I’m so glad that I went for my ‘a little bit every day’ way of preparing for Christmas – oh and simplifying things and being careful not to book social events this week certainly helped too.

I’m almost through. Once the blizzard stops I’m going to make a last foray into Zürich to pick up the last two gifts. Then it will just come down to a couple of supermarket trips to collect the turkey and the last odds and ends, one airport trip to collect my mother and a little gentle mince pie baking.

There is no panic. Can you believe it? I can’t ever remember it being like this before. There is no panic – I’ll say it again! I’m slowly but surely doing the last things that need to be done and I’m enjoying them, no, actually I’m savouring them. I’m lighting candles, listening to carols and even…yes, you’ve guessed it, knitting socks!!!

It’s snowing outside. It’s almost perfect.

If only I could get the TV man to come out to sort out our digital TV signal out so that we can watch Downton Abbey on Christmas day…then it really would be perfect!

I hope that you are having a chance to quietly enjoy the last week before Christmas too!

Helen

PS Don’t forget yesterday’s giveaway – you still have the rest of today to enter and I’ll announce the winner tomorrow!

Today has turned out to be a special day. In honour of the occasion I’m having a giveaway and you can see from the prize just what I’ve been getting up to instead of preparing for Christmas (sometimes a girl just has to have a little fun 🙂 )

There is no jumping through hoops here! And I’m happy to ship internationally!!

All you have to do is guess what today could be and leave me a comment. It would be great if you’d tell your friends too, but hey….no pressure! I’ll draw a winner from all those who come up with the right answer!

The winner will receive a Zippy Strippy bag made with Moda’s Amelia range filled with a bunch of goodies!

I’ll pick a winner on Tuesday evening. Make sure I have a way to contact you or check by the blog on Wednesday to see who has won!

Happy guessing!

Helen

Sometimes I bury myself in a project that seems like it’s, well….jinxed. You know the sort of thing – the project where everything goes wrong and you keep going and keep going and it kind of never goes right and you’re overwhelmed by the feeling that you’re never going to be done. If I was a giver-upper (which I’m not, by the way!), this would be one of those projects that would languish in the bottom of a wicker basket somewhere forever.

Recognize this?

Its a Sunshine Sock – yes, just the one – by Cookie A from Sock Innovations.

You may remember it. It’s that sock that I started way back when. I’m not sure if I told you the part about starting the toe decreases and then in a fit of pique being convinced that I’d knitted it wrong and ripping it all back to the heel again. And then discovering that I had probably been right all along…

I reknitted the foot this week – and just so you know, this is a fiddly pattern, so it wasn’t going anywhere fast. When I got to the toe I discovered that, despite my best efforts, I somehow had 10 stitches too many through the whole foot. At this point all those of you on the other side of the Atlantic may just have heard the rude words that came out of my mouth (which incidentally was OK because none of the children were at home, so they still don’t know that I even know those words).

What the fiddly doodah went wrong?

I still don’t really know. There does seem to have been a small section of the pattern that I may somehow have omitted to read. But even if I had, (at the time that is) I still don’t understand how the pattern would have flowed with 10 stitches less.

At this point I made a management decision. I decided with a good grace to pretend that nothing had happened. I finished the toe, Kitchener-stitched the end – and hey presto it looks great!

I have slim feet and I really wonder with 10 stitches less if it would have fitted better. I don’t really think so.

That’s what I think and I’m sticking to it. Now I just have to make sure that I make the same mistakes in the other sock and bob’s your uncle, I’ll be all set.

Don’t you think these are just the cutest socks with jeans? I don’t need to tell you how smooshy and cosy they are (Juno Fibre Arts Alice Sock yarn – in colourway ‘Dusk’ – a divine mixture of baby alpaca, silk and cashmere).

I guess it doesn’t get much better than this.

Knitting on a snowy Saturday afternoon having decided not to brave the busiest shopping afternoon of the year.

One completed sock vs Christmas shopping completed.

The sock won.

Hands down.

Helen

As I’ve got older I’ve become more and more resistant to going out in the evening – especially in the winter. It takes a lot to drag me away from my cosy hearth. This week though I braved not only cold and dark, but also wind and torrential rain to go and see the most wonderful film. I can honestly say that if I hadn’t been meeting up with friends who I don’t see very often I wouldn’t have bothered – I certainly didn’t head out of the door with joy in my heart.

But I’m so glad I did. What a wonderful film.

If you haven’t made the effort to go and see The Help, then please do – you won’t regret it. It is a truly excellent film – and stays very true to the book, which isn’t always the case, and which I also loved. I see it was also nominated for 5 Golden Globes yesterday – including Best Film.

I hope it wins – and I hope you all go and see it!

Helen

Somehow, amazingly I’ve managed to keep to my plan of doing a little bit of preparation towards Christmas every day. I don’t do big things – it’s more along the lines of ordering the turkey or buying chestnuts and wrapping paper. The tree and putting up the decorations are planned for Saturday, with my eldest daughter pleading to take the lead – well, I certainly won’t say no to that!!

So, slowly but surely I feel like we’re getting there- and so far without any panic or stress. It was a great feeling to take Ilsa’s quilt to the post office this week, along with the last of the Christmas cards – so all the things that need to be sent are done. Now I can think of presents for the family (the younger generation of which seem to have some very extravagant requests!) and food.

I’ve actually started baking Guetzli – Swiss Christmas cookies – but only one sort at a time and at a very leisurely pace. The slow deliberation of it all means that I’m really taking the time to savour the moment and enjoy what I’m doing.

The weather is awful this week – stormy and raining – so I’m trying to make the house as welcoming as I can for the poor souls coming in out of the cold – candles are lit and cookies are waiting along with lovely wintery comfort food – chilli con carne, casseroles and fruit crumbles. It’s nice to feel that the house really feels cosy when the family come in and even the teenagers have been caught (in a rash moment) commenting on how nice it all feels.

I think the key seems to be keeping it slow and simple and actually savouring the season rather than rushing to be onto the next thing that needs to be completed. I purposely didn’t organize much of a social life this month and I’m so glad – we really have enough going on on our own and it’s just given us extra time and quiet to relax and enjoy.

I may still end up in a last minute maelstrom of activity and stress, but I hope not. This year I really want to enjoy Christmas and not be all stressed out like I normally am!

Happy third advent week to you all!

Helen