Christmas Eve Eve

It's the day before Christmas Eve so that makes it Christmas Eve Eve - right? The presents are wrapped and hidden away until tomorrow evening when they can go under the tree. In the case of the cats' presents, they have to be hidden until the last moment or all the other presents will have been licked by the time we get to them (I make them catnip toys each year and, yes, I speak from experience).

The advent calendars are nearly finished. Just one more chain to add to my crochet Advent Chain tomorrow.

The last chunk of my advent jigsaw is going to take  a while I think. Look at that big space.

I've already bought the two puzzles to turn into next year's advent jigsaws for my son and daughter. I found them in a charity shop for £2 each; I know how to spoil them, don't I?

The decorations are up, although for a while these included that traditional favourite the mattress in the hall as my new bed and mattress were delivered last week.

Luckily, one of my son's friends came round yesterday to help him move it up two flights of steep stairs to my new bedroom where it can stay until we can put the bed together after Christmas. Speaking of the bed, apart from the slats and the headboard, it all fitted into this box.

Mmm ... doesn't seem very likely, does it? I shall report back once we get it open.

I've been going through my list of all the things I've made this year and it's quite a mixture. I'm going to write a blog post about my lists of the year soon - oh yes, there are several - but I can say that I always start off my Christmas preparations in January by knitting the set of mini stockings that go on my Christmas presents. Here's my one of this year's, hanging on the tree; I make an extra one for myself if I remember.

The problem with being so far ahead is that it leaves me feeling smug and I then forget to do anything else for months. Ah well, maybe I'll be more consistent next year. Actually, I have already designed next year's mini stocking and knitted two of them ... One of the things I really must do in 2024 is to sort out my various mini stocking patterns and get them all published properly.

Anyway, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful and Happy New Year. I shall leave you with a few candles on my son's house warming quilt which regular readers are probably sick of the sight of.

Advent

I am a big fan of special things and this time of year gives me an excuse to factor in a little bit of special into every day. I am, of course, talking about advent calendars. This year there are four. First and foremost is the traditional card calendar with a picture behind every door.

The highlight so far this year has been the fat robin on a branch, complete with a hat and his own little stocking and bauble hanging from his branch. You may just about be able to see him halfway up the calendar on the left.

At the moment the calendar is propped up on my mantelpiece in the front room but, once all the doors are opened, it will be moved so that I can see the little quilt hiding behind it.

You can see my little beaded houses at the side of the picture too. These are from ThreadABead's Christmas Village series which are beautiful designs, full of little details. So far I have made three of them.

The Reindeer Barn in the middle is the most recent.

A new addition to the advent calendar traditions this year has been the advent jigsaw. This was a brilliant idea of my daughter's. You choose a festive jigsaw (1,000 piece is best), make it and then divide it into 24 sections and put each section into a numbered envelope. Then you put the envelopes into a box and give it to someone (without the box so they don't know what the picture is) and they have a little bit of puzzle to do every day. It's a cheap way of making an advent calendar, especially if you can find a suitable puzzle in a charity shop.

This year I made one each for my son and daughter, although I had to get them to help with dividing up each other's puzzle as that turned out to be too much for my Covid brain. Here's the one my daughter made me ...

It's going quite well so far. Each day's section takes me about ten minutes or so to do and is just the right level of difficulty. I think we could well be doing advent jigsaws again next year.

My third advent calendar is a crochet one. There's got to be one involving yarn, hasn't there? This is my Advent Chain, a simple crochet chain that buttons together to make a garland. I'm about half way through now and it's looking nice and colourful.

I was thinking that an Easter version of this would be nice, in pastel colours, perhaps with a little picot edging?

The last of my advent calendars is an advent candle. Well, actually, it's a night light in a lantern, one every day. I gave up on actual advent candles years ago as they were too stressful. Either I forgot about them and burned three days at once or ended up behind. This version is cheap and very forgiving to the confused and forgetful.

I thought I'd take a photo of it from where I sit in the evening but this is what happened when I tried that.

The pretty candle is on the hearth immediately behind Tolly (of course it is). So, here's a close up.

I should have taken this picture when the fire was lit as it looks even nicer then but never mind. You'll have to imagine the fire.

In between all my calendars I am managing to do a few other things. I'm wrapping presents, two a day and playing around with an idea for a 'stained glass' curtain for my front door. I did start a crochet table runner for one of the tables in my room of requirement (my craft room) but I'm not particularly enjoying doing it at the moment. I do like the colours though.

And this is the table it's intended for. I'm planning to add a border to make it fit the top.

I'm also proofreading what will probably be my last pattern before Christmas which I'm hoping to publish in the next couple of days. Don't get too excited. It's not colourful and it's quite tricky to knit. It does, however, qualify as Christmassy so that's something.

Candy Canes

Today sees the publication of the last of my decorations for the little knitted Christmas Cheer wreath and I'm finishing off with something that I don't think I've ever eaten. As their name suggests, I think candy canes are an American, rather than English tradition. The look of them appeals to me though and they do add a nice, traditional touch to the wreath.

For me, these sweets are forever associated with Laura Ingalls Wilder and her books telling the stories of her pioneer childhood in late nineteenth century America. I first read them with my Mum as they came out in paperback in this country; we were so excited when we found out that there was a whole series of them (I read Swallows and Amazons as a child but didn't know there were more, how sad is that?) 

Anyway, there are several references to Pa bringing home candy for Mary and Laura in the books but the best one is of course the story of the Christmas in Little House on the Prairie.

These colour editions of the books are lovely. Not only do they add colour to Garth Williams' illustrations but there are extra illustrations too. 

Mary and Laura are worried that Father Christmas won't be able to get to them on Christmas Eve as the river is too high to cross and they go to bed sadly. But they reckon without Mr Edwards who walks miles to Independence to meet Father Christmas and collect their presents. 

As there is no snow he is, of course, on horseback. The girls are so excited when they find tin cups, pennies and little cakes in their stockings.

'Then they plunged their hands into the stockings again. And they pulled out two long, long sticks of candy. It was peppermint candy, striped red and white.’

As Laura says, "There had never been such a Christmas".

I don't know what Laura would have made of my knitted candy canes but I hope you find time this Christmas to knit a few and perhaps find a stocking to put them in.

Candy Canes

Oranges

Oranges, satsumas, clementines, tangerines - whichever you like, juicy oranges are a necessity to counter all that rich food at Christmas. In my family the one non-negotiable part of the Christmas stocking is the little orange in the toe. My Granny was an exception; she loved big oranges and so, when she came to visit, she had a normal sized orange in her stocking.

These little knitted oranges add a bit of colour to the Christmas Cheer wreath and don't take long to knit. It's harder than you think to find references to Christmas oranges in books but I have two to share with you.

The first is another Shirley Hughes book, this time Out and About.

This is a collection of seasonal poems about a Katie and her little brother Olly who first appeared in the wonderful Nursery Collection which we have as individual little books, sadly now out of print.

You may be able to find secondhand copies of these or of the collected version The Nursery Collection which is more recent. I think that several of the poems are also in the The Shirley Hughes Treasury.

Anyway, back to Out and About. The poem that caught my eye is 'Hoping' which in just a few lines conjures up all the magic of Christmas for small children. The accompanying illustrations are pitch perfect too.

As well as the tangerines, there are mince pies, biscuits ... lots of lovely treats.

My other choice is also a poem, this time from the classic Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne with illustrations by E.H. Shepard.

Both this book and its companion When We Were Very Young should be in every home, with or without children. There are so many poems that you find yourself reciting for the rest of your life. there's 'Disobedience', featuring James James Morrison Morrison Weatherby George Dupree who 'took great care of his mother, though he was only three', 'The King's Breakfast' where the king tries very hard to get some butter for his bread or how about 'Lines and Squares' which explains just what will happen to you if you tread on the cracks in the pavement?

But for a poem about Christmas that's hard to beat, there's 'King John's Christmas'. We learn right at the start that 'King John was not a good man, And no good friends had he,' but he still thinks it would be nice if Father Christmas brought him a stocking on Christmas morning. So, he writes a detailed list of all the things he would like and props it up by the chimney.

Here are the things he asks for: crackers and candy, a box of chocolates ... "I don't mind oranges, I do like nuts! And I SHOULD like a pocket-knife that really cuts' ... but what King John wants most of all is a 'big red india-rubber ball!' Sadly, his stocking is empty on Christmas morning but, in case you think this is a very sad poem, there's a twist at the end which leaves you smiling. My son who is a primary school teacher reads this poem to his class every Christmas.

Oranges

Snowflake Biscuits

The next things to decorate my Christmas Cheer wreath are some snowflake biscuits.

These were the first things I thought of when I was choosing decorations for this Christmas food and drink wreath. There are lots of special biscuits associated with the festive season but I've loved the idea of these ever since first coming across them in this book.

In Jolly Snow by Jane Hissey, the toys are tired of waiting for snow so decide to make their own in all sorts of creative (and messy) ways. While Bramwell Brown is baking, they make snowflakes out of paper ...

... and feathers ... and have lots of fun. By this time it has actually started snowing outside but Bramwell Brown has also finished his baking and Jolly Tall (the giraffe, obviously) decides that this is the best snow of all. 

‘Bramwell Brown came into the room carrying a huge plateful of snowflake biscuits. “I think what you need is some of my snow,” he said.’ 

Whenever it snows I feel the need to bake some snowflake biscuits as I used to do when the children were small. In case you feel like trying these yourself, I found the little tubes of ready made icing very handy for adding the snowflakes.

Snowflake Biscuits

Mulled Drinks

Whether it's mulled wine, cider or ale, a warm and spicy drink is a delicious part of the festive season. My personal favourite was mulled cider but Long Covid wouldn't mix well with alcohol so it's non-alcoholic mulled drinks for me now.

The third set of decorations for my Christmas Cheer are some little bundles of cinnamon sticks with some spices embroidered on using french knots. These are very quick to knit as they're just ... well, knitted sticks.

I knew the book I wanted to use to illustrate mulled drinks straight away, a picture book of one of my favourite parts of Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows.

Mole's Christmas has beautiful illustrations by the artist Beverley Gooding. I see she illustrated two other picture books from The Wind in the Willows, The Open Road and Wayfarers All which would be worth looking for. All three books are now out of print.

Anyway, as Christmas nears Mole grows homesick for his old home and he and Rat are there when they hear carol singers outside. The ever resourceful Rat invites them in to sit by the fire and goes off in search of beer to mull. "I perceive this to be Old Burton," he remarked approvingly ... The very thing!"

‘soon every field-mouse was sipping and coughing and choking (for a little mulled ale goes a long way) and wiping his eyes and laughing and forgetting he had ever been cold in all his life.’

It makes you fell warm and cosy just to look at the pictures, doesn't it?

Mulled Drinks

Hot Chocolate

The second set of decorations to add to my Christmas Cheer wreath are three little mugs of hot chocolate.

Who doesn't like a hot chocolate at Christmas (or any other time, come to that?) There's something about this drink that calms you amidst all the hustle and bustle. It's often used in children's books to represent home and comfort. Dumbledore suggests it to Ginny in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when she returns from a terrible ordeal ...

                "Bed rest and perhaps a large, steaming mug of hot chocolate. I always 

                 find that cheers me up ..."

In The Polar Express written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg, the little boy who narrates the story is not sure if he still believes in Father Christmas when a strange train turns up on Christmas Eve and takes him on a magical adventure, along with lots of other children.

At first, the boy finds the train a bit scary but everything changes when the children are given mugs of hot chocolate - 'We drank hot cocoa as thick and rich as melted chocolate bars.'

The train is, of course, destined for the North pole where the children see Father Christmas and the elves getting ready to deliver the presents. Our narrator is asked to choose the first present of Christmas and it turns out to be a very special present indeed. 

Hot Chocolate

Fairy Lights

This is the first of six posts to complement the six sets of decorations on my Christmas Cheer wreath. I thought you might like to know more about the books that inspired me to choose each of them.

So, the first decoration to go on this wreath is a string of fairy lights. These are such a traditional feature of Christmas decorations that I could have chosen lots of books to talk about here. In the end, I've chosen two of my favourites.

Let's start with just one of the many wonderful books by Shirley Hughes. This one features Alfie and Annie Rose; the books with them in are woven tightly into my memories of when my two children were small.

Alfie's Christmas includes all the excitement and preparation for Christmas that you'd expect. Alfie makes cards, does some baking and goes shopping to choose presents. The pictures of their newly decorated Christmas tree are magical.

One of the things I like about Shirley Hughes' books is that she includes all the little messy details of family life and this book isn't without the over-excitement and tears that go with small children at Christmas time. You'll have to read the book to find out more.

My other choice is less well known but an essential part of my Christmas reading. Meet Alpaca, the toy rabbit.

Alpaca Saves Christmas, written by Rosemary Billam and illustrated by Vanessa Julian-Ottie was published in 1990 but is now out of print. If you can find a secondhand copy, it's a lovely story. Ellen and her little brother Robert are looking forward to Christmas and so, of course, is Alpaca. They hang their stockings on Christmas Eve and Ellen has made a little one especially for Alpaca.

All doesn't go as planned though. Robert can't sleep and decides to go downstairs to wait for Father Christmas, taking Alpaca with him - "I'd much rather stay in bed." thought Alpaca.' Robert bends down to switch on the fairy lights and drops Alpaca amongst the presents.

Ellen comes down to persuade her little brother back upstairs and off they go, leaving the fairy lights on and Alpaca still under the tree. "What about me?" thought Alpaca.' And then Alpaca spots someone he recognises but it's been a long evening for Father Christmas and he falls asleep by the fire.

And that is how Alpaca saves Christmas. Mind you, he keeps the story of his adventure to himself. I love this book.

Fairy Lights