(featured photo: Callisto (top) & Ganymede)

As a mother and grandmother, I’ve spent a few decades now collecting Xmas lists, shopping early, shopping at the last minute and everything in between. I love the giving that is such a big part of the holidays each year.

This year, in addition to my shopping and making for others; I decided to do something festive for myself.

In my extended family, we only buy for the grandkids, and college age nieces and nephews. None of us “needs” anything that we can’t buy, and we decided to lessen the insanity of the holidays for each other by keeping the holiday shopping madness limited to shopping for the kids.

My cat(s) and I spend quiet Xmas mornings together, and since I’d been observing a bah-humbug sort of holiday (in terms of decorating) for the past decade or so, the gift aspect was not a prominent personal issue. With this year’s change in spirit, as I wrote about in my previous blog post, I decided to start a new tradition.

This idea emerged when my eyes wandered on to some fiber arts websites and I began to daydream about new projects. Since Thanksgiving, if I see something that catches my eye; I decide if I want to buy it or if it’s just a browsing dopamine hit.

If the answer ends up being YES, I buy it and when it arrives, I place it – unopened – under my tree. I haven’t wrapped anything but I am placing them in holiday gift bags so they look festive!

One of the first gifts I ordered was the Mary Maxim “Whiskers” crochet bag pattern kit.

Yes, most of my self-care gifting will be fiber arts focused: sewing tools, crochet and knitting accessories, and less likely but possible, fabric and/or yarn.

I recently discovered square double-pointed needles (dpn) for knitting in the round, so will be visiting a local yarn shop to pick a set or 2 of those up, too.

Since I recently decided that I have more fabric than small Joann stores used to stock, I’ll not be intentionally seeking any fabric or yarn unless it’s absolutely necessary for a specific project.

I’ve also decided to dig out projects that I have “in waiting” in my craft room and gather all the supplies needed and put those under my tree as well. This will include pairing existing yarn (likely from previous yarn crawls) with a pattern, and existing fabric with a plan, if not a pattern.

This approach allows me to feel the joy of a couple new items, AND to give myself the gift of clearing things out my fabric and yarn stashes.

Related to my transformed holiday energy, I’ve also been using stash supplies to make small “just because” gifts for people. This year, I’m experimenting with the fabric covered composition notebooks. Here are 2 of these:

I’m also mid-project on a Bluey purse for my littlest grandbaby who loves the cartoon and its characters. I found a scrap of a Bluey remnant at our local Center for Creative Reuse and was able to match it to a piece in my fabric stash for the custom creation.

There’s an old saying that we cannot give from an empty vessel. For many people, this has meant waiting for OTHERS to fill them. That’s a dicey proposition, and in many ways sets us up to fail. Caring for ourselves, even in small ways, is as close to a sure thing as it gets.

This year on Xmas morning, Miss Lena and I will spend a leisurely morning, enjoying a new tradition for me and a new way to spend the holiday for her (no dogs!).

I’ll be missing Callie & Ganny (pictured above in earlier years), and feeling grateful that Miss Lena came to live with me and keep me company earlier this year.

Here’s to a happy, fiber-crafty holiday season for all!

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(C) 2025 Fiber Harmony / Stitch ‘n Dish