Our familiy decided on a Secret Santa gift exchange some years back when it was decided that one *great* gift that the recipient wanted was better than lots of smaller, needless ones. It definitely took the pressure out of buying.

Good to know that knitting with lovely Trekking XXL colors should took the scrooginess out. The vikkel braid is lovely.

I can certainly sympathize...I try so hard not to worry about the "is it enough" quandary, but sometimes it sneaks through anyway. Consumerism is a tough beast to beat.

But your socks are lovely...that should be some consolation. :)

I'm feeling a bit scroogy too, with the exception of my kids. We went to a family dinner and my husband, without discussing it with me, picked up the tab. That was one thing. Then, my aunt's daughter, who's horrible, needs a gift, etc. etc. I think there should be a rule that we only get gifts for those we WANT to! But that would never work would it.

Oh Sandy,
I was feeling this way last night! I returned from a trip to my brother and SIL's and was like "whoa... I am gonna look C-H-E-A-P this year". But, with trying to find an apartment and the fact that I have knitted 20 items for X-mas, using only the "good stuff", I am still feeling "cheap" and like it's not enough. On top of all of this, I am trying to do all my cookies, my fudge, and wrap mine and Dan's families presents. TOO MUCH. As of Wednesday, I am "off of Xmas duty"... any cookies or fudge or wrapping that is not done, well...someone else can do it. :) Dan and I take 2 full days during the Xmas rush and do an "us" day... we go to the Christmas Carol at North Shore Music Theater one day and Enchanted Village another. I get to do what I want ALL DAY. I don't shop, I don't knit, I relax. So, remember, your kiddos are old enough to know that it's the thought, not the gift. And well, if little Bobby gets 1/2 an ounce more per present than little Susie, well..they'll get over it. We spend VERY little money on the "kids" in the family b/c well, Santa is coming and he'll bring enough stuff. Have a hot toddy and stare at the Christmas tree. Anyone who tries to interrupt your "tree time" should be ignored (unless bleeding or on fire) and just say it with me "It's all about family!"

Merry Christmas to you and yours, my Mitten Guru!
:) Kate

I wish I could employ a "Scrooge-Be-Gone" myself! When did it get to be all about "things"?
Anyway, knit on. Your Spey valley socks are fabulous!

I love that Trekking. I think I may need a skein of my own...

And I'm sure you'll get your second wind, holiday-wise. Go lie on the floor under the Christmas tree for a while. Look up at the lights and smell the wonderful scent of the branches. Then have a hot toddy. You couldn't possibly not feel better after doing that. ;-)

Hey just think 2 weeks of the year left and we can start early on next year's Christmas knitting! ;) That way you can bulk out gifts for next year if you feel really guilty and I don't think you should. Remember how much you spent in that short time the other day? So enjoy that big glass of wine, get those pressies wrapped and enjoy your pretty sock. You've got to draw the line somewhere, no matter how hard it is.

The thing I hate about Christmas gift giving is everybody's lists of what they'd like. I tend to ignore them. The best gifts for me to give are those that involve shared time and future memories. So I like to give tickets to concerts, plays, and assorted other events. Sometimes I go with the recipient and sometimes I send the recipient with someone else and then listen to the memories later. It feels good.

I hear you, girlfriend. I completely relate to the "enough" concept. What have we done to ourselves? It's not all about STUFF, this life. The mall is a place to be avoided at all costs. After watching the Christmas episode of "The Office", I hesitate to knit for anyone this year.

Do I have all my shopping done? No. Am I stressed out about it? For some weird reason, no. I think I'm in Christmas denial, and I'm hosting a doo-dah here on Christmas Eve. And there's no tree yet. Maybe I should come have that glass of wine with you. Five o'clock? That gives me plenty of time to get there. ;)

Love you, woman. xoxo

This is the second almost stress free Xmas. Why you ask? I used to have the horrid Xmas gift insecurity- but now we get gifts just for the children and each other. In years past, it was several gifts for EACH of my FIVE (yes FIVE) parents, and my husband's THREE parents. then they all had to be shipped. Nobody was happy. So now all the grandparents give to our kids and none of the grown ups buy for each other! Heaven. The last part is that I sat my husband down and said: "Hey honey- why do we make ourselves nuts buying things for each other that we may or may not use/like?" So we decided to get a joint gift and make a charitable donation. No mall crawl and we are a closer family for it.

Last thing (really)- Make a list of what to do and DO NOT ADD TO IT. When it is done, it is done.

Merry Christmas, Sandy!

I definitely was not feeling the joy this year and then the crash came yesterday. The sweater I lovingly knitted for my Daughter has a flaw. At my LYS sale last June I purchased a unopened bag of Rowan Calmer in Calmer shade. I found the perfect pattern and on a visit to Colorado measured my daughter's favorite sweater so the fit would be perfect. Everything was perfect until the blocking. I discovered that there was a slight shading difference on the back and the top of one sleeve! Apparently the bag contained 6 skeins of one dye lot and two of another!!!!The shading difference is difficult to detect under lamp light but painfully obvious in natural light. I've been on a mad search ever since for two skeins of this yarn. I know I can rework the back alternating yarns, but....
The sweater is for my youngest daughter who is struggling to get her certification as a teacher and working as a waitress. She is a gifted young woman with an amazing talent for teaching pre-schoolers. Jen worked as a pre-school teacher in Chicago before moving to Colorado. She is fiercely independent and has very few luxuries in her life. I know the greatest gift is my time and love,but this sweater was meant to be a visible symbol. Something for her to wrap herself around when she is feeling discouraged and overwhelmed.
Here's hoping the true spirit of Christmas will find its way back to me soon!

So far I'm having no guilt skipping the Christmas hype this year. I've always vowed to do this every other year and I might just follow through,
Li

The Christmas spirit will come. I think shopping just because we're expected to give a gift is silly. Spending time with each other is more important.

I love the sock. That book scares me because of the charts (I've never knit anything off a chart) but I always love the socks I see from it. Possibly a New Year's resolution??

I feel the same way about gifts - I tell everyone not to get me anything (which would honestly be OK), but I have to get them a stack of things. I really like to find the "perfect" gift for everyone, but it seems as soon as I find something I find 12 more things they would like, and I worry that I haven't done enough.
This year almost everyone is getting one knitted item and one small item, and I feel bad because I feel like I'm being cheap. I just hope they like their hats/scarves/etc!

i don't have my tree up. i'm not done shopping. i'm not done knitting/crocheting gifts. about the only thing i've really got going for me is i've been wearing my santa hat (i actually found hair clips that fit under my hat, oorah!). the tree is upstairs, but i feel i need to clean my house more before i put it up. the boxes of ornaments and decorations (and my christmas sweatshirts) are still downstairs. i am not feeling the love this year, sigh.

I'm totally with you on the gift giving thing. I'd much rather watch everyone else open their big piles of stuff I bought them than open my own. Don't really care if I get any, really. Although if my husband would finally buy me the DSLR I've had on my wish list for two years, I wouldn't complain.

I do a lot of shopping online - that cuts down on the mall visits. We did hit Best Buy to get the major stuff for the kids. And the problem with getting the gift buying done too early is just what you said - you pull it all out and think you don't have enough. I do a lot of lists and that helps. Plus, my stepkids are older now and they'd prefer one big gift to a bunch of smaller ones. Hope you find the Christmas spirit!

Put on some Christmas music. That always helps me get in the mood. But honestly, I don't ever get truly in the mood until I walk through the door of my parents' house when everyone is there and the place is all decorated and there's lots of food on the kitchen table and tons of gifts under the tree. Until then, I'm the queen of scrooginess.

Yes. We scaled down from WAY TOO MUCH to ALMOST NOTHING several years ago, when we had to start paying the exorbitant tuition bills and my sister's business is so incredibly busy during the holidays. And it's never been better. I don't miss that shopping mall crap or that "did I get one more gift for Susy than I got Billy?" crap one bit, and the one gift we buy each other (if we even do) is something unique and unexpected, like David will find me something quirky like that antique yarn winder, for example. And that's only if he HAPPENS to find something unique and interesting. Otherwise it's just one or two gifts for our daughter, and we sit there very happily watching her open hers. And then we have one gift to buy for a kid in the larger family (the cousins draw names) and usually contribute to something for my mom...although this year everyone did their own thing for mom because there was nothing she wanted. I got her a gift certificate to Costco, because that's where she buys her expensive medicines. SO.MUCH.BETTER. I can't even tell you. It doesn't even feel bah-humbuggy at all. Just like contentment.

I understand what you are saying...I am perfectly happy with one gift too. I scaled back this year and asked everyone to do the same. I am in love with that trekking yarn...what a gorgeous color.

We made an effort to do less this year and told all our friends that all we really cared about was enjoying their friendship. It's worked well and we had less (little to no) shopping to do and have enjoyed the holidays more. Less is more. Enjoy the knitting, baking and don't be too hard on yourself.

that socks looks divine! My sock knitting book stash is due to be enhanced and that book is high up on my list...

Christmas has scaled down in our family, for a variety of reasons. We kids are older now and after a few moves (between college/work/grad school/etc) we have vowed that we don't need any more Stuff. Add to the mix that we all have birthdays sometime in the next two months and how hard we are to buy for - we're all about simple pleasures. :)

I'm right there with ya! I started wrapping yesterday and thinking, I too didn't get enough. I was actually going to post this morning on a similar topic but am just feeling to lazy right now.

Then this morning I had another thought. Why am I killing myself with the knitting? I had planned on making my four neices mittens but really, none of them has ever asked for a handknitted gift or shown any real interest in knitting. So why am I shorting others so these kids get mittens? I guess because they are family, I felt obligated. I decided they will get store bought mittens and scarves, which frees up my time to knit items for a couple of others that love knitted items.

I think the shopping is what drags everyone down. I can never afford to get people as many gifts as I'd like, so I just have gotten used to it I guess.

You are SO not helping my resolve not to buy any Trekking XXL yarn for myself until the New Year. Not helping at all...

I'm the same way. I don't really need gifts for myself (though they *are* nice), but I have to shower everyone else with tons of holiday love. Same with my knitting - almost all of what I knit is for someone else, a gift of one kind or another. I'm working on that.

I felt the same way you do not all that long ago - then we finally added an actual child to the family. Thank God for nephews! I suggested we scale WAY back on adult gifts and make it about the kids. I'm so much happier about the holidays now. If I could only get into the spirit this year...

Sandy -- never go to the mall again, ever. Its better that way.

;-)

Sandy, don't feel bad. Christmas is about family - not presents. If your kids look disappointed, remind them how lucky they are to have another Christmas with Grandmom. I lost my Grandmom when I was 19... She was part of my immediate family - like losing a parent - I miss her every day and think about her especially often during the holidays.

The gift stacks have been getting smaller and smaller in our house each year- partly it's just the pressures of braces, tutoring costs and college expenses and partly it's that the boys are getting older and can understand that we don't want to overdo things anymore. I avoid the mall like the plague from Halloween on and I think that helps. I went once this year and did online shopping at a total of two places. I have one more item to get- a gift certificate at a local state park and then I'm all done. It's definitely improving imho, the only craziness that ensues in my house this time of year is the candy making and mailing of Christmas cards. I'd offer tips but I think you know what to do :)

Love the socks- I was eyeing that pattern for my next pair but am doing Celtic Braid (http://www.theknitter.com/celbraidsoc.html) instead as it's written in a size large, just what I need for MIL. These and a little scarf to do and then I can finally begin my warm hands mittens :)