Yuletide Season 2023

Hey - hi - hello - happy new year !! 

I thought it was high time I dusted off my laptop (literally) and opened up my attic window to let some fresh air blow in. I've been hibernating it seems, content to shuffle about in my own little world enjoying the Yuletide season and grounding myself in my real life world for a while. Don't get me wrong, you know I adore our online community, but every so often it's good for me to gently disconnect from my digital world for a bit and take a rest.

I've had a super-relaxing few weeks spending quiet time at home with J and the Little People. I know it's a bit ridiculous that I still refer to them as Little People because they are anything but little these days - my two boys (age 21 and almost 14) are enormous humans compared to my short five foot three self. Our school holidays fell very late this year and Little B didn't break up until Friday 22nd. On the plus said it has given us this whole week at the start of January where we are still in holiday mode and it feels like a luxury to be able to start the year in a deliciously slow way. Back to school next Tuesday.

J decided to take a full two weeks off work to coincide with the school holidays which has been so, so nice, I can't remember the last time he took such a long holiday. There was a part of me which desperately wanted to take advantage and organise some sort of New Year holiday or short break away (the sea is always, always calling me) but nobody else wanted to do anything so I had to quieten myself down and accept the reality. In hindsight I realise it has been the right decision and there is a lot to be said for gentle, slow, stay-home days where the focus has been on rest and relaxation. 

The photos above were all taken in the late afternoon in mid December, which shows how very long our dark hours are at the moment. The first two images were around 4pm, and the one just above where you can see the moon is 4.30pm. I was looking at it just now and wondering what on earth I was doing walking along that particular stretch of road as it was getting dark, and then remembered I was heading to the pub with Little Lady for a cheeky pre-dinner drinky. So often it catches me by surprise that I have these wonderfully mature, grown up offspring now, I somehow keep forgetting that. 

I decorated late and slow for Christmas, the tree went up on Sunday 17th and other decorative bits and bobs happened in stops and starts over the following week.

I enjoyed the tree just as much as ever, the familiar clash of colours and decorations gathered over two decades of family life. Nothing new on the branches, but I've come to adore the sameyness of our old Christmas tree and the nostalgic memories that pour forth from its branches. It's been an absolute joy to have my latest blankets around too - the Starbright colours make me so, so stupidly happy. Colour-filled happy nostalgia is the very essence of Christmas for me I think.

Unpacking my homemade Christmas decorations is always a bit special and I love the quiet rediscovery of them each year. This is my Festive Garland from three years ago (the blog post and free pattern is ((here)), ahh, the colours are just so good!

I didn't take very many photos of my mantels this Christmas, but they are the same kind of thing that I do every year. I don't really go all out with my mantels, I have fairy lights and candles on there all year round so I simply add just a few decorative things along with the garland change. 

Winter Solstice was a day later than usual and fell on the 22nd which was the same day the schools finished for Christmas so it felt like a lovely time for quiet celebration. I lit a Clementine scented candle and made a small ivy and eucalyptus wreath to go around it, and it was just enough. I've learnt over the years that it's only me who cares about celebrating the four turning points in the year as the rest of the family don't share my love of the seasons. So these days I resist the urge to drag them all into it, and just go about my own personal little rituals which have meaning to me.

For quite a few years now I've been treating myself to a special festive bouquet, usually timed to arrive for the Winter Solstice. This year I decided not to use the usual online letterbox flower company (their festive bouquet had flowers in it which I didn't really like all that much), but instead I went to a local florist shop in town. I told the lady what I liked - mainly foliage and berries with some bold red flowers so long as they weren't carnations (!) -  and she said she would need an hour to make something up specially for me. I honestly was a bit nervous as this is a real indulgence and I only ever buy myself expensive flowers once a year. But my goodness, the bouquet they created for me was stunning! You can see in the photo above, I had just collected it from the florist and the single Amaryllis stem has five beautiful buds just about to burst open....oh I was soooo excited that they included one of my favourite blooms. In fact, I never realised that you could buy an actual amaryllis stem in a florist shop?

Over the Christmas week the flowers opened....

....and I couldn't love them more. In fact, two weeks on and the bouquet is still looking really good - I've thinned it out a bit and re-cut the stems and I reckon it'll be good for another week yet. What a wonderful treat I gave myself.

Christmas day itself was wonderfully relaxed, just the five of us taking it easy, enjoying good food and drinks and simple family time. I know I've said my Little People are no longer little children, but every year they do seem to delight in the same traditions that we've built throughout their childhood. One of those is party poppers at the dinner table - does anyone else do this? My kidlets absolutely love them, and there is always a competition between them to see who can get the perfect aim with the streamers over the lampshade.

We had old fashioned Christmas crackers with paper hats, jokes and little gifts inside. This origami frog was made by the Big Teen who has always loved paper folding since being young. I've kept the frog on my mantel, a little memento of a wonderful Christmas time full of simple traditions.

Something else we did a lot of this Christmas was jigsaw puzzles. Again, this is such a strong, long standing tradition carried forward from my own childhood. There is something so enjoyable about sitting at the table on a quiet morning to work on a jigsaw, the slow simplicity of it really makes me happy. All the family join in too, the Little People and J, all of us taking turns over the course of a day or two. We favour the smaller 500 piece puzzles which can pretty easily be completed in a day - we have two Christmassy ones which we bought many years ago, and this year I also purchased a new one.....

 

.....Nutcraker Magic. Oh, this one was SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was interesting all the way from start to finish, and the puzzle pieces themselves were so, so good to fit together, do you know what I mean? When there is zero wiggle room and every piece just plunks in place in a really tightly, satisfying way? Well, this puzzle delivered peak jigsaw satisfaction, can ten out of ten recommend.

I can honestly say that these quiet days at home have been restorative in the true sense of the word. I've spent a lot of time on the sofa wrapped in colourful blankets, passing the time doing nothing of note. Sometimes reading, sometimes snoozing, sometimes watching easy films which the Little People chose, and sometimes just daydreaming and allowing my mind and body to be completely at rest. It's been absolutely bloomin' lovely. 

The weather has been awful really. I honestly think it has rained almost constantly for about three weeks now, so much water falling and everywhere so waterlogged and sodden. Of course I've still been out and about as my lifestyle involves a fair bit of daily walking, but it's been very uninspiring out there.

The woodland paths are exceptionally wet, more like little streams than footpaths, so it's been wellies for the win. 

It's not been possible to get into the countryside for walking because fields and paths are just mud slides at the moment. But last weekend we drove out into the Dales to see how the river was looking at Linton Falls.....

.....this river is always impressive but right now it is mind blowingly full. It was exhilarating just standing near it - the noise of it was incredible. 

One day last week we decided to go to Salts Mill, it's been a while since I've been and amazingly we realised that J has never been. Not ever?! Surely he has?! But no, in the sixteen years of living here it's always just been me and the Little People who have visited and I was keen to show him what he's been missing.

It was so beautifully decorated for Christmas, and although it was busy it still felt very restful and just a wonderful place to slow down and spend idle time. We took our time browsing the whole two floors, taking it all in and marvelling at this incredible building. J and I both share a love of art materials, so I knew he would adore Salts - it has a massive art shop section full of pens, pencils, paints and all manner of creative inspiration (he bought new pens, I knew he would)

The Home shop was looking glorious, it's always very special at Christmas time with a lot of effort put into the displays.

I mean, just look at this ^^ isn't it beautiful?

It was a really enjoyable family outing - top notch browsing and then a late pub lunch down by the river in Saltaire village. Wonderful, wholesome holiday stuff.

I bought a few cards from Salts like I always do, they have a very extensive selection of artists cards there. I fell in love with the above image titled "the Strollers" by Dee Nickerson - it reminded me so much of our many visits to Saltburn over the years, and honestly I am madly craving a visit to the coast right now. Maybe sometime in January I will just go off for a few days like I did in October, the call of the sea is running strong.

I packed Christmas away yesterday, boxed it all up for another year. My Starbright blankets are staying though, I can't bring myself to lose the joy of those colours in this season of low light and greyness.

Creatively I've been in a bit of a lull during the past few weeks. I've been slowly, slowly working on my new Sungold stripes which I'll talk to you more about in a moment. I did pull together the above collection of yarn balls before Christmas though, and I sat for a few solid days and crocheted some Christmas gifts for friends. It was a fun thing to work on a new design, sitting and hooking and stitching something new - I'll show you next week what I made because I think there could be a new pattern to share which you might enjoy. 

So Sungold stripes - oh, they are looking so so so GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not going to spoil the surprise because you will see them soon enough when the Sungold Crochet-Along begins.....ToMoRRoW!!! Eeeppppp.....it's come around all of a  sudden and I have much still to do. Thankfully I had the sense to get the pattern all written up a while ago and J (love him) has already made the charts and worksheets and PDF things for you, but my job for today is to pull together the tutorial. And by pull together, I mean I need coffee first and then I am photographing and editing and uploading and writing and checking and checking some more. Always so last minute, but it's just the way I am.

If you are joining in, then we shall be getting going on Friday morning - I think between 9 and 10am tomorrow I should be ready to sing and dance with you......see you then!

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Comments

[Sophia]

This article really opened my eyes to a new perspective! Thanks for sharing such valuable insights.

[Mary]

Insightful read I appreciated the fresh perspective presented in this article. Keep up the great work.

[Jools]

So glad you had a good Yuletide, Lucy - you deserved it. I love the colours on your tree, too. I keep telling myself I'm going to make decorations for our tree - maybe this year I'll finally get round to it. Looking forward to watching the CAL progress, it's always so inspiring!

[Bev ( W Aust)]

Thank you for sharing your holiday blog Lucy, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
I can see why you were excited with the beautiful bouquet, that combination is so lovely especially with what looks like three Australian plants in there!!
Best wishes for a wonderful year for you and your family xx

[Louise]

The sea called to me as well. And after a rather chaotic couple of months, we had to heed to call and make the journey a few days after Xmas. Fortunately for us though, it's summer! Still lots of crazy rain, but also sun, white sand, surf, family and the only time and place where I can really exhale. You'd love it. Xox

[Linda Pankhurst]

Yay! Can’t wait. Have been desperately finishing up knitted items so that I can concentrate on the new CAL.
I have three packs……one Stylecraft…..which will be two lap blankets. The other two (somehow I ordered two!) Yarnsmith's packs will be (I think!) the Yuletide pattern stitch. I should get three lap blankets from two packs…..at least. I shall follow the colour sequence of the CAL. I know they will be wonderful.
Thanks Lucy Attic for these CALs. Mindless hooky relaxation during these indoor months!

[Julia]

It sounds as if you've had a lovely, relaxing Christmas. This is the time of year for slow days and generally just taking it easy. So glad you've taken some time for yourself to just be. It's so important that we take time out for ourselves. I hope you can get away to the coast for a few days. Sounds just perfect to me. I've been craving the beach and ocean lately - hopefully soon. Happy and blessed New Year!

[Simon]

Happy New Year Lucy! We put our tree up on the 22nd of December and took it down on the 4th of January! Christmas is a bit of a chore for us in some ways. We really must find a way of making it a more relaxing time. We did all enjoy opening our presents and our Roast Chicken dinner was delicious, as were the subsequent sandwiches! We are absolutely sick of all the rain and dark, dark days - some days it's like the lights are never off! The garden has never ever been as sodden as it is now, and we've lived here decades!! It's actually quite dangerous in places and so horrible to look at. But apparently it's going to be mainly dry down here for the next week - Yay! - but bloody cold too! Looking forward to tomorrow's post!! Have fun with it:)

[Bee]

How wonderful to see you back in the attic! I am allergic to kitty cats, but I love to see yours in all the cute, classic kitty cat poses! I’m always in awe of the photos of your town— I never, ever tire of seeing the canal and the boats and the rolling streets. Loved the little pop of red raincoat in the photo of the “raging” water! You always manage to catch all the details that a viewer loves to see! We did a jigsaw puzzle Christmas Day also!

[Kristine S]

Hey Lucy😃👌 glad your 'silly season' was relaxing rather than silly... mine was very quiet, mostly solitary (except for my pups!) but good to catch up with daughters & g'kids & ex on boxing day!
Some other Aussie mentioned Geraldton Wax flowers - from western Aus. Love your self-present! It's Friday, 12pm so W A I T I N G for UK time! Lovely big squishy w'warehouse Yarnsmith pack... Hugs 🫂 see u Sept 😘 🤗

[Corinna Mazzotta]

Yes, we too have the tradition of party poppers at Christmas lunch - aiming them at the huge bunch of mistletoe hanging from the beam above the table in my parents house. 😊 I wish I could share a picture with you.

Sadly, that didn't happen this year though as it suddenly became my turn to be the one to host Christmas for the first time. A changing of the guard as the generations roll ever onward. 😔
We have nothing above our table to aim for (it's in the conservatory bit of the kitchen), so we made do with just crackers.

Thank you for sharing your slow Yuletide with us - it's been so lovely to read about your quiet little routines and traditions. I wish I could seem to slow my life down to the same extent!

[Jackie Parker]

Should be renamed Linton Rapids.🙂
I'm loving the idea of the Sungold stripes in the Starbright colours.

[Sarah Star]

Happy New Year Lucy! I'm soooo excited to start on the Sungold CAL, my first for a couple of years now! Much love and see you tomorrow x

[Linda from Boston]

Happy New Year Lucy!! Great to catch up on your holiday happenings. Can’t wait for the CAL tomorrow; have hook ready! I have to tell you how much I’m enjoying the Starbright stripe blanket. I love everything about it……including the border. We’re finally getting snow(!) here in New England on Sunday!! A great time to have a new blanket to work on. ♥️

[Anne]

Happy New Year from Newcastle, Australia. Such a beautiful post, touching on so many of the beautiful joys of the season. I spy some Geraldton Wax & proteas in your gorgeous bouquet. So excited to be joining the CAL, between about 8 and 9pm tomorrow local time.

[Penny]

Happiness is a blog post from Attic 24. Happy New Year.

[Jacqui]

My daughters bought me the kit but I havent seen her yet so will be catching up later!
I love carnations meh!
Oh my that bouquet lovely😁
Rain rain rain 🙄

[Teri Sullivan]

Your Cosy Stripe was must first CAL. THen the Sunny Log Cabin, my fave, and the Cottage Ripple. I’ve managed to resist several of yours since then but these colors….oh my gosh….

[Teri Sullivan]

I have my yarn all ready, but I need another few days for a commissioned blanket…and the Peacock Plumes blanket I’m making for myself is about 85% done. So I will split my crochet time in half between the Peacock and Sungold. Yeah, I can do this🧶🧶🧶🥰

[Charlotte]

Hello Lucy, Happy new year to you and all your family!
You are right that Christmas is a lot about nostalgia; bringing out all our old favourites (breaking a couple of treasures :((. Choosing beautiful new decorations to fill the gaps can ease the pain a bit! We're lucky here in that there are quite a few sandy places to walk, where the awful gloop can be (mostly) avoided, though I just did a short walk in the Wyre Forest and had to retrace because the brook looked too challenging. Not surprising given that the River Severn it flows into near Bewdley is almost at its highest ever level, and they are frantically increasing the height of the flood barriers...fortunately, I live up a hill, not near the river. Given the incessant rain over the past weeks, I think your family made a very good call to go for a warm, dry and colourful 'home' Christmas. Altogether a lovely, cheering, cosy post which really conjured up the spirit of Christmas - thanks, Lucy. Can't wait to see what you do with those lovely tweedy yarns...don't theuy make you fancy a beautiful, bright crocheted jacket to keep out the winter gloom?! (I do!) Cx

[Connie]

What a wonderful blog post, Lucy! Thank you for not only sharing so many wonderful designs, but also so much of yourself. It’s why we all love you so much. Looking forward to tomorrow’s CAL xx

[Karen Dodgson]

Hi Lucy, it sounds like you had a perfect family Christmas, just lovely x
We had my Dad with us for a week, and had a slow gentle time watching Christmas movies and nipping out whenever the rain stopped…it was pretty constant. I love jigsaws too (next time you’re in St Anne’s, there’s a fabulous charity bookshop at the top of Wood Street which always has a fantastic stock of them) so I sat at the window, happily looking out to sea while doing my jigsaw. Santa brought my 63 year old self a Lego set, yippee! so i spent a happy day making the Lego ‘Up’ house too! After Christmas i decided in a mad moment to train for the couch to 5k run. Up to now my life has involved walking, i do not run!!! But so far although its hard, i feel so blessed to run, jog and mainly walk fast along the prom. I hope you manage to get to the sea soon xx

[Tracey]

It’s my first crochet along and a, so looking forward to it. I have crocheted Dahlia blanket and it is beautiful so I cannot wait to get started. Xx

[Liz]

So looking forward to starting the CAL tomorrow! I am sure the post Christmas wait for it to start builds up the expectation nicely.
Thank you for your curated colours, beautiful patterns and detailed tutorials, they are much appreciated and help to make my friends think I am cleverer than I really am 🤣

[CJ]

The urchins like a bit of origami too. I have a little crane on my mantelpiece that the middle boy made for me years ago as a gift tag. One of my treasured possessions. I know what you mean about the term 'little people'. My littlest boy is 15 and taller than me. I hope you get that seaside trip, it's just glorious at the coast in the winter. And all the other seasons too, as it happens. The dog is tired of the rain. He had about nine soaking wet walks in a row and has spent a long time lying against the radiator, steaming. CJ xx