Christmas Mittens

When my father was a boy, his mother started knitting these snowflake mittens. She would use wool yarn for the body for warmth, and a synthetic blend for the cuff, so that it would maintain its shape better. When she became a grandmother, she began to knit tiny snowflake mittens for her grandchildren. My brother, cousins and I had collections of all sizes and colors of these mittens. A few years ago, she knit a pair for each member of our family for Christmas. I got a red pair, as you see in the photo above.

We took a photo on the stairs of our entire family wearing our snowflake mittens. I like to pull it out and show it to friends from time to time with the simple statement "and here is my family." Without the slightest hint of humor at how cheesy the picture is. They always stifle their laughter until I smile and acknowledge the fact that most people do not have a picture of their entire extended family wearing mittens.

When it came to domestic matters, my grandmother was a brilliant baker and crafter. But she was also quick witted and honestly a little bit of a hard-ass. She didn't like complaining and she valued hard work above nearly all else. Sometimes I think about how much she did before noon in her most active days that I can remember. This convenience world that we live in requires very little actual "work" in the physical sense. We can "work" all day at a computer without creating anything tangible. For some reason, around the holidays, I get this urge to create, whether it's cooking or knitting a scarf. Maybe its the cold weather, or maybe it's a way to honor the generations that came before that did these things each day.

Merry Christmas!