Hand Made Holidays

 These are the socks I'm making for my daughter for Christmas this year.  I just started them today.  I'm not stressed out about it, I'm actually quite content to have them underway.  To have started them.  My family knows if they get a wrapped ball (or two) of yarn under the tree, they are as likely to have something ready by the New Year as not! 

'Tis the season for quick finishes & crafty finales.

For some of us, it's the season for a big dose of stress and hustle--especially if we've gotten a late start or if inspiration was elusive.  Sometimes we can make it work and sometimes we have to give up, lower our expectations or start over. 

And for some of us, it is a time of satisfying little crafty triumphs --the socks both finished, for example -- or the sweater knit with the gauge just right & blocked & finished with time to spare. 

Whatever the case may be, and whatever holidays you celebrate, I'd like to reach out with a gentle reminder.  WE MAKE THINGS BECAUSE WE LOVE TO MAKE THINGS.  We don't make things so other people admire us or think we're clever. We don't generally make things to save time or money.  We don't make things to stress ourselves out.  We make things because that is something people do.  And people have been making things to give --gifts-- forever. 

We make things because we love to make things.  Isn't that mostly it?  Don't you love choosing materials for a project?  Isn't the search for the right pattern fun?  Knowing you have or can get the right tools to make something interesting or challenging is a small thrill. Casting on is another small thrill.  Watching something take shape in your hands is another. And having someone you care about in mind while you're creating a gift transforms the 'stuff' you're working with via some alchemy involving your heart, your mind & your wool. 

So, enjoy the holidays.  Happy Everything!  And enjoy your knitting. Your crocheting, your spinning, dyeing & hooking.  Happy cross stitching & embroidering.  And happy gift giving.  Enjoy the subtle pleasure of giving something you've made to someone you love.  If you're knitting or crocheting for charity this year, thank you. 

Happy Everything!