A bit of down-time before the storm

I am frequently jealous of Americans for having Thanksgiving. It's like a warm up to the big event with just enough time in between for a breather. Here the Christmas seems to set in on November 1st and I even found myself shopping with my sister on the 15th November and feeling bad for not being in the Christmas mood yet. What?? This madness is catching!

Image Property of Universal Press Syndicate

Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas. I love the mood, the weather, the time with family and, obviously, the food. The one thing I do not like is the commercialism and the sense of panic that spreads when people are running around looking for the perfect gift. As I have mentioned before I make edible gifts for all my friends at Christmas and I hope to continue this tradition, probably adapting the edible goodies as time goes on, but keeping the essence of the handmade gift forever. Even if I had all the money in the world and could pay someone to make treats for everyone I know that I would still do it myself, because the point is to give them something from the heart, something that took time and effort and a little love to boot.

One of my usual presents

This panic for a bought gift, however, is somewhat inevitable, even when you start early like I did last year there are always a few people that you are unsure of, or for whom the perfectly planned present could not be acquired. Still it's only the 2nd December, and for reasons we will ignore for the moment I was confined to the couch this weekend, so I decided to put the feet up and relax. I watched 'Miracle on 34th Street,' 'The Muppets: A Christmas Carol,' and thoroughly soaked up the Christmas feeling at it's best. But I am aware that this is the second weekend I haven't baked so to make up for that I thought I would share some other items that I have worked on until I start some of the Christmas cooking next week. I hope you enjoy these little pics.

This cowl scarf was designed specifically for my rough and manly bf, it is thick and sits very close to the neck making it a perfect fit under a jacket.

To match his scarf I also knitted him this little hat, which he is very proud of, despite some first timer idiosyncrasies