There are certainly elements of Christmas I like. In Australia, government departments shut down for the week between Christmas and New Year. And we still get paid. You don't take leave because you couldn't go to work if you wanted to.
I like that.
I like that everything shuts down on Christmas day and the world kind of stops for lots of us.
I like nice food and sipping champagne in the sun. I like planning what I want to cook, even if I don't get around to cooking it all.
I like seeing small children get excited. I like the feeling that comes from seeing someone really, genuinely appreciate something you lovingly chose (or made) for them.
But that's kind of it. I don't like the pressure that comes from feeling that you have to enjoy Christmas, that you're supposed to live up to some romantic or commercially dictated perfection. I don't like the crazy push to buy buy buy and that often when you do buy buy buy you end up buying things that people don't necessarily want, much less need, and it all seems like such a waste.
I could go on but I think you get the idea.
This all brings me to Christmas knitting. I'm doing it and I'm doing lots of it, including another Hemlock blanket (not yet started).
Samurai Knitter Julie is having a knit along which is still not officially named but is all about the (to use an American notion) Holiday Knitting. I've signed up because that's what November and hopefully only part of December is going to be about, but actually that leaves me only two weeks until December, doesn't it? Oops.
I'm planning easy things, though easy doesn't necessarily mean plain. I'm knitting things I know I can get through relatively quickly, without causing friction burns, but which show that I took some time and care to complete.
And today I decided that I might not make the Christmas deadline for all of them, and that's ok. I'll have the gifts done for family and people I'm spending time with over the immediate Christmas period, and hopefully a few more than that, but I might not make that deadline for everyone. By that I mean friends.
I'm knitting and crocheting for quite a few friends. It feels good and right and I'm actually quite excited about it. But I just might not get it to you, especially if you live outside Australia, by the 24th. I'm sure, if you've got your own crazy project list to get through, you'll understand, right? Because friends don't let friends go crazy over Christmas, do they?
So now I've got to get back to this pair of Dashings which is driving me crazy. I must be going through a completely dense phase (not unheard of) because I just cannot get this stupid cable right. But I will persist, right after I serve myself some blue jelly. Just because.
But that's kind of it. I don't like the pressure that comes from feeling that you have to enjoy Christmas, that you're supposed to live up to some romantic or commercially dictated perfection. I don't like the crazy push to buy buy buy and that often when you do buy buy buy you end up buying things that people don't necessarily want, much less need, and it all seems like such a waste.
I could go on but I think you get the idea.
This all brings me to Christmas knitting. I'm doing it and I'm doing lots of it, including another Hemlock blanket (not yet started).
Samurai Knitter Julie is having a knit along which is still not officially named but is all about the (to use an American notion) Holiday Knitting. I've signed up because that's what November and hopefully only part of December is going to be about, but actually that leaves me only two weeks until December, doesn't it? Oops.
I'm planning easy things, though easy doesn't necessarily mean plain. I'm knitting things I know I can get through relatively quickly, without causing friction burns, but which show that I took some time and care to complete.
And today I decided that I might not make the Christmas deadline for all of them, and that's ok. I'll have the gifts done for family and people I'm spending time with over the immediate Christmas period, and hopefully a few more than that, but I might not make that deadline for everyone. By that I mean friends.
I'm knitting and crocheting for quite a few friends. It feels good and right and I'm actually quite excited about it. But I just might not get it to you, especially if you live outside Australia, by the 24th. I'm sure, if you've got your own crazy project list to get through, you'll understand, right? Because friends don't let friends go crazy over Christmas, do they?
So now I've got to get back to this pair of Dashings which is driving me crazy. I must be going through a completely dense phase (not unheard of) because I just cannot get this stupid cable right. But I will persist, right after I serve myself some blue jelly. Just because.
Or I might just knit my Adamas shawl to remind myself that it's still A Long, Lacy Summer, despite the fact I haven't touched it in days.Bells
|