Holiday Magic

The days count down to Christmas, and I’m swamped with trying to get everything together: gifts, orders, getting my house somewhat clean enough to host the company that the holidays bring.  But days like today, where I’m treated to little bits of holiday magic brings all the goodness back again, even amongst the hustle and bustle.

First, we woke up in the morning to another light and fresh layer of snow on the ground, and a brilliantly shining sun.  There’s something about sunlight on snow that seems to just light up the world.  It’s brighter than summer, and makes the snow sparkle like there were glitter shakers in the clouds falling amongst the snowflakes.  With a hot mug of hazelnut coffee and some homemade pancakes for the boys, we started our morning routines of homeschool, cleaning, crafting.

Later on, I was treated to a wonderful surprise!  When I participate in a swap, I sometimes get so wrapped up in what I’m giving that I forget that the sentiment is reciprocated!  My swap package arrived and I couldn’t have been happier.  My children were so excited to see two little wrapped gifts that I let them open for me – sometimes it’s just the act of unwrapping something – anything – that makes it feel magical to them.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for sending TWO wrapped gifts!

First came this beautifully knitted Christmas ornament.  Seeing this makes me want to decorate my entire tree in completely homemade ornaments.  Wouldn’t that be lovely?  And there’s something about seeing these up close that makes me want to take up my knitting practice again.  I love to crochet, but seeing such gorgeous knitted pieces is very inspiring.

This cowl, for instance, is so lacy and delicate and light that it seems to just float on my neck when I tried it on.  It looks like it must have taken hours to make.  I tried to capture the color in the pictures, but photographing shades of purple seems to be a skill I haven’t quite mastered.  If you can imagine this with the colors even deeper and richer, it should be about right.

And it goes perfectly with my winter coat that’s been getting so much use these past few weeks.  A wonderful holiday gift, thank you, swap mate!

But that was far from all she sent.  I received a sweet little set of cashmere yarn slubs along with darning needles and directions on how to make these adorable felted heart rings.  And she even made a couple up for me, which is actually very helpful, considering how little felting I’ve done thus far.

But that wasn’t all.  I also received a delicious dinner coffee and chocolates, including some some Lindt chocolates (which have mysteriously already disappeared, ahem), and a big bag of chocolate and caramel popcorn.  Swapmate, even if you had known that popcorn is considered a meal around here, you couldn’t have chosen any better!

And lest you think that might be all, there was even more, including knitted kitchen items, and stitch markers.  I have never used an honest-to-goodness stitch marker before besides little scraps of yarn that fall out constantly.  These are going to make my life so much easier.

My swap mate is a very talented knitter, and put together a wonderful package for me.  Thank you!  You made my whole day!

As the day turned into evening (as it does quite early around here now, the boys and I, filled with chocolates and sweet popcorn decided to take a ride out to see some Christmas decorations.  They’ve become enamored with Christmas carols, and insist we play them every time we get into the car.  It was heartwarming, listening to holiday music and the sounds of two excited little boys oohing and ahhing at all the lights and decorations all over town.

What a wonderfully magical day of the holiday season it was for us!

~ Mellie ★