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Subject: |
Presents from the Heart |
| Date: |
2009-12-15
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Presents from the Heart
Hi, Dr. Laura here and revving up for happy holidays. And the way I'm revving up is I am going to be making all of my Christmas presents this year. From weaving scarves and placemats to sewing purses, to machine knitting elegant, elegant scarves. I mean, look at this [holds up a scarf that is in the process of being completed]. This is very thin grey mohair and then bright red chenille. And I'll show you in a moment how I make that happen on this machine so you hand-knitters can sit there and be very jealous.
For example, here is the vest I made for my husband [holds up a v-neck, brown colored sweater vest with red trim]. He picked out the colors, he picked out the pattern and I stayed up all night and made it. Of course I was really proud...the first time I had done a "V", and look at it. It's even. But it's really nice...especially someone like me, everybody says, "Oh, you're such a big star. How can you have any time to be doing things?" I live to do this sort of stuff. It's my...oh, it's not only my hobby, it's how I have mental health. [Laughs] But I really think whether it's making somebody a wonderful dinner, taking them on a day trip and having a picnic, taking care of their kids for a weekend...there are lots of things you can do as a Christmas gift.
But I wanted to take a few moments just to show you how I'm making this incredible scarf that I saw in a hand-knitting shop, that took a week to make, and I'm going to have this done in another hour. The chenille part, because I'm trying to make very, very huge stitches (even though this is a bulking machine, meaning you use bulky yarn on it)...and you'll see that the needles are very, very huge. I'm knitting this row by hand so that I can determine how large to make these decorative rows. [Hooking the yarn on to the machine's needles] There we go. Got that one done. And now I look for my tool (which isn't here when I need it), I let it [the machine] drop.
Let me talk about what I have here. Going through the machine, the carriage of the machine, is very, very, very, very thin mohair. I mean, it's like thread. And then we have this thick, lovely, luxurious chenille. And I knit...as I just showed you, I knit that part by hand and then I just come across [moves a piece of the machine from one side to the other] that's a row [moves it back] that's a row. I take this just to make sure I carry it along the edge [holds the chenille thread]...[moves the machine handle back and forth] three, four. Turn it around so I carry it over the edge [pulls out needle and wraps thread around, then moves handle back and forth] five, six. And then I've done a whole extra amount of knitting, like that [snaps fingers]. Do you know how long it takes you to do those stitches when you do them by hand? [Laughs]
And then I'll begin to start knitting this off again, by hand, and then go the other way. And then, when I finish that, I'll knit six more rows, carrying it up. And then do that about eight more times and I'll have a complete scarf. And this already has a person in mind. My friend Stacy loves red and grey.
And, you know, even though it doesn't take me a long time, because I've had so many years of experience, the planning it and the actual doing it and making it neat and pretty is "heart". And I think the most important thing that your friends and relatives want to know is that whatever you gave them was heart. And just to go to the store and pile up a whole bunch of stuff, and wrap it and give it is not heart. So, if you're a grandpa, why don't you give your grandson a little coupon that says "A weekend of fishing with me" or "Climbing a mountain" or guy bonding in some way, rather than some toy which won't be looked at in another three weeks.
I think presents should be very personal. I know Christmas time for Christians is a deep religious connotation, but it's also become, in part, a fun time where people bond and they bond by giving. But it's become giving things. And I think you should give up yourself. And, listen, if you can make good oatmeal raisin cookies, I wouldn't mind that for Christmas. Thank you.
I'm Dr. Laura. See you next time.
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