I don't know about you but I love the month of December, can you tell?
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| Knitting on the boat in the winter sun |
It is dark out there and the weather can be grim but there is something about the twinkling lights that people hang on their house and place in their front gardens that bring joy and the much needed missing light. Divali too in November has that same feeling, let's bring light in at this dark time of year. It is after Christmas that I seem to suffer and notice the darkness more, once the lights of Christmas are packed away for another year. And yet the days by then will already be beginning to lengthen and there is more daylight, not that I ever feel that this is true. But it is. Today is the winter solstice. It changes every year but always falls between December 20-23 and this year in the Northern hemisphere it is today, Friday 21st December. The sun rose only a few moments ago at 0803 in the UK and tonight it will set at 1553. Last night was the longest night and from tonight the nights start to become shorter and the days longer.
The solstice is the when the sun is furthest from us meaning less sunlight and the southern hemisphere today will have their longest day. The word solstice comes from the Latin word solstitium meaning sun standing still. Don't you just love knowing snippets like this? There is a difference between equinox and solstice too, today is the winter solstice, shorter day and longer nights but the equinox is when the day and night are of the same proportion, usually, this happens around March 21 and again around September 23 every year.
Today I will light the fire, no work for me I am now on my Christmas holidays, whilst my son is still I school I shall sit by the fire and frantically try and finish his present. What can a mother do, when three weeks before Christma you see on his wish list a knitted jumper? I have had to knit in secret and try to fit it in around everything else, so it is really not ready. but with my new philosophy this year of taking things slow and not stressing, I will try and complete it but if not, I will wrap it up regardless and tell him I will complete it this side of New Year, I'm almost there.
I was not daft as I chose thick wool needing only 17 stitched per 10cm and an easy bottom up circular pattern with a round yoke and very little pattern. Had I more time, I would have knitted something with more pattern, maybe that is something for the future, let's see how much he wears this...
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| Every opportunity to knot to try and complete the Christmas gift |
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| Whilst watching my son in his rowing race, I knitted |
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| Accompanying my husband unexpectedly to winterise our boat, I had to knit, sorry I did not help honey! |
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Do you have last minute things to do? Are you taking it in your stride or are you stressed?
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If it cheers you up any, I still haven't finished the jumper that was supposed to be my husband's Christmas present in 2017, after I missed his birthday deadline in September 2017 :D
ReplyDeleteI think the dark days feel harder to cope with in the New Year - we know the days are supposed to be getting longer, but it stays dark in the mornings for ages. It makes it hard to get out of bed when it looks like the middle of the night :'(
Have a Happy (stress-free) Christmas :)
Guess what, I ran out of wool!! Thought I might just get it done in time and this happened! I bought the amount stated in the pattern but I am way off, what a shame, but worse troubles at sea as they say! Have a wonderful Christmas Shelagh and thank you for all your support x
DeleteI feel the darkness at this time of year, too. And it does seem to take ages before we notice the lengthening of the days. But spring will come again and I shall be so glad of it!
ReplyDeleteHere it is nearly midnight on Christmas Day, so it's nearly over. I did have last-minute things to do, but chose not to stress about it. So I was wrapping the stocking stuffers just before bedtime yesterday and then was informed that in my cousin's wife's family, they always opened all their gifts on Christmas Eve! So I barely got everything under the tree and then we opened them. I am a person who likes to savour everything, but others are different. That's a good thing, really; we need contrast in the world to really appreciate anything. It took me a few minutes to adjust, though . . . and then it was all fine.
So today there wasn't much to do; I chose to work on my latest project (still haven't posted about it and the previous one . . .) while listening to a series on the laptop. I've read the books, so don't really need to watch everything.
So it was a quiet, but good, day. Was thinking of you and all the friends I have. I'll catch up with your most recent posts over the next couple of days.
I've been thinking about your questions (at the end) while typing; I don't think I've been too stressed; most stress at the moment comes from the world doing its own thing and not always being in alignment with my expectations . . . funny, when I'm objective about it.
Hope you and your family have had a lovely time over the past few days. And that the jumper is now finished and being enjoyed. I love that Jack actually asked for a jumper! So sweet!!
God Jul, Selma <3 ~ Linne
It is true that many of us do things in a different way but you are right it makes for a more interesting life. Good job, you managed then to wrap all in time!! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas Linne xxx
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