astitchisastitch posted: " Well? Is everybody feeling the pre-holiday madness yet? Kids counting down the days, adults scrambling to get every little thing on their to-do lists done, everyone feeling pressure of some sort, sniffling and coughing all around ... This pos" A Stitch is a stitch
Well? Is everybody feeling the pre-holiday madness yet?
Kids counting down the days, adults scrambling to get every little thing on their to-do lists done, everyone feeling pressure of some sort, sniffling and coughing all around ...
This post is me trying to step on the brakes, to calm down, to give myself a breather, starting with a well-loved cookie recipe. Those of you who are RL friends have probably eaten these at my house before. Readers who don't know me in person and followers from other countries may not even be familiar with these cutely named, crescent-shaped almond morsels:
Ladies and gentlemen, Vanillekipferl.
They are, as the name suggests, vanilla-flavored, and you can go nuts with that - in fact, there's not really anything like too much vanilla where these croissant-shaped beauties are concerned. The dough itself is not overly sweet, and has a lovely, nutty crunch. But it's after baking that they really get their oomph: once cooled down to hand warm temperature, you roll them in a mix of powdered sugar and vanilla powder... and the result is quite magic. You'll see.
I just finished my first draft of the tome that had me busy since September, and I feel I need a short break from it before I start editing it in earnest. So I've been doing things like: putting together and posting packages for family. Finishing a last-minute hand made prezzie for my dear A, gift giver extraordinaire and best friend for decades. Composing and sending out Christmas messages for my clients. Putting together grocery lists for the holidays. Buying and decorating our tree. Ordering last minutes gifts. Having laser surgery on my foot (plantar warts, not pretty!) that still has me hobbling alongside my dog instead of properly walking him. Bookkeeping, including a series of increasingly stern past due notices to an exceptionally tardy client, so annoying. I mean, do these people not realize this is my livelihood...? It's so disrespectful to make me chase their tails to diplomatically remind them that they've been owing me 900 bucks for months! Doctor's appointments with my kid. Carpooling. Last children's dance performance. And so on, and so forth ...
I'm sure many of you must be in similar situations! My method for stopping my brain from doing cartwheels is killing the stress with kindness. Here are a few ideas that work for me, maybe you'll find some of them helpful as well (not all of them at the same time, maybe just one or two things – you do you!)
Move to the kitchen. Cook a meal from scratch. Bake some bread. Make a recipe you love, or try a new one. Something nourishing you enjoy.
Put on music. A Christmas playlist, if you're so inclined. Classical music. Old Jazz. Low-fi hip hop. Foo Fighters or Metallica, if that is your happy place. This is for you, and anything that has you smiling is allowed.
Take a mindful walk. Touch a few trees, bring home a beautiful dried leaf, pine cone, a pretty twig.
Run a bath using your favorite bath salt. Mine is and will always be lavender.
Do crafts – but not in a hectic, need-to-finish-by-Christmas kind of way. Just at your leisure. Feel the texture of the yarn, or cloth, clay, paper – whatever you enjoy.
Call a friend whom you haven't spoken to in a while. How are they doing? Catch up.
Light candles – these last days before winter solstice are really dark, aren't they?
Eat some nice and juicy fruit that has seen lots of sun – an orange, a tangerine, a cantaloupe. Relish the sun-drenched taste.
Go to bed really early, if you feel like it, and treat yourself to a good night's sleep. Or stay up late, if you're a night owl. Anything that helps recharge those batteries.
The Christmas holidays can be an emotional time, and not necessarily in a good way for just everyone. Not all of us have peaceful childhood memories, and the general cheer that society seems to expect from us once the smell of cinnamon and fir trees is in the air can get a bit much, at times. The important thing, I think, is to take good care of ourselves at this time of the year, whether we love the ding-ding-ding of Jingle Bells, or prefer removing ourselves from seasonal Western customs to do yoga or meditation when we have a few days off.
To me personally, Christmas is about love, and about trying to be kind, about making someone smile. It's not about religion, but it's not not about religion, either. It's about seeing the good in people, maybe, difficult as it sometimes is. We're all flawed, but we can try to do better. Ultimately, Christmas seems as good an opportunity for that as any.
Moving on to lighter matters! Here's a few crafts projects I managed to wrap up, while resting my foot.
The Waffle Blanket, ends all darned in, washed and blocked (I know I sort of showed this already when it was almost finished, but it bears repeating!) – I'm really pleased with it.
The Aubergine Sweater is done! It's my interpretation of petiteKnit's 'Monday Sweater' – with color block rib at neck, cuffs and bottom. It fits really well, and I'm so happy to have completed what in the beginning seemed like a monumental task:
Clearly, I'm not the only person in this house who is going to be wearing it, and that is as it should be.
My son had asked for black flip-top mittens, and here they are:
The secret present my friend A doesn't yet now about is this pair of fingerless mittens:
And I've been making sets of crochet coasters like this one that's in use on my desk:
They developed from my contribution to Granny Square Day in August ...
... and will, hopefully, make a good present for my MIL who already has everything, twice over. The only possibility to give her something she actually likes is to make her stuff. So I do!
And that, folks, is it for today.
Thank you for reading, and for coming back - all followers, subscribers, online and RL friends - happy holidays to you, any which way you like to spend them. See you next year!
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