cute Aran teapot, from “Islands off the rest [sic] coast of Ireland.” I guess there’s one coast and then the rest coast!

    You’ve been posting many great gift ideas this month.

  15. Enjoy the season. We all need to be reminded to do that, and do the things that make it fun. Like checking to see what Luis has chosen (and why). As for not having just what one needs in the stash, it happens. Trust me. Last time I had to go out and buy black wool. BLACK! Every other colour of the rainbow I have. lol

  16. Thank you for taking the time to post Luis’s choices even on the weekend. He’s a virtual cutiepie! Love the acorn, maybe the squirrel would lose interest in the bird feeder if I filled it with these. This week I saw hime hanag upside down by his back toenails while he ate sunflowers seeds from the squirrelproof bird feeder. They are rats withtails albeit entertaining ones.

  17. Knit salad – get ’em while they are young.
    My son (now 18) used to eat salad as easy as, in fact he preferred the texture to soft cooked vegetables. Now he thinks any vegetable-like thing is to be treated with distrust, caution, and preferably not to be put into his body. It makes me want to weep and gnash my teeth.

  18. Luis just keeps on getting cuter and cuter—so glad you were able to go with him to see Santa—they grow up so fast, as you well know with your girls—enjoy the Holidays and thanks for sharing such adorable pictures with us—

  19. I just wanted to point out that the candles from IKEA are called Winter Cozy (Vintermys in Swedish) which I think is an excellent name for a candle with knitting on it =)

  20. So much Christmas cuteness! Lou looks adorable in his owl hat. I think you are right. Carlos is stretching, personally I think Lou picked the acorn because he liked it. Period. Kid has good manners and good taste! Win Win and give the parents a pat on the back for job well done!

  21. I’m loving this series of posts (Luis’ advent calendar AND the gift ideas) so very much. He is such a darling little boy, and how lucky he is to have an auntie like you! 🙂

  22. That’s a great photo of Luis and Santa. I actually think Santa is regarding Luis’s hat with admiration and not a little envy. As who would not?

    And I pass on thanks from my family for the knitting gift ideas. You are making their lives easier than they have ever been.

  23. Wow! I came in hoping that they *might* be a Monday post already…And got two weekend bonus posts, instead!!

    Lovely choices (as always) for the gift guide!!

    Good luck with the knitting and the wrapping!

    Katie =^..^=

  24. Luis in his owl hat. So cute!

    My grandson, last December when he was turning three, not only cried in terror at Santa, he suddenly bolted out the door and into a busy street with his other grandma in frantic pursuit but bogged down by holding the baby while screaming after him. Some random stranger happened to be right there, took in the scene, and ran and grabbed the kid just as he darted in front of a speeding car. So close. Hopefully this year he won’t be so terrified of Mr. Fake Beard and better yet hopefully they won’t try to find out if he is.

    Luis is cheerfully fearless with the big man. Luis rocks.

  25. Great picture of Luis with Santa – what a brave little boy to not cry, and so polite.
    Beautiful little acorn!
    And wow, I learned something new – one road I travel to work is Escalon-Bellota and I’ve been wondering what bellota is, now I know. So, in renaming it, I guess I drive down Stair-Acorn Road.

  26. Every time I read a Luis story I’m a little more impressed by what an amazing kid he’s turning out to be. His parents (okay, probably his whole family) are really doing a great job!

  27. Gotta love bilingual kids. A friend’s son, also English Spanish bilingual, was totally confused at age 3, with us visiting. One of the 7 of us talked to him in Spanish, a couple understood Spanish, but the rest of us spoke in English. He finally gave up. He said *everything* in Spanish, then repeated it English, for the rest of the day. Adorable!

  28. Pingback: Holiday Gift Giving for Tea & Knit Lovers | The Corner of Knit and Tea

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