What's In a Tradition...

I was scolded twice this week for my lapse in blogging, so I thought I'd better get my rear in gear and freshen things up a bit, lest I lose all of my readers entirely. I've been watching my Sitemeter report dwindle bit by bit over the last few weeks. To be honest, I just haven't been in the mood. A bit of a pre-winter funk perhaps, I don't know. Everyone tells you that you won't have time for this or that when a baby comes into your life. That's not entirely true. There is still time for crafts or reading or whatever your form of recreation is, if you make it. Just maybe not as much as you would like. But what they neglect to tell you is that when you do get a chunk of free time for crafting or reading or whathaveyou, you may not give a tiny rats ass about doing any of that.

I'm still managing to knit, when I feel like it, and am still producing a respectable amount of finished product. I can't show all of it here, as some are gifts and the last time I posted some of those, it totally backfired on me :) But I can't seem to recall the last time I actually read anything of substance. I've tried. Maybe I just haven't found the right book yet. Here's hoping Christmas yields something worthwhile. I really need to make more of a habit of it though. I really am getting stupider by the day.

So anyway, it's Christmas time again. The mind boggles. I was round about 30 wks. pregnant this time last year, all anticipation and fluid retention. Now the Bean is here and babbling and rolling and cutting a tooth and wonder of wonders, I'm not as much of a humbug as I used to be. I loaded up on some new decorations yesterday at Canadian Tire and am already planning my next trip back to get more. By the way, is it just me or does it really grind anyone else's gears when you come across really adorable holiday ornaments that are produced to look homemade and are priced so cheaply that there is no conceivable way that you could amass the materials or the time to make them yourself? This was my 'to hell with it' moment and I've been loading up on this crap like there is no tomorrow. I should post a picture of some of them though...seriously cute.

Where was I? See? Totally stupid. Right...Christmas. Really, it's all about the kids, no? And now that I have one, I've been doing some serious thinking about what I want this holiday to be for her, how I want it to play out in her memory over the years. I was with some friends the other night and they got to talking about the big Catholic Christmases of their youth. Lots of food and family. Sounded nice. I didn't grow up with any sort of religious tradition, so Christmas was more an orgy of consumption and excess, which over the years became what you'd expect...devoid of meaning or any sort of staying power. And there were some just plain old rotten Christmases that left a rather bitter taste in my mouth about the whole damn thing.

Sometimes at the beginning of the season (which, frankly, starts earlier and earlier every year. Christmas music in October...*gag*) I still get the cringe twinge and a shudder up my back. But I've found the earlier I get everything ready and in place, the happier I am about it all. So far, I'm right on track this year. If all goes according to plan this week, everything will be complete. We just need the tree, a little decorating on my part left to do (lights outside are the constable's department), some packages put into the mail and it's Feliz Navidad before you know it. My goal is always to be over 50% done by Dec. 1. I'm quite proud of myself for having achieved that this year.

I'm still trying to come up with what sort of traditions we will implement over the years, but I'm sure they will evolve over time. I've decided on a couple of things though. First up, I'd like to make an advent calendar. I decided I wanted to make on one, oh, the 26th of November? Yeah. Shut up...there's still time. There are a bunch of lovely ones over here in a Flickr pool. I got some great ideas from these.



My other idea where Little A was concerned were three must have items; new Christmas jammies, a pair of hand knit socks and if possible, a new hand knit sweater, until she reaches the age where that sort of thing is no longer cool. And if you can believe it, I've made good on all three. Above are the Flakey Baby Socks that I've had my eye on for a couple of years. I omitted a repeat, but other than that, followed it pretty much to the letter. Since these are done in a worsted weight, they work up in no time. Adorable.



The sweater is almost done, another Classic Cable from Top Down for Toddlers. This has taken me for what feels like forever, simply because other things grab my attention. I need to learn not to hold myself to my old speed standards. Anyhow, there is a glaring error in the cable but at least I did it on both sides (cable is repeated on the front and the back) so we'll call it a design modification and just move on. I think this is *just* going to fit her and maybe not for very long. It's a 1 year size and looks like it might be a wee bit snug already. But we'll see after it's washed and blocked.

That's all the crafting I've done for her so far this year. And I'm pretty satisfied with that. Since the rest of the shopping and the crafting I had planned on is pretty much in the bag, whatever else I can manage will be a nice little bonus. We shall see. For now I'm off to hit up the craft sale down at the fire hall. Look at me go.

Until later...