I'm sure you have those same thoughts occasionally -- especially at this time of the year!?!
A young friend who owns a quilt shop in this region just announced she is closing the shop for a couple weeks around the holidays -- my first thought was -- "how sensible she is for one so young!!"
December was always a slow month for my shop and so I gave the staff extra time off and spent my days doing my Christmas sewing while manning the shop.
I enjoyed the peace and quiet and it made it so much easier to keep all the gift stitching secret!
But the shop has been closed for 13 years now and I live alone, so why do I still adhere to the December stitching habit?
No clue but here is a quick tour!
There is the sock knitting frenzy -- this is a photo of the makings of five pair in various states. There are actually three different socks started in this picture -- I'm a bit fearful that I've broken a long standing habit of "one knitting project at a time".
And there is one finished sock!!
My crazy mind breaks down finishing goals into "how much I need to do daily" to meet the mark!
My mark for this chaos is December 28 (my family's gathering) so I need to finish a sock every other day.
You sock knitters out there know how much focus this requires!!
But they are the only gifts I'm making this year and everything else is in place!
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Then just to keep things stressful, I've set finishing this rainbow Nundle Dilly bag for my #onemonthlygoal project. It's a fun make and uses most of the hexies I basted this fall during #100days100hexies on Instragram. It was my intention to use the hexies for this bag from the beginning but the original layout has evolved into a rainbow project -- my first rainbow project!!
To have it finished, I need to assemble half of one of these panels each day!
And then there is this quilt -- hand quilting and binding by the end of the year is a goal for the 2018 Finish Along. I have been making good progress now that all the "design" decisions have been made thanks to Jeanne Kimball's #50dayshandquilting group on Instagram.
If I quilt two hoops fulls each day, I'll make it!
The crazy part of these plans is that any one of them are more than enough to fill an already busy time of year . . . . but three???
So I've spent the morning talking myself down off the ceiling.
The socks are the priority so they come first every day!
The other two -- not urgent and so I'll go at them with a more relaxed pace. They are both so close to finished and have a momentum, so they will get there very soon.
What about you?
Are you trying to do too much this month? If so, join me in dialing back and invest that energy and drive in your friends and family!
Mary
I've tried to take it easier this season - been burned too many times and it just takes away from the holiday. Merry Christmas and God's Blessings in the coming New Year.
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