I’m sitting here at my little desk trying to figure out what to write. I promised myself I would. I put it on a to-do list and that means I definitely have to, but absolutely nothing of any interest has happened in the last few days, with three exceptions, so I think I will tell you about those.
- Despite the incredulous tone some of you took in the comments I still think that this Christmas knitting plan borders on the possible, and there’s even visible progress.
I admit the progress is a little easier to see if you’re either here or supernaturally interested – but I am both so it’s clear to me. First, the shawl is bigger, and I had to start the second ball of yarn which is pretty exciting. There are just 36 rows to go, although they are ever increasing, but let’s leave that bit out because it competes with the optimism. The hat’s gone, that’s because it’s done. The advent socks have six stripes on each and it’s the 6th of December, so can’t hope for better. Last time there were four skeins of sock yarn that were just skeins and now I’ve got a cast on, a cuff and one sock knit to the heel, that’s much better, loads of positivity there. Elliot’s sweater is several centimetres longer – almost at the hem, and then I’ll be on sleeve island for a while but honestly, he’s four. His arms are shrimpy. The Starry Light (rav link) is gone and there’s a new string of lights there – but it’s even better than that, one whole other star was knit in the interval. (That’s three I’ve knit. I told you I don’t know how this ends, I find them really, really compelling.)
2. Elliot and I made a whole bunch of other Christmas presents together, and that’s a big green square on the spreadsheet. I am thinking about making it a neon green because anything you convince a four year old to do should be something you get extra points for. Also, if anyone knows how to get wax out of a carpet I’d be into hearing about it. (I tried an iron and paper towel but frankly, it’s a lot of wax.
3. Finally, I read all the comments on the last post as they came in, and it was not at all what I expected. I don’t know what I expected you to say, and I’m not sure there’s a nice way to say this, but I’m so glad so many of you are struggling the way I am. That doesn’t sound right of course, I’m so sorry that things are hard all over, but these last months have been so ridiculously trying that hearing other people say that they’re tired, and sad and sick of it, and thought it would be over and aren’t emotionally prepared for the pandemic version of another stinking holiday is wildly reassuring. If we all feel this way, it must mean there’s some sort of normalcy in the reaction, if not the circumstances. It feels good to be in it together, to know that as always, the blog gets it and that we can all just go forward together, imperfect beings that we are.
PS. I am serious about the wax in the carpet thing.
I once asked for advice on getting blue hair dye off linoleum and was told “buy new linoleum.” Wax is a bugger, for sure.
Good luck with the knitting! I have only a big cowl to knit, but since the recipient is in my house and we are both always here… it’s tough!
Thank you for the link to the stars! I’m goi g to try one!
Ice and pick the carpet and then if it is a cut loop carpet take your sharpest scissors or a razor knife and lift the wax as high as you can and slice as close to the wax as you can. This only works on cut loop carpets of course and not if you have already applied heat which drives the wax deeper into the fibres. Good luck!
Do you have an iron? Then place a towel over the wax, and the iron on the towel for like 30-60 seconds, and that should melt the wax into the towel.
No iron? Throw ice in a plastic baggie, and put that on it, and then scrape away the hardened cold wax with a dull knife, and vacuum up the leftover little bits.
As for the knitting, Go Steph Go! I believe in you! (And this time of year is tough on lots of people, pandemic or not, but I’m feeling it too….)
We got red wax out of apartment carpet with just this method. It takes time and patience but it works.
I concur with Ann, only I suggest flipping the order: freeze and scrape every bit you can, then come back and iron/towel the traces. Toss out the sacrficed towel; you don’t want that wax in your dryer….
Yes!! This. Freeze and scrape until you can freeze and scrape no more, (also vacuum). THEN heat and iron, possibly also solvent, but I need to know what the carpet is made of (yes, I’m a chemist, why do you ask). If wool or cotton carpet, or even nylon something in the paint thinner category and blotting could help with the last of it, but don’t do that for polyester or polypropylene.
Red crayon came out of a beige carpet with the iron-and-a-tea-towel trick, but don’t expect the tea towel to be of any use afterwards! Use an old one.
It takes time, but it does work.
Pick off the big bits first with your fingernails. Less to iron out.
And yes!! It is so very good to know I”m not the only one struggling. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. At the same time it’s so comforting to know it’s not just me, I’m not a total failure, I’m just a normal person in extraordinary circumstances doing the best I can to muddle through.
About the wax – you might phone a carpet store. About the knitting – I have faith in you. About the pandemic. I, too, am so sick and tired of it all. Every time it seems we are making progress, there’s another freight train coming our way. But we will persevere. We will get past this. And I hope have learned some lessons along the way. And eventually looking back on the bleak, perhaps we can see some humour in the whole damn mess of it.
I second the thought on the pandemic!!! At some point the light at the end of the tunnel has to be LIGHT, not just another speeding freight train. Let’s just hang in there!
Is it a un-special-enough rug to take it outside and pour boiling water over the waxy spot til the cows come home?
For the wax, the ice method mentioned above and pick off as much as you can, then the towel and iron to get the rest. It is probably a multiple attempt process, unfortunately.
As for feeling tired of all this – of course we all are. I’m so sad that for the 2nd year in a row, I won’t get to see my oldest & her hubby for any of the winter holidays – we aren’t picky, there are welcome whenever they can make it. Again this year, that won’t happen. But I am incredibly thankful that we moved in the fall of 2019 and I’m close to my grandsons. Not sure how I would be dealing with all this if they were still 700 miles away.
And yes, you definitely get extra points for getting a 4 year old to participate. Hint gratefully appreciated! We will come out the other side of this someday, but I do wonder what the world on the other side is going to look like as I don’t think things will be the same. Hugs
I’ve seen the advice from a few sources so it may be worth trying. “scrape carpet to remove the bulk of the wax & then spray carpet generously with WD40 .Leave a few minutes for it to soak in & then it should be able to wipe it clean with paper or cloth towel”
For the wax, go with ice and scraping (I use a paint knife, but a butter knife works too) and then multiple times with the iron and towel or brown paper bag.
A brown paper bag and an iron for getting rid of the wax.
Not a paper towel.
Yes. Everyone I know is totally crazed.
So that is the “ new normal”. ( I really dislike that expression)
Funny you say that, my 15-year-old is really sick of the word “unprecedented”. Can’t say I’m liking either expression at all. 🙁
I was going to say brown bag. Altar guilds use paper towels and bags, and you have to keep the paper moving.
Even here in Texas where no one cares who gets sick, (Governor ), it’s still tough. I find myself with my hands knitting and staring into space. That’s a good day. Hang on—we’re all in it together!
Congratulations on the knitting progress. keep at it in a reasonable way and if there are gifts on needles, so be it.
Brown paper may be more effective than paper towel, when it comes to the absorption of wax. But if you’ve got heaps, chill and chip is definitely the way to get the bulk off.
A hot iron and the old fashioned blotting paper is something I read about years ago for removing candle wax from clothing. Should work for carpet.
I just take one day at a time and try to see my mother in her nursing home as often as I can. The rules keep changing on visitors to the facility. I worry that there will be another lock down and she will forget who I am before I get to see her again.
I just try to keep my life simple and enjoy whatever pleasures I can participate in given the rules on any given day. The most horrible period for me in 2021 was when I went for months without the energy to even cast on a project. I just concentrated on going to work and sleeping.
Petal, “…normalcy in the reaction if not the circumstances” is bone marrow-level heartening affirmation. It’ll get better — maybe not gone, but you get a flu shot every year, right? And the 5-day treatment pill is on the brink of approval. It’ll get better. Knit on (like crazy, Christmas is coming!!!)
Always happy to hear from Rams-in-the-Comments!
Considering the amazing amount of knitting you’ve managed to get done for Christmases Past, that pile looks reasonable to me. Let’s not forget that just managing everyday tasks is a bit of a victory in such times as we’re living through. Not sure that we’ll ever to get back to exactly what we used to see as “normal” but we will get through this . . . somehow.
Bless you, Stephanie, and bless us all for all of the crap we have to tolerate. Thanks for reminding us that we’re all going through awful times together. That makes it a little more bearable. We’re all vaccinated with boosters but still wear masks when we’re out. The bonus is that none of us have had colds or other illnesses since we’ve been wearing the masks. Yay!
You’ve been given great advice above for wax and carpet. I’ll reiterate the ice bag and dull knife (butter knife) for scraping up the worst, the going to the iron and paper grocery sacks seem to work the best for me.
Your Christmas knitting looks right for you. I’m down to mittens and 2 more pair of socks (one set in men’s size 13) and I’ll get to go back to my personal projects!
Wishing you and yours the very best Christmas that we can manage this year with great hopes for better ones in the future. I’m working on being grateful for all that we have.
Did you expect me to call you a slacker?
Not this year. Everything seems to require monumental effort, even the small stuff, so whatever you manage to get done will be fine. Truly.
This. ^ ^ . I keep having to remind myself this when I feel like I’m being a slacker – at home, at work, in keeping in contact with my friends and family, in NOT getting any knitting or reading or anything else done. Because just getting out the door and working through :waves at all this: a dumb pandemic is exhausting, forget everything else. And I somehow expect everything to just keep going on as usual, and when it doesn’t, because my body is just plumb wiped and the most simple things are so trying.. I feel like it’s my doing. So thank you for this. I needed to be reminded. Today and every day. XOXO
Hi! I don’t know what your justplainbeth means, but it caught my eye! I am Beth, not Elizabeth, and have had to explain that many times. Same for you??
Seems the only thing that has kept this from being as bad as the last 3 Christmas seasons for me (widowed) is that (1) my parents are coming to visit, (2) our youngest kids can be vaccinated, and (3) antidepressant this time around. Take away any one of those and it’s hard to muster the hope and optimism that it might be more enjoyable than the last ones. You have every reason to find it a struggle still. Hang in there. Light in the darkness.
As you said, hang in there and light in the darkness. And three cheers for antidepressants. They’ve truly saved my life. Keep the faith!
I once had a candle warmer tip over (my dog ran into the bookshelf it was sitting on) and spill red wax down my wall, tv stand, DVD player, and the floor. The wall took the brunt of it. We did eventually get it all (except for some in the nooks and crannies of the DVD player – that was a lost cause) with a paper towel and the iron, but it took quite a few applications. Good luck!
Extra credit for persuading a 4 year old to complete a project. I rarely comment but yes, this Covid-pandemic thing is getting very old. So thank goodness we are in this together.
I believe you will finish all those projects before Christmas. You’ve done the miraculous before. Regarding the wax and the rug. What about a decorative little throw rug to cover the spot? It could become a design trend.
This is definitely the way I would prefer to approach this problem – add a throw rug! Thanks Stephanie for another excellent post.
We bought a cabin in a mountain resort area. That is the way that the former owner had covered carpet stains…and we continue the tradition. No one knows and it adds color to an otherwise beige room!
Kerosene dissolves wax, which is why WD40 works on it. Then you just have to worry about getting kerosene out of your carpet. Lots of bicarb soda? Ask Auntie Google
Blow dryer works better than an iron – but it liquifies the wax and moves it around 0 so you have to be ready to blot it up immediately.
om alone in having trouble with another pandemic holiday, and I’m horribly anxious about the state of politics in the US right now, too. If you can finish the pile of knitting, more power to you. As for the rest of it…the only way out is through, and let’s hope—and work so that–we don’t have to endure far worse on either axis in years to come.
1. It took an embarrassingly long amount of time for me to find the reply box down at the bottom of the page. I swear it wasn’t here the first time I looked!
2. Externally motivating a small person, especially one who is four is honestly very impressive. I feel like it’s an accomplishment that should be recognized by the Olympic Committee. (My little person is nearing six. Finding external motivation for them is so rare.)
3. I just read a tip about removing wax with an iron and printer paper, so I think you’re on the right track, but it sounds like you might be able to pick off a bit first. The ice trick does wonders for gobs of melted crayon.
Remember the time paint got spilled down your entire staircase? You got this.
I too am sick of it all. Can’t wait for it all to S.T.O.P!!!!
OH MI GAWD!
I’d forgotten about that!
You’re absolutely right, Elizabeth!
By comparison, wax-on-a-carpet is totally doable…
I second your “you got this, Steph”.
Oh my, I remember that! I think it was only 2 years ago wasn’t it? Seems longer because of, well, “the state of the world that shall not be named”. 😉
Having seen how fast you knit, and now how far you’ve gotten on your WIPs, I have faith that you will finish all of the knitting projects in time for Christmas. You are a magician!
For candle wax in carpet, switch to the ice technique (the same as if you were dealing with chewing gum in hair/fabric/carpeting), as others have mentioned ; then you can resume using the iron for any bits that you can’t scrape or pick out of the carpet. Rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol and/or acetone nail polish remover will break down any leftover traces of candle wax.
Here’s to being kind to ourselves and others this season . . . and hope that the universe will be kind to us.
The rubbing alcohol also works on pine sap, works very well actually. Google was my friend.
Also after the ice and alcohol treatment, a razor will clean up the last bit perhaps and if used sparingly won’t show as a shorter spot
When I was 13 I was carrying a lit dark green candle up the stairs (I was not supposed to burn candles at all and certainly not supposed to walk around with them). I spilled drops on the light pink carpet. My parents were in their room watching TV right next to the stairs. It was a tense moment. I grabbed scissors and carefully cut the tips off the carpet strands. The wax was gone, the shorter carpet strands were invisible, and no one found out. Done before the commercial break.
Genius! This made me laugh.
To all of us, imperfect beings that are just doing the best we can. Yes, it’s normal to feel all the feelings, the fears, the frustrations, the why doesn’t it stop. Having to make the best of it for close to two years is a struggle I never thought I’d be engaged in. Multiply by some large number with a huge string of zeros. But we’re still here, still standing, still trying to be the best version of the new normal (I have no idea what that is), still knitting, or at least some of us are, still reaching out, still caring. Thank you Stephanie and all of you who made this day a little better.
Wax – ice then pick the hardened stuff off. Tedious, but it works.
(A friend came to stay from hospital after her baby was born and fixed candles by the bed directly to the dark purple carpet. What a mess! No I didn’t shout at her, and yes, she is still my closest friend 45 years later.)
Having spilled 4 pints of bubbling hot purple wax on my parents’ carpet when I was 13 – and then spending the afternoon frantically and tearfully calling every carpet cleaning company in the phone book and trying every version of the towel-and-iron technique – there is nothing that beats accepting failure, putting a small rug or runner over it, and pretending that yes, that rug has always been there.
You can try to freeze the wax with a bag full of ice and then kind of scrape it up. Then when it’s not so much try the iron/ towel bit for the rest
Nice progress on the Christmas knitting!! My is still mostly a pile of skeins. But at least our tree is up. I just couldn’t at all last year.
On the wax – I’d try a blow dryer rather than the iron. If you put the concentrator on the business end of the dryer, it will send a good stream of hot air without running the risk of burning like you do with an iron. So you can blow it directly on the wax and have more control over how soft/melty it gets. Use a paper towel to blot it up, or (once you have a blob of softened wax) you can try using that to adhere to the rest of it as it softens. Good luck!!
Congradulations on your projects made with Elliot! I know that turpentine will disolve bee’s wax (not mineral spirits though) – I’ve never tried to remove it from a carpet, but it’s how to disolve it to make a paste for oil painting. Good luck!
I also found a lot of comfort in reading the comments and seeing how many of us are simply tired & sad & trying our best to muddle through.
Ok, I have to ask: how does that work???! Do you go around and pick up a project, knit a bit, then put it down and randomly grab another one for a bit of a go???
I meant obviously this is working for you—I’m just astonished!!!
I usually have one “portable” project (usually a sock) that can travel with me outside the house, while anything large or complicated stays home where I can contain/concentrate on it. I try quite hard to focus all my knitting energy on those two so they get DONE rather than living in a never-resolving landscape of partially finished projects (and a decreasing supply of available needles)!
So seriously: what’s your thinking, how does this work in your knitting world????? At least one Inquiring Mind wants to know!!
THE HARLOT’S CHRISTMAS SPREADSHEET! Life seems almost normal again, just for a moment.
Agreed! It’s not the holidays without YHarlot’s countdown spreadsheet!
You will never know how excited I am every time I see that you have written a new post. I understand why they have been thin on the ground this year and don’t want to pressurise you. However, I hope that it helps you to know how much you cheer everyone else up even though you are feeling so low yourself. Good luck with the wax and the knitting.
OK: You asked for it. The best way to remove the wax is to remove the carpet. You’ve always thought that room would look better with a different color (or hardwood, laminate, sheet vinyl, etc.) haven’t you? Anyway, it’s good to hear you got a four-year-old to do anything, even go to bed, so you deserve new flooring. As for that pile of knitting…would the new flooring cover it?
I take especial delight in your descriptions of doing things with Eliott (sorry about the carpet though.) I want so much to be doing Christmasy things with my grands, two of whom have birthdays Christmas week. Thank you for sharing the happiness!
My grandmother told me about living in England during world war II. There was bombing and deaths and everything was rationed. She saved up coupons to make a birthday cake for her husband and stood in line after line to get all the ingredients. She made the cake. Her husband took one bite and spit it out. She’d forgotten the sugar, rendering it totally inedible. She said it took years before they were able to laugh about it.
When I feel overwhelmed, I remember this story and forgive myself as she did. As may we all.
I often think about WWII. Both of my parents were in the US Army; Mom as a secretary and Dad drove and repaired tanks in the European front. They got through that, I can get through this. The pandemic is very lethal, but in a different way. They did what they had to do and I’m trying to do that, too. We’ll get through it; but that thought doesn’t always make it easier.
My parents met after the Nazi occupation of Denmark ended, rising bicycles home from work!
You never know…
Yes, Yes and Yes! Thank you for your words. The knitting gave me such a smile…a rare NON-fake-it-till-you-make-it moment that took me by surprise. You have made my day and I think I’ll go and make a hat now.
Ah, yes, the old was on carpet thing
First, pick out as much as you can. Then use newspaper not a paper towel. It works so much better, and also sucks up some of the color if there is any. You may need to do this several times to get it all up. Then use whatever cleaning agent works for your color. Beeswax is easier than parafin. If you had parafin candles it will take several newspapers
Seriously, ask any Wiccan/Pagan kid. It was always our jobs to clean the wax off the floor.
I’ve seen lots of suggestions for the wax. You might also try softening it with a hairdryer before layering on either newspaper (the ink makes me nervous) or tissue paper, under a towel, and then continuing with the iron.
I don’t know if the ice-cubes-in-a-plastic-bag trick would be cold enough, but if desperate, you can find one of these wart treatment cans that is intended to freeze the wart. That should get colder than the ice cubes. OTOH – you’re in Canada – is it near a door where leaving the door open for a bit might work? (Only partly kidding but I thought it was funny.)
Wax in rhe carpet….
Doesn’t matter how old the carpet wax is.
First….ICE.
Put a metal pan…loaf or cake size over the wax puddle and fill the pan with I’ve cubes. Put a lid or foil over the top.
Do this again once the ice melts.
Second…Chip away.
The wax should be good and hard and can be chipped away. Yes, hit it. Loudly and swear some too. You might be able to remove bits and pieces or use a sharp knife to shave away some of the almost all wax blobs.
The first two steps will remove the majority of the wax. Depending on the size of the puddle, it could take several freeze-whack-shave cycles. Add a liter of wine and it becomes a parlor game. Keep wine stain removal necessarys on hand.
Third step…IRON IT.*
What makes this work is thin cotton cloth to absorb the melty wax. The hot iron helps too.
*It gets tricky Depending on what your carpet is made of. The iron may just fuse the carpet and wax.
Alternate Third step…CUT IT OuT.
There shouldn’t be much left and it might be easiest to clip the waxy bits of carpet away and move a large piece of furniture over it.
Last step…
Joe, we need a new rug.
Snow has a really good point about being careful about using heat.
It might be a good idea to snip a small, inconspicuous piece of the carpet and do a burn test on it to determine the fiber content. Here’s a link to Dharma Trading’s description of the test and how to “read” the results – https://www.dharmatrading.com/home/the-fire-test.html.
My daughter melted a putty ball into her carpet. Not sure how. Not sure I want to know.
….scissors and a bit of carpet manicuring saved the day.
OH MI GAWD!
I’d forgotten about that!
You’re absolutely right, Elizabeth!
By comparison, wax-on-a-carpet is totally doable…
I second your “you got this, Steph”.
I’ve always used an iron and a brown paper bag, like a grocery sac. Not sure if that makes a difference vs. the paper towel.
And also, thanks to your IG post about that dang knitted fairly light star, I may have crone’s hands for the next few weeks. Hopefully they get easier on the old hands.
Tired. I work in health care in Wisconsin. We are all so tired. But Rams is right it will get better, not gone, but better. Some days it’s just harder to remember that.
Enjoy Elliott and the fun you have with him and knit on! Your pile is totally do-able.
Whoa! Three posts in 5 days is a real mood-booster in a crummy year! Thanks!
Put ice on the wax to make it as brittle as possible then break off any bits that you can. You can use a dull knife to break it up as much as possible. Vacuum up as much as possible. After you get out all the wax you can in this way, then go for heat and paper towels. Depending on what fiber is in your carpet, you might try a craft heat gun. (Mine is used for heat embossing in card making.} This gives you more control over what you melt. You can melt wax quicker and wipe it up as you melt it.
I also once got red wax out of a carpet with Goo Gone. Worth a try. Good luck!!
I literally did this tonight! My daughter somehow dumped a large quantity of candle wax on the carpet. I put freeze packs on it for about an hour, chiseled away what I could, vacuumed that, then applied the iron/paper towels. It took time, but I exceeded my husband’s expectations. It’s not like new, but it won’t trip anyone up now.
I don’t know about neon green, I would say rainbow with extra sparkles! And I know what I’m talking about 😉
I am also sick and tired of being sick and tired of the pandemic.
My husband and I both had COVID last year before vaccinations were available. It was a scary terrible experience.
I’m nervous that with the new omicron variant we will be back to where we were in 2020.
Hearing that other people feel the same way that I do makes me feel like I’m not crazy.
If your wax is on a rug, I might consider a dry cleaner. On carpet I’m sure it will be more of a challenge. Good luck,
As for you finishing all the knitting, that’s not a shocker.
Of course you will.
Your knitting progress is commendable! I’m always amazed what you get through in such a time crunch. Are there Holiday Knitting Olympics? Metals and such? Maybe we should have a Final Four on the Blog to see what gets finished and what is wrapped mid-knit? There could be brackets and everything.
Go for the Gold Steph! I’ll be cheering you on as I knit my hat over here.
Good luck with the carpet!
I’m sorry about the wax in the carpet. I have no real solution for that.
But as for the pandemic Christmas II, I have decided to take things a bit slower to appreciate what I can do and what I can keep from traditions gone by. I can look forward to a little more serenity and a lot less stuff; although it might disappoint some who expect the grandma Christmas extravaganza…we’ll see.
I applaud your knitting progress — tackling a shawl and a sweater, that is. I’m a ‘small knits for Xmas’ kinda gal.
As for the carpet, as pretty much everyone has mentioned, the hot iron/pressing cloth (absorbant, like a linen towel) usually works…but on carpet? Part of the problem (besides the quantity of wax, which you hinted was a *lot*) could be the material from which the carpet is made. If it’s all sythetic, too hot an iron might melt it or make it fuse to the wax. That’s pure speculation on my part; it’s never happened to me. I ususally spill coffee and that’s hard enough to get out! But when you test fibre content with a match and the synthetic hardens into a little plastic ball, well…that’s where my mind went with this one. You might need to steam clean the carpet. Sorry.
I try to be hopeful about Christmas. The entire family, including as young as 9, are fully vaccinated & all the adults bolstered. I live in the US with basically no shut downs or limits. But I know Covid in all it’s ugly forms is still with us, and infecting the vaccinated and could still stop our family Christmas . I just keep knitting.
Languishing — many of us are languishing (even if it sounds like something a Victorian maiden would do). It’s a COVID thing, includes burnout, no motivation, and numbness, and is the opposite of flourishing.
The link describes it and how to cope, but I am too burned out, unmotivated and numb to bother reading it.
https://www.verywellmind.com/languishing-is-the-mood-of-2021-5180999
“The link describes it and how to cope, but I am too burned out, unmotivated and numb to bother reading it.”
Made me chuckle and we all need a chuckle these days.
A friend’s dog knocked over a candle onto her carpet, and her homeowner’s insurance covered replacement of the whole thing!
We recently moved and our life is still in boxes. The house we bought needs waaaay more repairs than we thought. So in addition to COVID hell, we have been in general contractor renovation hell for months. We have not unpacked much of anything…so xmas is not on the priority list this year. We did take advantage of the small down turn case counts over Thanksgiving and went home to see my brother, NEW NIECE, and parents. We are all triple vaxxed so it was as safe as it could be. We did NOT gather with the portion of the family that is anti-vax. I love them all in my heart, but they can sit and spin. I am utterly dismayed that this global pandemic has deepened the divide among us humans when it should have given us all a common enemy and brought us together.
I am knitting a christmas stocking for my new niece. I am trying to get it done before xmas. It is a tall order as life is so unsettled that I find it difficult to knit (emotionally and just finding time amongst the construction). Part of the stocking will require sewing a lining and that will be the most difficult part as I hate sewing and “Where the hell am I suppose to sew in this crap show of house?”
I desperately want to go back home for xmas but I don’t think we will. I am sick of covid, I am sick of construction, and I am sick of being so whiny about sick of things.
Metholated spirits dissolves wax on furniture, but I’d try it on an inconspicuous corner of a carpet before trying it on anywhere that was visible. Otherwise I suspect it will eventually just wear off.
Stephanie, thank you! You make me feel fairly sane and not alone….a really great feeling!
Sleeve island? Steph – the great sock knitter gets stuck on sleeves – can you pretend their socks instead and knit them two at a time? 🙂
I also think you’ll finish everything in the knick of time, even if that is Christmas morning.
Two ideas about wax:
1. scrape away all that is clumped. Iron then with the wax that is embedded in the wool.
2. I once spilled wax down the front of my only dress. I needed that dress and couldn’t replace it. It was a great deal of wax – lots and lots of wax. I spent one ful day carefully ironing the wax. If I recall I warmed it some with hot water – to soften it. It was hard work but in the end it worked !
I think the most reassuring thing about the struggle is that we still care, and we still know that we have a responsibility for the health and safety of others. I loved catching up on your last three posts–so many life lessons snuck into the Blog. Starting again, doing our best, shining light during dark times, for others and ourselves… thanks so much Steph <3
I am feeling adrift and empty and angry and useless and confused. 2020 and 2021 have not been the best years of my life. I was diagnosed with colon cancer in July 2020. And because of the pandemic my husband could not be with me when the doctor gave me the diagnosis. As I remember it, he said I had a tumor and then turned on his heels and walked away. I think I was still feeling the anesthesia. Surgery to remove the tumor at the end of August 2020 and felt like a $1M. September 3 back in the hospital because I had peritinitis. After 12 days in the hospital I was 30 pounds lighter with a 6″ crater down my belly and an Ostomy bag. 3 months of chemo followed. The only people I saw were my husband and the visiting nurses. My daughter and family stood outside my house to wish me Merry Christmas. Due to a problem with my Ostomy I spent Christmas eve on a cot in the kitchen. I woke up Christmas morning to the sound of water running in the basement. Our water heater had broken. On Christmas and the day before the weekend. A lot of wAter on the stove gave us hot water. And did I say I suffer from depression ? The pandemic and my cancer sure did a number on me. Fast forward to April 2021 when my colon was resectioned and I said goodbye to the bag. I feel whole again and am getting back some of the life I once knew. I will never recover the time with my granddaughter that I missed, or the time with friends, social interactions, you know what I mean. Life continues to be surreal. Cancer would have been a blow, certainly. And the pandemic would and is a challenge, but the two together? I marvel that I got through it…with much help from family, husband, and friends. This is a comment all about me, not you, so if you want to delete it please do so. Someone said we’re not in the same boat, just the same storm, or something like that. Let’s all keep the faith.
It doesn’t feel adequate to say I’m sorry for your suffering. Know that you have dealt with far more than many other people and shown great strength.
Yes, we all suffer, but some people seem to get far too many blows. Maybe when you read over this list you’ll feel at least a small sense of release. I hope so.
Kate, thank you for your kind words.
I’m so glad that you’re still around and starting to feel like yourself again. Wishing you energy and joy.
Virginia, thank you for taking the time to write your kind words. I sincerely appreciate them.
This might sound a bit odd, but: if you’re interested in discovering a community where people have been dropped into situations, or had to learn to live with realities they would never have imagined, and you’re open to podcasts, “Everything Happens” with Kate Bowler has been such a find for me the past year—recommended by another reader of this blog. Despite that description, it’s so encouraging, and so great to know you’re not alone in standing in the middle of Way Too Much…
Christine, thank you or the top about Everything Happens. I’ll definitely check it out.
Sending prayers for health and peace to you and yours for all that you’ve come through, and for the years ahead.
Knitsiam, thank you for your kind thoughts.
Wishing you health and healing, and peace for this Christmas season, and into the new year. You have come through so much Steady on.
Thank you, Jo-Anne. And peace for the Christmas season to you.
Wishing you sparkling good health and an extra measure of happiness in the new year. I’ll remember your comment about “we’re not in the same boat, just the same storm.” Sounds like your boat is coming through the storm to safe harbor.
~Another Cynthia
Isn’t Cynthia a grand name? I love it! Thank you for your kind words. Yes, I’m coming into a safe harbor.
Cyntija, that sounds like an a hell of a year for you. So glad you had people to support you through it all. Wishing you and yours light and laughter for the holidays and all the best of health and happiness in 2022.
Hi Hope, I love ‘light and laughter’! I will keep that thought forefront in my mind this season. And I wish you holidays that fill your heart with gladness and a happy New Year.
As always, your blog is such a beautiful mix of sweetness and sadness, and the absolute perfect companion to my similarly perfectly-imperfect life. You and your loved ones are such a creative, kind bunch, so as to inspire creativity and kindness, while also being real and stuck in this ‘in between time’ (because I am determined it’s NOT staying this way) just like the rest of us. Thank you for sharing your truth with us, and for putting words to the feelings that have been sitting under increasingly thin skin.
I’ve always had success using ice and a putty knife, followed by ironing and blotting with brown kraft paper. And I am not really feeling the holidays as much as I had hoped. American Thanksgiving was normal enough it should have put me in the mood. Part of my problem is I usually have the tree up and decorations well underway, but I am in Mexico until the 19th. Which should give me plenty of time to find a tree, and leave it up until Epiphany this year. And here in Mexico, they are really getting into it with lights and random guys in Santa suits, but I am wearing my summer clothes, which feels wrong. Getting Christmas knitting done, and I bought the star pattern and ordered size 17 DPNs (how can there still be needles I don’t own after 55 years at it?) so that will await my return home, and looking forward to making the best of it. I did make fruitcake and eggnog before we left for vacation, and they are even now growing delightfully mellow as they age. So I shall try to do the same.
That is LOADS of knitting progress! I am impressed
I was going to suggest an iron and paper towel but maybe a blow dryer or heat gun would work. Wax is annoying, that’s for sure. During my cousin’s wedding she had a huge candelabra that was under the HVAC vent. Let’s just say it was not a pretty picture when the AC kicked on about halfway through the ceremony.
We love you and support you and share your Christmas malaise.
Locally, there is a drive-thru lights celebration that I try to attend every year. If available, you can do this with your “pod” and equip everyone with hot chocolate. I actually drove around to find the eggnog latte (at WaWa, but not the first one I went to (which was on the way)) for my drive. A local radio station plays Christmas music (and a lot of ads…which dominated the airwaves until I was actually in the light show).
We also have a local natural history museum…and they set up outdoor lights and the cutest little story line about what a dinosaur would do at Christmas (which is even funnier as some of the dinosaurs pictured in the book would not fit into a house…). And the planetarium attached has two holiday shows…one on figuring out what the Christmas star was and the other was a holiday laser show.
I don’t decorate much at home…but I do enjoy the light shows that other people set up.
My next door neighbor wasn’t able to do his usual decorations as he had knee surgery early this week and was unsure as to when he would be able to take down the decorations (and neither my husband nor I can climb the ladders to do it.). And he is one of two people who is having major surgery before Christmas (my boss is having shoulder surgery today).
I am told cornstarch helps. After you melt the wax with the iron sprinkle cornstarch in on what’s left and let dry then vacuum. Keeping fingers crossed for you!
I wish I had some ideas for the wax in the carpet, but I haven’t succeeded in getting it completely out of the tablecloth yet. I hope you’ll share what works, when you figure it out. (Unfortunately for both of us, I suspect the answer is just “a lot of patience.”)
My father died in the fall and this whole season has been full of those awful firsts. Between experience such a huge and unexpected loss and Covid on top of it, I am not feeling the holidays at al this year. But I have young kids who have lost their grandpa and I want them to have as good a holiday as possible given the circumstances. For me that apparently looks like really overdoing it with the making projects. Perhaps I am trying to quiet the grief my replacing it with massive stress over getting things done? Probably not the healthiest approach but what can you do.
What can you do indeed. I hope making the projects and memories of Christmas with your Dad bring you some comfort.
Not loving the end of 2021 over here either. My Dad and a beloved older friend both died on the same day in October, miles apart. I was driving home from seeing Dad for the last time when I got the news. Also, dealing with breast cancer for the second time..it’s the boring non-invasive kind but the radiation treatment is tiring.
So we just do what we can, hug those who we can, get our booster shots and hope that things will eventually improve.
My condolences on the passing of your father and friend. So much loss on one day on top of the pandemic PLUS your breast cancer. Enough! My thoughts are with you.
Thank you, that is very kind.
Sending prayers for healing and peace.
Everything is pretty well open where I am, with masks and social distancing, but I am likewise tired of the pandemic because I work in a hospital (non-medical). High census, low staff and we’re all feeling seriously burnt. I’m not sure what “normal” even means anymore.
Thank you, Stephanie, for the post(s). And thank you, Blog, for the comments. Between you, it is great to know we are each less alone in our experience than perhaps we thought.
Here’s how to get wax off almost anything. First, take a heavy brown paper bag (like the grocery stores use – ours still do if you don’t want plastic). Then use your iron without water and on a fairly low setting, and voila, the wax transfers to the bag and off the carpet.
I’m in the camp for Xmas of fake it til you make it! Otherwise I’d just be in a corner somewhere hiding. In central MN with covid it sometimes feels like anything goes so doing what we can to stay healthy and mitigate the rest.
We have a small immediate family gathering planned for next weekend, if the stars align. Dropped off our family donation to a homeless youth organization as well as Toys for Tots last week. Those things feel normal and positive. One foot forward and just keep going.
Wishing everyone their moment (hopefully momentS) of JOY this holiday season
I agree there is comfort in knowing one is not alone in all these feelings from the uncertainty and worry of the life in a pandemic (and for many, just Christmas in general). I have no advice for the carpet, except to say when I had permanent marker in my mother’s wool carpet, I made the mistake of “trimming it out”, thinking one would never notice. I was wrong. Hang in, everyone.
When I was in high school (mid-late 90s), I wound up getting red candle wax on my cream carpeting. So, my mom had me grab a wet towel and the iron…and we tried that route.
It did not go well. We melted the carpet. And I say “we” because it really was both our faults.
I have nothing but sympathy on that one.
Like many, I feel in a way that I’ve been sleepwalking though parts of the last two years. But I must’ve been snoozing at some point because when did Elliott turn four!? I can believe three. But four took me by surprise! Wow. Does this mean he is now a member of the school community?
I need to add, I’ve got nothing against four. Four is delightful! How wonderful it must be to share Christmas with someone that age again.
In regards to knitting, you’ve given me hope that I can totally finish the Christmas mittens in time! 🙂
Newspaper and an iron. Works incredibly well.
To successfully remove wax from any kind of fiber (but especially carpet), you’ll need a few things.
1) A baggie full of ice
2) An old dpn on the skinny side – preferably metal, and one you don’t care if it gets ruined.
3) A wide tooth metal comb.
Set the baggie of ice on the wax and let it stay there for a good 10 to 15 minutes. Don’t move it to check, you want that wax good and frozen.
Once it’s frozen and hard, use the dpn to loosen it up out of the carpet. Dig in and push it up. Once you’ve gotten the bulk out, use the metal comb to brush out the rest.
As the wax starts to warm back up, reapply the ice as needed. You want cold, frozen wax.
For the wax on the carpet- use brown paper and an iron. I know I am late to the wax removal party but it had worked for me. Advice came from my dad who sold carpet for 40 years.
I don’t want to be so sad about the holidays but I am. I miss my family – we’re in TX but family is in Canada. When this all started in 2020 we were supposed to visit family that summer – and we optimistically had said that we’d visit at Christmas 2020. We keep bumping it – and now I find it hard to be optimistic that we’ll be able to visit summer 2022. We’ll see my daughter will finally be eligible to be vaccinated so the risk inherent to travel will be lower.
I’m lucky that my mom is still alive – that I can talk to her, see her on Zoom – but it has been 2 years since I hugged her and that is too long.
And yet – Christmas is magical with a child. My daughter is 4 and previous years have been great but this year is something different. She is telling and showing us just how much she believes – and she is so excited. I volunteered in her class yesterday and oh man a classroom of 3-4 year olds who are excited for Christmas is a beautiful thing.
Another good thing is we’ve started a new tradition – we make chocolate truffles together via Zoom. I hope it continues beyond the pandemic – because we’re spread all over Canada and seldom are in the same province, never mind the same city.
I did the whole heat the wax and melt it onto paper towels. I stood really hard so that I had foot prints of wax on the paper towels. Maybe Elliot would like to help stand on paper towels to help out? I also did a whole lot of repeated vacuuming with using the carpet cleaner spray. I would alternate the 2. I had had a 3 wick dark cherry red candle melt all down the sides of my VHS tape storage unit on the nice light grey of the carpet in our first apartment, and did the thing enough times that we got our deposit back.
I work retail and the holidays are really tough this year. No one is happy about not being able to buy what they want because of supply issues, which I have no control over. No one wants to hear that there are still issues because of the pandemic. A great many people seem to have misplaced their patience.
As I am not there to see the extent and volume of wax this only a guess…if it is there in volume one trick may to freeze it solid, smack the dickens out of it to create shards and vacuum them up ,then go the absorbent paper/hot iron trick once you have reduced the amount. I cannot imagine adding any solvent, cleanser or new mess would work without creating a new meess to deal with.
Good luck.
I am just blah when it comes to Christmas these past couple of years. I am working on a hat for the boyfriend and that’s it. I moved states so I won’t be seeing any friends or family for the holidays. Next year will be different. I am one of the fully vaccinated complete with booster shot, but i am just trying to get my business off the ground so all funds are going to that.
I have tried everything suggested above and have never been able to get the candle wax completely off the armrest of my fabric-covered couch. There’s just this greasy spot that won’t come out. I finally just covered both armrests with complimentary square cloth napkins and I’m calling them armrest covers. Maybe you can lay down an area rug over your carpet if you can’t get the wax out?
Please keep holding onto my hand really, really hard.
Great read and advice. Wish you a happy Christmas. 🙂
Buy a new carpet, you deserve after almost two effing years of this pandemic! If you have wall-to-wall carpeting then buy a room size carpet to go over it. You’re going to love how it lifts your spirits, makes the room look better and you didn’t have to get all the blasted wax out of the old carpet.
NO WD-40, it stains and smells and you don’t want that in your house. Trust me on this.
Hi Stephanie and Happy Holidays… you have plenty of advice for wax… My grandson is only 22 months so we are only doing sprinkles on cookies this year..since I dont think he gets it yet.. All his school artwork is hanging on his tree.. Next year I will copy your advent calendar for him…. Happy to see your Advent Socks.. My knitting group (still on Zoom) are all doing the same project…Ill send a photo when finished…. I am sure you will get everything finished that needs to be..I too am tired and despondent at times over what is now our life… but I can be outside a lot and live 5 blocks from my 2 grandsons (one 4 weeks old today) .Be Well J
When I get down I go back and read posts from previous years – to remind me of “normal” times. I just read the December 2019 posts. I missed most of them at the time (my sister and father died unexpectedly within 24 hours of each other – I started the drama early). The paint can falling down the stairs…. funny in retrospect. Reading those posts of the before times gives me hope that we will be there again next year.
Hello! I get the whole tired thing. I think it is more common than we think.
I was wondering what is the pattern for that orange sweater?
Happy Holidays!
I agree, but first I would use newspaper or paper towels, rather than ruin a towel.
Having misplaced my patience as one of your lovely commenters said, I am 100% team What A Beautiful Throw Rug or Yay New Carpet. Time spent freezing and scraping and melting wax is time spent Not Knitting, after all.
Hang in there. Your writing is such a joy and comfort and I wish you light and laughter this holiday season.
Also, thank you to the commenters I feel less alone now.
Stephanie did not post her usual Solstice post with the usual poem so I hope she doesn’t mind me posting it.And so the Shortest Day came and the year died
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.
And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, revelling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us – listen!
All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And now so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.
Susan Cooper
With profound thanks to Rams, our Lady of the Comments, who always knows the right poem for everything.
And for the heck of it here is another, perhaps more bittersweet about solstice night
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
BY ROBERT FROST
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
I think the last stanza really mirrors my mood these days. Mea Maxima Culpa Stephanie if I have transgressed.
Happy Midwinter Sun-Returning Holiday!
I did a little dance on December 21, and I think I succeeded in persuading the sun to turn around and start coming back. I’m going to need a lot of daylight for my next project. My granddaughter wants me to knit a pair of duck slippers for her toddler. She sent me no picture, but SEVEN PAGES OF INSTRUCTIONS.
Perhaps do a pattern-search on ravelry.com for “duck slippers” and take a look at the ones they have. It would be easier if you had been sent a picture of what your granddaughter wants, but maybe. by reading her pattern, you can get an idea of what the end product using it would look like and find a matching pattern that isn’t as long. Good luck!
After reading a bunch of comments here, and in listening to friends, I know I’m really lucky. I teach, and had the option of doing so from home for the first part of this pandemic crap. My husband and I live 900 miles from any other family members or close friends, so it’s more normal to us to not see anybody for months at a stretch. On the other hand, I’ve lost a lot of family and friends in the last year (none to Covid). Thus, for the last year-plus, I’ve been “struggling” as we say among my circle, and feeling a little guilty for it. Christmas has been an afterthought — I sent gift cards to the kids and my sister, and that’s it — did a very little baking, made a simple supper, and our decorations consist of one string of lights around the front window. I’m afraid I’m a little grumpy toward some of my fellow travelers here where I live, because I feel like we should have been out of this thing by now and if everyone had been doing what they should have, instead of being silly and insisting on certain “freedoms,” we could have been celebrating having this thing behind us. I’m also at the point where I don’t really care if people don’t agree with me, or if I offend them with my opinions; I am no longer capable of doing the walking-on-eggshells thing to preserve fragile feelings connected with this, especially if they are tainted with politicization. I feel like I’ve been hardened, and that’s what makes me really sad and actually angry, because I’ve never been hard in all of my 62 years and angry knitting never turns out right. I pray I have time left in my life to get my sweetness back.
Thanks for letting me vent. I know I’m among friends here.
One thing no one else has suggested about getting rid of the wax might be to try roughing up the wax and then hot water and Dawn liquid soap. Wax is generally made out of petroleum products so soap and water might work. Good luck.