Spinners of the World- December 11th

11/12/2017

Welcome to day 11 of our Spinners of the World December blogposts.
We're counting down the darkest days by exploring and learning more about the world we live in, but I'm not the one writing the posts!
Each day the post has been written by a volunteer spinner, they're be telling us about their mid-winter holiday traditions, and a little bit about the place they live. I still need volunteers, so if you enjoy this post please head over to the form here. This is open to everyone, please don't worry about your language skills, or even if you think your holiday traditions aren't very interesting, I want to hear from you!

Todays spinner is Janet from Greenfield, Indiana, USA.

We celebrate Advent and Christmas, we try to celebrate as a family; husband, five children, five grand children, six doggie cousins.
We attend Christmas Eve service with family. Then on Christmas Morning breakfast with homemade eggnog, forgotten cookies and stollen. We have glazed ham for dinner and cheesecake for dessert. Of course we have a grand tree and lots of presents. My family is fond of all sorts of board games after all the festivities the children usually pull you into one of those groups. This year we are headed to Chattanooga, Tennessee to our Police Officer son's and EMT daughter's home. The whole family is going there since their work schedules don't allow them to travel. I always carry knitting for the car and idle moments.

I love to eat Christmas cookies; sugar cookies, iced prize cookies with mincemeat or candied fruit in the dough, molasses stars.... and Mamie Eisenhower Fudge!

Our favorite treat comes from Grandma. They are called Forgotten Cookies. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with foil. Beat 2 egg whites until stiff, slowly add 3/4 c sugar and beat till smooth. Add 1tsp mint flavoring, a few drops of green food coloring and stir in 1 cup chocolate chips. Plop spoonsful onto the cookie sheet. Place the cookie sheet into the oven, close the door and turn off the oven. Do not open the door for at least 5 hours or over night. Alternate fillings are chopped dates and nuts, crushed candy canes or just about anything you can think of!

My first married Christmas I made a Christmas outfit for my dear mother-in-law. It was a long skirt and a red velvet bolero vest. I hand sewed braided rick-rack on the vest and the skirt. It took hours and since it was a surprise and I lived in their home because my new husband was in Korea in the service I was holed up in my room stitching for days. Mom and Dad were worried about me being depressed. They only understood on Christmas morning. Mom loved it and wore it for many years. She always pointed out the "perfect little stitches" to everyone who complimented her outfit.

I just finished a lovely scarf made from a Hilltop Cloud fiber that I will give to a friend for Christmas. I will spin as much as I can as always. I've been spinning for over 7 years now, have accumulated three wheels and several tubs of fiber (mostly from Hilltop Cloud). I learned to knit nearly 60 years ago, but only started knitting in earnest 45 years ago.

My favorite Christmas was back in 1976. We were assigned to Berlin, Germany and arrived there the weekend before Thanksgiving. We were all alone without family and feeling kind of glum, until someone invited us to a Christmas Eve service at church which cheered us up. We got ourselves and the 2 year old and 3 month old dressed and went to the place where they were to pick us up at the appointed time, but the bus never came. We stood in the freezing cold wind for a long time hoping, but finally went back up to our tiny efficiency apartment. My husband was so discouraged he gathered the laundry and went to the basement to wash clothes. I can't tell you where I found the supplies, but the Spirit of Christmas took a hold of me and I set to work. I created a crepe paper streamer Christmas tree on the balcony window with ornaments and a star on top. I took the glasses they gave us when we arrived and fixed some little candles in them, lit them and placed them around the room and turned out the lights. I went down to the laundry room and brought my husband back upstairs. He was so touched by the festive appearance of that little room. We had our own little service in worship of the newborn king and our love of family traditions was born. When we woke up in the morning the sun was shining bright, it was the first time we had seen the sun in over a month! We bundled up the girls and stood on that balcony fully convinced that God Himself had given us the best Christmas present ever! We adopted the Advent Wreath as one of our family traditions to remind us of those Berlin days when we learned to be a family. It's the little things; friends, family, traditions, home made gifts and home that show themselves to be the precious treasures of our lives... and memories.

Thank Janet for sharing your Christmases with us. Come back tomorrow for another spinner.