Christmas and Floppy Bunny

Finally some knitting.

But first, I had a wonderful holiday season. Hubby's parents, brother and sister-in-law and two of their children came to visit, so our little 3 bedroom, 1 bath home was full to capacity. This was my first "grown up" Christmas (you know, where I had to make Christmas dinner, and whatnots). I managed (somehow) to pull off completely vegan, relatively sugar free, low sodium options for some guests and still keep the omnivores happy. All in all, Christmas dinner was a success. Amusing observation: I've realized that a passive power struggle occurs between vegans and omnivores at a dinner table. New food, in hubby's family, is usually met with suspicion. You can always tell if they've never tried a particular food, because they take a half-spoonful of "whatever-it-is" for testing, and if they like said mystery food, return for more later. Well, if you can imagine, creating vegan, low-sodium, low-sugar options require a bit of creativity, so we pulled out a few "new" foods. Lots of taste testing going on, all around. And here is where the silent war begins...I suppose I've sensed it before, but I was probably a bit more sensitive this meal, since I cooked it. When a dish is a success, people go back for seconds - perhaps thirds. This is fine, when you've made more of this meaty dish (because there are more meat eaters in the dinner crowd). But what happens when this is a vegan, no-sodium meat alternative that you've made for the vegans in the room? And you didn't really think it would catch on with the meat-eaters, because, well...they eat meat? What happens is that one oblivious omnivore says (out loud) "mmmmm, This is good, what is This?" and the other omnivores agree. Immediately the vegans perk up. There was only a small bowl of "This" on the table. If the omnivores eat all of This, there will be none left for them. One of them stands up silently and moves back toward the serving table. Almost too late, an omnivore realizes what has happened. Suddenly there is a rush. But not. Because its impolite to rush the table. So people cooly and politely go back for seconds, plates almost full, eyeing the the person with the serving spoon, counting the people in the room, doing mental division. And everyone wondering, "is there enough?"

Or that's the way I think it is. But hubby insists that my worrying, coupled with my detail oriented imagination, drives me to over-analyze situations like this.

Onto knitting! I am making a cute (I hope) little stuffed bunny for my friends' baby - due in March, I believe. I call him Floppy Bunny. I showed him to some friends of mine and they thought he looked like a vodoo doll. They were a little afraid, but, with one more leg, he's definitely getting cuter. All he needs is a foot, some ears, and a tail. Then I'll embroider him some features and he's ready to go.



Maybe he is a little bit scary right now. But it'll all work out in the end. Hopefully. He's made of a WONDERFUL washable wool from Mission Falls (Mission Falls 1824 Wool). It makes a lovely, even stitch and is extremely soft. I love it.

On another note, I am suffering from a severe case of Second Sock Syndrome. I must thank Ms. Erica from Wooly Bully - she was able to instill enough discipline to force me to finish my second in a pair of Dashing fingerless mitts. So I have finished something lately. I think for now, I'm going to leave my sock knitting alone for a bit, and focus on Floppy Bunny and my Central Park hoodie.

Sad Single Sock

A scheduling note: I see this blog is turning out to be once a month. Eventually I'll get it to twice a month, I hope, but for now, this will have to do.