I'm not sure what this madness is that takes me over and makes me think I am capable of doing so much more than I actually can before Christmas. But somehow, I get caught up in it, almost always revolving around gifts for my co-workers. One year it was scarves. That was the worst. Each one only took an evening to make. However, put that together times 5 for people here and I forget how many others I decided to make for other people on my list and that turned into a whole lot of evenings where I could do nothing else but sit with my yarn and work. Meanwhile, nothing else was getting done.
I thought I learned my lesson after that and I downsized to ornaments. Take for example last year when I opted for snowflake ornaments. Each one was so simple to do. I made several of them so that I could pick and choose different sizes and types for different people. I felt really good about it until... Well since they were made of yarn they were soft and didn't really hold their shape the way they should. I decided to starch them. This took a few evenings of watching video tutorials and experimenting with the best possible way. Since most methods required drying time, I wouldn't know until the next morning if I was successful and then have to start again the next day with something else. In the end though, I was pleased. Yet, again I found that I had spent way too much time on them while other things I needed to do fell by the wayside.
This year it was snowman ornaments. A little more ambitious than the snowflakes, but I felt ok about that. I actually had done a lot of my shopping and decorating so I was ahead of the game. I sat down one evening and cranked out 7 snowmen bodies in 1.5 hours. I felt great. I mean that's the main part after all and I had done it with time to spare for other things. After that I just needed hats and scarves and to embroider on their features. Easy! Not so much. With just a few days left until Christmas I still have 2 more to complete. It's the embroidery that's holding me up. I have enough experience with the basic stitches to be able to make snowman faces and arms and buttons. But I'm not practiced at it so each one, simple though they may be, is taking ages to complete.
So here I am. I went from being ahead of the game (at least for me) to behind the 8 ball as normal. I still have these 2 snowmen to complete before Friday, all of my wrapping to do, gift cards and stocking stuffers to purchase, Christmas breakfast to shop for (oh and we probably need other food as well), and my house to clean (though it's actually in decent shape ATM). We have a holiday luncheon at work tomorrow that I agreed to make a hot dish for so I'll be making that tonight. Then I have the next couple of days to finish up. Thank goodness for Christmas Eve being on a Saturday this year!
Maybe next year I will learn my lesson. I have a funny feeling though that Christmas madness will still overtake me and I'll be in this same place come next year. I'm starting to think maybe I like it this way.
Anyway, whether madness overtakes you at this time of year or not, I hope you all enjoy your holiday season!