Oh!  There's 87 days until Christmas and 72 days until Hanukkah.  Have you started your holiday crafting?  I'm wearing Sue's Skew Fingerless Mitts.  The pattern is available on Ravelry and Etsy.   It is tech-edited and tested and comes in three sizes.  It's knit mostly flat in a unique construction to create slanted stitches.  You can usually make one pair with one skein of sock/fingering yarn.  These are knit using one skein of joyously colorful Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino.  There's also a simpler version available for free on Knitty.  But if you don't knit . . .

You can also buy a hand knit pair.  Here they are in three different sizes.  The multi-colored green pair are medium (left picture).  The red-hued mitts are the small (center), and the last picture shows the large size (right picture). Sizing details and purchasing options are available in my Etsy shop. 

I started my holiday knitting in August.  After numerous mishaps, like the year I lost a completed sock, I realized that I need to start early so I don't end up finishing a holiday gift in February.  (You can read about that here.)  I've gifts to make for my mom's caregivers (4), my spouse, my kid, and my mom!  So I'm getting back to my knitting now.  

2020 has really been some year.  I started the year with a raging ear infection (no joke, I was diagnosed on 12/31/19).  I should have taken it as foreshadowing for a dramatic year.  I'm hoping the year ends better than it started.

My level of stress and anxiety has been exceptionally high.  Being in NYC, the former epicenter of the pandemic, was stress-inducing for all of us here.  Most of my anxiety stemmed from worrying that I could get my mom sick.  My worrying was almost too much and often panic-inducing.  Last year, my word for the year was Seguimos (we keep going).  I used that word almost as much as I used my word for 2020 to focus myself.  We just had to take the situation day-by-day and do our best to not get sick or get anyone else sick. 

My word for 2020 is "risa".  This means laughter in Spanish.  This year has definitely NOT been amusing.  There were so many reasons for tears.  My ironic word choice, however, was actually not a bad selection.  I decided that when I could choose between getting angry or upset and laughing, I'd chose laughter.  So, while things outside our home have been awful, at least our family is closer than ever and our friends are more appreciated.  I have to credit risa with my mom.  Despite all the changes Alzheimer's is creating for her, she mostly stays positive and seeks laughter. 

By the way, do you like my sweater?  I bought the yarn for it in 2009, I think.  I didn't work on it until 2016 and I didn't finish it until this year!  It's the Butterfly Pullover by Mel Clark.  It's in the book Knit 2 Together by Mel Clark and Tracy Ullman.