Yarn Along – 16 November
As I wrote the date in the title box for this post – It hit me again how little time I have left before Christmas arrives. This year is different from past years as we have resolved as a family to have an understated homespun Christmas. On all sides we are assaulted with commercialism, marketing for the season starts early here in the UK, and quite frankly, it sickens me!
When we started to see commercialism’s grip begin to take a grip on our children, we knew we had to firmly take a stand against it and make a conscious decision to focus on the true meaning of the season and reject the worlds meaning of the season. So at the moment, our home is filled with project planning and busy hands. I know that with so much thought, planning, time and effort going into each gift that it is bound to give each person a warm thankful glow rather than one of disappointment.
There is an episode of Michael Landon’s ‘Little House on the Prarie’ series that illustrates the true meaning of Christmas beautifully. It shows each member of the Ingalls family working on handcrafted gifts in secret for members of their family. There is also great sacrifice made by little Laura as she seeks to bless her mother with a lovely new wood-stove. She sells her beloved horse to her arc-rival Nellie Olson in order to be able to give her mother this wonderful gift. Our hearts are warmed by this attitude of giving. I think that I will put this episode on this afternoon for the girls to enjoy and take encouragement from.
With all that in mind, my own gift making has stepped up a notch. Here is my progress on my knitted gifts so far…
One sock of a pair just about complete – will finish it off this afternoon and cast on for the 2nd sock.
I’m already on the birds-eye lace of my Aestlight shawl – which will be a gift for my eldest daughter. She has expressed a desire to have a pretty shawl, so she shall have one ;o) My goal is to have it complete by the end of next week.
I have also started on a really cute little cable jersey (see my ravelry page) for my youngest, in her favourite color -blue. I am using a baby DK yarn as it is so soft and I love the pastel shade. I cast on for this jersey on Monday afternoon, so am happy with the progress so far. I would like to have this one completed by the end of November.
With all this hard knitting, I’m afraid my reading hours are limited. I am only able to snatch a few pages each evening before my eyes finally close for the day ;o)
Joining Ginny today at Small Things
17 Comments
sylvia
the colour of the jersey is beautiful! good luck with finishing the projects in time! i know how it is, i also only knit in the evenings and then very often i'm so tired that my eyelids feel heavy after just a few rows…
little macaroon.
beautiful gifts – and as much pleasure to give as to receive.
Obaitori
it sounds like you have a loving conscious Christmas planned. The colour of the wool in that sock looks beautiful, perfect stitches. I hope you have a great day. Katie
Unknown
The commercialization of Christmas just takes our breath away… you have found a lovely solution. Good luck with your projects!
karen
The pullover is so lovely! You are quite creative to think up that pattern 🙂
pinkundine
Yeah,I had a terrifying realisation that Christmas is much sooner than expected and my progress is not nearly enough 😉 Wishing us both luck!
Love the sock yarn by the way 🙂
Ellen
Commercialism starts early here too! It seems to get earlier each year. I remember that Little House episode. I love the secreting away for making handmade items for each other. You have been quite busy with many projects!
Lori ann
lovely projects, i love that shawl!
Anonymous
Such beautiful projects you are knitting. I really love the colors of the socks!
Becks
We had a lovely uncommercial yule last year, our best ever, and this year will be much the same. I am trying to et at least one handmake for each menber of the family and am only just off target so far. Nothing better than something made with love.
Rebecca
That birds-eye lace took me forever on my Aestlight shawl. The Little House books bring out the uncommercial aspect of Christmas even more than the television series…..wonderful books!
Tirza
Oh pretty socks! Love them. And I loved visiting your blog. I wish we could have tea in real life because I think we have much in common (homeschooling, etc). My sister lives in Cornwall England and I lived outside London about ten years ago so I've always had a heart for England. Thanks for visiting my blog also. I posted the link to the hat pattern in the comments. Good luck with it!
Lisa
That's my favorite episode of Little House!
It makes a very good point. 🙂
Thanks for sharing.
Blessings,
Lisa
Serena
I love Little House! Looking forward to sharing it with my little girl too. Beautiful projects. You have been very busy! It's amazing how quickly the Christmas season is coming. My favorite time of the year. You are so right about commercialism. I think the most meaningful gifts are those that we create with love. Your family is blessed to have such a creative Mom. :)I look forward to seeing the progression of these beautiful projects.
Sam
I am so glad to have found you again. I used to follow you on your other blog and wondered what happened. I really enjoyed hearing how life is in England as we live in Cape Town and my husbands is from the UK and my family too but I was born in SA. We are also homeschoolers and it is great being able to follow your journey over there as I am always thinking about moving or staying. Look forward to reading up about what you all up to.
Shirley-Ann
Thank you everyone for your kind comments! We watched that episode of Little House and loved it. We have read the entire little house series and after watching Little House yesterday – I have decided that we need to begin reading them again! They are so much a part of our family ;o)
Sam, I'm so glad you found me again too ;o) I spent many years thinking about moving or staying in Cape Town. Now that we have made the move, I am so glad that we did. We LOVE England – it feels like home for us ;o)
Thistle Cove Farm
Hello, I'm visiting from Susan Branch's blog. Your knitting is lovely and, may I suggest, audio books as you knit. I listen to audio books and to radio programs as I knit, spin, quilt, etc. and find my time is profitably doubled.