"All you have to do is..."

yarn ball wreath - nothing to do with this post but I made it a month ago, haven't shown you yet, and wanted a picture for this post

Last night while talking with The Boy I mentioned that I had one friend I wouldn't see until long after Christmas so there wasn't any great pressure to get her gift finished. In fact, I told him, I wasn't 100% sure what her gift would be. I was pretty sure I was going to make her socks (Skew from Knitty) but I might make her a scarf (Saroyan possibly) or maybe an apron or something for the kitchen.

The Boy, unfamiliar as he is with the brain of a knitter even after all these years, was astounded. "Is there ever going to be a year when you've completed your Christmas gifts more than 72 hours before Christmas?"

He then came up with a solution for this issue that, if I were to apply it (according to him) would solve all of my time troubles. I thought I would share it with you, dear crafting friends, so you too may laugh yourself silly benefit from his wise council.

Here it is. You ready?

"All you need to do is: make a list NOW for next Christmas and then all year long you can make the items on the list and ONLY the items on the list. So in June when you want to knit something different you can see you're not done the list so you just knit what's on the list instead."

(at this point I started to laugh, basking in his wisdom as I was)

"But," interjected I, "what if I come across something better suited for that person in between now and Christmas?"

The Boy's solution: "Put it on the next year's list. Sure you may end up making Spiderman footie pajamas for a 14 year old. 'Sorry nephew I wanted to put these on my list in 2011 but they got bumped to 2019" but you will be sticking to your list and you will be ahead for Christmases to come."

It was around this point that I began having trouble breathing I was laughing so hard and I discovered that the new yoga DVD I had been trying must be working on my abs more than I thought.

So, dear friends, there you have it. All of your Christmas time crunch troubles resolved thanks to the time management advice of The Boy.

Hope you are all enjoying the lead up to Christmas (if you celebrate it) and not stressing over any of your preparations.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!